Lamanite bride heading south to join the brethren in the Mayan Nation.
Posted on 10/20/2009 6:50:56 AM PDT by Colofornian
Church members from Utah and abroad gathered on Friday to hear some Book of Mormon stories their teachers have never told them.
The lessons centered around Mesoamerica, including Mexico and Guatemala, as the most likely setting for Book of Mormon peoples and events at the 7th annual Book of Mormon Lands Conference at the Red Lion Hotel in Salt Lake City.
The conference drew 280 attendees — the conference’s biggest crowd ever — as a result of key speakers such as Dr. John L. Lund, Joseph Allen and Jerry L. Ainsworth, said Stephen L. Carr, senior vice president of the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum.
Lund spoke about Joseph Smith and his contributions to the pioneer publication, Times and Seasons. It was Joseph Smith as editor of the publication who suggested the Book of Mormon events took place in Mesoamerica, Lund said.
Although critics have tried to discount Smith, claiming he never wrote about the Book of Mormon’s location in the Times and Seasons, Lund presented evidence to the contrary.
The goal of the Book of Mormon Archaelogical Forum is to provide an open forum to discuss theories such as Lund’s, Carr said.
“We are a group that promotes the understanding of the culture and the geography of the Book of Mormon,” Carr said. “We base our ideas on the fact that they took place in Mesoamerica.”
Members of the church don’t hear about the theories of the Book of Mormon’s settings in Sunday School or Institute because they are the opinions of researchers, and not endorsed by the church, Carr said.
“Most Latter-day Saints don’t have a clue what the [geographical references in the Book of Mormon] are,” said Doug Christensen, a member of the BMAF board of directors, from Twin Falls, Idaho. “We mostly focus on the stories and skip the travel and wars.”
Kirk Magleby stressed the need for church members to come to a consensus on where the Book of Mormon events took place. He called the current lack of consensus “of particular delight to Satan and to the critics of the church.”
“If we can’t agree on where [the Book of Mormon] took place, how can people take us seriously?” he said.
There are specific conditions the BMAF has outlined for a geographic region to be considered a Book of Mormon land.
For example, the region must be a “narrow neck of land surrounded by seas,” with a major river flowing from north to south. It must also have had a highly literate society and an agricultural base that was capable of supporting millions of people.
All of the requirements come from the Book of Mormon’s text and only Mesoamerica fits all the criteria, according to the organization’s Web site.
Multiple Choice Question for you, Saundra: We know plenty about the Mayans because...
(a) Mucho archaeological finds re: Mayans
(b) No archaeological finds but rather "Gold-plated" sourced stories about the Mayans -- gold plates that mysteriously disappeared...to this day, no one knows where they are.
(c) Some guy peering into a hat with his pet rock in front of his eyes left us all their stories
(d) A burning in the bosom occurring whenever we read stories constructed from processes (b) or (c)
Lamanite bride heading south to join the brethren in the Mayan Nation.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4HPIC_enUS349US349&q=mormon+tours+location&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
Pick one.
Heck; you may even run across Noah’s Ark while tromping around!
I read it, and was CLUELESS as to the RESTORED GOSPEL® that is supposedly in there.
Why is that?
No, the Book of Mormon was not written by Joseph Smith; he interpreted it.
(Which picture is a more ACCURATE illustration on fact?)
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“Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.”
David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, Richmond, Mo.: n.p., 1887, p. 12
Only to folks that have to believe the story that LDS, Inc. puts out.
Ever hear of the Spaniards?
Maybe we should just connect up the Co-Redemtrix and Mormon groups and let them have the ultimate cage fight to the death, I grow weary of such threads on the FR (I know, then why do you post on them?)
...and if thee fail to obey My word, that I speaketh through an Authorized Representitive of Mine; I shall smite thee and thou shalt be completely destroyed: just like Emma!
Thou art a mocker rent large.
Repent or be destroyed: just like Emma!
Are you serious? Or just being a joker?
My uncle married an ldser, does that mean they are real? /s/ (Ok, not the married part, the real part.)
And here we're told the Lds church is a "top-down" structured church...seems a revolt is going on at the grass roots..."Your Book of Mormon tales," the grassroots seem to be saying, "are not plausible. We will reconstruct it for you, lest we otherwise toss out our faith completely -- as what we've been told all these years cannot possibly be so."
And there's the rub: Whose been right all these years? The Lds "prophets" and general authorities and Book of Mormon teachers who've gone on ecclesiastical record & spoken out on the subject? Or these johnny-late-comers who realize the Book of Mormon geography just doesn't square with these leaders' accounts?
All of the requirements come from the Book of Mormon’s text and only Mesoamerica fits all the criteria, according to the organization’s Web site.
Except one - Hill Cumorah is in New York State, not mesoamerica.
(Well, ya know, tectonic plates shift over time...and leprechauns make mischief just to spite the Hobbits...and those New York leprechaun immigrants are just the worst...no assimilation into the American culture at all...they stay in their tree-stump ghettos...)
Thy quickness is appreciated thou good and faithful servant.
Morgbot Debunker!
Hill Cumorah is in New York State, not mesoamerica.
______________________________________________
Ah, but remember, ...
The book of mormon people immigrated to New York state to fight a big war...
In which many millions died...
and their bones are buried right there...
at the Hill Cumorah...
named for the one back in the old country, that same mess called mesoamerica...
The newer Hill Cumorah was that hill at which Joey Smith was directed to dig and find gold plates...
Left there by the bones of a brave warrior who fell defending the ancient.. the ancient... ah yes well...
LOL. (Certainly, those Nephite disciples could do tour duty service for at least 2 years given the commmon sacrifices Lds missionaries make)
Lurkers: If you don't understand TN's reference...here it is from the Book of Mormon, supposedly circa 34-35 A.D. -- around the death of Christ:
3 Nephi 28...starting in verse 2: all but three Nephite disciples from...
...South America/MesoAmerica/or whereever the Mormons eventually play pin the tail on the American donkey,
...told the Mormon jesus they wanted speedily out of their "ministry, wherein thou has hast called us" [Isn't that cute...these 3 34A.D. disciples speaking King James English in the Americas!]
Of course, they had good motivations -- they wanted to "speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom."
The Mormon jesus' responded by saying "Blessed are ye because ye desired this thing" (v. 3) and told them they'd live til they were 72. [And here the tradition is all but John among the Jewish disciple-apostles suffered deaths of martyrdom; while those American disciples always get ease & comfort -- guaranteed life-breath insurance policies until they EACH reached 72 -- except for the three -- and for them, a lifetime achievement award on planet earth for the lifetime of the rest of the planet!
Then the Mormon jesus turned to the other three Nephite disciples. And the Mormon jesus read their minds (v. 6) that they desired to be like the apostle John and "never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men...when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven. And ye shall never endure the pains of death....and ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh..." (vv. 7-9)
So Book of Mormon literalists believe that 3 Nephite disciples and the apostle John have been wandering the earth for over 2,000 years. For some reason, they've been demoted from "apostle" and "general authority" status (we know since Mormonism is a supposed "restoration" of the original church, that the "general authority" title must have been scrubbed by those nasty Christians from the scriptures).
So ask your Mormon neighbors and co-workers: "Do you REALLY believe 4 men have walked the earth alive for over 2,000 years?" (If they say "yes," they are TBM -- True Believing Mormons; If they say "no," ask them why they doubt the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants -- D&C outlines the same thing for the apostle John).
How are things on Hill Cumorah??
Is that little book still sleeping there?
In conclusion let us summarize this grand key, these “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet”, for our salvation depends on them.
1. The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.
2. The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works.
3. The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.
4. The prophet will never lead the church astray.
5. The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.
6. The prophet does not have to say “Thus Saith the Lord,” to give us scripture.
7. The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.
8. The prophet is not limited by men’s reasoning.
9. The prophet can receive revelation on any matter, temporal or spiritual.
10. The prophet may advise on civic matters.
11. The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.
12. The prophet will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.
13. The prophet and his counselors make up the First Presidency—the highest quorum in the Church.
14. The prophet and the presidency—the living prophet and the First Presidency—follow them and be blessed—reject them and suffer.
I testify that these fourteen fundamentals in following the living prophet are true. If we want to know how well we stand with the Lord then let us ask ourselves how well we stand with His mortal captain—how close do our lives harmonize with the Lord’s anointed—the living Prophet—President of the Church, and with the Quorum of the First Presidency.
Ezra Taft Benson
(Address given Tuesday, February 26, 1980 at Brigham Young University)
(Makes one wonder if these two fellows ever met and discussed things...)
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