RicOlie_2 said:
Thanks, but I've read it already. :) Maybe I'm asking a non-question, or maybe I just wasn't clear enough, but what I'm asking is if Joseph Smith used the more regularly used English words for things like "Jew" and "Christ" which wouldn't have been the literal translations of the text, why use the literal translation of the text to describe New World animals (e.g. bison) instead of using the normal English word? If he was translating under divine inspiration, it shouldn't have mattered whether or not the word literally meant "ox" or "bison" as one would think God, or the angel Moroni, or whoever was helping him out would prompt him to translate it as "bison" if it was used to refer to a bison, or "ox" if it was used to refer to an ox. Does that make sense? Why be non-literal with some words or phrases, but use confusing literal translations for others?
That is a good question. First, the geography of the Book of Mormon is unknown. As such, we cannot discern which animals are being discussed. Are they tapirs? Are they bison? We don't really know. It's all just speculation. What's more, the correctness of the Book of Mormon is not and should not be interpreted to mean every single word is exactly what we we would understand. When it discusses cattle, we don't know what is being discussed, and that doesn't matter. Remember that Joseph Smith was an uneducated farmboy. In reality many wonder how he could have even concocted such a book with so little education. His knowledge of the fauna of the Americas was limited. God wouldn't necessarily supply him with all new words he didn't know. God was working with the limited mind of one of his creations. Joseph dictated the word that his mind could comprehend when he came across whatever animals, plants, or whatever we are discussing.
That said, how can this be the most correct book? In doctrine, in teaching the correctness of the gospel. We claim that the Book of Mormon teaches even more clearly than the Bible that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of mankind, and its exposition on his Atonement is clearer and superior to any other book. That is what we teach.