This video provides the simplified version of the story of the Book of Mormon. I think it’s a great thing to share with friends and neighbors, so much so that I forwarded it to my non-member friends on Facebook. However, I spotted one significant error in the video and one implied error. So, in the spirit of “constructive criticism,” I’m offering them up here. Please feel free to add any additional errors that I may have missed. But please be nice.
The video says that Moroni traveled to “what is now upstate New York” to bury the plates in the Hill Cumorah. But it is important to note that the Book of Mormon does not say this. It says he traveled. Other plates were buried in the Hill Cumorah. We don’t know where that hill is or what happened to the plates Moroni carried, based on the information in the Book of Mormon.
Here is a discussion of that issue that may be helpful for people who believe the plates were definitely buried in the Hill Cumorah in New York near Palmyra.
The reason this is important is that sometimes people base their faith on things that the Book of Mormon does not say but instead are “things that everybody knows.” And when somebody comes along and presents evidence that contradicts something that “everybody knows,” their faith dies. Faith needs to be based on things that are real, not popular legends. A good example of this is the myth that the Book of Mormon says the Lamanites are the ancestors of modern-day Indians. It does no such thing (except in the old Introduction, which has subsequently been changed and was not part of the Book of Mormon that Joseph Smith was given through revelation), and when DNA evidence contradicted this myth, some people lost faith in the Church.
The reality is we don’t know what happened to the plates that made up the Book of Mormon between the time Moroni had them and the time he gave them to Joseph Smith, based on the information in the Book of Mormon. There are many people who have said, based on statements from the 19th century, that Joseph Smith clearly thought of the hill in Palmyra as the same hill as the Hill Cumorah of the Book of Mormon, and you are certainly entitled to believe that if you’d like. But the Book of Mormon does not say this.
Another implied error in the video is that the Lamanites spread through the Americas and that they became the modern-day Indians. Again, the Book of Mormon does not say that.
I want to be clear that videos like this are wonderful ways of helping people understand the Book of Mormon, which is difficult to explain. So I applaud the efforts, but a few small changes should be made in the video, in my humble opinion.
+1
Very well said Geoff. We all need to take heed not to clutter our testimonies with “foolish/false traditions”.
Mike, I hope I don’t go back to getting minuses from you. 🙂
My wife pointed out that Moroni 10:2 says the records were “sealed up.” In addition, Moroni says he is “speaking out of the dust” (Moroni 10:27), so it is probably reasonable to think that Moroni did bury the plates that became the Book of Mormon someplace. But he does not say specifically that he buried them in the Hill Cumorah, and he does not say where the Hill Cumorah is. So, again, we don’t know exactly what happened to the plates before Moroni gave them to Joseph Smith.
You mean that the Hill Cumorah wasn’t….???? You mean that Moroni didn’t….?????
Wow, thanks for destroying my faith, Geoff! Now I’m just going to have to join all those anti-Mormons that scoff at blogs like this one. And what’s worse, I don’t like anti-Mormons!
Just thanks, Geoff. Thanks for nothing!
😉
Rameumpton, you are finally living up to your on-line name. 🙂
Yeah. We don’t know exactly who all was in the Americas when Lehi got here. We don’t have the Lamanites side of the story. And we don’t know what all happened, or who else arrived between 421 AD and 1492.
Societal evidence can disappear quite quickly. There’s a show that repeats sometimes on The History Channel, that depicts what would likely happen if all mankind disappeared at once. It shows what all would decay and be over-run in 1 year, 5 years, 50 years, 100 years, 500 years, 1000 years, etc.
Pretty much everything decays or disappears in 1000 years. So in effect, finding any ancient archealogical evidence is the exception, not the rule.
Generally, you have to intentionally preserve and protect things, like the Egyptians with their mummies and pyramids.
Won’t it be cool in the Millennium when all mysteries (such as these) will be made known?
Oh, great. Now Geoff is buttering me up. How am I supposed to be a good anti-Mormon when I’m being treated so well?
I suppose I could be re-offended because he, like most Mormons, cannot spell Rameumptom….
Of course, there are some who would tell me to step down from my high pedestal, or rameumptom, and start getting along….
Thanks, Geoff. This is an important point. Testimonies cannot be built on legends and rumors.