Jonathan Neville

August 27, 2017Uncategorized

Why Letter VII is awesome

From time to time, I like to remember how significant Letter VII was in Church history and why it’s so important today.

Joseph and Oliver wrote these eight historical letters to edify and educate the early Saints. In part, they were responding to anti-Mormon publications. They assured readers that the letters were “founded upon facts.”

One of the things they specifically identified as a fact was that the final battles of the Jaredites and the Nephites took place on the mile-wide valley west of the Hill Cumorah in New York.

They also said Mormon’s depository of Nephite records (Mormon 6:6) was in the same hill. To Joseph and Oliver, this was not a matter of theory or conjecture; they had actually been in the depository, as Brigham Young and others explained.

It’s not just Letter VII that is awesome.

Part of Letter I has been canonized in the Pearl of Great Price.

Other letters tell us details about Moroni’s first visit, about Joseph’s visit to the Hill Cumorah, about how the stone box was constructed, and more. For example, thanks to these letters we know that Moroni told Joseph the record was “written and deposited” not far from Joseph’s home. This means Mormon lived in the area when he abridged the Nephite records in the depository that, also, was not far from Joseph’s home.

It’s no wonder that Joseph Smith had his scribes copy these letters into his own history.

It’s no wonder that Joseph encouraged others to reprint these letters so everyone would have access to them.

(I don’t think it’s ironic that the first thing published after Joseph’s martyrdom, The Prophet newspaper in New York on June 29, 1844 (published by William Smith, Joseph’s brother), included Letter VII.)

It’s no wonder that all of Joseph’s contemporaries and successors accepted what he and Oliver taught about the Hill Cumorah in New York.

But we do have to wonder why some of our modern LDS scholars and educators continue to reject and oppose what Joseph and Oliver taught in these letters.
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In October 1834, the first anti-Mormon book was published in Painesville, Ohio, not far from Kirtland. Written by E.D. Howe, the book was titled Mormonism Unvailed, and it portrayed the Book of Mormon as fiction (claiming it was copied from a romance novel by Solomon Spalding). Even today, critics of the Church make this claim, now called the Spalding theory.

Mormonism Unvailed by E.D. Howe

When we look at Church history, how did Joseph and Oliver, the President and Assistant President of the Church, respond to Mormonism Unvailed?

They wrote a series of eight historical letters and published them in the Messenger and Advocate. In the first issue, published in October 1834 (the same month as Mormonism Unvailed), Oliver explained that “our opponants [opponents] have cried an alarm, and used every exertion to hinder the spread of truth; but truth has continued its steady course, and the work of the Lord has rolled on.”

He introduced the series of historical letters by writing, “we have thought that a full history of the rise of the church of the Latter Day Saints, and the most interesting parts of its progress, to the present time, would be worthy the perusal of the Saints…

“That our narrative may be correct, and particularly the introduction, it is proper to inform our patrons, that our brother J. SMITH jr. has offered to assist us. Indeed, there are many items connected with the fore part of this subject that render his labor indispensable. With his labor and with authentic documents now in our possession, we hope to render this a pleasing and agreeable narrative, well worth the examination and perusal of the Saints.-To do justice to this subject will require time and space: we therefore ask the forbearance of our readers, assuring them that it shall be founded upon facts.“

This is a rational and effective response to the allegation in Mormonism Unvailed that the Book of Mormon was fiction. What better way to confront error than with facts?

In 1834, these letters were a response to Mormonism Unvailed.

Today, in 2017, these letters are a response to the Mesoamerican and two-Cumorahs theories.

Among the facts that Oliver and Joseph presented was the detailed explanation that Cumorah was in New York. They explicitly stated it was a fact that the final battles of the Jaredites and Nephites took place in the mile-wide valley west of the hill in New York where Joseph first obtained the plates from Moroni. They said Mormon’s depository (Mormon 6:6) was in the same hill. And they specifically identified it as Cumorah.

But our BYU scholars reject what they wrote, claiming that these were not facts but opinions, and that they were wrong.

Source: Letter VII

August 25, 2017Uncategorized

Alarming news from BYU Education Week

I’ve attended a lot of great classes at Education Week in the last few days, but I need to alert readers to an alarming development.

Now BYU is promoting the fantasy map of the Book of Mormon for Seminary students!

If you go to this link http://virtualscriptures.org/, this is what you will see:

BYU Fantasy Map now to be taught in Seminary

It was bad enough that every BYU student now has to learn the Book of Mormon by following the events in the text on a fantasy land map, but now Seminary students will have to learn this thing. At this rate, it will appear in Primary classes in no time.

The map is being unofficially canonized.

This fantasy map is even worse than the Mesoamerican maps we used to have to learn when I was at BYU. At least those were grounded in the real world.

This development means that LDS youth around the world are going to learn that the Book of Mormon is fiction.

Why do I say that?

Because this map is indoctrinating LDS youth regarding a specific interpretation of the Book of Mormon that not only contradicts what Joseph and Oliver taught (more on that later), but that excludes the entire planet from consideration.

There is no place on the planet that looks like this fantasy map.

Our youth will be taught to interpret the scriptures by reference to this fantasy map. This means future missionaries going to the world, teaching that the Book of Mormon took place in a fantasy world.
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Imagine your son or daughter learning this thing. Then they go on a mission. The conversation goes
something like this:

Investigator: You say Joseph Smith got these plates from the Hill Cumorah in New York. That’s where these people lived?

Missionary: No, we know the real Cumorah can’t be in New York, despite what Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery said, because their statement was never canonized. They were mistaken. It was their opinion, and they were wrong. Our scholars have figured this out.

Investigator: But you said Joseph was a prophet.

Missionary: Yes, we testify of that, but he was wrong about some things, like Cumorah.

Investigator: I see. You told me Lehi left the Middle East and sailed to the New World. Where did he land?

Missionaries teaching fantasy map-
adapted from Preach My Gospel

Missionary (pulling out an iPad with the BYU map on it): Right here, on the west coast.

Investigator: Where is that?

Missionary: The land of first inheritance.

Investigator: No, I mean in the real world.

Missionary: Oh, this isn’t the real world. This is a fantasy map, based on the text.

Investigator: You’re saying your Book of Mormon describes a fantasy world? Like Lord of the Rings or the Narnia Chronicles?

Missionary: Yes! Exactly! See how cool it is when you go to a verse and you can see where the event took place? Let’s turn to Alma 43 and I’ll show you how this little dial works.

Investigator: Uh, I’m sorry Elders (or Sisters), but this doesn’t work for me. You testified it was a true history, but now you’re saying it took place in a fantasy world?

Missionary 2: No, see, we’re saying it’s a real history, but the geography it describes doesn’t fit anywhere on this Earth. So our scholars made this abstract map so we could understand it and explain it to people who haven’t read the Book of Mormon before. You can twist it and squeeze it, pull it and stretch it anyway you want so it works for you.

Investigator: [speechless]
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In my view, this “abstract” map takes the Book of Mormon out of the realm of actual ancient history and plants it firmly on the fiction shelf. Even the BYU professor who presented it at Education Week compared it to the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia. You can take university courses on those works of fiction that teach all kinds of moral principles, too.
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Mormonism Unvailed by E.D. Howe

Imagine what Howe would have done if Joseph Smith had produced a fantasy map like this BYU map. It would be on the frontispiece instead of these illustrations.

When we look at Church history, how did Joseph and Oliver, the President and Assistant President of the Church, respond to Mormonism Unvailed?

They wrote a series of eight historical letters and published them in the Messenger and Advocate. In the first issue, published in October 1834 like as Mormonism Unvailed, Oliver explained that “our opponants [opponents] have cried an alarm, and used every exertion to hinder the spread of truth; but truth has continued its steady course, and the work of the Lord has rolled on.”

He introduced the series of historical letters by writing, “we have thought that a full history of the rise of the church of the Latter Day Saints, and the most interesting parts of its progress, to the present time, would be worthy the perusal of the Saints…

“That our narrative may be correct, and particularly the introduction, it is proper to inform our patrons, that our brother J. SMITH jr. has offered to assist us. Indeed, there are many items connected with the fore part of this subject that render his labor indispensable. With his labor and with authentic documents now in our possession, we hope to render this a pleasing and agreeable narrative, well worth the examination and perusal of the Saints.-To do justice to this subject will require time and space: we therefore ask the forbearance of our readers, assuring them that it shall be founded upon facts.“

This is a rational and effective response to the allegation in Mormonism Unvailed that the Book of Mormon was fiction. What better way to confront error than with facts?

Among the facts that Oliver and Joseph presented was the detailed explanation that Cumorah was in New York. They explicitly stated it was a fact that the final battles of the Jaredites and Nephites took place in the mile-wide valley west of the hill where Joseph first obtained the plates from Moroni. They said Mormon’s depository (Mormon 6:6) was in the same hill. And they named it Cumorah.

But our BYU scholars reject what they wrote, claiming that these were not facts but opinions, and that they were wrong.

The latest objection is that these letters were never canonized. This is a stunning argument. It makes the presumption that not only should we question everything that hasn’t been canonized, but we should presume anything that hasn’t been canonized is wrong.

Now, anything that was not canonized should not be believed. (Of course, part of Letter I was canonized in the Pearl of Great Price, but our scholars carve that out as an exception. We’re not supposed to believe the rest of these letters. In fact, we’re not supposed to even know about them.)

Think of the implications of that argument. If we’re supposed to disbelieve anything that wasn’t canonized, we must throw out everything we have learned as Church history that’s not in Joseph Smith-History. Nothing in the Joseph Smith Papers, for example, has been canonized except the sections in the Doctrine and Covenants. For that matter, no General Conference talks have been canonized.

If we’re rejecting everything that hasn’t been canonized, including what Joseph and Oliver stated were facts, even after Joseph had these facts republished multiple times so all the Saints in his day could learn them, what is left?

Today, BYU is going the opposite direction from where Joseph and Oliver went when they responded to Mormonism Unvailed and other critics. Instead of using the facts Joseph and Oliver gave us that tie the Book of Mormon to the real world, our BYU scholars are teaching students that the text fits nowhere but on a fantasy map.

It’s difficult to think of a more alarming development than this, short of outright proclaiming that the Book of Mormon is fiction.
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You might wonder why our LDS scholars are so adamant about rejecting these letters, including Letter VII. The sole reason is their proprietary interest in their Mesoamerican theory, which this abstract map is really teaching. The “abstract map” is a transparent ruse to evade the mandate from BYU administration to avoid teaching any particular geography.

Why do I say it’s a ruse? Because all of the interpretations of the text used to develop this map are based on the Sorenson translation of the Book of Mormon. Even at the Education Week presentation, the presenter explained the River Sidon flows north because the “headwaters” are near Manti. This is a long-held belief among Mesoamerican advocates, but readers of the Book of Mormon know the term “headwaters” never appears in the actual text. It’s a Sorenson translation. Same with the hourglass shape of the “narrow neck,” the claim that the “wilderness” is a mountain range, etc.

The real tragedy here is that all the computer technology could be used to corroborate and vindicate what Joseph and Oliver taught, if our scholars would simply accept what they wrote about Cumorah.

Instead of deferring to Joseph and Oliver, our scholars outright reject what they said was a fact about the New York Cumorah.

Consequently, they insist on teaching our youth a fantasy geography modeled after Central America. At the same time, they insist the youth should not be taught what Joseph and Oliver taught.

No one attending BYU Education Week this year will learn of the existence of these historical letters, let alone the contents of Letter VII.

Source: Book of Mormon Wars

August 24, 2017Uncategorized

Staying on track

At BYU Education Week Tuesday I saw this important quotation about Church history.

“If we are going to stay on the track the Lord put us on, we must know our history.” President Gordon B. Hinckley, 1978

Readers here know the track the Lord put us on with respect to the Hill Cumorah because David and Oliver made it as clear as words can be in Letter VII; i.e., there is one Cumorah (Mormon 6:6) and it is in New York.

But because some of our LDS scholars forgot our history, and the rest of us didn’t know our history well enough to call them on it, we went off the Cumorah-in-New-York track and slammed into the wall of Cumorah-is-in-Mexico.

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That’s not the best metaphor here because the train hasn’t crashed. It’s still moving forward, just on a different track that won’t lead us to the destination Joseph and Oliver intended.

So how do we get back on track?

The first step is recognizing we’re off track. And that’s not easy, because our scholars and educators have persuaded us the track we’re on is good enough, and more importantly, it’s verified by scholarly research, which they think is much better than mere prophetic declarations, even when those declarations are based on personal experience the way Letter VII was.

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I read something else about tracks recently.

Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios, described corporate culture this way. “Many people use the analogy of a train to describe their companies. When things go wrong, we talk of getting “derailed” and of experiencing a “train wreck.” A number of people believe they have the ability to drive the train, thinking that this is a power position… The truth is… driving the train doesn’t set its course. The real job is laying the track.”

Joseph and Oliver laid the track when they clearly and emphatically and repeatedly taught that there was one Hill Cumorah and it was in New York.

But some of our LDS scholars decided that track was no good. They managed to lay another track, this one in Mesoamerica with a Mexican Cumorah, and then they managed to switch the train of the Church onto this new track. Many members and leaders didn’t know the train jumped the track, but the train wobbles a bit on this new track. It’s not leading to the destination of confusion, as Joseph Fielding Smith warned.

Getting back on the right track will require us to know our history, as President Hinckley taught.

That’s why I encourage every member of the Church to read Letter VII. Every BYU student should know about this important teaching about the New York Cumorah.

It might cause some temporary disruption as we make the jump, but it won’t cause a crash. It will put us on the track Joseph and Oliver knew was correct, heading to the destination we seek in unity and commitment.

Source: Book of Mormon Wars

August 23, 2017August 23, 2017Uncategorized

BYU Education Week 2017 Tuesday

BYU Education Week (schedule) offers a tremendous variety of classes. Because many readers live far away and don’t have a chance to attend, I’ll report on some of the events relevant to this blog.

[Note: I’m going to complete the series on the DNA issue, but Brother Perego is speaking today at Education Week and I’ll update my posts based on what he says. You can get a pretty good idea from his topics:
Ugo A. Perego
Genetics, Genealogy, and Gentiles: The Use and Abuse of DNA in Mormon Studies
Ballroom, Wilkinson Student Center (WSC)
Wed- Book of Mormon and DNA Studies: The Genetic History of the New World
Th- Genetic Genealogy: Finding Your Distant and Recent Ancestry through DNA
Fri- Science and Religion: Can They Coexist?]
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On Monday, I was observing the total eclipse in Idaho so I missed Ed Week that day. (BTW, if you haven’t seen a total eclipse, you need to get ready for 2024 when you can observe it at the real Hill Cumorah.)

On Tuesday, I attended classes on Church history, the geography of Israel, and geography in the scriptures. All were excellent. The one most readers will be interested is described here:

Scriptures Brought to Life through Technology: Free Tools to Breathe New Life into Your Study
Pardoe, Harris Fine Arts Center (HFAC)
Tues- Questions of Geography in the Scriptures: Exploring Possible Locations to Enhance and Not Distract from Intended Messages
Wed- Jerusalem in Jesus’ Day: A Virtual, Immersive, 3D Experience
Th- The People, Places, and Plates of the Book of Mormon: A Virtual, Immersive, 3D Experience
Fri- Technology Tools for Unlocking the Words of the Bible

Thursday’s presentation will focus on the abstract map I’ve blogged about several times, such as here and here. As I’ve explained, I think it’s a huge mistake to teach people (not just BYU students but missionaries, investigators, youth, and anyone else) that the best way to understand the Book of Mormon is to put it into the fantasy world depicted by this map. I have three main reasons.

1. The map rejects what Joseph and Oliver taught in Letter VII about Cumorah being in New York. A student attending BYU will never even learn about these important historical letters.
2. The fantasy map removes the text from the real world and puts it into the realm of fiction.
3. Although the faculty are apparently prohibited from referencing real-world settings (more on that later), they created this map using the Mesoamerican interpretations of the text and turned everything 90 degrees so it doesn’t look like Mesoamerica (wink, wink), but in doing so, they are standardizing those interpretations.
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Tuesday’s presentation focused on Geography “to enhance and not distract from intended messages.” The presenter did an excellent job giving examples, which I’ll discuss in a moment.

First, he explained that when it comes to the Book of Mormon, faculty are not allowed to refer to any real-world setting. Obviously, this is a big improvement from when I attended BYU and was taught the Mesoamerican setting, and possibly this is some sort of transition to gradually, eventually, returning to what Joseph and Oliver taught. If so, great.

But in the meantime, every year BYU refuses to teach students what Joseph and Oliver taught, we’ll have thousands of students (and missionaries) being taught this fantasy land version. Once this image is imprinted in their minds, it will be difficult for them to transition to what Joseph and Oliver taught, and they will naturally think, “If my BYU professors didn’t tell me about Letter VII, what else did they keep from me?”

In the presentation Tuesday, several maps were shown, including the one I have on the splash page of this blog, but Letter VII was never mentioned. It is unbelievable to me that in a BYU Education Class about Book of Mormon geography, the audience is never told what Joseph and Oliver said about the Hill Cumorah in Letter VII.

As I point out on my Letter VII blog, the New York Cumorah was not some random, obscure teaching. Joseph made sure it was republished several times (including by both of his brothers, Don Carlos and William, who edited Church newspapers). It was universally known and accepted during Joseph’s day and accepted by all of his contemporaries and successors.

But now, you can’t even mention it at BYU.
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Another class I attended Tuesday started by displaying this quotation on the screen:

“Gone are the days when the history of the Church is just interesting. Gone are the days when it is only important. In our day, the history of the Church is urgent.” Elder J. Devn. Cornish, asst. executive director, Church History Department

There is a very strange dichotomy at BYU between history and geography that apparently forbids BYU faculty from mentioning Letter VII in either realm. It’s as though Letter VII has fallen into a deep crevice and no one can find it.

The speaker in the other session went on to say, “Today Church history is urgent because our history can either bless us as LDS and strengthen us or it can be used against us.”

This is definitely the case with Letter VII. If you search, you can find Letter VII in the Joseph Smith papers because Joseph had his scribes copy it into his history. You can find it in the following Church newspapers: The Messenger and Advocate, the Gospel Reflector, the Times and Seasons, The Prophet, the Millennial Star, and the Improvement Era.

Students and investigators who research questions on the Internet will find Letter VII on many anti-Mormon sites. This site, for example, asks the question, “Who are we to believe? Is a BYU professor more reliable than the President of the LDS Church or an Apostle?”

When they wrote Letter VII, Joseph was President of the Church and Oliver was Assistant President, but our BYU professors reject what they wrote and ask students to believe them, the professors, instead. When asked, these professors actually tell students that Church leaders, even when speaking in General Conference, were merely expressing their private opinions and were wrong.

While you will find Letter VII in Church history and on the anti-Mormon sites, you won’t find it in the Ensign, BYU Studies, Meridian Magazine, or any of the publications by modern LDS scholars and educators. You won’t learn about it as a student at BYU or at Education Week.

Letter VII may be the very last “secret” of Church history that remains to be revealed to members of the Church.

Why?

The only reason I can think of–the only possible reason, really–is to protect the Mesoamerican ideology, which I label Mesomania. There is a relatively small group of LDS scholars and educators who are emotionally and academically wedded to the Mesoamerican setting and they don’t want members of the Church to even know about Letter VII. So far, their influence has prevailed to the point of requiring BYU students to learn this abstract fantasy map instead.

And despite the official policy of neutrality, missionaries at the MTC are still being taught the Mesoamerican theory, the topic of another post coming next week.
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Back to the topic of Tuesday’s presentation on using geography “to enhance and not distract from intended messages.”

The presenter established “three degrees of truth” this way:

Absolute: unassailable, complete, unchangeable, utter, unconditional, independent of belief, supreme
(not a very long list), e.g., God lives, Jesus is the Christ, God loves us
Probable: most likely, most credible, most reasonable, logically apparent
The problems arise when people take something that is probably true and elevate it to an absolute truth
Possible: plausible, feasible, conceivable, imaginable, believable
Lots of possible truths, leading to debates, etc.

Then he asked, “When it comes to scripture geography, how many absolutes do we have? We know where the Sea of Galilee is (absolute), but people fight about other sites in the area.”

I was thinking, exactly! We know where Cumorah is thanks to Joseph and Oliver, but people can debate the rest of the geography.

The only reason these scholars don’t accept Cumorah in New York as an absolute is because they don’t accept what Joseph and Oliver taught.

Imagine what Biblical studies would be like if people were going to India looking for Jerusalem or the Sea of Galilee. I’m sure there are sites in India that fit the description in the Bible. That sounds absurd (I hope), but that’s exactly what is going on with Book of Mormon studies, all because our LDS scholars reject what Joseph and Oliver taught.

Another class I attended Tuesday started with this quotation:

“Five gospels record the life of Jesus. Four you will find in books and the one you will find in the land they call Holy. Read the fifth gospel and the world of the four will open to you.” St. Jerome (347-420 AD). The speaker there said, “Make the scriptures real. When the people are real, we can apply them better and teach others better.”

We are in the bizarre situation of making the Bible and the Doctrine and Covenants real, but we are putting the Book of Mormon into a fantasy land, all because our LDS scholars refuse to believe–refuse to even tell their students about–what Joseph and Oliver taught.

With the Sea of Galilee as an absolute, we can better understand the Biblical messages even though we don’t know the specific locations of all the other Biblical sites.

It is exactly the same situation with the Book of Mormon.

With Cumorah as an absolute, we can better understand the messages of the Book of Mormon even though we don’t know the specific location of all the other sites.

In fact, accepting the New York Cumorah as an absolute is even more important for the Book of Mormon because it implicates the credibility and reliability of Joseph and Oliver (and David Whitmer, Lucy Mack Smith, Brigham Young, and many others).
_________________

One final point. The speaker pointed out that Alma told his son that Lehi’s group “tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst because of their transgressions” in not exercising faith in using the Liahona. (Alma 37:38-43).

He said, “Maybe God has been giving us directions on our own Liahona, but we haven’t been heeding it, and God let us follow a circuitous route.”

I think he’s right about that.

I think God gave us directions through Joseph and Oliver, but we haven’t been heeding them. Instead, we’ve followed a circuitous route through Mesoamerica, Baja, Panama, Chile, Sri Lanka, Eritrea, etc.

Eventually we’ll reach the destination, but why continuing to waste time and effort just because we reject what Joseph and Oliver told us in the first place, way back in 1835? Think of how powerful a united Church membership would be, all supporting and sustaining Joseph and Oliver!

[Oliver liked exclamation marks.]

That would be a dramatic improvement over the current situation, when our own LDS scholars and educators reject what Joseph and Oliver taught, causing members (and investigators) to become confused and disturbed in their faith, just as Joseph Fielding Smith warned.

Consider the earlier passages in Alma 37, in which Alma teaches the importance of the records that were preserved. Alma said, “And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.
Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers.”

That sounds very much like Brigham Young, two months before he died (and he was very sick so he knew his time was short), telling the people about the experiences of Oliver and Joseph in Mormon’s depository in the Hill Cumorah in New York. He said, “I relate this to you, and I want you to understand it. I take this liberty of referring to those things so that they will not be forgotten and lost.”

Despite President Young’s concern, these things have been forgotten and lost–they’re down in that crevice, with Letter VII–solely because they contradict the Mesoamerican and two-Cumorahs theories.

We can paraphrase Alma this way: “were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are [in Letter VII], [we] could not have convinced so many thousands of [BYU students, investigators, LDS youth] of the incorrect tradition [Mesoamerican theory] of their fathers.”

Source: Book of Mormon Wars

August 22, 2017Uncategorized

Interlude – Science vs Religion

The science vs. religion debate has raged for centuries, perhaps never more than now, although for a substantial portion of the population, the debate is over because they think science won.

The debate is relevant here because science is the main reason why so many LDS scholars and educators reject what Joseph and Oliver taught about one Cumorah in New York.

Well, not science, actually; it’s their perceptions and assumptions about science that lead them to the conclusions they wanted to reach in the first place.*

Two worldviews are competing for influence. They are not exclusive to one another; plenty of religious people who believe in the Bible (as well as the latter-day scriptures) are scientists who study and utilize scientific theories, the laws of nature, etc.

However, most scientists are materialists, and, by definition, materialists do not believe in God, spirits, or any reality that cannot be measured or detected by senses (augmented with instrumentation). They think there are physical explanations for everything, without God.

From a persuasion standpoint, materialism is succeeding in modern societies around the world. When science claims to explain everything, what need is there for God? Or faith? Or adherence to religious doctrines and practices? Especially when these are perceived (because they are portrayed) as limiting freedom and expression?

Some LDS scholars and educators hope to “thread the needle” by using science to explain everything, pursuant to the materialism philosophy, while assuring youth, missionaries, investigators, and members that there is really no conflict between religion and science. “All we have to do,” they say, “is adjust the scriptures to comply with what science is telling us,” and we’re good. We can still believe in God, keep the ordinances, obey the commandments, etc., and we’ll find happiness in this life and eternal life after we die.

I understand that worldview, and I’m not writing this to say it is “wrong.” However, I don’t think it’s the only way to reconcile science and religion, and I don’t think it is sustainable because once we pull some threads out of the scriptures, what remains can unravel pretty quickly.

(It’s similar to my point that once our scholars say Joseph and Oliver were wrong about so basic a matter as what they claimed was a fact that Cumorah was in New York, we’ve embarked on a never-ending assessment of what else they may have been “mistaken” about.)

Instead, I suggest that the “modern science explains everything” approach is not the only viable working hypothesis, and that people can consider multiple working hypotheses.

I propose that there remains a place for literalism, meaning a literal interpretation of the scriptures, and that current science may not explain everything quite as well as it thinks it does.
_____________

A key issue is the creation of the Earth and humanity; i.e., is the Earth 4.3 billion years old, with humans evolving 200,000 years ago after eons of evolutionary development, or is humanity only 6,000 years old, starting with Adam and Eve who lived in an unchanging Garden of Eden before the Fall?

As I mentioned, some LDS scholars thread the needle by reconciling religious beliefs in spirituality and God with concepts of materialism by observing that everything in our reality can be explained without God’s involvement, but that God does subtly guide people and provide a Savior to compensate for their mistakes.

A well-known advocate of this view is BYU Professor Steven L. Peck, whose 2017 book Science the Key to Theology, Volume One: Preliminaries, addresses evolution and intelligent design in Chapter 7. In my view, he caricatures and ridicules intelligent design (ID), but you can read his argument for yourself.

Here’s how he summarizes his point (page 164).

“Keep in mind if evolution is true, that’s the way the world works. We have to deal with it. We may need to readjust how we think about creation, but evolution certainly does not negate that the world was created, that the universe has a purpose, or that God is intelligent. Evolution does not touch our doctrines. We may have to reinterpret some of our literalisms. Sure. But I think that’s part of what it means to have an open canon.

“So if you don’t want to believe in evolution, fine. Just don’t buy into letting ID be taught in the schools unless you really, really, want your children to find that invisibility cloak.”

Do you see how this is essentially the same approach taken by the proponents of the Mesoamerican and two-Cumorahs advocates?

They, too, think we “have to reinterpret some of our literalisms,” such as Letter VII, the Wentworth letter, and everything else Joseph and Oliver actually said about Book of Mormon geography. Plus, we have to reinterpret the text to find references to volcanoes, jungles, Mayan temples, etc.

As one of them wrote, the Book of Mormon is evidence of what Joseph said was on the plates–what he dictated–but we don’t have evidence of what was actually on the plates; i.e., a Mesoamerican expert would have translated the plates differently, giving effect to the undoubtedly Mesoamerican context of the undoubtedly Mesoamerican codex.

This is the rationale for BMAF’s mission statement, the goal “to increase understanding of the Book of Mormon as an ancient Mesoamerican codex.” BMAF owns Book of Mormon Central and integrates with FairMormon, etc. They all share the BMAF mission statement, although some are less forthcoming about that than others.

To borrow Brother Peck’s term, the proponents of evolution and the Mesoamerican theory are blind to their own invisibility cloaks. They literally don’t see, or at least don’t acknowledge, that they are engaging in circular reasoning; i.e., they make assumptions that their premises (stated and unstated) represent reality, and then they build their approach to confirm those premises.
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Many people have written many books about science vs. religion, even within the subset of LDS culture and beliefs. My interest in the topic focuses on the impact of capitulating to the scientists.

It seems strange to me that a person who interprets the scriptures literally can find little if any support, let alone additional knowledge and training, at BYU or in CES.

It’s a big challenge for missionaries to teach Bible-believing people, not only because of squabbles about whether God has a body and other interpretations of Biblical passages, but more fundamentally, because there is little room in current LDS media/publications for literal beliefs in such basic Biblical teachings as the creation of the Earth and Adam and Eve. This is all the more challenging because those basic Biblical teachings are corroborated by the Book of Mormon, the D&C, and the Pearl of Great Price.

Maybe this capitulation to the scientists reflects the “open canon” that Brother Peck alludes to. Maybe we have rejected a literal belief in the scriptures because we’ve deferred to the latest scientific theories and discoveries. But if we haven’t, we ought to at least give a voice to literal interpretations as one of multiple working hypotheses.
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*For example, the Mesoamerican advocates claim the destruction in 3 Nephi must have been caused by volcanoes because there are scientists who say so. It doesn’t matter that volcanoes are never mentioned in the text because, they say, there is only one scientific explanation for “the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth,” as well as the “vapor of darkness” described in 3 Nephi 8.

Except the science doesn’t actually say there is only one explanation.

In fact, each of the phenomena described in the text also occurred during the New Madrid earthquakes along the Mississippi River in the early 1800s.

But that evidence doesn’t fit the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory, so it is rejected in favor of the “scientific” explanation that relies on volcanoes.

Do you see how this works? The assumptions (that Joseph and Oliver were wrong about Cumorah because Cumorah is in Mexico and the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica) drive everything.

It probably is true that the only scientific way to explain 3 Nephi 8 in Mesoamerica is by pointing to volcanoes. But those who read the text can plainly see zero references to volcanoes. That alone would exclude Mesoamerica from consideration if we accepted the text for what it says. Scholars would look elsewhere if they were being rational. But as they say, because of Mesomania they can’t unsee Mesoamerica when they read the text. They read into it what they want to see.

This is all the more exasperating because what the text actually describes is what actually happens along the river valleys in the Midwestern U.S. It’s a matter of historical record, not speculation.

I use this example to show that it is not science that leads people to the Mesoamerican theory, but the underlying assumptions that then drive a search for a scientific explanation to corroborate the preordained conclusion.

Source: Book of Mormon Wars

August 19, 2017Uncategorized

25th anniversary of disaster

When we look around and see the lack of consensus about Book of Mormon geography, there are a few key inflection points that have put us on the course we’re on today; i.e., rifts among LDS scholars and educators and confusion among members of the Church and investigators.

A major inflection point occurred in 1992, when one of the biggest disasters in Book of Mormon studies was published. That makes this year, 2017, the 25th anniversary.

For 25 years now, members of the Church–almost an entire generation–have been taught a fundamentally flawed concept about the Book of Mormon.

I’m referring, of course, to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism (EOM) and its infamous article about Cumorah.

You can read it here. http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Cumorah

It contains this unbelievably self-serving and misleading paragraph (with my comments in red):

“This annual pageant has reinforced the common assumption that Moroni buried the plates of Mormon in the same hill where his father had buried the other plates, thus equating this New York hill with the Book of Mormon Cumorah. [Of course, it was the two men who actually visited Mormon’s depository inside the New York Cumorah–Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery–who declared it was a fact that this was the Cumorah of Mormon 6:6. It was anything but an “assumption.” Yet this article in EOM doesn’t even mention Letter VII.]

“Because the New York site does not readily fit the Book of Mormon description of Book of Mormon geography, [the New York hill exactly fits the description in the text. What neither New York nor the text fits is the Mesomerican setting, with its jungles, jade, jaguars, and Mayan temples. Not to mention volcanoes. To avoid the obvious problems with Mesoamerica, Brother Palmer and like-minded LDS scholars and educators concocted a set of “requirements” for Cumorah that are not based on the text but are designed to limit the comical search for Cumorah to Mesoamerica.]

“Latter-day Saints have looked for other possible explanations and locations, including Mesoamerica. [See? Instead of believing Joseph and Oliver, these LDS scholars and educators look anywhere but New York.]

“Although some have identified possible sites that may seem to fit better (Palmer), there are no conclusive connections between the Book of Mormon text and any specific site that has been suggested.”
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Brother Palmer, of course, cites his own book, In Search of Cumorah, to justify the assertion that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were, let’s say, “mistaken” about the actual location of the real Cumorah.

Ever since, our LDS scholars and educators have referred to this article to support their teaching of the Mesoamerican and two-Cumorahs theories.

This article was a major inflection point that has led to the ongoing confusion and problems that Mesomania have caused.

But fortunately, inflection points not only cause diversions; they can also enable course corrections.

In our day, there is another inflection point: the rediscovery of Letter VII and its context, including how often Joseph Smith endorsed it after it was published.

If we can only persuade LDS scholars and educators to take this opportunity to change course and return to what Joseph and Oliver (and all their contemporaries and successors) taught, we’ll get back on course and eventually repair the damage caused by the 1992 disaster.

Source: Book of Mormon Concensus

August 18, 2017Uncategorized

Interlude – Elder Holland’s powerful talk to a room full of unbelievers

Last Wednesday evening at the Chiasmus Jubilee, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve gave one of the most powerful talks I’ve ever heard. It was in the auditorium of the Joseph Smith Building, which seats over 850 people. The room was full.

I hope the talk will be published someday somewhere. I’ve only seen one report so far, in the Deseret News here, titled “Elder Holland on Book of Mormon: ‘Engaging the head as well as the heart’.”

The article is a nice summary of Elder Holland’s talk, but it overlooked a key point he made which I discuss below.

First, I note that Elder Holland began his talk by expressing deep appreciation for the work of faithful scholars at BYU and throughout the Church. It was a fitting tribute after the evening’s celebration of Brother Welch’s discovery of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon and the widespread impact that has had on building testimony and encouraging additional faithful research. Non-LDS scholars were present in support of Brother Welch’s exemplary long-time collaboration with scholars around the world.

Because I don’t have a transcript, I’ll proceed by quoting from the Deseret News article, with my observations in red
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Elder Holland reminded guests that the spirit of revelation — including one’s testimony of the Book of Mormon — comes through a process of “engaging the head as well as the heart,” with “the force of fact as well as the force of feeling.” He prefaced this by reminding us about Oliver Cowdery and D&C 8:2, “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.”

He added: “Our testimonies aren’t dependent on evidence. We still need always and forever that spiritual confirmation in the heart of which we’ve all spoken. But to not seek for and not to acknowledge intellectual, documentable support for our belief, when it is available, is to needlessly limit an otherwise incomparably strong theological position and deny us a persuasive vocabulary in the latter-day arena of religious investigation in a sectarian debate.” Elder Holland said that we are sometimes not as bold as we could be about this evidence, which made me think about whether I need to be more bold myself. He also quoted from Austin Farrer 1965 observation about rational argument (as BYU President Kevin Worthen had also done earlier that evening): “[T]hough argument does not create conviction, the lack of it destroys belief. What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish.”

Elder Holland cited the Apostle Paul’s expression of faith being “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

“For me, the classic example of substance that I hope for and the evidence of things I have not seen is the 531 pages of the Book of Mormon, which come from a sheath of gold plates that some people saw and handled and hefted, but I haven’t seen or handled or hefted, and neither have you,” Elder Holland said. He described the experiences of the Eight Witnesses who testified that they had seen and handled and hefted the plates.

“Nevertheless, the reality of those plates — the substance of them, if you will — and the evidence that comes from them in the form of the Book of Mormon is at the heart, at the very center, of the hope and testimony and conviction of this work that is unshakably within me forever.” Elder Holland also described Martin Harris’ experience, when he responded to the visitation of the angel with the plates by shouting, “’tis enough, ’tis enough. mine eyes have beheld, mine eyes have beheld.”
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That’s the end of the article’s coverage of the talk, and it’s great. But it missed what I think was the most powerful lesson of the talk.

After reviewing the testimony of the witnesses, Elder Holland quoted Mark 16:14. This was Christ’s first meeting with the eleven apostles after his resurrection.

“Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.”

I did some research. This verse has been cited only twice in General Conference according to http://www.lds-general-conference.org/, once by Elder Carlos Asay and once by President James E. Faust, and only President Faust recognized that the Savior upbraided the eleven. This is significant because he upbraided them for rejecting eyewitnesses and having a heart heart against those witnesses.

I can find no reference besides his Chiasmus Jubilee talk in which Elder Holland has quoted this verse, according to Gospelink.

So I wondered, why quote Mark 16:14 at that time, in that place, to that audience?

The first thought: Maybe Elder Holland was appealing to the non-LDS scholars in the room, as well as other nonmembers who might hear or read his talk in the future, who have not accepted the testimonies of the twelve official witnesses to the Book of Mormon (Joseph Smith, the Three Witnesses, and the Eight Witnesses). Maybe he was suggesting they, too, should believe these witnesses who testified of what they had actually seen.

But I don’t think that was what he had in mind for three reasons.

First, he is much too kind and gentle to compare the non-LDS scholars in that room that night to the Apostles the Savior was upbraiding for their unbelief in the witnesses of his resurrection. Besides, these good non-LDS scholars are all firm believers in the Bible and they love the Lord.

Second, if the focus of the talk was on non-LDS people, there are plenty of other scriptures about nonbelievers; Mark 16:14 is unique because Mark shows how the Savior upbraided his closest and most faithful and trusted followers, the Apostles themselves, for their unbelief.

Third, his audience in that room that night contained only a few non-LDS people. The audience consisted mostly of prominent LDS scholars and educators at BYU and in the Church, along with students and other LDS people assembled to celebrate evidence that supports the Book of Mormon.

Then it dawned on me.

I was sitting in the midst of over 800 people who, in fact, “believe not them which had seen” and testified about important facts regarding the Book of Mormon.

This was a room full of some of the most faithful and committed members of the Church, many of them entrusted with the heavy responsibility to educate the youth of the Church at BYU and through CES, and yet nearly all of them “believe not” a fundamental witness from Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery about the Book of Mormon; i.e., their teaching that the Hill Cumorah was in New York.

(I say “nearly all of them” because some people in the audience I knew do accept Letter VII. I’ll estimate maybe 50 out of the 850 present.)

In this setting, at this time, Elder Holland’s audience consisted of many of the closest and most faithful and trusted followers in the Church today. I think he quoted Mark 16:14 to them–after discussing the witnesses to the Book of Mormon–to call their attention to their disbelief.

I doubt this has occurred to a single one of them, but maybe this blog post will help.

Consider this list of LDS speakers on the program. These are all good men, with a variety of academic specialties and backgrounds, but they have one thing in common: they have specifically rejected what Joseph and Oliver said in Letter VII.

Robert F. Smith
John W. Welch
Kim B. Clark
Noel B. Reynolds
Daniel C. Peterson
Taylor Halverson
Stephen Smoot

Others present in the room, some of them having presented earlier in the Jubilee, have done likewise:

Neal Rappleye
Matt Roper
Kerry Hull
Kirk Magleby

There were other scholars and educators present that I won’t name, and as I said, there were a few people in the room who do accept what Joseph and Oliver taught in Letter VII, but the ones I listed not only “believe not” what Joseph and Oliver wrote, they strongly oppose it.
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Consider the sponsors of the event.

Book of Mormon Central, Official Sponsor of the Chiasmus Jubilee, and the Interpreter Foundation, Official Co-Sponsor, have published articles specifically opposing Letter VII and its implications.

BYU Studies , the other Official Sponsor of the Chiasmus Jubilee, continues to feature, on its main web page, maps and other material that reject Letter VII.

The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, another Official Co-Sponsor, published a book that ridicules what Joseph and Oliver taught by saying, “There remain Latter-day Saints who insist that the final destruction of the Nephites took place in New York, but any such idea is manifestly absurd.” Of course, among the Latter-day Saints who “insisted” this–who went further and stated it was a fact–were Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith.
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I hope this post is not perceived (or later characterized) as some sort of attack. It’s not. As I’ve always said, I respect and admire the people I’ve listed here and their work. I like all of them. Their ongoing disbelief in what Joseph and Oliver taught it inexplicable to me.

Some may reject my interpretation of what Elder Holland meant, which is fine. Before they spend time trying to come up with an alternative interpretation, though, I suggest they ask themselves what they think about Letter VII and why. Is their rejection of what Joseph and Oliver taught based on confirmation bias? I.e., are they seeking to hold onto a belief in the Mesoamerican and two-Cumorahs theory? If so, why?

Some may claim that Elder Holland doesn’t know about Letter VII and what Joseph and Oliver taught, or how the disbelief in what they taught is affecting the Church. Do you seriously want to make that assumption?

Some may not see the importance of Letter VII. For that, I suggest you consider the abstract map of Book of Mormon lands that BYU is now requiring every new BYU student learn, and which was presented at the event right before Elder Holland spoke. That map teaches every BYU student that Joseph and Oliver were wrong about an important issue. It’s the first step on a slippery slope that no member of the Church should take, let alone be required to take.
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I think Mark 16:14 provides an insightful and profound explanation of the situation here. The Savior was appearing to his apostles for the first time after his resurrection. They would go forward from this meeting and “preach the gospel to every creature” with great power and faith.

But first, he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe the witnesses the Lord had provided. They had to conquer their unbelief and hardness of heart, and they weren’t doing it on their own. We may infer they had justified their unbelief somehow. They had their reasons. Their rationalizations. Maybe they even thought they had facts. Everyone does.

And yet, their disbelief and hardness of heart prevented them from accomplishing their callings. The matter was so important that the Savior Himself came to them to upbraid them.

Their justifications didn’t matter then, any more than the justifications for disbelieving Letter VII matter today.

We know from Brigham Young and others that Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith were eyewitnesses to Mormon’s record depository in the Hill Cumorah. That’s how they could speak of Cumorah as a fact years later when they wrote Letter VII. They were witnesses to Cumorah as much as they were to the plates themselves.

For too long, modern LDS scholars and educators have rejected the witness of Joseph and Oliver as “manifestly absurd,” as the book I quoted claimed.

I hope Elder Holland’s talk will motivate these faithful, capable, and talented scholars to reconsider their justifications and cease their disbelief.

As Joseph taught, “there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—” (D&C 123:12)

Imagine how many blinders would fall from the eyes of the people in the world if our LDS scholars and educators–and their students and readers–would accept and embrace and work to vindicate the testimonies of Joseph and Oliver about the Hill Cumorah and related issues instead of opposing them because of disbelief and hardness of heart.

I think it will happen. It’s just a matter of when, and I hope it’s sooner rather than later.

Source: Book of Mormon Wars

August 18, 2017Uncategorized

Documentary evidence for the New York Cumorah

A reader of this blog emailed me an awesome summary of the documentary evidence for the New York Cumorah. Here it is:

Cumorah: Six Documentary Testimonies That Moroni Told Joseph Smith The Name Of The Hill in Palmyra, New York, Prior To The Translation Of The Plates.

1. The only first-person source comes from the epistle that Joseph Smith dictated on September 6, 1842, which was later canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 128.

Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfillment of the prophets — the book to be revealed. (D&C 128:20)

The inference is that Joseph knew the name “Cumorah” before the book was revealed. That knowledge could only have come from Moroni. This is substantiated in the subsequent documents.

2. An early documentary source confirming the above, are the lines from a sacred hymn, written by W.W. Phelps. William Phelps lived with the Prophet in Kirtland and was in essence his executive secretary during the Nauvoo period.

An angel came down from the mansions of glory,
And told that a record was hid in Cumorah,
Containing the fulness of Jesus’s gospel;

(Collection of Sacred Hymns, 1835, Hymn 16, page 22,

It was the angel who told Joseph that the record was hid in “Cumorah.” This hymn was selected by Emma Smith, wife of the Prophet, approved by the Prophet, and published in 1835 with a collection of hymns, under instructions and directions from the Lord. “And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church.” (D&C 25:1)

This hymn was also included in the 1841 edition as hymn #262.

3. Oliver Cowdery, Second Elder of the Church and Co-President with Joseph Smith, stated the following in 1831:

This Book, which contained these things, was hid in the earth by Moroni, in a hill called by him Cumorah, which hill is now in the state of New York, near the village of Palmyra, in Ontario County.(Autobiography of P.P. Pratt p 56-61)

The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt was complied, edited and published in1881 by his son, from the documents and records left by his father after his death. From the length and detail of the address given by Oliver Cowdery in 1831, from which the above quote is taken, it had to have been recorded by Parley P. Pratt at the time it was spoken. “In writing his autobiography, Pratt relied heavily on his previous writings. After extensive analysis, Pratt family historian Steven Pratt concluded that almost ninety percent of the text is either based on or copied from earlier works”(Matt Grow, assistant professor of history at the University of Southern Indiana.)

4. The Prophet’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, provides two separate items of evidence in the original manuscript of her memoirs. In the first item, Lucy is remembering what Joseph told her after Moroni first appeared to him. The quote begins with what Moroni had told Joseph:

Now Joseph <or> beware <or> when you go to get the plates your mind will be filld with darkness and all man[n]er of evil will rush into your mind. To keep <prevent> you from keeping the comman dments of God <that you migh may not suceced in doing his work> and you must tell your father of this for he will believe every word you say the record is on a side hill on the Hill of Cumorah 3 miles from this place remove the Grass and moss and you will find a large flat stone pry that up and you will find the record under it laying on 4 pillars <of cement>— then the angel left him. [sic] (Lucy Mack Smith, History 1844–1845, Original Manuscript, page 41)

Lucy dictated the above about 20 years after the fact, but it is consistent with other evidence. In the following, Lucy recalls directly what her son said in her presence. Following Joseph’s meeting with Moroni at Cumorah, one year before Joseph received the plates, Joseph told his parents that he had “taken the severest chastisement that I have ever had in my life.” Joseph said:

it was the an gel of the Lord— as I passed by the hill of Cumo rah, 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: [sic] (Lucy Mack Smith, History 1844–1845, Original Manuscript, page 111)

In both of these quotes from the Prophet’s mother, she demonstrates that in her mind it was Moroni, who told Joseph, prior to the translation of the plates, that the hill in Palmyra was named Cumorah.

5. David Whitmer confirmed this in an interview in his later years when he stated:

[Joseph Smith] told me…he had a vision, an angel appearing to him three times in one night and telling him that there was a record of an ancient people deposited in a hill near his fathers house called by the ancients “Cumorah” situated in the township of Manchester, Ontario county N.Y…” (Milton V. Backman, Jr., “Eyewitness Accounts of the Restoration,” p. 233)

6. Parley P Pratt wrote the following, which was published in 1841:

“An Angel from on high, The long, long silence broke – Descending from the sky, These gracious words he spoke: “Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill A sacred record lies concealed.””

How often have we sung this song without noticing that it was a quote from Moroni?

All of the documentary evidence is consistent that it was Moroni who told Joseph Smith, prior to the translation of the Gold Plates, that the ancient name of the hill in Palmyra was “Cumorah.” There is no evidence to the contrary.

h/t to Theodore Brandley
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Notice that proponents of the two-Cumorahs theory disbelieve all of this evidence, on top of Letter VII.

Source: Letter VII

August 17, 2017Uncategorized

Interlude – Book of Mormon chiastic geography

In Moroni’s America, Pocket Edition, I discussed some of the parallels between the Book of Mormon and modern Church History. I think the history is chiastic. Consider this summary of several points of parallelism.

I like to say that if you’ve been on a Church history tour, you’ve been on a Book of Mormon tour–although you probably didn’t realize it.

1. The gospel was restored to the exact place where it had last existed on Earth–western New York.

2. Moroni revealed the plates at the same place where he and his father wrote and sealed them (Moroni in his stone box, Mormon in the records repository, both in the Hill Cumorah in New York).

3. Moroni translated the Book of Ether in the same area and with the same instruments that Joseph translated the plates.

4. Moroni and Mormon saw the three Nephites in the same place where they helped Joseph, David Whitmer, etc.

5. The First Vision took place in the same area where the Lord last appeared to man, Moroni.

6. The first latter-day temple was built in Ohio, where the last temple mentioned in the Book of Mormon existed (in Bountiful), and possibly on the exact same location in Kirtland.

7. The war chapters in the Book of Mormon took place on the plains of the Nephites, which Joseph Smith identified as he crossed Ohio, Indiana and Illinois on Zion’s Camp.

8. Mosiah escaped from their enemies in the land of Nephi and went to the land of Zarahemla where they built a city, just as the Saints escaped their enemies in Missouri and went to the land of Zarahemla where they built a city (Nauvoo, across from Zarahemla- D&C 125).

9. Ether prophesied of the New Jerusalem to be established on “this land,” and Joseph Smith identified the New Jerusalem in Missouri.

The next section is a quotation from chapter 35.
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The restoration started at Cumorah because that’s where Moroni hid the plates in the stone box so Joseph Smith could obtain them. It is fitting that the restoration of the Gospel occurred in the same place where the Gospel last existed on Earth.

The apostolic authority in the world of the New Testament was lost to apostasy in the early centuries after Christ’s death. Priesthood authority endured in the lands of the Book of Mormon until the death of Moroni around 421 A.D.

There are many parallels between Book of Mormon sites and Church history sites. Moroni, writing in “this north country” near Joseph Smith’s home between Palmyra and Cumorah, wrote that he had seen Jesus and talked with him face to face. Joseph’s first vision, when Jesus talked with him face to face, took place in the same area. Perhaps Moroni, too, met the Lord in the Sacred Grove?

The first temple of this dispensation was built in Ohio. The Lord personally accepted the temple, appearing to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Centuries earlier, the Lord appeared to the Nephites at a temple in the land Bountiful—modern day Ohio. Could the Kirtland temple be built where that ancient Nephite temple once stood?

The Nephite civilization degenerated and died out as the Nephites retreated eastward from Zarahemla to Cumorah. The restored Church grew and developed as it moved westward from the Cumorah area to Nauvoo.

Zion’s Camp retraced the military campaigns of Captain Moroni and other Nephite warriors. Joseph and Hyrum Smith are buried in a Nephite (Hopewell) cemetery in Nauvoo.
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When Moroni abridged the writings of Ether, he spent an entire chapter covering Ether’s prophecies (Ether 13). It’s interesting that he concludes his summary with a chiastic thought:

12 And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first.

Then he says he was forbidden to write more. Maybe because we, the recipients of his writing, would have enough difficulty accepting what he wrote?

He explained how the people rejected the words of Ether, and we wonder how they could have been so foolish and hard hearted. But maybe it’s not so surprising after all.

Ether 13:4 For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; [think about how scholars reject the Biblical account of the creation of Adam, which Moroni refers to in Moroni 10:3] and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land [think about how scholars reject a literal flood] it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof;

3 And that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord.

4 Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land.

5 And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the aJerusalem from whence bLehi should come…

6 And that a aNew Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of bJoseph, for which things there has been a ctype.

7 For as Joseph brought his father down into the land of Egypt, even so he died there; wherefore, the Lord brought a remnant of the seed of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he might be merciful unto the seed of Joseph that they should perish not, even as he was merciful unto the father of Joseph that he should perish not.

8 Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land…

12 And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first.

13 And I was about to write more, but I am forbidden;

Source: Book of Mormon Wars

August 17, 2017Uncategorized

Interlude – Chiasmus Jubilee

I’m postponing the series on DNA to next week because of an important event I attended last night at BYU.

The Chiasmus Jubilee was a profound experience. The organizers did a phenomenal job. Two days of seminars, concluding with a two-hour presentation of music, video, and talks by important scholars and participants in the study of Chiasmus, capped by a powerful talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, which I’ll discuss separately.

For those not familiar with chiasmus, there’s an awesome new website here:
https://chiasmusresources.org/. It explains that

Chiasmus is a literary device in which words or meanings are structured in an inverted parallel pattern. For example:

This is a simple chiasm. The name of the pattern comes from the Greek letter chi, X, because the pattern crosses, like an X. Chiasmus is frequently found in the Bible, but it was used in ancient Greek and Latin literatures and other sacred writings.

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Fifty years ago, when he was a young missionary in Germany, John W. (Jack) Welch attended a lecture on Chiasmus in the Bible. He woke up with the idea to look for it in the Book of Mormon. He asked where. The Spirit said start where you left off yesterday. He turned to the passage in Mosiah and he saw, in the German Book of Mormon, two words stacked on top of one another. From there, the inverse parallelism became apparent.

His discovery changed his life and Book of Mormon studies. I made this Ngram on Chiasmus to show the significance of the discovery.

Thanks to Brother Welch’s work, scholars around the world of many denominations have recognized the Book of Mormon as an integral part of the study of Hebrew parallelisms. Several of them participated in the Chiasmus Jubilee seminars over the last two days, as well as in the program last night.

I hope the videos and presentations will become available publicly. If so, I encourage everyone to enjoy them. (I posted a copy of the program below. Note that it was organized in chiastic format. Everything about this event was outstanding. It was professional, educational, enlightening, and inspiring.)

Meanwhile, go to the Chiasmus web page and peruse the resources available.

https://chiasmusresources.org/

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/content/chiasmus-in-the-book-of-mormon

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Readers of this blog know I’ve focused on Book of Mormon Central, the Interpreter, BYU Studies, and the rest. I’ve tried to make it clear that I greatly admire and respect all the scholars who participate in these organizations and publications. I like them all personally. I read their work and incorporate it into my own study and publications as much as possible.

Chiasmus is a good example. I devoted several chapters to Chiasmus in my first edition of Moroni’s America (the topic of an upcoming post). Every member of the Church should at least be familiar with Brother Welch’s work on this topic.

Really, the sole area of disagreement that I have with all of these scholars is their rejection of Letter VII and the associated context and ramifications. I won’t belabor that here, but I want to make sure readers see the distinction between the excellent work of these faithful LDS scholars and educators and my criticism of their rejection of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon regarding the New York Cumorah.
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Here is the program from last night:

Source: Book of Mormon Wars