Ancient Hopewell Knew the Lord’s Works
The Newark Works, built between 100 B.C. – 100 A.D. is the largest surviving Hopewell earthwork complex in North America and originally encompassed more than four square miles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark_Earthworks Taken as a whole, the earthwork symbols appear to represent a fundamental understanding of the essential elements of the Plan of Salvation:
Newark Earthworks History
Built by ancient American Indians identified today of the Hopewell Culture between A.D. 1 to A.D. 400, this architectural wonder of ancient America was part cathedral, part cemetery and part astronomical observatory. The entire Newark Earthworks originally encompassed more than four square miles. Over the years, the growth of the city of Newark destroyed many of the Newark Earthworks, but three major segments survived because of the efforts of interested local citizens:
- Great Circle Earthworks (455 Hebron Rd., Heath, OH): The Great Circle Earthworks is nearly 1,200 feet in diameter and was likely used as a vast ceremonial center by its builders. The 8 feet (2.4 m) high walls surround a 5 feet (1.5 m) deep moat, except at the entrance where the dimensions are even greater and more impressive.
- Octagon Earthworks (125 N. 33rd St., Newark, OH): Enclosing 50 acres, the Octagon Earthworks has eight walls, each measuring about 550 feet long and from five to six feet in height. The Octagon Earthworks are joined by parallel walls to a circular embankment enclosing 20 acres. At present the Octagon Earthworks is also the site of the Mound Builders Country Club golf course. The entire grounds are open four times a year, during daylight hours.
- Wright Earthworks (On James, north of the intersection of James and Grant; west and parallel to State Route 79): This earthwork consists of a fragment of a geometrically near-perfect square enclosure and part of one wall that originally formed a set of parallel embankments, which led from the square to a large oval enclosure. Originally, the sides of the Newark square ranged from about 940 to 950 feet in length, and they enclosed a total area of about 20 acres..
While we can never know with any certainty the American Indian’s purpose in designing the earthworks, one theory is that the built they earthworks on such a massive scale for astronomical accuracy—long, straight embankments provide longer sight lines that increase the accuracy of astronomical alignments. In 1982, professors Ray Hively and Robert Horn of Earlham College in Indiana discovered that the architects aligned these earthworks to the complicated cycle of risings and settings of the moon. They recovered a remarkable wealth of indigenous knowledge relating to geometry and astronomy encoded in the design of these earthworks. The Octagon Earthworks, in particular, are aligned to the four moonrises and four moonsets that mark the limits of a complicated 18.6-year-long cycle.
In All its Fulness
“This book [The Book of Mormon] also tells us that our Savior made His appearance unto this continent after His resurrection; that He planted the Gospel here in all its fulness, and richness, and power, and blessing...” – Joseph Smith Jr., Church History, 1 March 1842, p. 707, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed January 12, 2018; emphasis added.
TWO IMPORTANT DATES IN BOOK OF MORMON HISTORY
By John C. Lefgren PhD
1- Birth date of the Savior in Bethlehem based on the Newark Earthworks.
In early spring 1 BC Nephi, the Son of Nephi recorded the very events of Christ’s birth as he witnessed them in Ohio. In his account the conflict between the unbelievers and the believers over the exact day for the fulfillment of Samuel’s prophecy was a matter of life and death. Nothing could have been more serious. The conflict underscored how important the people considered the keeping of time. This conflict in the first century validated the fact why the people in Ohio were willing to expend so much time and material for the construction and maintenance of the Newark Earthworks. The measurement of time was an important part of their religion and of their social structure.
The accounts of the Book of Mormon allow us to reconstruct from the astronomical cycles of the moon and of the sun those events which occurred when the sign of the birth of Christ was given in the sky above the Earthworks. At 6:29 p.m., Tuesday, April 4th, 1 BC (Gregorian Calendar) the full moon was rising on the horizon in the east and the sun was setting on the horizon in the west. There was a perfect balance in nature. Just before that moment, Christ had told Nephi that “on the morrow come I into the world”. After that moment, after the setting of the sun, Samuel’s prophecy was fulfilled. Lights appeared in the sky saving the believers from certain death and “the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came”. On the morrow (Ohio time zone) Christ was born in Bethlehem during the night (Judea time zone) of April 5th/6th, 1 BC (Gregorian Calendar).
2- Date of the appearance of the Savior to the Nephites in Ohio, based on the Newark Earthworks.
The world’s largest earthwork works are located in Newark, Ohio. The central axis of these monuments are fixed at 58.1 degrees east of true north which is the azimuth for the maximum northern moon rise. This event occurs only once every 18.6 years and is the result of a slight tilt of the moon’s axis with respect to the earth. The tilt moderates the effect of the moon’s gravitational pull on the earth creating a necessary prerequisite for life. The moon rise for Saturday, October 3rd, AD 33 was in alignment the central line of the Newark Earthworks. At this time the Calendar of Moses required the Children of Israel to gather at the temple. On the rising of the sun of the next morning the Nephites were gathered at the temple in Bountiful to observe the 7th day of the Feasts of Tabernacles. On this day Christ came to the Nephites in His resurrected glory.
The first month, Nisan, of the Hebrew Calendar is fixed so that the first full moon of the year will be after the spring equinox. Six months later during harvest time the Law of Moses in Exodus 23:16 states that “the feast of harvest, the first fruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of in gathering, which is in the end of the year.” So, when Mormon wrote that in the ending of the 34th year Christ came to America, he was using the language of Moses to describe that it is was at the time of the feast of in gathering or tabernacles. (See 3 Nephi 10:18-19)
THE NEWARK EARTHWORKS & THE BOOK OF MORMON
Dr. John C. Lefgren PhD
INTRODUCTION
Every historic account has a time line and every time line fixes the interrelation of events. Once a historical account is fixed in time it has a context which is the subject of rigorous numerical analysis. The analysis of this study is to concentrate on the counting of days which are connected to the birth of Christ and to the visit of Christ at the Temple in the Land of Bountiful. The harmony for the events of more than 2,000 years ago rely on 8 primary sources: (1) the movements of the earth around its axis; (2) the movements of the earth around the sun; (3) the movements of the moon around the earth; (4) the physical presence and alignment of the world’s largest geometric earthen complex; (5) the 5-year prophecy of Samuel, the Lamanite, concerning the sign of the birth of Christ; (6) the eyewitness testimony of the fulfillment of that prophecy as seen by Nephi, the Son of Nephi; (7) the details which Mormon wrote concerning the day when the resurrected Christ appeared to the Nephites at the Temple in the Land of Bountiful, and (8) the archaeological search for the remains of seismic activity from the first century in or around the area of the Newark Earthworks in Central Ohio.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Newark Earthworks are the largest set of geometric earthen enclosures in the world. Because of their sheer size the descendants of Europeans over two centuries have not been able to destroy these ancient artifacts. Certainly, over the years farms, railroads, militia encampments, golf courses and houses have had their impact. Nevertheless, main features of the monuments remain as a witness to a people who lived there more than 2,000 years ago.
Astronomers and archaeologists are in agreement that the design and the orientation of the 200-acre Octagon / Great Circle in Newark, Ohio precisely differentiate the effects that a slight tilt of the moon’s axis has on its movements around the earth. The effects of this tilt cause the positions of the rising moon to vary over a cycle of 18.6 years. Two thousand years ago the maximum northern position of the moon at its rising was an important event for the people who built and maintained these monumental structures. With the use of modern computers and with Newton’s laws of motion it is possible to define within a tolerance of a few minutes the movements of the moon in the sky over Newark, Ohio.
The Book of Mormon is an ancient record of a people who lived in America. These people kept the Law of Moses with its required feasts. The biblical feasts are directly tied to a calendar which counts the days of full lunar months. As needed the calendar adds an extra month to the year to keep the reckoning of time within the cycles of the four seasons. For 4,000 years the Jews have observed the biblical feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles when they are commanded to present themselves before the Lord at the Temple.
The Book of Mormon declares that after His ascension Jesus Christ appeared in America. This study confirms that in the evening of 3 October 33 AD there was for the ancient people at the Newark Earthworks an important lunar event – the maximum northern moon rise alignment along the central line between the Great Circle and the Octagon. At that same time the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles began and on the following morning the Children of Israel according to the Law of Moses presented themselves before the Lord at the Temple. On that day there was a great multitude at the Temple in the Land of Bountiful. The Book of Mormon testifies that the Lord Jesus Christ descended and appeared to the believers at the Temple in the Land of Bountiful.”
By Dr John C. Lefgren PhD Economic History Complete Article Here
The Newark Earthworks
The Newark Works, built between 100 B.C. – 100 A.D. is the largest surviving Hopewell earthwork complex in North America and originally encompassed more than four square miles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark_Earthworks Taken as a whole, the earthwork symbols appear to represent a fundamental understanding of the essential elements of the Plan of Salvation: See #1 to #10 below.
“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.” Moroni 10:32
“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.” Alma 7:11-12
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