Laban, Laman, Lehi, Lemuel... Lots of Lucky Alliteration.

There are many Book of Mormon names found in this book that was published years prior to the publication of the Book of Mormon.  These are just a few I found, but I'm sure I'd find more if I looked closer.  Wow, what are the odds, huh?!?!

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More Book of Mormon names found in this book to which young Joseph Smith would have had access.

Goodness!  There are a lot of them!  Keep reading.

Even the river name is in here!  Amazing coincidence!

Here's a link to this book published prior to the Book of Mormon

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Next to be Excommunicated: Elder Roberts, Assistant Church Historian and a President of the First Council of the Seventy

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I purchased a book called "Studies of the Book of Mormon" written by Elder Roberts, one of the Presidents of  First Council of the Seventy.  Apparently he's also the assistant church historian or some such. I was saddened after reading part of the book to learn that yet another general authority of the church appears to have lost his way.  You see, it turns out that Elder Roberts is one of these so-called "intellectuals" who think they know more than Heavenly Father.  Here is just one of many anti-Book of Mormon quotes from Elder Roberts' book:

"Did Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews furnish structural material for Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon? It has been pointed out in these pages that there are many things in the former book that might well have suggested many major things in the other.Not a few things merely, one or two, or half dozen, but many; and it is this fact of many things of similarity and the cumulative force of them that makes them so serious a menace to Joseph Smith's story of the Book of Mormon's origin"

This G.A. is nuts, right?  I mean, just because a guy is one of the Presidents of the First Council of the Seventy and the Assistant Church Historian; and just because a guy literally wrote the Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Century I, that doesn't mean he knows what he's talking about, right?

"O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not."
      - 2 Nephi 9:28

With all the recent excommunications that have happened, it won't surprise me if the Church gives him the boot, post haste.  Good riddance, I say, if your testimony of the Book of Mormon is that weak, you are probably not worthy to be in the Church, even if you are a highly respected general authority.

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"No Ordinary Man Could Have Written This"

A friend of mine posted a link to this interesting video on Facebook a few days ago.  Naturally, I assumed, because of the title, it must be referring to the Book of Mormon.  It really made me think.

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City of "Moroni" Discovered on Island of "Comora"

Amazing!  Captain Kidd stories took place in and around the city of "Moroni" on Island of "Comora".  We know from Book of Mormon stories that "Moroni" and "Cumorah" are both prominent names in the Book of Mormon. Hey, wouldn't it be a funny coincidence if it turned out that Joseph Smith was a fan of Captain Kidd stories?  Well guess what?  It turns out that he was!

"Another Palmyra native, Philetus Spear, said that Joseph Smith as a boy 'had for a library a copy of the Arabian Nights, stories of Captain Kidd, and a few novels.'[v] According to James H. Kennedy, ... young Joseph’s own reading about the pirate had 'made a deep impression on him.'[vi] Palmyra resident Ann Eaton added that Kidd was 'his hero.'"

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"Comoros" sound so much like "Cumorah"

1808 map of Africa refers to these Islands as “Camora.”

In this 1649 map of the region the islands are called "Comoro"

1748 map of Anjouan/Johanna island showing "Meroni" in the "Comore" islands

Pretty cool, right!?!?

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Wow, the Urim and Thummim Look Way Different Than I Imagined!

Apparently, this is what the Urim and Thummim actually look like:

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Fox 13 - LDS Church Reveals Urim and Thummim

I always thought the "seer stones" were a lot cooler!  More like this:

Yeah, that's more like it!  That's what I was shown and was taught for 46 years.  Here's another example:

I don't know why, but the whole breast plate with the eyeglasses seems, somehow, more believable as a mechanism for translating ancient records than putting a polished stone in a hat.   It was really weird seeing the real urim and thummim.

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Pre-Book of Mormon Stories

Young Joseph Smith used to sit around spinning Book of Mormon stories before they had even been translated.  He was amazing!

Lucy Mack Smith said in her book about Joseph Smith Jr.:

"I presume our family presented an aspect as singular as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth –– all seated in a circle, father, mother, sons and daughters, and giving the most profound attention to a boy, eighteen years of age, who had never read the Bible through in his life....During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular, their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them" [p. [1], bk. 4]

Here's a link to the source document  (scroll down when you get there).

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Who were the ancestors of Native Americans?

Oliver Cowdery's pastor in 1823: "Hebrews were the ancestors of the American Indians."

Oliver Cowdery's pastor published his book about 7 years before the Book of Mormon was published in 1830.  It was written only one county away from where Joseph Smith grew up.  Pretty amazing coincidence!  See what you think: 

Ethan Smith's book about the ancestors of the American Indians being Hebrews from Jerusalem

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