Scripture Central: Money, M2C, SITH, Kno-Whys, etc.

Before discussing Scripture Central, here are some other new posts.

One at ldshistoricalnarratives about Joseph Smith's early years.

https://www.ldshistoricalnarratives.com/2024/09/joseph-smith-early-years.html

One at the FunWithSITH blog about John Whitmer:

https://funwithsith.blogspot.com/2024/09/sith-sayers-omit-testimony-of-u.html

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Now, Scripture Central.

You can get your $250/plate tickets for Scripture Central's "Moroni Day Gala" on Sept 20, 2024, here:

https://scripturecentral.org/event/moroni-day-2024

We love everyone at Scripture Central and we respect the good work they do. Like everyone at Scripture Central, we also love the Book of Mormon and other scriptures, and are eager to continue sharing the gospel with the entire world. We want to bring people to Christ and encourage them to enter and stay on the covenant path.

And as you can see, the dinner menu for the Gala is impressive.

open-minded, accommodating menu
(click to enlarge)

You can get your salmon, your filet mignon, or your quinoa & Garbanzo cake (GF/NF/VGN).

Scripture Central recognizes that people have different preferences when it comes to food. 

We might say that people have different values and priorities about what they eat.

If Scripture Central was as open-minded and accommodating intellectually as they are with their menu, I'd buy 10 tables to support their event.

But as it is now constituted, I won't give Scripture Central a dime, and I don't think any faithful Latter-day Saint should give them a dime.

This dinner menu more open-minded and accommodating than the management and scholars at Scripture Central.

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It would be awesome if this menu reflected a new approach at Scripture Central. But if they served a dinner that reflected their intellectual intransigence and confirmation bias, they'd serve everyone pupusas, take it or leave it.

Pupusas from Mesoamerica
Media: Pupusa

As delicious as pupusas can be, they're not for everyone at every meal. They are not the only "acceptable" food, as determined by a handful of influential scholars.

And at the Moroni Day Gala, everyone will get a heaping platter of M2C and SITH. 

Scripture Central thinks the way to avoid contention is by censorship, exclusion and insisting on conformity with the theories of certain intellectuals, instead of "unity through diversity" as our modern prophets teach. 

That's why those of us who still believe the teachings of the prophets seek clarity, charity and understanding, recognizing multiple working hypotheses and encouraging informed decisions, as opposed to dogmatic enforcement of M2C and SITH.

[BTW, if I'm wrong about any of this--if the Moroni Day Gala recognizes and accommodate faithful Latter-day Saints who still believe what the prophets have taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon, I'll happily publish a detailed, warm endorsement of Scripture Central and send them a check.]

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Since its inception, I hoped Scripture Central (then Book of Mormon Central) would be intellectually honest, curious, and accommodating of all faithful Latter-day Saints. But sadly, that hope remains just a hope. 

Scripture Central continues to exclude fellow Latter-day Saints who, unlike the management and scholars at Scripture Central, still believe what the prophets have taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon. By that I mean, that (as he and Oliver always said) Joseph translated the plates with the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates, and that the hill Cumorah/Ramah is in western New York.

It's nice that Scripture Central raises millions of dollars from faithful Latter-day Saints. They could do a lot of good with it.

And, to be sure, much of the content they produce is solid. They have lots of good reference material in their library and lots of useful tools. I recommend their solid content all the time. Even M2C and SITH are among the multiple working hypotheses people should be aware of. At the Museum of the Book of Mormon (www.mobom.org) we include links to Scripture Central. We even refer people to the Kno-Whys. https://www.mobom.org/scripture-central-kno-whys

But on the other hand...

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On the other hand, Scripture Central still promotes M2C and SITH as the only acceptable beliefs among Latter-day Saints.

Here's how Scripture Central depicts Mormon and Moroni as Mayans, with Cumorah featuring a Mayan temple in southern Mexico. This is from Scripture Central's "Moroni Day" video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY2WPqJbtB8

Mormon and Moroni as Mayans,
with Cumorah as a Mayan temple?
(click to enlarge)

For those of us who still believe what the prophets have taught about Cumorah/Ramah, this is not only patently absurd but deeply offensive.

However, we're happy to acknowledge multiple working hypotheses and recognize that faithful Latter-day Saints can believe whatever they want.

Then there is this image of Christ appearing at a pagan Mayan temple, as if the Christian Nephites were building such edifices (which are never mentioned nor even hinted at in the Book of Mormon).

Christ appearing at a Mayan temple

M2C and SITH directly refutes what Joseph and Oliver taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon. Scripture Central promotes the claims of David Whitmer, Mormonism Unvailed, William Smith, Benjamin Winchester, and other detractors instead of what Joseph and Oliver taught. 

Their myopic obsession with M2C and SITH means that Scripture Central (formerly Book of Mormon Central) is not a legitimate academic organization. It's merely an advocacy group for M2C and SITH. 

It's a shame, and I wish it were otherwise. 

There are awesome people involved with Scripture Central, and with the millions of dollars in resources, they could unify and fortify Latter-day Saints everywhere. 

But instead they promote division and exclusion, all in an effort to protect and promote their pet theories, in which they see the views of an insular group of scholars as more accurate and authoritative than the teachings of the prophets. 

It's incredible. And such a lost opportunity.

But hope springs eternal. I remain optimistic that someday, Scripture Central will live up to its purported aspirations and become a repository that accommodates all faithful views--including the teachings of the prophets about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.

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For new readers, here are some FAQs about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon:

https://www.mobom.org/church-history-issues

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M2C visuals:

Nauvoo, 1842: Joseph Smith learning about the Book of Mormon
from the Stephens and Catherwood books

The Book of Mormon as a "Mayan Codex"

BMAF, the corporate owner of Scripture Central

The M2C map, showing Cumorah anywhere except New York.

"We try to remain neutral" while we promote M2C.

Some Latter-day Saints still believe what the prophets have taught...