The Book of Mormon was written to the Lamanites, and the remnant from the House of Israel. The LDS Church does not proselyte in Israel due to an agreement with the Israeli government. Denver Snuffer is working on a Hebrew version of the Book of Mormon, and says he is not bound by the LDS Church’s agreement. We’ll learn more about Denver’s outreach to these two groups of people.
Denver: The first is a separate bound copy of the Book of Mormon which has been rendered into a Jewish friendly version using Jewish spellings. The names in the Book of Mormon have been altered to Jewish spellings. The language has been [changed.] This is in English. I mean, the closest thing I can get in order for you to understand what we’re talking about is this, is a Yiddish version of the Book of Mormon. It’s been published and titled The Stick of Joseph in the Hands of Ephraim and it has a Hebrew subtitle. That has been printed as part of this printing effort, also. And it will be given away. Several hundred copies of that book will be given away to Jewish people, for them to consider the Book of Mormon in a more Jewish context.
Denver: Then, secondly, the Book of Mormon, itself, is currently being translated into Hebrew and will be published as a Hebrew text.
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Volunteers and then some professionals are being compensated. And then a Ph.D. who, his specialty for his doctoral thesis was rendering into Hebrew, English material. Taking English material and converting it into Old Testament Hebrew language, that was his Ph.D. thesis.
Denver: He’s on the faculty of a major university. He’s doing the final edit on the work that is being done to bring it into a Hebrew language. When that’s done and is published, it should withstand scrutiny from the most scrupulous rabbi anywhere in the world: New York, Jerusalem, Amsterdam. It doesn’t matter. It will withstand scrutiny. As a…
GT: Are you sure? I’ve heard there’s a saying that, take two Jewish rabbis and you’ll get three opinions. [chuckles]
Denver: Well, they may differ on what they do with the text, but they won’t differ on language that got used in order to bring it about. But we’re doing an equally serious effort with Native Americans and the remnant there. We don’t necessarily want a lot of attention for the effort that’s being made. In fact, there’s a lot of disappointment, even bitterness among Native American people because of what happened historically with the Indian placement program, with that Indian School that’s now abandoned. Much of it’s been dismantled up in Brigham City.
GT: The Intermountain High School.
Denver: Yeah, the Intermountain High School. There are children who were run through that program who are now adults, who felt that they had been put upon, abused, belittled, discriminated against, mistreated at the hands of an institution. So [for us] to say, “Hey, we’re Mormons, kind of,” or, “We aren’t Mormons, but we’re bringing you the Book of Mormon.” It’s off-putting. You’re going to have an uphill battle to even get a fair hearing because the LDS effort has been disastrously off-putting.
Check out our conversation….
