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.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Classic Post #6 - Agree and Agree-to-disagree chart

This comparison chart compares M2C (the Mesoamerican/Two-Cumorahs theory) with 1NYC (the One New York Cumorah).

Proposition

M2C

1NYC

1. The most important aspect of the Book of Mormon is its message.

Agree

Agree

2. The Book of Mormon is an inspired translation of an actual ancient record of actual people who lived in the real world.

Agree

Agree

3. The ultimate objective of our research/writing is to motivate people to read the Book of Mormon and strengthen their faith in Christ as a result.

Agree

Agree

4. Another objective of our research/writing is to help people better understand the text of the book by understanding its setting, culture and context.

Agree

Agree

5. The Church has no official position on where Book of Mormon events took place.

Agree

Agree

6. In Letter VII, Oliver Cowdery identified the valley west of the Hill Cumorah in New York as the location of the final battles of the Nephites and Jaredites.

Agree

Agree

7. Joseph Smith instructed his scribes to copy Oliver’s letters, including Letter VII, into his journal as part of his life story.

Agree

Agree

8. Joseph Smith gave permission to Benjamin Winchester to republish Oliver’s letters, including Letter VII, in his newspaper called the Gospel Reflector

Agree

Agree

9. Don Carlos republished Oliver’s letters, including Letter VII, in the 1842 Church newspaper called the Times and Seasons (T&S).

Agree

Agree

10. On Sept. 9, 1841, Dr. Bernhisel gave Wilford Woodruff a copy of the Stephens' popular archaeology books about Central America to give to Joseph Smith

Agree

Agree

11. On Nov. 5, 1841, Wilford Woodruff wrote a letter to Dr. Bernhisel that is not extant.

Agree

Agree

12. A thank-you letter dated Nov. 16, 1841, was sent to Bernhisel on Joseph Smith’s behalf. No one knows who wrote the letter because the handwriting remains unidentified and no journals mention it.

Agree

Agree

13. A series of editorials were published in the T&S during 1842 that linked the Book of Mormon to archaeological findings in North and Central America. They cited the Stephens books and archaeology books by Josiah Priest. All were published either anonymously or over the signature of Ed. for Editor.

Agree

Agree

14. From February 15 through October 15, 1842, the boilerplate of the T&S said the paper was edited, printed, and published by Joseph Smith.

Agree

Agree

15. Joseph Smith originally obtained the plates from a stone box Moroni constructed out of stone and cement in the Hill Cumorah in New York.

Agree

Agree

16. Brigham Young said Oliver told him that he (Oliver) and Joseph had made at least two visits to a room in the Hill Cumorah in New York that contained piles of records and ancient Nephite artifacts.

Agree

Agree

17. Mormon said he buried all the Nephite records in the Hill Cumorah (Morm. 6:6), the scene of the final battles of the Nephites, except he kept out the plates he gave to his son Moroni to finish the record.

Agree

Agree

18. D&C 128:20 reads, “And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed,” followed by references to other events that took place in New York.

Agree

Agree

19. The geography passages in the Book of Mormon are subject to a variety of interpretations.

Agree

Agree

20. To date, apart from Moroni’s stone box and the plates and other objects Joseph Smith possessed and showed to the Witnesses, no artifact or archaeological site that can be directly linked to the Book of Mormon has been found anywhere.

Agree

Agree

21. Cultural characteristics can be discerned from the text.

Agree

Agree

22. The New Jerusalem Ether wrote about is located in Jackson County, Missouri.

Agree

Agree

23. Mayan civilization collapsed around 800 A.D. and Mayans migrated to North America, where they lived for several hundred years before returning to Central America.

Agree

Agree

24. The Newark Ohio earthworks are the largest earthworks in the world and demonstrate knowledge of astronomy and geometry.

Agree

Agree

25. There were a million ancient mounds in North America before the Europeans arrived.

Agree

Agree

26. There are two million skeletons buried in mounds in Illinois alone.

Agree

Agree

27. As an Apostle and Church Historian, Joseph Fielding Smith said the two-Cumorah theory caused members to become confused and disturbed in their faith in the Book of Mormon. He reiterated this when he was President of the Quorum of the Twelve in the 1950s in his book Doctrines of Salvation.

Agree

Agree

28. The land of Zarahemla is north of the land of Nephi and lower in elevation than the land of Nephi.

Agree

Agree


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