Below are some great quotes that will inspire you to stand up for your faith. Yes, the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and in my opinion, it is also important to know the location of the specific “Promised Land” the Lord describes in the Book of Mormon. I believe that location is the United States of America.

Why it’s ok to error in doctrine.

“I did not like the old man being called up for erring in doctrine. It looks too much like the Methodist, and not like the Latter-day Saints. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be asked out of their church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled. It does not prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine.”

— Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:340

Why I am passionate about Book of Mormon Geography!

“If we have the truth, it cannot be harmed by investigation. If we have not the truth, it ought to be harmed.”

– President J. Reuben Clark

Why I feel a desire to share important information that I discover.

“I think you’d be as aware as I am that we have many people who are members of the church who do not have some burning conviction as to [the origins of the Book of Mormon], who have some other feeling about it that is not as committed to foundational statements and the premises of Mormonism. But we’re not going to invite somebody out of the church over that any more than we would anything else about degrees of belief or steps of hope or steps of conviction. … We would say: “This is the way I see it, and this is the faith I have; this is the foundation on which I’m going forward. If I can help you work toward that I’d be glad to, but I don’t love you less; I don’t distance you more; I don’t say you’re unacceptable to me as a person or even as a Latter-day Saint if you can’t make that step or move to the beat of that drum.” … We really don’t want to sound smug. We don’t want to seem uncompromising and insensitive.”

– Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

I want to live decently and not worry about being laughed at or ridiculed.

“Let us have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully, but as the determination to live decently. A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he thinks is right because others will disapprove or laugh. Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with dignity have courage as well.”

– Thomas S. Monson, “Courage Counts,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 41.

The danger of acquiescing doctrinal and historical authority to scholars:

“As a means of coming to truth, people in the Church are encouraged by their leaders to think and find out for themselves. They are encouraged to ponder, to search, to evaluate, and thereby to come to such knowledge of the truth as their own consciences, assisted by the Spirit of God, lead them to discover. Brigham Young said: ‘I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security. … Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not’  In this manner no one need be deceived.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1941], 135).

Why I keep an open mind about learning more about the Gospel..

– James E. Faust, “The Truth Shall Make You Free,” Ensign, September 1998“Brothers and sisters, as good as our previous experience may be, if we stop asking questions, stop thinking, stop pondering, we can thwart the revelations of the Spirit. Remember, it was the questions young Joseph asked that opened the door for the restoration of all things. We can block the growth and knowledge our Heavenly Father intends for us. How often has the Holy Spirit tried to tell us something we needed to know but couldn’t get past the massive iron gate of what we thought we already knew?”

Why we should not be closed minded about accepting various information on Book of Mormon geography.

– Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Acting on the Truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Worldwide Leadership Training, 2/11/12“In this Church there is an enormous amount of room—and scriptural commandment—for studying and learning, for comparing and considering, for discussion and awaiting further revelation. We all learn ‘line upon line, precept upon precept,’ with the goal being authentic religious faith informing genuine Christlike living. In this there is no place for coercion or manipulation, no place for intimidation or hypocrisy.”

Why I keep searching!

“And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” Moroni 10:5

I may learn the truth of a thing to help in my daily life, You may learn something to assist you in your family. My Bishop may learn something for himself that has nothing to do with his Ward. The Prophet may learn a truth that he doesn’t feel appropriate to share. My neighbor may learn a truth that he says is true, but later on I find it isn’t. But one thing I do know is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  is true, The Book of Mormon is the Word of God, Joseph Smith is and was a Prophet, and President Russell M. Nelson is a living oracle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t stop asking questions, start listening to the answers and then study and pray to receive your own answer. The Lord will disclose things to you that are only meant for you.

Many people don’t need to share personal experiences and they don’t, and others feel they need to share everything they hear that may seem spiritual, and they do!

At the end of this introduction about the the Letters, we want your help in sharing your opinion on a question about the Stone Box.

DID YOU KNOW?
Of Oliver’s eight letters, portions of Letter I are found in our scriptures and canonized?
“See Joseph Smith – History after verse 75.” The source reference is from Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1 (October 1834), pp. 14–16, which is the same thing published as Letter I.

LETTER VII IS PUBLISHED IN THESE PUBLICATIONS:
Messenger and Advocate (Kirtland 1835)
Copied into Joseph Smith’s Personal Journal (1835)
Quoted in Orson Pratt’s Pamphlet (1840)
Gospel Reflector (Philadelphia 1841)
Times and Seasons (Nauvoo 1841)
The Prophet (New York City 1844-45)
Liverpool Pamphlet (1844)
Millennial Star (1866)
Improvement Era (Salt Lake City 1899)

“I think Letter VII was reprinted so many times because it was so important. Oliver’s history was the most complete history of the early days of the Church until the serialized History of Joseph Smith began running in the Times and Seasons in 1842, but it was also important for people to know that the New York hill was a touchstone for the Book of Mormon. It was a connection between ancient and modern times–a pin in the map.” Jonathan Neville

Joseph Smith’s History, 1834-1836,  contains Oliver’s letters, including Letter VII. You can find it in the Joseph Smith Papers starting with Chapter 1 on page 17. Oliver’s letters appear several pages later. Oliver Cowdery’s Letter VII as it appears in Joseph Smith’s own history “Letter VII,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:155–159 (Key to finding letter VII is to scroll down until you find the July 1835 article).

Letter I to Letter VIII Introduction

From the Joseph Smith Papers Project-
History, 1834–1836 Joseph Smith Papers.org
Editorial Note”

The following section includes transcripts of eight letters Oliver Cowdery wrote in 1834 and 1835 regarding JS’s visions of an angel and his discovery of the gold plates of the Book of Mormon. Cowdery addressed the letters to William W. Phelps and published them as a series in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate between October 1834 and October 1835. The titles and formatting employed in this history are similar to those in the published series of articles, indicating that the Cowdery letters were copied into the history from the Messenger and Advocate, not from a manuscript version of the letters. 

     Frederick G. Williams could have begun the transcription in JS’s history as early as 6 December 1834, the date of Cowdery’s last historical entry in the preceding section of the history. However, Cowdery probably gave the history to Williams around 2 October 1835, when he gave Williams JS’s journal. On 29 October 1835, JS retrieved the history from Williams and delivered it to Warren Parrish, who continued copying the Cowdery letters. It is likely that Parrish finished copying the letters by early April 1836, when he gave JS’s journal (and presumably the 1834–1836 history along with it) to Warren Cowdery

     In the first letter, Oliver Cowdery recounted his experiences with JS beginning when the two first met in April 1829. The letter includes an account of the vision he and JS had of John the Baptist, who gave them the authority to baptize. After composing this letter, but before its publication, Cowdery developed a new history-writing plan: he decided that in subsequent letters he would relate the “full history of the rise of the church,” beginning with JS’s early life and visions. As editor of the Messenger and Advocate, Cowdery prefaced the published version of the first letter with an explanation (also transcribed into the history) of the new plan. Although he had no firsthand knowledge of church history prior to April 1829, Cowdery assured his readers that “our brother J. Smith Jr. has offered to assist us. Indeed, there are many items connected with the fore part of this subject that render his labor indispensible.” Some passages in the ensuing narrative seem to have been related to Cowdery by JS, since Cowdery recounts events in which only JS participated.

     Cowdery composed the letters to inform the Latter-day Saints of the history of their church, but he also wrote for the non-Mormon public. Employing florid romantic language, frequent scriptural allusions, and much dramatic detail, he clearly intended to present a rhetorically impressive account of early Mormon history. He placed the rise of the church in a dispensational framework, characterizing the time between the end of the New Testament and JS’s early visions as a period of universal apostasy. He included the revivalism of various denominations during the Second Great Awakening, which JS experienced in his youth, as an example of the doctrinal confusion and social disharmony present in Christendom. Throughout the series of letters, he defended JS’s character and that of the Smith family, and his explicitly apologetic statements include apparent allusions to both Alexander Campbell’s Delusions (1832) and Eber Howe ’s Mormonism Unvailed (1834).

     Beginning in the third letter, Cowdery provided the most extensive account of the origins of the Book of Mormon published up to that time. He related JS’s initial visions of the angel Moroni and, using biblical prophecies, elaborated on the angel’s message concerning the gathering of Israel in the last days in preparation for the Millennium. Cowdery continued his narrative up to, but did not include, JS’s receiving the gold plates in September 1827.

     The transcription of the Oliver Cowdery letters into JS’s history was evidently conceived in terms of the entire series, not as a piecemeal copying of the individual letters. As noted above, Cowdery probably gave the “large journal” containing the history begun in 1834 to Williams in October 1835, the month of the Messenger and Advocate issue in which his final installment was published.
     By the time Williams received the history, Cowdery may have already written the final letter; he had at least conceived of it as the final installment in his series. With the serialized Cowdery letters complete or nearing completion, the new history kept in the “large journal” could serve as a repository—more permanent than unbound newspapers—for a copied compilation of the entire series.

     Letters from Messenger and Advocate The following communication was designed to have been published in the last No. of the star; but owing to a press of other matter it was laid over for this No. of the Messenger and ad[v]ocate. Since it was writen,  upon further reflection, we have thought that a full history of the rise  of the church of the Latter Day Saints, and the most interesting parts of its  progress, to the present time, would be worthy the perusal of the Saints.—  If circumstances admit, an article on this subject will appear on in each  subsequent No. of the Messenger and advocate, until the time when  the church was driven from Jackson Co. Mo. by a lawless banditti; &  such other remarks as may be thought appropriate and interesting.

     That our narrative may be correct, and particularly the introduction, it is proper to inform our patrons, that our brother J.  Smith Jr. has offered to assist us. Indeed, there are many items connected with the fore part of this subject that render his labor indispensible. With his labor and with authentic documents now in our possession, we hope to render this a pleasing and agreeable narrative, well worth the examination and  perusal of the Saints.

To do <Justice to> this subject will require time and space: we therefore ask the forbearance of our readears, assuring them that it shall be founded  upon facts.

Source: http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/1?highlight=oct%2029%2C%201834#full-transcript

The Authentic Stone Box

“The manner in which the plates were deposited: First, a hole of sufficient depth, (how deep I know not) was dug. At the bottom of this was laid a stone of suitable size, the upper surface being smooth. At each edge was placed a large quantity of cement, and into this cement, at the four edges of this stone, were placed, erect, four others, their bottom edges resting in the cement at the outer edges of the first stone. The four last named, when placed erect, formed a box, the corners, or where the edges of the four came in contact, were also cemented so firmly that the moisture from without was prevented from entering. It is to be observed, also, that the inner surface of the four erect, or side stones was smoothe. This box was sufficiently large to admit a breast-plate, such as was used by the ancients to defend the chest, &c. from the arrows and weapons of their enemy. From the bottom of the box, or from the breast-plate, arose three small pillars composed of the same description of cement used on the edges; and upon these three pillars was placed the record of the children of Joseph, and  of a people who left the tower far, far before the days of Joseph… I must not forget to say that this box, containing the record was covered with another stone, the bottom surface being flat and the upper, crowning. But those three pillars were not so lengthy as to cause the plates and the crowning stone to come in contact. I have now given you, according to my promise, the manner in which this record was deposited; though when it was first visited by our brother, in 1823, a part of the crowning stone was visible above the surface while the edges were concealed by the soil and grass, from which circumstances you will see, that however deep this box might have been placed by Moroni at first, the time had been sufficient to wear the earth so that it was easily discovered when once directed, and yet not enough to make a perceivable difference to the passer-by.” Oliver Cowdery, “Letter VIII,” October 1835

“Having removed the earth, I obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up. I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim [“Lights and Perfections” or allegorically, “Doctrine and Truth”; see pp. xix, 446, 560-61, 551], and the breastplate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the bottom of the box were laid two stones crossways of the box, and on these stones lay the plates and the other things with them.” JSH 1:52

What Do You Think?

I think it is most likely there were two stones on the bottom crossways of the box as this is canonized information. The Letter VIII information is a good secondary witness that there was something that the plates were sitting on top of such as the three pillars.

“Years ago, when the church was working on filming “How Rare A Possession,” (See Video Here) the Church contacted brother [L…] in our stake. [Le…] was quite a well-known, successful landscaper in the area (I also dated his son). They asked him if he could locate a rock that would be as close to the dimensions of the rock that would have covered the stone box where the plates were deposited. [L…] took this task VERY seriously and read the entire BofM in three days (morning and night). At around 3AM, just as he finished the last page, he knelt down in prayer and asked the Lord to guide him to such a rock. Upon finishing his supplication he heard a voice tell him to go to the Hill at that moment. He lived about 45 minutes from the Hill. By the time he arrived, the sun was just starting to rise. He said within 15 minutes he was directed to a spot on the Hill and as he peered down he noticed a tip of a rock jutting out of the hillside. As he started to dig, he realized how large this stone truly was. Then he heard another voice tell him, this is THE stone....the very stone that laid on top of the box. He immediately stopped his digging and decided to contact the Church. Upon calling them to tell them he believes he found THE stone, the brother told him that they knew and already had 4 men on a flight out there to meet with him and that he was to wait until they got there before removal of the stone. He said it took 5 men to lift the stone. The stone was used in the filming of the movie and is currently kept in the granite vaults in UT. You may be aware from your historical research that the actual stone box was reported by Oliver Cowdery that “the casket had been washed down to the foot of the Hill.” Thus, the box is no longer.” Kathy Burris as told in an email to Rod Meldrum. See complete blog here.

“Years ago, when the church was working on filming “How Rare A Possession,” (See Video Here) the Church contacted brother [L…] in our stake. [Le…] was quite a well-known, successful landscaper in the area (I also dated his son). They asked him if he could locate a rock that would be as close to the dimensions of the rock that would have covered the stone box where the plates were deposited. [L…] took this task VERY seriously and read the entire BofM in three days (morning and night). At around 3AM, just as he finished the last page, he knelt down in prayer and asked the Lord to guide him to such a rock. Upon finishing his supplication he heard a voice tell him to go to the Hill at that moment. He lived about 45 minutes from the Hill. By the time he arrived, the sun was just starting to rise. He said within 15 minutes he was directed to a spot on the Hill and as he peered down he noticed a tip of a rock jutting out of the hillside. As he started to dig, he realized how large this stone truly was. Then he heard another voice tell him, this is THE stone....the very stone that laid on top of the box. He immediately stopped his digging and decided to contact the Church. Upon calling them to tell them he believes he found THE stone, the brother told him that they knew and already had 4 men on a flight out there to meet with him and that he was to wait until they got there before removal of the stone. He said it took 5 men to lift the stone. The stone was used in the filming of the movie and is currently kept in the granite vaults in UT. You may be aware from your historical research that the actual stone box was reported by Oliver Cowdery that “the casket had been washed down to the foot of the Hill.” Thus, the box is no longer.” Kathy Burris in an email to Rod Meldrum 2015. You can see the entire email at the blog below:

With my love of the United States of America and my belief that this is the Promised Land of the Book of Mormon, I participated in a dialogue last year with a staunch Meso believer. His name is Stephen O. Smoot, not to be mistaken for our great friend named Steven E. Smoot author of Lost Civilizations of North America.  Most intellectual Meso believers have the same opinion of America. They don’t think the land of the USA is a land chosen by God for the gathering of Israel. They generally believe all of North and South America is that choice land.

While reading below don’t worry so much about the time listed by names as it was off on that day. All of this dialogue was on the same day and all blogs below are in order. I have left some of the Meso believers responses off, as I just wanted to focus on the comments of just Mr. Smoot so you could focus on specific ideas. You will also see Jonathan, Rod, and our friend Leslie Rees who get in on the dialogue. 

My main purpose of bringing this up again after over a year is that I would like the readers of my blog to see both sides of this debate and let you make your own judgement. I have never met Mr. Stephen O. Smoot and I have no animosity against him. I am sure he is a good member of the Church and loves the Book of Mormon as much as I do. 

I report, You decide. I would love to hear your responses.

Rian Nelson comments in Blue
Rod, Jonathan and Leslie in normal black text.
Stephen O. Smoot comments in Red

Jonathan Neville

July 27, 2018 at 2:47 pm | Reply

Hi Steve. One of my readers suggested I respond to your post, so here I am. Thanks for paying a little attention to a point of view and some facts that don’t confirm your bias. But you’ve merely attacked a straw man of your own creation, as I point out here:
https://interpreterpeerreviews.blogspot.com/2018/07/steve-smoot-and-letter-vii.html.

Maybe now that this is off your chest we can engage in a serious, rational discussion of the actual facts and what I’ve actually written instead of your caricature. I’ve offered to participate in such a discussion and exchange for years now, but the M2C intellectuals have refused. Instead, they rely on obfuscation, censorship and disinformation to keep their readers ignorant of what the prophets have taught about Cumorah.

The comments here by Mike, Geoff, Heber, Andrew, etc. reflect the disinformation the M2C intellectuals have disseminated. For example, I’ve never called the Church to repentance and I’ve never criticized the Brethren; to the contrary, the principal difference between “Heartland” (which I did not fully accept as it had been articulated in the past) and M2C is whether or not we believe what the prophets have taught about the New York Cumorah.

Your M2C theory is based on the premise that the prophets have misled the Church by persistently (and ignorantly) teaching that Cumorah is in New York. I disagree because I accept what the prophets have taught, which is corroborated by the text and the relevant sciences (archaeology, anthropology, geography, geology, etc.).

Most of the literature on this topic is pure confirmation bias. That’s why opponents on each side (and investigators) find it completely unpersuasive. As the comments here show, people choose sides and prefer caricatures over honest exchanges.

Another way to state the fundamental question is, which bias do you seek to confirm? My bias is that the prophets teach the truth. Your bias is that, at least with respect to the New York Cumorah, the prophets are wrong. Then we each marshal facts and logical arguments to confirm our respective biases.

My second bias is I think most members of the Church, if fully informed, would choose the prophets over the scholars. That’s why I favor full disclosure and why I encourage people to read M2C literature to see for themselves what the M2C intellectuals teach. I link to BOMC all the time, but BOMC never links to contrary views. That’s not only intellectually dishonest, but it demonstrates the weakness of the M2C position.

It’s telling that in this very blog post, you didn’t cite a single article, book, or blog post of mine. Nor did you in your BOMC Kno-why. You don’t want your readers to know what I have actually written because it’s easier to attack your straw man. Judging by the comments here, your readers also prefer confirming their biases by reading your caricature instead of what I’ve actually written.

I think the M2C intellectuals share my belief that Church members would choose the prophets over the scholars. That explains why they don’t want Church members to know what the prophets have taught and how it is consistent with the sciences.

As I said, I’ve long sought an M2C proponent who is intellectually honest enough, and self-confident enough, to engage in a serious discussion of the facts and relevant sciences. Breaking through the respective confirmation bias filters is the only way to reach unity, or at least agree to disagree on actual facts instead of caricatures. Perhaps you are now willing to undertake such a project?

BTW, for anyone interested, I have an entire blog dedicated to Letter VII, which you can see here:http://www.lettervii.com/

Stephen Smoot

July 27, 2018 at 3:41 pm | Reply

Jonathan,

You have abundantly proven that you are not somebody who can have a rational argument in good faith with an “M2C intellectual.” You have, repeatedly, demonized and belittled and cast aspersion on anybody who doesn’t accept your dogmatic interpretation of early Mormon historical sources relevant to Book of Mormon geography. This isn’t just a matter of having differences of opinion. As your blog posts have more than demonstrated, you have a personal vendetta against the “citation cartel” (which is, in reality, peer reviewed academic scholarship, as opposed to your own brand of trashy Internet pseudo-scholarship) and anybody who is out of step with your narrow and uncompromising Heartland apologetics.

I suspect I know why you are so personally angry and upset at “M2C intellectuals.” It must be very frustrating that your pseudo-scholarship which you’ve invested so much time and energy into is not making mainstream inroads in Mormon studies. It must be frustrating to be a laughingstock at the Church History Department and amongst BYU faculty. It must be frustrating that the best you can do is publish semi-coherent ramblings on obscure personal blogs or with no-name presses. But just know that it isn’t anything personal: it’s because both your Mormon history and your Book of Mormon geography are nonsense and you’re a deeply unpleasant person to interact with..

I don’t know why you have chosen to become such a fanatic over this one issue, but I will say that it is genuinely sad that your testimony is so fragile that even the slightest contradiction of your pet theory causes your cognitive dissonance to flair up like lights on a Christmas tree.

I am content with what I wrote in my post and in the KnoWhy, and I’ll allow readers to decide for themselves which explanation they find more persuasive. I will not, however, waste further time or attention on your shenanigans. Like I said, since you refuse to engage people who disagree with you in good faith, and since you’re a close-minded fanatic, it would be utterly pointless for me to engage you any further.

I will just say this one thing: for all of your self-righteous preening about how you accept the apostles and the prophets, and how “M2C intellectuals” are subversive apostates, it is breathtakingly hypocritical for you to lambast the Church History Department and BYU faculty and Seminaries & Institutes faculty for not kowtowing to your theories, since all of them are ultimately hired by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It is astoundingly hypocritical for you to criticize the “Correlation Department” of the Church, which approves “M2C” artwork and videos and articles in Church publications, when, again, the First Presidency and the Twelve are a part of Correlation. It is monstrously hypocritical of you to accuse Saints of being “revisionist history” attempting to deceive people about Book of Mormon geography when Saints has been authorized, reviewed, and approved by the First Presidency and the Twelve.

So please, Jonathan, spare us all the self-righteous BS about how “M2C intellectuals” are trying to get people to disbelieve the prophets and apostles.

Because guess what: as long as you keep doing what you’re doing, you are, in fact, doing the exact same thing. As long as you keep screaming about “M2C intellectuals” ruining the Church, you’re actually telling people to disbelieve the modern prophets and apostles who keep hiring them to work for the Church and guide the Church’s membership in intellectual and historical matters.

“Physician, heal thyself!”

Rian Nelson

July 27, 2018 at 10:00 pm | Reply

Hi Steve. I am current friends of Rod Meldrum and Jonathan Neville. I have only been following them for a few years now and I find they make so much sense. I have studied the Mesoamerican theory all my life and loved it very much. I was fascinated with the pyramids and all the discoveries in Central America. Recently however I feel strongly in one very import aspect. With all the information in the Book of Mormon talking about the Promised Land I feel strongly that is speaking about our Constitution and the Unites States of America. That doesn’t mean we are better than any other country, but we have made a covenant with the Lord to share the gospel and if we don’t we will be punished greater than anyone in other countries who don’t share the gospel. With our covenant we have been richly blessed but with that blessing comes stronger curses if we fail in our promise with the Lord.

Please share with me why it seems so many people deride Rod and Jonathan and say they are as you describe, “so-called Heartland model for the geography of the Book of Mormon is built on a foundation of fraud. Fraudulent artifacts, fraudulent science, fraudulent theology, and fraudulent history secured in place by racist ethno-nationalism are the four cornerstones of Heartlanderism.” I am especially troubled how you say they are racist for expressing their belief that this Unites States of America is an exceptional nation and we are under a covenant with God unlike any other nation in the world. I interpret this as being under a covenant like the Jews of the Land of Israel were and still are. The Jews rejected Christ so they were smitten and scattered, but the Land of Israel has and will always be a promised land, just like the USA is and will always be a Promised Land. Just because Libya and Jordan are connected to Israel doesn’t mean they are part of that covenant land. It doesn’t matter what race or color we are, it is those that live in the USA and join that banner of freedom that this covenant is with all. There is no special covenant with any other country except Israel. Of course, God loves us all equally, but we are allowed here in the USA to survive only as we are righteous.

Please address where you think I am wrong about this great nation the USA. I also believe that Adam-Ondi-Ahman by revelation was in Missouri and by revelation the New Jerusalem will be in Missouri, this is a sacred land. None of those sacred events are talked about in Mesoamerica. I served a mission in Fiji and love them as my own, but by no means do I feel they live in “THEE” promised land spoken of in the Book of Mormon, but I know God loves them as much as He loves me. They live in a most beautiful land, but it wasn’t a land set apart for the preaching of the gospel and the establishment of the Church. I love Pres Nelson’s talk before he was a prophet that says,

“The Book of Mormon reveals that Joseph, the son of Jacob who was once sold into Egypt, foresaw the Prophet Joseph Smith and his day and noted that there would be many similarities in their lives. Centuries later, the Prophet Joseph stated, “I feel like Joseph in Egypt.” The Book of Mormon reveals that the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, was not forgotten when land was distributed to the tribes of Israel, as promised in the Abrahamic covenant. Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. It was choice not because of beauty or wealth of natural resources, but 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. It was 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 is a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments.” The Book of Mormon: A Miraculous Miracle President Russell M. Nelson President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles June 23, 2016

For these reasons I don’t believe Mesoamerica is “THEE” Promised Land and I don’t believe there could be a second hill Cumorah somewhere other than in up-state New York. I would appreciate your comments.

Stephen O. Smoot

July 27, 2018 at 10:38 pm | Reply

Rian,

“Please share with me why it seems so many people deride Rod and Jonathan and say they are as you describe, “so-called Heartland model for the geography of the Book of Mormon is built on a foundation of fraud. Fraudulent artifacts, fraudulent science, fraudulent theology, and fraudulent history secured in place by racist ethno-nationalism are the four cornerstones of Heartlanderism.””

The sources cited in footnote 1 make this abundantly clear.

At several points Heartlanders like Meldrum have been refuted by mainstream LDS scholars. On DNA. On geography. On early Mormon history. On the authenticity of artifacts they (especially Meldrum) use as evidence for the Heartland. Again and again. And again and again they refuse to consider that the criticism they encounter is valid. They stop their ears and close their eyes and act as if nothing ever happened.

Heartlanderism is fraudulent. That’s a criticism I’ll publicly stand by and make until I see Meldrum discontinue his use of pseudo-science and forgeries.

“I am especially troubled how you say they are racist for expressing their belief that this Unites States of America is an exceptional nation and we are under a covenant with God unlike any other nation in the world.”

It’s more than that. Heartlanders have said countries like Mexico or Guatemala positively cannot be the land of promise because they’re full of crime and corruption. I’ve heard this with my own two ears from Heartlanders. “How could a country like Mexico possibly be the land of promise with all the problems going on with it?”

The implicit (and sometimes explicit) conclusion is that those countries full of criminals (brown people) aren’t good enough to be the land of promise, unlike the good ole’ US of A (at least when it’s not being run by a secret Kenyan communist like Obama).

“Please address where you think I am wrong about this great nation the USA.”

I don’t have to do that. Just go ahead and read what Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had to say about the “great” USA in the Council of Fifty minutes.

But okay. I’ll say something.

You’re conflating the arbitrary and imaginary political borders drawn on maps by corrupt and powerful Gentiles with guns with the soil of the American continent. Church leaders since Joseph Smith have made it abundantly clear that all of North and South America are a part of the land of promise. Yes, the physical “center place” of Zion is to be what is now Jackson County, Missouri. But it was the foretold New Jerusalem before the US acquired Missouri from the French in 1803, and will be after the United States, like the other kingdoms of this earth, have been smashed to pieces with the ascendency of the Kingdom of God upon Christ’s return.

It just so happens that the political state which controls the land prophesied as the New Jerusalem is the United States. But before that it was France. And before that, Spain. And before that, it belonged to indigenous Indian peoples. Why is it that somehow it’s the US that has special, divine privilege, and none of these other nations?

I’m well aware, and believe, that the Lord was behind the founding of the United States as a means to the end of establishing Zion, the Kingdom of God, and as means to the end of creating an environment in which the Restoration of the gospel could come to pass. But I do not believe that the Lord was behind the founding of the United States as an end to itself.

My point is you (like other Heartlanders) are saying the geo-political entity the United States of America has a special covenant or destiny. I reject those claims as misunderstanding the prophecies in the Book of Mormon and the teachings of Joseph Smith and other prophets, who affirm the entire continent of America (North and South) is under the covenant of which you speak, not just the United States.

Hence my mentioning the racist ethno-nationalism of Heartlanderism, which mistakenly gives divine credence to the United States and its predominantly white leaders and population at the expense of the remnant of the house of Israel found scattered throughout Lehi’s seed in all of North and South America.

That’s just the start of my many problems with Heartlanderism.

Jonathan Neville’s Reply:

July 28, 2018 at 5:18 am | Reply

Now that you brought up your “racist, ethno-nationalism” meme, I’ve addressed it with interlinear comments here:
http://interpreterpeerreviews.blogspot.com/2018/07/steve-smoot-fights-straw-men.html

Rod Meldrum

July 28, 2018 at 1:22 am | Reply

Hi Steve,
Wow, I’m somewhat taken aback by the boldness in which you proclaim your views as established fact. I find it interesting to learn from you how the Heartland model was built, rather than my own personal experience.

From my experience, the Heartland model geography was built upon looking for an answer to the dna questions being thrust upon the church due to the complete lack of any genetic evidence in Mesoamerica for any Hebrew population(s). After finding mainstream journal articles stating that a new Haplotype (Haplogroup X) had been found among Native American populations, and the same markers being found in many Jewish populations including the Ashkenazi and Shepardic Jews, the Druze of Israel and others I felt that other members and scholars would like to know and pursue it. To my dismay, because the Native American populations having these markers weren’t found in Mesoamerica, but rather amongst the Algonquian populations to which the Lord through Joseph Smith send the first missionaries (see D&C 28, 30 and 32) I was attacked personally and my referenced main-stream peer-reviewed based research as well. The primary difficulty was (and is) the dating of the arrival time of the Haplogroup X dna type, which originally was said to have happened 40,000 years ago, then revised to about 25,000 years ago and more recently to about 13,000 years ago, all based on the underlying genetic assumption that humans evolved from apes 5-6 million years ago. For more info download the free PDF 160+ page book, ReDiscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA at http://www.bookofmormonevidence.org.

Based on what I understand the scriptures, prophets and apostles to have written and spoken regarding our coming from Adam and Eve rather than lower life forms, I seriously question the validity of the genetic dating which is founded upon that assumption. I found that if the observed rate of dna change is utilized, rather than the theoretical dating methods, that it places the arrival of Haplogroup X to America consistant with the Book of Mormon account. Unfortunately, geneticist Ugo Perego, an unabashed believer in the humans from apes evolutionary theories (he was a featured speaker at the Mormon Transhumanist Association Conference in 2012 in which he openly and proudly proclaimed his evolutionary beliefs see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ilin4lt0nQwherein at 9:45 he states “We believe as scientists that about 6 million years ago there was a common ancestor to apes and humans” and that humans descended from Eukaryotic cells 3.2 billion years ago at 28:50). So if you, like Ugo accept that you came from apes and slime, then it makes it easier to accept the dating derived from that viewpoint. I don’t accept that, so you call me a scientific fraud. If accepting the words of the scriptures and prophets puts me at odds with science that tells me my ancestry derives from apes and slime, I’m going with the scriptures and prophets, even if others, like yourself, declare me a fraud. Those reading this blog can decide for themselves which they prefer to believe in. But I’m not the one calling names.

After discovering what Joseph Smith said in many instances and the complete lack of anything authoritative from Joseph regarding Mesoamerica, and putting that up against the revelations Joseph claimed regarding the first missionaries, his vision on Zelph’s mound, his discussions with North American Indians proclaiming the book to be their history, etc. I realized that there is not a single solitary historical instance that can be authenticated by official church history, in which Joseph indicated anything other than North America as the lands of the Book of Mormon.

After this, I began researching the ancient civilizations that once existed in North America and using non-LDS, mainstream archaeology and the dating of these civilizations, found them to fall within the proper time-frames as outlined in the Book of Mormon, along with many evidences that correlate well with it. This lead to finding many artifacts that remain controversial because of their having Hebrew writing, which mainstream archaeology does not yet accept for various reasons we’ve discussed at length in other articles and books. That there has been a deliberate attempt to hide certain aspects of this ancient history can be demonstrated.

I have no idea what ‘fraudulent theology” you are refering to, so I can’t address that, but calling us racists reminds me of the hue and cry of progressives against conservatives in our national political scene. I guess there are enough duped Mesoamerican advocates who will believe such dribble on its face, but the vast majority of church members, like those of a more conservative viewpoint, see your name calling and rants as the sure sign of an attempt to defend the indefensible, so you have to resort to name calling and personal attacks to try to convince the uninformed to believe you without question and without looking into it for themselves. Unfortunately, this has been the mantra of the ‘citation cartel’ of which you are a part. This is not peer review, but rather a group of back-slapping buddies backing each other up no matter how bad the research. Real peer review requires opposing points of view to be given a chance to respond, to corroborate and be heard. The Mesoamerica theory proponents have consistently done just the opposite. They deliberately hide the things that undermine their promotion and they don’t allow critical review, which is why Jonathan and I and others have had to use our own blogs and websites to address the citation cartels allegations.

Stephen Smoot

July 28, 2018 at 3:37 am | Reply

Rod,

I have been following your movement since you began it back around 2006 or 2007 (as I recall). In fact, you and I have met. I sat down with you, my father Stephen Smoot, and Richard Holzapfel in Richard’s living room in Provo and listened to you personally present your case for the Heartland model.

At the time I was 16 and was initially impressed with what I saw. But then over time I began to see the cracks, and then I witnessed your enterprise crumble under the weight of its own unsustainability.

I see from your comments here that you have doubled down on each of my categories: fraudulent science (young earth creationism and evolution denialism), fraudulent history (a misuse of the Zelph incident and other statements from Joseph Smith), fraudulent archaeology (the forgeries you rely on to make your case for Hebrew in pre-Columbian North America), and fraudulent theology (your American exceptionalism and the promotion of Tim Ballard’s “American covenant” doctrine).

You are, of course, free to persist in your errors. But as long as you do, you will be met with opposition by those such as myself and others who take the Book of Mormon too seriously to let your fraudulent claims go uncontested in the public square.

I will merely ask you this question: if you are, in fact, someone who accepts the words of the prophets, as you claim to be, then do you accept the words of the modern prophets who supervised the publication of these words?

“Much as critics and defenders of the Book of Mormon would like to use DNA studies to support their views, the evidence is simply inconclusive. Nothing is known about the DNA of Book of Mormon peoples. Even if such information were known, processes such as population bottleneck, genetic drift, and post-Columbian immigration from West Eurasia make it unlikely that their DNA could be detected today.”

https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-and-dna-studies?lang=eng

Leslie Rees

July 28, 2018 at 2:47 am | Reply

Sorry to just now respond to this- I’ve been helping care for 6 very active young grandsons today.

Stephen, I realize it is probably foolish for me to continue this conversation, because neither of us will convince the other. But I will just point out a few things to explain why I feel the “Heartland” model is right. I realize “this continent” would have included Mesoamerica- but don’t feel as comfortable with asserting “this country” includes them. I would say we are different countries. And Pres. Benson definitely said “this nation.”

Also, the Book of Mormon clearly states in 3 Nephi 21 that in the day the record we now have as the Book of Mormon was taken to Lehi’s descendants, the work of gathering would begin among all the scattered tribes of Israel. Missionary work. And it was to the Native American Indians in the Heartland and New York to whom Joseph first sent missionaries. Then the work spread out to the rest of the world. (D&C 28:8-9,14; 30:5-6; 32:2; 54:8;557:4 ) Missionaries were not sent to Mexico until 1875, and it was 1941 before missionaries were assigned to Central America.

I have read some- but not all- of the footnotes you cited. As for the DNA article by Perego, it was published in 2010. I found the article published in National Geographic and a number of other magazines in 2013 about the Native Americans more interesting., They pointed out the “new discovery” that about a third of those native people, primarily those coming from the region around the Great Lakes, carry the DNA of Western Eurasians. As for the Bernhisel letter, even the Church Historian’s Office admit they don’t know who wrote that letter- even though the name Joseph Smith is signed. They say it was definitely not his handwriting. And the letter was written a few short days after he received the 600 pages, two-volume travel books. Joseph was NOT known as a fast reader! And was very busy at that time. He did not write that.

I won’t take time to go through the problems I found with some of the other footnoted articles. Just would point out a few things that really struck me. Ancient Meso temples are filled with altars of stone- covered in carvings The Lehites lived the Law of Moses until the Savior came- which specified altars had to be made of completely uncut stones. (Deu. 27:5-6, Exo. 20:25) Altars in those Meso temples are reached by a series of step/stairs. Exodus 20:26 forbade that, calling for ramps. This doesn’t even get into the animals–like sheep- NEVER found in ancient Meso sites- but now found in digs in the New York area. Where did the Lamanites get all those dyed-in-blood sheepskins? How could they practice the Law of Moses without lambs for sacrifice? There are many other animals and plants mentioned in the Book that have never yet been found in Mesoamerica, but have been in the Heartland of America.

Stephen I’m a old lady, a great-grandmother, but I have been seriously studying and learning all I could about the Book of Mormon since I was 13. I appreciate greatly the work of Jonathan Neville and others, but long before I read their work I gained a personal conviction of not only the truth of the Book of Mormon, but it’s importance in understanding the mission given the “promised land which is choice above other lands.” The place where freedom was to be established so the Gospel could be restored.

Do I think that means none of the rest of North America is a covenant or promised land? No. I have no problem believing it is also a wonderful and special land with wonderful people. I believe the descendants of those people whose history we find in the Book of Mormon have spread over both North and south America. But I think it is obvious that only in the United States were conditions brought about to allow a restoration of the Gospel. And it was Pres. Benson who said the US. is: “the place where Adam dwelt; . . . the place where the Garden of Eden was located. It was here that Adam met with a body of great high priests at Adam-ondi-Ahman shortly before his death and gave them his final blessing, and the place to which he will return to meet with the leaders of his people. This was the place of three former civilizations: Adam’s, the Jaredite, and the Nephite. This was also the place where our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith inaugurating this great and last dispensation.
“The Lord has also decreed that this land should be ‘the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven” He went on to say all this was part of OUR NATION’S history and destiny. I find it very offensive that you would call this ethno-nationalism, implying racist. So it’s racist to believe Native Americans are the descendants of Lehi and responsible for the incredible mound cities and other great structures which once stood on this land?

And Mike Parker, I do assume that Joseph knew where the Hill Cumorah of the Book of Mormon was located. He spent many hours with Moroni learning even about the clothing and means of travel for those people. Do you honestly believe he didn’t ask where those momentous events took place? I give him much more credit than that! And when Oliver wrote his 8 letters, he was the Assistant President of the Church, second only to Joseph in authority. He did say that Joseph’s help in writing them was “indispensable” and added, “we therefore ask the forbearance of our readers, assuring them that it shall be founded upon facts.”

Joseph did see Letter VII published several times in different Church Publications, and did ask scribes to hand copy the letters into his own personal history. Pretty sure he would have spotted as big a “mistake” as describing the place of the final great battles of two great nations in the wrong location! Or maybe I just have more faith in his intelligence and perception than some others. “None of this denies that Oliver’s letters were influential, or even that Joseph Smith may have been influenced by them But, ”Joseph was influenced by Oliver to believe the last battles took place near the NY Hill Cumorah”?? Give me a break!

And Tim, I have read through many of Jonathan Neville’s blogs. I have also spent a lot of time with him, and I wouldn’t change a thing I’ve said about his character or his honesty or his desire to have some honest discourse on all this with scholars who refuse to allow that to happen. True scholars wouldn’t avoid this just because they felt he had insulted them.

I’m well aware my words will not make a whit of difference to those who have made up their minds that Mesoamerica is the site of Hill Cumorah. (Jonathan Neville, though offering places he thinks fit well with many B of M cities, has only insisted on one actual site- the one Letter VII describes in New York, and that has been reaffirmed as true by one Prophet after another. Interesting that even Orson Pratt- the one Apostle who seemed to give several speeches placing some of the history of the Book in Central and South America, nevertheless ALWAYS insisted that the final battles took place near the Hill Cumorah in New York! (And yes I do believe some of them are speaking as a result of revelation on that subject. None of them said “maybe.”) But the only reason I kept this going was in the hope that some readers will honestly consider all Joseph himself said, the account Pres. Cowdery gave with “help from Joseph Smith,” the testimony Brigham Young bore shortly before his death about several of early brethren actually entering a room in the hill where the records and sword of Laban were, at that time, kept, and the testimony of many other Prophets and Apostles on the Hill’s location and history..

Stephen Smoot

July 28, 2018 at 4:25 am | Reply

Take your time, Leslie. No rush. My blog will be around for a while (hopefully).

Much of what you say here is a reiteration of points already addressed in the body of my post, or in the KnoWhy. I will therefore simply direct readers’ attention to such to judge for themselves whether your claims have any merit.

You are probably correct that we are not going to convince each other. I do, however, want to go on the record as pointing out the following:

1. The authorship of the Bernhisel Letter, like the Times and Seasons editorials in mid-1842 while Joseph Smith was editor affirming a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon, really isn’t in dispute. The Joseph Smith Papers includes it among Joseph’s documentary record. By any reasonable standard it is a Joseph Smith document: http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-john-m-bernhisel-16-november-1841/1

Frankly, attempts by Meldrum and Neville to make it not be a JS document is little more than obfuscation employed out of necessity to save a failing theory.

2. The timing and sequence of LDS missionary work to certain groups of Native Americans is irrelevant. There is nothing special about the fact that the Book of Mormon went first to the group of Native Americans closest to earliest Mormon missionaries. This idea, in fact, even contradicts the teachings of scores of prophets and apostles, starting with Joseph Smith, who have affirmed that Lehi’s remnant is found throughout the peoples of North and South America.
3. The DNA studies you mention from post-2013 are inadmissible as evidence for the Book of Mormon, as discussed by Ugo Perego in a study published in 2015:

http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/is-decrypting-the-genetic-legacy-of-americas-indigenous-populations-key-to-the-historicity-of-the-book-of-mormon/

I’m sorry, I really am, but contrary to Heartlander claims, DNA does not prove that modern North American Indian tribes are descendants from Hebrews.

4. Claims about Mesoamerica not fulfilling certain requirements of the Law of Moses are overplayed. On the issue of the animals you specifically mention, for instance, see Miller and Roper (2017): 156–159.
5. Your arguments about the United States being the “land above all other lands” and therefore Book of Mormon lands have been addressed by Roper in footnote 1. See for instance here: https://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1467&index=4

The rest of your points about Oliver Cowdery’s letters (including Joseph Smith’s participation in composing them and their republication) have been addressed already in the body of my blog post. I find you merely repeating the original arguments I refuted in my blog post unconvincing.

You’re perfectly free to personally believe early Church leaders were speaking from revelation on BoM geography. Just as I am free to believe that they weren’t. But you’re begging the question by using such as evidence that Heartlanderism is therefore true.

Finally, I would wager dollars to donuts that the reason Jonathan Neville is so nice and pleasant towards you is because you agree with him and are cordial to his theories. I would implore you, for just one minute, to put yourself in my shoes and the shoes of my friends and associates (like Neal Rappleye, Matt Roper, and John W. Welch, and others) whom Neville has incessantly mocked and derided with the most mean-spirited, condescending, snide, and self-righteous words I have yet to see from a Heartlander.

So, forgive me, Leslie, but I simply don’t buy it. The evidence is there for all to see: despite his pretended feelings of goodwill and respect towards “M2C intellectuals,” Neville is, deep down, a spiteful and vindictive and unpleasant fellow.

Thank you for your comments on my blog, and keep up your study of the Book of Mormon!

p.s. expect a KnoWhy in the near future on the Hill Cumorah, including the phenomenon known today as “Cumorah’s Cave.”

Rian Nelson

July 28, 2018 at 5:03 am | Reply

I think it has become easy for Mesoamerican theorists and Hearlander theorists to simply speak on blogs and dismiss each other as frauds without having to debate each other one on one. I think it would be awesome for Steve and Jonathan to have such a debate so whoever comes can evaluate both sides. I think Jonathan could invite Rod Meldrum and Steve could invite whomever he would like. If Steve and Jonathan agree I would love to set that up. Please Steve and Jonathan email me at [email protected] and I will get both schedules and I think it would be fun. I assume both of you are faithful members of the Church and love challenges. Understand I am friends with Jonathan and I have never met Steve, but as I have said on this blog I believed the Mesoamerican theory for over 40 years and over the past few years have been intrigued with the Heartland theory and think it has merit. Even if we have the debate in front of only 5 or 6 of each of your friends, I would pay to see it happen. Why? Because I would love to see both of you go at it as two fellow saints who love the Book of Mormon. Im very serious. I will pay each of you $200 to make this happen. It would be very insightful if both of you would take the challenge and if not why not? The only thing I ask is that there will be no name calling and allow me to ask 3 or 4 questions of each of you. Please email me to let me know your schedule for the next two weeks and I will get a mutual time and place to make this happen. I am up late and would love to have your responses tonight if possible.

Stephen Smoot

July 28, 2018 at 5:14 am | Reply

I respectfully decline your invitation.

Neville is free to write obsessive blog posts about me and other “M2C intellectuals” as long as he pleases. But I will not grant him any more credibility than he deserves by sharing a stage with him.

(As it is I only wrote this blog post because I had suffered his calumnies for long enough before I felt it necessary to go on the public record.)

Stephen Smoot

July 28, 2018 at 4:37 pm | Reply

Leslie,

Mike has already summarized why I am not inclined to publicly debate Neville.

It is not out of fear or insecurity that the Mesoamerican theory cannot be defended.

It is because, frankly, I don’t feel like wrestling in the mud with a conspiracy-monger.

I feel like I have demonstrated the correctness of my views on my blog and in my published writings, and stand by what I have written. I would thus turn interested persons’ attention thereto.

Please share with me your opinion. I think it is important we seek to understand each other. No judgement, just understanding. If you would like to read the entire blog by Stephen O. Smoot, it is here!

A BEE STORY. The Morning and Evening Star Vol 2 July page 107

A friend told me the other day a bee story, and were he not a man on whose word I can strictly rely, I should set it down as a real Munchausen. Such as it is you shall have it.

In Wythe county, in Virginia, in a spur of the Alleghany [Allegheny] Mountains, called the ‘Tobacco Row,’ is a perpendicular ledge of rock fronting the southeast, about fifty feet high-an open sunny situation. About thirty feet from the base, a horizontal crack or fissure opens in the rock, from half an inch to six inches in width, and extending near eighty feet in length. How deep this fissure extends into the mountain is not known, as no one has ever examined it. This fissure is full of bees! Their numbers are so great, that in the summer time they hang out in huge clusters for several feet, above and below the fissure, in its whole length. A short distance above are two other cracks, containing earth, in which grow some little chinquapin bushes, and these are covered with the bees. They frequently go off in huge swarms, like a barrel or hogshead in bulk, and are often compelled to return, finding no place large enough to contain them. In the spring, previous to commencing their labors, the dead bees, remnants of comb, and cleanings of the habitation which are brought out and dropped by them, make a winrow [windrow] of a foot in height the whole length of the opening.

My informant saw it in the month of June, when immense numbers of bees were out on the surface, making great patches of rock black with their swarming masses. The oldest inhabitants say that the first settlers found the bees there, and the Indians told them that their oldest traditions knew nothing of its origin. ‘It was always there.’

No one has ever been found bold enough to attempt its plunder, or to examine the place where they are. It is in fact too dangerous an enterprise to meddle with.

If these facts be so, and I cannot doubt it, does it not form rather a new feature from that generally received in the history of the bee? By the way, I fear that I am going to have all this bee discussion to myself. But we’ll see.

Do none of the correspondents of the American Farmer live near this great bee hive? If so I should be much gratified to hear further about it.-[Gen. Farmer.]

ULMUS.

REMARKS.-To them that believe in the revelations of the Lord, this bee story is no great mystery. The bees may have been there more than three thousand years. When Jared and his brother came from the tower of Babel, to settle the continent of America, they brought bees, as it is written in the book of Ether: And they did also lay snares and catch fowls of the air; and they did also prepare a vessel, in the which they did carry with them the fish of the waters: and they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee: and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind.

What a pity it is that man has strayed so far from the knowledge of the Lord! Created as he was in the image of his Maker, an agent unto himself, and capable, by obeying the commandments of the Lord of receiving the Holy Ghost, which bringeth all things to remembrance, he might let his understanding reach to heaven, and never be at a loss for the truth; but alas he trusts in his own wisdom, and scarcely arrives at certainty.

Before the flood, bees might have been in every part of the world, but since Noah left them on the other side of the Atlantic, unless brought by man they would not have been able to cross it.

WHAT a field for reflection does the world now present, to the contemplative disciple of our Savior? A desolating sickness is wasting the inhabitants in many places, while war dreadful war is preparing to destroy his thousands among all nations. The most illiterate; yea, the most careless can see that great things, are about to come to pass.

The Lord has said, that he is holding his Spirit from the inhabitants of the earth, and when we see a robbery in one paper, and a murder in another; yea, and all manner of crimes following each other, in quick succession, we are led to exclaim: The Spirit of God has nearly done striving with man! Surely great things await this generation. The Lord has called servants to publish glad tidings; and them that go forth to bear them unto the inhabitants of the earth, to them is power given, to seal both on earth and in heaven, the unbelieving and rebellious; yea, verily, to seal them up unto the day when the wrath of God shall be poured out upon the wicked, without measure, unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man.

Notwithstanding, man has been laboring for centuries, to preach the gospel to all nations, it has not been done; and the Lord has now commenced his strange act, and he will perform it. He will send forth servants that will preach the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people: yea, and all shall hear in their own tongue and language; so that before this generation passes away, some, out of all nations, may be gathered to Zion, ready to meet Jesus when he comes in the clouds of heaven.

Let us ask, who shall enter into the Lord’s sacred rest, prepared for those that gather faith for a treasure. They that keep all the commandments. They that are ready and willing to give up houses and lands; leave all relatives and friends, and follow Jesus: such shall find rest for their souls.

(page 107)

About Evening and Morning Star

The Evening and Morning Star was the first periodical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was published starting in June 1832 in Independence, Missouri, until the mob destroyed the printing press, and was continued in Kirtland, Ohio, until September 1834. Each issue consisted of 8 pages and it was published once a month.

In October 1831, W.W. Phelps was instructed by a Conference to purchase a printing press, and begin printing a monthly paper in Independence, Missouri (RLDS Church History 1:219; Times and Seasons 5:481). The first issue of the Evening and Morning Star was published at the printing office of W.W. Phelps in June of 1832.

President Russell M. Nelson

President Nelson’s 36 Years of Influencing World Leaders and Sharing the Gospel throughout the Globe.

In his nearly 34 years serving in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles prior to becoming President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then Elder Russell M. Nelson was able to visit 134 countries and dedicate or participate in the dedication of 31 of those countries for the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Since becoming the President of the Church in January 2018, President Nelson has traveled to 28 of the 195 officially recognized nations around the world. 

To say he is well traveled would be an understatement. But what is perhaps more impressive than simply the number of stamps he has added to his passports in his role as a leader of a worldwide Church is the number of world leaders he has been able to personally meet and influence. 

Born “a natural diplomat”—as both President James E. Faust and Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have referred to him—President Nelson has had many opportunities throughout his life, first as a world-renowned surgeon and then as a worldwide religious leader, to enhance his natural gift for knowing how to read both people and situations.

During his 95 years of life, President Nelson has also had the unique opportunity to personally interact with all but the first six of the 16 modern-day Church Presidents who preceded him. And while he has undoubtedly learned a great deal from the examples of such leaders in his life, the thing that has perhaps most influenced his abilities as a successful world leader and diplomat is his simple belief that “everyone is a child of God and deserves to be treated that way.”

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/president-nelsons-36-years-of-influencing-world-leaders-and-sharing-the-gospel-throughout-the-globe?lang=eng

The feasibility of a pope meeting (and then sharing an embrace) with a Latter-day Saint prophet in the capital of Catholicism would have seemed unlikely just a generation ago. But the President Nelson/Pope Francis meeting — defined by respect and a shared commitment to ease suffering — reveals the Church’s deepening global footprint of influence. Source

Queen Elizabeth

“The Christmas story retains its appeal since it doesn’t contain theoretical explanations for the puzzles of life,” the 92-year-old monarch said. “Instead, it is about the birth of a child and the hope that birth 2,000 years ago brought to the world. Only a few acknowledged Jesus when he was born, now billions follow him.” Queen Elizabeth DECEMBER 28, 2018

“But in time, through his teaching and by his example, Jesus Christ would show that in small steps, taken in faith and hope can overcome long-held differences and deep-seated divisions and bring harmony and understanding.” Queen Elizabeth DECEMBER 25, 2019

Benjamin Netanyahu

“The remarkable alliance between Israel and the United States has always been above politics. It must always remain above politics. Because America and Israel, we share a common destiny, the destiny of promised lands that cherish freedom and offer hope. Israel is grateful for the support of American — of America’s people…” Benjamin Netanyahu’s Speech to U.S. Congress MARCH 3, 2015

Donald J. Trump

“Christians give thanks that the Son of God came into the world to save humanity.  Jesus Christ inspires us to love one another with hearts full of generosity and grace.” Pres. Donald J. Trump NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY, DECEMBER 5, 2019

Abraham Lincoln

“When I left Springfield I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Yes, I do love Jesus.” Abraham Lincoln: the Christian, William J. Johnstone, 1915

John Quincy Adams

“In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” John Quincy Adams, An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Newburyport at Their Request on the Sixty-First Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1837 (Newburyport: Charles Whipple, 1837), pp. 5-6.

Thomas Jefferson

During his presidency Jefferson frequently negotiated with Indian tribes and he even created a little book called Philosophy of Jesus that was made up of cut and pasted Bible verses that he used as a primer to teach the Indians about Jesus. He even believed that Christian missionaries to the Indians was so important that he provided the missionaries at government expense.” That little book is called the Jefferson Bible by revisionist historians. What Christians Want to Know

“In extracting the pure principles which he taught, we should have to strip off the artificial vestments in which they have been muffled by priests… We must reduce our volume to the simple evangelists, select, even from them, the very words only of Jesus… There will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man. I have performed this operation for my own use, by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book, and arranging the matter which is evidently his, and which is as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill…” Excerpts from the Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Adams dated October 12, 1813:

“The doctrines which flowed from the lips of Jesus Himself are within the comprehension of a child.” Jefferson, Thomas (1830). Memori, Correspondence, and Miscellanies vol. 4. Boston: Gray and Bowen. p. 242.

“Jefferson used The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth as a chief source of moral instruction, very likely reading a passage every evening before retiring to bed. He wrote in 1819, “I never go to bed without an hour, or half hour’s previous reading of something moral, whereon to ruminate in the intervals of sleep.” The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth

President Barak Obama

“The understanding (of) Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings, that we’re sinful and we’re flawed and we make mistakes, and that we achieve salvation through the grace of God. But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people and do our best to help them find their own grace,” he added. “So that’s what I strive to do. That’s what I pray to do every day. I think my public service is part of that effort to express my Christian faith.” CATHOLIC REVIEW JANUARY 19, 2012

Rev. Billy Graham

The Service of Your Fellow Beings: “The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.” – Billy Graham, Faith Produces Works. Quoted page 145 Annotated Book of Mormon

The Cause of Christians: “Make sure of your commitment to Jesus Christ, and seek to follow Him every day. Don’t be swayed by the false values and goals of this world, but put Christ and His will first in everything you do” – Billy Graham, April 23, 2012.

“The greatest moments of Native history lie ahead of us if a great Spiritual renewal and awakening should take place. The Native American has been a sleeping giant, he is awakening. The original Americans could become the evangelists who will help win America for Christ! Remember these forgotten people” – Billy Graham, March 1975.

Pope St. John Paul II

“As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live” – Pope St. John Paul II (1920-2005).

Norman Vincent Peale

“The Gateway to Christianity is not through an intricate labyrinth of dogma, but by a simple belief in the person of Christ” – Norman Vincent Peale (1888-1993).

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

“I keep a Bible open on my desk, and I try every morning to try and get in a little bit of time with the Book,” Pompeo said, describing how the texts sacred to Christians influences his disposition, engagement with others and decisions. “We should all remember that we are imperfect servants serving a perfect God who constantly forgives us each and every day.” Newsweek by Andrew Whalen Oct 2019

George Washington

“Almighty and eternal Lord God, the great Creator of heaven and earth, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; look down from heaven in pity and compassion upon me thy servant, who humbly prostrate myself before thee. George Washington (1907). “Washington’s Prayers”

“Bless my family, kindred, friends and country, be our God and guide this day and forever for His sake, who lay down in the grave and arose again for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. George Washington (1907). “Washington’s Prayers”

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and only through Him may we live with our Father in Heaven again. Read “Another Testament of Jesus Christ”, The Book of Mormon and you may know Him personally.

“Whenever I hear anyone, including myself, say, “I know the Book of Mormon is true,” I want to exclaim, “That’s nice, but it is not enough!” We need to feel, deep in “the inmost part” of our hearts, that the Book of Mormon is unequivocally the word of God. We must feel it so deeply that we would never 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 ” President Russell M. Nelson The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?

As we begin the year with studying about the Book of Mormon, may we fully immerse ourselves in it’s teachings. It does answer today’s question. Try it out, it works!

We have the Ensign beginning this year with some great information as well. It seems in the Bicentennial year of the First vision, our leaders are urging us to make the Book of Mormon the center of our lives in learning that Jesus is the Christ.

I have several friends who have shared some interesting things about this “most correct book”. I share them below:

Jonathan Neville:

The January 2020 Ensign is awesome. It’s full of helpful articles about Church history and the Book of Mormon.You can download a .pdf file here: https://media.ldscdn.org/pdf/magazines/ensign-january-2020/2020-01-0000-ensign-eng.pdf?lang=eng The timeline titled “Seeing the Lord’s Hand” starting on page 22 is a wonderful summary of world events leading up to the Restoration and the present day.One of the nice features is the section that correlates with each week of the Come Follow Me curriculum.This graphic on page 35 is a nice introduction to the world Lehi and his family left.It points out that Jerusalem had a population estimated at 25,000, which was considered “big by ancient standards.”Keep that in mind as we study the Book of Mormon this year.There’s an article titled “Have the Greatest Year with the Greatest Book” that includes good idea about how to improve our study. One tagline reads “Decide now to make 2020 the year you and your family immerse yourselves in the Book of Mormon.”I encourage people to read the Ensign regularly, especially this year when we’re all focused on the Book of Mormon.

_____As awesome as the January Ensign is, people have contacted me with concerns about the M2C artwork and revisionist Church history inside.We have to expect this to continue. It’s not a big deal. Most readers don’t even notice. Some of our M2C intellectuals and their followers will claim this as a “victory” or something, which is bizarre.One example is an article about the translation. If you want to know about the translation, you’re far better off reading the original sources from Joseph and Oliver than the theories of others. Here’s an excellent resource: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/site/the-gold-plates-and-the-translation-of-the-book-of-mormon Back to the Ensign. On page 40, we read this: Joseph himself did not elaborate about the process of translation, but Oliver, David, and Emma provided some additional information. Oliver said: “These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from [Joseph’s] mouth, as he translated with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, ‘Interpreters,’ the history or record called ‘The Book of Mormon’” ( Joseph Smith—History 1:71, note).

So far, so good. a quotation from the scriptures, written by Oliver Cowdery, unambiguously establishing that Joseph translated the text with the Nephite interpreters they called the Urim and Thummim.

 But then we read this: The “interpreters” used by Joseph during the translation process included the “two stones in
silver bows” that were deposited by Moroni with the plates (see Joseph Smith—History 1:35.) In addition to these two seer stones, Joseph used at least one other seer stone that the Lord had provided.7 

The Lord provided? Where is there any evidence that Joseph, or Oliver, or anyone else claimed the Lord provided this stone? This is the seer stone Joseph allegedly found in a well.Look at footnote 7.See Richard E. Turley Jr., Robin S. Jensen, and Mark Ashurst-McGee, “Joseph the Seer,”
Ensign, Oct. 2015, 48–55. You can read that article here:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2015/10/joseph-the-seer?lang=eng It’s a great article, overall, but it started a theme that continues to cause a lot of confusion in the Church. For example, the article says In another Book of Mormon account, Alma the Younger gives the interpreters to his son Helaman. “Preserve these interpreters,” Alma counsels him, referring to the two stones in silver bows. But Alma also quotes a prophecy that appears to refer to a single stone: “And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light.”(Alma 37:21, 23). But the original version of Alma 37 did not say interpreters. It said directors. The language was changed in 1920. When Oliver Cowdery said “interpreters” he could not have been referring to Alma 37.The article also claimed this: By 1833, Joseph Smith and his associates began using the biblical term “Urim and Thummim” to refer to any stones used to receive divine revelations, including both the Nephite interpreters and the single seer stone.17 [No where in the Book of Mormon does it say Urim and Thummim]. This imprecise terminology has complicated attempts to reconstruct the exact method by which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. Note 17 refers to the Wilford Woodruff account of seeing the Urim and Thummim in Nauvoo, but Woodruff never said he saw a seer stone. Besides, as anyone knows who has read the 1834 book Mormonism Unvailed, there was a clear difference between the Urim and Thummim and the seer or “peep” stones that everyone understood. That’s why it is significant–critical–that Joseph and Oliver always said Joseph translated with the Urim and Thummim and never said he translated with a seer stone. The January Ensign article continues.
Cover based on content of translation article David Whitmer, whose family provided a place for Joseph and Oliver to complete the work of translation, provided this additional information: “Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.” 8

Look at footnote 8.8. Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 12 Interested readers will naturally follow up with David Whitmer’s book, available here, which teaches that “Joseph Smith… after being called of God to translate his sacred word–the Book of Mormon–drifted into many errors and gave many revelations to introduce doctrines, ordinances and office in the church, which are in conflict with Christ’s teachings… Joseph Smith drifting into errors after translating the Book of Mormon is a stumbling block to many…”Obviously, the Ensign does not condone that part of David Whitmer’s book, but why accept uncritically any of that book? Why refer readers to it at all?I’ll have more to discuss on that in upcoming days.Source: About Central America by Jonathan Neville

David Allan

In addition to the problems Jonathan mentioned, there are two more corrections. [Jan 2020 Ensign]

Page 34 the book of Moroni contains three chapters written by his father, Mormon, 7-9.

Page 39 the bottom of 2^nd paragraph mentions, “the plates remained safely in Joseph’s hands until the translation was completed…”

The large plates of Nephi were delivered to a messenger at Harmony.  Then the small plates (unabridged) were delivered to Joseph at Harmony.

Jams and Hannah Stoddard

Seer Stone v. Urim & Thummim Book of Mormon Translation on Trial
L. Hannah Stoddard James F. Stoddard III Joseph Smith Foundation®

Two Conflicting Narratives
“Take away the Book of Mormon, and the revelations, and where is
our religion? We have none . . .” (Joseph Smith, traditionalist)1

“It seems safe to assume that without the Book of Mormon, there
would be no Mormonism.” (Grant Hardy, progressive)2

Upon one point, we seem to all agree. Yes, the believers, the unbelievers, the traditionalists, and the progressives. We all share this lonely, yet paradisical, island of common ground. Without the Book of Mormon, there is no Restoration, and for true believers, there is no foundation for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Book of Mormon is the central focus for both progressives, as well as traditionalists. This Book of books is the battle line.

For 190 years The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders have put forth the overwhelmingly dominant position that Joseph Smith translated Nephite characters engraven on ancient plates from whence came the Book of Mormon. Faithful leaders and members have agreed that the Nephites and Lamanites were actual peoples living on the American continent and that their prophets produced physical, tangible records, which were abridged by the prophet-historian, Mormon, who engraved characters upon metal plates “hav[ing] the appearance of gold.”3

In the traditional narrative, the characters engraven on the plates represented the written language of the ancient Nephites (reformed Egyptian4). These characters were translated into the English language by the Prophet Joseph, who used the Nephite interpreters, called the Urim and Thummim. Since its inception, the official history of the Church describes the Prophet Joseph Smith and his family as coming from worthy, hard-working, and God-devoted New England stock.5 The Smith family was honest, industrious, pure-minded, and holy. For them, treasure seeking, folk and ritual magic, alcoholism, and other unworthy practices and pursuits were unthinkable. Since before the publication of the Book of Mormon, there have always been detractors and those antagonistic toward the Prophet Joseph Smith who have promoted a different narrative. In one flavor or another, all of these detractors have certain elements in common.

According to their viewpoint:

1. The Nephite nation may, or may not, have existed; no one
   knows with any certainty.
2. There either were no plates, the Prophet fabricated plates, or
   there were authentic plates, but those plates were rarely, if ever,
   used during the translation process.
3. Critics of the traditional Restoration narrative have also
   portrayed the Prophet’s father, Joseph Smith Sr., as an
   unmoored, indolent, treasure digger who descended from a
   superstitious, magic-ridden ancestry.6 They claim the Smith
   family was unprincipled, deceptive, wandering, and average;
   simply a reflection of the lower elements of their culture.7
4. Joseph Smith Jr. allegedly continued the “family tradition” by acting as the “village seer”8 and by engaging in magic, treasure digging, and other occultic practices. These activities led him on a “pathway to prophethood.”9
5. Finally, Joseph Smith did not use, or rarely used, the Urim and Thummim (or Jaredite—Nephite interpreters) preferring
6. instead the use of an occultic seer stone. What is the occult? Occultic activities are those “relating to magical powers and activities, such as those of witchcraft and astrology”10 and “any system claiming use or knowledge of secret or supernatural powers or agencies.”11
   
   Notes

1 Joseph Smith, Minute Book 1, 21 April 1834, 44, The Joseph Smith Papers;
capitalization modernized.
2 Grant Hardy, “Textual Criticism and the Book of Mormon,” in Foundational Texts of Mormonism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), 37.
3 Joseph Smith, “Church History,” Times and Seasons 3 (March 1, 1842): 707.
4 See Mormon 9:32; emphasis added. “And now, behold, we [Mormon and Moroni] have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.”
5 Joseph Fielding Smith, Essentials in Church History (Deseret Book, 1960), 25-31.
6 Richard L. Bushman and Jed Woodworth, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 26-27, 42, 48-52, 54-55, 57, 69. See also, “Was Joseph Smith Sr. a Weak and Failed Father? A ‘Rough Stone Rolling’ Response,” Latter-day Answers, February 17, 2017, accessed December 2018, http://ldsanswers.org/wasjoseph-smith-sr-a-weak-and-failed-father-a-rough-stone-rolling-response/.
7 E. D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville: E. D. Howe, 1834), 11-13.
8 Ronald W. Walker, “Joseph Smith: The Palmyra Seer,” BYU Studies Quarterly24, no. 4 (1984),https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol24/iss4/5.
9 Mark Ashurst-McGee, A Pathway to Prophethood: Joseph Smith Junior as Rodsman, Village Seer, and Judeo-Christian Prophet, Master’s thesis (2000).
10 “OCCULT | Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary,” Cambridge
Dictionary, accessed February 2019, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/ english/occult.
11 “Occult,” Dictionary.com, accessed February 2019, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/occult.

Ultimate Question

Whay is it so important for me to know whether Joseph used the Urim and Thummim or a seer stone to translate the Book of Mormon?

Truth is truth. These two sacred stones were preserved from the time of Jared (Ether 3:23-24) through the time of the Nephites Alma 37:24) and then given to Joseph (JSH 1:35) to utilize as the means the Lord provided to translate these sacred plates. No mention is ever made by any person that “a” seer stone was to be used for translation. Why would scholars make something up? So even if Joseph had a seer stone, many in his day had one also, but Joseph never used it to translate.

Many of these scholars who say Joseph used a seer stone equate that with folk magic. See this video that does just that: The narrator in the video below is Stephen O. Smoot of Book of Mormon Central. At about 1:43 of the video he says, “Joseph began translating with another seer stone he had used in money digging and folk magic practices during his youth.” I believe this is absolutely wrong. We are now teaching that our great Prophet Joseph Smith was into fold magic in his youth? I don’t think so.

I suggest brothers and sisters that you not get mad at these scholars, but pray for them. They are seemingly preaching doctrine that the history does not support. Remember our Prophets and Apostles will not lead us astray. The scholars may blind the eyes of men, but not the eyes of God. Maybe it is a test of you and I to not judge these people and gain our own deep testimony of the proper methods of translation so we can be a teacher of truth in these last days.

Nearly all those familiar with the early statements by the Prophet Joseph Smith touching on potential Book of Mormon lands know that he clearly indicated them to be in North America. This is evident in the historically verified accounts wherein he declared revelation such as in the Wentworth Letter, the American Revivalist Account, the Zelph Accounts and Joseph’s handwritten letter to Emma while on Zion’s camp. In addition, the prophet revealed a Nephite altar at Adam-ondi-Ahman, mentioned the land of Manti was near Huntsville, Missouri, and revealed that this land was “the borders of the Lamanites” (see D&C 54:8). Furthermore he received revelation from the Lord for the location of Zarahemla (see D&C 125:3) and New Jerusalem (see D&C 84:1-6) which Christ Himself declared to be on Book of Mormon lands (3 Nephi 20:22), both of which are absolutely located in North America. These accounts and their indications are not speculation based, but historically documented fact.

John Sorenson the “Dean” so to say of Mesoamerican Geography says the following. “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.

Mesoamerica as Hinterlands

From Moroni’s America Chapter 28 by Jonathan Neville

For decades, LDS scholars have labored to establish and defend a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon because they believed they were vindicating what Joseph Smith wrote (or approved) in three articles published in the Times and Seasons on 15 September and 1 October 1842. The discovery that it was someone other than Joseph Smith, Wilford Woodruff, or John Taylor who wrote the articles,[i] led to the further discovery that Benjamin Winchester wrote the articles linking the Book of Mormon to Central America, and that William Smith edited and published them.[ii] These discoveries raise serious questions about the original premise for both hemispheric and Mesoamerican theories of Book of Mormon geography. Although now discredited, these Times and Seasons articles have influenced generations of Latter-day Saints—members, scholars, and leaders[iii]—and have been frequently cited by those who advocate a Mesoamerican setting.

In response to the Winchester saga, some proponents of the Mesoamerican setting now claim the Times and Seasons articles are ancillary, or even irrelevant, to Book of Mormon geography. This chapter accepts that premise for the sake of argument and examines Mesoamerican geography on the merits, without the implied imprimatur of Joseph Smith’s authorship—or editorial approval—of the Times and Seasons articles. As John Sorenson wrote, “If we are to progress in this task, we must chop away and burn the conceptual underbrush that has afflicted the effort in the past. We must stop asking, as so many do, what have the Brethren said about this in the past?”[iv]

[i] Matthew Roper, Paul J. Fields, Atul Nepal, “Joseph Smith, the Times and Seasons, and Central American Ruins,” Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 22/2 (2013): 84-97. In that article, the authors present the results of a stylometric analysis that show none of the three candidates tested could have written the articles. The authors nevertheless conclude that “Joseph Smith is the most likely author of the composite text” because they erroneously assume that no one else was “said to be working in the printing office.” In fact, there were several employees, but most importantly, William Smith was publishing the Wasp from the same office and much—often most—of the content of the Times and Seasons consisted of articles mailed to Nauvoo or excerpted from other publications.

[ii] Jonathan Neville, The Lost City of Zarahemla (Legends Library, Rochester NY 2015).

[iii] For example, Joseph Fielding Smith included one of them in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and they have been widely cited and quoted in books and articles about Book of Mormon geography, including Mormon’s Codex, cited below, and numerous articles published by FARMS and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Studies, both affiliated with BYU.

[iv] John L. Sorenson, The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book (FARMS 1990, 1992) p. 210.

Filters and Terms of Reference

Sorenson lists terms of references, or “filters,” that he believes must be applied to any real-world candidate for The Book of Mormon setting. This section examines his three “major filters,”[i] applies them to the text and evidence, and then performs the same assessment using three additional filters. The six filters are:

1. Scope of territory (Sorenson)
2. Destruction in 3 Nephi (Sorenson)
3. Sophisticated society (Sorenson)
4. Law of Moses (Discussed Below)
5. Promised land
6. Infrastructure (Ores, Towers, Fortresses, Buildings, Roads)

[i] Numbers 1-3 are copied verbatim from Mormon’s Codex, pp. 20-21.

Filter 4—Law of Moses. Criteria related to the law of Moses as described in the text must be accounted for in any acceptable theory. “Lehi and his people diligently kept the law of Moses. Nephi affirmed… that they did ‘keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled’ (2 Nephi 25:24)…. The Nephites were to continue to keep the law of Moses until it was fulfilled.”[i]

The Book of Mormon people did not casually observe the Law of Moses. They “were strict in observing the ordinances of God, according to the law of Moses.” Alma 30:3. It was obedience to the law of Moses that Korihor criticized:

“Korihor said unto him: Because I do not teach the foolish traditions of your fathers, and because I do not teach this people to bind themselves down under the foolish ordinances and performances which are laid down by ancient priests, to usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in ignorance, that they may not lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words.” (Alma 30:23)

When groups failed to observe the law of Moses, they “had fallen into great errors.” Alma 31:9.

The law of Moses and its implications for Book of Mormon geography deserve an entire book, but this filter can serve its purpose with just a few of the key points.

Architecture

One major difference between the Mesoamerican and American settings is visible in architecture. Mayan architecture is typified by large stone temples, made of cut stones and featuring steps by which one ascends to altars or the tops of the temples. By contrast, Hopewell architecture relies on uncut stone and ramps to ascend. Altars and ramps of earth are also common.

According to the law of Moses, observers of the law must use ramps and uncut stones. “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, . . . And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon” (Exodus 20:24-26). Ramps were also important for leading animals to be sacrificed.

“The altars of the temple were made of stacked stone, not hewn stone. “The word in Exodus 20:25 which is translated as ‘tool’ is the Hebrew חרב which most literally means ‘sword’.  There explains that a sword is designed to shorten life, while an altar is designed to lengthen life by being used to achieve atonement. It makes sense, therefore, that one should not be used in the formation of the other.” Rashi, Medieval French Rabbi.

Moroni’s America continued. “This distinction is apparent in Israel, where archaeologists can use the distinction between ramps and stairs to determine whether an ancient site was built according to the law of Moses. One archaeologist describing the discovery of Joshua’s Altar on Mt. Ebal, Israel, explains it this way:

Hebrew altars can be distinguished from pagan altars in 5 respects: 1. They are made of uncut natural stone. 2. Ramps, never stairs. 3. Hebrew altars are square. 4. Hebrew altars have their sides oriented to the 4 points of the compass (NSEW), as we see in the orientation of the tabernacle.[ii]

In Mesoamerican sites, there are no ramps; in the American setting, sites have no steps. In Mesoamerica, stones are carved; in the American setting, they are unhewn. Whoever created the Hopewell structures complied with this aspect of the Law of Moses, intentionally or not. Whoever created the Mesoamerican structures did not comply with the Law of Moses, even in the Nephite time period.”

Amberli Nelson Said,

3 Essential Truths about Nephite Observance of the Law of Moses

     “First Truth: Not only did the Nephites “strictly” keep the law of Moses (as indicated in 37 verses in the Book of Mormon (see Alma 30:3, Mosiah 13:29-30, Jarom 1:5), but they did so with delight as it was seen by them as both a collection of types of Christ and a means of coming unto Him. Occasionally even the Lamanites were known to “strictly” observe the law (Hel. 13:1).  Second: In “observing to keep the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the Law of Moses” (2 Ne. 5:10), the Nephites would have necessarily observed all the feasts or “holy days” given to Moses by Jehovah. These are recorded in Exodus and Leviticus and are known as “holy convocations” or “rehearsals” and they typify the life and mission of Jesus Christ in profoundly beautiful ways. Third: It was absolutely essential for these Jewish Lehites to be brought to a land that would provide an abundance of all the plants and animals required to keep the Law of Moses, with its concomitant Holy Days or festivals. Based on the latest archaeological findings, it can now be irrefutably shown that the Heartland of North America is the only location in the Western Hemisphere where all ten of the essential items were found anciently including; lambs, oxen, goats, doves, barley, wheat, grapes, and altars made of stacked, unhewn stones. These aforementioned items have not been found in the archaeological record of the pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica.” “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me… in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar…” Exodus 20:24 – 26 Amberli Nelson MBA Hebrew/Jewish Symbology Expert

Calendar

Another aspect of the Law of Moses was determining the time for various religious events. The ancient Hebrews used a lunar calendar. Psalm 81:3-6 notes that the moon determined the time for feasts: “Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.”

Sorenson notes that “A lunar-based calendar was apparently basic to Nephite/Mulekite calendrical calculations (Omni 1:21). That being the case, a systematic record of moon phenomena would have been an element in their astronomy/calendar knowledge system… The moon-based calendar of the Jews of Jerusalem surely was carried forward by the Lehites and Mulekites when they emigrated from the near East to the New World.”[iii] He notes that some scholars believe the Mayans used lunar months at one time, but their primary calendar was solar. In fact, the Mayan lunar series was not incorporated until the 3^rd Century AD.[iv] The best-known calendar, used by the lowland Maya, used 13 numbered days in connection with 20 named days, producing a 260-day cycle. Another version of Mayan calendars was based on the Haab’, a roughly solar calendar consisting of eighteen 20-day months plus five days at the end of the year. This resembled the Egyptian solar calendar.

Like the Hebrews (and presumably the Nephites), the Hopewell culture also used a lunar calendar to schedule feasts.[v] The largest geometric earthworks complex in the world is near Newark, Ohio, and is around 2,000 years old. The site’s “lunar alignments precisely encode the orb’s very complex cycle, with moonrises and moonsets rotating north and south over an 18.61-year cycle.”[vi]

To summarize, Mesoamerican culture was based primarily on a solar calendar, while the ancient American (Hopewell) culture, like the culture of ancient Israel, was based primarily on a lunar calendar.

Plants and Animals

Proof of the existence of species at the time and place mentioned in the Book of Mormon requires first, determining what species were mentioned, and second, where the species were encountered. Consideration of the Law of Moses is important because it filters out species that would not, and could not, be used as part of strict observance of the law. Specific species of plants and animals are essential for observing the law of Moses. Strict obedience to the law of Moses does not allow substitutions; for example, for a peace offering, the law specifies “a bullock, a sheep, or a goat,” (Leviticus 22:27). When he arrived in the land of promise, Nephi indicated that he found the animals they needed to observe the law of Moses. He wrote “we did find upon the land of promise… that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat.” 1 Nephi 18:25.

One unnamed animal pertains directly to the law of Moses. The Book of Mormon has sixty-six references to “flocks.” Mosiah 2:3 explains the significance: “And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses.” The flocks were so important that when Limhi prepared his people to escape from the Lamanites, he “caused that his people should gather their flocks together…the people of king Limhi did depart by night into the wilderness with their flocks and their herds.” Mosiah 22:10-11. When Alma led his people out of bondage, he “and his people in the night-time gathered their flocks together.” Mosiah 24:18. Presumably the reason they took their flocks when they escaped, despite the evident complications and the pursuit by the Lamanites, was because they needed them for their offerings and sacrifices.

The Hebrew term translated as “flock” ordinarily applies to sheep, but when used as the plural “flocks” it can include other kinds of domesticated animals. “Book of Mormon terminology fails to clarify what species composed Nephite ‘flocks’ and ‘herds,’” according to John Sorenson.[vii] However, Alma defines the term flock as meaning sheep. “For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock?” (Alma 5:59) Other uses of the term, such as “flocks of sheep” in 3 Nephi 20:16, could be interpreted as purely metaphorical, but if the people did not have sheep, what sense would the metaphor make? Christ is referred to as the Lamb of God throughout the text, from 1 Nephi through Ether.

Sheep, of course, are one of the animals required under the law of Moses, along with goats, bulls, and oxen. Enos reiterated that the people of Nephi did raise “flocks of herds, and flocks of all manner of cattle of every kind, and goats, and wild goats, and also many horses.” Enos 1:21. Mosiah emphasized that the people grew wheat and barley, both needed for the law of Moses. Mosiah 9:9. None of these species are found in Mesoamerica, which is why Mesoamerican advocates suggest the small Mexican brocket deer might be a goat and the tapir an ass.[viii] By contrast, there is evidence of each of these species in the American setting.

Pre-Columbian wheat and barley have both been documented in North America (but not in Mesoamerica). Wade E. Miller and Matthew Roper have noted, “beginning in the 1980s, discoveries of pre-Columbian barley started to be made, substantiating the Book of Mormon claim.”[ix] The Fort Ancient State Memorial Museum in Oregonia, Ohio, has this ancient barley on display. Miller and Roper also note that the Vikings claimed to find wheat in North America when they arrived in the year 1000 A.D. Despite this evidence in North America, because they are defending the Mesoamerican setting, Miller and Roper write, “while the Book of Mormon makes reference to wheat (e.g., Mosiah 9:9), it might have been another grain translated as ‘wheat.’”[x] Sorenson explains: “Exactly what species Nephite ‘wheat’ referred to is unclear, but it apparently was not the wheat familiar to us, which was unknown in Mesoamerica; presumably the name was applied to one of the aforementioned grains.”[xi] But if the Nephites were using a different grain, how did they comply strictly with the Law of Moses?

Animals that match the terms used in the Book of Mormon apparently existed in North America before Columbus. Nephi claimed he found “the goat and the wild goat.” (1 Nephi 18:25). These species were permitted as food under the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 14:4-5). It’s interesting that Deuteronomy also specifies “the hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer… and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois,” but Nephi listed none of these. Early French explorers noted the presence of “wild goats” along the Mississippi River, in Indiana and Illinois, and in Florida.[xii] Miller and Roper suggest the “goat” may have been a species of domesticated deer that resembled a goat. They note that men accompanying De Soto observed “herds of tame deer”[xiii] in Ocale, a town in northern Florida. Another Spanish historian recorded a similar observation in Apalachicola[xiv]—right in the area where Lehi landed, according to the American model.

As evidence that ancient people in Ohio had goats, the Mound City Group Visitors Center, a Hopewell Culture National Historic Park near Chillicothe, Ohio, features a copper goat horn that dates to Book of Mormon times.

Sheep and lambs are mentioned 77 times in the Book of Mormon. Many references are figurative, but as Alma 5:59 indicates, the people were familiar with sheep and did tend to them. William Richie, an archaeologist, reported that he found remains of domestic sheep in western New York dating to 100 A.D., about 30 miles east of the Hill Cumorah.[xv] At least one Hopewell sculpture of an animal that looks like a sheep has been found.

Enos referred to “all manner of cattle of every kind,” a description similar to that of French explorers who described seeing “wild bulls, wild cows, wild cattle, and vaches sauvages” that are now considered to be terms used “as the designation of both the moose and the elk.”[xvi] Buffalo, or bison, were often described as cattle. There are several accounts from the 1500s of buffalo-like creatures in Florida, but it is not known what species the explorers were describing.[xvii]

Evidence of the specific animals required by the Book of Mormon is far more abundant in the American setting than it is in the Mesoamerican setting. Sorenson notes that there is evidence of other Book of Mormon animals from the right time period that fit the American model, such as the horse, mammoth and mastodon remains at St. Petersburg, Florida, that date around 100 B.C.[xviii]

Regarding Mesoamerica, Sorenson concludes that “there are plausible creatures to match each scriptural term.”[xix] He suggests that the deer or tapir may qualify as horse, ox, ass and goat, while the paca or agouti may qualify as sheep, his theory being that Joseph Smith didn’t know a more accurate term to translate the original word on the plates. But “deer” and “pygarg” (the term for antelope) were both terms used in Deuteronomy that presumably could have been used in the translation of the Book of Mormon and would have been better fits to the species in Mesoamerica. It is inconceivable that a paca or agouti, both of which are rodents and therefore unclean under the law of Moses, would have been considered “sheep” by the Nephites and used for their sacrifices.

At any rate, calendars, architecture, plants, and animals all tend to show that this important aspect of Nephite culture was feasible in America, but not in Mesoamerica.

Conclusion: The American model passes filter #4 and Mesoamerica does not (unless one assumes the Book of Mormon was not translated accurately when it came to naming animal and plant species). Mormon’s America Chapter 28 by Jonathan Neville

[i] John W. Welch and Stephen D. Ricks, editors, King Benjamin’s Speech, (Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Provo, Utah 1998), pp. 150-151.
[ii] Adam Zertal, Ph.D , Joshua’s Altar on Mt. Ebal, Israel, http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-altar-of-joshua.htm (accessed 29 April 2015). See another description of the altar at Mt. Ebal here: http://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-bible-and-archaeology-archaeology-and-the-book-of-joshua-the-conquest 
[iii] Mormon’s Codex, p. 432-435.
[iv] See, e.g., http://mayan-calendar.com/ancient_supplementary.html
[v] E.g., see Brad Lepper, Hopewell Astronomy, Ohio History Connection Archaeology Blog http://apps.ohiohistory.org/ohioarchaeology/hopewell-astronomy/
[vi] Stephanie Woodard, “Ohio’s Magnificent Earthworks, an Ancient Astronomical Wonder,” Indian Country Today, June 16, 2012, accessed April 29, 2015 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/06/16/ohios-magnificent-earthworks-ancient-astronomical-wonder-118726
[vii] Mormon’s Codex, p. 313.
[viii] Ibid.
[ix] Wade E.Miller and Matthew Roper, “Animals in the Book of Mormon: Challenges and Perspectives,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, (herein Animals), http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/animals-in-the-book-of-mormon-challenges-and-perspectives/, note 69, citing Daniel B. Adams, Last ditch archaeology. Science 83/4 (1983), 28-37; N. B. Asch and D. L. Asch, “Archaeobotany.” In C. R. McGimsey and M. D. Conner (eds.) Deer Track: A late Woodland Village in the Mississippi Valley (Kampsville, Illinois, Center for American Archaeology, 1985): 79-82. Note that this discovery was made in the Mississippi Valley.
[x] Ibid.
[xi] Mormon’s Codex, p. 306.
[xii] Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Volume 4 (Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology 1874) pp. 81, 88 and 133, available online on google books. (herein, Memoirs).
[xiii] Animals, footnote 97, citing Hernando De Soto, Narratives of the Career of Hernando De Soto (New York: Allerton Book, 1922), 162.
[xiv] Ibid.
[xv] William Richie, The Archaeology of New York (The Natural History Press, Garden City, NY 1965), p. 242.
[xvi] Memoirs, p. 87.
[xvii] Memoirs, pp. 99-100.
[xviii] John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon (Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1996), p. 298.
[xix] Ibid, p. 299.

Heartland or Mesoamerican Animals?

Below is some information from the Book “New Approaches to the Book of Mormon”. They share how difficult it is to fit the animals of the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerican. Most animals of the Book of Mormon fit a North American geography and they are very difficult to place these animals into a Mesoamerican setting. Read below:

New Approaches to the Book of Mormon Brent Lee Metcalfe, editor Chapter 8.
Does the Shoe Fit? A Critique of the Limited Tehuantepec Geography
Deanne G. Matheny

Animals

Like domesticated plants, domesticated animals form an important component of civilized life. The Book of Mormon mentions many different kinds of animals, for the most part those which would have been found in an Old World setting. Table 1 lists animals mentioned in the Book of Mormon and their possible Mesoamerican correlates as suggested by Sorenson (1985, 299). Animals such as the dog or honey bee, which present fewer problems for a Mesoamerican setting, are omitted.

Table 1.
Book of Mormon Animals and Their Suggested Correlates¹⁹

Sorenson discusses the terminology used for animals in the Book of Mormon and notes that some labels are unclear. He mentions the frequent references to flocks and herds such as the following: “And they did raise many flocks and herds, yea, many fatlings” (Hel. 6:12). [p.303] He suggests that these flocks and herds could have included deer and pigs (peccary) and various fowls such as turkey, Muscovy duck, Tinamou duck,²⁰ quail, pheasant, partridge, dove, currasow, cotinga, roseate spoonbill, macaw, chachalaca, and parrot (1985, 292-93). He also suggests that the term flocks could apply to hares, rabbits, pacas, agoutis, and even fattened dogs.

However, many of these animals may have been considered unclean for consumption by Nephites, who according to the Book of Mormon kept the Law of Moses (see, e.g., Jacob 4:5, Alma 30:3). We do not know if the Nephites kept the dietary laws but Nephi exhorted them to keep the performances and ordinances of the Law of Moses, inasmuch as it was expedient, until the law was fulfilled (2 Ne. 25:30). It is stated in 4 Ne. 1:12 that they “did not walk any more after the performances and ordinances of the law of Moses.” If they had been keeping the dietary laws, it is unclear whether they abandoned the laws at that point.

If the Nephites kept the dietary laws associated with the Law of Moses, their classification of animals could have been based on those laws. The dietary laws given in the Old Testament state that only animals which have split hooves and chew the cud may be eaten. Prominent among such animals are cattle, sheep, and deer. In the Old Testament, prohibited birds are listed and laws are given concerning fish and other categories of animals. For example, the hare is declared “unclean” because “he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof” (Lev. 11:6). It is further noted: “Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean to you” (Deut. 14:7). A further clarification explains: “And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcass shall be unclean until the even” (Lev. 11:27).

Such passages indicate that those who kept the Law of Moses and its dietary laws would not have kept flocks of either lagomorphs (hares and rabbits) or rodents (agoutis and pacas) because those animals would have been considered unclean. This also would suggest that the camelidae (llama and alpaca), even if they could be shown to have been present in Mesoamerica at the proper time and place, would not have been considered sheep-like. Their characteristics as measured by the dietary laws would likely have rendered them unclean for consumption.  Chapter 8. Does the Shoe Fit? A Critique of the Limited Tehuantepec Geography Deanne G. Matheny

Below are some of my blogs about evidence of various animals and plants of the Book of Mormon fitting nicely in a North American setting.

Horses
Mammoth/Mastodon
Sheep
Barley
Wine
Bees

In the past two years I have been introduced to Baptist Preacher Lynn Ridenhour. He is a good humble man who loves the Book of Mormon. I have invited him to a few of our past FIRM Foundation Expos and I have enjoyed his comments. His personal story about being burned at a young age and then devoting himself to God is incredible.

At this time Lynn prefers to stay a Baptist as he feels he can share his message with Christians that may never listen to a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am praying for his true conversion by entering the waters of baptism. I think you will enjoy hearing a different perspective from a practicing Baptist. Although I don’t agree with all of his beliefs, I respect his opinion and desire to share with us.

The Book of Mormon Explained from the Bible
by Lynn Ridenhour, Southern Baptist Minister

        First, if I may, address those of you (both Mormon and non-Mormon) who are surprised to find the endorsement of a practicing Southern Baptist Minister; let me assure you, I am indeed an ordained Baptist Minister, I taught for eight years at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and I am in fact endorsing the Book of Mormon to be the Word of God and a companion to the Bible, which also I love dearly. I preach from the Bible, it is God’s Word and I teach from it every Sunday in my own and other Christian congregations across this great country.  I also teach and preach the Book of Mormon and I testify that it is also God’s Word. I declare that from every pulpit, wherever I preach.  This preacher is a Book of Mormon and Bible loving Baptist from Missouri, I fell in love with the Book of Mormon in 1985 and never looked back.

The story of the Book of Mormon can be told entirely out of the Bible! Using nothing but Bible scriptures. Let me show you how…

        David succeeded Saul as King of Judah approximately 1,000 BC. When David died, his son Solomon caused his people to sin, which resulted in the kingdom being divided into two separate kingdoms (I Kings 11:29-36). Ten tribes, under the leadership of Ephraim, formed the “Northern Kingdom of Israel” with Samaria as its capital and Jeroboam as its king. The other two tribes of Judah and Benjamin (with some of the tribe of Levi) formed what was known as the “Southern Kingdom of Judah.” Their capital was located at Jerusalem and Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) was their king (I Kings 12:19).

        So Jeroboam is king of the Northern kingdom and Rehoboam, the king of the Southern kingdom. The 11^th and 12^th chapters of First Kings describes the break up, with a son of David’s royal family as king over one kingdom, and a son of the House of Joseph as king over the other, larger kingdom. The two kingdoms became known as the house of Judah and the house of Israel (Jer.3:18).  The Jews (house of Judah) stayed in the land of Israel while the ten tribes (house of Israel) migrated primarily north and west and became identified as the “lost house or lost tribes of Israel.” Many Bible students believe these ten tribes eventually migrated into Europe, England and then to America.

     Two Houses. What a blessed thought. Two distinct peoples.  Which brings up a very thought-provoking observation: all Israelites are not Jews! Just as all Americans are not Texans. As a Baptist minister, I was totally caught off guard the first time I discovered the “two houses” in the Bible. I had no idea there was such an array of scriptures pointing out that distinction (Jer.33:7; Jer.30:3,4; Jer.32:30; Jer.3:8; Jer.3:11, Hosea 1:11).

 I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will have mercy upon the house of Judah. (Hosea 1:6,7)

For as a girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah” (Jer.13:11).

The envy of Ephraim (Northern Kingdom) shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. (Isa 11:33)

     These scriptures raise the inevitable question—who then are the Jews? The name is really a derivative, or shall we say, corruption of the name “Judah.”  The name “Jew” or “Jews” is applied only to the people who composed the (Southern) kingdom of Judah. It was their land only that became designated as “Judah” and “all Judah,” or finally, “becoming known as “Judea” and “all Jewry.” Thus, the following distinction…We do not say that all Jews are Israelites, just as we do not say all Americans are Texans. We do, however, say—all Texans are Americans, and likewise, all Jews are Israelites. Texas is part of America; but we could write the history of Texas without writing the history of America. And we could write a history of the southern kingdom without writing a history of the northern kingdom. In other words, we could write the history of the Jews and not write the history of Israel.

     With this basic two-house understanding, it might be helpful to examine this passage from the Book of Ezekiel 37:6.

“Moreover thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah and for the children of Israel his companions (Southern Kingdom): then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel (Northern Kingdom) his companions.”

Here the word “stick” makes reference to some kind of book or record each representing one of the two houses. These two sticks are to become one in the hand of the prophet. What better way for Ezekiel to prophesy that the record of Judah, (the Bible) and the record of Ephraim (The Book of Mormon) will come together in the last days? Also is the suggestion that the two Houses of Israel, divided for millennia, are destined to be brought together in the fulfillment of last-days prophecy.

        Let’s look briefly at the Sons of Isaac. Some Bible scholars have researched and documented the origins of the word “Saxon” suggesting that it was derived from the Hebrew name “I—saac.” The affix meaning “sons of.”  “Sons of Isaac.” The Saxons are the Sons of Isaac! It seems that the house of Joseph (“…In Isaac shall thy seed be called…”) preferred the name “Isaac” whereas the Jews preferred the name “Jacob.” Israel clung to the name of Isaac, especially after they were taken into captivity. They dropped the name of Israel and called themselves “Saac,” or “Saxae” (Latin derivative) which, in this interpretation, is nothing more than the Hebrew name of Isaac.

        Yet another bit of trivia that some have suggested and which I believe has merit. Israel was known as a “people of the covenant.” The word for covenant in Hebrew is “berith,” “brith” or “brit” and  “ish” means “man.”  Which takes us to Brit-ish “Covenant Man” and Brit-tain “Covenant Land.”  While there will always be some debate on this matter, it is something to consider.

Israel in the Isles

Thus saith the Lord…I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant people…

to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.  (Isa.49:8)

        Is it possible that Isaiah was saying that Israel migrated north into the Brit-ish Isles, “the desolate heritages” and places?

Let’s briefly talk about Joseph’s two sons from Egypt, Ephraim and Manasseh. While Israel (Jacob) lay dying, a portion of his blessing on the two sons was “…Let my name [Israel] be named on them” (Gen.48:16). In other words, the descendants of both Ephraim and Manasseh were to be called Israelites. The name of Israel shall rest upon both sons and their descendants. Included in the patriarch’s blessing was the promise, “…[Manasseh] shall become a people, and he will be great; but truly his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations” (Gen.48:19). Many students of scripture believe this prophecy is making reference to America and England.

Now let’s look at Judah and Joseph

“…The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah…but the Birthright is Joseph’s…” (Gen.49:10, I Chon.5:2)

     The destiny of Judah and Joseph is critical to this discussion. Judah’s Sceptre and Joseph’s Birthright—two prophetic promises earmarked for the endtime; two distinctive promises which Protestant Christians, generally speaking, know very little about. Let’s briefly examine the distinction—Judah’s Sceptre and Joseph’s Birthright. All the screptre’s blessings, privileges, and promises pertain to Judah, from whom comes the royal family of Israel’s race.  Jesus, our blessed Messiah, is from the tribe of Judah. We Protestants know about the Messianic promise, the plan of salvation; we’re familiar with Judah’s Sceptre, Christ’s bloodline. It’s God’s birthright promise to Joseph that we’ve overlooked.

     The Messianic covenant, the Sceptre was separated from the birthright, and given to Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, while the birthright fell to Joseph. This individual separation of the Septre and the Birthright took place just before the death of Jacob. Joseph was promised the Birthright. And what was that promised birthright? Land! Joseph’s Land. The Promised Land. Joseph, through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, was to become the father of many nations which were promised to the fathers of Israel. Nations and land were promised to Joseph and his descendants. Yes, Judah got the royal bloodline and the land of Israel (Palestine), but Joseph got his land also, the Promised Land. “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall … unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. (Gen 49:22, 26)

     And out of all the nations, out of all the lands upon the earth, there was one set aside to be “…choice above all others…” It was Joseph’s land, the land of America. Saved for the endtime. And Joseph’s descendants were to settle in Joseph’s Land and become an Ensign to all other nations (Isa.5:26). Two lads and their descendants, Joseph and Judah, both play prophetic roles in these endtimes. The Lord promised that a righteous branch would come from his seed—latter-day saints of Israel!

As an aside, it might be worth noting that the colony who left Jerusalem in 600 BC and fled to “the Promised Land of Joseph” to write the record of Joseph (The Book of Mormon) was in fact, from the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. They did inherit the “land of Joseph” where they “become a people…” that was “great,” but which, because of iniquity was destroyed around 400 AD. 

Fast-forward to 1620 AD and what do we see? The beginnings of yet another nation upon the Promised Land of Joseph also a people fleeing persecution and seeking religious freedom. These people call themselves “Covenant Israel” bear in their midst the “stick of Judah” (Bible). In time, these pilgrims lay the foundation of a nation built upon principles of religious tolerance and freedom which ultimately leads to the stick of Joseph coming forth “out of the dust and crying with a familiar spirit” this later stick then joins the former and the two sticks are joined together under the aegis of Ephraim, which nation and people are “great,” yea, even greater than that of Manasseh. Indeed Ephraim has become a “multitude of nations,” whose seed has blessed every nation.  

    Today, all people, whether descending from Israel by direct bloodline or whether adopted in by the blood of Christ, all who come unto Him comprise the latter-day Covenant House of Israel and all are heirs of salvation through the Lordship of the Messiah, even Jesus Christ. Can you imagine a greater blessing than to be a latter-day Israelite living in Joseph’s land?

    There you have it, I have just described the storyline of the Book of Mormon entirely from the Bible, using Old and New Testament scriptures. What a blessed story we have to tell the nations. Perhaps the late George Q. Cannon said it best, regarding the Book of Mormon: 

“No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true, and he were commanded of God to do so.”

Dr. Lynn Ridenhour Baptist Minister,
Independence, MO

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A Witness of the Restoration
By Keith J. Wilson associate professor of ancient scripture at BYU.

An article about Lynn Ridenhour

https://religion.byu.edu/news/witness-restoration

The Baptist Version of The Book of Mormon
Protestant Doctrines within the Book of Mormon
by Lynn Ridenhour

“…they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, for thus saith the Lord…” (Alma 8:17)

“The United States is the promised land…”
– L. Tom Perry

Latter-day Church leaders continue to be consistent with the foretelling by Book of Mormon prophets of the rise of America. Elder L. Tom Perry once stated: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly a worldwide Church. Nevertheless, it is important to realize that the Church could never have become what it is today without the birth of a great nation, the United States of America.

The Lord prepared a new land to attract the peoples of the world who sought liberty and religious freedom… “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon, a place where divine guidance directed inspired men to create the conditions necessary for the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the birth of the United States of America that ushered out the Great Apostasy, when the earth was darkened by the absence of prophets and revealed light. It was no coincidence that the lovely morning of the First Vision occurred just decades after the establishment of the United States” – Elder L. Tom Perry, “The Tradition of Light and Testimony,” Ensign [Dec. 2012], 29; emphasis added. See page 24 in the Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum.

Liberty vs. Freedom

Book of Mormon Definition of Freedom vs. Liberty

“Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose [first choice] liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose [second choice] captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” (2 Nephi:2:27; emphasis added.)

“And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the ‘cause of Christians.’” (Alma 48:10; emphasis added.)

“For behold, they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, (for thus saith the Lord) which is contrary to the statutes, and judgments, and commandments which He has given unto His people.” (Alma 8:17; emphasis added.)

Freedom provides the ability to choose between good and evil—God’s Natural Law or Satan’s counterfeit plan. True liberty is the conscientious choice to follow God’s law.” Annotated Book of Mormon page 216 by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum

Liberty then is far more important that simple freedom. Freedom means we can do anything we want, as we are free to choose. Liberty means we can do what ever we choose under God’s Laws. This is why the United States of America in not a Democracy meaning the majority rules. The United States has a Republic form of government in which elected individuals represent the citizen body and exercise power according to the rule of law under the Constitution.

Have you ever heard of the:

Liberty Bell, not the Freedom Bell.
Statue of Liberty, not the Statue of Freedom.
Land of Liberty, not the Land of Freedom.
Title of Liberty, not the title of Freedom.

One of the sad events in history was the 9-11 attacks on Sept 11, 2001. The building that was built to replace the Twin Towers is now called the “Freedom Tower”. Remember Freedom is a tyrannical rule and Liberty is under God’s care. Rod Meldrum has an awesome video that gives you more information about 9-11 and how the attacks are related to the USA’S disobedience to God. HERE:

Which country in the world has Liberty under God’s Law, the coming forth of The Book of Mormon and The Constitution of the United States of America?

The answer is simple, The United States of America where the Lord Himself said, “I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.” (D&C 101:80) Our Bill of Rights gives us  3 unalienable rights, Life, Liberty and Property. From this Promised and Choice Land we spread the Gospel of Christ through the most correct book on earth, even The Book of Mormon, which is the real history of a real people who lived here in the Heartland of the Promised Land of Liberty, even these United States.

When the Lord declares the United States as “CHOICE above all other lands” (1 Nephi 2:20), does he mean that those who live in the United States are better than people of other lands? Of course not. He loves all of His children equally. But, just as the Lord made the Land of Israel a Promised Land, He has also made the United States as the other Promised Land. The people who live on these lands MUST obey the commandments or they will be swept off this Choice Land. It happened with the generation of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the Jaredites and the Nephites. What is the fate of this Choice Land? It will remain Choice so the question is, who will live on the Choice Land? Only those people who keep all the Commandments of God, which ever land they are from, the Choice people of God will dwell on the Choice lands of God. Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem.

“The remarkable alliance between Israel and the United States has always been above politics. It must always remain above politics. Because America and Israel, we share a common destiny, the destiny of promised lands that cherish freedom and offer hope. Israel is grateful for the support of American — of America’s people…”  Benjamin Netanyahu’s Speech to U.S. Congress MARCH 3, 2015 

Ezra Taft Benson

Ezra Taft Benson said, “I desire, therefore, to speak to you about our divine Constitution, which the Lord said “belongs to all mankind” (D&C 98:5; italics added) “and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles” (D&C 101:77; italics added).

The Constitution of the United States has served as a model for many nations and is the oldest constitution in use today. “I established the Constitution of this land,” said the Lord, “by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose” (D&C 101:80). For centuries the Lord kept America hidden in the hollow of His hand until the time was right to unveil her for her destiny in the last days. “It is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations,” said Lehi, “for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance” (2 Ne. 1:8)

In the Lord’s due time His Spirit “wrought upon” Columbus, the pilgrims, the Puritans, and others to come to America. They testified of God’s intervention in their behalf (see 1 Ne. 13:12–13). The Book of Mormon records that they humbled “themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them” (1 Ne. 13:16).

Our Father in Heaven planned the coming forth of the Founding Fathers and their form of government as the necessary great prologue leading to the restoration of the gospel. Recall what our Savior Jesus Christ said nearly two thousand years ago when He visited this promised land: “For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth” (3 Ne. 21:4). America, the land of liberty, was to be the Lord’s latter-day base of operations for His restored church…

During his first inaugural address in 1789, President George Washington, a man who was raised up by God, said: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency” (First Inaugural Address, 30 Apr. 1789)…

Unfortunately, we as a nation have apostatized in various degrees from different Constitutional principles as proclaimed by the inspired founders. We are fast approaching that moment prophesied by Joseph Smith when he said: “Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction” (19 July 1840, as recorded by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray; ms. in Church Historian’s Office, Salt Lake City)…

Only in this foreordained land, under its God-inspired Constitution and the resulting environment of freedom, was it possible to have established the restored church…

Two great American Christian civilizations—the Jaredites and the Nephites—were swept off this land because they did not “serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12). What will become of our civilization?… I have faith that the Constitution will be saved as prophesied by Joseph Smith. It will be saved by the righteous citizens of this nation who love and cherish freedom. It will be saved by enlightened members of this Church—among others—men and women who understand and abide the principles of the Constitution.

I reverence the Constitution of the United States as a sacred document. To me its words are akin to the revelations of God, for God has placed His stamp of approval upon it.

I testify that the God of heaven sent some of His choicest spirits to lay the foundation of this government, and He has now sent other choice spirits to help preserve it.

We, the blessed beneficiaries of the Constitution, face difficult days in America, “a land which is choice above all other lands” (Ether 2:10)… Exra Taft Benson “Our Divine Constitution Ensign Oct 1987

President Russell M. Nelson

“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. Because … Joseph’s 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” – Elder Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Provo Missionary Training Center, Provo, UT, June 2016, emphasis added.

George Washington’s Address to the Inhabitants of Canada

(14 September 1775)

Friends and Brethren,
The unnatural Contest between the English Colonies and Great-Britain, has now risen to such a Heighth, that Arms alone must decide it. The Colonies, confiding in the Justice of their Cause, and the Purity of their Intentions, have reluctantly appealed to that Being, in whose Hands are all human Events.

He has hitherto smiled upon their virtuous Efforts—The Hand of Tyranny has been arrested in its Ravages, and the British Arms which have shone with so much Splendor in every Part of the Globe, are now tarnished with Disgrace and Disappointment.— Generals of approved Experience, who boasted of subduing this great Continent, find themselves circumscribed within the Limits of a single City and its Suburbs, suffering all the Shame and Distress of a Siege. While the true born 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… I invite you therefore as Friends and Brethren, to provide him with such Supplies as your Country affords; and I pledge myself not only for your Safety and Security, but for ample Compensation. Let no Man desert his Habitation—Let no one flee as before an Enemy. The Cause of America, and of Liberty, is the Cause of every virtuous American Citizen; whatever may be his Religion or his Descent, the United Colonies know no Distinction but such as Slavery, Corruption and arbitrary Domination may create. Come then, ye generous Citizens, range yourselves under the Standard of general Liberty—against which all the Force and Artifice of Tyranny will never be able to prevail.
[G. Washington; emphasis added]

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 George Washington’s Address to the Inhabitants of Canada (14 September 1775) 297
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-01-02-0358)