1830 Palmyra Edition replicas

www.palmyraedition.com

Two Book of Mormon Grains

(by Dan Peterson sic et non blog 5-17-20)

“And we began to till the ground, yea, even with all manner of seeds, with seeds of corn, and of wheat, and of barley, and with neas, and with sheum, and with seeds of all manner of fruits” (Mosiah 9:9)

From John W. Welch, et al., eds.  Knowing Why: 137 Evidences That the Book of Mormon Is True (American Fork: Covenant Communications, 2017):

There are actually three types of wild barley native to the Americas, something scientists have been aware of for a long time. In wasn’t until 1983, however, that archaeologists first uncovered a domesticated form of barley native to the Americas in Arizona in a pre-Columbian (ca. AD 900) context.1

 

“Little barley,” as scientists call it, has since been found throughout the Mississippi River valley,2 where it was a major staple during the Middle (ca. 200 BC–AD 500) and Late Woodland (ca. AD 500–1000) periods,3 though “likely cultivated specimens” have also been found dating to as early as 800 BC in Iowa.4 According to two non-LDS scholars, “extensive archaeological evidence also points to the cultivation of little barley in the Southwest and parts of Mexico.”5

Over time, more and more evidence for domestication of little barley in the Americas has emerged over an increasingly wider span of both time and geography. Little barley may have diffused to other regions of the Americas which were known to trade with the southwest and eastern United States, including the exchange of crops.6 In any case, evidence demonstrates that in at least some parts of the Americas, a type of barley was a highly important crop during Book of Mormon times. 

This has important implications for the Book of Mormon. In the second and first centuries BC, barley played a significant role in Nephite society, not only as food, but as a measurement of exchange (Alma 11:1–19), just as it did in ancient Near Eastern economic systems.7 Evidence from what is often called archaeobotany (the study of plants remains at archaeological sites) now confirms that a species of barley was highly important to some cultures in the Americas at this time. 

This is another example that illustrates the benefits that come with patience in archaeology.8John L. Sorenson commented, “That such an important crop could have gone undetected for so long by archaeologists justifies the thought that wheat might also be found in ancient [American] sites.”9 Questions remain about Nephite crops, animals, and material culture, but discoveries like little barley illustrate the wisdom in keeping an open mind and avoiding hasty judgments while considering and exploring what the Book of Mormon says about Nephite life.

Further Reading

Tyler Livingston, “Barley and the Book of Mormon: New Evidence,” Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum (2010).

John L. Sorenson and Robert F. Smith, “Barley in Ancient America,” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon: A Decade of New Research, ed. John W. Welch (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992), 130–132.

The text above is available at Book of Mormon Central, a site with which you should make yourself familiar if you’re not already acquainted with it:

“How Can Barley in the Book of Mormon Feed Faith?”

On sheum, see https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Book_of_Mormon/Plants/Sheum

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2020/05/two-book-of-mormon-grains.html

Of Limhi and Seer Stones

(by Dan Peterson sic et non blog 5-17-20)

From John W. Welch, et al., eds.  Knowing Why: 137 Evidences That the Book of Mormon Is True (American Fork: Covenant Communications, 2017):

Knowing Why, pages 197-198, provides a short summary of John Gee, “Limhi in the Library,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 1, no. 1 (1992): 54–66.

If Mormon had not quoted extensively from his speeches, Limhi — son of King Noah, grandson of Zeniff, and a Nephite king in his own right — might be unknown to us.  As John Gee pointed out, “Direct quotations of Limhi occur in the following places in the record: (1) The trial of Ammon, Amaleki, Helem, and Hem (Mosiah 7:8–15); (2) an official address given to all his subjects at a covenant renewal ceremony (Mosiah 7:17–33); (3) the discussion with Ammon about the records (Mosiah 8:5–21); and (4) the interrogation of the king of the Lamanites (Mosiah 20:13–22).”

Gee continues:

Something subtle and quite authentic has been done here in the Book of Mormon. All the direct quotations derive from situations where an official scribe would be on hand to write things down: a covenant renewal ceremony where the king would have ‘caused that the words which he spake should be written’ (Mosiah 2:8), two trials, and an inspection of the records where Limhi obviously hoped to get a translation of some otherwise mysterious records (Mosiah 8:6, 11–12). The quotes come from other official (i.e., court) records, scriptures, and personal accounts (e.g., Zeniff’s first-person narrative).  (197)

This is very different, Gee argues, from the style of the novelists of Joseph Smith’s day — including Solomon Spalding [or Spaulding].  It also looks like real historiography.

***

On pages 199-200, Knowing Why briefly discusses the concept of a seer, including the reference at Mosiah 8:13:

Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.

In this regard, a good parallel is available in the Americas before Columbus:

There are . . . analogues among the ancient cultures of Mesoamerica, where ritual specialists would use “crystals” or “clear rocks” called zaztun (“stone of light”) “as a medium through which they receive revelation.”  LDS Mesoamericanist Mark Alan Wright has noted the similarity between how Mayan ritual specialists use zaztun and the depiction of seership in Mosiah 8 and elsewhere in the the Book of Mormon.  Hence, notions of seership in the Book of Mormon fit comfortably in [the] pre-Columbian American context.  (200)

For further reading:

Steven C. Walker, “Seer,” in The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York, N. Y.: Macmillan, 1992), 3:1292–1293.

Richard E. Turley Jr., Robin S. Jensen, and Mark Ashurst-McGee, “Joseph the Seer,” Ensign, October 2015, 49–54.

Michael Hubbard MacKay and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, From Darkness Unto Light: Joseph Smith’s Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT and Salt Lake City, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, and Deseret Book, 2015).

Michael Hubbard MacKay and Nicholas J. Fredrick, Joseph Smith’s Seer Stones (Provo, UT and Salt Lake City, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, and Deseret Book, 2016).

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2020/05/of-limhi-and-seer-stones.html

Creation of 4 Additional Quorums of Area Seventies Announced by First Presidency

(by Lindsey Williams ldsliving.com 5-19-20)

Beginning on June 1, the number of quorums of the Seventy will grow from eight to 12. The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the additional four quorums for Area Seventies and an adjusted geographic alignment of the quorums in a letter to General Authorities on May 19, according to Church News. General Authority Seventies make up the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy. The other 10 quorums will be comprised of Area Seventies:

• Third Quorum — Africa Central, Africa South, and Africa West areas (The first two are being created from a division of the current Africa Southeast Area.)

• Fourth Quorum — Asia and Asia North areas

• Fifth Quorum — Brazil Area

• Sixth Quorum — Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico areas

• Seventh Quorum — Europe, Europe East, and Middle East/Africa North areas

• Eighth Quorum — Pacific and Philippines areas

• Ninth Quorum — South America Northwest and South America South areas

• Tenth Quorum — North America Central, North America Northeast, and North America Southeast areas

• Eleventh Quorum — North America Southwest and North America West areas

• Twelfth Quorum — Utah Area

“It is felt that the changes in Area Seventy quorums will enhance the functioning of the quorums, improve geographic alignment of the quorums, and enhance cultural and language similarities among quorum members,” the First Presidency said in the letter.

https://www.ldsliving.com/Creation-of-4-Additional-Quorums-of-Area-Seventies-Announced-by-First-Presidency/s/92873

“If That’s Not Prophetic, I Don’t Know What Is”: Philadelphia 76ers CEO on President Nelson and Christ-Centered Homes

(by Lindsey Williams ldsliving.com 5-18-20)

For two decades, Lisa O’Neil raised her daughters in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a part-member family, until her husband, Scott O’Neil, joined the Church. Scott is the CEO of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. In a recent Facebook Live video hosted on the Facebook page “Followers of Christ in Greater Philadelphia,” Scott and Lisa shared their testimonies of the gospel, explaining the many ways the gospel blesses their lives.

“My life, I work in sports,” Scott said. “I work for two professional sports teams, the 76ers and the New Jersey Devils of the NBA and the NHL. It is stress and chaos and commotion. What the gospel gives me is a sense of peace and stillness. It allows me to understand and put things in perspective. It provides an opportunity to help guide and lead me in my darkest days or my most challenging days.”

Lisa explained that the gospel also provides peace in turbulent times. “There’s so much happening in the world right now that I think that if we’re looking to the world to find peace we won’t find it,” Lisa said. “When I’m thinking of the world right now it’s full of confusion and fear and doubt and darkness. That’s really in contrast to what I think the gospel brings, which I think is assurance and optimism and clarity and hope. Looking to the world will never bring us that kind of peace.”

Scott and Lisa spoke specifically about the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally, Scott is outside of the home nearly every third night with his work. While acknowledging that the pandemic has brought hardship to many including loss of jobs and loss of lives, Scott noted he has been grateful for the time to spend at home and for the direction we have been given for this time at home.

“President Nelson, a year ago, was instructing us very strongly to make sure that we had a Christ-centered home . . . .

We were empowered to do what we needed to do at home and not to be so reliant on a physical building on Sunday,” Scott said. “If that’s not prophetic, I don’t know what is.” Scott also discussed how during the pandemic he has felt the importance of each person’s personal responsibility to build a relationship with the Savior. "This is on me,” Scott said. “I have to own my relationship with our Savior, and I have to own what I do to make sure that I’m progressing, As a convert, it’s work. It isn’t easy. I have to read my scriptures. I have to learn more. I think this experience, this hiatus, this gap, this pause has brought us more joy to come together as a family.”

Watch the full video below and learn more about Scott’s conversion story from the All In episode after the video.

https://www.ldsliving.com/-If-That-s-Not-Prophetic-I-Don-t-Know-What-Is-Philadelphia-76ers-CEO-on-President-Nelson-and-Christ-Centered-Homes/s/92868

Ancient astronomers of the Colorado Plateau and how they aligned their buildings

Kiva ruins at Pueblo Bonito

Many of the structures built by Ancestral Puebloans at Chaco Canyon, in New Mexico, are astronomically aligned

(by Daniel Peterson deseretnews.com 5-7-20)

It isn’t necessary to travel to Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley, the Peruvian Andes or even the high plateaus of central Mexico in order to visit the ruins of mysterious pre-modern civilizations.

For example, Chaco Canyon, located in the northwestern quadrant of today’s New Mexico — in what is often termed the “Four Corners” region, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet — was central to the lives of thousands of Ancestral Puebloans from A.D. 850 until its virtually complete abandonment by about A.D. 1250, possibly as a result of climate change and resulting drought. (The Ancestral Puebloans are often known as the “Anasazi” — a Navajo term that means not “ancient ones” but “ancient enemies,” and has thus lately fallen out of fashion.)

Chaco Culture National Historical Park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, joining such illustrious places as Vatican City, Egypt’s pyramids plateau and the Grand Canyon.

Some have suggested that the very site of Chaco Canyon was chosen for astronomical reasons — and that, perhaps like certain Mesoamerican building complexes and like the ancient stone temples of Malta, it was more religious center than town. Certainly, many of its buildings are astronomically aligned. Even today, the Chaco Canyon area enjoys perfectly clear night skies for astronomical observation. In August 2013, it was officially designated an International Dark Sky Park.

Because our Earth is tilted, the rising and setting of the sun appears to move along the horizon and the days grow longer and shorter as the planet moves through its annual orbit. This is why we have seasons. In the northern hemisphere, the longest day — the summer solstice (“sun standstill”) — comes on or about June 21. In the southern hemisphere, that day is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Six months later, on Dec. 21-22, summer solstice occurs in the southern hemisphere and winter solstice in the northern.

Halfway between the solstices are two days — the spring or vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox — on which every Earthling enjoys equal periods of daylight and night. (“Equinox” means “equal night.”) On these days, the sun rises directly due east and sets directly to the west.

At Chaco, 15 major complexes were created from local sandstone and from lumber that may have been hauled from up to 70 miles away. Until the 19th century, they were probably the largest buildings ever constructed within the boundaries of today’s United States. The largest of them (and the most intensely studied) is Pueblo Bonito, which contains slightly less than 700 rooms and, at some places, was four or perhaps even five stories high. Pueblo Bonito forms a semicircle whose straight boundary runs precisely east-west. It is bisected by a wall that is north-south, so that, as the sun passes overhead at midday, it casts no shadow.

The great Casa Rinconada “kiva” or ceremonial space is also aligned with the cardinal directions, with entrances on the north and south sides. There are many kivas at Chaco; their round designs may have been intended to reflect the circle of the sky overhead.

From the complex at Chaco, mysterious “roads” radiate off in many directions. The most impressive is the “Great North Road,” which goes in an absolutely straight line, deviating for no obstacle. (Not even cliffs interrupt it: Where required, narrow, dangerous stairs continue the northward route.) It may have been considered a two-way path connecting Chaco Canyon with a spiritual homeland to the north.

The sheer and dramatic Fajada Butte provides one of Chaco’s most famous astronomical features, the “Sun Dagger”: Until shifting in 1989, three massive sandstone slabs allowed noon sunlight on the summer solstice to precisely bisect a spiral petroglyph etched into a stone wall and to frame it precisely at winter solstice noon. Moreover, a nearby cliff painting may memorialize the sighting of a July 1054 supernova that is known from contemporary Chinese astronomical records as well as Japanese and Arabic accounts and that resulted in the Crab Nebula.

Some have suggested that the idea of designing buildings oriented to the regularities of the astronomical cosmos represented an attempt to bring that orderliness down to our chaotic existence on Earth and to live lives in harmony with the natural cycles of the calendar. Still today, the Hopi and Pueblo peoples consider Chaco Canyon sacred.

Similar astronomically-aligned structures are found at Hovenweep, which straddles the Utah-Colorado border. And another fascinating Amerindian astronomical site is southern Utah’s Parowan Gap.

https://www.deseret.com/2020/5/7/21244965/daniel-peterson-ancient-astronomers-of-the-colorado-plateau-chaco-canyon-ancestral-puebloans

Emma, about Joseph

possible photo of Joseph Smith

(By Dan Peterson sic et non blog)

Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, Personal Glimpses of the Prophet Joseph Smith (American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2009)1856 interview of Emma Smith by Edmund C. Briggs:

While she talked to us the tears flowed from her large, bright eyes like rain, and I could see in every act affection for Joseph.  (28)

She spoke very affectionately of Joseph and said “I never had any reason to oppose him, for we were always on the best of terms ourselves; but he allowed some others to persuade him in some measures against his will, and those things I opposed.  He was opposed to the destroying of the press of the Nauvoo Expositor, but the council overruled him by vote, and he told them they were the cause of its destruction, but he would be held personally responsible for it; and often heard Joseph contend against measures in council, and sometimes he would yield to them.”  (29)

I said to her:  “Did Joseph have any knowledge or premonition of his death before it took place?”

She replied:  “Yes, he was expecting it for some time before he was murdered.  About the time he wrote those letters that are in the Book of Covenants [see D&C 127, 128 — September 1842] he was promised if he would go and hide from the church until it was cleansed he should live until he had accomplished his work in the redemption of Zion, and he once left home intending not to return until the church was sifted and thoroughly cleansed; but his persecutors were stirring up trouble at the time, and his absence provoked some of the brethren to say he had run away, and they called him a coward, and Joseph heard of it, and he then returned, and said, ‘I will die before I will be called a coward.’

“He was going to find a place and then send for the family, but when he came back I felt the worst I ever did in my life, and from that time I looked for him to be killed, and had felt so bad about it, that when he was murdered I was not taken by surprise, and did not feel so bad as I had for months before.”

[Edmund. C. Briggs, “A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856,” Journal of History (October 1916), 453-454, 460-461]

Emma’s disparate reactions to her fears of Joseph’s death and then, afterward, to his actual death, remind me somewhat of David, in 2 Samuel 12:13-23.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2020/05/emma-about-joseph.html#disqus_thread

Restoring the Ancient Church

(from the Scriptural Mormonism blog 10-9-17)

Barry Robert Bickmore (1970-) is the author of Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity (2d ed.; Redding, Calif.: Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, 2013), one of the best books on the patristic evidence in support of Latter-day Saint theology.

The following is the video of his Fair Mormon Conference presentation from 2014 (the audio is a bit out of sync with the video)

Joseph Smith Among the Early Christians - Barry Bickmore 2014 Fair conference (cf. his 1999 paper, Mormonism in the Early Jewish Christian Milieu, a response to Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid)

As an aside, the following is from my review of Barry Bickmore's book, Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity (2d ed.). I originally posted this on Amazon in late-2013. Enjoy!

I am glad to see this book both back in print and also updated. This work by Dr. Bickmore is a carefully written text comparing Latter-day Saint theology and that of the patristic literature in the early Church, showing that the "Mormon" understanding of issues such as Christology, baptism, posthumous salvation, and other important, debated topics taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith onwards has support in Patristic literature, albeit in varying degrees (some strong and explicit, such as baptismal regeneration, subordination of the Son to the Father; theosis, and others with some evidence, such as a divine feminine). Alongside providing and exegeting patristic literature, and giving careful references to the pertinent sources, Bickmore does a good job at providing some biblical evidences for LDS belief, most notably in the opening pages showing that the LDS understanding of the nature of the apostasy and predicted restoration of Christ's gospel has meaningful support from the biblical texts, too.

The major update to this work is that it includes a paper Barry presented to the FAIR (now FairMormon) conference in 1999 responding to Catholic apologist, Patrick Madrid's article critiquing the LDS view of the apostasy. In this chapter, as with previous ones, Bickmore provides copious evidence from "Jewish-Christianity" on various doctrinal issues which should be read with care, as it refutes the arguments of critics such as Madrid and others (including many Protestants) on issues that, theologically, separate Latter-day Saints with so-called "Orthodox Christianity."

This book should be read by LDS and non-LDS alike; for the LDS, especially the apologist and scholar, as a good reference work on patristic evidence for Latter-day Saint theology and practices, and for the non-LDS to read a good, carefully researched and written study of the Apostasy and Restoration from an informed Latter-day Saint.

I do have two quibbles with this book--

1. This new edition uses endnotes, not footnotes. In the first edition, it used footnotes, which allow one to read the notes to various points with ease. However, in the revised edition, all the notes are in the back of the book. I hope that in future printings of this book that it will revert back to footnotes.

2. I would have liked if Bickmore dealt with the issue of Mariology (e.g., the origins and development of doctrines such as the perpetual virginity; Immaculate Conception; Bodily Assumption; the early Patristic writers referring to her as the New/Second Eve and how later writers would used such to show her sinlessness, etc). The topic of Mary was an important issue in early Christianity, and especially now in both Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, and, speaking as a former Catholic and a graduate of a Catholic seminary, *the* greatest evidence of the apostasy of both faiths, especially Roman Catholicism. Of course, the "Mormon" view of Mariology is very similar to modern Protestantism (e.g., a Heldivian view of the brothers and sisters of Jesus, etc [see Eric D. Svendsen, *Who is My Mother? The Role and Status of the Mother of Jesus in the New Testament and Roman Catholicism* for the biblical evidence for such a view).

These issues aside, this is a wonderful book, and I mirror the sentiment of Dr. Daniel C. Peterson in that it is a book I wish I had written, which I think if the highest compliment one can pay to an author.
http://scripturalmormonism.blogspot.com/2017/10/barry-bickmore-joseph-smith-among-early.html

Eve and Adam

As the first who chose to cross the threshold into mortality, Eve, as her Hebrew name implies, is truly the personification of Life. Together with Adam, Eve ushered in mortality and the chance for eternal progress. Her experiences cannot be separated from Adam's, but to understand their mission, we must first restore Eve to her proper, elevated place—a noble position beside Adam. Examining truths about Eve allows us to better understand Eve and Adam's mission and their beautiful, balanced interdependence. Understanding their mission provides meaning, encouragement, and direction for each of us along our complex and sometimes thorny paths home.

Eve and Adam offers a fresh and insightful perspective into the perfect plan of happiness. With clarity and careful thought, it presents a solid case for the necessity of a firm understanding of the honor due to our glorious Mother Eve as well as Father Adam. Simultaneously, Eve and Adam provides an opportunity for deep pondering and reflection on how our mortal experiences, coupled with our Savior's support, can facilitate the progress and learning needed to exalt each of us day by day, one step at a time. Eve's and Adam's story, then, deeply matters to ours.

The Other Martyr

Though Hyrum Smith's name and legacy are revered by Latter-day Saints, the details of his life are often overshadowed by the tragedy of his death at Carthage. Gain new insights into the Prophet Joseph's older brother in The Other Martyr: Insights from the Life of Hyrum Smith, an inspiring exploration of the history and character of a man described as "firm as the pillars of heaven."

With facts gleaned from journals, Church records, and firsthand accounts, renowned scholar Susan Easton Black presents an engaging narrative recounting Hyrum's childhood, his unwavering support of his brother, and the persecutions he faced as a result. Find strength and inspiration in witnessing the life of this pillar of the Restoration, and experience firsthand the fulfillment of the promise made to Hyrum in Section 124 of the Doctrine and Covenants: that his "name [shall] be had in honorable remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever."