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Question: Does the Book of Mormon, like Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War'', talk of "freemen who came to the defence of the city, built strong holds and forts, and raised up fortifications in abundance"?
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Question: Does the Book of Mormon, like Gilbert Hunt's The Late War, talk of "freemen who came to the defence of the city, built strong holds and forts, and raised up fortifications in abundance"?
Critics' comparison: The word "freemen" appears in both books [1]
Chris Johnson, Duane Johnson, ""A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain," http://wordtreefoundation.github.io/thelatewar/
6 And those who were desirous that Pahoran should remain chief judge over the land took upon them the name of freemen; and thus was the division among them, for the freemen had sworn or covenanted to maintain their rights and the privileges of their religion by a free government.
25 And except ye grant mine epistle, and come out and show unto me a true spirit of freedom, and strive to strengthen and fortify our armies, and grant unto them food for their support, behold I will leave a part of my freemen to maintain this part of our land, and I will leave the strength and the blessings of God upon them, that none other power can operate against them—
The Late War 51 (p. 200) off-site
7 Nevertheless, it was so that the freemen who came to the defence of the city, built strong holds and forts, and raised up fortifications in abundance, inasmuch as the whole place was as it were one camp.
The Late War 38:26-27 (p. 141) off-site
26 Nevertheless, David said unto the captains of the king, Come singly, and not like cowards, upon me; then shall ye receive the thunders of the freemen of Columbia abundantly;
27 And her liberty shall not suffer, although in the contest ye may destroy my vessel upon the face of the waters.
The Late War 48:12 (p. 180) off-site:
With the spirit of freemen, they grasped their weapons of war in their hands, and went out to meet them without fear; resolved to conquer or to die.
The "freemen" of the Book of Mormon did not build fortifications
One critic of the Church notes the phrase “Nevertheless, it was so that the freeman came to the defence of the city, built strong holds and forts and raised up fortifications in abundance" as indicative of some connection to the Book of Mormon. [2] However, the Book of Mormon passages referring to "freemen" (as opposed to "king men") say nothing about them building fortifications.
The word "freemen" was used in Colonial times
Wikipedia "Freemen (Colonial)":
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th-century Europe and was common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be elected to this privilege by the General Court. Being a freeman carried with it the right to vote, and by 1632 only freemen could vote in Plymouth.[1]
Notes
- ↑ Chris Johnson, Duane Johnson, "A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain," http://wordtreefoundation.github.io/thelatewar/
- ↑ Jeremy Runnells, "Letter to a CES Director" (October 2014 revision).