Mesoamerica Two Cumorah Theory

M2C means, “Mesoamerica Two Cumorah Theory”, as defined by Jonathan Neville. In other words those who believe there are two Hill Cumorah’s, one in New York where Joseph deposited the plates, and a second Hill Cumorah somewhere in Mexico where the final battles of the Nephites and Lamanites took place. YES, they really believe this!
Why?
1. They need to justify that their theory has to have happened in Mesoamerica.
2. They insist the area around NY Cumorah is too small to be a place for such disaster.
3. They claim no bones, arrowheads, iron, copper and other artifacts have ever been found near the NY Cumorah. My Proof Here
4. They believe the Cave at Hill Cumorah that Joseph entered and saw wagon loads of plates was just a dream and didn’t really happen. Blog, Other Blog
5. They believe Moroni traveled over 3,500 miles to NY to bury the plates.

John L. Sorenson begins his Preface to Mormon’s Codex: An Ancient American Book, with these observations:

“This book presents a wide array of evidence that the Book of Mormon is an ancient historical record that could only have been produced by a writer who lived in Mesoamerica (southern Mexico and northern Central America) many centuries before Spanish explorers reached that area…. Numerous theories have, of course, been proposed to correlate Book of Mormon geography with the modern map of the Americas. None of these theories have been considered definitive by authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In chapters 2 and 7, I explain why I consider only one of those theories–involving a particular area in Mesoamerica–to escape the fatal flaws exhibited by all the others.”

I suspect most readers glide right over this sleight-of-hand rhetoric. The truth, though, is that Church authorities have always made a clear distinction between fact and theory regarding Book of Mormon geography.

Fact: The Hill Cumorah is in New York. This was established as a fact in Letter VII, written by President Oliver Cowdery who was an eye-witness to the depository of Nephite records in that hill (Mormon 6:6). Joseph Smith helped write these letters, had them copied into his personal history, and endorsed their republication for the rest of his life. The fact that Cumorah is in New York has been repeated many times by Church leaders, including by members of the First Presidency speaking in General Conference. No member of the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve has ever repudiated this teaching of his predecessors.

Theory: Church leaders have always said don’t know for sure the locations of other Book of Mormon events, so every proposed geography other than the New York Cumorah is necessarily a theory.

All of this means that, starting right from the outset, Mormon’s Codex is propaganda, not scholarship…

Brother Sorensen also says, “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 hundred of thousands of Lamanites, is a scenario worthy only of a witless sci-fi movie, not of history.” Mormon’s Codex, p. 688…

The treatment of Cumorah in Mormon’s Codex is an illusion of scholarship, as you’ll see if you read it carefully. Here are some examples:

“In the final stage of their retreat, all the identifiable Nephites assembled near the hill Cumorah, probably Cerro El Vigia in south-central Veracruz….

When all the remaining Nephites were ‘gathered in,’ the numerically superior Lamanite horde waged battle. In a single day they exterminated all 23 units of the defenders (each nominally of 10,000 men)….

Finally, the hill where the end came for the Jaredites, who called it Ramah, and the location of the last battle of the Nephites at the same hill (they called it Cumorah), have a highly likely correspondence to Cerro El Vigia (see fig. 7.2), an outlier on the northwest of the Tuxtla Mountains. In overall location and in a dozen other features, the textual information in the Book of Mormon agrees with the geographical situation. 72″

In classic M2C citation cartel fashion, Footnote 72 (page 142) cites David A. Palmer, In Search of Cumorah (Bountiful, UT: Horizon Publishers, 1992). Brother Palmer, of course, encouraged Brother Sorenson to write his books…

Brother Palmer is the one who wrote the self-serving entry on Cumorah in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism that cites only his own book for authority, again in classic M2C citation cartel fashion. You can read my discussions of his book if you search for “David Palmer” on this blog. Brother Palmer cites the anonymous articles in the Times and Seasons for authority, while ignoring the teachings of the prophets entirely, except for a brief dismissal of Letter VII, which he doesn’t even quote.
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As you go through the “criteria” for Cumorah set forth in Mormon’s Codex and In Search of Cumorah, you’ll see that the criteria are derived not from the text but from the assumed Mesoamerican setting. There must be volcanoes, for example, which Mormon and Moroni forgot to mention but which Brothers Sorenson and Palmer thoughtfully provide.

As I noted at the outset, once you recognize that Mormon’s Codex is a long-winded justification for repudiating the prophets, you see the logical fallacies and circular reasoning throughout.

To be clear, I do not reject the Mesoamerican setting and I won’t until it has not been rejected by the prophets. However, I think it is implausible, given the New York Cumorah. I think the evidence from ancient North America aligns far better with the text of the Book of Mormon than the evidence from Mesoamerica, Baja, Panama, etc.

For me, the distinction between fact and theory, between the New York Cumorah and everything else, is so well established by the prophets that it is inexcusable to censor, let alone repudiate, the teachings of the prophets…

It’s a side benefit that the fact of the New York Cumorah is so well supported by available archaeology, anthropology, geography, and geology. Mormon’s Codex is a classic case of the tail wagging the dog.” Jonathan Neville Illusion of scholarship – Mormon’s Codex part 3

“Sorenson’s analysis of Alma 22 seems to be influenced by the Times and Seasons article published on 1 October 1842, which declares that the Nephite city of Zarahemla “stood upon” “Central America or Guatimala [sic].” Sorenson cites this passage from the Times and Seasons, although he recognizes the “fact that the geography question had not been settled authoritatively.”^[1] In Mormon’s Codex, Sorenson relegates the Times and Seasons articles to a footnote in support of his unequivocal conclusion: “Joseph Smith became convinced in the last years of his life that the lands of the Nephites were in Mesoamerica.”^[1]

Sorenson’s assumptions about Central America lead him to a preconceived concept of Book of Mormon geography; i.e., a narrow neck of land between two larger land masses. Perhaps he felt somewhat bound by the Times and Seasons articles and his inference that Joseph Smith agreed with them. As such, Sorenson’s work could be viewed as an effort to vindicate the Prophet’s words.” Moroni’s America by Jonathan Neville pages 26-28

You Choose-

BYU Fantasy Map?

Heartland Model Map?

There are several definitions of Latin America:

From a strict cultural and linguistic perspective, it would include all countries and territories where Romance languages — Spanish, Portuguese, French, and their creoles — are spoken.

The most common view is that Latin America includes territories in the Americas where Spanish or Portuguese prevail: Mexico and most of Central America, South America, and (per land area and population) the Caribbean. The acronym “LACRO” refers to this view. The English-speaking American countries are not considered to be part of Latin America. Territories where other Romance languages such as French (e.g., Quebec in Canada) or Kreyol (e.g. Haiti, Martinique and Guadeloupe) predominate are frequently not considered to be part of Latin America from this perspective, despite the French origins of the concept. The former Dutch colonies Suriname, Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are not considerend parts of Latin America, even though in the latter two, the predominantly Iberian-influenced language Papiamentu is spoken by the majority of the population.

Sometimes, particularly in the United States, the term “Latin America” is used to refer to all of America south of the U.S., including countries such as Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and Suriname where non-Romance languages prevail. Conversely, it is often used in Brazil to designate the Spanish-speaking countries within this area, which are often known as Hispanic America.

Geopolitically, Latin America is divided into 20 independent countries and several dependent territories. Spanish is predominant and an official language in most Latin American countries, with the exception of Brazil where Portuguese prevails. Source

Moroni’s America Chapter 29 – Latin America and The Book of Mormon

In The Lost City of Zarahemla, I discussed the impact of the North American setting on people who live outside the United States. I suggested three ways in which native peoples in Central and South America can be Book of Mormon people.

First, they could be among the “other sheep” Christ visited. The numerous legends of a “white God” and other elements of a Biblical nature could be attributable to such visits, even though there are no records extant.

Second, the “Hinterlands” theory suggests that descendants of Lamanites migrated southward.

Third, the Jaredite civilization, which came from Asia, expanded throughout the continent. As I wrote there, “In some respect, the Book of Ether is largely forgotten as a history of the inhabitants of the American continent, probably because of a widely held perception in the Church that the Jaredites were completely killed off, leaving only a sole survivor to meet the Mulekites. I propose that this notion is incorrect and that the Jaredites are at least one of the sources of the Asian DNA found in indigenous Latin Americans.” Moroni’s America Chapter 29 – Latin America and The Book of Mormon

“Concluding as I have that the Mesoamerican theory originated out of misplaced missionary zeal (or a focus on the hinterlands), I was curious about what a “correct” geography would look, like. The work of Sorenson and others has been invaluable in this pursuit-but it led me to a much different conclusion. Sorenson’s work excludes Mesoamerica as a viable setting for the Book of Mormon.  “The Lost City of Zarahemla” by Jonathan Neville page 357

John Sorensen also denies the Heartland model 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. 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 L. Sorenson, Mormon’s Codex (Deseret Book, 2013), p. 688.

“Hinterlands is defined here as meaning the unknown area of North and South America that are not within the scope of the writings of the Book of Mormon. In other words, since we believe main events of the Book of Mormon happened in a limited area of North America around the Great Lakes in the east, and Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri to the west, and south in Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, and Florida, all other areas will be discussed as “The Hinterlands”. We propose that Mesoamerica is the Hinterlands along with many other areas of the continent. As Mormon has said, “…I shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people (Words of Mormon 1:5). There are many people in South and Central America that are Lamanites and part of the Hinterlands.” Jonathan Neville

“From a theological perspective, there is another way to address the question of Lamanites and Latin America.

In 3 Nephi 16, the Lord gave an extended sermon about the “lost sheep of Israel,” the Gentiles, and the house of Israel. There are several key points.

1. The Lord said he had “other sheep which are not of this land.” If, as I propose, “this land” refers to North America, then Christ could have been referring to people in Mesoamerica and South America, as well as anywhere else in the world. The heading to the chapter refers to the “lost sheep of Israel,” but the text itself does not use that phrase. In fact, according to Mosiah 26:21, “he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep and him shall ye receive into the church and him will I also receive.” This suggests that the “sheep” in 3 Nephi 16 were not necessarily of the house of Israel, but anyone who hears the Lord’s voice. The Lord’s sheep could be Mesoamericans, Asians, Africans—anyone.

2. The Lord’s sayings were to be kept and manifested unto the Gentiles, “that through the fullness of the Gentiles” the remnant of their seed—meaning the Lord’s people at Jerusalem, or the Jews—may be brought to a knowledge of their Redeemer, and thereby be gathered.

3. The truth was to come unto the Gentiles, who were to scatter the Lord’s people who are of the house of Israel. The Europeans did scatter the tribes from Eastern North America (through the Removal Act of 1830 and the many treaties that placed them on reservations), but the indigenous people in Latin America still live where they always have.

4. At a future date, the Gentiles would rebel. “At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fullness of my gospel,” the Lord will bring the fullness of the gospel from among them. And then he will remember his covenant with the house of Israel. So it seems consistent with the scriptures for the gospel to be taken to the Gentiles—including the people in Latin America—before it is taken to the descendants of the people to whom the Lord was speaking; i.e., the Lamanites. At this point—still future—the Lord says:

12 And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fullness of my gospel.

13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.

14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.

15 But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.

16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, thus hath the Father commanded me—that I should give unto this people this land for their inheritance.

At the end of this sermon, the Lord told the people, “I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time. Therefore, go ye unto your homes and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father in my name that ye may understand.” (3 Nephi 17: 1-2) That advice applies to us today as well. (My novel, The Rule of Equity, proposes one possible way the promises in chapters 16 and 20 of 3 Nephi could be fulfilled.)

The Lord did resume this sermon, starting with 3 Nephi 20:10. In verse 22, he explains, “this people will I establish in this land . . . and it shall be a New Jerusalem.”

The New Jerusalem, of course, will be in Jackson County, Missouri” Moroni’s America Chapter 29 – Latin America and The Book of Mormon

“During Zion’s Camp while in Illinois, and Missouri, the prophet Joseph Smith said, “ …Wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity…”  This cannot mean that while Joseph was picking up the bones of Nephites in Illinois that he was referring to divine authenticity of a Mesoamerica record.” Jonathan Neville

Learn more about the Hinterlands here: https://www.bofm.blog/the-hinterland-lamanites-in-the-americas/

Learn why Prophets mention the Children of Lehi in South and Central American Temple dedications here https://www.bofm.blog/temple-dedicatory-prayers-lamanites-in-south-central-north-america-2/

I think it is a great time in life to stop trying to avoid trials. “Trials Happen” Trials are necessary for spiritual growth. If you have never had trials and challenges how can you ever appreciate the great things in your life. There must be an opposite in all things.

Of course I do know quite a few people who don’t seemingly have many trials. They have money, a happy marriage, a great job and seem happy in life. If having these great things and yet having no trials, I don’t think anyone could have as good of a life to come, without some trials to overcome. The more we have a challenge and overcome it, the more we learn on our path to Godhood.

Believe me, I don’t ask God for trials but they just keep coming which I am grateful for. I have a wonderful Aunt Beth who always said to me “I never worry when I have a trial, I worry when I don’t have one, as they strengthen my testimony.”

Try this experiment. Next time you have a trial, stop for a moment and say. Thank you Lord for this trial. What is it I can learn from it? You can either get closer to the Lord or further from Him. It’s your choice.

This past conference was wonderful. I loved Elder Holland’s and President Nelson’s talks below. Here is a small portion of them.

Waiting on the Lord

By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Oct 2020

Faith means trusting God in good times and bad, even if that includes some suffering until we see His arm revealed in our behalf.

My beloved brothers and sisters, we are all eager—no one more than I—to hear concluding remarks from our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. This has been a marvelous conference, but it is the second time that COVID-19 has altered our traditional proceedings. We are so tired of this contagion, we feel like tearing our hair out. And apparently, some of my Brethren have already taken that course of action. Please know that we do pray constantly for those who have been affected in any way, especially for any who have lost loved ones. Everyone agrees that this has gone on much, much too long.

How long do we wait for relief from hardships that come upon us? What about enduring personal trials while we wait and wait, and help seems so slow in coming? Why the delay when burdens seem more than we can bear?…

COVID and cancer, doubt and dismay, financial trouble and family trials. When will these burdens be lifted? The answer is “by and by.”¹⁷ And whether that be a short period or a long one is not always ours to say, but by the grace of God, the blessings will come to those who hold fast to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That issue was settled in a very private garden and on a very public hill in Jerusalem long ago…” Jeffrey R. Holland

A New Normal

By President Russell M. Nelson President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Oct 2020

I invite you to turn your heart, mind, and soul increasingly to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ…

We live in a glorious age, foreseen by prophets for centuries. This is the dispensation when no spiritual blessing will be withheld from the righteous.¹ Despite the world’s commotion,² the Lord would have us look forward to the future “with joyful anticipation.”³ Let us not spin our wheels in the memories of yesterday. The gathering of Israel moves forward. The Lord Jesus Christ directs the affairs of His Church, and it will achieve its divine objectives.

The challenge for you and me is to make certain that each of us will achieve his or her divine potential. Today we often hear about “a new normal.” If you really want to embrace a new normal, I invite you to turn your heart, mind, and soul increasingly to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Let that be your new normal.

Embrace your new normal by repenting daily. Seek to be increasingly pure in thought, word, and deed. Minister to others. Keep an eternal perspective. Magnify your callings. And whatever your challenges, my dear brothers and sisters, live each day so that you are more prepared to meet your Maker.⁴ (Pres Russell M Nelson color and italics added)

Elder Holland compares pornography to COVID-19 in address to Utah Coalition Against Pornography

By Rachel Sterzer Gibson Updated12 SEP 202012:00 PM MDT

Four years ago, in addressing the Utah Coalition Against Pornography’s annual conference, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the need to view the threat posed by pornography like “a public health crisis; like an infectious, fatal epidemic; like a moral plague on the body politic that is maiming the lives of our citizens.”

In offering the keynote address at that same conference on Sept. 12 — this time delivered remotely due to precautions for COVID-19 — Elder Holland said, “Well, I guess we’d better be careful what metaphors we use because we have been given such a plague.” 

The UCAP’s annual conference, called the Rally for Hope and Healing, was held at the Burns Arena on the Dixie State University campus in Southern Utah. In his remarks, which were livestreamed to participants in St. George and elsewhere, Elder Holland outlined the “striking similarities between pornography and COVID-19” and offered hope and encouragement to the “foot soldiers in the war against pandemics, whether of the body or the mind.”Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve speaks at the 14th annual Utah Coalition Against Pornography held in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 12, 2016. Credit: Courtesy UCAP

“As we conquer COVID-19 — and we will — may we be equally committed right now to conquering this other pandemic and free the world from the plague of pornography,” he declared.

In the first of his comparisons between COVID-19 and porn, Elder Holland explained that the coronavirus spreads through small, imperceptible droplets in the air. Those who are infected with the small particles — 1,000 times smaller than a grain of sand — may not initially recognize the danger and therefore “may or may not have taken appropriate precautions against this seemingly ubiquitous aggressor.”

“This sounds eerily like the infection of pornography,” Elder Holland said. “Exposure begins through small, simple, visual droplets about which even the victim may not fully appreciate the danger.” Sadly, “the little pornographic germs” are pervasive — television, movies, checkout counters, cell phones and iPads — so that exposure goes on and on.

While washing hands, using sanitizer, wearing a mask and observing social distancing can help protect against COVID-19, “pornography does not know how to be clean or to be masked or to keep any distance at all,” the Church leader said.  

And while there is hope for the development of some form of inoculation to COVID-19, “I am not aware of a wonder drug coming to counter pornography, so we must conquer it another way,” he said.

Elder Holland then explained “more than you ever wanted to know about these two plagues.” Once in the body, COVID-19 forms spikes on its surface that contain three elements that help the virus access the ACE2 receptors of cells. After attaching, the virus deposits its genetic material inside the cell and quickly replicates itself until the cell bursts.

Like COVID-19’s “sticky” spikes, pornography has three elements that make it a particularly contagious disease. Quoting Dr. Al Cooper, Elder Holland explained that those three elements are accessibility, affordability and anonymity. Due to its widespread accessibility, porn’s onslaught is constant. “And because porn is available for free on a variety of internet-enabled devices, it is available to any viewer whenever and wherever he or she wants it — usually the darkest and most private hour and location possible, allowing it to be viewed anonymously in most cases.”

What of the impact of “these two plagues?” Elder Holland asked. COVID-19’s impact varies, though it is generally worse for those over 60. Some will never know they had it while others end up on a respirator, having their blood artificially oxygenated, or dying from the disease. “These victims can no longer rely on their own natural capabilities. Instead, they must live artificially to survive from day to day.”

In contrast, no one escapes pornography unscathed as some might with COVID-19, and it reverses its audience — attacking the young more viciously than the elderly. “Like COVID-19’s worst victims, pornography takes what is normal and natural and makes it artificial for everyone who uses it. Because it rewires the neural pathways in your brain, to leave it will require constant monitoring of your thoughts and feelings, not unlike the greatest monitoring of the lungs or blood of COVID-19 patients,” he said.

Both COVID-19 and pornography create a form of social distancing, he continued, where family and friends feel powerless. But where COVID-19’s isolation is compelled by public officials, porn’s isolation is voluntary, stemming from a fear of being found out. “Unfortunately, users think that when they use it in isolation that they can restrain the contagion like someone in quarantine does for COVID-19,” he said. “Yet this isolation only perpetuates the disease instead of isolating it.”

Pornography distorts the very nature of love, he said, which is as important to a fully functioning human as the cells that make up the body. Calling COVID-19 “a destructive, intracellular parasite,” Elder Holland explained that the virus hijacks a cell’s reproduction machinery and relentlessly replicates itself until the host cell bursts from the buildup of the viruses.

“Similarly,” he said, “when pornography hijacks our love and emotions unnaturally, we struggle to replicate them naturally.” He then quoted Dr. Gail Dines who said, “In porn[ography], sex is not about making love. The feelings and emotions we normally associate with such an act — connection, empathy, tenderness, caring, affection — are missing. In their place are those emotions we normally associate with hate — fear, disgust, anger, loathing and contempt.”

For those who give illicitly only part of that which cannot be followed with the gift of their whole heart, Elder Holland warned, “is its own form of emotional Russian roulette. If they persist in sharing part without the whole, in pursuing satisfaction devoid of loyalty and love, giving parts and pieces and inflamed fragments only, they run the terrible risk of such spiritual, psychic damage that they may undermine both their physical intimacy and their wholehearted devotion to those who love them most — in reality, not virtually.”

Recognizing that many in the audience have “deeply personal hopes,” Elder Holland said, “Because God does work in this world, we can hope — we should hope — even when facing the most insurmountable odds. … We all need to believe that what we desire in righteousness can someday, someway, somehow yet be ours.”

With COVID-19, there is hope for a vaccine. “As we have learned with flu and other vaccines, they are not always perfect. Similarly, efforts to protect yourself, your spouse, child, family member, or other associate from pornography may be successful by degrees.”

Elder Holland recognized that those who struggle will need help. “For the kind of painful loneliness that some suffer here today, the best help always comes from heaven.”

Look forward with faith and courage, he said. “Do not replicate the longing look of Lot’s wife back to Sodom and Gomorrah. That leads to salty, bitter experiences. It does not matter whether you are looking back for grief, pain, desire, or some other reason. Learn from the past, but don’t wallow in it,” he said.

Many years ago, a young heart surgeon — Dr. Russell M. Nelson — operated on two siblings, but, despite his best efforts, he lost them both. Although he was ready to quit, his wife Dantzel explained that if he quit, someone would have to learn what he already learned, which would take a long time and result in the loss of additional lives in the process.   

“Part of life is coming up against obstacles such as pornography and pandemics and conquering them, destructive as they are,” Elder Holland said. “Some problems are of our own making, and others simply happen to us. We face what we must face, and we persevere. It means squaring our shoulders and stiffening our back and staying with a virtuous effort.”

Use pains, temptations and traumas, Elder Holland told listeners. “Harness them as a moving force to be better, to become better. Allow God-given gifts to come out in you. When you are a creator, you focus more on the positive and less on the things that are destroying or hurting you.  Let your pain lead you to your Heavenly Father who loves you.”

Elder Holland said he is not oblivious to the fact that this is a “wrenching, terribly harrowing problem.” Many have been trying to help themselves or others battle this demon for years.

“In some sense, we are all distant spectators to one another,” he said. “Not one of us has suffered what the other has suffered. However, I believe there is One who has. Each person will have to counsel and pray and work through that with Him. We cannot live without hope. Every one of you needs to have hope. Christ Jesus gives us that hope because in some incredible way, He has in effect been where you have been and felt what you have felt.”

The Lord will always bless those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christlike virtues and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them. “If you stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep going,” Elder Holland said. “If you fall, summon His strength. Get back up. Call out like one did, ‘O Jesus, … have mercy on me’ (Alma 36:18).” 

Christ will help individuals repent, repair, fix whatever needs to be fixed and keep going. “Soon enough you will have the success you seek,” he said.

When others try and ban certain words or wont listen to another’s opinion they are turning this Miracle we call America upside down. Whenever there is disagreement we should have more dialogue, not less. Banning words or phrases or books is a terrible way the progressives use today to take away our God-given rights.

Plead for America

“I plead with you this evening to pray for this country, for our leaders, for our people, and for the families that live in this great nation founded by God… this country was established and preserved by our founding fathers and mothers who repeatedly acknowledged the hand of God through prayer… We must stand boldly for righteousness and truth, and must defend the cause of honor, decency, and personal freedom espoused by Washington, Madison, Adams, Lincoln, and other leaders who acknowledged and loved God… We must stand boldly for righteousness and truth, and must defend the cause of honor, decency, and personal freedom espoused by Washington, Madison, Adams, Lincoln, and other leaders who acknowledged and loved God… Please look for the Lord’s hand in your lives and in the lives of your family, as I do in the lives of my ancestors and family,” he said. “Expect it. Do not dismiss it. Do not relegate the experiences in your lives to coincidences. From the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 through the signing of the U.S. Constitution in September 1787, the “wise men” whom the Lord “raised up unto this very purpose… As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have a solemn duty to face the Lord and deliver His message,” said President Ballard. “His words often include words of encouragement and expressions of love. They also include words of warning. America and the nations of the earth, as in times past, “are at another crossroad… Let it begin today that we take leadership and reach out in our own prayers and encourage our neighbors, our friends, our families … to pray for this country that we all love much.”  President Ballard pleads with Latter-day Saints to ‘pray for this country’ as United States is at ‘another crossroad by Sarah Jane Weaver church News. Link here: https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-10-21/pray-for-the-united-states-its-leaders-and-its-family-president-ballard-pleads-164797

“…in culmination of the grand scheme of schemes, this great nation, the Republic of the United States, might be established upon this land as an asylum for the oppressed; a resting place, it might be said, for the Ark of the covenant, where the temple of our God might be built; where the plan of salvation might be introduced and practiced in freedom, and not a dog would wag his tongue in opposition to the purposes of the Almighty. We believe that this was His object in creating the Republic of the United States; the only land where his work could be commenced or the feet of his people find rest. No other land had such liberal institutions, had adopted so broad a platform upon which all men might stand. We give glory to those patriots for the noble work they did; but we give the first glory to God, our Father and their Father, who inspired them. We take them by the hand as brothers. We believe they did nobly their work, even as we would fain do ours, faithfully and well, that we might not be recreant in the eyes of God, for failing to perform the mission to which He has appointed us.” Bishop Orson F. Whitney, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, April 19, 1885. Reported by John Irvine. Journal Discourses Volume 26  Page 201

Mark E. Petersen said: “You from other lands don’t need to become jealous of America. Who is jealous of Palestine, where Jesus was born? We are not jealous of the country; we merely recognize the hand of God in sending him there. We must also recognize the hand of God in sending the gospel to this land. We learn to love America because it is God’s land!

Celebrating First Amendment Rights

Religious Freedom Day is celebrated in America each year on January 16 — the date of the 1786 passage of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. That measure ended the state-established church in Virginia and for the first time placed all denominations on the same legal footing. That act fully protected the right of religious conscience — one of the first rights protected in America. As John Quincy Adams affirmed, “The transcendent and overruling principle of the first settlers of New England was conscience.”

When America became an independent nation, the first state constitutions similarly protected the rights of religious conscience, such as that of North Carolina:

That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God, according to the dictates of their own conscience. Source

73% Say Freedom of Speech Worth Dying For

Rasmussen Reports Wednesday, August 23, 2017.
73% Say Freedom of Speech Worth Dying For

Americans agree freedom of speech is under assault but strongly insist that they are prepared to defend that freedom even at the cost of their lives if necessary.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that an overwhelming 85% of American Adults think giving people the right to free speech is more important than making sure no one is offended by what others say. Just eight percent (8%) think it’s more important to make sure no one gets offended. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

This shows little change from past surveying. Eighty-three percent (83%) think it is more important for the United States to guarantee freedom of speech than it is to make sure nothing is done to offend other nations and cultures. Seventy-three percent (73%) agree with the famous line by the 18th century French author Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.” Only 10% disagree with that statement, but 17% are undecided.

Among Americans who agree with Voltaire, 93% rate freedom of speech as more important than making sure no one is offended. That compares to just 69% of those who disagree with the French author’s maxim.

The national survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on August 17 & 20, 2017 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.

Just 28% of Americans believe they have true freedom of speech today, and most think the country is too politically correct.

There is rare partisan agreement on freedom of speech. Most Americans regardless of political affiliation agree that they would defend someone’s right to say something even if they don’t agree with it, although Democrats are slightly less sure than Republicans and those not affiliated with either major party. The majority across the political spectrum also agree that free speech is more important than making sure no one’s offended.

Generally speaking, most adults across the demographic board agree. Blacks (65%) are just slightly less likely than whites (75%) and other minorities (73%) to say they’d defend to the death someone’s right to free speech if they don’t agree with them.

Men are more supportive of the statement that women are.

Voters rate freedom of speech as even more important than other basic constitutional rights such as religious freedom, freedom of the press and the right to bear arms

After conservative pundit Ann Coulter was forced to cancel a planned speech at University of California, Berkeley, in the late spring following protests and threats of violence by some students. 44% of Americans said there is less freedom of speech on U.S. college campuses today than there has been in the past. Nearly half (47%) also believe most college administrators and professors are more interested in getting students to agree with certain politically correct points of view rather than in a free exchange of ideas.

In May, just 19% of voters felt that the United States should erase symbols of its past history that are out of line with current sentiments.

Despite calls by some politicians and the media for erasing those connected to slavery from U.S. history, voters strongly believe it’s better to learn from the past than erase it.

Just 20% of Americans say it is better for owners of social media like Facebook and Twitter to regulate what is posted to make sure some people are not offended.

Banned Words by FG

Posted here June 29, 2015

It’s in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, for goodness sakes: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . .” Is there anyone who doesn’t understand what that means? It means as a free American citizen I can say whatever I want (as long as my words don’t lead to the physical harm of others — like shouting “fire” in a movie theater, for example). My thoughts and words are not controlled by the government. I am free to say whatever I wish.

Yet, there are colleges and universities across the country compiling lists of words students must not use, phrases that are forbidden, and all sorts of rules about what can and can not be spoken. These, mind you, are the institutions intended to be forums of debate; they’re where issues are expected to be argued back and forth. These are the institutions that now wish to squelch any comment they disagree with.

The First Amendment wasn’t provided to protect uncontroversial speech. There’s no need to protect that; it’s uncontroversial. The First Amendment was expressly provided to protect uncomfortable, disagreeable, and contentious speech.

A list of 100 politically correct words and phrases:

1. Homosexual  –                 Gay
2. Homeless –                       Outdoor urban dwellers
3. Insane –                             Reality challenged
4. Perverted –                        Sexually dysfunctional
5. Prostitute –                        Sex worker / Sex care provider
6. Stupid –                              Intellectually impaired / Unschooled
7. Dishonest –                        Ethically disorientated
8. Dustbin Man –                  Sanitation Engineer
9. Insult –                               Emotional rape
10. Bisexual prostitute –       Equal opportunity prostitute
11. Poor –                                 Economically marginalised
12. Immigrant –                      Newcomer
13. Illegal immigrant –          Irregular immigrant / undocumented worker
14. Right wing protest –        Riot
15. Left wing riot –                 Protest
16. Drunk –                              Inebriated / chemically inconvenienced
17. Terrorist –                         Freedom fighter / rebel / protester / insurgent
18. Global warming –            Climate change
19. Job losses –                       Job restructuring
20. Criminal –                         Behaviourally challenged
21. Broken Home –                Dysfunctional family
22. Caretaker –                        Site engineer
23. Fat –                                    Metabolic overachiever
24. Slum area –                        Economically deprived area
25. Foreign food –                   Ethnic cuisine
26. Housewife –                       Domestic engineer
27. Jungle –                              Rain forest
28. Natural disaster –             Global warming incident
29. Sex change –                      Gender reassignment
30. Tramp –                              Homeless person
31. Unemployed –                   Economically inactive
32. Preferential treatment  Affirmative action
33. Racist –                               Someone who disagrees with the far-left
34. Nazi –                                  Someone who disagrees with the far-left
35. Fascist –                              Someone who disagrees with the far-left
36. Husband –                          Partner
37. Wife –                                  Partner
38. Dictator –                            Leader who refuses to obey the UK government
39. Tyrant –                              Leader who refuses to obey the UK government
40. Regime –                             Government that refuses to obey UK government
41. Crime rate –                        Street activity index
42. Robbery –                            Wealth redistribution
43. Vomiting –                          Unplanned re-examination of recent food choices
44. Lying –                                 Economical with the truth
45. Wanted criminal –             Person of interest
46. Patriot –                               Troublemaker / pest / nuisance / agitator
47. Promiscuous –                    Sex addict
48. Chairman –                         Chairperson / Chair
49. Fireman –                            Firefighter
50.  Merry Christmas –            Season’s Greetings
51. Blackboard –                       Chalkboard
52. Illegal voter –                      Undocumented voter
53. Bribe –                                  Public service bonus
54. Christmas –                         Winter Festival
55. Lies –                                    Alternative facts
56. Printing money –               Quantitative easing
57. Immigrants –                      Labour supporters
58. Illegal subletting –             Irregular subletting
59. Shoplifting –                       Irregular shopping
60. Black sheep –                      Outcast
61. Blackmail –                          Extortion
62. Postman –                            Mail carrier
63. Manhole –                            Utility hole
64. Blacklisted –                        Banned
65. Murder –                              Unauthorised termination of life
66. Rational fear –                    Phobia
67. Uneducated –                      Unschooled / Lacking a formal education
68. Flip chart –                          Easel (Flip is a derogatory word for Filipinos)
69. Mexican –                            Hispanic
70. Dustman –                           Sanitation engineer
71. Ghetto –                               Economically deprived area
72. Housewife –                        Domestic engineer
73. Illegal aliens –                    Undocumented migrants
74. Ugly –                                   Visually unfavourable
75. Lazy –                                   Motivationally deficient
76. Unemployed –                    Unintentionally at leisure / non-waged
77. Smelly –                               Nasally disturbing
78. Best man for the job –      Best person for the job
79. Man in the street –            Average person
80. Waitress –                           Server
81. Failure –                             Non-traditional success
82. Forefathers –                      Ancestors
83. Man-made –                       Artificial
84. Manpower –                       Human resources
85. Mankind –                          Humanity
86. Right-hand man –             Chief assistant
87. Christian name –               Forename
88. Sportsmanship –               Fairness
89. Tax man –                           Tax officer
90. Workmanlike  –                 Efficient
91. Steward –                            Flight attendant
92. Stewardess –                       Flight attendant
93. Deaf –                                   Hearing impairment
94. Disease –                             Disorder
95. Businessman –                   Business person
96. Actress –                              Actor
97. Manageress –                      Manager
98. Spinster –                            Bachelorette
99. White lie –                           Lie
100. Plastic surgery –                 Cosmetic surgery

Britons have been gagged by political correctness.

The British National Party believes in freedom of speech and also believes that criticism and dissent are essential in a democracy.

The far-left uses slur words against their political opponents because they have lost the argument.

The story of Joseph (of Egypt’s) brothers placing him in a pit then selling him as a slave to the passing Midianites is recorded in the Hebrew Scriptural account in the book of Genesis:

  
And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, “The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?” And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, “This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.” And he knew it, and said, “It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.” (Genesis 37:29-33)

The same story is told with an additional detail in the Book of Jasher: Joseph’s coat is first torn, then dipped in the blood of a goat:

 

And Issachar said unto them: ‘Here is an advice for you, if it seem good in your eyes to do this thing—Take the coat which belongeth to Joseph and tear it, and kill a kid of the goats and dip it in its blood, and send it to our father;’” “And they hastened and took Joseph’s coat and tore it, and they killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood of the kid, and then trampled it in the dust, and they sent the coat to their father Jacob…” (Jasher 43:10; 13;

 

The significance of the torn coat is the symbolism of being rent, or separated by force into parts, and is associated with mourning, grief, and loss. The tearing of Joseph’s coat was symbolic of the House of Israel being torn apart by the actions of Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery. However, a portion of the torn coat was preserved and given to Jacob.

The Book of Mormon, published in 1830, includes a story in the book of Alma regarding Captain Moroni invoking the symbol of Joseph’s torn garment. He uses that symbol to motivate his people “to keep the commandments of God, or our garments shall be rent by our brethren, and we be cast into prison, or be sold, or be slain” (Alma 46:23). The opposite of being a slave is having liberty. Moroni was aware of Joseph’s coat being torn [rent] from source records other than the Holy Bible and invokes this symbol of being “sold” as a slave to making a covenant for liberty.

Here we have an example of the Book of Jasher providing additional facts that are corroborated by modern scripture and the corollary—that the Book of Mormon contains an identical detail not available in published records. The Sefer haYasher manuscript (the Book of Jasher), found in the ruins of Jerusalem during its destruction in 70 A.D. then translated into English in 1840, contains this important detail in the Book of Mormon:

 

Moroni said unto them: “Behold, we are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; yea, we are a remnant of the seed of Joseph, whose coat was rent by his brethren into many pieces; yea, and now behold, let us remember to keep the commandments of God, or our garments shall be rent by our brethren, and we be cast into prison, or be sold, or be slain. Yea, let us preserve our liberty as a remnant of Joseph; yea, let us remember the words of Jacob, before his death, for behold, he saw that a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved and had not decayed. And he said—‘Even as this remnant of garment of my son hath been preserved, so shall a remnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself, while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as the remnant of his garment.’” (Alma 46:23-24) By David Hocking Executive Editor of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon.

See My Blog Liberty vs Evil Here

Moroni Raises ‘The Title of Liberty’

Alma 46: 11 And now it came to pass that when Moroni, who was the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah. 12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat, and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it: In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom and our peace, our wives and our children. And he fastened it upon the end of a pole. 13 And he fastened on his headplate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins, and he took the pole which had on the end thereof his rent coat, and he called it, ‘The Title of Liberty’. And he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land. 14 For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the Church of God, called by those who did not belong to the Church. 15 And those who did belong to the Church were faithful, yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ or Christians, as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come. 16 And therefore, at this time Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians and the freedom of the land might be favored.

George Washington’s Title of Liberty Did You Know?

“While the trueborn Sons of America, animated by the genuine Principles of Liberty and Love of their Country, with increasing Union, Firmness and Discipline repel every Attack, and despise every Danger… Come then, my Brethren, unite with us in an indissoluble Union, let us run together to the same Goal.—We have taken up Arms in Defence of our Liberty, our Property, our Wives, and our Children, we are determined to preserve them, or die. We look forward with Pleasure to that Day not far remote (we hope) when the Inhabitants of America shall have one Sentiment, and the full Enjoyment of the Blessings of a free Government… Incited by these Motives, and encouraged by the Advice of many Friends of Liberty among you, the Grand American Congress have sent an Army into your Province, under the Command of General Schuyler; not to plunder, but to protect you; to animate, and bring forth into Action those Sentiments of Freedom you have disclosed, and which the Tools of Despotism would extinguish through the whole Creation…” Quoted in Annotated Book of Mormon by Meldrum and Hocking. Source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 1, 16 June 1775?–?15 September 1775, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia [1985], 461–463.

As I think of the Prophet Joseph Smith translating the plates I am imagining the many things on his mind as he translates. What does “by the spirit and power of God” mean? I don’t think Joseph is reading some English words from a rock in a hat. I think he is “translating” meaning as the dictionary says, “the rendering of something into another language or into one’s own from another language.” Dictionary.com

I think this is an interesting definition of translation. “Translation has been used by humans for centuries, beginning after the appearance of written literature. Modern-day translators use sophisticated tools and technologies to accomplish their work, and rely heavily on software applications to simplify and streamline their tasks.” GALA

I would replace the words sophisticated tools, technologies, and software application to mean by the “gift and power of god”. In other words something very difficult to do or almost impossible to do without God’s help.

I don’t think some angel or the Lord were providing the English words to make it easy for Joseph. I believe the Lord tells us to use all our resources and try our best and after we have done all we can and feel we can’t go further, then and only then will the Lord step in. I don’t believe the Lord uses magic, ever!

My main point for this blog is to show that the surroundings where Joseph Smith lived and translated possibly influenced Joseph to help him translate. As Jonathan Neville explains it, Joseph used the information in his own “personal metal bank account” to explain what he saw on the plates. The surroundings of Joseph obviously assisted him to see things around him that helped explain translation. Especially when Joseph described what Lehi or Nephi saw during the dream of the tree of life. In other words what did Joseph see around him that made Lehi’s dream more familiar as he translated. How could Joseph put into words the amazing tree of life vision without being able to visualize the lakes, trees, streams, and wilderness that surrounded Joseph.

OVERVIEW:

“The Book of Mormon’s opening book of 1 Nephi presents a dream/vision in which prophets describe a detailed scene involving a narrow path with an iron rod, leading to the tree of life laden with the most desirable fruit. A river that is both good and bad flows alongside, on the other side of which is seen a large, high building filled with the proud people of the world. The scene is fraught with physical and spiritual peril. All of these elements are met efficiently and conspicuously in a scenario that Joseph Smith experienced in and around Rochester, New York, at the specific time when he dictated this text. In the Book of Mormon vision of the iron rod and the tree of life, Nephi’s father Lehi “. . . beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.” l Nephi 8:26-27.” Rick Grunder Page 1367

In the Book of Mormon dream of the iron rod beside the narrow path leading to the tree of life, Nephi’s father Lehi was led through “a dark and dreary wilderness.” The dismal passage continued “for the space of many hours” until Lehi “began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me . . .” (1 Nephi 8:4, 8). Joseph Smith dictated that vision text while he lived at the Whitmer farm in Fayette, Seneca County, New York; see MP 350 (Reynolds Arcade) for discussion. The Whitmers, like all farmers in that vicinity, were acutely aware of the vast Cayuga or Montezuma Marshes nearby . . .

“By 1790,” explained local historian John W. Wells, “thousands of settlers” could be seen migrating westward to vast tracts of land opened for farming and development in central and western New York. Of three principal migration routes, the most important was the “Great Genesee Road . . . extended to Buffalo by 1800, and for 30 years until the completion of the Erie Canal . . . the main artery of traffic across the state.” (Wells, 2). On this “cleared track about 30 feet wide,” Lucy Mack Smith and her boys drove their team and wagon to Palmyra in the eighteen-teens. Along the way, they experienced something no traveler could forget: the longest bridge in America, more than a mile in length, set on pilings across the shallow northern end of the “one major obstacle on this natural route to the Genesee country. This was Cayuga Lake. To the north of the lake extended the dread Montezuma marshes and other treacherous and pestilent swamps nearly to the shores of Lake Ontario.” (Wells, 2; see map further below)

“Moscheto Point,” observed Horatio Gates Spafford wryly in 1824, “at the mouth of the Owasco Outlet, on the N. boundary of Mentz, is well named.” The town of Mentz then included the village of Montezuma which is seen in the map above. Spafford’s description continued with an unusual observation which deserves at least passing notice in the context of Lehi’s dream . . .
—There is a very large hollow Buttonwood Tree, in this town, in which ‘Elder Smith, preached’ to 35 persons, at a time, and says the tree could have held 15 more: he says its circumference, 3 feet from the ground, is 33 feet; and a Correspondent informs me it measures ‘more than 17 feet diameter.'”
[Spafford, 314, emphasis in the original] Spafford knew of only one tree in the entire state which was slightly larger.

The giant buttonwood (sycamore) he described near the marshes did not likely bear white fruit like that of Lehi’s tree, but it dramatized two elements of relevance here: first, the prominence of trees in the minds of early settlers of New York State at the time, and second, the association of such a noticeable tree with spiritual protection – the faithful believers worshipping in the shelter of the massive trunk. If this connection seems tangential, it is at least as notable as one Book of Mormon defender’s efforts to connect the dream of Lehi with ancient Egyptian precedents which praised this very kind of tree in the Book of the Dead (“Hail, sycamore tree of the goddess Nut. Grant thou to me of the water and the air which are in thee.” Quoted in Griggs, 273).

The general geography near the Whitmer farm presents yet another element of Lehi’s dream: a mental image of emerging (while hiking or while riding on the Erie Canal) from a dismal wasteland onto spacious, open fields. Mentz, with its giant tree, lay on the eastern edge of the marshes, in Cayuga County, and boasted 8,642 acres of improved land worked by 673 farmers who owned 2,746 head of cattle, 500 horses, 6,079 sheep, and produced nearly 28,000 yards of cloth (Spafford, 314; published 1824). 1036 Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder

“In the Book of Mormon vision of the iron rod and the tree of life, Nephi’s father Lehi “. . . beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their mannerof dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking andpointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of thefruit.” l Nephi 8:26-27.

What images might Joseph Smith have seen in his mind while dictating these words? How might he have related to the iron rod dream? Elements of this story include:

– darkness and feelings of desperation (1 Nephi 8:4, 7-8, 23; 12:17)
– a dark and dreary wasteland (1 Nephi 8:7)
– a large and spacious field (1 Nephi 8:9)
– a tree with desirable fruit of unsurpassed sweetness and whiteness (1 Nephi 8:10-11)
– a river of water (1 Nephi 8:13); a “fountain of filthy water . . . yea, even the river . . .” (1 Nephi 12:16); “a great and a terrible gulf” which divides the people in the building from the righteous who are seeking the tree of life (1 Nephi 12:18); equated with the river of water, representing filthiness, “an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.” (1 Nephi 15:27-28); even a representation of hell itself (1 Nephi 15:29).
– a rod of iron extending along the bank of the river (1 Nephi 8:19); defined as “the word of God” (1 Nephi 15:24)
– “a strait and narrow path which came along by the rod of iron” (1 Nephi 8:20)
– “numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path . . .” (1 Nephi 8:21)
– mists of darkness (1 Nephi 8:23)
– “a great and spacious building” “on the other side of the river,” which “stood as it were in the air, high above the earth . . . filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers . . .” (1 Nephi 8:26-27); defined as “the pride of the world” (1 Nephi 11:36) and “vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men” (1 Nephi 12:18)
– ridiculed persons who “fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.” (1 Nephi 8:28)
– “other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building.”
(1 Nephi 8:31)
– a great multitude that entered “that strange building” and “did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit . . .” (1 Nephi 8:33)
– many people who “were drowned in the depths of the fountain . . .” (1 Nephi 8:32)
– many people “wandering in strange roads.” (1 Nephi 8:32)
– “broad roads” into which people were led, to their moral destruction (1 Nephi 12:17)”

From Page 1368 Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder

IN THE LATE 1820s, the cheapest and least bone-jarring way to travel across New York State was by the Erie Canal. It was the wonder of the age, built at tremendous cost. Among the most challenging obstacles to its construction in the region around Palmyra had been the Cayuga or Montezuma Marshes north of Fayette, and the formidable Genesee River which runs through the heart of Rochester. The marshes cost health and lives, while the aqueduct by which boats could cross the Genesee required large, costly stone slabs anchored deep into the river bed…

People sometimes drowned in the canal, falling not only from the boats, but from the narrow towpath or the numerous bridges that crossed this inland waterway: The canal . . . was respectfully regarded as a place of danger, or even death. . . . Although the water was shallow at most points, there were reports of even the boatmen themselves drowning as they fell into the canal or the canal basins. Boats caught fire, they sank, and men and horses drowned with them. Children playing near the canal were often accidentally drowned. . . . Sometimes, too, bodies were discovered in the canal, their identities unknown, their deaths unexplained. [Shaw, 223. The ironic term “casual drowning” was applied to such incidents in some coroners’ reports of the time (telephone interview with Lysbeth Hoffman, Carlton Town Historian, Orleans County, New York, March 1, 2006)] Thomas Woodcock described how a young lady’s head was crushed when she failed to duck as the boat passed beneath a typically low bridge (Woodcock, 9). Joseph Smith’s mother was acutely aware of these dangers, and she chastised careless mothers for being neglectful on the boats in the spring of 1831, As for instance at a time when passing under a bridge if children were on deck they would be thrown over board or bruised in such a manner as was terrible to think of . . . Sisters said I God has given you children to be a blessing to you and it is your duty to take care of them to keep them out of every possible danger and in such a place as this especially to have them always by your side . . . [1844-45 manuscript, in Lucy Mack Smith 2001, 516]

THE PATH AND THE ROD

As a boat approached civilization, passengers’ pulses quickened. It is naturally exciting for a villager to arrive in the heart of a bustling, growing city. The entry into downtown Rochester was just such an event. Like Lehi in his dream, the canal rider found himself moving slowly alongside the river of water, parallel to the Genesee River, the canal feeder channel, and mill canals . . .

Looking ahead eagerly, passengers saw factories and flour mills on all sides,
promising an accelerated pace of life. A traveler arriving from Palmyra would see that the canal was about to swing left and cross the Genesee on a magnificent aqueduct massively constructed to withstand floods and flotsam. The towpath, meanwhile, had become so narrow that horses had to be hitched one in front of the other (Shaw, 202).

As canal became bridge, there appeared something of crucial significance to our Mormon parallel scene . . .

The 1825 engraving above shows how the iron rod could indeed mean the difference between life and death . . .

View ca. 1913 during unusually high water, looking east (showing the second, wider aqueduct finished in 1842 a few feet upriver, south of the original site). From the Albert R. Stone Negative Collection, Rochester Museum & Science Center, Rochester, New York; used with permission. Note
the similar railing and the precarious narrowness even of the expanded towpath, to the inner side of which was water in the summer, and a potential fall of several feet to a stone base in the winter.

“What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw . . . ? And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso . . . would hold fast unto it, they would never perish . . .” 1 Nephi 15:23-24, To appreciate the fearsome power of this scene, the image above can be viewed clearly at greater than 100% on most computer monitors.

And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood. And I also beheld a strait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood; and it also led by the head of the fountain, unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a world. And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path . . . [1 Nephi 8:19-21]

That is precisely how the scene must have appeared to our passengers at this point, as suggested by an 1888-94 photograph reproduced above, showing the similarly-designed but larger second aqueduct of 1842 (“. . . more massive in every respect.” McKelvey 1979, 55. Photograph from the Collection of the Rochester Public Library Local History Division; used with permission.)

The context is irresistible. In the dream, what begin as a nature scene and field suddenly become a worldly scene and field; just as with the setting illustrated above. It is at this very point, when Lehi perceives the path and the rod, that he also notices the concourses of people and the great and spacious building. The sensations described there are what the country traveler experienced in this approach to downtown Rochester, New York. “The streets,” wrote a British visitor to Rochester, even in 1820, “which are spacious, present a succession of well-furnished shops; and the bustle which continually pervades them gives the whole place an air of activity and commerce.” (John Howison, Sketches of Upper Canada . . . [Edinburgh, 1822, second ed.], quoted in Upstate Travels, 137)

THE FOUNTAIN OF FILTHY WATER

We have seen the narrow path, the rod, the river and some of its dangers.
Delicious fruit is in abundance, both on trees and in the market over the river. Discarded fruit by the wagonloads even floats down the river itself. We have our first glimpse of the pride of the world in Rochester, New York, and have seen the many alluring roads and byways available there. Now to continue the narrative. Far more ominous than the upper rapids of the Genesee were the main falls, a few blocks north, downriver beyond the aqueduct:

THE DREAM OF THE IRON ROD DOES NOT OCCUR IN A “DESERT.”

That word is never used. Nephi’s terms are “wilderness” and “waste,” which Joseph Smith knew so well. As late as 1842, Joseph would refer to “the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county [New York]” immediately adjacent to the Whitmer cabin, and to”the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river . . . [Pennsylvania and New York, respectively]” (D&C 128:20). These are green, green places indeed. At the front ofJoseph Smith’s own Bible was a picture of “Hagar in the Wilderness,” portraying young Ishmael strangely dying of thirst in a verdant setting with a broad stream flowing luxuriantly nearby…

Published in New York State in the 1820s, this was a picture of a “wilderness” as Joseph Smith would have understood it. Through eight years of wandering through Arabia, accordingly, up to the point where Lehi’s family arrives at a lush location which they call “Bountiful” (1 Nephi 17:4-5), there is no mention of dust, heat, wind, sand (except that of the sea), sun (except the glory of a heavenly being in a vision), horses, or camels – and certainly no tribes (other than “the twelve tribes of Israel”), caravans, robbers (unless Nephi’s brother, so accused by Laban) or thieves. ILLUSTRATION ABOVE: Frontispiece placed in many copies (including the one later owned by Joseph Smith) of H. & E. Phinney’s Stereotype Edition of The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments . . . (Cooperstown, New York, 1828; MP 52)…

Joseph Smith never saw a desert. The sinners in his story drown “in the depths of the fountain” (1 Nephi 8:32). Compare the drying streams of Arabia to New York’s endless mists and flow! In arid Utah, one points to the Provo “River.” Here in Joseph Smith country, we would call such a thing a “creek.” The Genesee, so impressive in the illustrations above, is a nice river to New Yorkers, but an expected part of geography – almost ordinary when compared to the St. Lawrence River, to Niagara Falls, or the Hudson.

Joseph’s familiar “land of Cumorah” was “a land of many waters, rivers, and
fountains” (Mormon 6:4). The topography of a genuine, much more extreme
Arabian desert never crossed the consciousness of most Americans of that era. In the Book of Mormon description of wandering through the wilderness of Arabia, there is but one allusion to “thirst,” and that is in conjunction with affliction, hunger and fatigue (1 Nephi 16:35). When the eighteenth-century Moravian missionary David Zeisburger journeyed through the moist, fertile district which would one day include the Whitmer farm, he called it a “wilderness” – even “the Dry Desert” – when he failed to find ready drinking water for just a few hours (Willers, 7)…

Go back and read the Book of Mormon dream text once again. The rod of iron extends along the bank of the river (1 Nephi 8:19). A longer (verse 20), narrow path comes “along by the rod of iron,” and both lead to the tree. The “rod” is clearly a railing that protects people from straying off the narrow path as it approaches the river, and into destruction – including drowning in the depths of the fountain – a precise Erie Canal model. The people who proceed safely seek the path first. Then, to keep from losing the path when a “mist of darkness” arises, they catch “hold of the end of the rod of iron” and cling to it as they walk along (1 Nephi 8:22-24). Again, this is a railing, and it only coincides with that part of the path that is closest alongside the full river (examine verse 20 carefully). Other multitudes have the same experience, grabbing onto the railing at the point where it first begins, and then holding on for dear life . . .” 1388 Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder

As we prepare for conference I offer you a few wonderful quotes that have inspired me in the past and as I read them again I gain an even stronger understanding of their words. May we hear and understand this weekend with our spiritual eyes and ears. I love General Conference weekends.

“Whenever I hear anyone, including myself say, I know the Book of Mormon is True, I want to exclaim that’s nice but it isn’t enough. We need to feel deep the inmost pats of our hearts that the Book of Mormon is unequivocally the word of God. We must feel it so deeply that we wouldn’t want to live even one day without it. I might paraphrase President Brigham Young in saying, I wish I had the voice of seven thunders to wake up the people to the truth and power of the Book of Mormon.” Elder Russell M. Nelson Sept 30, 2017 General Conference.

“The Book of Mormon reveals the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, who was not forgotten when land was distributed to the tribes of Israel. This was promised in the Abrahamic covenant…  Josephs inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. Choice because it was chosen to be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the Book of Mormon would one day come. Choice because it would eventually host the world headquarters of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. And it was choice because it was a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments.” Russell M Nelson President, Quorum of 12 June, 2016 Provo Missionary Training Center

I would like to call your attention to one thing in the Book of Mormon.  The Lord has promised us greater knowledge, greater understanding than we find in the Book of Mormon, when we are prepared to receive it.  When the brother of Jared went upon the mount to have the Lord touch stones to give them light to light their way across the great ocean, the Lord revealed to him the history of this world from the beginning of it to the end.  We do not have it. . . .

Now the Lord has placed us on probation as members of the Church.  He has given us the Book of Mormon, which is the lesser part, to build up our faith through our obedience to the counsels which it contains, and when we ourselves, members of the Church, are willing to keep the commandments as they have been given to us and show our faith as the Nephites did for a short period of time, then the Lord is ready to bring forth the other record and give it to us, but we are not ready now to receive it.  Why?  Because we have not lived up to the requirements in this probationary state in the reading of the record which had been given to us and in following its counsels. — Joseph Fielding Smith, “The Book of Mormon, a Divine Book,” Improvement Era, Dec. 1961, pp. 925-27; also Conference Report, Oct. 1961, pp. 19-20

Members of the Church everywhere should know the Book of Mormon better than any other book.  Not only should we know what history and faith-promoting stories it contains, but we should understand its teachings. .

I have noted within the Church the difference in discernment, in insight, conviction, and spirit between those who know and love the Book of Mormon and those who do not.  That book is a great sifter.”  — President Ezra Taft Benson, New Era, May 1975, p. 19

We have heard that the Prophet Joseph said something about the time when the Constitution would be in danger. We do not know just what turn that will take. He also said something about the Elders of Israel rising to the challenge and helping to save the Constitution of this land. It is entirely possible that that may come about in a rather natural way. Our young people — as they mature and develop and take their positions in industry, in the professions, and in agriculture clear across this land — might represent the balance of power in a time of crisis, when they will stand up and defend those eternal principles upon which this Constitution has been established.

The Founding Fathers did not invent this priceless boon of individual freedom and respect for the dignity of man. That great gift to mankind sprang from the Creator and not from government. But the Founding Fathers with superb genius, I believe, welded together certain safeguards which we must always protect to the very limit if we would preserve and strengthen the blessings of freedom.

. . . They were guided by allegiance to basic principles. These principles must be kept in mind always by those who are here today and reaping the benefits and the blessings which they so wisely provided. We must be careful that we do not trade freedom for security. Whenever that is attempted, usually we lose both. There is always a tendency when nations become mature for the people to become more interested in preserving their luxuries and their comforts than in safeguarding the ideals and principles which made these comforts and luxuries possible.

( Source: “Ezra Taft Benson Responsibilities of Citizenship” 8; also in TETB 599-600 )

“In harmony with our belief that the U.S. Constitution is an inspired document and that America has a special mission,” President Monson said, “the Deseret News will defend and promote the principles of the Constitution and the great freedoms for which the nation stands; indeed, it will promote the free agency of all mankind. We view ourselves as being not just in the newspaper business but in the communication business. As technology or public preferences change, our methods of communication may change, but at all times ours shall be a voice for the principles of our owner, for the canons of responsible journalism and for all other righteous and compatible interests and causes.”

( Source: “Thomas S. Monson New Home for Pioneer Newspaper”, LDS Church News, 31 May 1997 )

As a watchman on the tower, I feel to warn you that one of the chief means of misleading our youth and destroying the family unit is our educational institutions. President Joseph F. Smith referred to false educational ideas as one of the three threatening dangers among our Church members. There is more than one reason why the Church is advising our youth to attend colleges close to their homes where institutes of religion are available. It gives the parents the opportunity to stay close to their children; and if they have become alert and informed as President McKay admonished us last year, these parents can help expose some of the deceptions of men like Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, Karl Marx, John Keynes, and others.

Today there are much worse things that can happen to a child than not getting a full college education. In fact, some of the worst things have happened to our children while attending colleges led by administrators who wink at subversion and amorality.

Said Karl G. Maeser, “I would rather have my child exposed to smallpox, typhus fever, cholera, or other malignant and deadly diseases than to the degrading influence of a corrupt teacher. It is infinitely better to take chances with an ignorant, but pure-minded teacher than with the greatest philosopher who is impure.”

Vocational education, correspondence courses, establishment in a family business are being considered for their children by an increasing number of parents.( Source: “Ezra Taft Benson A Plea to Strengthen Our Families”, General conference address, October 1970 )

Two of the most important Prophets for us today are the Angel Moroni and Joseph Smith. I believe they have a critical mission for each of us even today. I believe they both are and will be, a big part of building the New Jerusalem and over seeing the Millennium. D&C 27:5 says, “and with Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting gospel, to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim”, which means anything to do with the Book of Mormon in this Promised Land and the World must be directed with Moroni in the lead. That includes an important stewardship to lead and teach Joseph Smith.

Joseph Smith is the Prophet of this Last Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, and the Lord Himself said to Joseph, “Behold, there shall be a record kept among you; and in it thou shalt be called a seer, a translator, a prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church through the will of God the Father, and the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ, D&C 21:1

The importance of Moroni and Joseph Smith communicating with each other is of vital importance. How could a young unlearned farm boy become a great Prophet of the Lord? Being taught by angels and having a personal tutor in the form of Moroni is the answer. We will discuss the many visits made to Joseph Smith including over 22 visits we know of with the Angel Moroni.

Joseph knew the whole story about the Nephites

“We were now confirmed in the opinion that God was about to bring to light something upon which we could stay our minds, or that would give us a more perfect knowledge of the plan of salvation and the redemption of the human family. This caused us greatly to rejoice, the sweetest union and happiness pervaded our house, and tranquility reigned in our midst. During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them.” Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, pp. 82-83. This was before he received the plates. He must have received this by revelation, for he knew the whole story of the content of the record that is now the Book of Mormon. He had had five long visits with Moroni, and his mother says he received many revelations.” Eldred G. Smith, Conference Report, October 1967, pp. 82-84

Moroni—Joseph Smith’s Tutor

“Joseph Smith’s six years of advanced training were anything but ordinary, for his tutors were celestial beings who taught eternal truths that would never change or become obsolete. Whereas much of man’s formal education is tentative, wrong, or outdated within a few years of graduation, Joseph said of his own education: “Could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject.” (History of the Church, 6:50.) This was the quality of the heavenly instruction Joseph Smith enjoyed.

How Many Visits?

It is impossible to determine the number of “interviews” Joseph had with Moroni, but twenty-two visits are often identified. (See accompanying chart, “Moroni’s Known Appearances to Joseph Smith, 1823–1829.”)”  “Moroni—Joseph Smith’s Tutor” By H. Donl Peterson

Moroni’s Known Appearances to Joseph Smith, 1823–1829

Above Chart from “Moroni—Joseph Smith’s Tutor” By H. Donl Peterson

“Following is a list of some of the personages who appeared to Joseph Smith to restore priesthood keys, to deliver divine instructions, or to perform other functions. The sources History of the Church and Journal of Discourses are abbreviated as HC and JD. The Prophet Joseph communicated with other messengers who previously had lived righteously on earth, but the precise nature of these visits is not known. These personages include Seth, Isaac, Jacob, and the Jewish and Nephite Apostles [Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Adam, Seth, Enoch, and Jesus and the Father, and the apostles that lived on this continent as well as those who lived on the Asiastic continent. see Journal of Discourses, 21:94]. In addition, Joseph Smith saw other angels in vision, some of whom are identified in recorded revelation (see, for example, D&C 107:53; compare History of the Church, 3:388).

Latter-day Saints are blessed through the Prophet Joseph Smith’s great faith and mission that opened the windows of heaven. He was the preappointed agent through which communion with the heavens and the earthly ministry of angels were resumed in a grand manner. The mountain of truth built from the Prophet’s translations and revelations speaks for itself, towering above the stark foothills of earthly philosophy. This is amazing in light of young Joseph’s mortal inadequacy. Through faith, his weaknesses became strengths, and he nobly fulfilled his great foreordained mission—because heavenly messengers were his guides.

And we are among the beneficiaries: We have the wisdom of heaven—the riches of eternity—as found in sacred gospel ordinances and in holy scripture, both ancient and modern. In this way, we too are taught by former prophets, including Joseph Smith. In addition, besides possessing the legacy of former prophets, we have the special blessing of having the words and guidance of a living prophet as well!”

Brian L. Smith, director of the Portland (Oregon) Institute of Religion and a member of the Mountain View Ward, Beaverton Oregon Stake. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1994/10/i-have-a-question/i-have-a-question?lang=eng

Moroni’s Message to Joseph Smith By Kent P. Jackson

A look at the verses the angel Moroni quoted to the Prophet Joseph Smith on 21–22 September 1823.

With Moroni’s appearance to seventeen-year-old Joseph Smith on 21 September 1823, the Lord began to educate the Prophet in preparation for the restoration of the gospel. The Nephite prophet Moroni, as the last prophet of the Lehite dispensation and the final author, compiler, and caretaker of the Nephite record, was appropriately chosen to serve as young Joseph Smith’s tutor. From Moroni, Joseph Smith learned more about his own future calling, and through the process of bringing forth the Book of Mormon, he began to receive and share the gospel light that this sacred volume contains. Moroni’s statue on our temples today announces to the world the message that he delivered to Joseph Smith: The gospel has been restored in its fulness, and its blessings are now available to humankind.

During Joseph Smith’s lifetime, he wrote or dictated four separate accounts of the appearance of Moroni: one dictated to Frederick G. Williams in 1832; a journal entry in 1835; another, the “official” account, dictated in 1838; and the Wentworth Letter, published by the Prophet in 1842. In addition to the accounts that came directly from Joseph Smith, other early accounts were written by Orson Pratt and Oliver Cowdery. Elder Pratt’s account was published in a pamphlet in 1840, while he was serving a mission in Scotland.Oliver Cowdery’s rendition is contained in three articles published in February, April, and July 1835 in the Kirtland Messenger and Advocate.

Moroni’s Message

During his initial visit with Joseph Smith, Moroni informed Joseph that his sins had been forgiven and that he had been chosen to bring forth the sacred record of the ancient Americans. But that was not all. In his 1832 account of the visitation, the Prophet reported simply that he learned “many things concerning the inhabitants of the earth.” In his 1835 account, he said that Moroni “explained many … prophesies.” And in the 1842 Wentworth Letter, Joseph Smith wrote that Moroni taught him “that the covenant which God made with ancient Israel was at hand to be fulfilled, that the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; that the time was at hand for the gospel, in all its fulness to be preached in power, unto all nations that a people might be prepared for the millennial reign.” Moreover, he wrote, “I was informed that I was chosen to be an instrument in the hands of God to bring about some of his purposes in this glorious dispensation.”

Moroni and the Bible

In the 1838 account, which is found in the Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith shared the greatest detail regarding Moroni’s teaching. The Prophet recorded that Moroni “commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament.” Joseph Smith then listed several passages from the Bible that Moroni quoted. He listed those passages in this order (see JS—H 1:35–41):

Mal. 3 (“part,”
perhaps Mal. 3:1–4
Mal. 4:1–6
Isa. 11:1–16
Acts 3:22–23
Joel 2:28–32

After reviewing Moroni’s recitation of these scriptures, Joseph Smith noted the following: “He quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here.” (JS—H 1:41.) The Prophet never specified what those “other passages of scripture” were, but Oliver Cowdery provided more information.

As stated earlier, in 1835 Oliver Cowdery wrote three articles in the Messenger and Advocate regarding the appearance of Moroni to Joseph Smith. All of the articles were written in the form of epistles addressed to W. W. Phelps, and they are characterized by Elder Cowdery’s rich literary style. The letters contain lengthy discourses on the restoration of the gospel and the message conveyed to the Prophet by Moroni. In writing them, Elder Cowdery apparently used the opportunity to present to the Church some expositions on several gospel subjects, based on the things Moroni communicated to Joseph Smith. In two of the articles, appearing in February and April, he included scriptures that presumably were quoted or paraphrased by Moroni. The following compilation lists them in the order in which they appear in the narrative.

Obviously, Oliver Cowdery was not with the Prophet on the occasion of Moroni’s coming, so the account is secondary. Yet it is not too much to assume that Joseph Smith had rehearsed the event to his colleague on numerous occasions. Elder Cowdery had been the Prophet’s scribe and was designated “Second Elder” of the Church at the time it was organized. When Oliver Cowdery wrote about the Restoration, he was Assistant President of the Church, in addition to being editor of the Messenger and Advocate. His close association with the Prophet, especially in the early part of the Prophet’s ministry, may have enabled him to know more about these events than anyone except Joseph Smith himself.

In the February and July articles, Elder Cowdery marked his reconstructions of Moroni’s words with quotation marks to make it clear to the reader which were Moroni’s words and which were his own comments. However, the April article, which is of greatest interest to this study because it contains more than two dozen Bible passages quoted in context of Moroni’s visit, presents special problems. In this article it is not clear which words are Oliver Cowdery’s and which are the words of Moroni. Unlike the other articles, there are no quotation marks to assist the reader.

Perhaps Elder Cowdery did not feel a need to use quotation marks in the recitations of the story; editorial convention was fairly unstructured in those days. Or perhaps he did not use quotation marks in order to alert the reader to the fact that the entire message was reconstructed from his own understanding and was not necessarily a historical transcript of the event. At the beginning of his discussion, Elder Cowdery wrote: “I have thought best to give a farther detail of the heavenly message, and if I do not give it in the precise words, shall strictly confine myself to the facts in substance.” At the end of the account he wrote: “I have now given you a rehearsal of what was communicated to our brother. … I may have missed in arrangement in some instances, but the principle is preserved.”

How well he succeeded only God, Moroni, and Joseph Smith know. As historian Milton Backman has pointed out, “It is not clear whether Oliver is quoting Moroni or merely explaining, with scriptural references, themes emphasized by Moroni.” And so, as we study Elder Cowdery’s accounts, it is wise to view the angel’s words and the biblical passages cited with a degree of caution. His is a secondhand treatment of an event in which only Moroni and Joseph Smith were participants.” Moroni’s Message to Joseph Smith By Kent P. Jackson

I asked Jonathan Neville to share with me how accurate this preceding information from Kent Jackson’s article is since he has studied Cowdery’s letters so much. Jonathan said the following.

“Excellent article. He explained it very well, with maybe 3 exceptions.

First, Oliver said he wrote those essays using “original documents now in our possession” or words to that effect. We don’t know what those were, but they could have been notes written by Joseph or Oliver’s own notebook in which he wrote down everything Joseph told him in Harmony during the translation of the plates there. We don’t have either of those documents, but David Whitmer mentioned Oliver’s notebook.

Second, Oliver’s quotation marks throughout the essays are direct quotations, as opposed to what he wrote in the April letter. Oliver made that clear in the parts Jackson quoted. This means we should take those direct quotations for what they are, including when Moroni said the record was “written and deposited” not far from Joseph’s home.

Third, Joseph endorsed these letters by having them written in his history and republished. Those actions indicate a greater endorsement than Joseph merely assisting in writing them in the first place. Jackson didn’t mention this, possibly because he didn’t know about it.” Jonathan Neville to Rian Nelson June 22, 2019

Kent Jackson’s article continues below:

A View of the Latter Days

Although Joseph Smith’s prayer as he went to bed that autumn night was for “a manifestation” to know of his “state and standing” before the Lord (JS—H 1:29), what he received, in addition to that, was a powerful lesson about the mission of God’s people in the dispensation of the fulness of times. Moroni’s message to the young Prophet outlined not only the calling of Joseph Smith, but also the destiny of the Church and kingdom of God from the time of the Restoration until the Millennium. Significantly, the Lord’s messenger taught these truths by quoting passages out of the Bible. Since the resurrected Christ also taught by quoting and expounding scripture during his appearance to the children of Lehi in the Americas (see 3 Ne. 22–25), we can view this method of teaching as a significant model to be followed in gospel instruction.

From the scriptures cited by the Prophet in Joseph Smith—History, we can see that Moroni did not select random passages to outline the future of the Lord’s kingdom. They were chosen specifically to introduce the Prophet to his work. In them the following aspects of the mission of the Church in the last days are discussed:

—The calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Mal. 3:1; Isa. 11:1, 10–12).

—The opening of the heavens through the Restoration (Joel 2:28–29).

—The restoration of the priesthood and of the sealing keys (Mal. 4:5–6).

—The gathering of the elect (Isa. 11:10–16).

—Destruction and purification before and during the Second Coming (Mal. 3:2–3; Mal. 4:1, 3; Acts 3:22–23; Joel 2:30–31).

—Deliverance for the faithful (Mal. 4:2; Joel 2:32).

—The Second Coming (Mal. 3:1–2).

—The premillennial and millennial state of the faithful (Mal. 3:3–4;Mal. 4:2; Isa. 11:1–9).

It is interesting that, with only the following exceptions, all of the biblical passages presented in Oliver Cowdery’s accounts fit into these categories. Adding to these groupings, Elder Cowdery included some scriptures that tell of the apostasy and scattering of Israel—as a background to the discussion of the return—and he quoted material from Isaiah that deals with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. In my view, his consistency with the message as related by Joseph Smith adds to the credibility of his reconstructions.

Moroni, the Link between Ancient and Latter-day Prophets

It is significant that Moroni trained Joseph Smith by teaching him from the scriptures. It may be that the Prophet’s great love for the Bible was a by-product of this experience, because for the rest of his life he taught others by using the scriptures. It is also worthy of note that with the exception of Paul’s phrase that the weak would confound the wise (1 Cor. 1:27–29)—which Moroni cited to introduce the topic of Joseph Smith’s work—all of the other scriptures quoted by Moroni come from the Old Testament. In using the words of ancient Israel’s prophets to instruct the messenger to modern Israel, Moroni symbolically tied the gospel dispensations together—the actual realization of which is a major goal of the Restoration. Moroni, an Israelite prophet, was the first emissary to provide the link between ancient dispensations and the dispensation of the fulness of times.

The visitation of Moroni to Joseph Smith holds an important place in our church history. With Moroni’s appearance, the process of restoring lost truths and educating the Prophet gained great impetus. Under the care and instruction of that great prophet of ancient America, the Prophet Joseph Smith received training and guidance that ultimately will lead to the restoration of all things. To all this Moroni’s first visits were a prelude—an instructional session from which Joseph Smith and all of us have learned the course that we are to pursue as we continue in the Lord’s service.

Scriptures Quoted by Moroni

The following is a list of the scriptures quoted by Moroni, as reported by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. The numbers in brackets refer to the subject-matter categories listed below.

1. Apostasy and scattering
2. The calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith
3. The opening of the heavens during the Restoration
4. The coming forth of the Book of Mormon
5. The restoration of the priesthood and of the sealing keys
6. The gathering of the elect
7. Destruction and purification prior to and during the Second Coming
8. Deliverance for the faithful
9. The Second Coming
10. The premillennial and millennial state of the faithful”
    Moroni’s Message to Joseph Smith By Kent P. Jackson

Moroni Guardian Angel of the United States of America

“By whose power victory so often perched on our banner? It was by the agency of that same angel of God that appeared unto Joseph Smith, and revealed to him the history of the early inhabitants of this country, whose mounds, bones, and remains of towns, cities, and fortifications speak from the dust in the ears of the living with the voice of undeniable truth. This same angel presides over the destinies of America, and feels a lively interest in all our doings. He was in the camp of Washington; and, by an invisible hand, led on our fathers to conquest and victory; and all this to open and prepare the way for the Church and kingdom of God to be established on the western hemisphere, for the redemption of Israel and the salvation of the world. This same angel was with Columbus, and gave him deep impressions, by dreams and by visions, respecting this New World…Under the guardianship of this same angel, or Prince of America, have the United States grown, increased, and flourished, like the sturdy oak by the rivers of water… When Justice is satisfied, and the blood of martyrs atoned for, the guardian angel of America will return to his station, resume his charge, and restore the Constitution of our country…One positive decree of Jehovah, respecting this land, is, that no king shall ever be raised up here, and that whosoever seeketh to raise up a king upon this land shall perish…” Moroni Guardian Angel of America Orson Hyde  Journal of Discourses 6:65.

“Indeed this land of America and its leaders have been blessed with the protection of the Lord. ‘As details of the battle emerged, it turns out that either George Washington was extremely lucky, was bulletproof, or was being supernaturally protected. One Indian warrior testified that he had shot at him 17 times. He exclaimed that ‘Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet!’ Another Indian, Red Hawk, had shot and missed him 11 times. He had not missed a shot before, and became convinced that Washington was being supernaturally protected by the Great Spirit. In 1770, fifteen years after the battle, an old Indian told Washington that he had sought out to meet him. He had been fighting in the battle that day, and he had told all the Indians with him to shoot at him, and make sure that he died. When they all missed, he told them to stop. On that evening, he predicted that Washington would never die in battle, and would be ‘the founder of a mighty empire.’ David.Barton, The Bulletproof George Washington.

“Many locations in this land of America have been blessed by its guardian angel. Moroni had the great privilege, as he walked across this American Continent, of finding a place and designating the place where the St. George temple was to be built. He also designated where the Manti Temple was to be. And it’s been written that he designated Kirtland and Nauvoo and probably others. Moroni appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith 22 different times during the life of the Prophet Joseph that we know of.” The Angel Moroni by Elder Glen L. Rud 

This United States of America is indeed, “A Land of Promise.” Moroni presides over the destinies of the United States, holds the keys of the Stick of Ephraim (D&C 27: 5), and is the guardian angel of this wonderful land. The Prophet Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Last dispensation. together they are honored men of the Lord.

The Lord has said, “…repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon…” (D&C 84:57). As we study The Book of Mormon, we learn to love even more this blessed America we call “A Land of Promise.”

The 26th International Book of Mormon Evidence Virtual Conference was a big success. We had great feedback and I think we were able to iron out many of the kinks from last April.

Please tell your family and friends about our conference as others can still sign up and watch every video. Remember we now have over 600 videos and we will be adding more each month. For a bio on the speakers click here. For friends and family they should only sign up for the $45 three-month subscription. If they sign up for only the $30 ticket, they won’t have access to any of the conference because that is the price if current subscribers were already signed up.
Purchase Here

An Amazing Response From Subscribers!

Laura
[email protected]

Wow!! This presentation is amazing! When I watched it, it brought tears to my eyes, remembering when my Dad taught us about the scriptures when I was a young girl in Honduras. My dad read the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants often, and what I remember is that he always taught his children that the “Promised Land” in the Book of Mormon was located in the United States of America.
That was one of the reasons he wanted us to live in the United States, so we could prepare for the gathering of the lost tribes of Israel. We knew that Joseph Smith received the golden plates from Moroni in Palmyra, New York. That is a truth that I grew up with. I also read this myself in the Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.
Even though I am of “Lenca Maya” descent, I don’t consider myself a Lamanite, because the Lord had already revealed in the Doctrine & Covenants that the Lamanites were relocated to the borders of Missouri from the Eastern States of the United States, and NOT from the Yucatan of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras or Peru.
I highly recommend that anyone with any doubts whatsoever of where the Book of Mormon actually took place should: pray, watch this inspiring presentation, and then read all the references located in the scriptures and church history for yourself!

Jeff Barnes – Book of Mormon/New Jerusalem Boundary Coordinates 2020/09/27 at 8:03 pm

Jeff
[email protected]

For scholars to think Joseph had no influence whatsoever from sources all around him (and for members to deny that) is simply irrational. We are ALL influenced by what we take in as we grow and develop. I also believe those influences can be placed in our path in an effort to prepare us for the role we can play in the building up of the kingdom (a tender mercy from a loving Heavenly Father to aid us in our journey/contribution). For those who deny Joseph the ability to grow into what he ultimately became is to deny God the miracle/ability to work with any of us. And for members who feel it is heresy to claim Joseph could USE what he acquired over his young lifetime to complete the task he was given–there is no such thing as immaculate education!

Jonathan Neville – Infinite Goodness
2020/09/28 at 6:48 pm

Richard
[email protected]

Psalms 19:1-2 The Heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims His handywork. Day after day pours out speech and night after night reveals knowledge.
Psalms 147:4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
Jeff Barnes is one of the discoverers of his handywork. Such exciting messages. Great research, great content and presentation.
We hope many others will view this work and be touched by its content.

Jeff Barnes – Book of Mormon/New Jerusalem Boundary Coordinates 2020/09/28 at 11:40 am

Georgia
[email protected]

I wish all citizens of United States of America were required to learn the real history of this great nation’s founding.These truths need to be taught in our public school system once again. I’m grateful to David Barton for his lifetime work of preserving and teaching these principles of truth.

*David Barton – God in the Constitution
2020/09/28 at 10:49 am

Elsebet
[email protected]

Wow!! Heard things I never heard before!!

*David Barton – Truth is Under Attack – Learn to Defend Truth
2020/09/28 at 9:31 am

Jeff
[email protected]

Timely! Thank you so much, Bruce. I have read many of your books and appreciate your knowledge and humility when it comes to the gospel. You encourage us to search our scriptures while stretching us intellectually: a master teacher.

Bruce Porter – Alternate Voices
approved comments 2020/09/28 at 8:43 am

David
[email protected]

Thank you for providing the history of how higher education has corrupted Biblical truths. BYU has embraced the Federal Dept. of Education so that it can have credentials and be placed among the Ivy League schools. Doing so they have compromised truths related to the origins of life, embraced evolution and have banned healthy debates on the teachings of authorized servants of God. This presentation should be shown to the BYU Board of Directors.

Bob Wright – Higher Criticism is Coming After the Book of Mormon
2020/09/28 at 6:00 am

Jeff
[email protected]

I only wish I could retreive information from my brain the way he can. Holy smoke. Amazing!
*David Barton – God in the Constitution
2020/09/28 at 5:51 am

David
[email protected]

Highly informative and inspiring. This should be made available to the BYU faculty and to Church leaders. Thank you!!!

*David Barton – God in the Constitution
2020/09/28 at 5:28 am

dixie
[email protected]

Amazing presentation! It’s wonderful how everything in the universe declares the Glory of God. And to know that our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son know us by name? It’s like Elder Maxwell once said, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is beautifully simple and simply beautiful.”

*Farrell Pickering – Star of Bethlehem: A Hebrew Wedding in the Sky
2020/09/27 at 11:29 pm

Kari
[email protected]
I am so glad to hear a testimony of truth from you, Tristan! I fear for many of our rising generation that gets caught in the lies of the philosophies of man that is being taught at BYU and other Utah schools. I LOVE the Book of Mormon! I hope to hear more from you! You are a leader that is standing up for truth and for right! Thank you!!!

Tristan Mourier – Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen
2020/09/27 at 10:30 pm

dixie
[email protected]

This was so refreshing and soooo uplifting. Loved the testimony building stories and the laughter. I can’t wait to share so many of these videos with family and friends.

*Panel: Alan, Suzanne, Nathan, and David Osmond with Rod Meldrum – Heartland Happenings
2020/09/27 at 10:05 pm

Ginger
[email protected]
73.65.168.38
Thank you for all the information. I could see the writing on the wall during the Obama administration. I was born and raised in Hawaii as a Democrat and believed there lies of being conservative when they were anything but. I started watching your show when I realized Obama wasnt who he said he was. I found that you gave me hope with all your informative history that I never learned in school and insight information based on evidence you were able to fine by investigating. I also realize that I wasnt alone in my thinking. What I learned today continues to give me hope that we must take a stand for our beliefs. I have already been questioned about my choices by extended families, friends and coworkers. I would simply state my convictions and leave it at that. Now I’m being questioned about my integrity at times for my stance on Trump, BLM, Antifa etc and I won’t back down. I simply state what Trump has accomplished What Antifa and the BLM is and leave it at that. We do live in trying times. Thank you for putting the truths out there. I can’t imagine what you and your family has to go through each day. God bless you and all those who work for you

*Glenn Beck – Book of Mormon: A Clock and A Map
2020/09/27 at 8:36 pm

rian
[email protected]

In reply to Ginger.
I will try and get this message to Glenn. He would love to hear your response. Hang in there Ginger. Truth is hard to find and once you find it, the whole world seems so out of touch. I know Trump has an ego and he speaks his mind, but he is a doer for the people, he doesn’t’ need the Wall Street donors, he is his own man. I don’t want Trump as my Bishop, but he is a fantastic President. He will go down as one of the Presidents who is great. Ignore the Progressives and Liberals as those are the party’s of give me, give me and are always playing victimhood. I was a missionary in Fiji and those who join the Church are amazing. They have the blood of Israel flowing through their veins. The DNA of the Native Americans near the Great Lakes of our USA, are directly linked to the Jews in Israel. That is who the Book of Mormon was written for. Thanks for your comments.

*Glenn Beck – Book of Mormon: A Clock and A Map
2020/09/28 at 12:01 pm

rian
[email protected]

In reply to Laura.
You bring tears of joy to us as we feel of your sweet spirit. Isn’t it wonderful when that Spirit touches you? I will share this message with Jeff Barnes as I know he would appreciate it very much. Do you mind if I use your testimonial in our blog and on our website. Please let me know at [email protected]. Thanks so much for your feedback.

Jeff Barnes – Book of Mormon/New Jerusalem Boundary Coordinates
2020/09/27 at 8:09 pm

S.B.
[email protected]

Wow!! Great presentation. I didn’t realize mapping co-ordinances could lead to such great and detailed information and be so interesting. I found another way to learn truth and depth of our Heavenly Father, his creation, and symbolic gospel. S.B.

Jeff Barnes – Book of Mormon/New Jerusalem Boundary Coordinates
2020/09/27 at 7:14 pm

Jeff
[email protected]

I don’t think you fully appreciate what you have done for so many with your hard work. Lives are being touched and drawn back into the pages of the Book of Mormon thanks to your efforts. My father has read the Annotated Book of Mormon 17 times! He loves it and is passionate to share it with others. I have given copies to each of my sons. Friends have seen my copy and ordered copies for themselves and their families. At no other time in history has there been a need to dive back into our scriptures, and you product was there at just the right time to fill that need. I’m so very grateful you chose to listen to that prompting you had! Many thanks!

David Hocking – Overview of the Annotated Editions
2020/09/28 at 3:44 pm

Margaret
[email protected]

Wow! So many great stories. This was very inspiring. Thanks for the background on The Plan.

*Panel: Alan, Suzanne, Nathan, and David Osmond with Rod Meldrum – Heartland Happenings
2020/09/27 at 7:04 pm

rian
[email protected]

In reply to [email protected].
We are happy to get feedback and we appreciate your support. Perhaps you and the author of Universal Model Dean Sessions would enjoy speaking with each other. His email is [email protected]. Tell him Rian Nelson asked you to contact him. Thanks.

Carter Brown – UM: New Fossil Evidence for the Age of the Earth, Dinosaurs, & Man
2020/09/27 at 6:59 pm

Robert
[email protected]

Great presentation. Information every student of American History should see.

*David Barton – God in the Constitution
2020/09/27 at 6:58 pm

Margaret
[email protected]

Thanks for all your diligence in doing the Lord’s work on this earth. I enjoyed your presentation. My great, great grandmother, Lucy Bigelow Young, helped Elder Wilford W. by doing the temple work for the wives of the prominent men. I wish things could have worked out that she could have helped your ancestors too. It is interesting to note that Wilford wore all white buckskin in the temple. Bless you and your husband.

Delores Kahkonen – An Illuminating Historical Church Account
2020/09/27 at 5:44 pm

John
[email protected]

Very valuable information. Thank you.

Bruce Porter – Alternate Voices

[email protected]

Awesome as usual!

**Rod Meldrum – Crazy Covid-19 Year in Review
2020/09/27 at 4:12 pm

Thank you for having the courage to speak out on COVID and vaccines. And thanks for FIRM for allowing it.

YHWH will expose secret works of darkness through His servants.
Alma (LDS 37:23-26) (RLDS 17:55-58)
23 And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations. 24 And now, my son, these interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled, which he spake, saying: 25 I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land. 26 And now, my son, we see that they did not repent; therefore they have been destroyed, and thus far the word of God has been fulfilled; yea, their secret abominations have been brought out of darkness and made known unto us.

Dean Sessions – The Coronavirus Truth

Nancy

[email protected]
73.98.144.64
This Annotated Book of Mormon truly brings the Savior’s words alive with the depth and breadth of Church History and ties to Ancient Native American histories. What a treasure! ツ

David Hocking and Boyd Tuttle – 2018 Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon Preview to a Breakthrough
2019/09/30 at 12:43 am

Russelle
[email protected]

Absolutely loved it! As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints here in the Birmingham metro area in Alabama, USA, I don’t get the opportunity to attend the conferences. But, this way I can still see many of the speakers and catch up on the latest news of what’s been going on.

Rod Meldrum – Introduction to Firm Foundation Expo – Heartland Update: 2019/11/26 at 12:18 am

Andres
[email protected]

James. I’m with you. There is a retired scholar from BYU I won’t name him because I’m sure you would know who he is. I was so disappointed when he had very harsh words to say on this new movement of amateur LDS.
I realized very quickly how we can so easily be mislead by academics. I have a hard time understanding where they are coming from. But one this is for sure, common sense is out the window.

James & Hannah Stoddard- Unlocking Isaiah: The Latter-Day Servant & Sons
2020/04/07 at 10:00 am

Lindsay
[email protected]

I can’t even tell you how mad I was when I figured out the other one was just a trailer!! Lol. I jumped up and down and did a happy dance when I saw this. The Stoddards are amazing and they blow my mind every time. I could listen to them talk for hours and not get bored at all!

James & Hannah Stoddard – Nephites in Europe: Quest for the Remnant
2020/02/19 at 3:47 pm

Mike
[email protected]

Betty…thank you for sharing your story of your people your family and your beautiful testimony. I’m so thankful that I got to watch this video of you. I felt the spirit in your words. Like always when we talk.I enjoy listening so much too. Prayers and love to all of you and your family.

Betty Red Ant LaFontaine- A Lamanites Testimony–

Mike
[email protected]
Jonathan, I don’t know how you find time in the day to get as much accomplished as you do. Your attention to the small details of Church history are incredibly enlightening. Your sense of curiosity is truly a gift. I hope someday someone is able to compile all these little nuggets of information into a video series. Something on the scale comparable to “The Work and The Glory”. Stringing together all those little details would paint a picture that would help clear up a lot of confusion for many people. I hope you never loose your sense of wonder about unanswered questions!

Jonathan Neville – Does Church History Matter?
2020/04/18 at 8:57 pm

Brian
[email protected]

As general conference approached it seemed odd that in light of President Nelson’s prophetic words leading into 200 years post the first vision that the church was reset. We had no meetings, no missionaries, no ministering we were suddenly stale mate.
Our Prophet led us through famously, but from my “shelter in place” it has not been clear to see past much more than the Lords miraculous and matchless power in a very localized anthropotropic position.
I encourage you to edit out your sermon and post it as a public observation to share with all who would listen that there is physical confirmation from October conferences talks that the Lords work is not only hastening but begun.
Thank all of you for what you have done and the aide the conference is in helping us all to “trim and fill our lamps” and ready ourselves for whatever lies ahead.
Marvelous Bother Meldrum,
Thank you,
From a Bakery in Austin, Texas

Rod Meldrum – Welcome to the Virtual Expo – Heartland Year in Review
2020/04/14 at 9:59 am

[email protected]

Everyone should own this book! Everyone should USE this book. This is a stumbling block that need not exist. How truly sad it is that we are losing members over this. Just because something is sold in Deseret Book does not mean it is doctrine! Search your scriptures. THERE you will find doctrine.

James and Hannah Stoddard – Reliable Primary Sources & the Seer ‘Stone in a Hat’ 2020/09/27 at 7:44 am

Jeff
[email protected]

Glenn,

Thank you for sharing your testimony, and for stepping up and showing your humanity and concerns. Many of us share your same thoughts, and it’s refreshing to see your courage in addressing this topic with the rest of us.

You are not alone in this. You have a much larger family than you might think. We’re all in this together, and ready to lock arms with you at a moment’s notice… in standing for what is right and true. “Who’s on the Lord’s side who? NOW is the time to show!”

Keep sharing your messages with us on this forum, as we all benefit from the sharing of knowledge one to another. I encourage you to watch and learn from all of this year’s conference videos, and share with us your many thoughts on the subjects presented.

May God continue to bless and protect you and your family.

*Glenn Beck – Book of Mormon: A Clock and A Map
2020/09/27 at 1:43 am

Jeff
[email protected]

Another outstanding message Brother Bruce! I have always appreciated your ability to present information with dignity, humility and openness, with the skill to encourage the spirit and uplift the soul .

You are a very effective messenger and a special teacher. May we all feast upon the words of the Savior, as you have often instructed us to do.

Bruce Porter – Alternate Voices
2020/09/27 at 12:28 am

Mary Ann
[email protected]

I am blown away at his ability to state himself so clearly and us the Book of Mormon to tell us where we are in the state of our lives currently! Amazing young man! I wouldn’t mind listening to him again one day!

Tristan Mourier – Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen
2020/09/26 at 10:58 pm

Sue
[email protected]

loved his wonderful history and testimony

*Burgess Owens – GOP Congressional Candidate Utah
2020/09/26 at 9:38 pm

Ellen
[email protected]

Wow! What an inspiring family! I loved this presentation. And I learned that we are cousins-Ebenezer Clawson Richardson is my 4th great grandfather. Thank you Osmonds, for sharing your testimonies.
*Panel: Alan, Suzanne, Nathan, and David Osmond with Rod Meldrum – Heartland Happenings 2020/09/26 at 8:49 pm

Alexander
[email protected]

On Point!
Especially happy with Dean showing how science applies to the Corona virus debates going on now, and the clips with the doctors explaining how true science has been ignored in favor of profits for much of the world wide COVID-19 discussion.
Dean Sessions – The Coronavirus Truth 2020/09/26 at 6:50 pm

Ellen
[email protected]

I can’t wait for the Temples to reopen so that the work for our Lamanite brothers and sisters can continue! I love hearing all of the stories and insights that Delores shares. We are anxiously awaiting the completion of her book.
Delores Kahkonen – An Illuminating Historical Church Account
2020/09/26 at 4:58 pm

Dixie
[email protected]

I love this video! It is sooo needed right now. I want to share this with friends and family. Thank you for all your research. I want to follow up by reading David Barton’s books and whatever other materials he has published. Thank you for being a true truth seeker.

*David Barton – Truth is Under Attack – Learn to Defend Truth
2020/09/26 at 3:54 pm

Marie
[email protected]

Wow! I love maps, and even I didn’t know something like mapping could being me to tears. And why not?
Galileo Galilei said, “Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe.” Where there is truth, we can find God’s signature. Even mapping can be a witness of Jesus Christ.

Jeff Barnes – Book of Mormon/New Jerusalem Boundary Coordinates
2020/09/26 at 2:33 pm

Dianne
[email protected]

I watched this presentation first, even before the introductory video. An ardent supporter of Glenn Beck, it was fun to see and hear him talk about the Book of Mormon, as well as see his scriptures. I would like to thumb through his copy in person. He has a way of giving a new lens through which to consider ordinary things in extraordinary ways, or, rather, how he distills and simplifies the complex for easier digestion. He really has a supernal gift for that.

*Glenn Beck – Book of Mormon: A Clock and A Map
2020/09/26 at 1:12 p

Tonya
[email protected]

Wonderful truths. I’ve watched a former mission president and a cousin both professors at BYU fall into these trappings of the adversary. Thank you for explaining it so clearly.

Bob Wright – Higher Criticism is Coming After the Book of Mormon
2020/09/26 at 12:35 pm

Jeremy
[email protected]

I really enjoyed and appreciated this presentation. It is an upgrade of the video from earlier this year, having much of the same material, but has many visual slides and videos which really bring the message to the heart and mind. Well Done! I am a huge fan and wholeheartedly agree with Ben McClintock’s admonitions.

Ben McClintock – Prophets and the Constitution
2020/09/26 at 7:57 am

Louise
[email protected]

Bless you Tim, for all the good that you do. If my wish could come true it would be to donate a boatload of money to your organization; all I have is my mouth to tell a story as you requested. I ask the good Lord to bless & keep you & yours & all the people that work for you safe & very busy! Rescuing these souls! I took a course on how to recognize if someone may be held captive & need help. I will always try to be aware! Joyce

Timothy Ballard – Keynote Speaker – Combating Slavery
2020/09/25 at 10:58 pm

Louise
[email protected]

I learned & enjoyed his presentation. Have never heard of him before but intend to become familiar with his work & read his books. So happy to have had this opportunity to listen to his presentation! Joyce
ps. cant wait to go to his website!

David Allan – New Bible & Book of Mormon Evidence Harmonizing Science & Religion 2020/09/25 at 9:10 pm

Carl
[email protected]

My wife Melanie and I have been using the A BofM all through 2020 as we study Come Follow materials. We have found all the special features very useful especially the color coding of text indicating who the writer/speakers are. The imbedded insight material is a great service. Having it just when needed, in the moment, is inspired. We have the B of J but have not appreciated its content until this expo presentation. Now we will very likely dive into its content and insights. We commend you for this work and trust that it is very rewarding for you. Thank you, Carl and Melanie Harris

David Hocking – Overview of the Annotated Editions
2020/09/25 at 8:17 pm

Jessica
[email protected]

This is so interesting with all the different histories from all the different countries. Grest presentation!

David Doane – What or Who is a Mulekite?
2020/09/25 at 2:33 pm

Tonya
[email protected]

Great overview we are so excited to see it all. And we do watch your podcasts on “Come follow Me” nothing else compares!

**Rod Meldrum – Crazy Covid-19 Year in Review
2020/09/25 at 2:06 pm

Ann
[email protected]

I loved that you remind us to pray and ask our Heavenly Father who we are to become and where we are supposed to be. I’ve always loved listening to Glenn. Thank you for your time and words spoken for us at this conference.

*Glenn Beck – Book of Mormon: A Clock and A Map
2020/09/25 at 11:46 am

Noryne
[email protected]

Great information Again How can we get this material out to the public They need this now more then ever.

*David Barton – Truth is Under Attack – Learn to Defend Truth
2020/09/25 at 11:44 am

Sue
[email protected]
68.0.183.103
Great start to the conference, but Rod refers to two video segments to be inserted….I’d like to see them!

**Rod Meldrum – Crazy Covid-19 Year in Review
2020/09/25 at 9:36 am

Steve
[email protected]

A wonderful introduction.

**Rod Meldrum – Crazy Covid-19 Year in Review
2020/09/25 at 9:26 am
Select comment [email protected]

[email protected]

Outstanding Kickoff. Wish we could have been a part of all that was shown.

**Rod Meldrum – Crazy Covid-19 Year in Review
2020/09/25 at 9:03 am

Cheryl
[email protected]

Beautiful and inspiring! Thank you.

Betty LaFontaine – A Lamanites’ Testimony
2020/09/25 at 6:56 am

Mary Ann
[email protected]

We have attended these conferences for many years now, and I am excited to “attend” another one, especially to hear from Wayne May and his experiences in Zarahemla area this past summer!

Wayne May
September 2020 Virtual Conference
2020/09/24 at 6:34 pm

Ron
[email protected]

As a traveler to many archeological sites in Mexico, I’ve always been a strong proponent of the Mesoamerica model of the Lands of the Book of Mormon. It’s time for me to explore Meldrum’s Heartland model to see if it makes more sense. I’ll tell you right now, it’s going to be a hard sell on your part to convince me that the Heartland model makes more sense than the John Sorenson Mesoamerican model.

September 2020 Virtual Conference 2020/09/22 at 8:51 pm

Julia
[email protected]

Excited to hear Glenn Beck and Tim Ballard and all the other great speakers. I am really enjoying my subscription to BoM Streaming! I am learning so much!!!

Glenn Beck
September 2020 Virtual Conference
2020/09/09 at 2:14 pm

Jennifer
[email protected]

As a truth-seeker, I am so grateful to Dean, another truth-seeker, for all the effort, study, and research he has put into bringing these truths to a truth-starved world. I am using The UM volume 1 to teach and learn from with my family. It’s by far the best science model I’ve ever studied. It resonates with me. I’m so excited to finally have a resource like this. As a researcher myself, I’m always on the lookout for inspired work. The UM is on my list of inspired work to study. Thank you, Dean Sessions, for seeking and sharing truth.

Dean Sessions – Human Model April 2020
2020/08/21 at 12:31 pm

Our great friend Glenn Beck just spoke at the 26th International Book of Mormon Evidence Conference on Sept 24, 2020. His presentation was titled, “The Book of Mormon; Clock and Map”

Sign up Here or logo below to register..

Glenn shows us how to use the Book of Mormon as a clock to see what time it is in our history and a map to have it guide us to truth and courage. Glenn said, “Courage is a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets.”

In the picture below in the second column, Glenn speaks about CSE, Comprehensive Sex Education. You will be appalled as he mentions that 21 of our states are already teaching CSE to our Elementary children. What they are teaching is mind blowing and you’d better speak with your school to be sure it is not being taught. Read below about the 15 harmful elements of CSE.

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND FAMILIES

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IS A COMPLEX PROBLEM WITH SOCIAL, LEGAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND ETHICAL DIMENSIONS.

It takes many singular and interrelated forms including pornography, prostitution, paedophilia, trafficking in human beings, and affects people of different ages, sexes and communities. Sexual exploitation has profound and damaging consequences for individuals exploited and those around them including families and communities. Targeting and grooming of children often brings psychological implications for parents and other family members; it can become almost impossible for them to carry on with their life and be able to respond effectively to the crises at hand.

They feel their lives have been turned upside down from a situation they have never anticipated. It can undermine parents’ capacity to respond proactively to the needs of their children. Lack of knowledge of the operation of abusers, patterns of grooming, impact of exploitation on their children can contribute to crises, pushing parents into despair. Source;

FAMILIES IN SUCH SITUATIONS NEED ADVICE AND SUPPORT.

PACE has been pioneering in support work to parents affected by child sexual exploitation. Founded by an affected parent, PACE continues to be driven by the experiences and needs of affected parents and works alongside them so that they can become active agents in responding to the sexual exploitation and abuse of their children.

Information provided by PACE (UK) (Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation). More information on supporting parents can be found on the PACE website.

More information about the direct effects of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) on Parents and Carers and Supporting Parents and Carers can be found in our resources library.

15 Harmful Elements of CSE

COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION: THE HARMFUL EFFECT ON CHILDREN

The following are 15 harmful elements typically found in CSE curricula. Since each of these 15 harmful elements has the potential of causing long-term negative effects on the health and well-being of children, having even one of these elements should be reason enough to disqualify a program from being taught to children. A program containing several of these elements should be banned from use in any school or community setting.

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism is a 2018 book written by Robin DiAngelo about race relations in the United States. An academic with experience in diversity training, DiAngelo coined the term “white fragility” in 2011 to describe any defensive instincts or reactions that a white person experiences when questioned about race or made to consider their own race. In White Fragility, DiAngelo views racism in the United States as systemic and often perpetuated unconsciously by individuals. She recommends against viewing racism as committed intentionally by “bad people”.

Published on June 26, 2018, the book entered the New York Times Bestseller List that month, remaining on the list for well over a year and experiencing a resurgence in demand during the George Floyd protests beginning in May 2020. As of the July 26, 2020 edition, the book is in its 97th week on the list in the Paperback Nonfiction category, where it is ranked number one. Critically, the book received generally positive reviews following its publication. It received more mixed reviews in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests two years later. Some reviewers lauded the book for being thoughtful and instructive, but characterized it as diagnostic rather than solution-oriented. Other reviewers criticized the book for making false claims about race and racism in America, for putting whites in a situation where anything they say is used against them, for infantilizing black people, and for doing nothing to promote racial justice. Wikipedia

No Guilt for being a Child of God

Personally as a “White Person”, I feel no guilt for being white. I feel blessed to be a child of God. My spirit came from a Heavenly Father and my parents who both happened to be white created my body. I know Heavenly Father loves all of His children and all of us have an equal opportunity to succeed or fail in this life. We will never have equal outcome as we all have our own individual freedom of choice.

I don’t need to overcome any silly white fragility, I just need to love my neighbor as myself. Christ is my Savior and it is He I must obey not someone who wrote a book of nonsense.

More and more society it trying to replace God with man. They don’t want to live by God’s law as it is seemingly judgmental. These people don’t want any judgement they want no restrictions on what ever they want, even if it is illegal or immoral. Please be aware of this harmful idea called White Fragility.

The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility

The popular book aims to combat racism but talks down to Black people.

I must admit that I had not gotten around to actually reading Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility until recently. But it was time to jump in. DiAngelo is an education professor and—most prominently today—a diversity consultant who argues that whites in America must face the racist bias implanted in them by a racist society. Their resistance to acknowledging this, she maintains, constitutes a “white fragility” that they must overcome in order for meaningful progress on both interpersonal and societal racism to happen.

White Fragility was published in 2018 but jumped to the top of the New York Times best-seller list amid the protests following the death of George Floyd and the ensuing national reckoning about racism. DiAngelo has convinced university administrators, corporate human-resources offices, and no small part of the reading public that white Americans must embark on a self-critical project of looking inward to examine and work against racist biases that many have barely known they had.

I am not convinced. Rather, I have learned that one of America’s favorite advice books of the moment is actually a racist tract. Despite the sincere intentions of its author, the book diminishes Black people in the name of dignifying us. This is unintentional, of course, like the racism DiAngelo sees in all whites. Still, the book is pernicious because of the authority that its author has been granted over the way innocent readers think.

MORE BY THIS WRITER

Reading white fragility is rather like attending a diversity seminar. DiAngelo patiently lays out a rationale for white readers to engage in a self-examination that, she notes, will be awkward and painful. Her chapters are shortish, as if each were a 45-minute session. DiAngelo seeks to instruct.

She operates from the now-familiar concern with white privilege, aware of the unintentional racism ever lurking inside of her that was inculcated from birth by the white supremacy on which America was founded. To atone for this original sin, she is devoted to endlessly exploring, acknowledging, and seeking to undo whites’ “complicity with and investment in” racism. To DiAngelo, any failure to do this “work,” as adherents of this paradigm often put it, renders one racist.

As such, a major bugbear for DiAngelo is the white American, often of modest education, who makes statements like I don’t see color or asks questions like How dare you call me “racist”? Her assumption that all people have a racist bias is reasonable—science has demonstrated it. The problem is what DiAngelo thinks must follow as the result of it.

DiAngelo has spent a very long time conducting diversity seminars in which whites, exposed to her catechism, regularly tell her—many while crying, yelling, or storming toward the exit—that she’s insulting them and being reductionist. Yet none of this seems to have led her to look inward. Rather, she sees herself as the bearer of an exalted wisdom that these objectors fail to perceive, blinded by their inner racism. DiAngelo is less a coach than a proselytizer.

When writers who are this sure of their convictions turn out to make a compelling case, it is genuinely exciting. This is sadly not one of those times, even though white guilt and politesse have apparently distracted many readers from the book’s numerous obvious flaws.

For one, DiAngelo’s book is replete with claims that are either plain wrong or bizarrely disconnected from reality. Exactly who comes away from the saga of Jackie Robinson thinking he was the first Black baseball player good enough to compete with whites? “Imagine if instead the story,” DiAngelo writes, “went something like this: ‘Jackie Robinson, the first black man whites allowed to play major-league baseball.’” But no one need imagine this scenario, as others have pointed out, because it is something every baseball fan already knows. Later in the book, DiAngelo insinuates that, when white women cry upon being called racists, Black people are reminded of white women crying as they lied about being raped by Black men eons ago. But how would she know? Where is the evidence for this presumptuous claim?

An especially weird passage is where DiAngelo breezily decries the American higher-education system, in which, she says, no one ever talks about racism. “I can get through graduate school without ever discussing racism,” she writes. “I can graduate from law school without ever discussing racism. I can get through a teacher-education program without ever discussing racism.” I am mystified that DiAngelo thinks this laughably antique depiction reflects any period after roughly 1985. For example, an education-school curriculum neglecting racism in our times would be about as common as a home unwired for electricity.

DiAngelo’s depiction of white psychology shape-shifts according to what her dogma requires. On the one hand, she argues in Chapter 1 that white people do not see themselves in racial terms; therefore, they must be taught by experts like her of their whiteness. But for individuals who harbor so little sense of themselves as a group, the white people whom DiAngelo describes are oddly tribalist when it suits her narrative. “White solidarity,” she writes in Chapter 4, “requires both silence about anything that exposes the advantages of the white population and tacit agreement to remain racially united in the protection of white supremacy.” But if these people don’t even know whiteness is a category, just what are they now suddenly defending?

Diangelo also writes as if certain shibboleths of the Black left—for instance, that all disparities between white and Black people are due to racism of some kind—represent the incontestable truth. This ideological bias is hardly unique to DiAngelo, and a reader could look past it, along with the other lapses in argumentation I have noted, if she offered some kind of higher wisdom. The problem is that White Fragility is the prayer book for what can only be described as a cult.

We must consider what is required to pass muster as a non-fragile white person. Refer to a “bad neighborhood,” and you’re using code for Black; call it a “Black neighborhood,” and you’re a racist; by DiAngelo’s logic, you are not to describe such neighborhoods at all, even in your own head. You must not ask Black people about their experiences and feelings, because it isn’t their responsibility to educate you. Instead, you must consult books and websites. Never mind that upon doing this you will be accused of holding actual Black people at a remove, reading the wrong sources, or drawing the wrong lessons from them. You must never cry in Black people’s presence as you explore racism, not even in sympathy, because then all the attention goes to you instead of Black people. If you object to any of the “feedback” that DiAngelo offers you about your racism, you are engaging in a type of bullying “whose function is to obscure racism, protect white dominance, and regain white equilibrium.”

That is a pretty strong charge to make against people who, according to DiAngelo, don’t even conceive of their own whiteness. But if you are white, make no mistake: You will never succeed in the “work” she demands of you. It is lifelong, and you will die a racist just as you will die a sinner.

Remember also that you are not to express yourself except to say Amen. Namely, thou shalt not utter:

I know people of color.
I marched in the sixties.
You are judging me.
You don’t know me.
You are generalizing.
I disagree.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/dehumanizing-condescension-white-fragility/614146/

Coming up at the 26th Book of Mormon Evidence Conference I will share a two hour video about “The force of fact as well as the force of feeling” That comes from Elder Holland as he has told us, “Truly rock-ribbed faith and uncompromised conviction comes with its most complete power when it engages our head as well as our heart.”

As President Nelson said, “You don’t have to wonder about what is true. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true. I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, for the Lord has promised that “if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.” Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives by President Russell M. Nelson

I will share with you how you can know through faith and through secondary evidences that the Book of Mormon is true. Join me and over 60 other thought leaders including Glenn Beck, The Osmonds, Rod Meldrum, and David Barton. Sign up here:

Horses or Tapirs. What do you think?

Many people who believe in the Mesoamerican theory try very hard to explain why horses are mentioned in the Book of Mormon, when they can’t show horses anciently in Mesoamerica. I believe Hearlanders have an easy answer. We find ancient horses all over in North America.

Below is one way scholars explain horses in Mesoamerica!

“Several theories that attempt to address the issue of pre-Columbian horses are examined in this article, some of which are mutually exclusive. Therefore, not all can be correct. Evidence presented in this article includes (1) archeological evidence for large animals used for draft and transportation; (2) wheeled artifacts showing a person or animal riding on an obviously artificial wheeled platform; (3) the possibility that Book of Mormon peoples referred to native animals such as the Baird’s tapir with names such as horse that they were familiar with; (4) early accounts suggesting that Native Americans had horses too early for them to come from strays that escaped the Spanish conquistadors, especially since the Spanish kept very careful records of their horses; (5) the prevalence of the pinto or piebald horse among Native Americans and its relative absence among Spanish expeditions; (6) images in Mesoamerican art that might depict horses; (7) evidence that horses survived far longer after the last ice age than previously thought; and (8) the question of the Bashkir Curly…

The topic of horses in the Book of Mormon’s depiction of the ancient New World is undoubtedly a controversial one. Although hard evidence is available to consider, so far no incontrovertible proof of Book of Mormon horses exists—that is to say, physical remains conclusively dated to around 500 BC (and earlier) from supposed Book of Mormon lands in Mesoamerica are yet to be found. Because of this, more than any other criticism of the Book of Mormon, its inclusion of horses has generated greater accusation of its supposedly fraudulent nature. The horse is still used in this day and age to cast doubt on the book’s divine origins. Critics have long pointed to the mention of horses as an anachronism and evidence of its modern invention. Since 1830, their mention has seemed a bit problematic, but everyone should remember that the prevailing belief during Joseph Smith’s time (and to some degree, still in ours) was that there were no horses in America before the arrival of the Spanish. Therefore, why mention them at all, especially since they are not an integral part of the storyline?” “Hard” Evidence of Ancient American Horses Author Daniel Johnson BYU Studies Journal 54:3

Below is Jonathan Neville’s way of explaining horses in Mesoamerica!

“One of the basic premises of M2C (Mesoamerican 2 Hill Cumorah Theory), is that Joseph Smith didn’t know that much about the Book of Mormon. He was an ignorant farm boy who knew nothing about Mesoamerica, so he didn’t use the Mesoamerican terminology; i.e., he said “horses” when he should had said “tapirs,” he said “tower” when he should have said “pyramid,” etc.” Jonathan Neville

If you would like, you can celebrate World Tapir Day here

In this blog we are having some fun with our fellow friends at Book of Mormon Central. They laugh at us and we at times laugh at them, but we all love the Book of Mormon.

See my blog about Horses in North America below:

https://www.bofm.blog/bofm-horses-in-north-america/

If you love Native Americans, Earthquakes, American History, and the Book of Mormon, you will love this blog. It is a story that is amazing especially as we know for a fact that an earthquake the size and breadth of the one that happened during 3 Nephi happened right here in the United States of America.

We are nearing our 26th Book of Mormon Evidence Conference coming up next week and part of your ticket package includes a free DVD streaming from Rod Meldrum titled, What caused the destruction at the time of Christ? And a new 45 page E-Book from Rod’s book Prophesies and Promises.

Tickets Here:

Was the destruction at the time of Christ’s death caused by a volcanic eruption as has been speculated by some Book of Mormon geography scholars, or is there another explanation?  Amazing new research has uncovered incredible parallels between the eye-witness accounts of the Book of Mormon prophets and the eye-witness observations of those who suffered through a sequence of earthquakes in the heartland of America in 1811 and 1812. Together we will compare the scriptural account with the History Channels Earthquake in the Heartland documentary and authoritative accounts by those who were there!  It is nothing short of amazing.

What textual evidence exists that the destruction was volcanic in nature? How was the destruction described by the ancient prophets?
What caused the three days of darkness?
When did the Nephites gather at the temple in Bountiful/
Why couldn’t some Nephites light fires, while other Nephite cities were entirely burned?
Did an event similar to that witnessed in 1811-1812 occur near the time of Christ?

Tecumseh
March 1768 – October 5, 1813) was a Native American Shawnee warrior and chief, who became the primary leader of a large, multi-tribal confederacy in the early 19th century. Born in the Ohio Country (present-day Ohio), and growing up during the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War, Tecumseh was exposed to warfare and envisioned the establishment of an independent Native American nation east of the Mississippi River under British protection. He worked to recruit additional members to his tribal confederacy from the southern United States.

Tecumseh was among the most celebrated Native American leaders in history and was known as a strong and eloquent orator who promoted tribal unity. He was also ambitious, willing to take risks, and make significant sacrifices to repel the Americans from Native American lands in the Old Northwest Territory. Wikipedia: Tecumseh

A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and a book called The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain.

Joseph [Smith] most likely grew up reading a school book called The Late War by Gilbert J. Hunt and it heavily influenced his writing of The Book of Mormon.

Summary
In October 2013, the authors conducted a data analysis comparing The Book of Mormon to over 100,000 books from the pre-1830’s era. Out of the top matches, we discovered a book called The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain, a scriptural style account of the War of 1812 published in New York in 1816. Between 1817 and 1819 it was marketed “for the use of schools throughout the United States” under the title The Historical Reader.

Interesting Parallels

People interested in how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon into English focus on the language in the text. Some people say the text is merely a clumsy copy of the Bible or other “pseudo-biblical” books. Others say the text is too sophisticated for Joseph Smith because it contains Early Modern English syntax from the 1500s. he could not have possibly known. In this video we discuss the nature of language and offer evidence that both (i) corroborates Joseph’s own explanation and (ii) rebuts the critics. See the movie below by Jonathan Neville

Teancum / Tecumseh

Source: A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain first published Jan 11, 2014 last edited Mar 9, 2014  http://wordtree.org/thelatewar/

“In understanding the similarities between the name Tecumseh and Teancum we thought you would love to hear this article relating Tecumseh and the New Madrid Earthquake. The similarities are amazing as we read about history in the Heartland of North America.” Rian Nelson

The New Madrid Earthquake and Tecumseh’s Prophecy

PANTHER-ACROSS-THE-SKY

Part One: Tecumseh’s Birth and Boyhood
[The following narrative is taken from The Frontiersman by Allan W. Eckert (© 1967). In the Author’s Note, Eckert wrote: “This book is fact, not fiction. Certain techniques normally associated with the novel form have been utilized, but in no case has this been at the expense of historical accuracy. In no case has there been any ‘whole cloth’ fabrication or fanciful fictionalization. Equally, every incident described in this book actually occurred; every date is historically accurate; and every character, regardless of how major or minor, actually lived the role in which he is portrayed.”]

Wednesday, March 9, 1768
As he had done on occasion ever since childhood, the Shawnee chief Pucksinwah contemplated the multitude of stars sparkling with such life and beauty in the deep cloudless and moonless sky. Now that the fire had died to a dim orange bed of coals and the women squatted around it had lapsed into uncommon silence, these jewels of the night seemed to draw even closer and become more tangible, as if waiting to be plucked.

Only rarely was the stillness broken by a soft cry from within the hastily erected shelter beyond the fire where Methotasa — A-Turtle-Laying-Her-Eggs-in-the-Sand — waited delivery of her child. It would have been better had they been able to continue the journey to Chillicothe. The village was only three arrow flights to the northwest of them, but the time to bear fruit had come and further travel, however short, would have been dangerous to both Methotasa and the infant.

Though extremely anxious to reach this principal town of the Chalahgawtha sept, Pucksinwah nevertheless stayed behind with his 12-year-old son, Chiksika, and 10-year-old daughter, Tecumapese, along with half a dozen women of his clan who would help in the delivery. The remainder of his Kispokotha sept of the Shawnees he sent on to the village with word of his whereabouts and his promise to appear on the morrow at the large msi-kah-mi-qui, or council house.

Nearly 600 strong, these followers of his represented about two-thirds of the population of Kispoko Town on the west bank of the Scioto River. Similar groups from the other four Shawnee septs were also converging for this highly important council at Chillicothe. For over five years tribal representatives had been meeting here at intervals in an effort to decide what the Shawnees, as a nation, must do about the white man who, despite those treaties forbidding it, was crossing the mountains to the east and spilling into the valleys of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny and Allegheny.

Although the Shawnee septs were individual entities and governed themselves, each was an important branch of the Shawnee tribe as a whole, and each had a distinct office or duty to perform for the benefit of the tribe. The Peckuwe sept, for instance, had charge of the maintenance of order or duty, and looked after the celebration of matters pertaining to Shawnee religion. It was to this sept that Methotasa had belonged before Pucksinwah had taken her as wife.

The Maykujay clan controlled matters pertaining to health, medicine and food. The Kispokotha sept, on the other hand, was in charge of all circumstances of warfare, including the preparation and training of warriors.

But the two most powerful septs were the Thawegila and Chalahgawtha, which had charge of all things political and all matters affecting the entire tribe. These two septs were equal in power, and from one of them the principal chief of the Shawnees had to come. The chiefs of the other septs were subordinate to the principal chief in all matters of importance to the tribe but, in circumstances pertaining to their own jurisdiction, they were independent chiefs. The Thawegila, Kispokotha and Peckuwe septs were closely related morally and politically, while the Maykujay and Chalahgawtha septs always stood together, as they had in times past during occasional instances of tribal dissension.

So it was now in this problem of the encroachment of the whites. It was such a serious problem that strong lines of dissension had formed which threatened to cause a permanent breach in the nation; at least so it was feared by the principal chief, Hokolesqua — Cornstalk — a Chalahgawtha Shawnee. His sept and the Maykujays took the stand that “we had better make peace with the white people, as they are outnumbering us and increasing fast. It seems Moneto — God — is with them. Let us make peace with them and be always in peace with them.

“No!” said the Thawegila, Kispokotha and Peckuwe chiefs. “Let us not make peace with the white people. Let us fight them until one or the other of us is destroyed to the last man.”

Pucksinwah shook his head sadly. To the very marrow of his bones he knew there could never be a true peace between whites and Indians. As surely as summer follows spring, the whites would not stop at the river valley of western Pennsylvania. Inevitably they would spread down the Spay-lay-wi-theepi — Ohio River — to settle in the great and sacred hunting grounds of Can-tuc-kee. The Shawnees from the north and Cherokee from the south might share the bounty of that land below the great river, but no tribe — nor white man! — must be permitted to take up permanent residence there.

Had not over a century of friction between Indians and whites proven that nothing could be gained by talk of peace? When treaties had been signed and boundaries established in the past, had not these whites treated the Indians with unfeigned loathing, and had they not broken the boundaries almost immediately after they were established?

This was why the current council at the Little Miami River village of Chillicothe was so important to Pucksinwah. Largest of the Shawnee towns, it was centrally located to all the septs and more than 5000 Shawnee men would be on hand. And this time it would be his turn to speak without interruption in the msi-kah-mi-qui. He would pray to Moneto to bring powerful words to his lips that he might convince the Chalahgawtha and Maykujay septs that there could never exist an suitable peace between Indians and whites.

He raised his eyes skyward, but the prayer died aborning as a huge meteor suddenly plunged into the atmosphere and burst into brilliant greenish-white flame. It streaked across the heavens from the north in an awe-inspiring spectacle which lasted fully twenty seconds.

Pucksinwah had heard of such occurrences, but not before had he seen anything so breathtaking as this, and the tales of the old people came back to him now: this shooting star was The Panther, a great spirit passing over to the south where it seeks a deep hole for sleep. Every night it passes somewhere on the earth to go to that home in the south. It was a good sign indeed, and Pucksinwah arose and stepped briskly to the fire where the women were clustered, chattering excitedly, for they too had seen it.

From within the temporary shelter came the sharp wail of a baby. Pucksinwah waited quietly, the murmur of voices from inside almost lost in the gurgle of water from the great bubbling spring beside the shelter. Soon the infant’s crying faded away, and a quarter hour later one of the women came out, beckoned to the chief, and happily told him he had a son.

Pucksinwah stooped to enter the shelter and the three women inside, giggling delightedly, left to join the others at the fire. Methotasa lay on a bedding of cedar boughs covered with a huge buffalo hide, the even softer hide of a deer covering her to the waist. Her breasts were swelled, but not yet heavily engorged with the milk which would come in two or three days. In the crook of her arm slept the newborn child, its skin glistening faintly with a protective coating of bear oil applied by the squaws.

Methotasa smiled up at Pucksinwah as he knelt to look at the baby. She told him that the other women had seen a great star, The Panther, passing across and searching for its home in the south. Pucksinwah nodded gravely, and told her it was the boy’s unsoma.

Shawnee custom declares that a boy baby is not named for ten days after his birth, nor a girl for twelve, during which time an unsoma — notable event — would occur which should indicate what Moneto wished the child to be called. But this time the sign had been given at the very moment of birth, and this was of great importance. Both Pucksinwah and Methotasa knew there could be no other name for this boy that The-Panther-Passing-Across.

Thus was born and named the Shawnee Indian known as Tecumseh.

Sunday, April 13, 1788
“Little brother,” Chiksika had said yesterday,placing his had on Tecumseh’s shoulder,, “what I say now will come to be. Just as our father knew that he should die in that battle with the Shemanese where the Kanawha and Spay-lay-wi-theepi meet, so I know that I will die tomorrow during the midst of our little battle. When the sun is at its highest, then will a bullet from the whites strike me here,” he placed a finger to his forehead midway between his eyes, “and my life will be ended. But do not let them falter. Lead them on with an attack at once, and they will emerge victorious.”

And now, as they rode toward the frail fortification behind which the whites lay, a devastating sorrow drained Tecumseh of strength and will as he followed Chiksika wordlessly toward the destiny his older brother had predicted.

Tecumseh wished he could disbelieve his 31-year-old brother’s prediction, but he could not. How many times in the past had Chiksika predicted exactly what would happen and when? Too many times to count. Even on the trip south they had laughed together when Chiksika had told Tecumseh that though he was a better hunter than himself or any other of the dozen Kispokotha warriors with them, in three days he would fall from his horse and break his hip as he attempted to down a buffalo. But it had happened just as he said. Two months ago, they had charged a small herd and Tecumseh had thundered up beside the largest bull, prepared to strike, when the animal’s shoulder had bumped his horse, throwing it off stride. The horse had slipped and fallen, throwing Tecumseh from its back, and he had lain there filled with admiration for Chiksika’s prophetic ability, even as the waves of pain from the broken hip throbbed through him.

And then, last night Chiksika had told Tecumseh of his presentiment, and abruptly the world had become cold and hard and alien. So sorrowful at Chiksika’s prediction was he that Tecumseh scarcely heard his older brother’s further prediction.

“Tecumseh,” he said, “you must carry on for our people and become for them a leader. You will do this, I know. I have looked ahead and seen you not only as a leader of the Shawnees, but as the greatest and most powerful chief any tribe has ever known. I have seen you journey to far lands and I have watched you bring together under your hand a confederation of Indian nations such as has never before been known.”

But Tecumseh fond little comfort in the words. His own mind was filled with words that would never be spoken and his heart with a pain that would never be eased. He vowed to stay by his brother’s side during the engagement.

The fight began late in the forenoon, and it was a hot one, the whites defending their little stronghold with unexpected tenacity. Only gradually were the settlers picked off and the Indians able to slowly advance. The Cherokee chief three times led a charge, and three times had been forced to retire, but each time less emphatically than the last. Now, out of effective rifle range, he stood high and called his tribesmen and Shawnee friends to rally behind him for a final charge that would bring them victory.

Chiksika unexpectedly placed his had over Tecumseh’s and squeezed it. He pointed to a hickory sapling, its branches bare but for swelling buds. It stood arrow straight in the ground and the sun made the shadows of the branches a spiderwork pattern on the ground about the trunk, but there was little trunk shadow, for the sun was at its zenith.

“Happy am I,” Chiksika said softly, “to fall in battle and not die in a wegiwa like an old squaw.”

He and his younger brother then joined the Cherokee chief and suddenly, even before the sound of the distant shot came, there was a heavy thunking sound and Tecumseh whirled to see Chiksika just beginning to topple sideways, a hole nearly the diameter of his thumb between his brother’s eyes in the middle of his forehead. Tecumseh leaped forward and caught him and gently lowered him to the ground. As he did so, the Cherokee chief exhorted his men to charge the whites, but they were shocked at the bullet having traveled so incredibly far and so accurately to kill their northern ally and considered it a bad sign. Even though Tecumseh begged them to charge again, telling them that Chiksika had said they would win and that he would lead them beside their chief, they refused to fight more.

As the entire party withdrew, Tecumseh’s shoulders slumped far more with the weight of sorrow than with the weight of his brother’s body in his arms.

Part Two: Confederacy & Prophecy

Wednesday, August 11, 1802
Each time Tecumseh addressed one of these councils, he felt a great exaltation as he saw how his words caught and held his listeners; how easily, with the proper turn of a phrase, he could stir in them emotions of anger and hate, love and pleasure, regret and sorrow. Each time he began to speak, he was never really sure exactly what he would say, but then the words came to him, rolling fluently from his tongue and never failing to stir deeply all who listened.

He was much pleased with the way things had gone thus far. All during spring, summer and fall of last year he had gone from village to village, journeying as far eastward as western Vermont and Massachusetts. This past spring, as soon as he had concluded the laughable treaty with the cut-ta-ho-tha, he had ranged across upper and western New York State and northwestern Pennsylvania. All of the remaining Iroquois Confederacy had been deeply inspired by the plan, and they looked upon the speaker with something very akin to reverence. They had pledged their faith and their secrecy and, most important, their help when the great sign should be given.

This great sign that Tecumseh spoke of wherever he went always remained the same, and his telling of it never failed to awe his audiences. When the period of waiting was over, he told them, when tribal unification had been completed, when all was in readiness, then would this sign be given: in the midst of the night the earth beneath would tremble and roar for a long period. Jugs would break, though there be no one near to touch them. Great trees would fall, though the air be windless. Streams would change their courses to run backwards, and lakes would be swallowed up into the earth and other lakes suddenly appear. The bones of every man would tremble with the trembling of the ground, and they would not mistake it. No! There was not anything to compare with it in their lives, nor in the lives of their fathers or the fathers before them since time began; when this sign came, they were to drop their mattocks and flash scrapers, leave their fields and their hunting camps and their villages, and join together and move to assemble across the lake river from the fort of Detroit. And on that day they would no longer be Mohawks or Senecas, Oneidas or Onondagas, or any other tribe. They would be Indians! One people united forever where the good of one would henceforth become the good of all!

So it would be!

Sunday, December 1809
The watchword of the year was suspicion. Everyone, it seemed, was suspicious of something.

Despite all the suspicions in the air, the year closed without open hostilities erupting anywhere. The United States, under its new President, James Madison, continued to be suspicious of the British. William Henry Harrison continued to be suspicious of Tecumseh and the Prophet. Many of the Indian chiefs continued to be suspicious of the amalgamation of the tribes. Tecumseh continued to be suspicious of the growing insubordination of his brother, Tenskwatawa, the Prophet. The settlers continued to be suspicious of all Indians. And Tenskwatawa continued to be suspicious of everything and everybody.

The Prophet’s work in helping to unite the tribes behind Tecumseh’s movement was, on the whole, a big disappointment to Tecumseh. These tribes — the Delawares, Miamis, Wyandots, and, in particular, the Shawnees — must be convinced to join. Without their active support, the entire grand plan might collapse. Yet, instead of uniting them, Tenskwatawa had succeeded only in alarming them and driving them away with talk of immediate attack on Vincennes and the river settlements, and by his suggestions that the Great Spirit would destroy any who did not join in to help. It was a maddening development and, before he set out again to visit each of these chiefs, Tecumseh held long conferences with his younger brother and gave him strict orders to follow.

Tenskwatawa was to begin immediately to regain some of the prestige he had lost during the year. He would retire alone to the woods and there make a large number of sacred slabs which he was to tell the assembled Indians he had made under the direction of the Great Spirit. The directions for their construction was specific.

Each slab was to be of the same length, thickness and taper, and each was to have carved , on one side only, the same symbols. The slabs were to be made of red cedar and each was to be accompanied by a bundle of thin red sticks. Each of the red sticks was to represent one moon, and, when the bundle and slab was given to a particular chief, he would be directed to throw away one of the red sticks at each full moon until only the slab itself remained, at which time he must prepare for the great sign to be given.

The symbols on the slab were to have a double meaning — one to tell any curious whites who might see them, the other to be the true meaning. For the whites, these were to be described as heaven sticks — symbols which would guide them to the happy Afterlife. The symbols, reading from bottom to top, were family, which was the most important single factor in everyday Indian life, the earth upon which they lived, followed by the principal features of the earth: water, lightning, trees, the four corners of the earth, corn, fowl and animals of the earth and air, all plant life, the sun, the blue sky and all of these things having to be experienced and understood before the people could reach the uppermost symbol, Heaven.

The actual meaning of the symbolism, however, was considerable different and much more menacing. It was for all the Indians on both sides of the Mississippi River — to come in a straight direction toward Detroit at lightning speed with their weapons; coming from the four corners of the earth, leaving behind the tending of the corn or hunting of game or storing of grains to become united when the great sign was given so that all the tribes might, in one movement, by peaceable means if possible, but by warfare if necessary, take over the place of the whites which had been usurped from them.

Wednesday, August 28, 1811
To each of the southern tribes he visited, Tecumseh presented a sacred slab, along with a bundle of the red sticks. But where once these stick bundles had been large, now they were unusually small. The one he had given the Cherokees a few weeks ago when they had agreed to assemble under his leadership had only four sticks. And when, three days ago, he had concluded his talks with the Seminoles, their bundle had contained only three sticks.

Everywhere he went he was listened to eagerly. His fame had spread far; few indeed were those who could not relate exploits of the great Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, or who failed to be impressed deeply by the scope of his amalgamation. Thus, they readily pledged themselves to join him when the great sign came. Along with the Cherokees and Seminoles and Lower Creeks, there were the smaller and more scattered tribes — the Santee and Calusas and Catawbas and the slightly larger Choctaws and Biloxis, the Chickasaws and the Alabamas.

Occasionally one or another of the tribes would require a show of proof from Tecumseh — some small sign to show that he was, indeed, under the auspices of the Great Spirit. In most cases, minor prophecies sufficed, such as in the case of the Seminoles. When they had hesitated to join him, he told them that in two days there would come to Florida’s coast an ocean vessel which would be filled with arms and supplies for the Seminoles. They assembled at the point he indicated, and at dawn on the given day, they discovered a British ship at anchor in the bay and its smaller boats coming ashore laden with gifts of guns and powder and tomahawks, cloth and jewelry and foodstuffs. There was no further hesitancy among the Seminoles to join Tecumseh.

Now the great Shawnee leader was beginning his swing northwestward through the Alabama country to seek the important alliance formation with the powerful Upper Creek nation. From there he would move west, heading into the Mississippi land and Louisiana, then again northward on the west side of the mother of rivers to Missouri again. And along the way, he would stop to win over the Natchez and Yazoo, the Tawakonias and Caddos and others.

But first the Upper Creeks. Big Warrior, principal chief of the Upper Creeks, listened with a disapproving frown as Tecumseh told his people of his great plan, its near culmination and the part he wished them to play in it. There could be no doubt of his jealousy of this Shawnee who could come from hundreds of miles away and sway his people so swiftly with his reputation and his elocution. Great numbers of the Upper Creeks had come to this village Tuckabatchee located on the Tallapoosa River to hear the chief; but no matter how earnestly and convincingly Tecumseh spoke, Big Warrior refused to pledge his people. Sensing his jealousy, Tecumseh became scornful. He looked first at the large crowd, and then he swung his gaze to Big Warrior.

“Your blood is white!” he said. “You have taken my talk and the sticks and the wampum and the hatchet, but you do not mean to fight. I know the reason. You do not believe the Great Spirit has sent me. You shall know. I leave Tuckabatchee directly and shall go to Detroit. When I arrive there, I will stamp on the ground with my foot, and shake down every house in Tuckabatchee!”

Impressed in spite of himself, Big Warrior thereupon agreed to come and join the amalgamation — if and when the houses of Tuckabatchee all fell down. Tecumseh nodded. The Upper Creeks would come. What now could stop this mighty force he had joined together?

Part Three: The Prophecy Fulfilled

Sunday, November 10, 1811
All of the tribes, Tecumseh told these followers, had received bundles of red stick. All had but one of those sticks left. In six days a preliminary sign would be given to the tribes. It would be a sign under which he had been born and named. A great star would flash across the heavens and this would indicate that Tecumseh was still guided by the hand of the Great Spirit. The sign would be clearly visible to all the tribes, and when it came they were to take the last red stick and cut it into thirty equal pieces. Each day thereafter, one of these pieces was to be burned in the light of dawn. But the thirtieth piece was to be burned in the midst of the night, and when the last of these had been burned, then would come the great sign of which he had personally told them all. And when this sign came, all who believed in Tecumseh and in the future of the Indian nation would take up their weapons and strike out at once for the British fort that was called Malden, located on the north side of the head of the lakes that was called Erie.

Saturday, November 16, 1811

Under a crisp cloudless sky, the Indians crouched. No fires had been lighted, lest this drive away or interfere with the sign. There was no moon this night, and the stars twinkled with almost tangible brightness in their deep black background. With blankets held over their heads to hold back the bite of the cold air, the Indians waited. In southern Canada, from the great falls of the Niagara to the great Lake-of-the-Woods, they watched. In western New York and Pennsylvania, they watched. In Ohio and the Indiana Territory and in the land that pushed north between the two great lakes and in the land to the west of the lakes, they watched. Along the Mississippi and Missouri, and even farther west, they watched. In the Tennessee and Alabama and Mississippi country, they watched. And the principal chief of each tribe held in his hand the final red stick of his bundle.

Just before the midpoint of the night it came — a great searing flash from out of the southwest; incredibly bright with a weird greenish-white light, incredibly swift, incredibly awe-inspiring. And the heads of a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand Indians swiveled to watch its fiery progress across the heavens until it disappeared in the northeast. And they were deeply moved by it.

Many of the chiefs broke their sticks over their knees and threw them away and rid their fear in anger. But there were some who retired to their wegiwas or teepees or hogans, lay the red stick upon the ground before the fire, and carefully measured, marked it off with a bit of charcoal, and cut it into thirty equal lengths.

And then they waited.

Monday, December 16, 1811 At 2:30 A.M. the earth shook.

In the south of Canada, in the villages of the Iroquois, Ottawa, Chippewa and Huron, it came as a deep and terrifying rumble. Creek banks caved in and huge trees toppled in a continuous crash of snapping branches.

In all of the Great Lakes, but especially Lake Michigan and Lake Erie, the waters danced and great waves broke erratically on the shores, though there was no wind.

In the western plains, there was a fierce grinding sound and a shuddering, which jarred the bones and set teeth on edge. Earthen vessels split apart and great herds of bison staggered to their feet and stampeded in abject panic.

To the south and west, tremendous boulders broke loose on hills and cut swaths through the trees and brush to the bottoms. Rapidly running streams stopped and eddied, and some of them abruptly went dry and the fish that had lived in them flopped away their lives on the muddy or rocky beds.

To the south, whole forests fell in incredible tangles. New streams sprang up where none had been before. In the Upper Creek village of Tuckabatchee, every dwelling shuddered and shook, and then collapsed upon itself and its inhabitants.

To the south and east, palm trees lashed about like whips, and lakes emptied of their waters, while ponds appeared in huge declivities which suddenly dented the surface of the earth.

All over the land, birds were roused from their roosting places with scream of fright and flapping wings. Cattle bellowed and kicked, lost their footing, and were thrown to the ground where they rolled about, unable to regain their balance.

In Kentucky, Tennessee and the Indiana Territory, settlers were thrown from their beds, heard the timbers of their cabins wrench apart, and watched the bricks crumble into heaps of debris masked in choking clouds of dust. Bridges snapped and tumbled into rivers and creeks. Glass shattered, fences and barns collapsed and fires broke out. Along steep ravines, the cliffside slipped and filled their chasms, and the country was blanketing with a deafening roar.

In the center of all this, in that area where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi, where Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois come together, fantastic splits appeared in the ground and huge tracts of land were swallowed up. A few miles from the Mississippi, near the Kentucky-Tennessee border, a monstrous section of ground sank as if some gigantic foot had stepped on the soft earth and mashed it down. Water gushed forth in fantastic volume and the depression became filled and turned into a large lake, to become known as Reelfoot Lake. The whole midsection of the Mississippi writhed and heaved and tremendous bluffs toppled into the muddy waters. Entire sections of land were inundated, and others that had been riverbed were left high in the air. The Mississippi itself turned and flowed backwards for a time. It swirled and eddied, hissed and gurgled, and at length, when it settled down, the face of the land had changed. New Madrid was destroyed and the tens of thousands of acres of land, including virtually all that was owned by Simon Kenton, vanished forever; that which remained was ugly and austere.

Such was the great sign of Tecumseh.

This was the earthquake which occurred where no tremor had ever been recorded before; where there was no scientific explanation for such a thing happening; where no one cold possibly have anticipated or predicted that an earthquake could happen. No one except Tecumseh.

And though they were only a small percentage of those who had pledged themselves to do so, nevertheless quite a number of warriors of various tribes gathered up their weapons and set out at once to join the amazing Shawnee chief near Detroit.

Wednesday, April 1, 1812
The earthquake of December 16 was only a starter. It lasted, intermittently, for two terror-filled days; and at the end of that time, the atmosphere was so choked with dust and smoke that for a week afterwards the sun shone sickly reddish-bronze through an ugly haze.

The second earthquake struck on January 23, and the third hit four days later. And finally, on February 13, came the last and worst of them — a hideous grinding and snapping which last for only an hour, but caused about as much damage as the other three combined.

This was powerful medicine — more powerful than the Indians had ever seen. Those who had deserted Tecumseh now began to reconsider. Although most were in no hurry to rejoin the Shawnee chief, the inclination was there; if, as Tecumseh had predicted, there would be war with the whites, why not make the most of it right where they were?

And so began the hostilities.”

David Yarrow at Turtle EyeLand  c/o Broeckx, P.O. Box 6034, Albany, NY 12206  [email protected] 518-426-0563  http://www.championtrees.org/yarrow/ 

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“True, the white man brought great change. But the varied fruits of his civilization, though highly colored and inviting, are sickening and deadening. And if it be the part of civilization to maim, rob, and thwart, then what is progress?  I am going to venture that the man who sat on the ground in his tipi meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures, and acknowledging unity with the universe of things, was infusing into his being the true essence of civilization.” Chief Luther Standing Bear, 1933,  From the Land of the Spotted Eagle, p.515

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/missriver/newmpaulb.html

George Washington AGAINST Slavery Quotes

“I wish from my soul that the legislature of this State could see the policy of a gradual Abolition of Slavery.” From George Washington to Lawrence Lewis, 4 August 1797

“Not only do I pray for it, on the score of human dignity, but I can clearly foresee that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our union, by consolidating it in a common bond of principle.” Attributed to GEORGE WASHINGTON.—John Bernard, Retrospections of America, 1797–1811, p. 91 (1887). This is from Bernard’s account of a conversation he had with Washington in 1798.

“[Let] the poor the needy and oppressed of the Earth, and those who want Land, resort to the fertile land of our western country, the second land of Promise, and there dwell in peace, fulfilling the first and great commandment.” From George Washington to David Humphreys, 25 July 1785

“I never mean, unless some particular circumstances should compel it, to possess another slave by purchase, it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted, by which slavery in the country may be abolished by law.” From George Washington to John Francis Mercer, 9 September 1786

Lincoln and the Emancipated-Slave Statue

Allen C. Guelzo and James Hankins describe the poignant origins of the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, paid for by the donations of newly freed slaves (“A Monument to Our Shared Purpose,” Life & Arts, June 30). The story of the memorial’s design is equally poignant.

The scene depicted actually happened. Admiral David Dixon Porter accompanied President Lincoln to Richmond to accept the surrender of the Confederacy, and recounted the story in his 1885 memoir.

During Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots, this statue was attempted to be torn down, but it was saved. What are these Marxist groups thinking? They aren’t. They just hate and we as Latter-day Saints need to push back and support our country. Let’s not forget our past. The Lord needs us in the battle.

(CNN) A statue in a Boston park depicting a formerly enslaved man kneeling before President Abraham Lincoln will be removed, according to city officials. After two public hearings, the Boston Art Commission voted to remove the Emancipation Group, a statue installed in 1879 in Boston’s Park Square, according to a statement announcing the removal.The statue is a replica of one in Washington, DC, and has been controversial since its installation for the depiction of the freed slave. The statue features Archer Alexander, a Black man who “assisted the Union Army, escaped slavery, and was recaptured under the Fugitive Slave Act,” the statement says.

Black conservatives rebuke call to remove D.C.’s Emancipation Memorial

Did You Know?
“The three-fifths clause was not a measurement of human worth; it was an attempt to reduce the number of pro-slavery proponents in Congress.” Wallbuilders.com see *Quote Bottom.

David Barton of Wallbuilders will be speaking at the 26th Book of Mormon Evidence Conference Sept 25 on any device. Details here.

Were all of America’s Founding Fathers racists, pro-slavery, and hypocrites?

By WallBuilders, Inc 1999

“One of the most frequent tactics employed to discredit America’s Founding Fathers is to say that the Founding Fathers were all pro-slavery racists and hypocrites. Therefore, why should we care what their views were on any subject? African-American professor Walter Williams wisely explained the use of this tactic in these words:”

Walter E. Williams

Walter Edward Williams (born March 31, 1936) is an American economist, commentator, and academic. He is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist and author known for his classical liberal and libertarian views.[2] His writings frequently appear on Townhall.com, WND, and Jewish World Review. Wikipedia

“Politicians, news media, college professors and leftists of other stripes are selling us lies and propaganda. To lay the groundwork for their increasingly successful attack on our Constitution, they must demean and criticize its authors. As Senator Joe Biden demonstrated during the Clarence Thomas hearings, the framers’ ideas about natural law must be trivialized or they must be seen as racists.”

WallBuilders continues saying, “These people paint a false picture of the Founding Fathers and the issue of slavery. The historical fact is that slavery was not the product of, nor was it an evil introduced by the Founders; slavery was introduced in America nearly two centuries before the Founders. In fact, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay noted that there had been few serious efforts to dismantle the institution of slavery prior to the Founding Fathers.

The Revolution was a turning point in the national attitude against slavery—and it was the Founders who contributed greatly to that change. In fact, one of the reasons given by Thomas Jefferson for the separation from Great Britain was a desire to rid America of the evil of slavery imposed on them by the British.

Benjamin Franklin explained that this separation from Britain was necessary since every attempt among the Colonies to end slavery had been thwarted or reversed by the British Crown. In fact, in the years following America’s separation from Great Britain, many of the Founding Fathers who had owned slaves released them (e.g., John Dickinson, Ceasar Rodney, William Livingston, George Washington, George Wythe, John Randolph, and others).

It is true, however, that not all of the Founders from the South opposed slavery. According to the testimony of Thomas Jefferson, John Rutledge, and James Madison, those from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia favored slavery.

Nevertheless, despite the support in those states for slavery, the clear majority of the Founders was opposed to this evil—and their support went beyond words.

For example, in 1774, Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush founded America’s first antislavery society; John Jay was president of a similar society in New York. When Constitution signer William Livingston heard of the New York society, he, as Governor of New Jersey, wrote them, offering:

“I would most ardently wish to become a member of it [the society in New York] and… I can safely promise them that neither my tongue, nor my pen, nor purse shall be wanting to promote the abolition of what to me appears so inconsistent with humanity and Christianity… May the great and the equal Father of the human race, who has expressly declared His abhorrence of oppression, and that He is no respecter of persons, succeed a design so laudably calculated to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke.”

Other prominent Founding Fathers who were members of societies for ending slavery included Richard Bassett, James Madison, James Monroe, Bushrod Washington, Charles Carroll, William Few, John Marshall, Richard Stockton, Zephaniah Swift, and many more.

In fact, based in part on the efforts of these Founders, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1780; Connecticut and Rhode Island did so in 1784; New Hampshire in 1792; Vermont in 1793; New York in 1799; and New Jersey in 1804. Furthermore, the reason that the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa all prohibited slavery was a federal act authored by Rufus King (signer of the Constitution) and signed into law by President George Washington which prohibited slavery in those territories.

It is not surprising that Washington would sign such a law, for it was he who had declared:

“I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it [slavery].”
—George Washington

Notice a few additional examples of the Founder’s strong antislavery sentiments:

“[M]y opinion against it [slavery] has always been known… [N]ever in my life did I own a slave.” —John Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. President. The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1854), vol IX pp. 92-93. In a letter to George Churchman and Jacob Lindley on January 24, 1801.

“[W]hy keep alive the question of slavery? It is admitted by all to be a great evil.” —Charles Carroll, Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Kate Mason Rowland, Life and Correspondence of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York and London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898), Vol. II, pg. 231.

“As Congress is now to legislate for our extensive territory lately acquired, I pray to Heaven that they …[c]urse not the inhabitants of those regions, and of the United States in general, with a permission to introduce bondage [slavery].” —John Dickinson, Signer of the Constitution and Governor of Pennsylvania. Charles J. Stille, The Life and Times of John Dickinson (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1898) p. 324.

“That men should pray and fight for their own freedom and yet keep others in slavery is certainly acting a very inconsistent as well as unjust and perhaps impious part.” —John Jay, President of Continental Congress, Chief-Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Governor of New York. Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York and London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1891), Vol. III, pp. 168-169. In a letter to Dr. Richard Price on Sep. 27, 1785.

“Christianity, by introducing into Europe the truest principles of humanity, universal benevolence, and brotherly love, had happily abolished civil slavery. Let us who profess the same religion practice its precepts… by agreeing to this duty.” —Richard Henry Lee, President of Continental Congress and Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee and His Correspondence With the Most Distinguised Men in America and Europe (Philadelphia: H.C. Carey and I. Lea, 1825), Vol. I, pp. 17-19. The first speech of Richard Henry Lee in the House of Burgesses.

“[I]t ought to be considered that national crimes can only be and frequently are punished in this world by national punishments; and that the continuance of the slave trade, and thus giving it a national sanction and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to the displeasure and vengeance of Him who is equally Lord of all and who views with equal eye the poor African slave and his American master.” —Luther Martin, Constitutional Convention Delegate. James Madison, The Records of the Federal Convention, Max Farrand, editor (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), Vol. III, pg. 211.

“Domestic slavery is repugnant to the principles of Christianity… It is rebellion against the authority of a common Father. It is a practical denial of the extent and efficacy of the death of a common Savior. It is an usurpation of the prerogative of the great Sovereign of the universe who has solemnly claimed an exclusive property in the souls of men.” —Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates From the Abolition Societies Established in Different Parts of the United States, Assembled at Philadelphia, on the First Day of January, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-Four… (Philadelphia: Zachariah Poulson, 1794), p. 24. “To the Citizens of the United States.”

“Slavery, or an absolute and unlimited power in the master over life and fortune of the slave, is unauthorized by the common law… The reasons which we sometimes see assigned for the origin and the continuance of slavery appear, when examined to the bottom, to be built upon a false foundation. In the enjoyment of their persons and of their property, the common law protects all.”
—James Wilson, Signer of the Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court Justice. James Wilson, The Works of James Wilson, Robert Green McCloskey, editor (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967), Vol. II, pg. 605.

“It is certainly unlawful to make inroads upon others… and take away their liberty by no better right than superior force.”
—John Witherspoon, Signer of the Declaration of Independence. The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), p. 81, “Lectures on Moral Philosophy.”

Numerous similar quotes could be cited.

Yet despite the progress made by many of the Founders to end the institution of slavery and to recognize in practice that “all men are created equal,” it is currently charged that in the Constitution, the Founders considered a black to be only three-fifths of a person. This charge is yet another misportrayal of the truth.

Three-Fifths Clause

The records of the Constitutional Convention make clear that the three-fifths clause was actually an antislavery provision. As Professor Walter Williams explains:

“It was slavery’s opponents who succeeded in restricting the political power of the South by allowing them to count only three-fifths of their slave population in determining the number of congressional representatives. The three-fifths of a vote provision applied only to slaves, not to free blacks in either the North or South.” (emphasis added)

*The three-fifths clause was not a measurement of human worth; it was an attempt to reduce the number of pro-slavery proponents in Congress. By including only three-fifths of the total numbers of slaves into the congressional calculations, Southern states were actually being denied additional pro-slavery representatives in Congress.

While there were a few Founding Fathers who were pro-slavery, the truth is that it was the Founders who were responsible for planting and nurturing the first seeds for the recognition of black equality and for the eventual end of slavery. This is a fact made clear by Richard Allen.

Allen had been a slave in Pennsylvania, but was freed after he converted his master to Christianity. A close friend of Benjamin Rush and several other Founding Fathers, he went on to become the founder of the A.M.E. Church in America. In an early address entitled “To the People of Color,” Allen reminded them:

“Many of the white people [who] have been instruments in the hands of God for our good, even such as have held us in captivity, are now pleading our cause with earnestness and zeal.”
-Richard Allen

If this view of the Founding Fathers and many of their names were new to you, there is a solution to help acquaint you with many of them. Wallbuilders has reprinted an 1848 book entitled Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. This work, long used as a school text, gives a brief and informative biographical sketch of each of the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence.

Author: David Barton of WallBuilders. Provided by Films for Christ.

Related information

What are the consequences of racial prejudice and false beliefs about the origin of races? Answer

Get biblical answers to racial hot-topics. Where did the races come from? How did skin color come about? Why is it important to have a biblical foundation for such issues?

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SENSYS Scanning in Zarahemla for November – December 2020

It has taken two years to raise the money. We now have a new donation that allows us to lease the SENSYS MX V3 to begin the magnetic scanning for Zarahemla. This week we made an agreement with the German company, SENSYS, to fly in late November their equipment from Germany to Iowa. Yesterday we contacted ten landowners who farm more than 1,000 acres in Lee County. We are working out the details to gain access to their fields after this year’s harvest. The plan is clear. We are looking for the magnetic evidence of ancient habitations that are 2,000 years old when the people of Zarahemla made fires for heating, cooking, and lighting their roundhouses. It would be wonderful if we are able to find evidence of ancient fires for the working of metal. Our 2018 scanning in Ohio demonstrated the effectiveness of the German technologies for the Heartland Research Group. Within a few days, we were able to identify the locations of six roundhouses that were 2,000 years old. In March 2019 in Saarow, Germany, and we had the opportunity to become acquainted with Wolfgang Süß, Managing Director, SENSYS Sales & Strategy. During that visit, there was a chance to become better acquainted with German engineers and scientists who are at Nobel Prize-winning levels when it comes to the measurement of magnetic forces.The expertise of German science permits the passive measurement of differential magnetic forces in the ground. Their scanning produces non-evasive, detailed surveys of ancient sites. The German system gives massive amounts of data in a short time. The equipment makes 13 million data readings per acre with a GPS accuracy of +/- 0.25″. The equipment can survey as many as 50 acres a day. No other technology produces so much information from the ground in such a short time and at such a low cost. From the SENSYS website, you will see underwater applications of this technology. SENSYS employs 40 highly trained people. The company has a sufficient number of experts in one place that they are able within a very short time to test and evaluate the effectiveness of new processes and techniques. Some of these engineers and scientists have been working for SENSYS for more than 30 years. There is a very close working relationship between SENSYS and the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. No other archaeological research organization in the world is as highly respected as Deutsches Archäologisches Institut. This institute operates as a “scientific corporation”, under the auspices of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and fully endorses the effectiveness of the SENSYS technology.SENSYS MV V3 System Coming to Zarahemla  ©2020 Zarahemla | 2681 Milan Street Easton, PA 18045 US

Understanding Hopewell & Adena Earthworks in Ohio

You can purchase the results of our Heartland Research group in Ohio from July 2018 here. We found at Fort Glenford Ohio some Adena roundhouses that date to 270 BC. Richard Moats and Wayne May have documented this information in this two book series.

3- Full Reports

Yost Works 18-Page Report
The Reconstruction & Archeoastronomy of a Hopewell Geometric Earthwork in Ohio -A Window into Hopewell Religion
Fort Glenford 17-Page Report
Fort Glenford Hill Top Enclosure -An Adena Mortuary Complex
6-page Addendum Sept 2018
With updated and current information about these amazing discoveries.
Author:Rev. Richard D. Moats Over 40 Pages of Archaeology in words and color photographs.

What is a grievance predator, race hustler, race advocate, race baiter, neo-nazi, or white supremacist? They are all the same thing. They are not advocates of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They prey upon us and call others racists, xenophobes, misogynist, etc. Have you noticed the world is becoming a lot of individual groups who espouse their individual rhetoric. This is the opposite of the what the Lord taught of “becoming one” and as our flag says, E pluribus unum, meaning “out of many, one”. Conquer and divide. should become, share Christ and be one.

“In the final analysis the weakness of Black Power is its failure to see that the black man needs the white man and the white man needs the black man”. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Race Hustler

“A term coined to describe those individuals of a particular race who project themselves into the media spotlight as spokespersons whenever there is an alleged racial incident which involves their race. The use of the word “Hustler”, included as a part of the term, also implies that these individuals exploit a racial situation to serve their own interests. Recently, this term has often been used to describe the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as “Race Hustlers”. Urban Dictionary

British Wouldn’t Give up Slavery

“The Revolution was a turning point in the national attitude against slavery—and it was the Founders who contributed greatly to that change. In fact, one of the reasons given by Thomas Jefferson for the separation from Great Britain was a desire to rid America of the evil of slavery imposed on them by the British.

Benjamin Franklin explained that this separation from Britain was necessary since every attempt among the Colonies to end slavery had been thwarted or reversed by the British Crown”. Copyright © 1995, 1999, WallBuilders, Inc.,

Robert L. Woodson

Robert L. Woodson, Sr. founded the Woodson Center in 1981 to help residents of low-income neighborhoods address the problems of their communities. A former civil rights activist, he has headed the National Urban League Department of Criminal Justice, and has been a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Foundation for Public Policy Research. Referred to by many as “godfather” of the neighborhood empowerment movement, for more than four decades, Woodson has had a special concern for the problems of youth. In response to an epidemic of youth violence that has afflicted urban, rural and suburban neighborhoods alike, Woodson has focused much of the Woodson Center’s activities on an initiative to establish Violence-Free Zones in troubled schools and neighborhoods throughout the nation. He is an early MacArthur “genius” awardee and the recipient of the 2008 Bradley Prize, the Presidential Citizens Award, and a 2008 Social Entrepreneurship Award from the Manhattan Institute.

A Feeding Frenzy for Race Grievance Predators

BY ROBERT L. WOODSON SR., OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 02/08/19

Logan Cyrus/AFP/Getty Images

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s yearbook photo is just the most recent incident in which an isolated piece of evidence proves that “institutional racism” runs rampant throughout our nation. A parade of politicians, Democrats and Republicans, and “spokespersons” for the black community have delighted news outlets by taking the stage to decry the photo and call for his resignation.

In its response, Northam’s alma mater, Eastern Virginia Medical School, issued a statement pledging to “continue a long tradition of action to build a strong culture of diversity and inclusion.” Sadly, those words indicate the impending arrival of “sensitivity” trainers from the race-grievance industry who have raked in millions of dollars from school systems, universities and corporations.

These self-styled exorcists come to root out the inner racism in anyone forced to sit through these training programs. At such sessions you will hear about the need for “equity,” about “cultural appropriation” and being “racially relevant.” And if you speak out against the need for such training, you put your professional life at risk, as professors Bret Weinstein at Evergreen State and Paul Griffiths at Duke University found out.

The race racketeers have discovered fertile ground in the educational arena because many educational institutions have bought into the idea that any disparity, whether in performance or representation, is assumed to be the result of racism. The poisonous message to individuals of color is that their destiny is determined by forces beyond their control, forces allied against them; they are victims of the American system. Again, any incident of racial disparity is assumed to be the result of racists’ judgmental attitudes, and beyond the agency of students who suffer the consequences of their dismal academic performance or anti-social and violent behavior.

This begs the question, why do young blacks dominate both college and professional sports? The simplest explanation is they work hard and are self-motivated, and therefore excel. If they applied that same level of energy and commitment in the classroom, they would achieve similar results.

During Black History Month in Indianapolis, Indiana University-Purdue University continues its “White Racial Literacy Project” to address racial inequalities — including “whiteness” on campus. Discussions in this project are offered to students in sessions that are segregated by race.  Do they even recognize the sad irony?

At the K-12 level, Evanston/Skokie public schools outside of Chicago implemented an “equity audit” in spring of 2017, supposedly to address low academic performance of the sizable black and Latino population of students they are tasked with educating. The study squarely blames disparities on “white supremacy.” When academic performance fails to improve as promised, their response is to point back to institutional racism, not their own failings.

Of course, the first order of business was to implement sensitivity training for all 500 Evanston public school teachers and staff members, and to hold required staff meetings segregated by race. It is unlikely that these social justice warriors who champion race training and reform efforts send their children to public schools where they would suffer from always blaming others (whites) for their failures.

Martin Luther King Jr.“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality…. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

Vigilantes of political correctness utilize twists in language that were beyond the imagination of even George Orwell. Censoring the opinions of divergent groups has given rise to “safe spaces” on campuses where students can avoid exposure to alternative perspectives.

I have never understood exactly what the end game of the racial grievance industry is, but I suspect it has to do with what Booker T. Washington once identified as a class of “people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”

Martin Luther King Jr.“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

We are at a point where we cannot even enjoy Mary Poppins because she has been decried as racist for blackening her face with ashes to join the chimney sweeps in dance. The purveyors of racial grievance have effectively infiltrated our national discourse with their erroneous vocabulary of race and power and privilege.  

The fundamental proposition of the race industry is that disparities always denote injustice toward blacks. The question that never gets asked: Why are blacks overrepresented on the athletic fields and underrepresented at high school graduation? We must stop assuming the principal problem facing many in the black community is structural and external. There must be a move to confront the enemy within.

Martin Luther King Jr.“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.”

Martin Luther King Jr.“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

Deciding whether Ralph Northam or other Virginia officials caught up in recent scandals leave office or remain is not a suitable response to this challenge. Misguided goodwill can be more dangerous than actions that stem from malice. I believe the governor should defy the racial bullies and be judged by his actions and record of public service over the past 35 years.

Robert L. Woodson, Sr. is the president and founder of the Woodson Center.

https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/428961-a-feeding-frenzy-for-race-grievance-predators