Author: Jonathan Neville

The June 2018 Ensign has a wonderful short article titled “United in Doing Good.”  It fits well with the “summer of love theme.”

The article includes excerpts from Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, and the Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, including Emma Smith’s observation about “the necessity of being united among ourselves.” The article notes that “President E. Smith … rose and said that measures to promote union in this society must be carefully attended to.”

The summer of love is an ideal time to contemplate unity. Church members seek complete unity and harmony as we minister to one another and to the world at large.

But, as Emma also said, we need to “deal frankly with each other.”

And, frankly, there is an ongoing obstacle to unity in the Church, found right in this Ensign.

It concerns the Book of Mormon, and the ongoing efforts by the Church History Department (CHD) to revise Church history to promote M2C.* CHD appears to be colluding with the efforts of BYU/CES to teach the Saints that the prophets are wrong about the New York Cumorah.

This is part of a pattern of conduct, enforced by the Correlation Department, to censor references in Church history that contradict the prevailing M2C narrative. We’ve seen it in lesson manuals (e.g., here, where they edited the Wentworth letter), artwork, media, and visitors centers. 

Now we have the Ensign itself censoring a key reference to the hill Cumorah in New York.

How can we achieve unity when employees at BYU/CES/COB are teaching the youth, and the world at large, that the prophets are wrong?
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The same June 2018 Ensign that contains Emma’s comments about unity also contains a chapter from the new Church history book Saints that misleads the Saints about an important event in the life of Joseph Smith.

Much of what we discuss on this blog can be chalked up to ignorance about what the prophets have taught, which is understandable because LDS intellectuals have done everything possible to suppress Letter VII and the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah.

But today we’re going to look at what appears to be a deliberate effort by the Church History Department to mislead members of the Church by (i) inaccurately paraphrasing an important account in Church history and (ii) omitting critical information from that account.

NOTE: new readers who are not familiar with the M2C academic cycle that has caused this problem can read the background in the last section of this post.
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Now, we ask, how is the Church History Department misleading the Saints about Cumorah, and why are they doing it?

One would think the Church History Department would be neutral on the topic of Book of Mormon geography, but the employees there are close colleagues of the M2C promoters at BYU/CES and they are doing what they can to enable their colleagues to promote M2C.

I showed an example from the April Ensign, but the June Ensign is the most egregious (so far).

One day, Joseph went to town on an errand. Expecting him back for dinner, his parents were alarmed when he did not return. They waited for hours, unable to sleep. At last Joseph opened the door and threw himself into a chair, exhausted.

Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844-5 the part quoted and cited in Saints is lined out

“Why are you so late?” his father asked.

“I have had the severest chastisement that I ever had in my life,” Joseph said.

“Who has been taking you to task?” demanded his father.

“It was the angel of the Lord,” Joseph replied. “He says I have been negligent.” The day of his next meeting with Moroni was coming soon. “I must be up and doing,” he said. “I must set myself about the things which God has commanded me to do.”19

Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845 The revision that quotes Joseph referring to Cumorah before he even got the plates is not mentioned, quoted or cited in Saints.

Presently he smiled, and said in a very calm tone, “I have taken the severest chastisement, that I have ever had in my life”. 

My husband, supposing it was from some of the neighbors, was quite angry; and observed, “I would would like to know what business any body has to find fault with you.”

“Stop, father, Stop.” said Joseph, “it was the angel of the Lord— as I passed by the hill of Cumorah, where the plates are, the angel of the Lord met me and said, that I had not been engaged enough in the work of the Lord; that the time had come for the record to <​be​> brought forth; and, that I must be up and doing, and set myself about the things which God had commanded me to do: but, Father,’ continued he, ‘give yourself no uneasiness concerning the reprimand that I have received; for I now know the course that I am to pursue; so all will be well.”

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Background on the M2C Academic Cycle.

Church leaders have consistently and persistently taught that the Hill Cumorah (Mormon 6:6) is in New York. However, a few decades ago, certain LDS intellectuals decided the prophets were wrong about the New York Cumorah. According to these intellectuals, the following Church leaders were ignorantly speculating, expressing their personal opinions, and were wrong. This is a partial list:

Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Joseph F. Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, George A. Smith, James E. Talmage,

LeGrand Richards, Marion G. Romney, Mark E. Petersen, etc.

The academic cycle: how students learn to repudiate the prophets

Instead, according to these intellectuals, the “real” Hill Cumorah (Mormon 6:6) is somewhere in southern Mexico. They call this the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory, the idea being that the “hill in New York” is merely the place where Joseph obtained the plates and not the hill referred to in Mormon 6:6. This directly repudiates the teachings of the Church leaders listed above.

These intellectuals have been teaching at BYU and CES for decades now. They have trained thousands of students to accept M2C, including most of the employees in the Church Office Building, the Church History Department, etc.

As a result, for the last few decades, we have had a steady diet of M2C in art, media, lessons, and even visitors centers.

Mormon abridging a Mayan codex

M2C is explictly on display at the North Visitors Center on Temple Square, as I’ve pointed out several times.

The exhibit actually portrays Mormon abridging the Nephite records from a Mayan codex!

Meanwhile, Moroni is off in the distance in upstate New York, burying the plates (along with the sword of Laban and the Liahona, which contradicts all the historical accounts but is shown this way to promote M2C and to repudiate what Oliver Cowdery told Brigham Young and other Church leaders).

Theoretically, all of this could be attributed to a policy of “neutrality” about Book of Mormon geography, but we can all see there is nothing neutral about it. BYU/CES/COB have been steadfastly promoting M2C for decades, with no thought of even informing Church members what the prophets have actually taught, let alone portraying those teachings in artwork, media, visitors centers, etc.

We love everyone anyway all year ’round, so let’s spend the summer focusing on love and unity.

The Beatles released the single “All You Need Is Love” in July 1967. Maybe that’s all we need here, too.

Maybe love will encourage our M2C advocates to reconsider and at least try to understand why so many Latter-day Saints still believe what the prophets have taught about the New York Cumorah.

That’s a great starting place.

Let’s see what happens this summer.

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I bring this up because some people have been upset/annoyed that I’ve been pointing out the way BYU/CES/COB employees have been promoting M2C.

In my view, you can’t solve a problem that you haven’t identified.

People losing faith in the Book of Mormon is a big problem. Maybe even bigger is the obstacle to faith created by the M2C proponents who teach the prophets are wrong.

If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

Actually, Eldridge Cleaver said it this way:

‘There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you’re going to be part of the problem.”

We all want to be part of the solution. And we’ll do it with love.

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All You Need Is Love

The Beatles

Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love

There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done
Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung
Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game
It’s easy
Nothing you can make that can’t be made
No one you can save that can’t be saved
Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time
It’s easy

All you need is love, all you need is love
All you need is love, love, love is all you need

All you need is love
All you need is love, love, love is all you need

There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known
Nothing you can see that isn’t shown
There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be
It’s easy

All you need is love, all you need is love
All you need is love, love, love is all you need
All you need is love (All together now)
All you need is love (Everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Love is all you need

Yesterday
Oh yeah
(She love you, yeah, yeah, yeah)
(She love you, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Songwriters: John Lennon / Paul Mccartney

All You Need Is Love lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

People who study the Book of Mormon in detail need to use the English version. All the translations I’ve looked at so far have problems because the translators were thinking “Central America.”

This shouldn’t be a surprise. English is the source language for the Book of Mormon. (Technically, the plates are, but we don’t have access to them right now, so we have to work with the English text.)

The basic gospel principles are convened effectively into different languages, but in-depth study requires familiarity with English, just as those who study the Bible use the Greek and Hebrew. When I studied the New Testament in Greek, it quickly became apparent why there are so many variations among the translations.

Translating any language into another is a subjective effort in many respects. There are some words that translate clearly, but others that have no direct one-to-one correlation. In these cases, the translator has to clearly understand the ideas conveyed by the source document and then try to find a comparable expression in the new language. This creates two elements of subjectivity that readers in the new language usually aren’t even aware of.

Unfortunately in the case of the Book of Mormon, official translations have been implemented with M2C in mind.

I’ve discussed how the translations of the Book of Mormon promote M2C* instead of accurately reflecting Joseph’s English translation. The example I discussed was the translation of “head of Sidon,” which is being translated into foreign languages as the “source of Sidon.” This is not a translation but an interpretation, guided by M2C.
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A few weeks ago in France I was made aware of additional M2C spin in the translations.

Here is Helaman 13:4 in English:

4 And it came to pass that they would not suffer that he should enter into the city; therefore he went and got upon the wall thereof, and stretched forth his hand and cried with a loud voice, and prophesied unto the people whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart.

What was the wall made out of? The text doesn’t specify. Could be stone, wood, earth, bricks–pretty much anything a wall can be made out of.

Here it is in French:

4 Et il arriva qu’ils ne voulurent pas lui permettre d’entrer dans la ville ; c’est pourquoi, il monta sur la muraille, et étendit la main, et cria d’une voix forte, et prophétisa au peuple ce que le Seigneur lui mettait dans le cœur.

The painting that leads translators to interpret, not translate, the Book of Mormon

The French word “muraille” means not simply a wall (mur), but a bulwark, a thick wall, a vertical wall, masonry raised around a castle or city, etc. One commentator explained the difference this way:

“Mur” = any wall you may think of, including some barriers (“sound barrier” = “mur du son”).
“Muraille” is never used for a house, even for a castle. It means something really huge and preferably very old and always made of stone, enclosing a stronghold, a town or a whole country. It is also sometimes used to describe a high cliff or a steep mountain slope.

A French member of the Church told me this term definitely means a stone wall. That’s one reason why people who read the French translation think of Mesoamerica.

But it’s an incorrect translation. In English, the text does not say it’s a stone wall. Therefore, the French version is  an interpretation that I consider misleading.

I think the interpretation in this case was driven by the M2C artwork that the Correlation Department inflicts on members of the Church all around the world.
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Necks.

M2C intellectuals always conflate the terms narrow neck, narrow neck of land, and small neck. I think they are different terms because they refer to different things.

But the distinction is removed in foreign translations.

Those who don’t read English are reading the M2C spin, not the text Joseph translated.

Examples.

Alma 22:32 reads:

thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward.

In French, the passage is translated like this:

c’est ainsi que le pays de Néphi et le pays de Zarahemla étaient presque entourés d’eau, une étroite bande de terre existant entre le pays situé du côté du nord et le pays situé du côté du sud.

Alma 63:5 reads:

therefore he went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land northward.

In French, it reads:

s’en fut construire un navire extrêmement grand dans les régions frontières du pays d’Abondance, près du pays de Désolation, et le lança dans la mer de l’ouest, près de la langue étroite qui menait au pays situé du côté du nord.

Ether 10:20 reads:

20 And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land.

In French, it is:

20 Et ils construisirent une grande ville près de la langue étroite de terre, près de l’endroit où la mer divise le pays.

If you don’t read French, you can see that in all three cases, the French uses the term étroite, which means “narrow.” You don’t get the English distinction between “small” and “narrow.” The M2C intellectuals say the terms are synonymous. That’s possible, but they have different connotations that are lost in the French translation.

Again, this is an interpretation, not a translation.

Joseph (or Mormon/Moroni) used different terms. Why should the foreign translations use the same terms?

The French does use “bande” instead of “langue” here, which is an interesting choice. “Langue” means “tongue” or “language,” but “langue de terre” means a “spit of land.” Like a tongue, a spit of land is “a small point of land especially of sand or gravel running into a body of water.”

“Bande” means a “strip” or “stripe.”

Instead of a “small neck of land” we have a “narrow strip of land.”

Instead of a “narrow neck” we have “a narrow tongue.” A neck connects two bodies of water or earth, but a tongue extends from one without joining to another. This is a problem for any proposed geography.

In Alma 63:5, “by the narrow neck” becomes “near the narrow neck.” This, too, loses the possible alternative meanings of the phrase, such as “through the narrow neck” or “in the vicinity of the narrow neck.”

There are other examples, but this introduction hopefully will serve as a caution to non-English speaking members of the Church and investigators.
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As long as readers understand the M2C problem with these translations, they won’t be misled because they can always refer to the original in English.

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* M2C is the acronym for the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory.

Observations are worth more than academic sophistry

“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”
–  Galileo Galilei

With Letter VII, we’re not dealing with science or humble reasoning, but the concept is the same.

The authority of a thousand intellectuals is not worth the humble statements of fact of a single individual who has actually observed what the intellectuals merely speculate about.

President Oliver Cowdery actually visited Mormon’s depository of records in the hill Cumorah in New York. That’s why he declared in Letter VII that is was a fact that the final battles took place there.
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Someone told me that an acquaintance of his said he believed the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory because John Sorenson’s book, Mormon’s Codex, was over 800 pages long.

Apparently he was serious.

I’ve heard similar comments about all the “peer-reviewed” work done by the citation cartel (BYU Studies, Interpreter, FARMS, Maxwell Institute, etc.), but of course none of it is “peer-reviewed” in any meaningful sense.

They don’t seek or even allow reviews by peers who don’t subscribe to M2C.

It’s peer approval, not peer review, driven by confirmation bias. 

By comparison, Letter VII is only about 5 pages long (in the Messenger and Advocate), or about 10 handwritten pages in Joseph Smith’s history.
http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/83)

When you know the truth, you can simply declare it. Especially when you’re an ordained prophet, seer and revelator.

President Cowdery’s statements of fact about the New York Cumorah are more valuable than thousands of pages of rhetoric from latter-day intellectuals who insist that, because of their own reasoning, President Cowdery and all the other prophets and apostles were wrong about the New York Cumorah.
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Here are some more random observations that relate to Letter VII.

“With regard to matters requiring thought: the less people know and understand about them, the more positively they attempt to argue concerning them.”
– Galileo Galilei

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
– Galileo Galilei

“You should, in science, believe logic and arguments, carefully drawn, and not authorities.”
– Richard Feynman

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
– Upton Sinclair

“The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present — and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.”

President Eisenhower   January 17, 1961

Joseph and Oliver receive the keys in the Kirtland temple

Surely his counsel applies to every member of the Church. 

In 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the keys of the gathering: “the Heavens were again opened unto them and Moses appeared before them and committed unto them the Keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth.”

The prophets have consistently taught the importance of the gathering of Israel. We were instructed about this when I went on my mission many years ago.

President Nelson explained that “You and I are living to see, and will continue to see, Israel gathered with great power. “And you can be part of the power behind that gathering!”

This is the fulfillment of prophecy, and we’re seeing it all around the world. Miracles are happening daily, as we all know and have experienced ourselves.

And yet, billions of people are not hearing the message. There are obstacles and impediments that we all hope to remove so more people will hear and accept the gospel message and be gathered in.

Forty years ago this coming October, President Ezra Taft Benson taught us that “The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to ‘sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect.’ (Moses 7:62.) This sacred volume of scripture needs to become more central in our preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work.”

In my view, one of the most serious impediments to the gathering of Israel is confusion about the Book of Mormon.

The tragedy is, we could remove this impediment simply by accepting the teachings of our prophets. But because of M2C, LDS intellectuals and employees at BYU/CES/COB refuse to accept what the prophets have taught.
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Imagine being a sincere investigator. A friend, or a missionary, tells you about the Book of Mormon–a sacred record of ancient people in the Americas who were visited by Jesus Christ after his ascension to heaven.

You’re interested, but a little skeptical. You’ve never heard of this before, which seems strange because pretty much everyone in the world, regardless of his/her religion, has heard about Jesus Christ who lived in Israel. Surely, you think, you should have heard about Jesus visiting America.

You ask where Jesus came. Your friend, or the missionary, replies, “We don’t know. Just somewhere in the Americas. He visited an ancient civilization called the Nephites but they were all killed off around 400 AD in a big battle with their enemies.”

“Where did this happen?” you ask.

“In a place called Cumorah.”

“Okay, then where was Cumorah?”

“I don’t know. But I know the book is true.”

If you were skeptical before, you’re even more skeptical now. 

Your friend, or the missionary, says, “You can know the truth also. Just read this book and pray about it.”

Maybe you will. Maybe you’ll read the Book of Mormon and gain a spiritual witness and become one of the 1.7% of Americans who are LDS, or one of the 0.2% of the world’s population who are LDS. 

But statistically, the overwhelming likelihood is that you will investigate a little before accepting the message. 

You go to the Internet. 

You discover there is quite a lot of discussion about this Cumorah place. You find Mormon and anti-Mormon web pages debating the issue. You find even Mormon web pages debating the issue. You end up at a site such as this: http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/cumorah.htm

You quickly discover three things:

1. The Mormon prophets have consistently taught that Cumorah is in western New York. That gives you something to investigate further. 

2. You also learn that the Mormon prophets have said that they don’t know the locations of other Book of Mormon places. But you know that there are still debates about the sites of Biblical events, too, so that’s not a big deal.  

3. But then you learn that a lot of Mormons, even Mormon teachers at BYU, say their own prophets were wrong about Cumorah being in New York. They claim Cumorah is actually in Mesoamerica, or Baja, or Panama, or just about anyplace except New York. 

You think, “If Mormons don’t believe their own prophets, why should I?”

The next time you hear from your friend (or the missionaries), you politely say you’re not interested. You don’t want to get into a debate that the Mormons themselves can’t resolve.
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I agree with President Nelson that there is nothing more important than gathering Israel. 

I also agree with President Benson that the Book of Mormon is the instrument prepared to gather Israel.

For these reasons, I hope all members of the Church can unite in supporting and sustaining the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah. 

Last month I hiked around on Mount Etna in Sicily, which last had a major eruption in 2015. I also sailed past Stromboli.

More recently, a friend of mine has a house in Hawaii that was ruined by the latest volcanic eruption. This major eruption been in the news all around the world.

The Fuego volcano in Guatemala has also erupted, causing death and destruction. This volcano has been in the news, as have many volcanoes over the years.

There are 50-60 eruptions annually from the 500 active volcanoes known to have erupted within historical time (plus another 1,000 volcanoes that could erupt).
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/file_mngr/file-153/FAQs.pdf

Such reports make the news because they are dramatic and life-threatening. They are a part of culture, art, and literature throughout the world.

But volcanoes are never once mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
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The Book of Mormon does mention earthquakes several times, including in 3 Nephi 8.

If we want to know where the Book of Mormon took place, we should be looking for a place that has significant earthquakes but no volcanoes.

This is not the common situation; most major earthquake zones have active volcanoes (except along the north of India).

Most of the volcanoes in the news are along the “ring of fire” that surrounds the Pacific Ocean.

However, there are some areas in the world that have significant earthquake hazards but no volcanoes.

One of the best known of these in in the Mississippi River valley. People living there in the early 1800s during the New Madrid earthquake reported phenomena just like what the Nephites reported in 3 Nephi 8.

IOW, the Book of Mormon describes conditions as they actually are in the Midwestern U.S., without any volcanic activity.
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How significant were volcanoes to the people in Mesoamerica? Given the prevalence of volcanoes in the area and their devastating impact, we should find lots of cultural symbols of volcanoes. And we do.

One report suggests the people in Mesoamerica considered volcanoes so important that hey built effigies of volcanoes. https://archive.archaeology.org/9807/abstracts/volcano.html

At the center of each patio, families built small shrines consisting of mountains modeled from clay, stone, and potsherds crowned with crudely carved heads of humans or serpents. Some are clearly effigies of Popocatépetl. Beneath each carved stone head is a chimney that leads to a charcoal-filled chamber dug in the patio floor. Smoke would have puffed out from under each head in imitation of the ash and vapor plumes expelled from the crater during volcanic activity.

Another describes “Volcanoes as the Prototypical Mountains in Mayan Cosmological Past.”

https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/guatemala/assets/DeSalvo_2008.pdf

The absence of jade, jaguars and jungles from the Book of Mormon text is good evidence that the Nephites never lived anywhere near Mesoamerica. But the absence of volcanoes is exceptionally unlikely in a text that describes 1,000 years of history in that area.

 For more on volcanoes in Mesoamerica, see
https://www.livescience.com/45997-maya-pottery-volcanic-ash-mystery.html