Common Version? And, as to the matter borrowed from the New Testament those Nephite preachers knowing all about Jesus long before he was named by the angel Gabriel, of course, they knew all about the New Testament hundreds of years before it was written!
If it be admitted that Smith turned from his plates to get a single sentence it will be fatal to the claims of Mormonism. They will escape the difficulty at this point just as easy as a man would dodge a stroke of lightning. Martin Harris says:
"The prophet possessed a seer stone by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone."—M. of M. F. page 91.
This informs us that the "interpreters" were somewhat inconvenient. Smith did not need them; and of course would never have used them at all, only out of respect for the feelings of his god! Of course the Lord did not know anything about that seer stone that was "hid up" in Mr. Chase's premises, or he could have saved the trouble of making those magical spectacles. And evidently the Lord did not know the size and shape of the Mormon prophet's head, for as those spectacles were inconvenient we conclude that they were not a good fit! I suppose that when Smith got a chance to slip that stone from among the trinkets of those children he just took it to be used as an expedient. And it does seem from the subsequent history of this stone that the expedients of men may be superior to the arrangements of the Almighty, for this stone was superior to the Urim and Thummim that the Lord prepared especially for Smith's use twenty and a half centuries before! Perhaps the Lord ought to have waited till he saw the size and shape of Smith's head before making those spectacles?! He evidently forgot to examine the seer's head the time he brought his Son to New York to introduce him to Smith! If he had not he certainly would have corrected the mistake before having them delivered to the prophet! However, as we have seen, according to Mormonism, the Lord makes mistakes!
