Close Topic Options

Brother Of Jared A Stone Man.

The brother of Jared went unto a mountain and melted stones. I always wondered how he melted stones. Glass can be made but it is made of sand not usually available on a mountain. If it were quartz which is used to make melting crucibles the temperature would have to be extremely high. Any ideas about this? I also wonder if any evidence of this craft has been found since apparently this was what he did to comply with the admonition to do as much as he could himself it must have been common knowledge at that time.

Man Stone Jared Brother

Interesting thread. This is what I found, I hope it helps.

"In July 1992 Insights reported the development of radioluminescent lights that resemble the shining stones used by the Jaredites (Ether 2:19-3:6; 6:2-3, 10). Made of a highly porous silica matrix called aerogel, these modern lights-whose life expectancy is 20 years-employ tritium gas to produce beta radiation that causes a phosphor such as zinc sulfide to glow.

As we await further scientific advances that might help demystify the physical properties of glowing stones, we can profitably review earlier thinking on this intriguing subject, which reminds us that the scriptural account of Jaredite barges lit by 16 luminous stones is not as fanciful as critics contend.

The Insights article noted that in 1963 Elder Spencer W. Kimball proposed that the Jaredite stones were illuminated "with radium or some other substance not yet rediscovered by our scientists."

In 1909 Elder B. H. Roberts compared experiments on radioactive materials with the Book of Mormon's description of the Jaredite stones, noting that both radium and polonium glow in the dark. One scientist noted that polonium could transfer its radiant energy to other substances and suggested that it might be used in the future to generate light without heat or combustion.
In 1927 Janne M. Sjodahl drew the attention of Latter-day Saints to experiments that produced a glow in precious stones by exposing them to cathode rays or to radium. He concluded that the brother of Jared "was in possession . . . of a knowledge that scientists of today are just beginning to dip into" and that it is not "unreasonable to suppose that God could make the stones in the [Jaredite] barges luminous."The cathode ray tube has since come into common use in radar, television, and computer screens. Some precious stones (notably the ruby) are used in lasers, an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation."

To see full article, go to this link:

https://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=insights&id=72

Edited: LDS_forever on 30th Jul, 2004 - 2:19am