Principal Ancestors They Never Were

Recently the LDS Church has dropped a phrase from its introduction to the Book of Mormon, and, in doing so, invoked the ridicule and derision of all who tell half-truths, wipe their mouths, and say they've done no wrong.

Here, for you dear reader, is a more full citation of the controversial passage: "The Book of Mormon...is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

"The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, [Any of this sounding familiar?] were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. [Now that name has got to be familiar.] The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, [Now here it is.] and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians." (You are invited to read the whole book ;) yourself at http://www.blogger.com/www.lds.org !)

For many decades, I've suspected we were too ambitious to think that the books in The Book of Mormon were the complete annals of the broader Meso-American history. Like the Bible, the Book of Mormon is a record of a single family's dealings within a much broader scope of history. In this context of a small thread woven into a large tapestry, things are bound to get lost, covered in jungle and dirt, and destroyed. (How's that for mixing metaphors!)

Against that larger tapestry of Pre-Columbian and Meso-American history, is it not reasonable that the specific stories of the families and the more limited history that The Book of Mormon covers might possibly be harder to discern in the many-threaded tapestry of archeology, and thus, take many years to unearth and unravel? Indeed, one prophet wrote that he could not write a hundreth of all that could be written of his people!

[For a pleasant and thoughtful journey through Guatemala and Mexico, and the most up-to-date scholarship, covering such questions as DNA, the Hebraic poetic form of chiasmus, and metal in the Book of Mormon, see the DVD Journey of Faith: The New World from the Neil A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at http://www.byu.edu/ )

Time magazine ran an article a few years back, claiming that the history contained in the Bible had few solid archeological proofs, citing that they had only recently found a shard of pottery with the name of "David King of Israel" inscribed on it. The point being: Give The Book of Mormon a bit of breathing room! ( Also, go to the Jewish intellectual journal Commentary for an exciting story on the recent discovery of the personal palace of Solomon.) Need I say: In archeology great discoveries are uncovered everyday! http://www.commentarymagazine.com

Recently Mormon archeologists and scholars have refined their conclusions and views from those of early Mormon scholars like B. H. Roberts. He and others thought that the "narrow neck of land" spoken of in the scripture was Panama, and that the Nephites would have been the Peruvians and the Lamanites...well, you get the old picture.

These kinds on unfolding truths, only help to solidify my faith, not rattle it.