OVERVIEW

www.greaterthings.com/Word-Number/Doctrine/588PageBookofMormon/pr030802.htm

Pagination of Book of Mormon Supports Its Veracity
Numbering of alphabetical sequence of Biblical words testifies of Mormon Scripture.  Code discoverer uncovers numerous evidences with controversial commentary.

Press Release
Greater Things
August 2, 2003

EPHRAIM, UT

Sterling Allan claims he has uncovered evidence in support of the Book of Mormon from the alphabetic arrangement of words in the Bible and other like books, including the Qur'an and the Jewish Siddur. In addition to witnessing of the Book of Mormon, Allan cautions that the code also provides illuminative commentary that is likely to nudge most Mormons well beyond their comfort zone.

The code consists of numbering all the words of the Old and New Testaments in alphabetical sequence (accomplished by James Strong at the turn of the 19th century), and then looking up specific word and page numbers relevant to a particular topic.

In this case, Allan focuses on the numbers 588 and 531, which are the number of pages in the first publication of the Book of Mormon and of the current publication of the book by the LDS Church, respectively.

Probably the most concise and obvious example is the definition given for the 588th word alphabetically in the New Testament Greek. Word 588 is apodechoma, with definition: "to receive or embrace heartily, used of God's Word."

Allan is used to seeing such keenly specific matches in this study he has undertaking with varying intensity since 1996, when he first discovered the phenomenon, naming it "Alphabetics."

He doesn't just look at word numbers. He also points out applicable passages from pages with the applicable numbering.

Page 588 of Zodhiates' Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, for example, contains a sequence of definitions that have the effect of telling the story of the unearthing of the Book of Mormon:

- "to lie in wait" (word 1748 enedreuo and 1749 enedrou),
- "to roll away, such as a ... stone" (antonym for word 1750 eneileo),
- "things within" (word 1751 eneimi),
- "on account of, for this cause" (word 1751 heneka).

These ideas are automatically combined in Allan's mind to convey the following applicable statement: "they lie in wait, a stone is rolled away, the things within contain an account for a cause."

Allan also looks at word derivations. Word 588 the Old Testament Hebrew lexicon, Anacharath, derives from a word (5170 nachar) that is part of a group of words that have to do with necromancy and enchantment, including a word that means "whisper (magic)." Allan ties this to the prophecy of Isaiah 29:4, which is a passage that Book of Mormon apologists are fond of citing as a Biblical verse that foretells the coming forth of the new book of scripture. "Thou...shalt speak out of the ground, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust." Allan also points out that sprinkled among the words in this region, arranged alphabetically, are definitions that refer to precious metal, bringing to mind the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to have been engraved.

The first Book of Mormon published by Joseph Smith had 588 pages. The present publication of the Book of Mormon by the LDS Church contains 531 pages, providing Allan with yet another number to analyze using his Alphabetics approach.

The 531st word alphabetically in the Old Testament Hebrew is the name Amoz. He was the father of Isaiah, cited in the very first verse of the very first chapter of Isaiah. Allan claims that this is significant because the Book of Mormon quotes lengthy excerpts from Isaiah, accounting for nearly one third of the entire book of Isaiah in all. According to the Book of Mormon, Isaiah is the only book of scripture specifically mentioned by Jesus Christ when he visited the ancient peoples of America, commanding them to read its pages. As a result, Mormons pay especially close attention to the Book of Isaiah.

Allan points out that the word Amoz itself means "strong" -- similar to the definition of the 531st word alphabetically in the New Testament Greek, aparabatos, which means "unchangeable" -- a word that is often used modernly in the Christian world in reference to the Bible being the exclusive, inerrant word of God.

Not to escape Allan's attention is the fact that Zodhiates lists just one antonym for word 531 in the New Testament Greek: "episphales (2000), insecure." This is an ironic definition considering the year 2000 and the Y2K bug that could have been a disaster had the necessary precautions not been taken. "Near to falling, ready to fall, not firm, dangerous" is the definition given for word 2000; and the Book of Mormon stands for the opposite of that -- firmness, security.

Pondering the numbering coincidences, which he claims are intentional by God and his angels, Allan cites the role the scriptures often play as an anchor of stability for society that would otherwise rapidly decline to decadence and destruction.

While these surprising testaments to the Book of Mormon would be welcomed by Mormons, there are other extrapolations from this study that would not be readily embraced.

Allan draws attention to the fact that scriptures are also blamed as the basis for some horrendous deeds of history carried out by zealots acting outside the realm of common sense, and that Mormonism has had its share of dastardly deeds thus committed, and he is not afraid to point out when Mormonism as a whole has been in support of such atrocities.

He points out that word definition 588 in Zodhiates falls on page 222, and that it is on page 222 of Jon Krakauer's new bestseller, "Under the Banner of Heaven" that Krakauer mentions that the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place on September 11. Krakauer's book was where Allan first learned that there were 588 pages in the original Book of Mormon.

In a report Allan wrote prior to encountering Krakauer's book he pointed out that this black chapter of Mormon history in which 120 men, women and children were slaughtered by the Mormons bent on holy vengeance, happened exactly 144 years before the fated 9/11 attack on America by Muslim fundamentalists, drawing comparisons between the two events.

Allan suggests that this deed has such far reaching ramifications in the history of the Mormons, that it garners special attention in the code. The first definition on page 588 of Zodhiates states: "To lie in wait as in war or in ambush in order to kill someone.... By implication, to lie in wait as for prey in order to ensnare or seize." John D. Lee was the scapegoat for this event, but Allan asserts it was a Mormon deed, commanded by Mormon hierarchy, for which the Church has yet to admit culpability.

In a study done prior to this most recent one on 588 and the Book of Mormon, he did an Alphabetics analysis of Lee, using the years of his birth and death. In it he found evidence that points to his having been John D. Lee in a former life. Allan claims that those evidences are bolstered in his analysis of the number 588.

Allan shows how the 588 number associations point to his own work (www.greaterthings.com) as well as that of JJ Dewey (www.jjwritings.com), who Allan mentioned in the Lee report. Both Allan and Dewey were excommunicated from the Mormon Church for "apostasy."

Page 588 of Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament contains definition 4740 (sterizò) "firm condition, steadfastness," matching the definition for word 531 in the NT lexicon. Also on that page happens to be the insertion point of the name Sterling spelled in Greek letters. The last phrase on the page reads, "the letters of the alphabet," which Allan cites as evidence of a coded witness of this Alphabetics approach, and its role in proving a witness to and radical exposition of the modern ramifications of the Book of Mormon.

The name "Dewey," spelled with Greek letters, alphabetically inserts immediately before the root word dexomai (1209) from which word 588 (apodechomai) in the New Testament Greek is derived.

Some who track Dewey's work consider that he was probably Joseph Smith in a former life. Dewey was excommunicated for teaching of multiple mortalities and advancement over time from one degree of glory to another. Dewey's writings draw heavily from LDS scripture, including the revelations given to Joseph Smith as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, but also draws ecumenically from truths found in other religions, especially from Eastern wisdom. Dewey's objective as a teacher revered by hundreds (a small portion of which come from an LDS background) is to move toward a literal gathering that he calls the "molecular relationship." This in not a sexual union, but a union of purpose, into a body so coherent that it takes on a life of its own and is overshadowed by the spirit of Christ himself.

Allan shows that the words leading up to the alphabetic insertion point of Dewey and following it support this premise. Read in sequence, they say:

- "master" (1203 despotes),
- "come hither" (1204 deuro and 1205 deute),
- "the second time, again" (1206 deuterainos, 1207 deuteroprotos, and 1208 deuteros),
- Dewey (insertion point),
- "to take to oneself what is presented or brought by another, to receive" (1209 dexomai),
- "bind" [molecular relationship] (1210 deò),
- "truly" (1211 dè),
- "make manifest" (1212 dèlos and 1213 dèloò).

Supporting the idea of the Christ being manifest according to Dewey's molecular model, following word 1213, Allan has noted in the margin of his copy of Zodhiates' New Testament lexicon that the word "Jesus" is found on page 1214 of Webster's Third New International Dictionary. Further on the page, Zodhiates writes that word 1217 dèmiourgos is "applied to God, the architect of that continuing and glorious city which Abraham looked for." The next word (1218 demos [root for domocracy]) means "a people, so-called because they are united by laws and ties of a society."

Also on that page (words 1214-1216), Allan notes that the page number, 413, was the Post Office Box number in Provo, Utah of his Greater Things Magazine when it commenced in April of 1992.  Page 413 in the LDS Topical guide begins with a continuation of the heading from the previous page: "record keeping" and begins with the phrase, "the record of the holy scriptures upon them." Allan points out that words 1214 through 1216 match a description of his excommunication from the LDS Church for attempting to get to the podium in the October 1992 General Conference to give a talk. Word definition 1215 means "to speak or address a public assembly, to harangue the people." Word 1216 is the name demetriou who was "a silversmith" (hinting at Sterling silver, Allan's first name). Word 1214 in the Old Testament lexicon means "to cut off."

Jumping back and forth between the numbering in Old and New Testament dictionaries is completely acceptable and often highly fruitful, according to Allan's portrayal of the Alphabetics approach.

In this case, word number 1209 lands on page 133 of Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. Allan cites this as being significant because section 133 of the LDS Doctrine and Covenants, is the last section containing a revelation given through Joseph Smith.

It turns out, Allan says, that the entire page is filled with definitions that describe the scenes of Nauvoo Illinois where the Mormons had their last stand prior to being driven to the Salt Lake Valley, where they finally found a home from which they were not driven. The page begins, for example, with the phrase, "to take away, to remove, to exterminate."

The page prior, page 132, Allan corresponds to section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants, which contains Joseph's revelation on polygamy. One definition on that page, for example, means "mistress." He asserts, drawing from the definitions on these two pages as well as other correlations found through other word associations in this study, that introducing polygamy as if it were the highest order of matrimony, was a serious error and that God was the one who punished the Saints in Nauvoo for adopting this practice.

While any one of these correlations Allan draws might endear him to people of one given persuasion on a particular topic, there are few who would be delighted by the entire study, as it hits so many areas of deep controversy, rendering unorthodox variations at nearly every turn.  Allan hopes his reports will help awaken the destiny that is in each person, both individually as overcomers, as well as collectively as a people destined for a great gathering into a union of synergistic harmony, overshadowed by the presence of the Christ.

Contact: Greater Things

Write-up: 588-Page Book of Mormon in Alphabetics