Anyone who reads the Book of Mormon (BoM) will notice that the phrase "and it came to pass" is used way too often. Mark Twain had this to say about it:
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.... 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. Roughing It, Chapter 16
The phrase is also, of course, frequently found in the King James Version of the Bible, which is no doubt why Joseph Smith used it in the BoM; it just sounds so darned biblical. The trouble is that he liked it so much that he got carried away with it. Here's a summary of the occurances of "it came to pass" in the Bible and the BoM.
| Bible | BoM | |
|---|---|---|
| it came to pass | 452 | 1297 |
The phrase occurs nearly three times as often in the BoM as in the Bible. That doesn't seem so bad until you look at the size of the two books. The Bible is nearly five times as big as the BoM. Here's how the comparison looks when size is taken into account.
| Bible | BoM | |
|---|---|---|
| it came to pass | 452 | 1297 |
| number of verses | 31,102 | 6588 |
| Percent | 1.45 | 19.7 |
So "it came to pass" is found in nearly 20% of the BoM's verses -- over 13 times as often as in the Bible! But, actually, it's a bit worse than that. The original 1830 edition of the BoM had even more uses of "and it came to pass." But since I can't find a searchable version of the 1830 edition, I can't quantify it for you.
Of course all of this can be explained. Brant A. Gardner in Meridian Magazine tells us that there's a good reason for all the and-it-came-to-passes; Joseph Smith used this phrase to mark the begining of paragraphs. It's just that simple.
Still it seems strange that he would have had 30 paragraphs in the 39 verses of 1 Nephi 16. I guess the original translation didn't have any punctuation, but still 30 paragraphs in 45 or so sentences seems a bit excessive.
And if the and-it-came-to-passes were used to mark new paragraphs, why do some verses have more than one. Here's Alma 47:11, for example:
And it came to pass that when Lehonti received the message he durst not go down to the foot of the mount. And it came to pass that Amalickiah sent again the second time, desiring him to come down. And it came to pass that Lehonti would not; and he sent again the third time.
Did Joseph Smith really think there should be three paragraphs in this verse?
No, it looks to me like Mark Twain had it exactly right. Joseph Smith thought the and-it-came-to-passes made it sound like scripture, and it would make his rather short book a bit longer. So he couldn't resist.
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Now it came to pass that Steve had stumbled upon a rock and skinned his knee. It came to pass that he cursed the rock, yea the rock was silent. For behold it came to pass that Steve cherished the rock for it had held him in place, and it shall come to pass that Steve will wonder the rock a sign; yea, it came to pass that he realized it was just a rock, thrown away from a nearby hillside. It came to pass that Steve could not blame the rock, yea not forgive it for the folly it has played, for Behold it came to pass that it was just a rock. And it came to pass, as spot emac it dna.
are you all mad? read the book of mormon. its true
And it came to pass that Joseph Smith made the entire thing up, making error after error so that he left a trail of bread crumbs laughably easy to follow.
And it came to pass that all who did follow the man and his fraud did not seem to use basic common sense when all of his prophesies did *not* come to pass, but bought the nonsense hook, line and sinker, even the ones he duped out of money in failed banking schemes.
And it came to pass that while even Bible skeptics could travel to Jerusalem or Galilee or Bethlehem or Athens, not even LDS could locate the Hill Cumorah, even though thousands are supposed to have perished there in great wars.
I dont know why the writers of the book of mormon (Nephi, Alma, Mormon, Moroni, and others) used the phrase "it came to pass" so many times. But that seems to matter very little, that same kind of thing happens in our day and age all the time. with Words such as "like" and "you know what I mean", people use them all the time.
If your having such a hard time with the Book of Mormon or how it was translated, by which was done under the direction of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then you should ask your selfs do i beleave in Christ and if you do then read the Book of Mormon its about Christ, his teachings, his church, and his followers.
I have read the Book of Mormon. I have pondered its contents, I prayed to God, our father in heaven in the name of Christ with faith that I would recive (ask and it shall be given you, matthew 7:7 the Bible) and he did answer me. I invite all to do the same as I because it is true or it is not true and you need to ask God the only one you know for sure wont lie.
I know the Book of mormon is true and is more proof that Jesus lived that he is the Christ the bible is the word of God.
I do know why "And it came to pass" is in the BoM so many times.
Because the book was written by a single author. The plain and obvious truth stands there like an elephant standing in your living room, but you choose to ignore it.
You're right, in our *day and age* people say "like" and "you know what I mean", but fifty years ago they didn't, and in fifty years from now they will have other common terms and phrases. The dead giveaway for the BoM is that it is supposed to have been written over multiple generations by different authors but contains repetitive themes, repetitive phrases, and repetitive events.
You have the same arguments that every Mormon has, but you completely fail to address the book's foremost problem: Authenticity.
Even Bible skeptics can go to Jerusalem or Damascus or Bethlehem. Atheists can stand on the shore of the sea of Galilee and visit hundreds of locations mentioned in the Bible. The Jews are real people, as are the Greeks, the Romans, the Corinthians. These are real people in real places with a real history.
Now let's look at the BoM.
Not one single solitary person, place or event unique to the BoM is mentioned anywhere other than the BoM.
Now read that again.
This means that no place, person or event that the BoM alone speaks of has a single shred of evidence to confirm it as reality. No writings, inscriptions or any oral tradition can substantiate the book you hold as scripture. None.
The Book of Mormon was *not* translated under the direction of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith put his head in a hat and read words on a stone. This is mentioned by Cowdery I believe.
The 'translation' was done one word at a time. No margin for error. Gift and power of God.
But the book has undergone thousands of changes since the 1830 edition. So much for being 'the most correct book ever written'.
No, the book is a fraud. Plain and simple. Mormons are now even questioning the location of Comorah because guess what, they can't find so much as an arrow head despite the supposed millions who fought and died there. And the church owns the property.
I know the Book of Mormon is not true and that Joseph Smith is not a true prophet. I know because having prayed and read, I received firm confirmation that the Mormon church is not true and that Smith is a false prophet Jesus warned about, deceiving many (about 12 million right now).
Neil. I appreciate your clarity and assertiveness. I also feel it necessary to reveal the holes in your argument to allow other people to see how impossible it is to prove or disprove with validity of the Book of Mormon with words and scientific evidences.
By your logic of trends in speech, Genesis, 1 Kings, Joshua, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, Nehemiah, Exodus, Judges, Jeremiah, Judges, and 2 Chronicles were all written by the same author. The truth is, the authors of these books had access to scripture that came before them and they wrote in the same pattern. Why would the Book of Mormon prophets have acted any different?
Second, one of the greatest aspect of the Bible is that many of the sites can be visited. Wouldn't it be great if we knew a tenth of the names of the cities and knew the cultures of Asia, Polynesia, Australia, Micronesia, Africa, and all the other forgotten languages and cultures from the time period of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem all the way to just after the time of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The sad truth is that we don’t. So then, by your logic, unless the Book of Mormon was from some place in Europe (i.e., where we have a record of more than a small fraction of the cities and the cultures of the specified time period) then we have reason to doubt that it ever happened. Reasonably, from a historical perspective I must agree. So again we are back at square one. And, if it had occurred in Europe, then where would we be. Well just as you said, Atheists can go to biblical locations and it does not prove to them that the bible is true, so why are we speaking of this as an evidence of the Book of Mormon being false?...I don't know.
3rd, I think it is silly to assert that the mode of translation could have anything to do with its validity. Did God not cure Israelites that looked upon the serpent in the wilderness, and did God not cure Naaman because he washing in the filthy river Jordan 7 times. As we all know God works in simple and mysterious ways.
In conclusion (“In conclusion” a commonly used phrase that transcends multiple generations to signify the last thought of a written piece) the Book of Mormon cannot be proven through words nor evidences. And if you are looking for some semblance of evidence, read the book and ask yourself if you yourself with more than the 2nd grade education that Joseph Smith had, could write something similar to what he wrote. And when that doesn’t work, pray about it and ask if it is true. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5. Everyone has this God given right.
Even Neil prayed about it.
Correction: By your logic of trends in speech, Genesis, 1 Kings, Joshua, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, Nehemiah, Exodus, Judges, Jeremiah, Judges, and 2 Chronicles were all written by the same author. "Each one of these books uses "and it came to pass" multiple times. The truth is, the authors of these books had access to scripture that came before them and they wrote in the same pattern. Why would the Book of Mormon prophets have acted any different?
If anyone reads the KJV version of the Bible they will notice “And it came to pass” used very frequently as mentioned above in both sides of the debate. However, if we take a look at other Versions of the Bible we will notice that “And it came to Pass” is either not or very rarely used because the phrase was commonly used by the original translators of the KJV since they were translating it into the English of their time which is known as, “Early Modern English”. Here are several examples of other modern translations not or rarely using “And it came to Pass”:
New Living Translation: (0 Times)
English Standard Version: (3 Times, 5 “Came to Pass”, No AND or IT, all three instances do not start a verse like the KJV)
New American Standard Bible: (0 Times, 3 “It Came to Pass”, No AND)
New International Version: (0 Times, 2 “Came to Pass”)
Amplified Bible: (3 Times, 2 “So It Came To Pass”, 4 “Came to Pass”)
It is obvious from above that the only reason that “And It Came to Pass” was used often in the KJV is because of the English grammar of the time frame (early 1600s). It is now obvious from modern translation of the Bible from Greek, Hebrew and Ancient Manuscripts that we now have more “Modern English” rendering of the original texts. Thus, this proves that Joseph was highly influenced by the KJV [By obvious quoting of Isaiah (Sometimes even verbatim of the KJV), Malachi, and Matthew and by un-attributed quotes from the NT, Genesis, Exodus, Job, Micah, Hosea, and Psalms] since it was the only translation of the Bible available in English at the time of Joseph Smith and/or he stole material from the text from Solomon’s Spalding’s “The Manuscript” or from Ethan Smith’s (no relation to Joseph) “View of the Hebrews”. For my last point the Book of Mormon makes the EXACT SAME KJV translations errors for example: “Isaiah 9:1 should read 'honor' in the place of 'grievously afflict'. The Book of Mormon makes the same mistake.”(Source: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/curt_heuvel/bom_bible.html). I suggest that everyone who reads this read the following source above ^^^^^^^^^^^^^. It has some interesting points and is a good read.
Did you know that for hundreds of years the prevailing thought was that the earth was the center of the universe. This geocentric view was fact to those who lived at the time and I'm sure many went confidently to their graves believing in their great wisdom. It is really pointless to use our current understanding of ancient civilizations as irrevocable fact or fiction judgment. Those who cite evidences of the Book of Mormon being untrue because it doesn't align with our current data are naive. What makes you think our current understanding is right? Aristotle was a bright guy and yet he was a geocentrist. We are not at the zenith of human knowledge so why pin your arguments on "facts" that can very possibly be disproven once you are dead and gone. I'd hate to think that my legacy was convincing people of something I ultimately ended up being wrong about because I refused to acknowledge that I didn't know everything.
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