A friend once described a Sunday School class discussing that passage. "What country," the teacher asked, "has an eagle as its symbol?" "The United States!" the class members answered, which demonstrated that Jesus Christ’s prophecy pertains specifically to America.
Unfortunately, though, Americans aren’t the only people with an eagle as a national symbol. Eagles appear on the flags of Mexico and Zambia and on the coats of arms of Austria, Russia, Ghana, Egypt, Poland, Germany and Nigeria. An eagle appeared on Roman military standards and symbolized Hitler's Third Reich. Moreover, eagles aren’t carrion birds; they don’t typically gather around carcasses. The passage almost certainly refers to vultures, not eagles.
When people ask me whether the Book of Mormon is a literal translation from the plates, I tell them that, lacking those plates, we can’t possibly know. But I also tell them that there’s really no such thing as a “literal translation.” And we probably wouldn’t want one, anyway. It might be at least partly incomprehensible.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8656 ... lates.html
As is becoming the norm, almost immediately a commentator drives a horse and cart through DCP's signature plot holes.
The translation occurred by words appearing on a stone placed inside a hat. Those words were read aloud and written down by the scribe who then read them back. Only when they had been recorded as the same did the words on the stone disappear and new words appear. Joseph Smith didn't have the opportunity to choose what words to use for translating. It was given to him through words appearing on the stone. If the translation wasn't literal, that poses some interesting problems. For example, why was the word horse given if it meant a tapir? Why didn't the correct word appear on the stone?
Even his ornithology doesn't stand up to much scrutiny...
Being a detail-oriented person, I just have to pick a nit here.
Peterson said: "Moreover, eagles aren’t carrion birds; they don’t typically gather around carcasses. The passage almost certainly refers to vultures, not eagles."
While the passage very probably does refer to vultures, some types of eagles definitely **are** carrion birds. For one interesting example, I myself have seen a golden eagle sitting on a road-killed deer carcass. As it happens, that was at the side of a highway in Utah!