Church corrects heading to Words of Mormon and other topics

People are wondering why I haven't posted much lately. There are two main reasons. 

First, I want to see how the collaborative effort involving the Phoencia plays out. I'm optimistic, but also realistic. FWIW, I have over 300 unpublished posts on various topics, along with a couple of books that I may or may not release depending on how things go.

Second, I've been busy with travel, artwork (painting), and other activities. But as time allows, I also post things on my other blogs and websites. 

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For example, I posted a new article on mobom.org about the Words of Mormon.

Go to https://www.mobom.org/church-history-issues. The last article under "Origin of the Book of Mormon (translation)" discusses Words of Mormon.

https://www.mobom.org/words-of-mormon-analysis

This article updates and augments Chapter 11 of Whatever Happened to the Golden Plates?

I'm continually updating my blogs, articles, and books in response to feedback and further reflection. 

And so is the Church.

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The heading to Words of Mormon has changed to more accurately reflect the language in the text. Notice the significant change from the old "He inserts the plates of Nephi into the abridgment" to the new "He puts the small plates with the other plates."

Here is the heading in my printed (analog) version of the scriptures. This is the 1981 edition.

Here is the current heading in the online edition, which is based on the 2013 edition:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/w-of-m/1?lang=eng

This change follows the text instead of making an assumption, which is refreshing. 

It also happens to accommodate the two sets of plates narrative. 

Toward no more contention: the Phoenicia

Extrinsic evidence of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon continues to come forth. Here's an outstanding example of Latter-day Saints working together to present such evidence.

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/blog/scripture-central-and-firm-foundation-explore-evidence-of-phonecian-connections-to-the-new 

Scripture Central and FIRM Foundation Explore Evidence of Phoenician Connections to the New World

Post contributed by Scripture Central

April 23, 2024

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Phoenician ship Carved on the face of a sarcophagus. 2nd century AD. Original image by Elias Ziade. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Saturday evening, April 20, 2024, Richard Ferguson accepted the gracious invitation to speak alongside Rod Meldrum at the FIRM Foundation conference. Both agreed that the most important purpose of the Book of Mormon is to bring people to Jesus Christ, and the volume’s role as a witness to His divinity. 

Both discussed how contention over geographic models is not only unproductive, but destructive in furthering the Restoration’s progress. They agreed that faithful people can have different interpretations of early church leader statements and of scientific evidence. 

Rod and Richard discussed what specific areas the two groups have in common, namely: 

• The Book of Mormon is real history.
• Old World connections, such as Lehi’s travel along identifiable points of the spice trails through Arabia before reaching Oman to build a ship in a place called Bountiful.
• Hebraisms and other clear indications of the book having been written by ancient scribal prophets.
• Transoceanic voyages.
• Potential Phoenician contact to help Mulek arrive to the new world.
• Seed of Lehi over North and South America.
• Prophecies and promises in the Book of Mormon are true.

In an effort to collaborate in these areas of common agreement, Scripture Central agreed to work with FIRM Foundation to publish findings regarding the potential Mulekite and Phoenician connections, by exploring evidence for transoceanic voyages and contact prior to Columbus. Though other strictly potential avenues for collaboration were discussed on stage, Mr. Ferguson also affirmed that for now, Scripture Central will concentrate only on areas of agreement. Future events may present opportunities for expanding cooperation. 

Rod and Richard also stressed the importance that all believing members of the church should avoid contention or judging the characters of various writers or speakers, and communicate respectfully, reasonably, and cordially. They should refrain from using any pejorative or derogatory language. 

“We hope this will be the beginning of a new era of mutual respect, regardless of opinions as to where the Book of Mormon events occurred. We believe that this joint research can lead to further opportunities for collaboration. In the meantime, Scripture Central will continue its mission to illuminate and defend divine truth, its central mission,” said Richard Ferguson, Volunteer Executive Director, Scripture Central. 

boil down to fundamental truths

A good explanation for the reason to refocus on what Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery said about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon:

“Don’t just follow the trend... boil things down to the most fundamental truths you can imagine and you reason up from there. This is a good way to figure out if something really makes sense or if it’s just what everyone else is doing.” | Elon Musk