long ago ideas

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago." - Friedrich Nietzsche Long ago, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery conquered false claims that the Book of Mormon was fiction or that it came through a stone in a hat. But these old claims have resurfaced in recent years. To conquer them again, we have to return to what Joseph and Oliver taught.

Monday, January 18, 2016

2016 Gospel Doctrine course

In 2016, the Gospel Doctrine course of study is the Book of Mormon. Lesson supplements each week are being posted here: http://www.2016gospeldoctrine.com/

2016 will be a significant year in Book of Mormon studies as many Church members worldwide will learn about the North American setting for the first time.

Wherever I go, the most common feedback I get from LDS members is "North American just makes sense. Central America never really made sense." Percentage-wise, in my experience fewer than 10% of members stick with the Mesoamerican theory once they learn about just these items:

- Letter VII,

- Joseph Smith's statements about the plains of the Nephites and Zelph,

- Benjamin Winchester at the Times and Seasons,

- D&C 125,

- the explanation of how the text itself describes North America, and

-the archaeological, anthropological, geological, and geographic data that supports the North American* geography.

This is going to be an awesome year for the Book of Mormon as Church members around the world will hear much more about all of these items.
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*for Dan Peterson and the rest of the Interpreter citation cartel, North America means north of the Rio Grande, not Central America or Mesoamerica.

1 comment:

  1. Your handouts will certainly add dimension to BofM study this year.
    Thank You ... ksc

    ReplyDelete