The Plan of Salvation and the Newark Earthworks

Our good friend Dr. John Lefgren is a dedicated Heartlander and wonderful member of the Church. He and Wayne May have been the ones in the lead of the www.Zarahemla.Site research going on in Montrose, Iowa.

In 1980 Dr. Lefgren wrote a book titled, “April 6th” which is described here: On Tuesday, April 6, 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized according to the commandment of the Lord. Why was that date chosen? What was special about the sixth of April? “For the last century and a half,” says author John Lefgren, “Latter-day Saints have continued to believe that the timing of the restoration of the Church of Christ has an association with the birth of Christ.” April Sixth shows justification for this belief as it links three historic events: the birth of Christ, the death and resurrection of Christ, and the nineteenth-century restoration of the Church of Christ. Purchase here:

See an article about Dr. Lefgren in Meridian Magazine from 2015 here. Dr. Lefgren has also been a speaker at our Firm Foundation Expo. He has contributed a lot of vital information about the signs of Samuel the Lamanite and about the date of the Savior’s visit to the Nephites in Ohio. Read Dr. Lefgren’s analysis in the Annotated Book of Mormon page 399 at the end of 3 Nephi 10.

By bringing together Dr Lefgren’s study and the amazing deciphering that Amberli Nelson brought forward about the Newark Earthworks, has been a tremendous bit of  information.

THE NEWARK EARTHWORKS & THE BOOK OF MORMON
Dr. John C. Lefgren

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 moonrise 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.

TWO IMPORTANT DATES IN BOOK OF MORMON HISTORY

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 moonrise. 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 moonrise 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 ingathering, 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 ingathering or tabernacles. (See 3 Nephi 10:18-19)

By Dr John C. Lefgren Ph.D. Economic History 

The Plan of Salvation and 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 T

“This painting above shows Christ descending in a shaft of light to visit multitudes of Nephites who are streaming up a ramped earthen platform mound reminiscent of other earthen monuments made by the civilization now known as the Hopewell Mound Builders. The background is a vast plain with interspersed massive grass-covered mounds, wooden homes with thatched roofs and hardwood forests, while the foreground shows a large wooden temple atop a monumental ramped earth structure.  The scene is one that is true to the Book of Mormon record, without stone pyramids or thick jungle vegetation since nowhere in the text is there any mention of stone buildings, palm trees, monkeys or a tropical climate. 

The Heartland geography research has overwhelmingly demonstrated through Book of Mormon prophesies, Joseph Smith’s writings, DNA, archaeological, linguistic and cultural evidences that the most likely location for the setting of the Book of Mormon was in America’s Heartland. This painting is consistent with Joseph Smith’s known and historically documented statements and actions in such accounts as the those found in D&C 28, 30, and 32, the Wentworth Letter, the American Revivalist account, the Zelph accounts, Joseph’s hand-written letter to his wife while on Zion’s camp, and many additional sources.” Rod Meldrum, Author “Exploring the Book of Mormon in America’s Heartland”

The Ancient Plan of Salvation

The Newark Earthworks, built between 100 A.D. to 100 A.D.,* originally encompassed more than four square miles. Taken as a whole, the earthworks appear to symbolize elements of the Plan of Salvation and Redemption:

1. Pre-Mortal Life as spirits being born with a…
2. Veil of Forgetfulness to begin mortal…
3. Earth life: “the four corners of the earth”
4. Direct path after death to a higher kingdom
5. Spirit Prison (holding area for the wicked)
6. Paradise (Gospel preached to the dead)
7. Vicarious Path with multiple check points
8. Lake of Filthy Water (worldly temptations)
9. Terrestrial Kingdom (cf. 1 Cor. 15:40) The Seal of
   Melchizedek consists of two interlocked (or overlapping) squares, making what appears to be an eight-pointed star within the octagon.
10. Celestial Kingdom (narrow path entered only through the realm of the Melchizedek Priesthood)