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.

Thursday, August 13, 2020

2020 Art Contest

Book of Mormon Central recently announced the results of its 2020 Art Contest. You can see the paintings here:

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/events/art-contest-2020

It's awesome that Book of Mormon Central is sponsoring art contests. This is the type of activity that makes me wish I could support them. And I would, wholeheartedly, if they weren't continually promoting M2C while censoring and suppressing alternative faithful interpretations of the Book of Mormon and the teachings of the prophets.

I had two favorite paintings.

One is Gary Kapp's beautiful painting titled He Healed Them All, Every One, which won Second Place.


https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/he-healed-them-all-every-one

It's refreshing to see a portrayal of Christ with the Nephites without a Mayan temple in the background. This nod toward neutrality would be even more welcome if it didn't mask the ongoing editorial M2C policies of Book of Mormon Central.

My other favorite is The Lord Will Carry Us Forth by Kristen Openshaw. The colors and design are delightful.


https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/lord-will-carry-us-forth

I encourage everyone to enjoy these and other paintings in the competition.
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You'll notice lots of M2C themes, of course. Chichen Itza features prominently in several paintings.


This is an example of the influence of such artwork as the following once ubiquitous painting, which fortunately was recently banned from chapel foyers.




BTW, although the painting by John Scott has been named as "Jesus Christ Visits the Americas," look at the URL to see how this painting is really known:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/image/christ-teaching-nephites-11c829d?lang=eng

It would be one thing if the painting represented one of Christ's many visits throughout the world. It's quite another to declare that this painting depicts Christ visiting the Nephites, with Chichen Itza in the background.

But the painting has indelibly imprinted M2C on the minds of millions of Latter-day Saints, as some of the artwork in the contest demonstrate.

It's on the cover of the unbelievably M2C-promoting Book of Mormon for Young Readers:


Commentators have used the painting to attack the credibility of the Book of Mormon. E.g.,
https://ancientamericasappropriated.net/john-walter-scott-jesus-christ-visits-the-americas-1969/

At least we have the slightly less blatantly M2C depiction here:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/book-of-mormon-stories/chapter-43-jesus-christ-appears-to-the-nephites?lang=eng
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People have asked about John Scott. Here are two bio pages:

https://www.pulpartists.com/ScottJW.html

https://harryandersonart.com/john-scott-art/


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