Why can’t we just see the Gold Plates?

[Anonymous]

cwald wrote:

I use to really really want to see the plates for myself, as a validation of JS and the whole Mormon pathway.

Now — I just don’t have much “testimony” that they are real or that JS translated anything —- so I just quit thinking in black and white because it only causes me pain and frustration. Perhaps JS “channeled” some inspiring thoughts that we call the BoM, or he made it all up from his own spiritual opionion. Whatever, there is value in it for me either way, and I will just take it and use what I can, and shelf the rest.

I can see that. And like I said above, even if we see the Gold plates, we still have to decide if we believe the people that originally wrote on them were truly inspired. I am sure there would be many skeptics that would argue that validity of the gold plates, even if they were on display.

But, I just keep thinking, what if tomorrow, someone comes forward and said an angel showed gave them some ancient books and told him the Mormon faith is false and we are to join a new church he is creating. No you can’t see the books or the angel because he left and took them. Would you believe him? I wouldn’t. So why should I believe JS?

[Anonymous]

Brown wrote:

But, I just keep thinking, what if tomorrow, someone comes forward and said an angel showed gave them some ancient books and told him the Mormon faith is false and we are to join a new church he is creating. No you can’t see the books or the angel because he left and took them. Would you believe him? I wouldn’t. So why should I believe JS?

Good question. A couple of years ago, I would have said, just look at the fruits. If they are good – it must be true. If they are bad fruits, well….

I won’t say that today, because now I have evolved to understand that JS and the entire religion is just chuck full of rotted fruit mixed in with some good fruit. So —- we (cafeteria Mormons) pick and choose what we can accept from the church, and use it to develop a relationship with god — and throw all the crap in the garbage. I know that Brother Oaks don’t like to hear that – but what other option do we have? I honestly don’t see ANYONE from this site going back to an orthodox fundamentalist TBM mormon lifestyle and faith. It’s not going to happen. Either we survive the middle way – or we leave it all entirely. Which option is the right one for you and me? I don’t have that answer for myself – and I certainly can’t answer it for anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Some very good comments so far.

To give my answer to the original question — we can’t see them because if we could we wouldn’t ask important questions such as this.

I see our primary objective on earth to learn and to love. We learn by asking questions. We gain revelation by asking questions. Why was the fruit of the tree of knowledge forbidden in the garden? Because the plan required Adam and Eve to make a decision – to look for knowledge against all other priorities. If they wanted to live an easy life in the garden there would be no progress. Pain and suffering often aid learning. Difficult questions also aid learning. We are to learn. I see all these questions as opportunities for us to reach toward our potential. They have a purpose. When we’re spoon fed we may as well be back in the garden.

[Anonymous]

It would seem from the comments that the scenario of the golden plates on display would include either that the symbols can never be translated as they are from a dead language or that if they ever do get translated then the translation is at least close to what we have in the BOM. But that wouldn’t necessarily be the case. I imagine this as resulting badly.

What if the golden plates on display were discovered to be a collection of something similar to the copper scroll that SamBee has posted about? What if it was confirmed to be of ancient origin but that historians/linguists later translate it to mean something entirely different? How would that be different than the Book of Abraham? Is anyone glad that we can “just see” the papyri?

[Anonymous]

Old-Timer wrote:

I’d love to be certain about lots of things, but total certainty would destroy a lot of the fun of life for me. I understand and appreciate that most people aren’t like me in that regard (how I really am a “weird duck” in that regard), but I really love the mysterious and mythical and cosmic and mind-bending stuff – which is one of the reasons I actually love the Book of Mormon so much. There are SO many tiny, subtle things I get when I read and ponder it (plus an occasional big epiphany) that bring an element of excitement and anticipation to me that seeing actual plates would destroy some of that for me – even if they were proven to be accurate and historical.

If I want mind-bending cosmic stuff, these days, I get into higher mathematics and quantum physics. That always gets me my mystic fix. :ugeek:

[Anonymous]

My oldest daughter would say you like to study in the classroom of God, Limhah.

Of course, the rest of my children would say you’re crazy.

[Anonymous]

As soon as we get a chance to see the plates, we will wonder their authenticity. We will ask about their origin. We will want to know why they have been hidden and where. We will want to start translating it with today’s technology and knowledge and compare it to a prophet’s work to find discrepancies.

I agree with Orson. We are here to learn. Seeing them will not quench the thirst.

[Anonymous]

Heber13 wrote:

As soon as we get a chance to see the plates, we will wonder their authenticity. We will ask about their origin. We will want to know why they have been hidden and where. We will want to start translating it with today’s technology and knowledge and compare it to a prophet’s work to find discrepancies.

I agree with Orson. We are here to learn. Seeing them will not quench the thirst.

So ignorance is bliss?

[Anonymous]

I think the obvious answer is we do not get to see them because they do not exist.

[Anonymous]

Cadence wrote:

I think the obvious answer is we do not get to see them because they do not exist.

I agree.

[Anonymous]

Fatherof4husbandof1 wrote:

Cadence wrote:

I think the obvious answer is we do not get to see them because they do not exist.

I agree.

I’m not quite sure about it. Just can’t bring myself to that point yet.

[Anonymous]

Brown wrote:

Heber13 wrote:

As soon as we get a chance to see the plates, we will wonder their authenticity. We will ask about their origin. We will want to know why they have been hidden and where. We will want to start translating it with today’s technology and knowledge and compare it to a prophet’s work to find discrepancies.

I agree with Orson. We are here to learn. Seeing them will not quench the thirst.

So ignorance is bliss?

honestly, sometimes it can be, but I don’t find that sustainable, at least for me. I am not saying ignorance is the answer. I’m saying the journey will be there whether the plates are revealed or not.

Cadence wrote:

I think the obvious answer is we do not get to see them because they do not exist.

What proof is there of that? Such logic would suggest Osama Bin Laden does not exist, because we are not able to find him when we want to.

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t matter (to me at least) whether or not they exist. And I find no use in seeing them. What matters is discerning the truth from error in the Book of Mormon, living by the truth (eg. Alma the Elder, 2 Nephi 9?, 2 Nephi 2?), and warning against the error (eg. Nephi and Laban, Captain Moroni, watered down Sermon on the Mount).

[Anonymous]

Old-Timer wrote:

My oldest daughter would say you like to study in the classroom of God, Limhah. Of course, the rest of my children would say you’re crazy.

I think both sides are right. I’ve been studying mathematics focusing on various ideas about infinity and transfinites that have been discussed by some great geniuses over the years, like Cantor and Godel. They were both somewhat mystically inclined and got a little loopy towards the end of their lives. Something about looking into the Abyss too much, I guess. I think it all ties together somehow in the end (and this is not irrelevant to the gold plates discussion either.) :crazy:

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