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Beggars Before God

Another concept from King Benjamin’s address, Beggars Before God (Mosiah 4:16–26), also has precedent in a sermon of Dr. Hugh Latimer, 1824, p.72:

And here we be admonished of our estate and condition, what we be, namely beggars. For we ask bread [when we pray]; of whom? Marry, of God. What are we then? Marry, beggars: the greatest lords and ladies in England [presumably up through King George IV, as also King Benjamin] are but beggars afore [sic] God. Seeing then that we all are but beggars, why should we then disdain and despise poor men? Let us therefore consider that we [are] but beggars: let us pull down our stomachs; for if we consider the matter well, we are like as they be afore [sic] God: for St. Paul saith, Quid habes quod non accepisti? “What has thou that thou hast not received of God?” (1 Cor. 4.) Thou are but a beggar whatsoever thou art: and though there be some very rich, and have great abundance, of whom have they it? of God. What saith he, that rich man? He saith, “Our Father, which art in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread:” then he is a beggar afore God, as well as the poorest man.

I found this sermon with a less than a minute of using Google Book search. I’m sure more extensive research has been done on King Benjamin’s revival sermon, but it doesn’t really matter. With a total of perhaps 15 minutes of poking around, I found plausible sources for supposedly unique phrases and ideas in King Benjamin’s sermon. I don’t care if we can prove that Joseph had access to this sermon between 1824 and 1829 when he dictated it back to his scribes, we have stacks of other verified books and sermons and arguments from the early 19th century (and earlier) bursting through the seams of the Book of Mormon. Even if there is no discoverable direct link from this sermon to JS Jr. in upstate NY, if we accept the faithful perspective, we are asked to believe that God saw it fit to canonize the work of a Protestant preacher from the 1820s by sending this sermon back in time to King Benjamin, so ancient prophets could engrave it on metal plates multiple times, for centuries, abridge it, carry it thousands(?) of miles, bury it, come back from the dead, all to bring it back to the 19th century from whence it came. Who needs Ockham’s razor when you have time travel?

This is not to criticize the content of the sermon in Mosiah 4. These verses are some of the most Christian and charitable verses in all of the scriptures of any religion. It should be required reading for the leaders of all Churches. It should be canonized. However, it should also be credited to the source.

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