Ancient Native Americans from Europe?

[jay santos]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

My belief is that God purposefully stacked the deck against finding physical evidences of the Book of Mormon. Two very basic examples:

1. Reclaiming the gold plates from Joseph Smith after the translation was completed.

2. The large plates, containing a more secular/historical record of the people, was "sealed", preventing additional information from coming forth that might aid in determining the historicity of the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon, much like the parables of Jesus, was deliberately designed to be a litmus-test for those who wish to gain spiritual truth; a truth that could only be obtained by honest seekers of truth who are willing to submit themselves to the prescribed formulas described in Moroni 10, Alma 32 and elsewhere.

If you believe in God, then the assumption that God has "stacked the deck" against man learning the truth about him definitively is quite easy to accept. He could make all 6 billion of us know everything there is to know about him with one Q & A session on CNN broadcast globally. So if you believe in God, it's easy to assume what you're assuming.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

Ouch. That's a low blow.

Sorry about that aaron.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by woot

The most it could do is force Lehi and the gang to become a tiny civilization among many, rather than the ancestors of all Native Americans, which is what the dominant belief in the church is (although apparently not so much here).

I don't think this has been the dominant LDS belief since the 1980s or so - especially after Sorenson's An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon (1985) - not a very good book, in my opinion, but innovative in the "limited population among many others" point of view.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by Solon

I don't think this has been the dominant LDS belief since the 1980s or so - especially after Sorenson's An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon (1985) - not a very good book, in my opinion, but innovative in the "limited population among many others" point of view.

Sooner or later they'll have to ditch the B of M introduction. Boy I bet they wish they could do a major book burning.

[tooblue]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Sooner or later they'll have to ditch the B of M introduction. Boy I bet they wish they could do a major book burning.

And maybe not

[BYU71]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Sooner or later they'll have to ditch the B of M introduction. Boy I bet they wish they could do a major book burning.

Don't you ever worry that the scene from South Park could be true.

"It was the mormons, yes the mormons is the right church."

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Sooner or later they'll have to ditch the B of M introduction. Boy I bet they wish they could do a major book burning.

The intro was a 1980s addition which I bet they wish they had never done. The intro appears less inspired now. However, I'm not certain anybody ever sought a conviction as to the accuracy of the the introduction.

"Please [insert favorite name for divinity] confirm to me the veracity of the introductory paragraph, that is all I need to know."

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Is this supposed to be evidentiary support for the Book of Mormon?

If you want it to be, then it is.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Sooner or later they'll have to ditch the B of M introduction. Boy I bet they wish they could do a major book burning.

Ah yes, you are correct: I hadn't read the introduction closely . . . "the principal ancestors of the American Indians." That's got to be embarrassing.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Solon

Ah yes, you are correct: I hadn't read the introduction closely . . . "the principal ancestors of the American Indians." That's got to be embarrassing.

The silly thing is the intro was added in the 1980s.