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Light from L.A.
On April 10 - 11, 2015, luminaries from the worldwide fellowship of Mayanists gathered on the campus of Cal State Los Angeles CSULA for a significant conference in honor of Linda Schele (1942 - 1998)....
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At Jerusalem
Dirt archaeology is expensive. Even a modest dig can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per field season with more required for lab work to analyze samples and artifacts. Institutions sponsor most...
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Joseph's Seer Stone
The seer stone Joseph Smith used to translate most of the Book of Mormon has lain in a vault at Church headquarters for more than 100 years. Joseph gave it to Oliver Cowdery whose wife gave it to...
View ArticleChiasmus Day
It was 48 years ago today, on August 16, 1967, that John W. Welch discovered chiasmus in the Book of Mormon while serving in the South German Mission under Pres. Orville C. Gunther. Chiasmus Day 2016...
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Sermon at the Temple
The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 - 7 may be the single most influential religious text in all of recorded history. It defines the essence of Christianity for multitudes past and present. The fact...
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Strahler Stream Order
In 1952 Arthur Newell Strahler (1918 - 2002), a professor of geoscience at Columbia, published an influential article entitled "Hypsometric (Area-Altitude) Analysis of Erosional Topography" in...
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Sinuosity Index
One of the ways earth scientists classify rivers and streams is by their degree of deviation from a straight line. This metric is called sinuosity index or sinuosity coefficient. It is a simple...
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Main Stem
The main stem of a river is the principal channel from source to mouth, the channel where movement downstream causes the Strahler stream order number to increase by increments of one. If a river has...
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Streamflow
Streamflow, aka discharge, aka channel runoff, is the volume of water in a stream flowing past a point in a specified period of time. The international standard unit of measure for streamflow is cubic...
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Test #9 River Sidon
Compiling everything we have learned about river Sidon from the text and from the geomorphology of earth's rivers, we believe the quintessential Nephite river will demonstrate the following 44...
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Test #10 Crossing Sidon
Seven passages in the text use a variant of the word "cross" to describe movement over Sidon. The word "ford" is not attested. All passages are in the book of Alma and all describe large groups in a...
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Hill Riplah
I appreciate Ryan Williams' insights that sparked the research behind this article. Ryan served his mission in Guatemala and is exceptionally well-traveled in and well-informed about the region.I have...
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Test #11 The Big Picture
We previously published ten tests based on disprovable criteria that we believe any viable Book of Mormon New World correlation will pass. The ten articles are:Test #1 Ups and DownsTest #2 One Half of...
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Geology of the Book of Mormon
Tyler Livingston, recently named President of Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum, introduced me to a new book a few days ago. I immediately purchased a copy, read it, and wrote a favorable review on...
View ArticlePrinter's Manuscript
Royal Skousen and Robin Scott Jensen gave a presentation on the printer's manuscript this evening in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. They were the volume editors of the 11th volume published in the...
View ArticleGreg Welch on Chiasmus
Greg Welch, son of John W. (Jack) and Jeannie Welch, has just posted an excellent YouTube video entitled "The Amazing True Story of How Chiasmus was Discovered in The Book of Mormon." I highly...
View ArticleElder Ballard on Scholarship
In the Utah South Area Stake Conference broadcast originating from the Marriott Center this morning, Elder M. Russell Ballard shared this wise counsel:Ask questions. Allow others to ask questions....
View ArticleJournal of Book of Mormon Studies
The Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, a publication of the Neal A. Mawell Institute at BYU, just published vol. 24. This annual publication will appear again in the spring of 2016. The editorial board...
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Blank Spots on the Map
I am reading a terrific book by Mary Ellen Miller, Sterling Professor of the History of Art at Yale and former Dean of Yale College. Miller is a highly respected Mesoamericanist. Her book with Linda...
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Lehi in Arabia
I just watched an excellent new DVD by Warren Aston and his son, Chad, entitled "Lehi in Arabia: The Search for Nephi's Bountiful."Warren Aston's New VideoThis 75 minute documentary describes and...
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