True Test of Prophets and Religion

August 20, 2011

John,

Thank you for the DVD. I also enjoyed our conversation and I appreciate your thoughtful study, prayer and concern. As you focus on “God's word” for guidance, I would caution you about what other “anti-Mormon” sources you rely upon for information. Many of these sources contain much misinformation and half-truths. I thoughtfully watched the DVD and made a few notes. The DVD warns about “cognitive dissonance” and seems to try to diagnose LDS as suffering from some kind of mental disorder. I believe that we should beware of false arguments like we should beware of false prophets.

BOOK OF MORMON TESTIFIES OF THE BIBLE

First, to answer your question, “is the Bible inerrant or not?” Yes, the Bible is inerrant. To support this belief, let's read what the Book of Mormon actually says about the Bible. This is the part the DVD producers failed to include.

In this first example, we see at the opening of the Book of Mormon, God reaffirms His pattern of revelation. God has a plan for the salvation of His Children and revels that plan to prophets who record His word in scripture. A prophet Lehi is commanded of God to preach repentance to the people at Jerusalem. God then warns Lehi that he must flee Jerusalem or be killed. Nephi has faith in his Father, and seeks a his own spiritual witness through prayer after reasoning things out. While on their way out of town, Lehi sends his sons back to retrieve the family Bible from a wealthy yet wicked relative so that they could carry the laws, commandments, and covenants of God with them to their new home. After retrieving what is called, the Brass Plates; Lehi prophesies that those words [Old Testament] would go forth to all nations and that they would not “be dimmed any more by time.”

1Nephi 5:18-19 That these plates of brass [Old Testament] should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed. Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many things concerning his seed.

The DVD uses the Great Isaiah Scroll, which dates to 100 BC, as a proof against the Book of Mormon. In actual fact, the Great Isaiah Scroll is a vindication and validation of the prophecy by Lehi. Whether you believe this prophecy in the Book of Mormon was made by Lehi 600 BC or by Joseph Smith in 1830 AD, the prophecy predicts that the Old Testament would go forth to all nations undimmed from 600 BC. Now we have the Great Isaiah scroll that supports the Book of Mormon claim that the Old Testament books that we possess today has not changed significantly since at least 100 BC.

Next we can read in the Book of Mormon what Lehi's son, Nephi, says about the Old Testament. Nephi does not say that there is anything “corrupt” about the Bible. On the contrary, Nephi clearly says that the Old Testament would come from the Jews to the Gentiles “in purity.” And again, Nephi rightly predicts that although the portion of the Old Testament we would have would be “pure”, some books and prophecies would be missing. Several notable examples of lost books include the Book of Jasher and the Book of Enoch.

1Nephi 13:23-25 And he said: Behold it [Old Testament] proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew. And I, Nephi, beheld it; and he said unto me: The book [Old Testament] that thou beholdest is a record of the Jews, which contains the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many; nevertheless, they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles. . . 25 Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God.

Now, here is part of Nephi's prophesy that the DVD does discuss:

1Ne 13:29 —because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them.

In context, when one considers the many lost books of the Bible, the pseudo-pigripha, the Apocrypha, the example of the “Comma Johanneum,” the hundreds of Bible translations, and the innumerable ways in which people interpret the Bible; it is not difficult to see how Nephi's prophecy accurately describes our lack of a “unity of faith” in the Last Day (Eph 4:11-13).

Joseph Smith, by request, wrote to John Wentworth of the Chicago Democrat a series of articles of faith detailing some of the core LDS beliefs. The 8^th article of faith declares that the LDS believe that “the Bible is the word of God as far as it is translated correctly”. Or it could also be said, “interpreted correctly.” This statement is in no way demeaning or degrading the Bible, but is a commentary on the reality of how perception and tradition shape what is considered the “generally accepted” or “scholarly accepted” interpretation of the Bible. There is nothing “corrupt” about the Bible. What has been corrupted is our understanding of it and our living it.

ALMA AND JERUSALEM

The DVD goes on to attack Alma's prophecy that Jesus Christ would be born “at Jerusalem, which is the land of our forefathers” instead of specifying Bethlehem exactly.

Alma 7:10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.

Despite the DVD's appeal to authority, I am not sure what the big deal here is. When people ask me where I am from, I say “Augusta, GA.” I usually do not specify Evans exactly unless they are familiar with the area. And this is in spite of the fact that the city of Martinez lies in between Evans and Augusta. The scholar's reaction to Alma's prophecy stems from an assumption that most people are familiar with the specific geography of Israel. However, this was not the case with the Nephites. Nephi tells us that he did not teach his children “after the manner of the things of the Jews.” Therefore, in reality, Alma saying that Jesus would be born “at [the land of] Jerusalem” is more of an internal consistency and not a false prophecy.

2 Nephi 25:5-6 Yea, and my soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah, for I came out from Jerusalem, and mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews, and I know that the Jews do understand the things of the prophets, and there is none other people that understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews. But behold, I, Nephi, have not taught my children after the manner of the Jews; but behold, I, of myself, have dwelt at Jerusalem, wherefore I know concerning the regions round about; and I have made mention unto my children concerning the judgments of God, which hath come to pass among the Jews, unto my children, according to all that which Isaiah hath spoken, and I do not write them.

JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION

The DVD criticizes Joseph Smith for his attempt at translating the Bible. While Joseph Smith never, considered this project complete, what is called the “Joseph Smith Translation” is not a translation in the scholarly sense. Joseph Smith did not have access to ancient texts. Instead, LDS consider Joseph Smith's translation more of an inspired commentary, which does not replace or supplant the King James Version.

Why would Joseph Smith feel to change the wording of verses? As time passes, the meaning of the words can change even if their translation does not. Faith is a good example. Today, the word 'faith' has become almost synonymous with the word 'hope.' People often say they have “faith” that their loved one will be healed from a terminal medical condition. However, what they really mean is that they are trying to “maintain hope.” Therefore, in preserving the original meaning and intent of the New Testament writers, Joseph Smith felt it necessary to emphasize that salvation through the grace of Christ involves both faith (belief) and works (action or obedience). It is also important to point out that Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the LDS Church recognize and testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ.

JOSEPH SMITH AND ZION

Doctrine and Covenants 84:4 records “Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation.” First, the word “shall” and not “will” means this is a command and not an immediate prediction. It is regrettably true that the Saints in that day were not faithful enough to obey this command. Consequently, the church in a sense is wandering in the dessert waiting a more faithful rising generation to realized the blessings of this prophecy. However, when one takes the time to read this command in context, Joseph Smith prophesies in D&C 58 that the wicked would criticize the Saints inability to fulfill God's commandments as unfulfilled prophecy.

D&C 58:31-33 Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled? I command and men obey not; I revoke and they receive not the blessing. Then they say in their hearts: This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled. But wo unto such, for their reward lurketh beneath, and not from above.

Second, “in this generation” was said in the same spirit as Matt 24:34. Here Christ foretold many signs which would mark both the destruction of the Temple as well as the Last Day. However, Christ said that all these signs would be fulfilled in “this generation.” The phrase, “In this generation” is found throughout the D&C; and in every case this phrase is used in a broader sense: D&C 6:8, 11:22, 10:33, 11:8, 84:31,

DISTRACTION

While it is important to not cast Logic out the window, these anti-Mormon propaganda “hit” pieces are carefully crafted tools of the devil to divert you from doing a productive and truthful investigation of the Book of Mormon. Instead of reading the Book of Mormon and focusing on what the Book of Mormon teaches, this DVD distracts you from the true message of the Book of Mormon that Jesus is the Christ.

COVENANT RELATIONSHIP

The Bible equates the sin of Idolatry with Adultery. Pornography and Infidelity like false religion have become a terrible plague that is destroying marriages and families. And it is this demoralization that has led to our complete ideological subversion away from Constitutional principles of self government and personal responsibility. Fixing this nation must begin with a return to traditional family and moral values.

Just like the days of Isaiah and Micah, people are attracted to false prophets and teachers because those teachers do not make the same moral demands, nor do they have the same high expectations that a covenant relationship with God requires. Most people have an inherent appetite for spirituality as well as intimacy. However, many will settle for a counterfeit version if the path appears easier. When it comes to a marriage relationship, the Internet is rarely ever sick or too tired, and never expects you to help wash the dishes. In the same way, many faiths let people go through the motions of religious observance without empowering them to keep the high standards of righteousness a true relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ requires. Paul details these standards in 1 Cor 5:11 (1 Cor 5:7-12).

The end of the DVD talks about freedom. But what the presenter means is freedom from God's high expectations and freedom from any moral requirements. Yes, Christ accepts us as we are (justification), but he doesn't leave us that way (sanctification). Remember the story of the rich young man? This parable reveals the covenant requirements for sanctification and exaltation. “If thou will be perfect [sanctification], sell all that thou hast, give to the poor, and come and follow me [consecration].”

For me, being LDS helps me and my family live the gospel of Jesus Christ better then any other religion. The LDS allows me to consecrate myself to God and empowers be to live up to the high covenant expectations and moral requirements that a relationship with our Heavenly Father requires. Lastly, the Bible promises that those who add or subtract from scripture will suffer the plagues detailed in the Book of Revelation. Thus far, living the LDS faith has saved me any my family from numerous spiritual and temporal plagues and pitfalls. Part of true religion is its ability to “care for the fatherless and widows” and to keep us “unspotted from the world”. This is another critical test of true religion.

Your brother in Christ,

Notes on Genetics and the Book of Mormon

Some people out there still falsely claim that modern Native American mtDNA studies absolutely refute and entirely disprove the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, these claims arise from the incorrect interpretation of scientific data and then inappropriate application to the Book of Mormon.

mtDNA stands for mitochondrial DNA. Turns out that mitochondria contain a small bit of DNA and the cool thing about this DNA is that it is entirely maternally derived. There is no recombination with paternal DNA at all because sperm doesn't have mitochondria, only the egg does. The consequence of this is that you can more easily trace genetic ancestry back through time to its origins.

Normal Chromosomal DNA in the nucleus of each cell is a mixture of mom and dad's DNA which occurs during miosis through a process called recombination. Recombination is the mechanism that makes us all genetically unique. Conversely, maternally derived mtDNA and paternally derived Y-Chromosomal DNA are passed on from parent to child virtually unchanged except for the occasional random mutation. This makes things much easier to track. Even the random mutation is useful as it serves as a sort of biological clock which allows geneticists the ability to determine who came before who. Assigning a specific date is quite another challenge.

Some early geneticists were interested in using mtDNA techniques to determine the origins of the Native Americans. So, a group of scientists gathered data from different groups of Native Americans as well as from a collection of pre-Columbian mummies. These scientists also collected mtDNA from other groups in Siberia, Mongolia, and around the world and determined that the Asian groups and the Native American groups shared common mtDNA sequences which they named haplogroups A,B,C, and D. Geneticists consider these 4 Haplogroups to be founding Native American mtDNA haplogroups from Asian origin and not from the Middle East. A handful of people looked at this data and said "ah ha, this proves once and for all the Book of Mormon is a fraud!"

But then other researchers who together with the first researchers really could care less about the Book of Mormon, and continued to do mtDNA studies. And, it soon came out that the original work missed an important mtDNA founding haplogroup. This founding haplogroup is more rare but definitely there and definately important. Geneticists gave this rouge founding mtDNA haplogroup the name Haplogroup X (X2e to be specific). This mtDNA is found around the Great Lakes Region in Canada to a high percentage and it just so happens that there is another population in that exhibits Haplogroup X2 to a very high percentage. This group is known as the Druze, and it just so happens that this group lives in none other than Northern Israel. Now the Druze are not the source of the X2, but are considered a refugium or repository of X2 which is believed to have been derived from the people of Northern Israel at the time the Druze settled the area about 1000ad. X2 is found in a very high percentage among the Druze because of a more modern tradition and practice of intermarriage (not inbreeding).

There is a problem with making a link between Great Lake Native American mtDNA and Druze mtDNA, and that is that some scientists think that the genetic information left the Middle East and arrived in America almost 10-15,000 years ago. However, if your a Christian, I hope you would never use this argument because you would have to explain why you suddenly believe that man lived on the Earth before Adam and Eve who lived only 4000bc.

But then again, scientists at MIT who could care less about Adam looked at the assumptions built into how other geneticists determine time via random mtDNA mutation and created a new model correcting for non-random mutation and determined that the Earliest Common Ancestor or Mitochondrial Eve could have lived just 2000bc.

Another problem with assuming random and constant mtDNA mutation is the same problem that C14-Dating has. Thanks to recent Global Warming and Evironmental Science, we now know what some of us always knew that C14-Dating is wrong and that the rate of C14 isotope generation is not constant. The C14 isotope is a product of the amount of Cosmic Rays striking the Earth from Interstellar Space. And the rate of Cosmic Rays striking the Earth is inversely proportional to the strength of the Solar Wind and Solar Cycle. Since we know this is a cycle, we now realize, I hope, that C14/C13 ratios are not static nor are they at a steady state. Therefore, the way C14 and other radio-isotopic dating techniques determine dates is wrong. The important thing here with regard to mtDNA mutation is the same Cosmic Rays that make C14 and other isotopes are the same particles that are responsible for a majority of mtDNA mutation.

Now, I don't want to make the same mistake as Book of Mormon critics do by using mtDNA data to support the Book of Mormon. The Data doesn't. My point in bringing this up is to explain the complexities involved in the data, and many of the assumptions behind the conclusions. As I see it, at this current time, mtDNA data shouldn't be used at all for or against the Book of Mormon. If you want to know if the Book of Mormon is Holy Scripture by God about Jesus Christ, then you must read it and pray and ask God seeking spiritual enlightenment via the Holy Ghost. This is the only way God has given to know at this time.

1. When the Nephites arrived there were Jaredites already here.
2. Jaredites came from the Middle East but likely passed through Asia on the way.
3. The barges could have followed the land up the coast of Japan and Siberia along the Bearing Straight to Alaska and then down the California Coast.
4. We know that Coriantumr lived to see the Mulekites.
5. Mulek from Judah likely hitched a ride on a Phoenician boat and who knows what DNA came along with him.
6. We really don't know what ancient 10 Tribes of Israel DNA from 600 bc looks like. modern Jewish mtDNA and Y is mixed from Europe and Khazar Russia (Altai Republic), and even the Cohen Haplotype is suspect.
7. We dont know what ancient Nephite DNA looks like
8. All we know is what current Jewish DNA looks like compared to several pre-Columbian Mummies and modern native americans which tells us nothing about a comparison of ancient American to ancient Israel.
9. The Book of Mormon itself says only a "remnant of [the Nephite] seed" would persist into the Last Days. Therefore, we should not expect a majority of Native American DNA to come from the Middle East. Additionally, the Nephites as a people were destroyed by genocide and the Book of Mormon refers to Native Americans as Lamanites not Nephites. The significance of this title as Lamanites is that the Book of Mormon infers that the Lamanites intermarried with the natives from the beginning and were never genetically pure.
10. Haplogroup X comes from Northern Israel and not via Asia. Altai Republic X got there a different way, maybe the by the Khazars?
11. Iceland study shows us that modern mtDNA can be the product of just a few mtDNA sources just a few hundred years ago.
12. Jewish geneticist state that if 1 intermarriage happens every 10 years among 100 persons, then the admixture of DNA would represent >30% DNA in just 800 years. http://www.jogg.info/11/coffman.htm
13. Native American populations went through a severe bottleneck event upon the arrival of Europeans and smallpox and other infectious diseases.
14. When the Book of Mormon says the Jaredites were destroyed, it means their civilization was destroyed, it does not mean very last person was annihilated such that they became extinct.
(read Hugh Nibley's "There Were Jaredites")

Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon

Hebraisms are grammatical forms in a translation that make more sense in Hebrew than in English. The Book of Mormon contains many of them. How did Joseph Smith know to include them?

"And it Came to Pass"
"Wherever he found his speech growing too modern -- which was about every sentence or two -- he ladled in a few such Scriptural phrases as "exceeding sore," "and it came to pass," etc., and made things satisfactory again. 'And it came to pass' was his pet. If he had left that out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet." -- Mark Twain

The present edition of the Book of Mormon contains the phrase "it came to pass" 1297 times. However, this phrase also occurs 457 times in the KJV of the Old Testament. The phrase is translated into English from a single Hebrew word, hâyâh, which means "now it happened." The Hebrew Old Testament has 1114 occurrences of the word hâyâh. Most of these have either been ignored or reduced to simply "and."

Chiasmus- In English when we transmit a thought we usually tend to open our thought with an introductory thesis statement, then we support the thesis with supporting arguments, and then we conclude restating the thesis. Therefore it can be said that when western writers write, we tell you what we are going to say, say what we are going to say, and then tell you again what we just just said.

Ancient Hebrew writers did not use the thesis, body, conclusion pattern. Ancient Hebrews conveyed ideas using a list of supporting arguments and then rewrote the same list of arguments in the exact reverse order [ABCCBA]. The focal point or thesis statement would be placed as the central argument in this poetic form. This form is known as chiasmus and The Book of Mormon is loaded with Chiasmus.

Examples of Chiasmus in the Bible: Isaiah 6:10, Isaiah 2:3-5, Psalms 124:7
Examples of Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon: Mosiah 3:18-19, Mosiah 5:10-12, Alma 36, Alma 34:9.

Compound Prepositions: "from before": 3 Ne. 9: 5, 7-9, 11, 1 Ne. 4: 28, 30, 1 Ne. 11: 12, 29, Morm. 2: 24-25, Morm. 4: 20, 22, 1 Ne. 20: 19, 2 Ne. 9: 8, Mosiah 17: 4, Alma 2: 32, Alma 44: 12, 3 Ne. 4: 12, Ether 13: 22, Moro. 9: 15; "and also": 1 Nephi 8:3.

Colophon: Statement by the author at the beginning or the end of a piece stating that he is the author of the work. 1 Nephi 1:1, Enos 1:1, Jacob 7:26.

Construct State of Nouns vs. Possessives: River of Water, Rod of Iron, Works of Darkness, Name of the Lord, Kingdom of God, Sword of Laban, Plates of Brass, Temple of Solomon, Land of Promise, etc.

Repetition of the Definitive Article for each noun in a list: 2 Nephi 5:10.

Cognitive Accusative: work a marvelous work, judge righteous judgment, curse them with a sore cursing, dreamed a dream, yoketh them with a yoke, build buildings, tax with a tax, etc.

Many "ands": 1 Samuel 17:34-35 vs. Alma 46:12-13

"If", "and" Conditional Clauses vs. "if", "then": 1 Ne. 17:50 (corrected before publication in 1830), Moroni 10:4 (1830 ed.) Hel 12:13-21 (1830 ed.), 2 Nephi 31:20 (1830 ed.).

2 Nephi 31:20 Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: And ye shall have eternal life ("And" removed by Joseph Smith in 1837 ed.).

Simile Curses and Oaths: Associating a physical object with a curse or oath. Mosiah 12:3, Mosiah 12:11, Alma 46:22, 3 Nephi 4:28-29, Alma 44:12-15.

Poetic Parallelisms: Synonymous Parallelism:2 Nephi 25:2, Antithetic Parallelism: 1 Nephi 17:45, Repeated Alternate Parallelism: 1Nephi 19:10.

Prepositional Phrases vs. Adverbs: with harshness, with joy, with gladness, with patience, with diligence, in righteousness, in the spirit, of worth, of a surety.

Book of Mormon Names: Hebrew Names found in Elephantine Papyrus and Dead Sea Scrolls: Alma, Sariah, names with -iah endings and not -jahu. Other Hebrew Name: Mosiah = Redeeming Savior, Mulek = King. Phonetician (Greek) Names: Laconeus, Timothy, Jonus, Sidon, Egyptian Names: Nephi, Pahoran, Paanchi Pacumeni, Nahom, and Deseret = red crown of the honeybee.

FARMS Article on Book of Mormon Names.

Ancient Origin of the Word Deseret

2: 3 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.

Some critics of the Book of Mormon point to the use of the word "deseret" as a clear mistake by Joseph Smith in his attempt to pass off the Book of Mormon as authentic ancient scripture. The Book of Mormon was described as being written in a Reformed Egyptian script. And it turns out that deseret or "dsrt" is an Ancient Egyptian word. Unfortunately, modern Egyptologists translate the word "dsrt" to mean "red crown" and not "honeybee" as the Book of Mormon states. Furthermore, the Egyptian word for bee is "bt". Well, many critics would like to leave the argument right there. But, as you might have guessed, there is much more to the story.

It turns out that the "red crown" of the Lower Kingdom has another name. And that other name has to do with what they crown represents and not just what color it is. What is that name? You guessed it, the red crown of the Lower Kingdom is referred to as the "bee crown". The crown even has a thin antenna like protrusion in the front representing the antenna of a honeybee. In fact, when the Lower and Upper Egypt were later unified, the King of Egypt wore a double crown which was a combination of the "white crown" or "sedge crown" of Upper Egypt and the "red crown" or "bee crown" of Lower Egypt.

Early Pharaohs in Egypt were commonly shown with 2 crowns, representing Upper and Lower Egypt. The 2 crowns are the white crown of the sedge representing Upper Egypt and the red crown of the bee representing Lower Egypt. Therefore the title of the Pharaoh "nswt-bity" means the "King of Upper and Lower Egypt", or literally "he of the sedge and the bee". Therefore, I believe the crown was originally named for what it represented and not just by the redness of its color. Therefore, I believe the red crown of Lower Egypt is more correctly referred to as the "bee crown" and not the "red crown".

In fact, the word "bt" is found in many places to refer to the "red crown" and the glyph for the word "bt" actually looks like a honeybee while the glyph for "dsrt" just looks like a simplified picture of the "red crown". Therefore, some may argue that "dsrt" must only refer to the crown's redness while the word "bt" referrs to the crown's bee-ness. Well, if that is true, then for the Book of Mormon to keep its hopes alive whe need to demonstrate that at some point the word and glyph "bt" for bee replaced the word and "dsrt" and its associated glyph.

How can I prove that "dsrt" was replaced by the word and glyph "bt"? I can't. But some other smart people may be able to. Alan Gardiner, in Egyptian Grammar, states that "dsrt", was used to replace 'bt' in two Egyptian titles referring to the King of Lower Egypt. Thus, the title n-sw-bt was sometimes written as n-sw-dsrt, which literally means "He who belongs to the sedge plant (of Upper Egypt) and to the bee (of Lower Egypt)." This substitution of 'bt' for 'dsrt' has led Nibley (another smart person) to associate the Egyptian word "dsrt" and the Book of Mormon word Deseret.

("dsrt" and "bt")

("n-sw-dsrt" and "n-sw-bt")

Why is the honeybee such a powerful symbol to the Early Egyptians? Well, Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Abraham together with what we know about Egyptian history gives us another clue. The Book of Abraham refers to Abraham's visit to Egypt on his way to Canaan. Before Abraham describes the details of what happens to his wife and him in Egypt, Abraham comments that Egypt was named after Egyptus the daughter of Ham, who bestowed the kingship over Egypt upon her son Pharaoh. Now, Egyptus is a more modern Greek-derived name. Therefore, the name "Egyptus" and "Pharaoh" in the Book of Abraham are considered anachronisms since the origin of term "Egypt" is likely to have come from another source much later in history from the time of the narrative described in the Book of Abraham. But, the point of Abraham's story is not what the daughter of Ham was named, but that the authority of kingship of Pharaoh was maternally derived. Consequently, what Abraham is explaining telling us this detail together with the fact that Egypt and the sons of Ham were cursed or denied the priesthood of God, was that the ruling authority of Early Ancient Egypt was by matriarchal succession. This may be why the symbol of the bee is strongly associated with the King, the crown, and the territory of the Lower Kingdom. The bee is a powerful example of a matriarchal order in nature.

Another point here is that we need to beware that when we translate a word we do not just translate what the word means based on how the word is used today, but that we translate the word based on how it was used and what it meant at the time it was actually written. Words change meaning, and common words get replaced by other words all the time. With a Kingdom like Egypt which has been around since the Flood, it is not a stretch to assume the meaning of words has evolved over time. Therefore, it is very likely the word "dsrt" was at some point replaced by the word "bt".

Today, we call the "dsrt crown" the "red crown" because it is red and that is what stands out most to us. However, to an Ancient Egyptian, I bet they didn't call the "dsrt crown" the "red crown", I bet they called it the "bee crown" because I think the crown is more visually associated with a bee (notice the antenna) than just its color. At some point a new word and glyph "bt" for "bee" likely replaced the word and glyph "dsrt" for bee. This could easily happen. I imagine in the beginning the Egyptians used the common word and glyph "dsrt" for the king and his red bee crown as well as to refer to the common honeybee. But I image that out of respect for the king, the people chose another word and glyph to use in daily life for the honeybee. After a while, it is very probable the people started using the new common word "bt" for bee to refer to the king also.

But finally, there is another important point here that we must not forget. The word "deseret" here may not be intended to represent the actual Reformed Egyptian word for bee. Yes, the Book of Mormon was written in a Reformed Egyptian writing, but the context in which the word is used suggests Moroni ,who is traslating the Jaredite record, is telling us what the Jaredites themselves called the honeybee and not the Egyptians. And since the Jaredites came from the tower of Babel and didn't have their languages confounded, they didn't speak Egyptian but likely spoke the original language of Adam. Therefore, the fact that Egypt borrowed the word "dsrt" which is not exactly interpreted today as honeybee does not cause not much of a problem for the Book of Mormon. On the other hand, the tight association with the word "dsrt" and the "bee crown of the Lower Kingdom" is an interesting convergence that Joseph Smith could have never guessed.

Where are the Nephites?

Many critics of the Book of Mormon complain that if the book is true, there should be evidence of the people described in the book. The book describes battles involving hundreds of thousands of people, and an advanced economic, linguistic and religious culture. So, on the surface you would expect to find evidence of this culture all over. But that is not the whole story.

The Book of Mormon is an ethnocentric book. That is, the authors didn't think it important to tell you the details of the majority culture and events around them because in their view, those details didn't matter. The people of God have never been the majority. But from the text we are given enough small details here and there to get a sense for the geopolitical position the Nephites were in.

When the Nephites arrived in America, they were not the only people here. In fact, it appears they are an ethnic minority. From the beginning of their expansion in the New World, we see the Lehites separate into the Nephites and Lamanites, and we get the impression that Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael adopt the hunting-gathering, and bloodthirsty culture of the indigenous peoples already there. It is also apparent that the Lamanites intermarry with the indigenous peoples. And it seems from the beginning that the Lamanites always had a numerical advantage over the Nephites, but the Nephites held the technological and spiritual advantage over the Lamanites.

But then we see the learning, agriculture, and technological advances of the Nephites adopted by the Lamanites. We see cultural and religious decenters from the Nephites leave to live among the Lamanites. And then by the end of the Book of Mormon we see a technically advanced and barbaric apocalyto-like Lamanite culture wage a war of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Nephites until they become extinct and disappear completely from the New World.

So, seeing how the ethnic minority Nephites were the victims of genocide, it is not surprising that archaeologists have a hard time finding remnants of the Nephite civilization among the conquering apocalypto-like Maya. So, while we don't see direct evidence of Nephite cities and monuments, we do see a series of geographic, historical, and demographic correlations and convergences in meso-America with the Book of Mormon.

Here are a few details that interesting in the Book of Mormon:
1. Ammon cuts off arms of the Lamanite attackers with his sword and those arms are brought to the king as trophies. Typical western swords are used to pierce the chest or abdomen and not necessarily to decapitate or sever limbs from the body. However, in Maya culture the obsidian war club is designed for just such a purpose. It is a common sight in Maya art to see a warrior depicted with a shrunken head of a great advasary hanging like a pendant from a necklace.

2. The Anti-Nephi-Lehi's feel great guilt for participation in the Lamanite culture, they consider a burial of their swords a significant gesture, demonstrating that they have forsaken that culture. So, their particular swords must be a ritually important part of the culture they are forsaking. And they also say they wish that their swords not be stained with blood any more. A steel sword could never be stained by blood, but a ritual maya obsidian war club would stain.

3. When Ammon asks the king of the Lamanites if he believes in God, Ammon explains that God lives in heaven and the king says he does not know what "heaven" means. Then Ammon explains that heaven is above the Earth and that God lives there with His angels and looks down on all the children of men. The significance of this detail is that the Maya believed that all their gods lived under the Earth.

4.Sherem is a man that was said to have lived "among" the Nephites. That is an unusual thing to say instead of naming him either a Nephite or a Lamanite. The account in Jacob then goes on to stress that Sherem had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people. Well if he were a Nephite, then he would have automatically had a perfect knowledge of the language. The only reasonable conclusion here is that Sherem was not a Nephite or Lamanite and Nephite was a second language.

5.When the Lamanites go against the Anti-Lehi-Nephi's, the Anti-Lehi-Nephi's do not fight but prostrate themselves before the attacking Lamanites and submit to death instead of defending themselves before their unconverted brothers. In response to this submission, many additional Lamanites become converted, but the rest decide to go to the neighboring city of Ammonihah to destroy it and take prisoners. Now, why go to all the bother of attacking Ammonihah? That is because to install a king after a battle requires human sacrifice according to Maya culture. So, it makes sense that the Lamanites would have to attack another city and obtain captives from them to fulfill the ritual requirements of their religion.

Problem with Jaredites?

I saw a video on YouTube the other day criticizing the Book of Mormon over the perceived absurdity of the Jaredite ocean crossing to America. The critic indicated that part of the reason he could not take the Book of Mormon seriously was the implausibility of the Jaredite ocean crossing. According to the Book of Mormon about 22 people crossed the ocean to the Americas in 344 days in 8 barges. According to the critic, he thought that at 10mph the Jaredites would have been able to circumnavigate the globe 3 1/2 times in that time span. Also the critic thought it absurd that the account said there were about 22 people. He said that after 344 days shouldn't someone have enough time to get a head count. He also questioned the apparent lack of bathroom facilities as well as the wisdom of traveling with honeybees.

1. Speed of Journey: the assumption that a barge should travel even close to 10 mph without sails is an incorrect assumption. The swiftest ocean currents flow at 3-4 knots. Barges would travel even slower because of inertial drag. The fastest racing sailboats to this day have not averaged 10 mph when crossing the ocean.
2. Sanitation Concerns: 22 people with animals on small barges creates sanitation issues. Because the Jaredites arrived in America together, it's not a stretch to assume the barges were connected together by ropes making transfer from one barge to another easy. Therefore it would also be reasonable to assume animals and cargo were stored in certain barges and people in another. Additionally we must remember that the barges had watertight doors on top and bottom. If you stop the top door and open the bottom, water does not rush in and displace the air because the air cannot escape. Therefore what this creates it a "moonpool" in the bottom of the barge which would serve very effectively for waste elimination and fishing.
3. Head Count: the critic doesn't like that the book of Ether says there were about 22 souls in the barges. What the critic forgets is that neither the Brother of Jared, nor Ether wrote the Book of Ether in the Book of Mormon which contains this account. Ether was a summary of the Jaredite Plates by Moroni who is the son of Mormon who lived thousands of years after the event. It is probable the account written second-hand by Ether listed names but didn't give an exact headcount. Moroni also says children were born en route which could also explain why he says there were "about" 22 souls.
4. Honeybees: lastly the critic of the Jaredites had a problem with them possibly taking honeybees with them. In his mind he pictured a journey lasting 344 days without bathroom facilities, animal and human excrement all over, violent storms constantly tipping the barges over and over, with swarms of angry stinging honeybees aboard. However, what the critic overlooks is that native-American species of honeybees are stingerless. Only after Europeans arrived did they bring over the familiar stinging European honeybee because it had been developed to produce more honey. Search for "melipona" for more info on the American stingless honeybee.

The Temple in the Book of Mormon

Many fail to see the temple and the endowment in scripture because they are too focused on the parable and ritual instead of the meaning behind it. Truth is the temple endowment is all over the Book of Mormon and even though the story and the symbols change, the underlying message remains the same.

Mark 4: 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

Mysteries are "hidden manna" or teachings that God chooses to teach His people using symbols, parables, and ritual so that the wicked fail to understand them because they fail to give "heed and diligence" to understanding them. The lessons taught in the temple are akin to Christ telling His people a parable. Again, Mysteries are "hidden manna" taught by Christ to His people in parables, or ritual symbolism.

1 Ne. 1: 1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

Nephi says that He has been given a great knowledge of the mysteries or "hidden knowledge" of God.

1 Ne. 2: 16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.
1 Ne. 10: 19 For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.

Nephi was then shown the vision of the Tree of Life which was his endowment. All the basic aspects of the temple endowment are given to Nephi through his vision of the tree of life.

2 Ne. 5: 16 And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.

Nephi builds a temple after the order of the Law of Moses and the Lesser Priesthood.

Mosiah 2: 9 And these are the words which he spake and caused to be written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.

The people of Nephi are gathered around the temple and King Benjamin says he will reveal the mysteries of God the people gathered at the temple.

Mosiah 5: 2,6-11 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. . . . And now, these are the words which king Benjamin desired of them; and therefore he said unto them: Ye have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant. And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. . . .... I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives. .... I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you.

The people of Nephi at the temple recieve a group endowment and enter into the higher covenant of sanctification. These people are born again, become sons and daughters of God, and are given the new name.

Alma 12: 9-10 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.

Mysteries are only to be given as God directs and according to God's will.

3 Nephi 20-26
3 Nephi 24:16-18 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard; and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
3 Nephi 26:19 And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every man dealing justly, one with another.

3 Nephi is the ultimate example of a group endowment administered by Christ himself and a renewal of His covenant with His people. All the fundamental aspects of the endowement are present. The people gather at the temple and accept and become witness of Christ, are purified and then are given bread to eat from Christ himself. Jesus Christ reestablishes and renews the covenants and reveals who the people are, their part in the plan, the whole plan of salvation is laid out, and the people are given commandments such as tithing to observe and consecration seeing how the people live with "all things in common" and the people are promised rewards to be known as a son "in that day when I make up my jewels" or the same"white stone with the new name", that John in Revelation speaks of.

When God appears to Moses in the Pearl of Great Price is another example of the endowment being given in the scriptures.

The amazing point here is that while many critics of the LDS Church claim that Joseph Smith plagiarized the LDS endowment from Masonry, it is marvelous that all the fundamental elements of the endowment are demonstrated over and over again in the Book of Mormon long before Joseph Smith was acquainted at all with Masonry. Yes, Masonry did influence Joseph Smith to ask questions about certain aspects of the endowment, but the endowment was represented again and again in the Book of Mormon long before Joseph Smith new anything about Masonry.

Book of Mormon Warfare

Morgan Deane has a degree in Military warfare and an interest in Napoleonic tactics. He writes a blog entitled Warfare and the Book of Mormon. The following is a brief email exchange where Bro. Deane gives an excellent comparison between warfare tactics described in the Book of Mormon with tactics taught and used by world military powers in the 1830's when the Book of Mormon was published.

Dear Morgan,

I was just reading your bio on Blogger about having a degree in Military History and a interest in Napoleonic warfare. I have long had a question in my mind about Book of Mormon warfare and I think you might be just the person to answer it for me.

The few books I have read on the civil war such as "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg" seemed to suggest that the tactics used in the Civil War were mainly based on Napoleonic tactics. These books seemed to use this conclusion to explain why General Lee engaged (Pickens Charge) the entrenched Union at Gettysburg instead of pulling back as Gen Longstreet recommended and meeting the Union on their terms.

In comparing the tactics of the Civil War and the "stratagem" used by Captain Moroni and other Generals in the Book of Mormon. It seems to me that the Book of Mormon seems to describe exceptionally advanced military tactics as compared with those commonly taught at West Point and used by an military in the 1830's and even by the the 1860's. What do you think?

Sincerely,
David Brosnahan


David:

Thanks for your interest in my blog. Your question got me thinking for awhile. In order to answer it I will describe American military thought in the 19th century and the major theoreticians that influenced their behavior. And then I will compare it to events in the BoM.

After Napoleon two major theoreticians dominated military thought with the supposed lessons of warfare from the conflicts. Jomini and Clausewitz. Both writers started their works in the late 1820s and 1830s. Clausewitz was not even translated into English until after the civil war (I think), but he definitely was not translated, or even done writing by 1830. The writings of Jomini were more prevalent, but even then he was not taught extensively at West point. West point taught very few classes on military theory and leadership in that time, it was mainly a glorified engineering school (that's what Lee graduated in for example). It was not until the late 19th century that they added command and general staff schools on the model of German successes and they started using Clausewitz.

High Nibley has discussed the elements of Clausewitzean theory in the BoM. You can find it here: http://mi.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=66&chapid=727

I have also discussed Captain Moroni's leadership using the same author here: http://mormonwar.blogspot.com/2009/01/clausewitz-on-captain-moronis-genius.html

In both cases the BoM definitely exhibits military thought and strategy far beyond what Joseph Smith had available to him. I also have done research that is accepted for publication (BCC E Journal) that describes principles of war taught to current army officers within the BoM. Again this is far beyond what J.S. displayed in his life and writings and even beyond common knowledge of military officers in that day. The principles of war were not explicated until the 1920s by a British army officer named J.F.C. Fuller.(Clausewitz gave some too but Fuller's are much better known) They are now drilled into U.S. Army officers to help them analyze information.

Within the BoM there is some Jominian thought. This was a post Napoleonic writer that was popular in America before the civil war. The practice of Moroni having separate parts of his army pinch an enemy army between them does sound similar to his Jomini's main principle. (max the most amount of strength at a specific point) But the many ruses and stratagems employed by Moroni are common among ancient armies. A Roman writer named Frontinus wrote many of these at about 75 BC, about the same time as Moroni.

With military theory you can use accepted principles and push them backwards, such as post Napoleonic writers. But you can also use contemporary writers to place BoM events within its expected time frames. In short: the BoM displays many correct military principles codified by writers Joseph Smith did not have access to. It is also corroborated by military writers that were contemporaries of BoM events, such as Frontinus and Caesar. Again, Smith did not have access to these either. (Unless we can believe that he read untranslated German military theory in the moonlight after working as a farmer all day and other nonsense)

Teotihaucan and the Book of Mormon

One recent archaeological opinion is that the ancient American city of Teotihuacan was a pagan and bloodthirsty civilization at the time the Book of Mormon says Jesus Christ appeared in American and the people of the land were all converted to Christianity. Some critics only superficially familiar with the Book of Mormon have been commenting how this together with genetic discoveries are somehow proof against the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

However, I still cannot rule out Teotihuacan, "the place where men become gods," as being originally settled by the Nephites. The original builders of Teotihuacan remain a mystery, but later groups such as the Toltec's and then later the Aztecs overran the empire. The recent tomb discovery at the Temple of the Moon that is being referred to contains the remnants of human sacrifice but dates to the fifth of seven expansions of Teotihuacan. The original builders were thought to have been peaceful and worshiped Quetzalcoatl. The worship of Quetzalcoatl was known to sometimes included animal sacrifices, but Quetzalcoatl is also known to be opposed to human sacrifice (wiki). The problem with the article is the dating techniques.

In reality, mtDNA data strongly supports Book of Mormon authenticity and demonstrates that what happened at Teotihuacan is probably irrelevant to the Book of Mormon people. First, the Book of Mormon presents a clear limited geography. After the visit of Jesus Christ to His other sheep in America, the gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the entire land of the Book of Mormon people. This does not necessarily suggest all of North and South America.

4 Ne. 1: 2 And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land (Book of Mormon Lands), both Nephites and Lamanites (No mention of other groups), and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.

A series of mtDNA studies also support the authenticity of the Book of Mormon by showing that a specific mtDNA haplogroup currently found in Northern Israel and which originated in the Middle East arrived via an independent, pre-Colombian migration to the Great Lakes Region of America.

1. The Druze: A Population Genetic Refugium of the Near East. PLoS ONE. 2008 May 7;3(5)
Northern Israeli group has highest Haplogroup X concentration.

2. Origin and Diffusion of mtDNA Haplogroup X, Am J Hum Genet. 2003 November; 73(5): 1178–1190.
Haplogroup X is a founding mtDNA haplogroup in America and comes from the Middle East.

3. The Presence of Mitochondrial Haplogroup X in Altaians from South Siberia Am J Hum Genet. 2001 July; 69(1): 237–241.
Haplogroup X in America did not come from Asia, Siberia, Mongolia, or Altai Republic but came directly from the Middle East from an independent and direct migration.

4. Distribution of mtDNA haplogroup X among Native North Americans. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1999 Nov;110(3):271-84.
5. mtDNA haplogroup X: An ancient link between Europe/Western Asia and North America?Am J Hum Genet. 1998 December; 63(6): 1852–1861.
Haplogroup X is a founding mtDNA haplogroup in America and is only found in Indians around the Great Lakes region.

6. Rohde, DLT , On the common ancestors of all living humans. Submitted to American Journal of Physical Anthropology. (2005)
7. Rohde DLT, Olson S, Chang JT (2004) "Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans". Nature 431: 562-566.
Correcting for non-random mating, the 'most recent common ancestor' (Mitochondrial Eve)of all humans by mtDNA would have lived 3000 BC or sooner.

8. Gibbons, Ann (1998). "Calibrating the Mitochondrial Clock". Science 279: 28-29.
Scientists comparing the noncoding mitochondrial DNA sequence of the remains of the Russian tsar Nicholas II to that of his relatives. Using this new calibrated clock, puts mitochondrial eve at 6,000 years ago or 4,000 BC.

[Wiki: haplogroup X]
Haplogroup X is also one of the five haplogroups found in the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Although it occurs only at a frequency of about 3% for the total current indigenous population of the Americas, it is a major haplogroup in northern North America, where among the Algonquian (Great Lakes) peoples it comprises up to 25% of mtDNA types. It is also present in lesser percentages to the west and south of this area — among the Sioux(15%), the Nuu-Chah-Nulth (11%–13%), the Navajo (7%), and the Yakima (5%).

The researcher in the video link above uses the 15,000 BC as the migration date of Haplogroup X which is associated with the end of the last Ice Age (Noah's Flood?), and the disappearance of the Mammoths, and Mastodons and horses in America, and the appearance of the Clovis (Llano) culture in America. But according to the most current dating techniques, and taking into account the variation of cosmic rays hitting the Earth (thank you global warming research) affecting all radio-nucleotide dating techniques, this migration date was much sooner.

Before anyone thinks that this article endorses a Great Lakes/Nephite geography theory, I cannot rule in or out the Great Lakes, Teotihuacan, Darien in Panama, Rivas area next to Lake Nicaragua or the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, or anywhere else as the site of the Nephite civilization because there is no direct archeological evidence of the Nephite civilization.

Other papers (Kuna in Panama):
http://striweb.si.edu/publications/PDFs/Batista_etal_wBermingham_1995.pdf
http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/21/1/164
http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.3378/1534-6617-80.3.287
http://www.public.asu.edu/~acstone/lab/Lewisetal2005.pdf
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=2294755

Cureloms and Cumoms

Some criticize the Book of Mormon for mentioning elephants and horses as well as two unknown species of animals referred to as cureloms and cumoms. At the time, critics says that the mention of elephants and horses in the Book of Mormon was absolute proof that the Book of Mormon was a fabrication by Joseph Smith because the elephant and the horse have never been found anywhere on the American Continent. Now that numberless examples of elephant and horse remains have been found, critics claim that according to the radio-carbon and other radio-isotope dating, which they criticize when it comes to the creationism/evolution debate, these North American elephants and horses lived in the American Continent longer than the Book of Mormon says they exist.

And what of Cureloms and Cumoms? Well, no one is for sure what they are. But the Book of Mormon suggests they are relatively large, able to be domesticated and useful. Early Mormon apostle Orson Pratt identified cureloms as mammoths in the Journal of Discourses (12:339-340).

But you say that Mammoths died out before the Jaredites arrived. According to history, the Mammoths and Mastodons and horses in America soon died upon the arrival of the first settlers in America in 10,000 BC (15,000-8,000BC). The Glaciers are said to have started to retreat in 16,000 BC. But the important thing here is that when ever the first Americans did arrive, the Elephants and horses disappeared. Why do we know this, because there are Mammoth and horse bones, human bones, and arrows and stone blades with mammoth and horse flesh on them in the same strata at multiple sites.

But what about the date of 10,000 BC? Can any Christian put any stock in this date as accurate? It denies that Adam was the first man who, according to the Bible, lived 4000 BC. Yes, there are 40 types of radio-isotope dating which all agree with each other, but all 40 scientific radio-dating techniques are based on a flawed assumption. And that flawed assumption is that radio/isotope dating assumes a constant rate of cosmic rays hitting the Earth which is what produces the radioactive isotopes or influences the ratio of radioactive isotopes and nonradioactive isotopes.

Thanks to all the global warming and environmental research that has been done, we know that the rate of cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere sending all kinds of strange particles through the Earth and making the various isotopes is not constant but inversely proportional to extent of the solar wind. We also know that when there is a lot of cosmic rays hitting the Earth, there are no Sun spots, and the Earth gets very cold like happened during the Mini Ice Age in the 16-17th Centuries. There are also problems with acidified ground water dissolving certain minerals out of rock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carbon-14_with_activity_labels.png Shows the variation in cosmic rays hitting the Earth by C14.

And what about genetic mtDNA dating techniques? These are flawed too because they do not account for non-random mating which a group at MIT did correct for in their models. Mitochondrial DNA is only inherited from the Mother and therefore only changes in response to DNA mutation which also depends on environmental factors and cosmic rays among other things. This MIT group published their data in Nature and said that the first common ancestor of all humans could have lived as early a couple thousand years before Christ.

5. Rohde, DLT , On the common ancestors of all living humans. Submitted to American Journal of Physical Anthropology. (2005)
6. Rohde DLT, Olson S, Chang JT (2004) "Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans". Nature 431: 562-566.

So, what do we know? We know that the appearance of humans in America coincided with the disappearance with several large mammal species in the Americas according to the Book of Mormon. And this is exactly what the archaeological record shows. Not so far fetched also seeing as how the arrival of the Europeans almost meant extinction for the North American Bison. While this isn't proof of the Book of Mormon, it is closer to evidence for the Book of Mormon rather than evidence against.

http://ldsdoctrine.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-on-haplogroup-x.html

Dimensions of the Gold Plates

Some Evangelical Christians claim Joseph Smith's story of finding gold plates, from which he translated the Book of Mormon, to be false based on the assumption that they would be too heavy for any one man to carry; let alone run with through a forest while being chased by an angry mob. Joseph Smith gave the gold plates the dimensions of approximately 15 cm by 20 cm by 15 cm. The plates were comprised of a thick stack of leaf thin golden metal sheets held together and by 3 D-shaped rings which ran through holes made on the edge of one side of the plates. The witnesses to the Book of Mormon commented that there were engravings on both sides and other witnesses say that the pages were so thin that you could run your thumb up the corner of the pages and cause the pages to make a shuffling sound.

From these dimensions of the gold plates, some calculate that the plates must have weighed more than 200 lbs. However, this calculation is based on a faulty assumption that the plates are the same weight as a solid block of 24 karat gold. This assumption is false because, #1 24 karat gold would have been too soft to keep an engraven record. Gold is a very malleable metal and any engravings in pure gold could too easily be lost. #2 Joseph Smith never actually claimed the plates were made of pure gold. The Book of Mormon only says that the plates were made of ore and the witnesses state that they had the "appearance of gold." #3 The plates were not a solid piece of metal, but were a stack of hand-made plates. Consequently, they would not have been perfectly flat. Engraving on each side of the plates would have distorted them causing a significant amount of air space between each page further reducing the overall density [Glenn Blaylock, Wiki answers].

copper density is 8.92 g/cm3.
gold density is 19.30 g/cm3.
silver density is 10.5 gr/cm3.

To calculate the actual weight of the gold plates, we can assume that Joseph's measurements of the plates are correct. If we assume the plates were 15cm X 20cm X 15cm, that would constitute a volume of 4500 cm3. If the plates were pure gold we would multiply the volume by the density of ~20 g/cm3 giving 90 kg. We can then convert kg. to lbs. by multiplying by a factor of 2.2 giving about 200 lbs. 200 lbs. would be the weight of the plates if they were not plates but a solid 24k-gold brick with the same dimensions.

However, I think we can assume the plates where alloyed with at least 50% copper and silver by volume (12-karat). Since the density of copper and silver are about half the density of pure, gold, we can assume that the plates would be at least 2/3 the weight compared to solid gold. That would bring the total weight of the plates from 200 lbs. to 133 lbs. Still too heavy to run with through the forest.

But then if we remember that the pages themselves were engraven on both sides, I think we can reduce the overall density and weight of the plates by 1/2 again. Glenn Blaylock in his post at Wiki answers suggests an experiment where we take a ream of paper and write on the front and back of each page and then re-stack each page together again. The micro-imperfections add up to give an increase in volume of 2 and a decrease in density by 2. Therefore, taking this into account, the overall weight of the plates is reduced further from 133 lbs to 66 lbs.

66 lbs is still a heavy burden to carry. The witnesses to the Book of Mormon and other eye witnesses talked about hefting the book. But was Joseph strong enough to carry the plates let alone run with them? At first, maybe not. in 1823 at age 17, Joseph was not initially allowed by the angel Moroni to take the plates. Instead, Joseph was instructed to return to the place where the plates were buried each year for 4 years until finally in 1827 at age 21, he was allowed to remove them. Part of the reason Joseph was not permitted to take the plates may have been a lack of sufficient strength. If Joseph wasn't strong enough to carry the plates at 17, we know Joseph Smith was more than strong enough as an adult. Joseph was known for his great strength. He routinely competed against and defeated 2 men simultaneously in stick pull contests.

More on Haplogroup X

Am J Hum Genet. 2001 July; 69(1): 237–241.
The Presence of Mitochondrial Haplogroup X in Altaians from South Siberia

"A striking example of the presence in American Indians of genotypes not from haplogroups A–D is haplogroup X. This haplogroup represents a minor founding lineage that is restricted in distribution to northern Amerindian groups, including the Ojibwa, the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, the Sioux, and the Yakima, as well as the Na Dene–speaking Navajo (Brown et al. 1998). Unlike haplogroups A–D, haplogroup X is also found at low frequencies of ~4% in western Eurasian populations. Despite a shared consensus RFLP haplotype, substantial genetic differences exist between the American Indian and European haplogroup X mtDNAs. Phylogenetic analysis and coalescence estimates for American Indian and European haplogroup X mtDNAs exclude the possibility that the occurrence of haplogroup X in American Indians is due to recent European admixture. They also clearly indicate that the two branches/subgroups are distantly related to each other and that considerable genetic substructure exists within both groups (Brown et al. 1998).

Haplogroup X is remarkable in that it has not been found in Asians, including Siberians, suggesting that it may have come to the Americas via a Eurasian migration. The virtual absence of haplogroup X in eastern and northern Asia raises the possibility that some American Indian founders were of European ancestry. In that case, as it has been proposed, haplogroup X was brought to America by the eastward migration of an ancestral white population, of which no trace has so far been found in the mtDNA gene pool of modern Siberian/eastern Asian populations (Brown et al. 1998)."


1. The Druze: A Population Genetic Refugium of the Near East. PLoS ONE. 2008 May 7;3(5)

2. Origin and Diffusion of mtDNA Haplogroup X, Am J Hum Genet. 2003 November; 73(5): 1178–1190.

3. The Presence of Mitochondrial Haplogroup X in Altaians from South Siberia
Am J Hum Genet. 2001 July; 69(1): 237–241.

4. Distribution of mtDNA haplogroup X among Native North Americans. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1999 Nov;110(3):271-84.

5. Rohde, DLT , On the common ancestors of all living humans. Submitted to American Journal of Physical Anthropology. (2005)

6. Rohde DLT, Olson S, Chang JT (2004) "Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans". Nature 431: 562-566.

http://ldsdoctrine.blogspot.com/2008/05/haplogroup-x-and-druze-of-galilee.html http://ldsdoctrine.blogspot.com/2008/06/geography-and-genetics.html

Geography and Genetics

The Nephites occupied a limited geography of not more than 300 miles square. The Sea south and the sea north are not referring to the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. Seas can be lakes, or gulfs (part of larger bodies of water).

Hel. 3:8 And it came to pass that they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east.

The Book of Mormon never claimed that they would be the major genetic ancestor to the modern Native Americans The Book of Mormon continually refers to the Book of Mormon coming forth to a "remnant of their seed." This is of course specifically referring to genetics. The Nephites were the victims of genocide and the Lamanites had continually been mixing with the indigenous people from the beginning. The Nephites in the Introduction were only considered "principal ancestors" in terms of the covenants of the Lord and not genetics. Because of continual genetic mixing of Lamanites with indigious Americans, there is a significantly different connotation to saying someone is a direct descendant of the Lamanites verses a direct descendant of the Nephites. While the former is often heard, I have never heard the later sentiment expressed.

1 Ne. 15: 3-1413 And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed— 14 And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer, which was ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved. (see also 1 Ne. 13:34,38-39, 2 Ne. 30:3-4)

While the majority of Native American DNA is Asian, Siberian and Mongolian, by mtDNA haplogroup migration genetics studies. Researcher have discovered haplogroup X2a which is not found in Siberia or Mongolia but is considered a founding haplogroup in America because it is found in pre-Columbian remains. However, the highest concentration of X2 haplogroup is found in the Druze of Galilee. Researchers do not believe the Druze to be the source of the Haplogroup X but that they have preserved the mtDNA through intermarriage which represents the genotype of the people living in Galilee at the time the Druze settled in Northern Israel.

The Druze: A Population Genetic Refugium of the Near East. PLoS ONE. 2008 May 7;3(5)
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002105

There is a small trace of X in Altai Republic in Central Asia. However according to the study: it shows that the X2a clave in America is in not a decendant variation of the X2e in Altai or anywhere else in Asia. But that X2a must have undergone an early split in the phylogenetic tree from the Middle East. In other words, the X2a in America came directly from the Middle East and not via Asia. They also say the the Altians only have a very low rate of haplogroup X, and that it got there through recent migration. The highest rates of haplogroup X are found in the Druze and the Orkney of Scotland.

Origin and Diffusion of mtDNA Haplogroup X, Am J Hum Genet. 2003 November; 73(5): 1178–1190. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...?artid=1180497
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1180497&blobtype=pdf

Another Biblical Reference to Steel

Steel was the means of Assyrian conquest and power. The Assyrians conqured the Northern Kingdom and Egypt by Tiglath-Pileser III (Pul) and Shalmaneser V, Sargon II and Sennacherib from 740 to 722 BC. Nahum a prophet in Ninevah prophesying about the fall of Assyria in 612 BC makes a amazing reference to steel.

New American Standard Bible Nahum 2:3
The shields of his mighty men are colored red, The warriors are dressed in scarlet, The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel When he is prepared to march, And the cypress spears are brandished.

KJV Nahum 2:3-4
The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.

Flaming torches or flashing steel is 'esh pĕladah in Hebrew
'esh = supernatural fire
pĕladah = steel or finer iron

The word for torch is not pĕladah but lappiyd, which is used in the very next verse.
lappiyd = torch or flame

The Hittites', who are believed to have first discovered the secret to making forged steel, word for steel was "an-bar" which means "fire from heaven." Here we see the connection with steel and meteorites (supernatural fire) which was the ancient source of steel or nickle-iron. So, I agree that 'esh peladah or "firey iron" is referring to steel.

"And I wish that I were not any part of the fifth generation of men, but had died before it came, or been born afterward. For here now is the age of iron. Never by daytime will there be an end to hard work and pain, nor in the night to weariness, when the gods will send anxieties to worry us. (Hesiod, Greek Poet, 8th Century BC).

Bible and Book of Mormon Steel

Many critics of the Book of Mormon point to its reference to steel as an obvious proof of its fraudulence. These critics claim that steel technology was not known in either Israel or the Americas in 600 BC. However the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible also makes reference to steel and there are many more that reference iron.



2 Sam. 22: 35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
Job 20: 24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
Ps. 18: 34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
Jer. 15: 12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?

Newer versions of the Bible consider the use of steel to be a mistranslation. These newer versions of the Bible translate the Hebrew word “nechushtan” to mean bronze. Critics then contend that the Book of Mormon’s reference to Steel is proof that Joseph Smith plagiarized from the KJV Bible not knowing that the KJV reference to steel was incorrect.

In addition to proving that Joseph Smith was right when he said "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly," I will proceed to demonstrate using linguistic, scientific, historical and archaeological evidence that both the Bible and the Book of Mormon correctly refer to steel.

Aron Pinker suggests that nechushah is better interpreted as “snake-like” and would describe a double convex bow and not a bronze or steel bow. His conclusion is based on the word nechushah being a derivation from the Hebrew word nachash “snake.” The word nachash is used to describe the bronze serpent-pole of Moses. While some infer that nachash refers to the “bronze” pole, others infer that the word is referring to the “snake” because visual focus was the serpent itself and not what it was made of. [www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/Articles/article_42.pdf]

Pinker agrees with science that newer Bible translations are in error referring to bronze bows because bronze is a poor material for bow making. Ancient bronze cannot be used as a spring , torsion bar, or bow to store potential energy because bronze lacks shape memory. The elastic modulus of bronze is such that if you bend it, it stays bent. Bronze is too malleable.

Ctesibius or Ktesibios of Alexandria in (285 – 222) BC was the first to invent alloys of Bronze that could be used as springs. Ctesibius developed catapults using bronze springs but they were not better than the standard rope torsion spring. Steel’s carburized micro-structure is what gives it greater tensile strength, elasticity, and shape memory. Modern bronze springs and torsion bars are made of phosphor-bronze today.

That said, Pinker still believes the KJV reference to steel is a mistranslation but this conclusion is based on the assumption that steel technology was now known in Israel from 1000 BC to 600 BC. Pinker’s explanation is likely partly correct. But it doesn’t account for the double convex “snake-like” bow breaking. Pictures of ancient steel bows are all double or biconvex. So, in my view, the Bible could be referring to both a steel and double convex bow at the same time. Steel would be likely to break because carbon inclusions in the iron metal which give it its hardness, springiness, and memory, can also result in micro-fractures which can, over time, result in a critical failure and breakage. This is why Nephi's steel bow in the Book of Mormon was said to have "broken" while the wooden bows of his brothers had "lost their spring."

Was Steel known to Ancient Israel from 1000-600 BC?

A meteoric nickel-iron (steel) dagger was discovered buried with King Tutankhamun which dates to 1333-23 BC.

A letter from the Hittite King Hassitulis III, written about 1250 BC, makes excuses for not delivering a shipment of iron to Shalmeneser I of Assyria, and presents him with an iron dagger blade.

Homer, in his epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey lived sometime around 1100 - 880 BC accurately describes steel making. Blacksmiths in Homer's time discovered that "quenching" a forged steel blade by plunging it quickly into liquid dramatically improved its hardness: Homer describes this process in the Odyssey and the blinding the Cyclopes.

By 720 BC, Sargon II of Assyria was using iron lavishly, and nearly 150 tons of unworked iron bars were found in his palace, presumably as some sort of strategic reserve. There is good indirect evidence that the Assyrians did not smelt their iron themselves, but imported it (perhaps from Anatolia) as ready-made bars for their smiths to work into weapons or tools.

Egyptian smiths from 900 BC produced axes that had been steeled, quenched, and tempered, showing that technologically they were well up to the innovations of the smiths elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean. But the Egyptians did not adopt iron into everyday life until after Egypt was conquered by the Assyrians in 663 BC.

Vered Jericho Sword was carburized iron sword found near Jericho. The sword, which had a bronze/wooden handle, was one meter long and dates to the time of King Josiah, about 600 B.C. There is some debate whether the blade is iron or steel or cast iron. If then blade was iron and the handle bronze, then the blade is steel because Bronze would have made a better blade than either wrought iron or cast iron.

Several Iron I knives have bone handles with pommel end (Tel Qasile St. XII, Beth Shan St. V). The blade is fasten into a slot in the handle.

Wootz steel which is the better than any current steel dates to at least 300 BC when Alexander the Great was given 100 Talents of it along with a sword made from it when he was in India. Some believe that India was making Wootz as early as 500 BC. Hanging on a wall in a materials research centre in India is a this tapestry showing King Poros handing his steel sword over to Alexander the Great after being defeated by him in 330 BC It is said that a piece of steel was packed in a golden casket which in the picture is shown being handed over.
[www.davecullen.com/forum/index.php?topic=26820.msg1261710]

The most exciting example of Steel found in Ancient Israel is the Moutn Adir Steel Pick which was found in Galilee in 1976 and dates to 1200-1000 BC. The microscopic analysis of the Mt. Adir Pick by Cornell University material scientists shows "tempered martensite." Martensite can only be formed in iron by rapid cold-quenching carburized molten iron. Therefore, if iron has martensite in it, it is steel. This artifact is proof positive that there was Steel in Israel.[www.lassp.cornell.edu/sethna/Tweed/Martensite_History.html]

Iron and steel was also found in the Americas. The Spanish found Aztec chiefs with knives and daggers made of iron. (Hensoldt 1889). There are also numerous examples of New World natives using meteoric iron. Meteoric iron has nickle on it and makes it resistant to oxidation. The nickle oxidizes protecting the iron. Steel or carburized iron is not protected from rusting and explains why archaeological examples do not exist to the present day.[www.jstor.org/pss/2844401]

Some of the debate regarding the end of the bronze age and the start of the iron age revolves around the discovery of steel. Most scholars know that iron has been known for centuries before it finally overtook bronze. In nearly every characteristic bronze was superior to wrought iron and cast iron. Only when iron was made into steel was iron superior to bronze. Recipes for making steel in 1000-600 BC were closely guarded. However, even if a country did not produce its own steel, Phoenician merchants (Ships of Tarshish) shipped it all over the world. It is believed that a tin shortage (component of bronze) from Great Britain increased the price for bronze and stimulated the local development and production of iron and steel. Also, as was stated before, the conquest of Northern Israel and Egypt by Assyrians armed with steel swords and chariots in 663 BC stimulated the wide-spread adoption of steel production and use.

The reason why Ancient American's didn't gravitate to steel, was that it was difficult to produce in large quantities, and the wooden obsidian swords/clubs they used, were better. Several accounts of Obsidian blades describe how a single blow could decapitate a victim, or amputate a limb. These severed body parts were considered trophies of battle to the Maya and Aztec. Wooden obsidian blades would also have been much lighter than iron, steel or bronze as well.

http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Steel_-_History_of_iron_and_steelmaking/id/607442

Archeological Evidence for Reformed Egyptian Part 2

Critics of the Book of Mormon contend there is absolutely zero archeological or historical evidence to support its claim that Christian, Pre-Christ Jews were led out of the land of Israel before the conquest of Babylon to America. They also contend that there is zero archeological or historical evidence to support the claim that Jews would ever write Hebrew scriptures and other sacred writing in a "pagan" script like reformed Egyptian. Critics also complain that Jews of 600 BC didn't use metal plate technology but limited there writing to parchment, leather, pot-shard (ostracon) and papyrus in rare cases.

However, over the last 3-4 decades, numerous examples in the archeological record are turning up which vindicate the Book of Mormon claims while discrediting its critics. While not the basis for my belief in the Book of Mormon, I thought it fun to list several of the artifact descriptions, pictures, and links.

LDS Scholars John A. Tvedtnes and Stephen D. Ricks of the The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (FARMS), in 1996 co-wrote a paper entitled "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters." This paper discussed several examples of Semitic languages and Hebrew scripture written in Hieroglyphics, demotic or other "reformed" Egyptian script.

Dana M. Pike of the The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (FARMS), writes an excellent chapter in the Book "Glimpses of Lehi's Jerusalem" entitled "Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi."

Gezer Calendar (10th century BC)
While many associate written Hebrew with the squarish letters and curvy flourishes, early Hebrew was originally written in a script very similar to Phoenician. This paleo-Hebrew is first seen in the Gezer Calendar, which dates to around the 10th century BC and records agricultural activities throughout the year. During the exile to Babylon (6th century BC), the Hebrews started to use the Aramaic language and script, but continued to use paleo-Hebrew mostly in the religious writing. In later periods, Old Hebrew was sometimes inscribed on coins as a tool for Hebrew nationalism. The Old Hebrew alphabet ceased to be used at all by the 1st century CE and was replaced by "square" Hebrew.

This example suggests if Israel could adopt the alphabet of the "pagan" Philistines (Phoenician) why not learn and use Egyptian writing. Also, it is significant to remember that this Phoenecian-like, paleo-Hebrew is the script that the Nephites would have used preferentially for writing. The Book of Mormon suggests that their "Reformed Egyptian" was more difficult to use but suited itself for recording sacred writings on metal plates because of its compactness.

Papyrus Amherst 63 (2nd century BC)
This document was written in Egyptian demotic and dated to the second century BC. This papyrus was discovered in Thebes, Egypt preserved in an earthen jar like the Dead Sea Scrolls. For years, Egyptologists were unable to translate the text. The letters were clear, but they did not form intelligible words. In 1944, Raymond Bowman of the University of Chicago realized that, while the script is Egyptian, the underlying language is Aramaic. Among the writings included in the religious text is a paganized version of Psalms 20:2–6. This text represents a sample of exactly what the Book of Mormon claims to be. Papyrus Amherst 63 contains a passage of scripture written in Aramaic, but transliterated into Egyptian characters.

Tel Arad Ostracon (7th Century BC)
Pot shard (ostraca) discovered at Tel Arad, located near the southern border of the kingdom of Judah, dating from 700-600 BC show a combination of Hebrew and Egyptian Hieratic writing together. The text on the ostracon is written in a combination of Egyptian hieratic and Hebrew characters, but can be read entirely as Egyptian. Of the seventeen words in the text, ten are written in hieratic and seven in Hebrew. However, all the words written in Hebrew can be read as Egyptian words, while one of them, which occurs twice, has the same meaning in both Egyptian and Hebrew. This piece demostrates that there were those in Israel who understood and wrote in Egyptian and in this case mixed Egyptian and Hebrew writing.

The Lachish Letters (588 BC)
In 1935, a collection of letters written on pottery was unearthed in the biblical city of Lachish. These letters confirm events that occurred during King Zedekiah's reign in 588 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon conqured Jerusalem. The letters mention the names of biblical figures, possibly even the prophet Jeremiah or possibly a second prophet Urijah.

Lehi, Ishmael, and their families left Jerusalem several years before these Lachish ostraca were written. Mulek probably left Jerusalem within a year or two of their writing. The Lachish ostraca give an eyewitness account of setting of Lehi, Mulek, and Jeremiah at the beginning of the Book of Mormon.

King Darius Gold and Silver Plates of Persepoli (500 BC)

Two gold plates and two silver plates were discovered in 1931-34 in each of the four cornerstones in King Darius' Audience Hall in ancient Persian capital Persepolis. Now held in the Persian Museum of Antiquities in Tehran, these metal plates ingraven in cuneiform scrip at about 522-486 BC.

The Plates of Persepoli are 4 engraven plates sealed in stone boxes that date to the time period of the Book of Mormon. Although not bound, this archeologic find supports the claim that ancient civilization from 600 BC engraved historical accounts on precious metal plates and sealed them in stone boxes.

Ketef Hinnom Amulets (600 BC)
Ketef Hinnom, or "shoulder of Hinnom," is located on the west side of the Hinnom Valley,on the western boundary of ancient Jerusalem. Two small rolls of inscribed silver foil were discovered in 1979, along with a number of other items dating from the end of the First Temple period through the Second Temple period. These two inscribed rolls date to about 600 BC. From wear patterns, each of these silver rolls had apparently been worn on a cord, apparently around someone's neck, as an amulet or charm. When unrolled, one measures 9.7 x 2.7 cm (ca. 3.8 x 1.06 inches) and the other 3.9 x 1.1 cm (ca. 1.54 x 0.43 inches). The text on these two amulets was incised with a stylus with the Aaronic priestly blessing recorded in Numbers 6:24–26.

These silver plates where engraven with sacred writing and rolled up to fit in a small box. These may have been worn by priests or have been akin to phylacteries which were excepts of scripture placed in small boxes and attacted with leather strap to the forehead and arm. Whatever these rolled, silver plates are they are another example of Hebrew scripture engraven on metal from 600 BC.

Pyrgi Gold Tablets (500 BC)
The Pyrgi Tablets, found in a 1964 excavation of a sanctuary of that town in Italy (current Santa Severa), a port of the southern Etruscan town of Caere, are three golden leaves that record a dedication made around 500 BC by Thefarie Velianas, king of Caere, to the Phoenician goddess ‘Ashtaret'. While the first two plates are writen in Etruscan. The 3rd plate is written in Phoenician. This find reveales the important link between the Ancient Phoenecian and Etruscan civilizations at the time of the Book of Mormon. In fact, some scholars believe that "Tarshish" the Biblical city Jonah was fleeing to, the city of Paul, and which is referenced by Isaiah when referring to the "ships of Tarshish" may in fact be referring to the island of Sardinia and the ancient "Tyrsenians" Etruscans and not Spain as has been believed by tradition. (Orientalische Litteraturzeitung, iii. 151, Cheyne ). Others believe it could be referring to ancient Carthage in Tunisia.

Whether "Tarshish" referred to a specific Phoenecian trading partner or was a general term for several Phonecian colonies, ancient Tarshish was important for its trade in metals and metal work. Carthage and the Etruscans were known for trade and work in copper, tin, silver, lead, bronze and iron. In addition to the Pyrgi tablets being another example of regious text from about 600 BC engraven on gold plates, the link between the Phonecians and the Etruscans and metal technology is of further significance knowing Lehi and Nephi's experience in trade, metal work and in ship building.


Bat Creek Stone
The Bat Creek Stone was excavated in 1889 from an undisturbed burial mound in Eastern Tennessee by the Smithsonian's Mound Survey project. While initially believed to be Cherokee, in the 1960s, Henriette Mertz and Corey Ayoob correctly identified the inscription as Paleo-Hbbrew. According to Cyrus Gordon in 1971, the five letters to the left of the comma-shaped word divider read, from right to left, LYHWD, or "for Judea." In 1988, wood fragments found with the inscription were Carbon-14 dated to somewhere between 32 A.D. and 769 A.D. (McCulloch 1988).

Robert C. Mainfort, Jr., and Mary L. Kwas in 2004 wrote in American Antiquity that the inscription was copied from an illustration in an 1870 Masonic reference book. They conclued that the Bat Creek Stone is a nineteenth century forgery by the Smithsonian field assistant who found it. An 1860s artist's impression of how the Biblical phrase QDSh LYHWH, or "Holy to Yahweh," looks suprisingly similar in Paleo-Hebrew letters to the Bat Creek Stone.

Despite their simularities, the inscriptions are not the same. Therefore, together with other similar archeological oddities like the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone I think there is a good case for its authenticity. The possiblility for forgery must be considered in each case, but in light of our emerging understanding of the Phoenecian naval trade, and cocaine identified in Egyptian mummies (Balabanova, S. Homo, 48 (1) 1997, pp. 72 – 77), the connection between the Pre-Columbian Old World and New World is gaining momentum. If the Paleo-Hebrew Bat Creek Stone is a forgery, it's a good one, and exactly what Pre-Columbian Jews in American would be expected to leave behind.

While there are a few evidences here and there that support Pre-Columbian contact between the Middle East the the Americas, I do not expect "smoking-gun" proof of the Book of Mormon and Nephites to turn up any time soon. Why no proof? Because the existence of Pre-Columbian, Christianized Jews in America is miraculous, and our only current knowledge of the Nephite civilization comes by divine providence. Therefore, any proof of their existence would compel belief and therefore destroy faith. Any tangible evidence of Nephites would become more important than the 3 and 8 eye-witnesses God has choosen to testify that they have seen gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. The Nephite artifact itself would become the most powerful witness. But according to the Book of Mormon, the Gold Plates were to come forth as a voice speaking from the dust. Therefore, the Nephite prophets were not confident there would be any significant tangible evidence remaining of their civilization.

This may be hard to accept at first, but if the Nephite civilization were to be discovered just as described in the Book of Mormon then how could anyone not accept everything else in the Book of Mormon. It is either all false or all true. There is no middle ground. Therefore, because there is no way to prove Nephites without proving everything true together, God has allowed just enough to evidence to surface to discredit the critics but not enough to destroy faith and our need to rely on the Holy Ghost.

But this lack of physical proof of Nephites does not mean God does not want us to experiment upon the word, and seek spritual evidence for the Book of Mormon. According to the Book of Mormon, all men are invited to first live its teachings and then ask God directly in prayer and obtain personal spiritual proof for themselves by the Holy Ghost. God is trying to get us to rely upon the Holy Ghost which according to the Bible will "guide us into all truth." And according to the Book of Mormon, "by the power of the Holy Ghost, [we] may know the truth of all thing."