Hank Smith podcast: overview of Lehi's promised land

Lots of interesting comments on the significance of North America:

https://youtu.be/iBIXTdBLQME?t=356

Excerpts:

so my point is let's

8:50

not get offended that God has said America is a choice land let's recognize that there are things for ordained by God for everyone but that there is something special here and let's not skip it because there are valuable things about recognizing this so verse seven this land is consecrated unto whom whom he shall bring I just read that and

A land consecrated

9:08

if it so be that they shall serve him now this is the condition according to the Commandments which he hath given it shall be a land of liberty unto them that's so important having a land of liberty is something special and it's a beacon to the world and can bless all kinds of Worlds as we know many countries have copied the Constitution of the United States or use that as a foundation for some of their own governance wherefore they shall never be brought into captivity now that's a really huge promise given the state of the world today and in other times where Liberty has been at risk if so it shall be because of iniquities this is a principle with a promise but we have to live the principle we have to worship the god of the land who is Jesus Christ right for if iniquity shall abound curse shall be the land for their sakes and for their sakes. 

9:57

we're going to talk about that later with the the boundaries idea but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever can I just emphasize that last line unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever that is an incredible promise no matter what happens politically or governmentally or socially or whatever unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever that is a beautiful statement of comfort.

Ensign magazine: Possible Routes Suggested for Mulek’s Voyage

In 1973, it was still cool to discuss evidence of the Book of Mormon in Church magazines. Maybe that's why those of us who were living back then think it's still cool.

:)

No need for contention about any of this, of course. People can believe whatever we want. So long as we pursue clarity, charity and understanding, we'll see "no more contention" (Mosiah 1:1). Instead, we'll all be better education and make informed decisions.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1973/09/discovery/possible-routes-suggested-for-muleks-voyage?lang=eng

Possible Routes Suggested for Mulek’s Voyage

Two possible routes of the voyage of Mulek and his followers to the New World “promised land” of the Book of Mormon have been proposed by Dr. and Sister Ross T. Christensen of Brigham Young University. Dr. Christensen is a professor of archaeology and anthropology; his wife is a graduate student in archaeology.

The Book of Mormon does not specify whether the Mulekites made their voyage to the Americas in the sixth century B.C. westward across the Atlantic Ocean or eastward across the Pacific. But since that history clearly indicates that they landed on the east coast of the “land northward,” the Christensens suggest that the Mulekites may have followed the Atlantic route.

A study of Atlantic Ocean currents together with other substantive information supports the feasibility of two possible routes that these early voyagers might have taken, according to the Christensens. One is a Mediterranean and North Atlantic route; the other is around Africa, then across the South Atlantic.

The sixth century before Christ was a time of extraordinary activity in exploration, trade, and colonization in the Mediterranean world and beyond. And the destruction of Jerusalem and the flight of Mulek and his people and others who were oppressed only accelerated a disposition to emigrate. Israelite colonies are believed to have existed at Cyprus, Crete, Libya, Jerba, and Carthage at the time of Jerusalem’s fall, some of them having been established, according to tradition, during the reigns of David and Solomon. Also dating from the period of David and Solomon was a tradition of Israelite commerce with the Phoenicians.

One hypothesis suggests that at least part of the colony that settled in America with Mulek was Phoenician, because the river Sidon, mentioned in the Book of Mormon, bears the name of the principal city of ancient Phoenicia, Sidon. Aided by Phoenician mariners and Hebrew colonists across the Mediterranean, Mulek’s group could have reached the Atlantic Ocean by traveling the length of the Mediterranean Sea. Once out on the Atlantic, Mulek would have entered into a powerful ocean current that sweeps southwestward from Spain and Portugal along the west coast of Africa, then veers westward across the Atlantic, continuing in an arc through the West Indies.

While the Christensens believe Mulek traveled this more direct route across the Atlantic, they have also considered the route around Africa and across the South Atlantic as another possibility.

A powerful ocean stream originates in the Indian Ocean in the vicinity of Madagascar, sweeps southward around the Cape of Good Hope, veers westward across the South Atlantic to a point on the north of the eastern tip of Brazil, and continues northward off the coast of South America until it merges with the current flowing across the North Atlantic. Thus, if a vessel were to embark on the Red Sea and hold course close to the eastern shore of Africa until it reached the vicinity of Madagascar, it could follow the currents to the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico.

Although twice as far as the Mediterranean route, this second possibility warrants consideration. It has been discovered that under orders of the Egyptian monarch Neccho II, Phoenician sailors in about 600 B.C. voyaged around the entire continent of Africa, and this was 2100 years before the same feat was accomplished by Vasco de Gama in 1498.

Another accomplishment about the time of the Mulekite voyage was an actual crossing of the Atlantic to America by Phoenician mariners who set sail in the Red Sea, taking the route around the Cape of Good Hope and across the South Atlantic to what is now Brazil. An ancient Phoenician inscription found at Paraiba, Brazil, sets the crossing between 534 and 531 B.C.

Hopewell in Illinois

If you're not following Greg Little on Twitter (X), you're missing lots of interesting posts. Here's another one:

Gregory L Little, Ed.D.

@DrGregLittle2

The Gramercy Park Mounds in East Dubuque, IL, AKA "Dunleith Mounds." There were 26 Hopewell Culture mounds in this 3-acre park. The 5th Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (1887) devoted several pages to their excavation. A skeleton over 7' in height was found along with other oddities.

Thruston tablet

The Thruston Tablet, found in Tennessee, is subject to a variety of interpretations.

Gregory L Little, Ed.D.

@DrGregLittle2

·

10h

Illustration of the Thruston Tablet. It is a (paraphrasing) "19 inch long, 15 inch wide, 1 inch thick slab of stone" found at Rocky Creek in Sumner County, Tennessee around 1878. From: Holmes 1891.

(click to enlarge)

Little is known about the dating of this piece, but here is one discussion of the various issues.

https://dnaconsultants.com/the-invention-of-the-cherokee-people/

Daniel H. Ludlow and the 2 sets of plates

An article by Daniel H. Ludlow reminded me of another evidence that Joseph translated two separate sets of plates.

https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/sites/default/files/archive-files/pdf/ludlow/2016-02-09/07_daniel_h._ludlow_the_title_page_2001.pdf

To summarize:

1. The abridged plates which Joseph took from Moroni's stone box and translated in Harmony. Before leaving Harmony, Joseph gave the abridged plates to the divine messenger who took those plates back to the Hill Cumorah. Joseph identified the messenger as one of the Three Nephites.

2. The small plates of Nephi which Joseph translated in Fayette after the messenger brought those plates from the repository in Cumorah. This messenger also showed those plates to Mary Whitmer, introducing himself as "Brother Nephi." 

[Unfortunately, Andrew Jensen, who compiled early Church history, assumed Mary was wrong and changed the narrative to read that it was Moroni who showed Mary the plates. Apparently Jensen didn't know that Joseph had identified the individual as one of the Three Nephites, or that David Whitmer had a conversation with both the messenger and with the actual Moroni and knew they were separate individuals. Nevertheless, to accommodate M2C which claims Cumorah is in southern Mexico, LDS scholars prefer the Jensen narrative, which is not only contrary to the historical records but also highly problematic from a doctrinal standpoint as it promotes the idea that resurrected beings (such as Moroni) can change their shape, age, and overall appearance to mislead mortals (such as by appearing as an old, short, overweight man).]

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Back to Ludlow.

In his article, Ludlow reminds us that Joseph Smith explained that "the title-page of the Book of Mormon is a literal translation, taken from the very last leaf... and that said title page is not by any means a modern composition."

Far from being words that appeared on a stone in the hat (SITH), the title page is "a literal translation" taken from a specific leaf of the plates.

Years ago at BYU Education Week, I head one of the educators discuss Church history and actually say, "We don't know how Joseph knew the Title Page was on the last leaf because he didn't even use the plates. They were covered by a cloth when he read the words off the stone in the hat."

That's how absurd the SITH narrative has become.

Ludlow also reminds us that the copyright application of 11 June 1829, and the setting of the type for the title page in "the forepart of June 1829" by Gilbert, both occurred while Joseph was still translating the plates of Nephi in Fayette. Because the Title Page was the last leaf of the plates Joseph had in Harmony, the plates he was translating in Fayette had to be a different set of plates; i.e., the small plates of Nephi that he did not have in Harmony.

The alternative view--that Joseph had the plates of Nephi all along--would require that Joseph did not translate the plates in sequence, that the directions in D&C 10 to translate the "plates of Nephi" were superfluous because he already had the plates, and that the discrepancies in the descriptions of the plates and the different accounts of how Joseph returned them will forever remain a mystery.

But people can believe whatever they want to believe.

_____

See the diagram of the two sets of plates here:

http://www.lettervii.com/p/the-two-sets-of-plates-schematic.html

Lehi's route

Readers of the Book of Mormon want to know how Lehi came to America. This little animation shows the most plausible route, which happens to also be the only one validated by an actual crossing using technology from 600 BC.

The Book of Mormon is a simple, direct narrative that is easy to understand when we heed the text, the teachings of the prophets, and the extrinsic evidence.

The coming forth of the Book of Mormon

The title of this blog, Letter VII, refers to the seventh of eight essays about Church history written by Oliver Cowdery in 1835 when he was the Assistant President of the Church (an office that ranked higher than the counselors in the First Presidency).

In Joseph Smith's day, these 8 essays were the best-known history of the Church. Oliver wrote from personal knowledge, with the assistance of Joseph Smith. He published them over several months as letters in the Messenger and Advocate in Kirtland in 1834-5. Joseph had his scribes copy the essays into his own journal as part of his life story. (See link below.)

Oliver wrote the essays with the express assistance of Joseph Smith. For example, Oliver mentioned that Joseph couldn't tell him exactly what time it was when Moroni first visited, but it was after everyone had gone to bed. Oliver described Moroni's appearance, Joseph's frame of mind when he first went to the Hill Cumorah, how the stone box was constructed, and many more important details.

In 1840, Joseph asked his brother Don Carlos to re-publish the essays in the Times and Seasons in Nauvoo. He gave Benjamin Winchester permission to re-publish them in the Gospel Reflector, which was Winchester's newspaper in Philadelphia. Parley P. Pratt also re-published them in the Millennial Star in England. Also in England, the essays were published as a separate pamphlet that sold thousands of copies.

An excerpt from Letter I was canonized as the note to JS-History in the Pearl of Great Price.

In Utah, Joseph F. Smith republished the essays in the Improvement Era.

However, most modern Latter-day Saints have never even heard of these important essays. Few have read them. 

_____

Latter-day Saints frequently ask why they haven't heard of these essays before. It is easy to understand why certain prominent LDS scholars downplay these essays. Oliver Cowdery explicitly reaffirmed the dual facts that (i) Joseph Smith translated the record with the Urim and Thummim and (ii) the Hill Cumorah of Mormon 6:6 is the same hill where Joseph found the plates. 

Readers of this blog recognize the implications. In these essays, Joseph and Oliver explicitly repudiated both SITH (the stone-in-the-hat theory of translation) and M2C (the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory of geography).

Consequently, those who promote SITH and M2C prefer that Latter-day Saints don't even know about these essays, let alone read them.

I find it ridiculous and counterproductive to suppress authentic, accurate Church historical documents, especially documents written by Joseph and Oliver that were so widely published at Joseph's direction. But modern LDS scholars have somehow rationalized their censorship.

Fortunately, the Joseph Smith Papers have preserved Joseph's journals so we can all read them there. 

_____

Letter IV relates the visit of Moroni. It's well worth reading in full, but here's an excerpt from this link:

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/68

Notice that Moroni told Joseph from the outset that the record was "written and deposited" not far from Joseph's home in Palmyra. IOW, we've known all along that it was not written in Mesoamerica and transported thousands of miles to western New York.

"written and deposited not far from that place"
(click to enlarge)

This should be a given, but our M2C scholars have managed to obfuscate and confuse people by suppressing this account of what Moroni said.

Therefore, marvle not if your name is made a derission, and had as a by-word among such, if you are the instrument in bringing it, by the gift of God, to the knowledge of the people.”

He then proceeded and gave a general account of the promises made to the fathers, and also gave a history of the aborigenes of this country, and said they were literal descendants of Abraham. He represented them as once being an enlightned and intelligent people, possessing a correct knowledge of the gospel, and the plan of restoration and redemption. He said this history was written and deposited not far from that place, and that it was our brother’s privilege, if obedient to the commandments of the Lord, to obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record.

Because this fits so well with the first week of Come Follow Me, be sure to share it with everyone you know.