Author: Jonathan Neville

In my previous post, I mentioned my interview with Mormon Book Reviews, which has now been posted  here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcKnMTARdiw

During the interview, we discussed gatekeepers. Another term I’ve used for certain LDS gatekeepers is the “SITH/M2C citation cartel.”

At the outset, I emphasize that these LDS scholars are fine people, faithful Latter-day Saints, etc. Their followers are likewise. They’ve done some wonderful research to help us all better understand the scriptures, etc.

My objection is (i) the way they insist everyone must agree with their interpretations, and (ii) the way they suppress and censor the teachings of the prophets to persuade people to follow their theories.

This diagram shows how the most prominent LDS gatekeepers operate with respect to the hill Cumorah. They follow the same pattern regarding the translation of the plates.

(click to enlarge)

As I’ve pointed out many times, the gatekeepers (citation cartel) work hard to prevent Latter-day Saints from the first step; i.e., they prevent us from even reading the teachings of the prophets.

The Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon Translation is a prime example. It doesn’t even quote what Joseph and Oliver taught, but instead focuses on the theories of the scholars who wrote the essay.

http://www.ldshistoricalnarratives.com/2022/09/analysis-gospel-topics-essay-on-book-of.html

BTW, it’s interesting to review the history of the Gospel Topics Essays. 

In June 2013 John Dehlin and others wrote a Faith Crisis Report, available here:

The report was an effort to understand and respond to the individual faith crises that were becoming more prevalent with the advent of the Internet. The report was a factor leading to the creation and publication of the Gospel Topics Essays as discussed below. You can read the entire report here:

https://faenrandir.github.io/a_careful_examination/documents/faith_crisis_study/Faith_Crisis_R28e.pdf

Page 31 features this graphic:

(click to enlarge)

By far, the top four reasons respondents gave for their loss of belief were they ceased to believe the doctrine/theology, they studied Church history and lost their belief, they lost faith in Joseph Smith, and they lost faith in the Book of Mormon.

(click to enlarge)

Those reasons are axiomatic, really; few people leave the faith while still believing that Joseph Smith actually translated an authentic ancient record. 

Instead, those who leave have concluded that Joseph did not translate any ancient plates. 

And yet, some of our leading LDS scholars are spending millions of dollars to convince everyone that Joseph didn’t actually translate the plates, but instead employed SITH. 

The scriptures have long warned about the dangers of building on a sandy foundation. There can hardly be a more sandy foundation than SITH and M2C, as we see in the survey in the Faith Crisis report.

The progression away from the teachings of the prophets looks like this:

First, the scholars say Joseph and Oliver were wrong about Cumorah being in New York. This, despite the historical record showing that it was Moroni who identified the hill as Cumorah the first time he met Joseph Smith. 

The scholars unilaterally decided that the “real Cumorah” must be in Mexico (M2C for the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory). A few claim other versions of M2C, such as Cumorah in Baja, Panama, Chile, etc.; anywhere else other than western New York. The M2Cers teach that Joseph and Oliver were ignorantly speculating about Cumorah. They also teach that all of their successors who reiterated their teachings about Cumorah, including members of the First Presidency speaking in General Conference, were wrong.

The next step was to say Joseph and Oliver were wrong about the translation as well. Instead of Joseph translating the plates with the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates as he claimed, the SITH scholars say Joseph and Oliver misled everyone because Joseph never used the U&T or the plates and never really translated anything. They redefine the term “translate” to mean “read words off a stone in the hat.”

Then, using the teachings of the SITH/M2C citation cartel, critics such as CES Letter and Mormon Stories persuade people that Joseph and Oliver were liars and therefore the Restoration is a fraud.

Our SITH/M2C scholars respond that although Joseph and Oliver misled people about some things, including Cumorah and the translation, they were honest about other things.

No wonder so many people are confused.

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John Dehlin’s Faith Crisis Study prompted the development of the Gospel Topics Essays, which were never intended to replace the Standard Works and teachings of the prophets. These essays were written by the same scholars who were promoting M2C and SITH.

The purpose, supposedly, was to inoculate Latter-day Saints before they were exposed to the teachings of the critics.

Instead of inoculating, these essays inadvertently infected Latter-day Saints by disregarding the teachings of the prophets in favor of the theories of the scholars who wrote them.

Now, with the Gospel Topics essays validating his approach to Church history and doctrine, John Dehlin generates more individual faith crises.

Not only that, but the scholars who wrote the Gospel Topics essays cite their own work as official doctrine.

It’s an amazing accomplishment on John Dehlin’s part.

Anyone who pays attention to General Conference knows that Church leaders continually admonish us to study the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets, including authentic Church history. They don’t ask us to rely upon or defer to the theories of the intellectuals in the citation cartel.

Everyone can read all of these things and make their own informed decisions.

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According to the scriptures, there is only one legitimate gatekeeper.

41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

(2 Nephi 9:41)

the end

Source: About Central America

Last Friday, November 11, 2022, a group of missionaries helped sow seeds for various tree species on the Hill Cumorah in New York.

https://www.thechurchnews.com/history/2022/11/13/23454837/missionaries-plant-trees-hill-cumorah-joseph-smith-reforestation

Some readers here know that I used to have a house about a mile north of Cumorah. I’ve spent a lot of time in that area. I was happy to see the removal of the ridiculous Mayan-themed stage, along with the Mayan-themed costumes and pageant. 

The Church News article started by mentioning and quoting Willard Bean. Maybe the “new interpretive and wayfinding signs” they are installing will include Brother Bean’s explanation of the Hill Cumorah as the scene of the final battles of the Jaredites and Nephites.

More likely, they will censor (i.e., “de-correlate”) his work.

For a wonderful article about Bean and his work acquiring and restoring Cumorah, see

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1358&context=jbms

The article doesn’t mention Bean’s work explaining the scriptural relevance of Cumorah. He published a book in 1948 titled Book of Mormon Geography: In Search of Ramah-Cumorah which is available here.

https://www.digitalegend.com/products/book-of-mormon-geography-in-search-of-ramah-cumorah

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Speaking of the “new interpretive and wayfinding signs,” it remains to be seen whether the Church History Department will be open and honest about actual Church history. So far, their track record is poor at best with respect to Cumorah. 

There are numerous historical documents relating to Cumorah, some of which I’ve collected here:

http://www.lettervii.com/p/byu-packet-on-cumorah.html

Any visitor to the Hill Cumorah in New York who leaves without being informed about actual Church history on the topic is being misinformed–intentionally, sad to say.

At the very least, the Visitors Center should include Letter VII in full.

http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/90

It is astonishing that so few Church members know that it was Moroni himself who identified the hill as Cumorah when he visited Joseph Smith the first time.

Well, not astonishing, I suppose. The Church History Department, obsessed with accommodating their M2C friends and colleagues, continues to censor all historical information about Cumorah from their publications and other Church curriculum, including displays historical sites. 

Notice the caption to this photo in the Church News article. They describe Cumorah as “a small hill.” Maybe for someone coming from Utah it appears small, but that’s just bad reporting.

And effective, but deplorable, “de-correlating” of authentic Church history.

“a small hill” (click to enlarge photo)

Contrast the Church News’ anachronistic “presentism” with President Oliver Cowdery’s description:

I think I am justified in saying that this is the highest hill for some distance round, and I am certain that its appearance, as it rises so suddenly from a plain on the north, must attract the notice of the traveller as he passes by.

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/90

Anyone who lives in the Palmyra area knows that Oliver Cowdery’s description is more accurate than the Church News description.

As we saw in the Saints book, volume 1, the effort to de-correlate Church history about Cumorah continues. So far, the Church History Department hasn’t gone to the final step of actually removing the historical Cumorah documents from the Joseph Smith Papers. Hopefully that will never happen. 

But the way they censor and “reframe” Church history, few English-speaking Latter-day Saints, and virtually zero non-English-speaking Latter-day Saints, will ever learn accurate Church history about Cumorah.

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The twitter feed mentioned in the article included this photo:

Compare that to a photo I took when I lived a mile from the Hill Cumorah.

Source: Letter VII

I finally took the time to write another response to the Interpreter reviews of my books A Man that Can Translate and Infinite Goodness.

For those interested, I posted it today, here:

https://interpreterpeerreviews.blogspot.com/2022/11/my-response-to-kraus-rejoinder.html

I also did a podcast interview on the topic. I’ll post that link when it goes live later this week.

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One of the points discussed is what Joseph meant when he published this in the Elders’ Journal of July 1838:

“I obtained them [the plates], and the Urim and Thummim with them; by the means of which, I translated the plates; and thus came the book of Mormon.”

Pause and think. Would you agree that most readers find this a clear, concise, unambiguous explanation? 

To use Joseph’s expression “or in other words,” the sentence explains that Joseph translated the plates by means of the Urim and Thummim that he obtained with the plates.

Seems clear, doesn’t it?

But no, if that’s how you understand Joseph’s simple declaration, you have it wrong, according to some of our leading LDS scholars and the critics who agree with them, as discussed below.

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You can see Joseph’s statement in context in the Joseph Smith Papers here:

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/elders-journal-july-1838/11 

You can also find it here, where the editors isolated the section and added “notes.”

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/questions-and-answers-8-may-1838/2

The “notes” are awesome. The editors of the Joseph Smith Papers know these notes are false because there is an 1832 reference to Orson Hyde referring to the Urim and Thummim, but the editors are promoting the SITH narrative so they won’t change these notes.

(click to enlarge)

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According to our leading LDS scholars, joined by critics such as John Dehlin, RFM, the CES Letter, etc., Joseph did not mean what he wrote.

Naturally, because of their credentials, they are entitled to “interpret” what Joseph actually meant and then impose their interpretation on the rest of us. 

This table shows how it works. 

IOW, these scholars and critics agree that Joseph’s statement here actually means that Joseph used multiple instruments to “translate” the Book of Mormon, including the seer stone that he did not obtain with the plates. Actually, that’s too generous. These same groups further claim that Joseph didn’t really translate the plates after all, at least not in any ordinary sense of the term “translate,” but merely read words that appeared on the seer stone.

Kraus and his collaborators are merely the latest to make this claim in his review of my books.

It’s bad enough that the “Interpreter” asserts authority to interpret the scriptures and Church history and doctrine for the rest of us, citing their status as the credentialed class for their authority.

But insisting that we believe them instead of our own eyes is laughable.

_____

Source: About Central America

The Friend magazine continues the de-correlation of the Urim and Thummim, but also features Lebanon, so it’s a mixed bag.

I was happy to see a feature on Lebanon in the November 2022 Friend magazine.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2022/11/hello-from-lebanon?lang=eng

(click to enlarge)

Lebanon is one of my favorite countries, partly because they speak French (or did when I visited), partly because of its importance in the Bible, and partly because the people and food and scenery are all awesome.

Some years ago I spent a couple of weeks there with a Lebanese archaeologist. This was after the Lebanese civil war that ended in 1990. Beirut was badly damaged. There was only one functioning stoplight in the entire city. 

The country was under Syrian occupation, and the State Department had warned us not to go, but we flew in from the UK and had no problems. I was doing a filming project and also working with some computer animators I had trained in the U.S. We stayed with people we knew and some of their friends as we traveled around. One night we stayed in the Beka’a Valley. Syrian troops were everywhere, and our hosts made a point of not telling anyone we were Americans. 

At one inland site, on the top of a high rocky hill, we collected fossils of sea shells along with shrapnel from the Israeli bombs that had dislodged the fossils. We visited some of the few remaining stands of the cedars of Lebanon in the mountains, as well as Baalbeck and other sites, including Sidon. 

Sidon, of course, is the named river in the Book of Mormon. Many of us think the name originated with the Phoenicians who sailed Mulek’s group to America. The onomasticon includes this possiblity.

https://onoma.lib.byu.edu/index.php/SIDON

Other references make a more direct link between SIDON and hunting/fishing.

https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Sidon.html

I look forward to the day when the situation in Lebanon returns to its more peaceful status as the Switzerland of the Middle-East. I’m eager to return there!

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Then there is the Friend for October 2022, teaching SITH to the children.

(click to enlarge)

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2022/10/come-follow-me/ezekiels-promises-come-true?lang=eng

Back in 2004, at least they told the kids about the Urim and Thummim… sort of.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2004/09/coming-forth-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng

Source: About Central America

Interfaith dialog continues to make progress. But we don’t see the same progress among leading LDS intellectual groups, particularly the M2C/SITH citation cartel of Book of Mormon Central, FAIRLDS, and the Interpreter Foundation.

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For example, I blogged about an interfaith program that took place last Sunday at the Lake Oswego Stake Center here in Oregon.

https://bookofmormonconsensus.blogspot.com/2022/11/interfaith-fireside-in-lake-oswego.html

It’s wonderful to see people who have a variety of faiths come together with mutual respect. It’s not merely tolerance; instead, they demonstrate engagement and interaction and understanding.

Unity in diversity.

One of the slides from the presentation explains this well.

Compare that to the intransigent, intolerant editorial approach from the M2C/SITH citation cartel. They refuse to acknowledge, let alone ask questions and listen, to fellow Latter-day Saints who still believe the teachings of the prophets about Cumorah and the translation of the Book of Mormon.

Imagine how much more healthy and productive these organizations would be if they decided to become legitimate academic organizations that desired to grow relationships instead of dogmatically defend their own ideology?

The principal roadblocks to greater unity among Latter-day Saints are Jack Welch (Book of Mormon Central), Dan Peterson (Interpreter Foundation), and Scott Gordon (FAIRLDS). All three are awesome, faithful Latter-day Saints. But all three of them grasp firmly onto their M2C and SITH beliefs, which are the interpolations of men. 

Any one of them could break the logjam by embracing the ideals set out in the “Grow relationships” slide. Their followers would do the same, and we would see unprecedented unity in the Church as these thought leaders exemplify the principle of unity through diversity.

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Recently I discussed the progress of Intrafaith dialog among Latter-day Saints. I showed how the Maxwell Institute has shed the M2C agenda it inherited from FARMS in favor of a more open, inquisitive approach designed to grow relationships.

I showed how BYU Studies has made similar progress, once Jack Welch was no longer editor, by publishing an article that respectfully acknowledged the Heartland ideas. 

I suggested that even the Interpreter Foundation has its toe on the line of becoming legitimate. 

It remains to be seen what will happen next.

_____

Here are some of the slides I used in my presentation at the Book of Mormon Evidence conference at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City in October.

Source: About Central America

Last Sunday (Nov 6, 2022) a wonderful interfaith fireside titled “Building Bridges” took place here in Oregon in the Lake Oswego stake center (near the Portland temple).

The first speaker was from the BYU Law School who had recently returned from Vietnam. She did a nice job talking about natural bridges made from living roots (see slides below).

The other speakers included a rabbi, a gay Christian minister whose sister wouldn’t be in the same room as his husband, a female minister who met with a group of 5 Jewish, 5 Muslim, and 5 Christian women for many years, black minister known for energetic preaching whose wife gave the opening prayer and who talked about the Black experience with discrimination, and a Muslim from Yemen who is President of the Muslim Education Trust in Tigard, Or. 

The black minister said white ministers ask him what book they should read to understand. He tells them, don’t read a book, but come walk with me. Everyone has reasons to think and feel what they do, but we can overcome fear with intentionality. Each person has an opportunity and responsibility to build human bridges. 

All the speakers had 5 minutes, and most took 10-15, naturally.

The Muslim pointed out that anciently, people from Yemen could travel to China and back, to southern Europe and west Africa, all without a visa to trade goods. But colonialism erected barriers that persist today. He said if not for Islam, Judaism wouldn’t have survived Christianity. His mother used to take care of his Jewish neighbors, etc.

The event was broadcast on zoom and was recorded, but I don’t have the link yet.

_____

Some of the slides.

 

Source: Book of Mormon Concensus

Some years ago I attended a session on early Church history at BYU Education Week. During hsi presentation on promoting the SITH narrative, the speaker acknowledged that Joseph Smith said the Title Page was “a literal translation taken from the last leaf of the plates.” 

Let’s look at how Joseph dealt with such “misunderstandings.”

Mean time our translation drawing to a close, we went to Palmyra, and agreed there <​with Mr​> Egbert Granden [Grandin] to print and publish it five thousand <​copies​> for three thousand Dollars, and about this time secured the copy right. I would mention here also in order to correct a misunderstanding, which has gone abroad concerning the title page of the Book of Mormon, that it is not a composition of mine or of any other man’s who has lived or does live in this generation, but that it is a literal translation taken from the last leaf of the plates, on the left hand side of the collection of plates, the language running same as the <​all​> Hebrew <​wr[i]ting​> language <​in general​>. And that no error can henceforth possibly exist I give here the Title so far as it is a translation.

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-june-october-1839-draft-1/9

(click to enlarge) handwriting of

Source: About Central America

In his book Mormon’s Codex, John Sorenson promoted M2C. 

The book includes this comment regarding the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah:

“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. Hundreds of thousands of Nephites traipsing across the Mississippi Valley to New York, pursued (why?) by hundreds of thousands of Lamanites, is a scenario worthy only of a witless sci-fi movie, not of history.”

John Sorenson, Mormon’s Codex (Deseret Book, 2013), p. 688.

I suppose most people find it difficult to believe that hundreds of thousands of Lamanites would “traipse” from Mesoamerica all the way to western New York. It’s axiomatic that the fake scenario Sorenson set out is “manifestly absurd.”

Even RLDS scholar L.E. Hills, who developed the M2C map that many LDS scholars continue to promote today, thought it was “useless” to show the final battles of the Jaredites in New York State.

(click to enlarge)

But here’s the irony: it is the fake M2C scenario that Hills developed and Sorenson copied that is “manifestly absurd.” 

By repudiating the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah, the M2C intellectuals have conjured up an interpretation of the Book of Mormon that fits nowhere in the real world. Instead, they give us fantasy maps such as the one taught at BYU.

A far more productive approach is accepting the teachings of the prophets about Cumorah and interpreting the text accordingly. 

Source: About Central America