Pre-Christ Hebrew Tablet Discovered: More Book of Mormon Evidence

 

Recently an archaeological discovery has made headlines which is igniting debate in scholarly Christian circles. A stone tablet that pre-dates Jesus Christ was found which contains prophecies of a Messiah who will die and ressurrect three days later. More can be read here.

Israel Knohl, a professor of Biblical studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, says of the tablet:

“Resurrection after three days becomes a motif developed before Jesus, which runs contrary to nearly all scholarship. What happens in the New Testament was adopted by Jesus and his followers based on an earlier messiah story.”

Why is this important to Latter-Day Saints? This potentially could serve as another bit of evidence vindicating Joseph Smith. Critics of the Church often complain that many prophecies in the Book of Mormon, written before Christ, contain too much accurate detail about Christ and his ministry. Now we have uncovered archaeological evidence that such detail is indeed possible, and was part of a pre-Jesus Jewish tradition. The Book of Mormon reads:

2 Ne. 25: 13
13 Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name.

Hel. 14: 20
20 But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead.

Critics are forced to once again admit that Joseph was extremely lucky.

Death Cannot Conquer the Hero Again…

Today marks the 164th anniversary of the martrydom of the Prophet Joseph Smith. This is a small tribute to that wonderful prophet of God.

Praise to the Man

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus annointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.

Chorus
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.

Praise to his mem’ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assasins,
Plead unto heav’n while the earth lauds his fame.

Chorus

Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.

Chorus

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know “Brother Joseph” again.

Chorus

-William W. Phelps

D&C 135:3  Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!

I have stepped out of the office….

I am currently a student at a major university in Texas studying as an undergraduate in the Geology department. This summer I am taking a required course that will take me away from home for 6 weeks. We will tour New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado camping each night and doing LOTS of geology. This is a “rite of passage” of sorts for geologists.

Because of this event Lehi’s Library will be inactive for the next 6 weeks. I will pick back up here in late June. The Church will most certainly remain true until then. See you in 6 weeks!

 

The God We Worship

It is often said that Mormons worship a different God than the rest of Christianity. With that comes the implication that Mormons are not Christian. This extremely divisive rhetoric is most common among Evangelical anti-Mormons. The concept is debatable, and in my opinion has been successfully refuted, especially in Daniel Peterson and Stephen Ricks book “Offenders for a Word.”

I recently read what I think is a very clever reply to those who accuse the LDS of worshipping a different God. I quote the statement here. In speaking of the two greatest commandments (to love thy God with all thy heart and to love thy neighbor) the writer comments:

Some critics, in an effort to be destructive and to avoid any and every similarity of faith, may attempt to claim that the LDS and other religions love a false God with all their heart, soul, and mind… But there can be no doubt about the 2nd commandment. We all have the same neighbor. All religions that worship a Deity have the 2nd commandment in common, in some form or another. In short, to do unto our neighbors as we would want our neighbors to do unto us–an idealistic standard, to be sure.

But, since obedience to the 2nd commandment reflects back on the first commandment, (inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me), it really doesn’t matter what our traditions are concerning God, because we all show reverence and love to the God of all creation by showing love to our fellowman. Somewhere in this life or the next, these traditions and differences in belief will be straightened out, as the Lord’s sheep will hear his voice, and follow Him, and there will be one fold, and one Shepherd. We all need to be humble enough to hear his voice when He calls so that we may respond.

http://www.mormonapologetics.org/index.php?s=&showtopic=35563&view=findpost&p=1208425814

Mark 12:30-31
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Matthew 25:40
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

 

Logic and the Real World

      

I have been lightly exploring the issues involved in Mormon epistemology (our methodology for arriving at truth). We emphasize the importance of spiritual experiences, of communicating with God and creating situations in which the Spirit of God is invited to bless us.

There are some pretty tough philosophical challenges that arise against this methodology. One of the most common is the issue of “subjective vs objective evidence.” I doubt I will ever be well enough informed to be able to debate with the “pundits” on this issue. But, as I study this issue I have thoughts that I think are worth sharing. This is one such thought.

This morning I went out to our car to discover that the hood and windshield were covered in bird droppings. It was very gross. We normally park our car under a big tree, and I have never had this problem before. For some reason the birds have targeted our car this week.

I needed to take the car down to get it inspected (I actually am doing it on time this year!). Because the windshield and hood were so disgusting, I wanted to clean it off before getting it inspected (not that it matters to the inspection guy, but it is a little embarassing). We don’t have a hose or a spicket at our home (apartment) and so I went out looking for one of those gas station drive-thru car cleaners. I haven’t used one of those in a while and so I was shocked at how expensive it was. I determined not to pay for it so I would just go to the inspection place and ask them if I could borrow their hose.

Upon arrival, I asked if I could borrow their hose and the young man said it wouldn’t be a problem but that I could just wait until after they were done with the inspection (darn). The young man took my keys and began the inspection.  He drove it around a bit, honked the horn, and did all sorts of tests. When he was done he replaced the sticker on my windshield for me. I payed him for the inspection and then he showed me where the hose was.

The hose was rolled up and hanging on a hook inside their garage, nowhere near the closest spicket. He pulled it off, unrolled it and hooked it up to the closest spicket for me. After spraying down the hood and windshield of my car (it was so dirty that it took me a few minutes) I then had a decision to make.

My car had already been inspected, I had payed, and my car was clean. I had no further business to do with this company. I wondered to myself if I really needed to turn off the water, unhook the hose, roll it up, and hang it back on the hook. I was done with it, and it would have been easy for me to just leave it there on the pavement and drive away. Logic told me that I would have gained absolutely nothing by doing all that work, because it would not benefit me in any way. Logic told me that my fortune would be exactly the same no matter how I acted, and so I might as well save myself that extra work.

But, I didn’t follow logic. I didn’t bother to do what all the available evidence said was the most beneficial to myself. Instead, I chose to turn off the water, unhook the hose, roll it up, and hang it back on the hook. I chose to demonstrate my gratituted by doing all of that and thanking the young man for lending me a hand. That choice defied logic. It defied reason. I gained nothing by doing it.

There are certain things that we simply do and know that are taught to us from a higher power. We do them because they just seem right, even though we can’t explain why.

 

Trusting the Heart: My Analysis of Jeremiah 17:9

                                     

For Latter-day Saints, the personal testimony of the veracity of the restoration of the gospel is perhaps one’s greatest possession. Despite the fact that personal revelation from God was the preferred method of acquiring spiritual truth by all prophets in the Old and New Testaments, it is commonly said by Anti-Mormons that Mormons fool themselves when they allow their hearts to become part of the process of acquiring truth and knowledge. A classic proof-text against this practice is found in Jeremiah 17:9:

    9“The heart is more deceitful than all else
         And is desperately sick;
         Who can understand it?

It is argued that according to the bible it is not wise to trust our hearts when seeking for spiritual guidance, because our hearts are deceitful and cannot be understood.

As is so often the case, this passage has been removed from its context by those who oppose the biblical doctrine of personal revelation. It is very useful to consider Jeremiah’s words in light of the circumstances under which they were said. His comments about the heart suddenly mean something entirely different when examined in both their immediate and general context.

 

Immediate Context

Even reading the very next verse allows us to understand a little better what this passage means:

    10“I, the LORD, search the heart,
         I test the mind,
         Even to give to each man according to his ways,
         According to the results of his deeds.

In this verse God says that he “search[es]” the heart. If the heart is always so deceitful and untrustworthy, why does the LORD even bother to search it? “Search” implies that there is more to it than just a casual dismissal based on the belief that all hearts are deceitful and untrustworthy. After “search[ing]” the heart God makes a decision about what type of reward is merited. This very strongly implies that some hearts are wicked and some hearts are righteous. At the very least we can conclude that God does not agree with attitude towards our hearts that is taken by many Anti-Mormons. But we can place this passage even further into its context.

 

General Context

Verses 1-18 of this chapter are a sort of poem that Jeremiah has composed. The thrust of his message is a common biblical theme; those who trust in the Lord are blessed while those who do not trust in the LORD are in trouble. Jeremiah introduces the concept of the “heart” in verse 1:

 1The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus;
         With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart
         And on the horns of their altars,

Jeremiah associates sin with the heart in this verse by suggesting that once committed, sins are “engraved” upon the heart. What about prior to the sin? Was the heart already sinful? Jeremiah doesn’t say. Furthermore, once a sin is “engraved” on the heart, does that render the heart as a useless tool for righteousness?

The imagery of the heart continues in verse 5:

    5Thus says the LORD,
         Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
         And makes flesh his strength,
         And whose heart turns away from the LORD.

Jeremiah scolds those who place their trust in man and who turn their “hearts” away from the Lord! Presumably if an individual can turn his or her heart away from God, they can also turn it towards God. For Jeremiah, the heart is an important factor in our relationship to God. It is upon the heart that sin is written, and it is the heart that chooses to turn towards or away from God (which differs greatly from Calvinism). Why do anti-Mormon detractors deemphasize the place that the heart has in our commune with God, while Jeremiah places so much emphasis on the heart?

The wicked described in verse 5 are quickly contrasted with the righteous in verse 7:

7Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
         And whose trust is the LORD.

Thus by comparing verses 5 and 7 we see the dichotomy that Jeremiah is describing for us. There are those who trust in mankind, and those who trust in the LORD. There are those who rely on the flesh, and those who rely on the LORD. There are those who turn their hearts away from the LORD, and those who turn their hearts to the LORD.

The heart is useful in both realms, for both types of people. It is used for both sin and for righteousness. Jeremiah is a prophet, and as such one of his biggest responsibilities is to call the wicked to repentance. That is exactly what he does in verse 9, when he addresses the wicked and their hearts:

    9“The heart is more deceitful than all else
         And is desperately sick;
         Who can understand it?

Jeremiah addresses the state of the hearts of the wicked in verse 9, but does not comment on the hearts of the righteous. The heart is a sort of double-edged sword, being applicable to both realms. Jeremiah builds his message around the differences between the righteous and the wicked, and then castigates the wicked in verse 9. Were we to follow Jeremiah’s pattern, we could very safely conclude that he feels the exact opposite about the hearts of the righteous as he does about the hearts of the wicked. Jeremiah does not point out the obvious for us, but he does leave another clue in verse 10 which was already discussed above. The Lord can “search” the heart and reward accordingly. This quite clearly suggests that the heart is sometimes sinful and sometimes righteous.

 

Further thoughts from Jeremiah

What else does Jeremiah believe about the heart? We learn more from him in chapter 20:

    9But if I say, “I will not remember Him
         Or speak anymore in His name,”
         Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire
         Shut up in my bones;
         And I am weary of holding it in,
         And I cannot endure it.

This is almost too good to be true! Jeremiah describes the things that he learns from the Lord as “burning fire” in his heart. How can it be maintained that Jeremiah views the heart as an untrustworthy receptacle of divine messages? Jeremiah doesn’t stop there though, he continues to explain how the messages he receives in his heart from the LORD are indeed trustworthy and true:

    10For I have heard the whispering of many,
         ”Terror on every side!
         Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!”
         All my trusted friends,
         Watching for my fall, say:
         ”Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him
         And take our revenge on him.”
    11But the LORD is with me like a dread champion;
         Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail
         They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed,
         With an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.

Jeremiah’s enemies believe that Jeremiah is foolish for trusting the messages he receives in his heart. These “friends” suggest that he is “deceived” and that his prophecies will not come true which event will expose him as a false prophet. The mighty prophet dismisses those challenges by confirming that the things he is learning from God and transmitting to the people are indeed true messages from God, and that they will be sorry and ashamed in a coming day for doubting his methodology, which was learned from God.

 

Conclusion

 There is still much to be said about the role of the heart in our walk with God, and what exactly the scriptures mean when they talk about the “heart.” But this short essay should at least dispel the myth that Jeremiah believed the heart was an untrustworthy vessel not worthy of our attention. It is the very opposite, for Jeremiah was a defender of the doctrine of personal revelation, and our critics would do well to learn from his example.

 For more information regarding this topic I direct you this list and to Jeff Lindsay’s essay.

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent Videos by the Backyard Professor

I moved this post and made it into its own page. You can find it at the very top of this website under “Book of Mormon Evidences” or by clicking here:

http://lehislibrary.wordpress.com/bom-evidences/

LIST–Secrecy in the New Testament

As Mormons we are often accused of being “secretive” because of certain teachings that we hold too sacred to divulge to the general public. There are experiences and truths that we deem so special that they should be uttered only in the appropriate setting. The major source of this type of teaching is the Temple, where the Lord has asked us to hold private and sacred certain things that we learn there.

The following list is of passages in the New Testament in which Jesus or an apostle asks his audience to keep quiet or secret the things they have seen and heard. I post this is a reference list for future use. At a later date I will include some similar quotes from post-biblical Ancient Christians. If you can’t wait, see this website.

————————————————————————————-

“It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matthew 13:11).
“Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand” (Matthew 13:14).
“Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. (Matthew 16:20)
“All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given” (Matthew 19:11).
“He taught them many things by parables, … as they were able to hear it” (Mark 4:2, 33).
“And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.” (Mark 8:30)
“And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them” (Luke 18:34).
“If I tell you, ye will not believe” (Luke 22:67).
“The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5).
“If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12).
“This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6:60).
“Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word” (John 8:43).
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now” (John 16:12).
“The time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father” (John 16:25).
“As yet they knew not the scripture” (John 20:9).
Jesus appeared “not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen” (Acts 10:41).
“They . . . were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6).
“As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (Romans 1:28).
“I . . . could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, . . . I have fed you with milk, and not with meat” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2).
“Unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Corinthians 12:4).
“By revelation he made known unto me the mystery; . . . which in other ages was not made known” (Ephesians 3:3-5).
“The mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints” (Colossians 1:26).
“Many things . . . hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11).
“Many things . . . I would not write with paper and ink; but I . . . come unto you and speak face to face” (2 John 1:12).

Mesoamerican Art & The “Horse” Controversy

These are some pictures of MesoAmerican pottery depicting men riding on deer and similar beasts. The bottow two depict dogs as participating in some way in transportation. The controversy surrounding the BoM claim of ‘horses’ could be influenced by these finds.

One LDS archaeologist, Mark Wright, summarizes his views on this subject (he provided the pictures as well):

Just for the record, I don’t think the ancient Maya rode deer as a regular form of transport, and I don’t think that’s what the Book of Mormon is talking about when it talks about horses. What I did want to show was that the concept of riding deer was not unknown to them, and demonstrated that with the images of the Moon Goddess riding a deer. What I do find fascinating about the images is the fact that the deer appears to have a form of a saddle, as well as some type of rein, which seems a pretty interesting detail for a people that never actually tried it - how would they know that some type of saddle/rein would even be useful? That and that fact that the word for “deer” and the word for “horse” is the same in many Mayan languages. It’s not my favorite explanation, but I find it plausible.
I actually prefer the dog explanation, as dogs are almost always found in association with the royal palanquin/litter/”chariot”, and horses in the Book of Mormon are always in association with chariots but never ridden. But I’m not entirely sold on that one either.
And then there are the mysterious horse bones sitting in drawers and bodega shelves that nobody get around to carbon dating because they just shouldn’t have been in the dirt in the first place. But I’ve never seen a drawing of a horse in the ancient record, so I’m not convinced of this one either.
The point is, although I’m not entirely sold on any of the explanations yet, I find all of them to be plausible and each has some support from either linguistic or iconographic or osteological data and therefore I’m not at all bothered by the “horse question” - I know that one of these plausible explanations is right, and I honestly don’t care which one it is.

http://www.mormonapologetics.org/index.php?s=&showtopic=34595&view=findpost&p=1208401486

 

Here are the links to this art:

http://research.famsi.org/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=5534

http://research.famsi.org/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=594

http://www.mayavase.com/zoom/1182.html

http://research.famsi.org/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=3069

http://research.famsi.org/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=196

http://research.famsi.org/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=1991

Figurine of El, Canaanite God

This is a picture that I scanned from William G. Dever’s book “Did God have a Wife?”. It is of a figurine discovered at Byblos of El, the canaanite head god. I am placing this on my blog only as a place to store the picture. I think it is interesting. Please skim right past this post and enjoy the other posts!