BOOK OF MORMON SETTING.
Many Latter-day Saints still believe what the prophets have taught about the New York Cumorah. President Nelson: "Good inspiration is based upon good information." Here, we share good information from original sources that corroborates the prophets.
We support Church policy of neutrality. That policy promotes unity by recognizing multiple working hypotheses. We encourage all interested parties to do the same.
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.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
How to be a success
Fast Company put up a slideshow titled "9 Easy-to-Steal Habits of the Super Successful." They are pretty good ideas that apply to Book of Mormon studies, too. Here's my take on a few of them:
Big companies know storytelling is the secret weapon to "branding." Why? Because people don't fall in love with data dumps and PowerPoint slides—they are moved by emotions.
And for those looking to be in charge, the best—and most memorable—way to make an impact and stick in people's minds is to ditch the small talk, and learn how to unspool meaningful narratives.
This one summarizes the Book of Mormon (and the scriptures generally). We could have scriptures that consist of the Ten Commandments and a few regulations; instead we have scriptures that consist of stories from many civilizations throughout the world over thousands of years.
I made 5,127 prototypes of my vacuum before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That's how I came up with a solution. So I don't mind failure. I've always thought that schoolchildren should be marked by the number of failures they've had. The child who tries strange things and experiences lots of failures to get there is probably more creative.
Dyson's point: If you want to discover something new, you're bound to fail a few times (or in his case, 5,126 times), and that's okay. It's also okay to quit something your heart isn't into, in order to get somewhere better.
By now, most people realize the Mesoamerican theory of Book of Mormon geography was a mistake, but that's okay--so long as we learn from it. Mesoamerican advocates generally have been well-intentioned and sincere. Now it's a question of how they will respond to the new paradigm. Those of us who have already shifted paradigms think it's great that we have decades of research focused on Mesoamerica because 1) Mesoamerica is an interesting place even though it has nothing to do with the Book of Mormon narrative and 2) all that research has convincingly proven that the Book of Mormon could not have happened in Mesoamerica. Now let's take those lessons and move on.
The Mesoamerican theory, like many "consensus" theories, has thrived for decades because people didn't insist on answers to basic questions (and, when people did, the Mesoamerican proponents ignored them). For example, the Sorenson model insists "north" in the Book of Mormon text is not "north" as defined by the English language. Nor are "horses" horses, etc.
Truth be told, I think the difference between passion and delusion isn’t even very distinguishable. I suspect many an entrepreneur has fallen too far down the rabbit hole without even realizing it. It happened to me. Maxed-out credit cards, empty cupboards, and a frustrated spouse helped me wake up to the delusion I created in myself. I was laser-focused on the belief I had to succeed no matter what, which led me to lose sight of reality. My story fortunately has a happy ending. But if I hadn’t faced that reality head-on (and it did indeed feel like a crash), I wouldn’t have been able to honestly evaluate my business and redirect toward a healthier course.
Do I need to point out how this applies to the remaining advocates of the Mesoamerican theory?
This is great advice for anyone reading the Book of Mormon. Take notes, ask questions, and see for yourself which proposed geography makes the most sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment