Mark Twain on the Book of Mormon
Author and critic of humanity finds text moronic
Mark Twain’s views on religion are enigmatic. He was a harsh critic of Christianity (and a harsher critic of Mormonism), yet he was deeply intrigued by sacred stories. His Diaries of Adam and Eve, though not particularly orthodox, strangely captures the loss of innocence mankind experienced in these first parents. His Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc is strikingly devotional, and Twain regarded it his finest work: “I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing. The others need no preparation and got none.”
(Note: I agree that Joan of Arc is his best work. In brief, it is one of the few of his novels in which characters find redemption. In his other works, the characters decline hopelessly into buffoonery, leaving the reader to wonder if there is hope at all for humans. In Joan of Arc there is hope; the novel is a triumph of the soul.)
Twain did not particularly like the Book of Mormon:
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Chapter 16, From Roughing It, by Mark Twain
All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the “elect” have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so “slow,” so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print. If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle—keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate. If he, according to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and mysteriously-engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out-of-the-way locality, the work of translating was equally a miracle, for the same reason.
The book seems to be merely a prosy detail of imaginary history, with the Old Testament for a model; followed by a tedious plagiarism of the New Testament. The author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint, old-fashioned sound and structure of our King James’s translation of the Scriptures; and the result is a mongrel—half modern glibness, and half ancient simplicity and gravity. The latter is awkward and constrained; the former natural, but grotesque by the contrast. Whenever he found his speech growing too modern—which was about every sentence or two—he ladled in a few such Scriptural phrases as “exceeding sore,” “and it came to pass,” etc., and made things satisfactory again. “And it came to pass” was his pet. If he had left that out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet.
© 2012, Mark Adams. All rights reserved. For inquiries press here.
Postscript: May 21
"This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper"
To Whom It May Concern:
If you’re reading this, you missed Harold Camping’s rapture, which definately was supposed to happen last year, May 21, 2011. If you’re reading this because you are interested in knowing when the rapture will concern, please refer to Mark 13:32. Camping’s end-of-the-world prediction is such a non-starter that I didn’t bother to renew May21.info –
Have a nice day.
Mark Adams
© 2012, Mark Adams. All rights reserved. For inquiries press here.
The Story of Star Wars, 1977 lp
An audio adventure
The first album I ever purchased was “The Story of Star Wars,” released in 1977. The album featured the audio of the actual film, narrated by Roscoe Lee Browne (see Wikipedia). This was not the musical soundtrack. It was the movie itself.
I purchased “The Story of Star Wars” in 1979 or 1980 — I was 9 or 10. As my allowance was one dollar per month, the $11.99 price tag seemed astronomical, out of reach. But I scrimped and saved, and, finally, I had enough to purchase “The Story of Star Wars” on vinyl. I listened to the album so much, I wore it out. Much later, the entire Star Wars trilogy was released, but with a different narrator. I was devastated. The force was not with these new albums, and I soon tossed them out.
As a child, I greatly enjoyed listening to stories on my record player. Among my favorites, besides “The Story of Star Wars,” were Bill Cosby’s “Bill Cosby is a funny fellow. Right!” and “Revenge,” plus innumerable sci-fi audiobooks. Today, we’ve become such a visual society we seem to have lost the ability to appreciate the spoken word by itself.
Here below is the original, 1977 release:
Here starts side two:
If you don’t like pops and crackles, listen to the reel-to-reel version:
© 2012, Mark Adams. All rights reserved. For inquiries press here.
A personal note
Today, I was appointed an elder of Mountain Bible Church in Los Gatos, California (link). It is an honor to serve God in this capacity, and I pray for his guidance and instruction. I first came to Mountain Bible Church in 1997, as youth pastor, and it has been my privilege to work with the youth of our community. The new youth pastor is Daniel Brandt, who is an exceptional young man. He will more than ably replace me.
In the photo above, you see the elders and lay-leaders praying for Daniel and me. Mountain Bible Church is not led by its elders and ministers alone, but by all who are called to faithfully serve God.
© 2012, Mark Adams. All rights reserved. For inquiries press here.
“When Life Is Real,” by Edgar Lee Masters
Arranged for music by the wandering poet
I recently set Edgar Lee Master’s poem, “When Life is Real,” to music. Here’s the original poem:
Visit my music website: WanderingPoet.com.
© 2012, Mark Adams. All rights reserved. For inquiries press here.
There is a way that seems right to a man…
"A man's got to do what a man's got to do." - Pseudo John Wayne
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” — Proverbs 14:12, ESV
Regarding “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do” (which is how I honestly remembered John Wayne saying the line) see here.
© 2012, Mark Adams. All rights reserved. For inquiries press here.
To the Peacemakers
From "Concert for Africa" - visit GospelDays.com
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
(Matthew 5:2-13 ESV)
© 2012, Mark Adams. All rights reserved. For inquiries press here.
