Discussion No. 2
External Evidences of Truthfulness
of the Book of Mormon
1. Discuss archaeological discoveries and their harmony with Book of Mormon, “Seven Claims of the Book of Mormon.” Chapter 3.
2. Discuss the harmony of religious beliefs of natives with the story of Christ related in Book of Mormon. “Seven Claims of the Book of Mormon,” Chapter 5.
3. Read the testimonies of the witnesses and discuss – with Joseph there were twelve in all. Eccl. 4:12 shows that three witnesses are not easily disposed of. What about twelve, none of whom ever denied his testimony?
4. Truth established by witnesses. Deut. 19:15; John 5:30-32; 2 Cor. 13:1; 2 Nephi 27:12-14; Ether 5:2, 4.
None of them ever received any financial gain. Martin Harris paid for printing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon, for which he was never fully reimbursed. Would Joseph Smith have dared to have allowed the three witnesses to become estranged from the Church, two of them having been excommunicated, had they not seen the vision and been commanded, as Oliver Cowdery said, “never to deny it upon penalty of no forgiveness in this life or in the life to come”?
Jesus Christ said, “But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” Matt. 18:16.
5. By the aid of the Urim and Thummim, a special divine instrument, and the inspiration of God, Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon gold plates. This Urim and Thummim was used by ancient prophets and seers. Ex. 28:30; Lev. 8:708; Num. 27:21, but only as long as the prophet was in harmony with the Lord. 1 Sam. 28:6, Clomp. History of the Church, Vol. 1, p. 131.
6. Archaeologists and others have discovered many ruins in America which substantiate the claims of the Book of Mormon. Here are some of their findings:
“I have carried my Book of Mormon into many camps of explorers and found that most of them had their own copy and carried it with them, and would readily agree to its historical truthfulness.” Dewey Farnsworth, Author of “America Before Columbus.”
7. During the last war, submarines had to have a charted course from South to North America because of a sunken city found in the Gulf of Mexico. The Book of Mormon speaks of these cities. 3 Nephi 8:9.
8. On Dec. 8, 1948, Lowell Thomas, in a broadcast over NBC, said, “Newspaperman Delos Smith sends back an account from Yucatan, saying that excavations are progressing and tells of wandering around in a world that was.
“He tells of standing on top of a Mayan pyramid as high as a modern ten-story apartment house and looking over at the ruins of a stone tower, once an observatory of Mayan astronomers.
“Over there,” he goes on, “the carved columns of the Pentagon of the day – headquarters of the military establishment. Next to it, a temple of a thousand columns, no roof is left.
“Over there, the ball court – a sort of Yankee Stadium, where athletes played a form of basketball in a paved court four hundred and ninety feet long.”
“That marvel of lost civilization was the great city of Chicken Itza, and the report goes on to say that, in the equatorial forest, there are fifty other cities, nearly all buried in the jungles.”
The Book of Mormon tells of these cities. Many others were buried at the time of the crucifixion of Christ. 3 Nephi 9:6-7.
9. The Book of Mormon speaks of great highways that were built by these once mighty people. 3 Nephi 6:8.
“In ancient times Chicken Itza and all the great and lesser cities of the Yucatan Peninsula were linked by a network of smooth, hard-surfaced highways. These roads were like ribbons stretching mile after mile through field and forest and deserving quite as much the appellation of ‘white ways’ as any of our blazing night-lighted thoroughfares.” Archaeologist T.A. Willard.
10. Because of their iniquity this great white nation of people was destroyed about 421 A.D. Mormon 8:7; 2 Nephi 10:19.
In Mexico there is a very ancient Aztec tradition which says, “the first settlers in Mexico were a white race.” The tradition continues, saying, “this white race was conquered by a race with darker skins, and the darker skinned race drove the white race from the land.” The Lost continent by Churchward.
1. Book of Mormon: The Jaredites landed about the time of the Tower of Babel. Ether 1:33
Science: “That the first settlement (America) was made shortly after the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel.” (School Craft Ethnological Research, Vol. 3, 1853)
2. Book of Mormon: These Nephites were of Israelitish ancestry, and the Indians are their remnant. They had int heir possession knowledge concerning the great events in the world’s history. 1 Nephi 5:10-15
Science: “There is no Gentile nation that refers to primitive events with such certainty as the Indians do. They give us an account of the creation of the world, of the deluge, of the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel and of all other periods of ages of the world.” (Chevalier Boturini, Articles of Faith, page 287)
3. Book of Mormon: Beginning in 1844 the Church sent missionaries to the South Sea Islands. They believed the islanders were descendants of Israel and came from this land. Alma 63:5-8
Science: “Dr. Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian scientist, proved that the ancestry of the Polynesians (pacific Islanders) are probably American by his recent Kon Tiki expedition in the Pacific. His thesis is being widely accepted.” Reader’s Digest, Nov. 1947, Church Section, Deseret News, Nov. ‘47. Thor Heyerdahl’s book, “Kon Tiki.”
4. Read the promises of Moroni. Moroni 10:3-4. No other book has ever dared to offer such proof of its divinity.
Suggested Tracts:
The Book of Mormon – Widtsoe 15.
New Witness for Christ – Ballard.
Supplementary References:
The Witnesses of the Book of Mormon – Preston Nibley.
Seven Claims of the Book of Mormon – John A. Widtsoe and Franklin Harris.
Title Page and Brief Analysis, Book of Mormon.
America Before Columbus
So, the Nephites had a Pentagon? No wonder they went extinct. And I bet it was the Lamanites who had home turf advantage in “Yankee Stadium.”
Ardis, is this the official 2nd Discussion? We had something similar on my mission (1967) as a backup for use in case the potential convert couldn’t accept the Book of Mormon.
It’s been a long time since any general authority spoke about archaeology and the Book of Mormon in General Conference. Milton R. Hunter used to do it almost every time. When he spoke to us at the old SLC Mission Home he invited the 200 missionaries in our group to come over to his office at the Church Administration Building where he sold us pictures of Mayan ruins for $1.00, sized and punched to fit into our discussion manual.
Steve, it wasn’t “official” in the same way as the discussions you or I used, since there wasn’t an official set prescribed by the Church for use in all the missions in 1951, like there was in our day. This was one set of outlines put together in one mission, and then adopted (for convenience) by a few other missions.
I’m tickled to hear about Milton R. Hunter and the pictures punched for your manual. This set of 1951 discussions I’ve borrowed from a friend is in a small notebook, with photos of ruins punched to fit! I did not include them with this post because the photos seemed to be an “extra,” not part of the discussions as they came from the press — I’ll do a separate post now to show those. Whether these particular photos came from Elder Hunter, or whether he adopted and continued to distribute them years later, I can’t guess, but the continuity of the practice fascinates me.
Thanks!
The pictures of ruins Elder Hunter sold were printed in sepia tone. They were punched to fit a slightly larger (about 5 x 7 inches) binder than the one that held the standard “Mr. Brown” missionary discussions, and Deseret Book sold a black leather binder with a embossed Salt Lake Temple on the front to contain these and other notes.
At the mission home, after he addressed us, Hugh B. Brown left behind a bundle of leaflets he’d printed challenging the reader to write a Book of Mormon. Many missionaries grabbed handfuls of these, but I only got two of them.
We have come a long way in our missionary discussions.