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.

Friday, July 28, 2017

FairMormon conference preparation #2 - Cumorah

Regarding the Book of Mormon, the FairMormon conference focuses exclusively on the Mesoamerican and two-Cumorahs theories. They refuse to allow speakers who support alternatives, which is why you'll never learn about Letter VII, the two sets of plates, or other historical facts and scenarios that contradict the Mesoamerican and two-Cumorahs theories.

Just to be clear, once again, on a personal level I respect and like every presenter that I've met, and I'm sure I'd feel the same about those I haven't yet had a chance to meet. My objections to their methodology and ideology are substantive, not personal in any way.

If you go, you will enjoy meeting the presenters. But you will also be shocked and dismayed at their approach to the Book of Mormon. Every presenter I know will teach that Joseph and Oliver were ignorant speculators who misled the Church about the Hill Cumorah being in New York. You'll hear about the Mesoamerican setting and the "real Cumorah" being in Mexico.

Or, worse, you'l learn about the imaginary "abstract" map of Book of Mormon lands currently being taught at BYU, which shows Cumorah not in New York, but in an imaginary land that resembles a video game or fantasy novel.

If you go, you should ask as many people as you can what they think about Cumorah. And ask why they would teach BYU students that the Book of Mormon took place in a fantasy world.
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As we've seen, the two-Cumorahs theory was developed as a response to the notion that the "real Cumorah" could not be in New York because so many people were killed at that site.

Over at my Letter VII blog, I posted an analysis of the numbers of people who died during the final battles at Cumorah. Here's the link: http://www.lettervii.com/2017/07/more-about-cumorahs-casualties.html

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