2 nephi 25.23 shafovaloff's egregious errors

8/2/2019 2 Nephi 25.23 Shafovaloff's Egregious Errors

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Ye shall know the Truth Ministry

2 Nephi 25:23&Anti-Mormon

FollyBased on False Statements

Made by the So-Called

Mormon Research

MinistrysAbraham Shafovaloff&

Bill McKeever

Copyright 29012 Ye Shall Know the Truth Ministries To Anti-Mormons

Father teach them the truth


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2 Nephi 25:23 & Anti-Mormon FollyBy Ronnie Bray

I have visited MRM's webpage addressing 2 Nephi 25:23

and find them like old geysers, blowing lots of steam,

spray, and spume out of their blowhole in no particular

direction. Their difficulties, all of their own making are

linked to the phrase after all we can do. The following is

the root of their difficulty.

When anyone undertakes to pin down a precise and

unequivocal interpretation to that phrase by means of a

single activity or to a series of activities linked together

they are, in my opinion, stepping outside the remit of the

passage. Let us look at the verse in question:

For we labour diligently to write, to persuade our children,

and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to bereconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace1 that we

are saved, after all we can do.2

Aaron Shafovaloff, speaking for the MRM opines:

2 Nephi 25:23 is a key text by which Mormons identify

and distinguish their view of grace, repentance, works, andmerit. It has consistently functioned in Mormonism as a

text speaking of the prerequisite conditions for receiving

forgiveness, eternal life, and exaltation, although some neo-1 Ps. 130:4 (34); Rom. 3:20 (2024); 7:5; 2 Ne. 2:5 (410); Mosiah 13:32; Alma 42:14 (1216); D&C

20:30; 138:4.2 James 2:24 (1426)


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orthodox Mormon revisionists are attempting to recast it as

being about receiving grace in spite of all the conditions

that we can't fulfil.

Unless Mr Shafovaloff is open to allow Mormons to

determine how that verse has functioned for them he will

have to abandon his pretence of knowing how Mormons

read and view it, and what contribution it makes to their

understanding of what God requires of the faithful as

preconditions for salvation and whether it is a key text for

them, or not.

If we adopt Shafovaloffs obvious view that God imposes

no prerequisites to candidates for salvation, then we have to

abandon the scriptures in favour of the writings of

minimalist theologians whose philosophies of Christianity

have suffered from too wide an attention to a narrowing

and diminishing number of biblical verses at the expense of

many more verses that directly controvert their conclusions.

The challenge before us and them, that is before Latter-day

Saints and Anti-Mormon Christian minimalists, is whether

we accept that the Bible is a guide to faith, and that what

Jesus and the prophets say have any binding power on the

beliefs of those that claim to be disciples of Jesus, to

whether the passages within the Holy Bible are no more

than optional suggestions that may be laid aside if they get

in the way of someones pet theological position.

Mr Shafovaloff continues:


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From General Conference talks that reference this verse,

we glean that all we can do means our own merits, all

we can do to pay to the uttermost farthing and make right

our wrongs, [exert] every ounce of energy, [t]rue andcomplete repentance, repent to fully pay our part of the

debt, giving all that we can give and doing all that we can

do in our present circumstance, and maximum effort.

I can see him stamping his little feet, quite breathless at his

gleanings. He continues,

According to LDS authorities [Which and When?] andchurch-published literature [Which and Where?], these

conditions are necessary prerequisites to receive the

fullness of the Lord's grace and be made worthy to dwell

with him, to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation, to

go into the celestial kingdom, to have the Saviours

magnificent Atonement [pay] the rest of [our] debt, to

have God take away our stain, and to get God to take[sins] away from our hearts.

The gentleman has now met himself coming back. For if

he argues, and he does argue most forcibly, that this verse

is interpreted by Latter-day Saint authorities to mean that a

Mormon must earn his or her salvation by their continuous

and untiring actions, that he lists as:

1. [Earning salvation by dint of] our own merits,

2. all we can do to pay to the uttermost farthing and

make right our wrongs

3. [exerting] every ounce of energy


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4. True and complete repentance,

5. Repenting to fully pay our part of the debt of sin we

owe to God

6. Giving all that we can give and doing all that we cando in our present circumstance,

7. And putting forth maximum effort,

Then I condemn his conclusions as false, crass, and

deliberately misleading. It is hardly surprising, considering

the gentlemans background that he fails to find anything in

Mormonism that argues against his extremism and

distortion.

It is, however, wholly surprising that he seems unaware of

any requirements imposed on Christians by Jesus Christ,

his prophets, and apostles that resembles the spirit of 2

Nephi 25:23 within the boards of his Holy Bible. I

presume he has a Bible.

Let us take Shafovaloffs objections one by one and correct

his misinterpretations by shedding the light of truth on

Mormon belief.

1. [Earning salvation by dint of] our own merits

Do Mormons believe that salvation is dependent on their

own efforts, and is something that they must either earn of

do without? Of course they do, not, and neither does Jesus.

How then does Mr Shafovaloff insist that a person is saved

by doing nothing more than resting on divine Grace?


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Is he aware that when the crowd assembled on the day of

Pentecost asked the apostles,

Men and brethren, what shall we do?

Peter did not say,

You dont have to do one single thing. All you have to do

now is to sit back and take it easy and God will do the rest

for you through Jesus.

Instead of granting them a do-nothing licence, Peter said:

Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of

Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

What! gasps Mr Shafovaloff, eagerly thumbing through

his pristine Bible to find where this verse was hidden. He

told them doDO something? [Acts 2:37-38]

Here was a crowd of about three thousand men of Israel,

convicted by Peters preaching that Jesus was the Christ,

their Messiah, and recognising their mistakes about Jesus,

they were cut to their hearts and needed with all their

beings to make themselves right before God. Hence their

appeal to the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we

DO?

Peter and the other Apostles knew the answer to their

question, and without hesitating to consult with the

minimalist theologians that were, even then, troubling the


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fledgling Church of Jesus Christ, he spoke with authority

and told them what Jesus had divinely directed him and his

companions to say with the commission and power given to

him at his ordination, under the hands of the Saviour of theworld:

Repent and be baptised, every one of you. And ye shall

receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

Bill McKeever, a confederate of Shafovaloff on MRM,

itemises the folly of believing what is written in Acts bylisting it as a new and peculiar heretical teaching of

Alexander Campbell, and one that was not any part of

Historical Christianity. Campbellites are heretics,

McKeever writes, because of their:

Dependence on Acts 2:38 for the sequence of saving

actions, which include faith, repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and

appropriate good works to demonstrate persevering to the

end, upon which eternal life can be assured.

Little wonder that my spellchecker wanted to change

McKeever into Makeover! because McKeever castigates

Christians that rely on the sacred scriptures and the words

of Jesus Christ and of the apostles of Jesus Christ, and

arrogantly tags them as heretical beliefs.

To Bible believing Christians, and that includes Mormons,

it is evident that the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ directed


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and approved of their actions and we note that it is the

LORD that added to the Church those that would be saved.

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in theirheart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,

Men and brethren, what shall we do?

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptised every

one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of

sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and toall that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God

shall call.

And with many other words did he testify and exhort,

saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptised: andthe same day there were added unto them about three

thousand souls.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and

fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and

signs were done by the apostles.

And all that believed were together, and had all things

common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted

them to all men, as every man had need.


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And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple,

and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat

with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, andhaving favour with all the people.

And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be

saved.

This fascinating series of events were driven by the Risen

Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost at the Feast of

Pentecost! What MRM sees as an imposition, is actuallythe word of God to those that would be Christians that the

LORD would save. We ought not to be surprised

although we are! that those that represent themselves as

ministers would turn their back on the divine word, on the

Apostles, and on the activities of the Holy Spirit of God,

and turn their hands to other distortions besides criticising

and finding fault with Historical Christianity.

Dare I suggest that these gentlemen are underemployed and

stuck for something important to say, and so they fit the

mopuld of those against whom the Bible gives us warning

when it tells us that, Also of your own selves shall men

arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples

after them. [Acts 20:30]. This day is this scripture

fulfilled in thy sightby Shafovaloff and McKeever.

It is unavoidable that we recognise that those that should

be saved,were engaged in a series of activities recognised

as appropriate and essential for other Christians to imitate.


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These are listed by Saint Luke as:

1. Repentance2. Baptism by Immersion for the Remission of sins

3. Receipt of the gift of the Holy Ghost by the imposition

of the hands of the Apostles

4. They were also instructed to Save [themselves] from

this untoward generation,a further demand that they

become positive actors in their own salvation after

fulfilling the first fours Apostolic requirements of

Faith, Repentance, Baptism, and receiving the HolyGhost, including:

5. Continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine

6. Enjoying Christian fellowship

7. Breaking bread together in communal meals

8. Prayers the Christians native breath

9. And all that believed were together

10. Having all things common11. Selling their surplus possessions and goods

12. Giving charitable gifts to all men according to need.

13. Continuing daily with one accord in the temple

14. breaking bread from house to house

15. eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart

16. Praising God

17. Having favour with all the people.

18. Being added to the church of God because they would

be saved.

Of this event John Wesley wrote:


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So their [early Christians] daily Church communion

consisted in these four particulars:

1. Hearing the word;2. Having all things common;

3. Receiving the Lord's Supper;

4. Prayer.

Ye diff'rent sects, who all declare,

Lo here is Christ, and Christ is there;

Your stronger proofs divinely give,

And show me where the Christians live![John Wesleys Explanatory Notes on Acts 2]

Obviously they are not found within the confines of the

Mormon Research Ministry

We should not doubt that primitive Anti-Christians accused

Early Christians of being a weird cult that followed a

charismatic leader, and were transformed from what they

had been, faithful Jews, into something novel: for so they

were!

But that into which they were changed was that which was

commanded by God and Jesus Christ. Shafovaloff and

McKeever would have you believe that God and Jesus are

absolutely wrong or else they are misunderstood.

To the Law and Testimony! The call to discipleship

extended to all by Jesus and his representatives to all

mankind is not a call to idleness.


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Christianity is no pipe dream, no pathological affectation of

the mind, but a faith that required all of a man or woman

that there was to them.

Jesus gave more than broad hints when he preached his

Gospel of Salvation, and he did not say, Just leave

everything to me. You sit back and enjoy yourselves,

Watch the parade go by and Ill take care of you when the

time comes!

That kind of religiose minimalist nonsensical theology hasnothing to do with God or Jesus.

What, exactly, did Jesus say he expected from Christians.

Those that preach that all Jesus said about our eternal

salvation was Only believe and do nothing else!

Confess me as your LORD and then you can go to

sleep! Jesus gave a stark warning.

Matthew 7:21-23:

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, [the

Confession of Jesus as LORD] shall enter into the kingdom

of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Fatherwhich is

in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not

prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out

devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?


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And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart

from me, ye that work iniquity.

Paul agreed:

"It is not those who hear the law who are righteous in

God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be

declared righteous."Romans 2:13

Jesus commends almsgiving, marking that which is done in

the right spirit as leading to a reward from God.

Matthew 6.1-4:

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen

of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which

is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not

sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the

synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory ofmen. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But

when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy

right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy

Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee

openly.

Jesus did not forbid Christians to give alms. He encouraged

almsgiving when it was done in the proper spirit.

In 1 Peter 1:3-6, the head of the College of Apostles gives a

call to action redolent of those given by the master.


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Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind [ACTION!], be

sober[ACTION!], and hope to the end for the grace that

is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ

[ACTION!]; as obedient children [ACTION!], notfashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your

ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be

ye holy in all manner of conversation [ACTION!];

because it is written,Be ye holy; for I am holy .

Here, Christians are directed to imitate Almighty God. Of

course, Peter, one of the most human of the apostles, knew

that perfection in toto was impossible in this life.

Nonetheless he directs Christians to strive to become

perfect, just as Jesus did in Matthew 5:39, when he charged

Christians,

Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father in heaven is

perfect.

Is this an example of a commandment that cannot be kept?

Does Almighty God make commandments knowing that

frail humanity cannot keep them, or is it merely divine

torment as the Olympian gods employed to sport with

humanity for amusement?

If that is what these Minimalist Anti-Mormon gentlemen

believe, do they also believe that Saint Paul is in on the

joke and that he directly and deliberately set out to mislead

Christians when he wrote,


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There hath no temptation taken you but such as is

common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer

you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with thetemptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able

to bear[withstand] it? [1 Corinthians 10:13]

~~~

2. all we can do [means that Mormons believe we

have] to pay to the uttermost farthing and make right our

wrongs.

Oops! Not even a complete idiot could make that mistake,

and being a professional Anti-Mormon is no excuse for

building a straw man out of fog and mist. I suppose that

makes it a fog and mist man!

Mormons accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Redeemer,and are conscious of the fact that someone that has no debt

for a Redeemer to settle has no need of a Redeemer.

~~~

3. [exerting] every ounce of energy

Latter-day Saints are the first to acknowledge that even if it

were possible to outlive the superhuman effort it would

take to constantly exert every ounce of energy in

worshipping and serving God, no human being could do

enough to save him or herself.


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This is acknowledged by Latter-day Saints in a key

scripture from the second chapter of Mosiah in Book of

Mormon:

20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render

all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power

to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept

and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice,

and has granted that ye should live in peace one with

another

21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has

created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from

day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and

move and do according to your own will, and even

supporting you from one moment to anotherI say, if ye

should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be

unprofitable servants.

Being an unprofitable servant means that no matter what

we do we could not extricate ourselves from the debt we

owe to the LORD for his gift of eternal life. There is not

sense of having to pay the uttermost farthing, or right all

our personal wrongs. If we could do that, then we would

have no need for a Saviour. I have yet to meet a Mormon

that believes they can save themselves except by the Grace

of God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In gratitude for

these gifts, Mormons worship God and do all they can to be

obedient to the LORD Jesus Christ. That Shafovaloff and

McKeever find cause for derision at our doing so speaks


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volumes about their characters. Nevertheless, nothing they

can invent will ever beat the truth.

The fate of the unprofitable servant in the parable of thetalents is said by Jesus to be consignment,

into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and

gnashing of teeth. [Matthew 25:30]

The title, unprofitable servant, is identified in the parable

and in the outstanding commentary, Barnes' Notes on the

Bible, thus:

==============

The spiritual meaning of the parable may be thus summed

up:

1. The servants of God are not all endowed with equal giftsand talents.

2. All, whatever may be their ability, are bound to employ

their talents in promoting his honour, and in a proper

improvement of them.

3. By employing their talents in a proper manner, they

improve and strengthen them.

4. They will be judged according to the improvements

which they have made.


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5. All sinners look on God as a hard master, and as

unreasonable and tyrannical.

6. People will be judged not merely for "doing wrong, butfor neglecting to do right."

7. If the servant who kept the talent entire without injuring

it, and who returned it to his master as he received it, was

nevertheless judged, condemned, and cast away, what must

they expect who abuse their talents, destroy by drunkenness

and lust the noble faculties conferred on them, and

squander the property that might be employed in advancingthe interests of morals and religion!

==============

Clearly, the Reverend Dr Barnes is at odds with MRMs

Anti-Mormon Ministry in its understanding of the Sacred

Scripture, to which, they allege, they look to establish whatthey must do to be saved. Shall we follow the noble Bible

scholar whose life was spent teaching Christians how to be

better Christians. Or shall we follow Shafovaloff and

McKeever into the ditch?

~~~

4. True and complete repentance,

What is true and complete repentance? Is it that course

which, when followed assiduously leads a person out of his

sins and enables him or her to stand purified and righteous


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before God? The use of the word true is an identifier that

someone is using dishonest thinking. Either repentance is

true or else it is not repentance.

When Jesus calls his people to repentance, as he frequently

does, does he call them to true repentance or to an

inferior, sub-standard imitation of repentance? Is a

repentance that is not complete really repentance?

Should Latter-day Saints and other Christians try to use a

non-genuine, moth-eaten repentance that is an attempt to

pull a fast one on Jesus?

That suggestion from the Brothers Grim is reminiscent of

the pagan Omar Khayyams Rubaiyat in which he

excuses his insincere contrition:

Indeed, repentance oft before I swore.

But, was I sober when I swore?And by and by comes Spring with rose in hand

And my threadbare penitence apieces tore!

The words of Christ concerning repentance ring in the ears

of Christians that are not seeking for paltry excuses to do

nothing after they have come to Christ. We look at a few

examples. If we find that they are given to us by an

Insincere Saviour who does not mean what he says, then

we will be right to ignore them and follow Shafovaloff and

McKeever. Otherwise, we should trust and obey, for

theres no other way to be happy with Jesus than to trust


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and obey. That hymn has been sung by Christians for more

than a century.

Hymn No. 467. Trust and Obey

Text: John H. Sammis, 1846-1919

Music: Daniel B. Towner, 1850-1919

1. When we walk with the Lord

in the light of his word,

what a glory he sheds on our way!

While we do his good will,he abides with us still,

and with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain:

Trust and obey, for there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2. Not a burden we bear,

not a sorrow we share,

but our toil he doth richly repay;

not a grief or a loss,

not a frown or a cross,

but is blest if we trust and obey.

(Refrain)

3. But we never can prove

the delights of his love

until all on the altar we lay;


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for the favour he shows,

for the joy he bestows,

are for them who will trust and obey.

(Refrain)

4. Then in fellowship sweet

we will sit at his feet,

or we'll walk by his side in the way;

what he says we will do,

where he sends we will go;

never fear, only trust and obey.

(Refrain)

Latter-day Saints join in wholeheartedly with Mr Sammis, and

believe Jesus when he said it takes more than calling on the name of

the Lord to be saved: Jesus told us it also took obedience to the willof the Father.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the

kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Fatherwhich

is in heaven. [Matthew 7:]

One of the things Jesus said was the will of his Father for

Christians is that they should repent.

Remember the height from which you have fallen!Repent

and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I

will come to you and remove your lampstand from its

place. [Revelation 2:5]


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I have given her time to repentof her immorality, but she

is unwilling. I gave her time to repent, but she does not

want to turn away from her immorality. .[Revelation2:21]

"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is

near. Repent and believe the good news!".[Mark 1:15]

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near [Matthew 3:2]

Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard;obey it, and repent. [Revelation 3:3]

Repent therefore! Repent of your sin, or I will come to

you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my

mouth. [Revelation 2:16]

So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met torepent of their sins and turn to God. .[ Mark 6:12]..

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he

commands all people everywhere to repent. [Acts 17:30].

//bible.cc/acts/17-30.htm - 16k

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be

wiped out[Acts 3:19]

Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord.

Acts 8:22


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Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in

the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

And you .shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. [Acts

2:38]

From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the

kingdom of heaven is near ... Matthew 4:17

I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all

perish."[Luke 13:5]

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest,and repent. [Revelation 3:19]

Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Job 42:6

[They] cursed the God of heaven because of their painsand their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had

done. They did not repent of their deeds. [Revelation 16:11]

Who will argue against repentance before and after

becoming a Christian when Jesus speaks so often and so

fittingly of repentance as a principle that all full-hearted

Christians must obey? Will you follow Jesus, or will you

follow false teachers?

~~~


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5. Repenting to fully pay our part of the debt of sin we

owe to God

Again crooked thinking invites us to believe that a debt thatis not paid fully is paid. Crafty use of semantic traps are

the hallmark of the dishonest. God does not require full

payment.

6. Giving all that we can give and doing all that we can

do in our present circumstance,

7. And putting forth maximum effort.

2 nephi 25.23 shafovaloff's egregious errors

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