For almost 30 years, a copy of the Book of Mormon has been preserved in the historical collections of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The book was published in 1976 with a soft, light blue cover featuring a golden Angel Moroni. Within the book there are handwritten markings on nearly one of every six pages — the majority are underlining or curved brackets, but three dozen of the pages contain handwritten words. The first page contains the signature “E. A. Presley” and on the last page (in the index) was written, “Father, I want more! I need more now. Help me!” The content and placement of the annotations suggest that Elvis Presley read this copy of the Book of Mormon from cover to cover.
The idea of Elvis Presley cherishing the Book of Mormon has captured the popular imagination of Latter-day Saints. The story of this book has been told by fireside speakers, classroom teachers, newspaper columnists, and an independent filmmaker. And the story continues to circulate throughout the market for “uplifting” books and social media.
However, after carefully analyzing the historical opportunities for Presley to have read this volume and the handwriting throughout its pages, I affirm that Elvis Presley did not write in this Book of Mormon. A detailed presentation of the analysis with photographic evidence will be published in a forthcoming issue of BYU Studies, but my findings about the book’s history, its forged signature, and its forged annotations are summarized here.
Thanks to suspicious minds this fake can now be returned to sender...
Last edited by Guest on Wed Nov 14, 2018 9:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
The Book of Mormon was given to the LDS Church by members of the Osmond family, who received it from a woman named Cricket Butler, according to Diamond. Butler, a friend of Elvis, gave the Book of Mormon to him in the months preceding his death. The book was subsequently returned to Butler by Elvis' father, Vernon, two days after Elvis' death.
"She sat in on the missionary discussions at Graceland and knows the date Elvis was to be baptized, which never came to pass due to Elvis' death," Diamond said.
That baptism date will be revealed in a separate documentary being produced by 7 Films 7, to be released at the same time as the feature film. It will also feature interviews with Alan Osmond and other friends, fans and missionaries sharing their experiences with Elvis.
"It is well known that Elvis Presley was a devout Christian who had deep religious convictions despite his personal weaknesses and struggles with a Hollywood lifestyle that was thrust upon him at an early age," Starling said. "What is lesser known is that he reportedly met on several occasions with missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that he studied carefully the Book of Mormon."
Much of his life and career will be retold in flashback sequences in the movie.
"I spent many months pouring my soul into the screenplay," Diamond told the Deseret Morning News. "The Book of Mormon changed my life as a young man, and I believe this movie will help people understand that it did the same for Elvis in the latter days of his life."
Oops...
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
...fabrications manufactured to deceive. Forgeries are often accepted because they provide something that people already want; in this case, a story of the conversion of a celebrity....
What about those who felt inspired by a story that now turns out to be false? One lesson to learn is to seek corroboration before retelling a story.
That's pretty specific, and pretty harsh. I'm a little surprised the church news printed it. Or are we entering the phase where TBMs will insist things like, " we always knew Dunn's stories were fake..."
Mentalgymnast already tried that in a thread about Dunn stories, and it got exactly the reception you would expect.
The idea of Elvis Presley cherishing the Book of Mormon has captured the popular imagination of Latter-day Saints. The story of this book has been told by fireside speakers, classroom teachers, newspaper columnists, and an independent filmmaker. And the story continues to circulate throughout the market for “uplifting” books and social media.
The popular imagination must have been overwhelming as the HOLY SPIRIT touched the hearts of those drippy eyed Mormons during those firesides and faith promoting classes.
