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Obsidian Trade Patterns
Mark Golitko and Gary Feinman are affiliated with the Field Museum in Chicago. They have a long-time interest in obsidian (volcanic glass) because it was widely traded throughout Mesoamerica, there are...
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Smoking Gun
I have begun reading an impressive book that provides smoking gun evidence to solve the Book of Mormon New World correlation conundrum.Smoking Gun: Scientific Evidence HighlyFavoring a Particular...
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Art and Iconography 1
Texts shed the most light on the ancient world. They reconstruct to a small degree the words and word patterns that fell from the lips of the people who lived and died in that world. The next most...
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Art and Iconography 2
This post is a continuation of the theme developed in the article "Art and Iconography 1." The story of Moses raising the brazen serpent as a type of Christ was important enough to Book of Mormon...
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Art and Iconography 3
This post is a continuation of the theme developed in the articles "Art and Iconography 1" and "Art and Iconography 2." The tree of life as a type of Christ and a tree as a symbol of the house of...
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Art and Iconography 4
This post is a continuation of the material developed in the articles "Art and Iconography 1,""Art and Iconography 2," and "Art and Iconography 3." V. Garth Norman, the LDS Mesoamericanist most...
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Four Sides, Four Quarters, and a Center
The Book of Mormon describes its world as having four sides aligned with the four cardinal directions Mosiah 27:6, 3 Nephi 1:17. It also describes its world as having four quarters Alma 43:26, Alma...
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State Level Society
Anthropologists use criteria to distinguish tribal societies from more sophisticated civilizations that reach state level. These criteria include:Social stratification. Tribal societies develop a...
View ArticleFrauds and Hoaxes
In the latter 1970's, I spent three years as Dr. Paul R. Cheesman's research assistant. During that time, his office was ground zero for most things Book of Mormon within the Church. One day we got...
View ArticleTextual Progress
August 2 & 3, 2016 Book of Mormon Central convened a working group to consider the sense of meaning of a number of passages in the text whose interpretations have proven controversial. The verses...
View ArticleJoseph Smith in One Question
Like most Latter-day Saints of my generation, I grew up with a sanitized, out sized Joseph Smith as a persecuted demigod who worked endless streams of wonders against tall odds in his short 38 1/2...
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Central Locations
I was at the Jerusalem Archaeological Park (Davidson Center) in June and saw this striking visual depicting the old city at the crossroads of 3 continents.Jerusalem as Continental AxisPhoto by Kirk...
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1830 Americas
Occasionally Latter-day Saints reference modern nations in Book of Mormon discussions. It is instructive to understand what the Americas looked like in 1830 when the text first went on  sale to the...
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Voyages of Columbus
1 Nephi 13:12 is often interpreted as referring to Christopher Columbus. Columbus made four voyages to the New World between 1492 and 1504. This is a simplified map of the four expeditions.4 Voyages of...
View ArticleChiasmus Day 2016
Today, August 16, 2016, marks the 49th anniversary of Jack Welch's discovery of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. 49 years was a biblical 7 X 7 jubilee cycle. Here are seven things we did to...
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KnoWhy App
The new KnoWhy app from Book of Mormon Central is generating favorable response from many people. It debuted at BYU Education Week two days ago. KnoWhys are brief essays about some interesting aspect...
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Moroni Day 2016
On or near autumnal equinox 1823, the Angel Moroni first appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and told him about records engraved on gold plates.On or near autumnal equinox 1827, the Angel Moroni gave...
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October Conference 2016
Pres. Ucthdorf opened the Saturday morning session with several Book of Mormon citations and allusions."As we become more familiar with something, even something miraculous and awe-inspiring, we lose...
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Ramah/Cumorah
On a certain hill, probably somewhere in Veracruz, Mexico, two nations met their demise through large-scale warfare. The Jaredites self-destructed in factional civil war ca. 220 B.C. The Nephites were...
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Prophets Human and Inspired
My wife and I just saw James Arrington's farewell performance of his acclaimed one-man show "Here's Brother Brigham." Arrington donned the beard and stove pipe hat for 40 years. He and his wife have...
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