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Cumorah and the Limited Mesoamerican Theory
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel Volume 10 Number 2 Article 13 7-1-2009 Cumorah and the Limited Mesoamerican Theory Andrew H. Hedges [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/re BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Hedges, Andrew H. "Cumorah and the Limited Mesoamerican Theory." Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel 10, no. 2 (2009). https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/re/vol10/iss2/13 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Cumorah and the Limited Mesoamerican Theory Andrew H. Hedges Andrew H. Hedges ([email protected]) is an associate professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU. From the time the Book of Mormon was published, its readers have wondered about its geographical setting. Following is a lively debate between two thoughtful scholars. To motivate study of this topic, the Religious Educator offers their different viewpoints. In recent years, many scholars interested in Book of Mormon geography have argued that the events of the Book of Mormon played themselves out in a Mesoamerican setting. Repudiating earlier and widespread assumptions that the “narrow neck of land” that figures so prominently in the book’s geography was the Isthmus of Panama and that the Nephites’ -
Critique of a Limited Geography for Book of Mormon Events
Critique of a Limited Geography for Book of Mormon Events Earl M. Wunderli DURING THE PAST FEW DECADES, a number of LDS scholars have developed various "limited geography" models of where the events of the Book of Mormon occurred. These models contrast with the traditional western hemisphere model, which is still the most familiar to Book of Mormon readers. Of the various models, the only one to have gained a following is that of John Sorenson, now emeritus professor of anthropology at Brigham Young University. His model puts all the events of the Book of Mormon essentially into southern Mexico and southern Guatemala with the Isthmus of Tehuantepec as the "narrow neck" described in the LDS scripture.1 Under this model, the Jaredites and Nephites/Lamanites were relatively small colonies living concurrently with other peoples in- habiting the rest of the hemisphere. Scholars have challenged Sorenson's model based on archaeological and other external evidence, but lay people like me are caught in the crossfire between the experts.2 We, however, can examine Sorenson's model based on what the Book of Mormon itself says. One advantage of 1. John L. Sorenson, "Digging into the Book of Mormon," Ensign, September 1984, 26- 37; October 1984, 12-23, reprinted by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS); An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: De- seret Book Company, and Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1985); The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1990); "The Book of Mormon as a Mesoameri- can Record," in Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited, ed. -
Moroni: Angel Or Treasure Guardian? 39
Mark Ashurst-McGee: Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian? 39 Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian? Mark Ashurst-McGee Over the last two decades, historians have reconsidered the origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the context of the early American tradition of treasure hunting. Well into the nineteenth century there were European Americans hunting for buried wealth. Some believed in treasures that were protected by magic spells or guarded by preternatural beings. Joseph Smith, founding prophet of the Church, had participated in several treasure-hunting expeditions in his youth. The church that he later founded rested to a great degree on his claim that an angel named Moroni had appeared to him in 1823 and showed him the location of an ancient scriptural record akin to the Bible, which was inscribed on metal tablets that looked like gold. After four years, Moroni allowed Smith to recover these “golden plates” and translate their characters into English. It was from Smith’s published translation—the Book of Mormon—that members of the fledgling church became known as “Mormons.” For historians of Mormonism who have treated the golden plates as treasure, Moroni has become a treasure guardian. In this essay, I argue for the historical validity of the traditional understanding of Moroni as an angel. In May of 1985, a letter to the editor of the Salt Lake Tribune posed this question: “In keeping with the true spirit (no pun intended) of historical facts, should not the angel Moroni atop the Mormon Temple be replaced with a white salamander?”1 Of course, the pun was intended. -
The Book of Mormon Keystone of My Life!
The Book of Mormon Keystone of my life! ¾ Keystone of Our Religion We all know the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. As the Prophet Joseph Smith stated on the introduction page, “…. I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on the earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man (or woman) would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” In October Conference 1986, Elder Boyd K. Packer stated, “…true doctrine understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the Gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.” ¾ A Remarkable Difference As I have grown in the gospel and also watched my children grow in the gospel I have noticed a remarkable difference as we have studied the Book of Mormon. Any study of Christ and his life will bring you closer to the Lord, but there is a power in the Book of Mormon like no other book. In 1980, when we were young parents Marion G. Romney in his April conference address said, “....I believe that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. -
The State of Mormon Literature and Criticism
The State of Mormon Literature and Criticism Gideon Burton and Neal Kramer Gideon Burton and Neal Kramer both serve on the board of the Association for Mormon Letters. In consultation with Dialogue's editors, they have chosen and edited the selections for this issue. Two DECADES HAVE PASSED SINCE Dialogue last published an issue entirely devoted to Mormon literature. In the meantime literary writing about Latter-day Saints has been burgeoning both in LDS and national mar- kets—so much so that it is difficult for literary critics to keep up with this growing body of novels, plays, poetry, and literary nonfiction. It is very important, however, that they try. To have a sense of the future of Mor- mon literature, it is vital that we see how present writings articulate with traditions from the past. Producing literary criticism to do just that is the central function of the Association for Mormon Letters, whose goal is to serve authors, scholars, and general readers of Mormon literature. In our yearly confer- ence, through readings, book reviews, a very active e-mail list, and now an annual writers' workshop and a small quarterly literary magazine, Ir- reantum, we attempt to introduce people to Mormon literature past and present and to critically evaluate it. In this issue of Dialogue, we share with a broader public some of the best criticism that has been generated at our conferences and published in the annuals of the Association, as well as a sampling of new creative works from active writers. As editors we have found our task different from the one faced by editors of Dialogue's prior literary issues because the object of our study has been evolving, as have our means of literary analysis. -
September 2013 Ensign
THE ENSIGN OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS • SEPTEMBER 2013 How Justice and Mercy Free Us from Bondage, p. 16 The Way God’s Grace Really Works, p. 34 Hearing the Voice of the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants, p. 40 The Healing Balm of Hope, p. 62 “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him . springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14 Contents September 2013 Volume 43 • Number 9 FEATURES 16 The Justice and Mercy of God Elder Jeffrey R. Holland If we can repent of our sins and be charitable with the sins of others, the living Father of us all will reach down to bear us up. 22 Take My Yoke upon You A useful tool for harnessing animals became a central image in the Savior’s invitation to come unto Him. 24 Today’s Young Men Need Righteous Role Models Hikari Loftus Having worked through his own troubled youth, Todd Sylvester strives to reach out to today’s young men. 4 28 Still a Clarion Call “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” acts as a modern title of liberty, providing clarity and MESSAGES guidance to families. FIRST PRESIDENCY MESSAGE 30 Christlike Mercy 30 Randy L. Daybell 4 Saints for All Seasons These scriptural President Dieter F. Uchtdorf accounts from the Savior’s life can teach us VISITING TEACHING MESSAGE ways to be merciful. 7 Self-Reliance 34 His Grace Is Sufficient Brad Wilcox The miracle of Christ’s grace is not just that we can return to heaven but ON THE COVER that we can change so The e nsign of T he ChurC h of Jesus ChrisT of LaTTer-day s ainT s • s epT ember 2013 Front: The Lost Lamb, we feel at home there. -
Separate Prayers
VOLUME SIX, NUMBER SIX NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1981 Publi~:ker/Editor PETER BERGER PEGGY FLETCHER CONTEMPORARY 38 THE DILEMMAS OF PLURALISM Mana,gin,~ Editor ISSUES Need we fear the religious uncertainty of modernity? SUSAN STAKER OMAN Associate Editor MORMON WOMEN AND THE STRUGGLE FOR LORIE WINDER DEFINITION Assistant Editor. An evening with the B.H. Roberts Society NICOLE HOFFMAN Ar~~ Director 7 The Nineteenth Century Church CAROL CORNWALL MADSEN WARREN ARCHER II 12 Contemporary Women LAVINA FIELDING ANDERSON Drl,arl,u’,t Editors DENNIS CLARK, POETRY 17 What is the Church? FRANCINE RUSSELL BENNION ANNE THIEME, ONE FOLD SCRIPTURAL COMMENTARY, STEVEN F. CHRISTENSEN HISTORY 44 GROWING UP IN EARLY UTAH: THE WASATCH Staff LITERARY ASSOCIATION, 1874-1878 RONALD W. WALKER KERRY WJLLIAM BATE A jaunty forerunner of the MIA LOUISE BROWN PAUL BROWN 21 ZION: THE STRUCTURE OF A THEOLOGICAL SUSAIN KEENE REVOLUTION STEVEN L. OLSEN L. JOHN LEWIS CHRIS THOMAS History of an LDS idea MARK THOMAS 55 THE MORMON PAST: REVEALED OR REVISITED? JAN SHIPPS FINETTE WALKER Circulation/Promotion Distinguishing between sacred and ordinary history REBECCAH T. HARRIS RENEE HEPWORTH MARK JARDINE RELIGION 52 FINITIST THEOLOGY AND THE PROBLEM OF Business Manager BRUCE BENNETT EVIL PETER C. APPLEBY Financial Assistants A lucid analysis of a knotty issue TOD K. CHRISTENSEN SHAWN GARCIA SCHOW 27 WHAT IS MORAL OBLIGATION WITHIN National Correspondents MORMON THEOLOGY? KIM MCCALL James W. Lucas, New York City; Searching for the source of ethical behavior George D. Smith, San Francisco; Bonnie M. Bodet and Charlotte. Johnson, Berkel~; Joel C Peterson, Dal|a$; FICTION 32 SEPARATE PRAYERS ANN EDWARDS-CANNON Anne Castleton Busath, Houston; Kris Cassity and Irene Bates, Los Ansel~$; Susan Sessions Rugh, Chicaso; Janna Daniels Haynie, Denver; POETRY 58 Sanctuary DAWN BAKER BRIMLEY Allen Palmer, Two Poems on Entanglement DALE BJORK Anne Carroll P. -
Worth Their Salt, Too
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DigitalCommons@USU Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All USU Press Publications USU Press 2000 Worth Their Salt, Too Colleen Whitley Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Whitley, C. (2000). Worth their salt, too: More notable but often unnoted women of Utah. Logan: Utah State University Press. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USU Press at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All USU Press Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Worth Their Salt, Too More Notable but Often Unnoted Women of Utah WORTH THEIR SALT, TOO More Notable but Often Unnoted Women of Utah Edited by Colleen Whitley UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Logan, Utah 2000 Copyright © 2000 Utah State University Press “Marion Davis Clegg: The Lady of the Lakes” copyright © 2000 Carol C. Johnson All rights reserved Utah State University Press Logan, Utah 84322-7800 All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to support the Exhibits office of the Utah State Historical Society. Cover photos: Marion Davis Clegg, courtesy of Photosynthesis; Verla Gean FarmanFarmaian, courtesy of Gean FarmanFarmaian; Ora Bailey Harding, courtesy of Lurean S. Harding; Alberta Henry, courtesy of the Deseret News; Esther Peterson, courtesy of Paul A. Allred; Virginia Sorensen, courtesy of Mary Bradford Typography by WolfPack Printed in Canada Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Worth their salt, too : more notable but often unnoted women of Utah / edited by Colleen Whitley. -
Trail Marker
Trail Marker PIONEERING YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW Official Newsletter of the National Society of the Sons of Utah Pioneers™ June 2015, Volume 11, Number 6, Issue 119 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE CONTENTS Life seems to move along like the ebb and flow of President’s Message 1 ocean tides. Over the past few months, the life of National Calendar 3 the Sons of Utah Pioneers seems to have flowed National News more than it has ebbed. All of the flow has National Historical Symposium 3 benefitted the SUP. Membership Report 4 Some examples seem to substantiate this Chapter News impression. In January, the executive council, with Box Elder Chapter 5 the approval of the board, reorganized the office Brigham Young Chapter 5 staff. We brought on Heather Davis as our Office Centerville Chapter 6 Manager/Secretary. With the exception of the Cotton Mission Chapter 6 month she took off for maternity leave to bring Grove City Chapter 7 Baby Brother Brigham into this world, she has served us from 9 to 4, Monday through Thursday Jordan River Temple Chapter 7 at the office. Her service has been exemplary, and Maple Mountain Chapter 7 she has removed a great deal of the burden from Mills Chapter 8 members of the executive council and the board. Modesto Chapter 8 Morgan Chapter 9 At the same time, we hired Linda Sorensen as our Mt. Nebo Chapter 9 building manager. Linda has done an excellent job of managing the SUP headquarters. Revenues Murray Chapter 9 from building rentals the first four months of 2015 Salt Lake City Chapter 10 exceeded 2014 revenues by more than $3,000. -
Relief Society's Golden Years: the Magazine
Relief Society's Golden Years: The Magazine Jean Anne Waterstradt UJ MOTHER WAS AN ENTHUSIASTIC, devoted member of the Relief So- ciety—the old Relief Society, the pre-block-meeting-schedule, pre-Correla- tion Relief Society. She belonged to a Relief Society that LDS women chose to join by paying a small annual membership fee; that had its own meeting day and its own budget; that organized bazaars; that sponsored Singing Mothers choruses; that published its own songbook; that held its own conference each autumn in the Salt Lake Tabernacle; that built its own headquarters in Salt Lake City on the southeast corner of Main and North Temple Streets; that published its own magazine. For my mother, who, I think, was a typical member, the Magazine was indispensable because it was a tangible reminder in her home of all that Re- lief Society offered and accomplished. And, this magazine had an influence beyond its Relief Society constituency. For example, my teacher, friend, and colleague Ralph Britsch has written that when he was a youngster, the women whose names appeared on the masthead of the Magazine and as au- thors of various features "ranked only a little lower in my mind than the General Authorities." The context for his remark was a memoir honoring Alice Louise Reynolds, a BYU professor, a member of the Relief Society General Board, and an associate editor and then editor of the Maga- JEAN ANNE WATERSTRADT is professor emerita of English, Brigham Young University. Currently residing in Ogden, Utah, she is happily associated with the Friends of the Stewart Library at Weber State University as well as with the Ogden School Foundation. -
Articles and More Are Available at Maxwellinstitute.Byu.Edu
“The Testimony of Men” William E. McLellin and the Book of Mormon Witnesses Mitchell K. Schaefer recently discovered circa 1871 manuscript written by William A McLellin, an early Mormon Apostle and, later, apostate, includes a passage that narrates how, in 1833, he engaged two of the three and one of the eight witnesses of the Book of Mormon about the nature of their experiences as witnesses. The testimonies of the witnesses printed in each copy of the Book of Mormon are some of the most compelling evidence in favor of its miraculous revelation and translation. For believers, this evidence approaches proof of Joseph Smith’s miraculous claims. But some have questioned the nature of the testimonies and made a strong coun- terargument that what the witnesses experienced was solely supernatural and not, therefore, credible. The witnesses, this argument asserts, only experienced the plates via an unverifiable subjective experience, rendering their statements void. Historians have generally adopted one of two interpretations of the historical record by and about the Book of Mormon witnesses. Historians who believe the statements of the witnesses as credible usually focus fore- most on the original testimonies published in the Book of Mormon and on the witnesses’ fidelity to their statements despite dissent and disaffection by many of them from the Church itself. The leading historian espousing this interpretation of the evidence is Richard Lloyd Anderson. In his work Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, Anderson holds that despite the fact that the witnesses left the Church at one point or another, they never denied their testimonies of the events that solidified their belief in BYU Studies 50, no. -
Preaching the Gospel of Church and Sex: Mormon Women's Fiction in the Young Woman's Journal, 18894910
Preaching the Gospel of Church and Sex: Mormon Women's Fiction in the Young Woman's Journal, 18894910 Rebecca de Schweinitz. IN 1889, UTAH NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS informed their audiences about the start of a new monthly magazine, the Young Woman's Journal (YWJ). Initiated and first edited by Susa Young Gates, the daughter of Mormonism's second prophet, this journal, directed to girls and young, unmarried women in the Latter-day Saint (LDS) church, was to contain "the most elevating ideas of the Daughters of Zion."1 The YWJ published poems, stories, and articles, written overwhelmingly by women. It ana- lyzed "great" books like Anna Karenina and discussed topics such as women's health, suffrage, and marriage. The YWJ reveals both similari- ties and differences in the experiences and attitudes of Mormon women and women nationally, and it shows that LDS women were concerned about promoting their church and their sex. 1. Woman's Exponent 18 (1 September 1889): 55. On Susa Young Gates, see Estelle Neff Caldwell, "Susa Young Gates/' in The History of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Asso- ciation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints From November 1869 to June 1910, Susa Young Gates, ed. (Salt Lake City: General Board of the YLMIA, 1911): 121-126; Paul Cracroft, "Susa Young Gates: Her Life and Literary Work" (M.A. thesis, University of Utah, 1951); Kenneth W. Godfrey, Audrey M. Godfrey, and Jill Mulvey Derr, Women's Voices: An Untold History of the Latter-day Saints 1830-1900 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1982): 325-337; Carolyn W.