|
|
| (18 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| − | {{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}} | + | {{Main Page}} <onlyinclude> |
| − | {{Resource Title|Did Joseph Smith write the Book of Mormon to explain the "mound builders"?}}
| + | {{H2 |
| − | == ==
| + | |L=Book of Mormon/Geography/New World/Great Lakes geography/Mound Builders |
| − | {{Criticism label}}
| + | |H=The "mound builders" and the Book of Mormon |
| | + | |S= |
| | + | |L1=Question: Did Joseph Smith believe that the ''Book of Mormon'' explained local legends associated with the "Mound Builders" of the Eastern United States? |
| | + | }}</onlyinclude> |
| | | | |
| − | * Critics claim that Joseph Smith wrote the ''Book of Mormon'' to explain local legends associated with the "Mound Builders" of the Eastern United States.
| + | {{:Question: Did Joseph Smith believe that the ''Book of Mormon'' explained local legends associated with the "Mound Builders" of the Eastern United States?}} |
| − | * Other authors insist that Joseph identified the Moundbuilders as the Book of Mormon-era civilizations by revelation.
| |
| | | | |
| − | {{CriticalSources}}
| |
| | | | |
| − | == ==
| + | {{To_learn_more_box:Mound_builders_and_the_Book_of_Mormon}} |
| − | {{Conclusion label}} | |
| | | | |
| − | Statements made by Joseph Smith clearly indicate that his thinking regarding the actual location of Book of Mormon events evolved over time. Joseph felt that the presence of the mounds in North America ''and'' ruined cities in Central America supported the Book of Mormon. Since information about the ruined cities in Central America came to light ''after'' the publication of the Book of Mormon, it actually strengthens the theories and evidences which place the Book of Mormon in a Mesoamerican setting--Joseph was willing to consider a setting of which he apparently had no previous knowledge. The description of the ancestors of the American Indians as a highly civilized culture capable of building great cities was not a concept which would have been deduced from the contemporary beliefs regarding the Mound Builders.
| |
| | | | |
| − | == ==
| + | {{Critical sources box:Book of Mormon/Geography/New World/Great Lakes geography/Mound Builders/CriticalSources}} |
| − | {{Response label}} | + | {{endnotes sources}} |
| − | ===Background===
| |
| − | The presence of numerous burial mounds in the eastern United States was the source of great speculation to those that settled there. The construction of such mounds was not considered to be within the ability of the Native Americans, who were considered to be savages. It was assumed that such sophisticated constructions constituted evidence of a long lost, highly civilized society which had long since vanished. Some even postulated the existence of separate civilized and a savage societies, with the highly civilized group eventually being destroyed by the savage one. After years of research, however, it was concluded that the mounds had indeed been constructed by the ancestors of the Indians that continued to live in the area.
| |
| − | | |
| − | ===The Book of Mormon and the Mound Builders===
| |
| − | When the Book of Mormon appeared, it was a natural assumption by many that the book was the story of the mysterious "Mound Builders." Joseph Smith himself initially believed that the presence of the mounds ''supported'' the story related in the Book of Mormon. In fact, as Zion's Camp passed through southern Illinois, Heber C. Kimball and several other participants claimed that Joseph identified a set of bones discovered in one of these mounds as [[Zelph|"Zelph"]], a "white Lamanite." In a letter that Joseph wrote to Emma the day after this discovery, he stated:
| |
| − | | |
| − | :The whole of our journey, in the midst of so large a company of social honest and sincere men, wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity, and gazing upon a country the fertility, the splendour and the goodness so indescribable, all serves to pass away time unnoticed.{{ref|jessee.324}} | |
| − | | |
| − | ===Joseph Smith's belief regarding Book of Mormon lands===
| |
| − | At this point in time, Joseph clearly believed not only the region of the mounds to be part of Book of Mormon lands, but the entire continent, including Central America. The Book of Mormon itself, however, makes no mention of mounds.
| |
| − | | |
| − | In 1841, the ''Times and Seasons'', of which Joseph was the editor at the time, commented on a popular book by John Lloyd Stephens called ''Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan''. This book described amazing ruined cities that had been found in Central America.
| |
| − | | |
| − | Joseph Smith himself, as editor of the ''Times and Seasons'' wrote and signed (as "ED[itor]") the following on July 15, 1842. Notice that he mentions ''both'' the mounds and the ruins in Guatemala as supporting the ''Book of Mormon'':
| |
| − | | |
| − | :If men, in their researches into the history of this country, in '''noticing the mounds''', fortifications, statues, architecture, implements of war, of husbandry, and ornaments of silver, brass, &c.-were to examine the Book of Mormon, their conjectures would be removed, and their opinions altered; uncertainty and doubt would be changed into certainty and facts; and they would find that those things that they are anxiously prying into were matters of history, unfolded in that book. They would find their conjectures were more than realized-that a great and a mighty people had inhabited this continent-that the arts sciences and religion, had prevailed to a very great extent, and that there was as great and mighty cities on this continent as on the continent of Asia. Babylon, Ninevah, nor any of the ruins of the Levant could boast of more perfect sculpture, better architectural designs, and more imperishable ruins, than what are found on this continent. '''Stephens and Catherwood's researches in Central America abundantly testify of this thing. The stupendous ruins, the elegant sculpture, and the magnificence of the ruins of Guatamala [Guatemala], and other cities, corroborate this statement, and show that a great and mighty people-men of great minds, clear intellect, bright genius, and comprehensive designs inhabited this continent.''' Their ruins speak of their greatness; the Book of Mormen [Mormon} unfolds their history.-ED. {{ref|ts3:18}} {{ea}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | A later ''Times and Seasons'' article, published on October 1, 1842 under Joseph's editorial supervision (though not signed by Joseph Smith as editor) stated:
| |
| − | | |
| − | :It would not be a bad plan to compare Mr. Stephens' ruined cities with those in the Book of Mormon: Light cleaves to light and facts are supported by facts. The truth injures no one...." {{ref|ts3:23}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | ===Advanced ancestors of the American Indians?===
| |
| − | One thing that critics do not consider is that if someone of that era were to attempt to write a book about a history of the North American Indians, he or she would ''not'' have written about advanced civilizations with advanced technology. The mysterious "Mound Builders" were not considered to be the ancestors of the current "savage" race that were inhabiting the land at that time.
| |
| − | | |
| − | Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon realized that there were going to be problems with this assumption after the publication of the Book of Mormon. In a interview, David Whitmer said:
| |
| − | | |
| − | :When we [the Witnesses] were first told to publish our statement, we felt sure that the people would not believe it, for the Book told of a people who were refined and dwelt in large cities; but the Lord told us that He would make it known to the people, and people should discover evidence of the truth of what is written in the Book.{{ref|Whitmer:3}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | =={{Endnotes label}}==
| |
| − | #{{note|jessee.324}}Dean C. Jessee, ''The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith'', (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984), p. 324.
| |
| − | #{{note|ts3:18}}{{TS1 | author=Joseph Smith (editor) |vol=3|num=18|article=AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.|date=July 15, 1842|start=860}}
| |
| − | #{{note|ts3:23}}{{TS1 | author=[Editor] |vol=3|num=23|article=ZARAHEMLA.|date=Oct. 1, 1842|start=927}}
| |
| − | #{{note|Whitmer:3}}Interview with James H. Hart, Richmond, Mo., Aug. 21, 1883, as recorded in Hart's notebook, reprinted in Lyndon W. Cook, ''David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness'' (Orem, Utah: Grandin Book, 1991), p. 76.
| |
| − | | |
| − | =={{Further reading label}}==
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
| |
| − | *[[Zelph]]
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==={{FAIR web site label}}===
| |
| − | #{{tg|url=http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai266.html|topic=Zelph}}
| |
| − | #{{tg|url=http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai024.html|topic=Archaeology and the Book of Mormon}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==={{External links label}}===
| |
| − | *{{FR-4-1-29}}
| |
| − | *{{FR-4-1-30}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==={{Printed material label}}===
| |
| − | *David A. Palmer, In Search of Cumorah (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon, 1981),82 ISBN 0882907832
| |
| − | {{Articles Footer 1}} {{Articles Footer 2}} {{Articles Footer 3}} {{Articles Footer 4}} {{Articles Footer 5}} {{Articles Footer 6}} {{Articles Footer 7}} {{Articles Footer 8}} {{Articles Footer 9}} {{Articles Footer 10}} | |
| − | | |
| − | [[fr:Book of Mormon/Geography/New World/Great Lakes geography/Mound Builders]]
| |
The "mound builders" and the Book of Mormon
Jump to details:
Question: Did Joseph Smith believe that the Book of Mormon explained local legends associated with the "Mound Builders" of the Eastern United States?
When the Book of Mormon appeared, it was a natural assumption by many that the book was the story of the mysterious "Mound Builders"
Joseph Smith himself initially believed that the presence of the mounds supported the story related in the Book of Mormon. In fact, as Zion's Camp passed through southern Illinois, Heber C. Kimball and several other participants claimed that Joseph identified a set of bones discovered in one of these mounds as "Zelph", a "white Lamanite." In a letter that Joseph wrote to Emma the day after this discovery, he stated:
The whole of our journey, in the midst of so large a company of social honest and sincere men, wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity, and gazing upon a country the fertility, the splendour and the goodness so indescribable, all serves to pass away time unnoticed.[1]
Statements made by Joseph Smith clearly indicate that his thinking regarding the actual location of Book of Mormon events evolved over time
Joseph felt that the presence of the mounds in North America and ruined cities in Central America supported the Book of Mormon. Since information about the ruined cities in Central America came to light after the publication of the Book of Mormon, it actually strengthens the theories and evidences which place the Book of Mormon in a Mesoamerican setting--Joseph was willing to consider a setting of which he apparently had no previous knowledge. The description of the ancestors of the American Indians as a highly civilized culture capable of building great cities was not a concept which would have been deduced from the contemporary beliefs regarding the Mound Builders.
The presence of numerous burial mounds in the eastern United States was the source of great speculation to those that settled there. The construction of such mounds was not considered to be within the ability of the Native Americans, who were considered to be savages. It was assumed that such sophisticated constructions constituted evidence of a long lost, highly civilized society which had long since vanished. Some even postulated the existence of separate civilized and a savage societies, with the highly civilized group eventually being destroyed by the savage one. After years of research, however, it was concluded that the mounds had indeed been constructed by the ancestors of the Indians that continued to live in the area.
Joseph clearly believed not only the region of the mounds to be part of Book of Mormon lands, but the entire continent, including Central America. The Book of Mormon itself, however, makes no mention of mounds.
In 1841, the Times and Seasons, of which Joseph was the editor at the time, commented on a popular book by John Lloyd Stephens called Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan. This book described amazing ruined cities that had been found in Central America.
Joseph Smith himself, as editor of the Times and Seasons wrote and signed (as "ED[itor]") the following on July 15, 1842. Notice that he mentions both the mounds and the ruins in Guatemala as supporting the Book of Mormon:
If men, in their researches into the history of this country, in noticing the mounds, fortifications, statues, architecture, implements of war, of husbandry, and ornaments of silver, brass, &c.-were to examine the Book of Mormon, their conjectures would be removed, and their opinions altered; uncertainty and doubt would be changed into certainty and facts; and they would find that those things that they are anxiously prying into were matters of history, unfolded in that book. They would find their conjectures were more than realized-that a great and a mighty people had inhabited this continent-that the arts sciences and religion, had prevailed to a very great extent, and that there was as great and mighty cities on this continent as on the continent of Asia. Babylon, Ninevah, nor any of the ruins of the Levant could boast of more perfect sculpture, better architectural designs, and more imperishable ruins, than what are found on this continent. Stephens and Catherwood's researches in Central America abundantly testify of this thing. The stupendous ruins, the elegant sculpture, and the magnificence of the ruins of Guatamala [Guatemala], and other cities, corroborate this statement, and show that a great and mighty people-men of great minds, clear intellect, bright genius, and comprehensive designs inhabited this continent. Their ruins speak of their greatness; the Book of Mormen [Mormon} unfolds their history.-ED.[2]
A later Times and Seasons article, published on October 1, 1842 under Joseph's editorial supervision (though not signed by Joseph Smith as editor) stated:
It would not be a bad plan to compare Mr. Stephens' ruined cities with those in the Book of Mormon: Light cleaves to light and facts are supported by facts. The truth injures no one....[3]
If someone of that era were to attempt to write a book about a history of the North American Indians, they would not have written about advanced civilizations with advanced technology
One thing that critics do not consider is that if someone of that era were to attempt to write a book about a history of the North American Indians, he or she would not have written about advanced civilizations with advanced technology. The mysterious "Mound Builders" were not considered to be the ancestors of the current "savage" race that were inhabiting the land at that time.
Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon realized that there were going to be problems with this assumption after the publication of the Book of Mormon. In a interview, David Whitmer said:
When we [the Witnesses] were first told to publish our statement, we felt sure that the people would not believe it, for the Book told of a people who were refined and dwelt in large cities; but the Lord told us that He would make it known to the people, and people should discover evidence of the truth of what is written in the Book.[4]
Mound builders and alleged links to the Book of Mormon
Wiki links |
|
Online |
- Diane E. Wirth, "Review of Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory by Stephen Williams," FARMS Review of Books 4/1 (1992): 251–253. off-site
- John L. Sorenson, "Review of Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory by Stephen Williams," FARMS Review of Books 4/1 (1992): 254–257. off-site
- John Gee. "The Wrong Type of Book," Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon. Provo, UT: FARMS, 2002. This article provides a detailed analysis of how one would expect the Book of Mormon to appear if written according to 19th century stylistic conventions, cultural expectations, etc. The article demonstrates clearly that the Book of Mormon does not resemble these at all.
|
Print |
- David A. Palmer, In Search of Cumorah: New Evidences for the Book of Mormon from Ancient Mexico (Bountiful: Horizon, 1981), 82.
|
Navigators |
|
Source(s) of the criticism
Critical sources |
- Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism (Harvest House Publishers: 2005). 58, 359n54. ( Index of claims ) (Sources: Brodie)
- Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003), 63 510n19 ( Index of claims ) (Sources: Brodie)
- Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), Chapter 3. ( Index of claims )
- Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2004) 23–26. ( Index of claims ) (Sources: Brodie and Silverberg)
- Rodney Meldrum, DNA Evidence for Book of Mormon Geography: New scientific support for the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon; Correlation and Verification through DNA, Prophetic, Scriptural, Historical, Climatological, Archaeological, Social, and Cultural Evidence (Rodney Meldrum, 2007), mail-order DVD. ( Index of claims )
- Robert Silverberg, The Mound Builders (Ohio University Press, 1986), 68-73.
- Stephen Williams, Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991).
|
Notes
- ↑ Dean C. Jessee, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, revised edition, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 2002), 324.
- ↑ Joseph Smith (editor), "AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.," Times and Seasons 3 no. 18 (July 15, 1842), 860, (emphasis added). off-site GospeLink
- ↑ [Editor], "ZARAHEMLA.," Times and Seasons 3 no. 23 (Oct. 1, 1842), 927. off-site GospeLink
- ↑ Interview with James H. Hart, Richmond, Mo., Aug. 21, 1883, as recorded in Hart's notebook; reprinted in Lyndon Cook (editor), David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness (Orem, Utah: Grandin Books, 1991), 76.
