Teancum and the Times for Battle - Book of Mormon Evidence

Answers to Mormon Reformation (Mormonthink.com's) 95 Theses Questions

Martin Luther

Recently a blog called Mormon Reformation posted a list of 95 Theses questions that they suggested should be posted on the doors of every LDS chapel on the 16th of Feb in the spirit of Martin Luther's 95 Theses questions.  There are many reasons in spirit why Martin Luthers questions or concerns differ form these posted by Mormon Reformation.  The spirit behind these have a lot of the same old Anti-Mormon rhetoric that has been cycling for years.  I have put together a pretty lengthy document (219 pages) that goes over these concers and gives answers to each of them.  Now I admit in putting these together my answers to these concerns that over 90% of my answers have been copy and pasted from FAIR (The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research) and the rest from other websites including my blog or my own opinion.  I hope you enjoy them as they were put together pretty quick in order to meet the deadline.



Click here to download the answers to the 95 Theses questions

Or here is another link if the above post doesn't work.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126661516/Answers-to-the-95-Theses-Questions-doc

Hebrew DNA among Mayan populations?

The Olmec/Jaredite History and Hopi Ceremonies

Hopi Katchinas performing during a ceremony

This post has been put together to share what may be possible ties of the Hopi Pueblo tribe to that of the Jaredites.  I have shared multiple blog posts that show correlations between the Hopi and the Nephite and Lamanite civilizations but this time I will be sharing a short insight shared by Helen Sekaquaptewa in her book "Me and Mine" that shows knowledge of past times of the confounding of languages at the tower of Babel.  This is where the Jaredite civilization began.  If we read in the Book of Mormon in the Book of Ether 1:33 we read,

"Which Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered". 

It was this group of Jared and his brother (Mahonri Moriancumr) and their friends and families that were lead to a promised land where they grew to be a great civilization that ultimately due to pride and greed destroyed the majority of its population divided through war.  It is believed that this civilization is the Olmec civilization found in central America also known as the father civilization to the Maya. The time frame of the Olmec and the Jaredites in the Book of Mormon fit nicely together (around 2500 BC to 500 BC). 

If the Hopi traditional stories and sacred ceremonies tell the truth about their past than many of the clans that make up the Hopi once resided in Mesoamerica or the land southward.  They state that the Maya were Hopi that didn't complete following there wanderings and as I stated in a previous post this may be a case of the tale wagging the dog but either way their past involved their ancestors at one point in time residing in Mesoamerica.  It may very well be that they are descendants of not only of the Maya but of their predecessors the Olmec.  

Olmec Alter

In speaking of the traditional ceremonies that tell the stories of their past Helen Sekaquaptewa shared the following. "One Hopi ceremony re-enacts the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel.  We were in Hotevilla two times during this performance.  It is done during the night.  Those men not eligible to participate, and the women and children of the village were not allowed to stay in their own homes if they lived close to certain kivas, but had to go to the other end of the village and spend the night with relatives or friends.  I was curious and didn't go to sleep .  I could hear the tinkle of tiny bells, then big bells, and then the tramping of many feet as the performers came together in the middle of the night.  You never heard anything more confusing; all talking at the top of their voices; none speaking their own tongue, but rather making a babble of sound, yelling loudly.  Certainly a dramatic reproduction of the Tower of Babel. 

If indeed the above shared traditional ceremony is done in remembrance of the ancestors who took part in the confounding of tongues this would make the placement of the Jaredites and Hopi and the correlation between their history in the right locations as well.  This would also add authenticity to the history of the Book of Mormon.  Although we only have traditional stories this is something that future research may be able to add more too.

Hebrew and Egyptian in Native American languages

Egyptian Wordplay in the Book of Mormon

Many people are familiar with Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon, Bible and other texts(including Mayan codex and Hopi ceremonial dress).  These would include such examples as chiasmus which is a figure of speech in which in which two or more clauses are given and then repeated in reverse order.  Another  Hebraism is called polysyndeton which is the use of several conjunctions in close succession.  This was used in 3 Nephi 4:7 "and they were girded about after the manner of their loins and they were dyed in blood, and their heads were shorn, and they had headplates".  These are just a few examples of Hebraisms.  The Book of Mormon as a record we are told was written in reformed Egyptian which consisted of a mix of both Egyptian and Hebrew.  With the above examples of Hebrew in the Book of Mormon I have often wondered if there were any "Egyptianisms" in the Book of Mormon? 

I read an article a few years ago that spoke of one Egyptianism that takes place in 1 Nephi 15:23-24 (part of verse 24).  Unfortunately I do not recall the author or the title of the article only that it impressed me enough that I took the time to write it in the margin in my scriptures next to 1 Nephi 15:23-24 which states:

"And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?

And I said unto them that it was the word of God: and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish;"

In Egyptian "mdwr ntr" is "Gods words" and is translated into English as hieroglyphics.  In Egyptian "mdw" is also "staff" or "rod".  This is an Egyptianism word play on word meanings. Thus in Egyptian word meanings and word play "word of God" and "rod" or "staff" are directly correlated.  This would seem to have been something either done by Nephi in writing portions of the Book of Mormon or by the Lord himself in helping Nephi understand his fathers vision in which he saw the Tree of Life with the rod of iron which represented the word of God.  Either way it would have been something that Joseph Smith wouldn't have known when he translated the Book of Mormon in the early to mid 1800's and points once again to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.  If anyone can recall the article or founder of this Egyptianism or any others please feel free to comment and inform me so I can give credit where credit is due. 

Mesoamerican Cultural Correlations in the Book of Mormon: Coronation Ceremonies and Human Sacrifice

San Bartolo Mural Coronation ceremony 100 bc

This post is going to be going over some Book of Mormon cultural ties that seem to have also taken place in Mayan temples and rituals. These ties were recently pointed out along with others in the Temple on Mount Zion Conference held in honor of the late Matthew Brown in a talk given by Mark Alan Wright entitled, “Axes Mundi: A Comparative Analysis of Nephite and Mesoamerican Temple and Ritual Complexes”. In this talk Mark points out numerous cultural ceremonial ties held by both the Nephites and certain cultures in Mesoamerica. He shows that the just of what we know as the plan of salvation can be seen in certain murals and teachings held in Mesoamerica,  his main focus of murals were those of San Bartolo to be particular but similarities can be seen on other murals as well. I am only going to be covering a few of the cultural ties held between the two groups but for a more in-depth look I will leave the link to the youtube video of the actual presentation given by Mark Alan Wright and highly suggest watching.

The first correlation that I would like to discuss is that of how a coronation was handled at the time of the San Bartolo murals which date back to 100 b.c.(this is during the Nephite timeframe 600 b.c- 400 a.d.) and more than likely earlier. In the murals it depicts a coronation ceremony that shows a newly crowned king receiving the objects that are given to new royalty at coronation as he sits atop an erected platform or tower. This platform appears to be wooden or something that would have been rather easily constructed. This echoes the crowning of the King Mosiah by his aging father King Benjamin found in Mosiah 2:7 which states,

"For the multitude being so great that king Benjamin could not teach them all within the walls of the temple, therefore he caused a tower to be erected, that thereby his people might hear the words which he should speak unto them." 

And the receiving of royal objects is found in Mosiah 1:16 when King Benjamin gives his son Mosiah the plates of brass and the plates of Nephi as well as the sword of Laban and the Liahona. Thus the murals show that indeed the coronation of King Mosiah does fit into a similar Mesoamerican cultural setting.

San Bartolo Mural Beast, Human, and foul sacrifice 100 bc

The next cultural perspective that Mark has pointed out was that of sacrifice. In Alma 34:10 we have Amulek preaching unto the apostate Zoramites. He is attesting to the need for the atonement of Christ and in doing so he rehearses the need for a great and last sacrifice and declares that it is not a sacrifice of beast, foul or human sacrifice but an infinite and eternal sacrifice. It is the non qualifying sacrifices that add cultural context. As can be seen again in the San Bartolo murals the sacrifice of all three non-qualifying sacrifice subjects…namely beasts, fouls and a form of human sacrifice are shown. This would add credence as to why Amulek would be preaching to an apostate group that the type of sacrifice they  would regularly offer would not suffice. Mark then points out that this same cultural context can be found in the 3 Nephi setting known as the sermon at the temple when Christ appeared the Nephite and Lamanites.

One of the first things that Christ did upon appearing to his apostles in Jerusalem was to allow them to feel the prints in his hands and feet. These were signs that those who were familiar with sacrifice in that area would recognize, especially those who knew the Jesus personally. In the new world Christ did the same
thing by allowing the Nephite/Lamanite population to come forth feel the prints in his hands and feet but his wording also adds one more important cultural context that would be the sign of sacrifice that those in new world (Mesoamerica) would recognize. He stated, “Come forth and thrust your hands into my side” and then followed with “and feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet” (3 Nephi 11:14). It was common among many cultures in Mesoamerica to do human sacrifice.

Aztec Art portraying Human Sacrifice

The manner of human sacrifice among the Aztecs was stretching the sacrificial victim while still alive across an altar with a people holding his arms and legs. Using an obsidian bladed knife a priest would cut a slit below the rib cage on the side and thrust his hand into the body and pull out the still beating heart and hold it up as sacrifice to the heathen God. There are multiple Aztec pictures of these types of sacrifices along with stories from many of the Spanish conquistadors who actually witnessed these sacrifices. Bernal Diaz del Castillo is the classic source of information about mass sacrifice by the Aztecs. A literate soldier in Cortes' company, Diaz claimed to have witnessed such a ritual. "We looked over toward the Great Pyramids and watched as [the Aztecs] ... dragged [our comrades] up the steps and prepared to sacrifice them," he wrote in his Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espana (The True History of the Conquest of New Spain), published posthumously in 1632. "After they danced, they placed our comrades face up atop square, narrow stones erected for the sacrifices. Then, with obsidian knives, they sawed their breasts open, pulled out their still-beating hearts, and offered these to their idols." Thus the phrase "thrust your hands into my side" works as a sign or cue to those Nephites that indeed this was the Jesus Christ whom their prophets had preached would visit after his infinite sacrifice.

My personal conclusion of the following contextual events that Mark touched on is that the Mesoamerican setting does add meaning and insight and allows for a better understanding of the above mentioned scenarios. As I mentioned briefly above Mark Alan Wright touches much more on these scenarios and many others in his talk I have linked below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jLV8k-yjqA

The Hanging of Zemnarihah, Ancient Practice or Western Vigilante Justice?

Zemnarihah

In the realm of added insights to the Book of Mormon some of my favorites are those involving the understanding of ancient Jewish practices or rituals and the clarification those practices give to the text of the Book of Mormon. There are multiple places where this happens in the Book of Mormon which I hope to be able to do a post for each insight that I deem applicable. One of the stories in the Book of Mormon that gets further clarification from the insights is that of the hanging of the Gadianton leader named Zemnarihah. Zemnarihah was a military leader for a rogue group of dissenters from both the Lamanite and Nephite populations known as the Gadianton Robbers. This group had set up their own type of government and practiced an effective form of guerilla warfare against both the Nephites and Lamanites.

It was during this time of guerilla warfare that the Gadianton Robbers had found so much success that they actually caused the Lamanite and Nephite populations to band together in one location between the cities of Zarahemla and Bountiful with all their families and possessions and enough food to last 7 years. The Nephite/Lamanite population was under the leadership of Lachoneus and Gidgiddoni who were both men of God and great political and military leaders. This plan of banding together actually caused Zemnarihah and his army to abandon their guerilla tactics and have to attack the Nephite population like a regular military front. As explained by Daniel C. Peterson this is known as premature regularization and has been the downfall of many guerilla units throughout history.

Eventually due to the lack of food and the lack of ability to pull off clean attacks on the Nephites the Gadianton Robbers decided to abandon their attack effort. Gidgiddoni knowing their plans decided to head off their escape and attack from both the front and the rear. It was during this time that many of the Gadianton Robbers were either killed or taken prisoner and their leader Zemnarihah was executed. It is the manner of his execution that needs insights from ancient Jewish practices to gain the appreciation it deserves. In 3 Nephi 4: 28-29 it reads.



Lachoneus and Gidgiddoni



Their leader, Zemnarihah, was taken and hanged upon a tree, yea, even upon the top thereof until he was dead. And when they had hanged him until he was dead they did fell the tree to the earth, and did cry with a loud voice, saying: May the Lord preserve his people in righteousness and in holiness of heart, that they may cause to be felled to the earth all who shall seek to slay them because of the power and secret combinations, even as this man hath been felled to the earth”

The practice of hanging someone who has been found guilty of certain crimes is part of Jewish law and was part of the Law of Moses. This is found in Deuteronomy 21:22 which states, “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree.” But it seems as though the hanging of Zemnarihah went once step further with the cutting down of the tree. In researching this issue I was directed to an article entitled, “The Execution of Zemnarihah” by John W. Welch (the same John Welch who founded chiasmus in the Book of Mormon). It is in this article that John leads us to the ancient Talmud tradition that the tree be cut down with the body of the decedent and both buried. Actually the Talmud also recommends hanging the culprit on a precut tree or post so that, in the words of Maimonides (a medieval Jewish philosopher, physician and Torah scholar), “no felling is needed.” If we next consider why the tree was required to be chopped down John Welch quotes Maimonides again saying, "In order that it should not serve as a sad reminder, people saying: 'This is the tree on which so-and-so was hanged.' "In this way, the tree became associated with the person being executed; it came to symbolize the culprit and the desire to forget him or her.” Nibley and Welch both pointed out that when the culprit is hung in the tree it represented that due to his crime he is unsuitable for heaven or earth thus the reason his body hangs between them both.

Note should be taken that in 3 Nephi 4 at the end of verse 28 and all of 29 it states that the Nephites did cry with one voice saying, “may the Lord preserve his people in righteousness and in holiness of heart that they may cause to be felled to the earth all who shall seek to slay them because of power and secret combinations, even as this man hath been felled to the earth." This fits in nicely with the ancient practice of heralding a notorious execution which is also stated in Deuteronomy. Thus we see that an incident such as the execution of Zemnarihah actually fits in very nicely with ancient practice of law and tradition and ritual and not just some sort of old western vigilante form of justice that existed at the time of Joseph Smith jr. but an actual practice of the Law of Moses. I have included a link to the above quoted article of John Welch from the Neal A. Maxwell Institute website.

 http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=71&chapid=839

The Book of Mormon Phrase "To Breathe Out" and the Mesoamerican Speech Scrolls

Aztec Murals with speech scrolls

In my continual attempt to find evidence of Mesoamerica in the text of the Book of Mormon I stumbled across an article by Diane E. Wirth from the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum called, “Mesoamerican Speech Scrolls”. In this article Diane points out that the words “breathed out” is not used anywhere in scripture other than in the Book of Alma in the Book of Mormon with reference towards expressing speech. This is ironic because it is also used in Mesoamerican art to express speech or communication. In Mesoamerican art it is referred to as “speech scrolls”.

The concept behind the speech scroll is similar to the way we portray cartoons now days with a cloud or balloon shape filled with whatever words the character is saying. In the context of a Mesoamerican speech scroll it is usually on a hieroglyph, stela, pottery or codices (screen-folded books). In the Mesoamerican speech scrolls the scrolls usually extend out of the mouth of the characters in vocalization. Diane points out that there are many examples of this speech scroll being used for threatening the same way the words “breathed out” were used in the Book of Mormon.

Murals of Tepantitla, Teotihuacan

In the Book of Mormon (Alma 35:9) states, “And he [The Ruler of the Zoramites] breathed out many threatenings against them. And now the people of Ammon did not fear their words.” And it is used again in Alma

54:19, in conjunction with a conversation that was taking place between Moroni and Ammoron via epistles back and forth to each oother. In one of Ammoron’s epistles back to Moroni he says, “Behold, ye have breathed out many threatenings against me and my people; but behold, we fear not your threatenings”.

Examples of this speech scroll can be seen in the murals of Tepantitla, Teotihuacan (screaming speech scroll, tears and blood from chest) or Stela 13 from Seibal. Other speech scrolls date back to Olmec time periods such as the cave paintings of Oxtotlan, Guerrero and the ceramic cylinder seal from San Andreas Tabasco Mexico. The Olmec time period correlates with the same time frame as that of the Jaredites from the Book of Mormon roughly 2500 B.C. to 400 B.C.

Stela 13 from Seibal

As can be seen it interesting that this same form of threatening or emphasizing the importance of a message or speech is found in both the Book of Mormon through the phrase “breathed or breathe out” and also in Mesoamerican art through speech scrolls that show this “breathing out” visually. I have only posted pictures of a few of examples of these speech scrolls but Diane E. Wirth has noted more examples in the article. This stands as another correlation between the Mayans and their surrounding civilizations and those civilizations found in the Book of Mormon. I have included a copy of the article that is located on the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum website.

http://www.bmaf.org/node/438

Metals and The Book of Mormon