The Forgotten Promise

We may have overlooked a significant promise given us by a prophet of God.

Moroni, writing his own observations in the Book of Ether, had this to say to us, the members of the modern church:

Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.

Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up  from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel.

 And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed. (Ether 4:14–16, italics added for emphasis.)

In these verses, Moroni seems to be saying that the day will come when John’s enigmatic Revelation in the New Testament, also known as the Apocalypse of John, will be fully understood.

Is that possible? Well, if Moroni is to be believed, it must be.

That begs the question, is it understood now? Some Mormons might be tempted to say yes, that Christian ministers and teachers, including some LDS scholars who say essentially the same things, have managed to wrest the intended meaning from John’s peculiar imagery.

Certainly, numerous efforts have been made down through the years to decipher the message John penned two millenia ago. And despite the seeming unanimity Christian scholars appear to have developed regarding its interpretation—including concepts such as the Rapture, the Battle of Armageddon and the Antichrist—the fact remains that the Savior told Joseph Smith in his First Vision that none of their teachings were correct. If that was so then, it is equally true now. Furthermore, consensus should never be mistaken for correctness.

Still, far too many church members have failed to perceive that the Lord’s condemnation of Christian doctrine in that First Vision also includes their popular interpretation of John’s prophecy. Again, if they were wrong about prophecy in Joseph Smith’s day, they must still be wrong today because their interpretations of it have changed little. In this author’s opinion, most of them have been misguided.

I have elsewhere noted that many church members and scholars have imprudently adopted the mainstream Christian or Millennialist view of Revelation. This has taken LDS thinking on the subject down a dead end path. Revelation is therefore as much a “sealed book” for us as it is for any Christian scholar.

That leaves thoughtful Latter-day Saints to wonder when and how Moroni’s prophecy will be fulfilled. Will the time come when we can read and fully understand the meaning behind John’s curious and seemingly unfathomable imagery?

Until recently, no methodology has been proposed that would allow anyone to truly “unfold” John’s enigmatic writings. But a way to do so may now be at hand. Clearly, Joseph Smith understood the book. He called it “the plainest book.”

Let me make this bold assertion: One need not be a prophet to read and understand the revelations of the prophets—both ancient and modern, John’s included—with all their arcane and bizarre imagery. Anyone can read those revelations as easily as they read a newspaper or magazine, given the proper training.

How is that possible, you say? Let’s look at this together.

Curiously, the only way to properly and understandingly read John’s writing is, in this author’s opinion, with a thoroughgoing comprehension of the cosmological metaphors he employs. The very element we see as a stumbling block is the key to deciphering the text. This is my assertion: All the enigmatic imagery John used in his great Apocalypse (Revelation) in the New Testament is based in cosmic imagery, the common denominator in all ancient cultures and religions.

We see this cosmic symbolism everywhere in ancient cultures, from their myths and legends to their sacred traditions and religious iconography. Certainly, it is on display for all to see in their monuments, temples and texts. To our eyes, it looks like paganism, the worship of cosmic gods and goddesses, chaos monsters and world threatening dragons. But a careful parsing of those riotous images and conflicting imagery, looking back into the past at the original archetypes and motifs instead of the later variations and elaborations, we discover a commonality that is otherwise hidden. That commonality became the common denominator for prophetic imagery.

As it turns out, John’s seemingly indecipherable book is a missionary tract, intended for investigators and new converts. John rehearsed all the primary themes of ancient religious lore from his day to illustrate how it fit into the new religion of Christ and to lay claim to ancient roots for the new Christian religion. It was a conversion tool, used to persuade pagans who held these cosmic traditions as sacred that Christianity honored, respected and incorporated their former beliefs and traditions, that they were all intended to point to and culminate in Christ.

Revelation, then, is more of a rehearsal of past catastrophic events and the cosmic images that went with them than it is a prediction of the future. There’s where mainstream Christianity went wrong. We believe John was looking primarily to the future in his tome, when he was, instead, looking to the sacred, cosmic traditions of the past.

So, Nibley was right. “Cosmisim,” as he dubbed it, is a key component of the Restored Gospel, just as it is in John’s Revelation. Upon serious consideration, how could it be anything less? We encounter cosmic imagery at every turn in Mormonism: in Doctrine and Covenants, in The Pearl of Great Price (especially there), in the Book of Mormon, in the teaching of Joseph Smith and on the exterior walls of our modern temples and in our sacred endowment. It is the cosmological side of the Restored Gospel.

Yet today’s Mormons eye the concept of sacred symbolism with suspicion and misgivings. Like their Christian cousins, today’s church members, for the most part, see sacred, cosmological symbolism as either inconsequential, having no real merit, or a satanic effort to distract us from the teachings of Christ, a perversion of truth, foreign to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the antithesis of Christianity.

So in that context, would it be heretical to suggest that the revised view of prophetic pronouncements espoused by this author, using cosmological imagery from hoary antiquity, is the very mechanism by which, as Moroni declared, John’s Revelation will be “unfolded in the eyes of all the people”? There is only one way to know for sure: Put it to the test. Study these concepts and then apply them.

 “And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people.”

Isn’t it a bit curious, in light of Moroni’s words, that most Mormons still do not understand John’s Revelation? Yet, with the cosmological key, the book becomes “the plainest book,” as Joseph Smith declared it to be. It can then be read like any other document, word by word, verse by verse, with nearly complete comprehension.

I know this much: One need not be a prophet to read and understand the revelations of the prophets, with all their arcane and bizarre imagery. Anyone can read Revelation as easily as they read a newspaper or magazine, as long as they employ a knowledge of the archetypes and motifs of ancient cosmological imagery.

There are hundreds of Latter-day Saints who can now do so because they have taken the time and made the effort to master the imagery and symbolism of the ancients and the prophets.

Would you care to be one of them?

The Voice of the People

We’ve reached a milestone in American history. Emotions are running high. Liberals are elated; conservatives are disheartened.

This past election was a watershed moment in time. Everyone, on both sides of the political spectrum, is in agreement about that, but for very different reasons. Everything has changed.

Until recent decades, the majority of Americans stood steadfastly for certain core values, whether liberal or conservative. A back-and-forth tug-of-war dominated politics and ensured that neither philosophy could dominate for long. But now, that’s over.

Curiously, the Book of Mormon prophet, Mosiah, had something to say on this subject.

Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people. (Mosiah 29: 26)

For over 200 years, the self correcting nature of our political system worked just as Mosiah explained. Mosiah referenced what we have called “the moral majority” in our time, those who possess the innate goodness manifest by a free people. This “voice of the people,” according to Mosiah, could be counted on to steady the ship of state with the ballast of common sense and tiller of personal responsibility.

But that may be lost to us now. What most Americans do not comprehend is that the creeping secularism on the left has infiltrated and infected every aspect of our lives, altering and eroding traditional American values. Like a metastatic cancer, it has overwhelmed the body politic, leaving us morally and culturally bankrupt.

Once a marginal movement in American culture, progressive secularism has grown greatly in the last three or four decades, in both political and social influence. With the outcome of this election, the door was thrown open wide to further and radically revise traditional American values. That trend may now be irreversible.

Secularism has won the day. Conservatism is in decline. The so called “moral majority” in America is no longer the guiding hand in American politics. Radical, politically correct and progressive notions and institutions are now dominant, the order of the day.

Those living on the public dole, whatever form that takes, represent nearly half the population, giving rise to a dominant entitlement culture in America, displacing the self sufficient, individualist attitude that has characterized the majority of Americans for generations. These who are dependent upon on one form of public assistance or another will invariably elect a leader who will promise to give them more benefits, more perks.

The reelection of Barak Obama confirms this. It is a sure indication, an overt manifestation of the topsy-turvy state of affairs in America today.

Mosiah also cited what will happen to any nation occupying “this land” when the majority loses its bearings.

And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land. (Mosiah 29: 27)

In the simple and straightforward manner typical of Book of Mormon prophets, Mosiah calls poor judgment “iniquity.” With this past election, it’s clear that the voice of the people, the majority, has chosen poorly.

If, in your opinion, that is an overstatement, if you disagree, just give it a little time to see how this all plays out. We will all be made to suffer for this debacle.

 Further, Mosiah emphatically declares that “the judgments of God” will come upon us for acquiescing to such perfidy. Clearly, if we haven’t sensed it before, we will soon be forced to acknowledge that we are all on board a fateful Titanic.

What is also clear is that the righteous will not be exempt from these chastisements. They seldom are, given the historical record. In fact, if there is a truism that can be distilled from the Nephite record, it is that. So those of us living out the “Nephite nightmare” in our day and time cannot expect our righteousness to exempt us from what Mosiah promised.

The message for us in this crucial moment in American history is, What form will these “judgments of God” and “great destruction” take? To answer that question, we must turn again to events in Nephite history, since that would have been Mosiah’s perspective when he cited judgments and destruction.

While there were many wars, contentions, a drought and predations by Gadianton robbers in Nephite history that could be called judgments, there was one destruction that far exceeds the rest, which immediately leaps to mind. You can read about it for yourself in 3 Nephi. I strongly suggest you do, because like all Nephite ills, this woe awaits us who occupy “this land.”

Like Unto the Nephites

Drought grips the country. Over half the counties in the lower 48 have been declared disaster areas. Wildfires erupt intermittently in forests and urban areas. Record temperatures in the heartland ad to the misery index. Water flows in the Mississippi have dropped to record low levels, restricting barge traffic and driving up transportation costs. The price of food and other commodities are on the rise, dramatically in some cases. Perhaps some of this directly affects you and your loved ones.

So, what’s going on?

For the answer, we might turn to the scriptures and the words of modern prophets.

A prophet’s warning

President Gordon B. Hinckley took the occasion in the October General Conference, 1998, to give us a sober warning, one which has profound implications for current events.

He began his advice by citing the Genesis account of Pharaoh’s dream, in which he saw seven fat kine (cattle) followed by seven lean kine. This dream Joseph interpreted as a prediction of a terrible famine in Egypt.

President Hinckley then made plain his intent.

“Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future.  But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in or­der.

“. . . I hope with all my heart that we shall never slip into a depression. I am a child of the Great Depression of the thirties.” (Ensign, Vol. 28, No. 11, p. 53.)

The fact that President Hinckley was a child in the depression, which he explicitly refers to, means that he also saw the effects of the drought that added to the misery of that crippling economic debacle. So even though he expressly stated “I am not prophesying,” the concerns he expressed were born of his own personal experience in the famished era of the Great Depression.

He then went on to use a curious weather metaphor to finish his warning:

“. . . There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.” (ibid.)

From this analysis, it seems to me that his intent was to subliminally do what he overtly said he wasn’t doing: prophesying. After all, isn’t prophecy invariably a warning as well?

President Hin­ckley clearly warned church members that the economic bubble we then enjoyed might burst, though he was careful to avoid predicting famine or drought in his extended commentary. Yet his remarks focused on the Great De­pression, which was accompanied by a severe drought. This, I believe, was purposeful on his part.

Note as well that he was deeply troubled by the burden of debt we carried in the late 1990s. As an aside this begs the question, what would he say about the debt burden we carry today which is exponentially greater?

Just to emphasize the point before we leave it, does it not seem curious that of all the scriptural examples President Hinckley could have used to make his point, he chose the one that deals with a profound famine, in spite of his denial that he was predicting such?

Next in our analysis, we must go far afield before returning to our central thesis in order to understand the present drought conditions and their connection to Pres. Hinckley’s remarks.

A scriptural warning

As readers of my book Parallel Histories: The Nephites and the Americans know, I see Nephite history as a remarkably accurate predictor of American history. The two histories are that similar.

In that book, I identified 12 overarching points of specific correlation between the two cultures, beginning to end. This puts the Book of Mormon story in a whole new light.

First published in 1989, my book was a modest analysis of the major points of correlation between the two histories, the Nephites and the Americans. The upshot of that analysis was that the Book of Mormon had been carefully edited by Mormon to reflect events that would emerge in our time, the age of the gentiles. After all, as church members universally acknowledge, the book was written specifically for us.

The most relevant segment of the Book of Mormon for our time is that which is recorded in Helaman and 3 Nephi. The events recorded there are astoundingly similar to events in our day and time, as well as predictive of what is yet to come in our time.

Among the more striking parallels cited were the similarities between the battle for the Nephite heartland, recorded in Helaman, and our Second World War. Without citing the many striking similarities between the two wars, let’s focus on the outcomes and their truly remarkable resemblance.

·         The Nephites were able to retake only one-half of their original lands when the war was over. The rest remained in Lamanite hands. *** The Allies in the Second World War had to settle for only about half of Europe. The rest fell into Communist hands.

·         When the dust of war settled, the Nephite capital, Zarahemla, remained in the hands of their arch enemies, the Lamanites. They were unable to liberate it. *** At the end of the Second World War, the capital of Germany, Berlin, remained in the hands of the Allies’ newest enemy, the Soviet Union. We were unable to liberate it.

·         The Nephites and the Lamanites fortified a line between the two opposing armies in the aftermath of the war that divided the land. It was a stalemate. There were no more battles, but both sides maintained a large standing army along the dividing line for years. *** The Allied and the Communist armies fortified a line between them in the aftermath of the war that divided Eastern and Western Europe. It was called the Iron Curtain. There was no war, but there was plenty of “sabre rattling,” part of what we termed the Cold War.

·         Eventually, the two groups were reconciled, and the barrier between them vanished. Nephites were able to travel in Lamanite lands, and Lamanites were welcomed in Nephite territory. *** As our recent history recalls, the Iron Curtain between East and West in the Cold War collapsed, stimulating exchange and travel between two former enemies.

·         Once the standoff between Nephites and Lamanites was over, they enjoyed exceptional prosperity because the time and resources once dedicated by both sides to the stalemate were redirected to prosperous pursuits. *** The end of the Cold War between the East and the West in our time brought about what came to be called the “peace dividend,” a prosperity enjoyed because of the subsequent reduction in defense expenditures.

This brief example of the similarities between Nephite and American history is typical of all the parallels seen between the two, beginning to end. Of course, their “end” will be our future, making large segments of the Nephite narrative predictive of events and conditions in our time.

This is where this analysis and comparison becomes pertinent and invaluable: We can predict events and conditions in our time with a considerable level of confidence by simply looking to the Nephite record to see what happened to them.

This allows us to foresee the direction of events in our time, to see where the flow of history will take us next. It also has the unique feature of making some verses from Helaman read like today’s headlines or lead TV news stories. We are literally seeing ourselves in the Nephite mirror, reading about ourselves in the history of our Nephite doubles.

This makes the Book of Mormon a prophetic book as much as history, a remarkable conclusion unanticipated by most of us who have read the book. Yet, it seems quite clear that this was, at the very least, a significant part of Mormon’s intent in compiling the record.

Further analysis and comparison of the two wars and subsequent key historical events, which was treated in my book, revealed a number of striking similarities between cultures, events and conditions—most prominent among them being the discovery that the terrorists of our time find their counterparts in their Gadianton robbers!

This and other astonishing similarities will be examined in even more detail in planned online classes.

Suffice it to say, the closer one looks at the two histories, the more similarities emerge. And while there are substantive differences, they are far outweighed by the likenesses.

That brings us back to the subject of this analysis: drought.

Prominent parallel today

In Nephite history, our blueprint for American history and futurity, Mormon reported a severe drought in Helaman’s time, which caused a total economic collapse and famine among the Nephites and Lamanites. It began when Helaman prayed, “O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword; but O Lord, rather let there be a famine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee. (Helaman 11:4.)

Since Helaman was, in effect, the president of the church among the Nephites at the time, this brings us back to Pres. Hinkley, who was president of the church when he made the aforementioned statements—yet another parallel. And while he specifically noted that his declaration was not prophecy, there was, he said, “. . . a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.” (op. cit.)

Sounds a bit like prophecy to my ears.

Mormon, the true voice in Helaman, is editing and commenting in the Helaman account, tailoring it, I believe, to more accurately reflect events he had seen in visions of the “Gentiles” . . . us! The Nephite prophets called this practice “likening,” comparing one thing to another, equating the history of one nation to another. In proposing my thesis, I’m using the same rhetorical device.

So, Mormon goes on to comment on the record of Helaman. “And so it was done, according to the words of Nephi. And there was a great famine upon the land, among all the people of Nephi.” (Helaman 11:5.)

And so we come full circle to the central topic of this monograph: the expanding drought in the United States and Europe at this time.

While it’s far too soon to know with any certainty if this is the corollary in our time to the Nephite drought, it certainly has all the significant earmarks.

Let’s look at how it developed in Nephite times.

Like unto us

“And thus in the seventy and fourth year the famine did continue, and the work of destruction did cease by the sword but became sore by famine.

“And this work of destruction did also continue in the seventy and fifth year. For the earth was smitten that it was dry, and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; . . . .” (Helaman 11:5, 6.)

The above passage makes it clear that it was the third year of the Nephite drought, perhaps allowing the suggestion that our drought may span more than just this one season. Note that the conditions quite closely matche what we see going on in our drought, even though this is only the first year of truly significant or serious drought in our time.

The news media are certainly convinced of the drought’s significance.

“The worst drought in more than half a century has caused serious harm to the U.S. corn crop, reducing yield and export prospects, and is beginning to cut into soybean production prospects. . . .   Nearly two-thirds of the contiguous United States were suffering from some level of drought as of July 31, more than a fifth of it classified as extreme drought or worse, according to the Drought Monitor, a weekly report compiled by U.S. climate experts.” (Reuters, Aug. 6, 2012.)

“The worst drought in 50 years has intensified across the US midwest, not only condemning this year's corn crop but threatening the prospects for next year's too, new figures showed on Thursday. . . . The latest drought map, released on Thursday by the National Drought Mitigation Center, showed the drought intensifying across the grain belt in the midwestern and plains states. . . . The intensifying drought has deepened fears of a global food crisis, with reduced stocks abroad and higher prices for US consumers at home. About 48% of the corn crop is now rated poor or very poor, the US department of agriculture said on Wednesday. About 37% of the soybean crop was rated poor or very poor. The crop failures have already raised fears of price rises later in the year.” (The Guardian, Aug. 2, 2012, italics added.)

The effects of the Nephite drought were certainly devastating.

“. . . and the whole earth was smitten, even among the Lamanites as well as among the Nephites, so that they were smitten that they did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land.” (Helaman 11:6.)

Will this be our fate? Only time will tell. But if the numerous, remarkable similarities between the two histories are any indication, our drought stands to deepen at the very least.

The equivalent of Lamanite lands in our time would be Europe, which coincidentally is also seeing serious drought, especially in Russia where crop losses are already major—yet another remarkable equivalence.

It’s hard to imagine that things could get as bad in our day as they were in Nephite times, though the indication is clear that they could. But even if our drought doesn’t rise to the dimensions or devastation levels of the Nephite famine, it can easily qualify as a parallel event when we recall that the two histories are only similar to one another, not exact equivalents.

That being the case, we can also consider the alternative: Our drought may last longer and be more devastating. If so, it could easily exceed the damage seen in the Nephite account: “They did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land.” (Ibid.)

We are the Nephites

Through comparison with the Nephite famine, this analysis predicts a drought-related economic collapse in the U.S. and Europe for our time.

This author has been looking for such to occur for over a decade, indicating that events in our time do not follow the same time intervals or even sequence as those of Nephite times. That is, the order and dimensions of each condition and event is most certainly going to be a bit different. American history is not a carbon copy of Nephite history, only a reflection.

Yet, given the notion that Mormon, the writer, editor and compiler of the Book of Mormon, sought to convey to us, the gentiles, the remarkable similarities between the two nations by preparing his golden book to obviously reflect what would transpire in our day, we would be wise to prepare for this eventuality simply as a reasonable precaution. What harm is there in being prepared? As they say, hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

A stronger economy might be able to survive effects of a profound drought without too much harm, as has been the case in past droughts. But the current fragility of the American economy, weakened by severe and ongoing recession, political intrigue and legislative gridlock, makes it particularly vulnerable to the catastrophic effects of a drought.

A prophecy of optimism

But there is hope that can be derived from the Nephite account as well. They repented, and their famine abated.

“And it came to pass that the people saw that they were about to perish by famine, and they began to remember the Lord their God; and they began to remember the words of Nephi.” Helaman 11:7.)

We can only hope that the drought we see emerging in our world today triggers that same result. Since we are not immune to the obvious cycles of boom and bust, of wickedness and repentance seen in the Nephite story, there is light at the end of our tunnel, just as there was for them.

“And it came to pass that in the seventy and sixth year the Lord did turn away his anger from the people, and caused that rain should fall upon the earth, insomuch that it did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit. And it came to pass that it did bring forth her grain in the season of her grain. (Helaman 11:7, 17.)

Turning once again to Pres. Hinkley’s remarks, we can see that he may have had the same insight into our future that Helaman did into that of his day.

Words of a modern prophet

Taken as isolated remarks, President Hinkley’s observa­tions seem to be simply a casual warning to the Saints that they need to put their financial house in order. However, when his re­marks are considered in light of the parallel histories thesis and the timeline it prescribes for America, it takes on ominous and prophetic implications—President Hinkley’s own assertions to the contrary notwithstanding. He did say, “There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.” (op. cit.)

It also prompts one to wonder if our prophet did not seek to intercede on our behalf, as did Nephi for his people, to spare us the immediate destruction by the sword by pleading for an alternate chastisement instead—one that would bring us to repentance without utterly destroying us. Perhaps that is why he felt compelled to overtly warn us (ironically, in the context of the ancient famine in Egypt) to put our economic houses in order.

And it’s worthy of mention that he did so on at least two and possibly three occasions, thus reinforcing the notion that he felt this to be a vital message.

So, the warning for us at this point in our history is clear. The drought we see developing will almost certainly become worse, perhaps even exceeding that of the dust bowl days of the last century.

The question of the hour is: Will we listen to the warning?

Living the Nephite Nightmare

(An Open Letter to all Latter-day Saints)

The Book of Mormon is a prophecy for our time.

This has been my thesis since the mid-1980s, when I wrote Parallel Histories: The Nephites and The Americans. It was written over 20 years ago in response to then church president Ezra Taft Benson’s call to carefully and diligently re-examine the Book of Mormon. It was my effort to comply with his earnest request.

Following Pres. Benson’s cue when he observed that we are the modern counterparts of the ancient Nephites, I explored the thesis that our two cultures were more than superficially similar. They are remarkably alike, in profound and meaningful ways. Because it was apparent that my fellow saints weren’t seeing the things that seemed obvious to me, I felt a book was needed which outlined and elaborated that thesis.

Several articles followed over the years, updating, authenticating and validating that book and its thesis. (See the four part series A Harbinger For Our Time, on this blog.) This monograph will further that approach by demonstrating that America has now crossed the final threshold in our headlong rush to unknowingly duplicate Nephite history in our time.

When comparing the two cultures, as we will do herein, one caveat must be kept foremost in mind: While the two histories are similar, displaying similar conditions and events, the two cultures, Nephite and American, are fundamentally different from one another. The resemblance or similarities may be profoundly significant, but the way events played out in Nephite times is unlikely to be identical to the way events play out in our time.

These differences are important to keep in mind. Don’t expect an exact fit. Theirs was a simpler, agrarian-based society; ours is far more complex, based in a largely industrialized and technology oriented society. Their theater was restricted to a regional one; ours is national and international in scope, with many factors that were nonexistent in Nephite times. Thus, events in the two histories must be compared carefully—allowing that each will unfold in different ways, yet they will display remarkable and significant similarities.

In this monograph, we move beyond the astonishing similarities identified in the original book’s presentation. We move beyond the resemblance of the last Lamanite/Nephite War to our Second World War. We move beyond the postwar economic boom that enriched both nations in their respective eras. We move beyond the identical moral and political corruption that ensued. We look beyond the ideological battles that characterized the campaign of the corrupt judges against Nephi, the son of Helaman and their similarities to the Clinton presidency. We look beyond the Gadianton wars and equivalencies that allowed the accurate prediction that today’s terrorists would become our counterpart to the Nephite’s Gadianton robbers during the Clinton and Bush presidencies.

Now we come to the crux of this monograph, the next major parallel between our two cultures. It is the failed internal struggle the Nephites fought to retain their representative form of government, complete with its freedoms and justice.

The Nephite culture had been governed for generations by a representative form remarkably similar to our own. Mosiah said it best: “Therefore, choose you by the voice of this people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord.

“Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people.” (Mosiah 29: 25, 26.)

Mosiah’s observation later proved prophetic in the days of Third Nephi: it is nearly always a minority that wants to venture away from correct principles of governance. The time came, as it always does, when wealth led to pride and a division of Nephite society into classes, “… and some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their exceedingly great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions.” (3 Nephi 6:10.)

Social equality dissolved. “And the people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches … for there were many merchants in the land, and also many lawyers, and many officers. … thus there became a great inequality in all the land.” (Ibid. 6: 12, 11, 14.)

Immediately, the wealthy, ruling class within the Nephite nation decided that they wanted to set aside government by the voice of the people and replace it with a monarchy, which would be indebted, naturally, to those of their elite status: “And they did set at defiance the law and the rights of their country … and to establish a king over the land, that the land should no more be at liberty but should be subject unto kings.” (Ibid. 6:30.)

Something strikingly similar seems to be happening before our very eyes today, though no one is trying to set up a monarchy. They don’t need to. The governing class has seen to it that our presidents will be “elected” from their ranks simply because a man of the people has no chance in the corrupt system set up by our politicians in the last half-century. A ruling class of elites, who have no desire to relinquish power, has infiltrated our two party system. They have set rules that make it nearly impossible to unseat them.

The will of the people is no longer of any concern to them. Progressivism (the newspeak term coined to replace the pejorative moniker, “Liberal”) has come to dominate Washington, with its doctrine that the “experts” from the elite social strata—such as corporate heads (“merchants” in Nephite times), politicians (“lawyers” and “priests” in Nephite times) and government officials (“officers” in Nephite times)—should make decisions for us.

When recent protests, populated by ordinary, mainstream Americans, erupted around this country in order to make their voices heard, those who govern and their media minions angrily derided, denounced and dismissed them as dangerously misguided malcontents. So it was in Nephite times when “those who were angered were chiefly the chief judges, and they who had been high priests and lawyers; yea, all those who were lawyers were angry with those who testified of these things.” (Ibid. 6: 21.)

Third Nephi records how it transpired in his day. “And they [the angry chief judges, high priests and lawyers] did enter into a covenant one with another … to combine against all righteousness.” (Ibid. 6: 28.)

Many in our day have made the same decision. They espouse the philosophy that God should have nothing to do with government, in spite of the fact that the founding fathers made just the opposite affirmation. Today’s ideologues obviously seek to constrain religion in any way possible, insisting that the people not allow it to have any part in the operation of their government, that there should be an impregnable firewall between government and religion so that governance cannot be informed by any religious creed or hegemony.

Religion has become the enemy of the Progressives in our day. They make every effort to marginalize and demean people of faith. In effect, those with this secular bent seek to divorce this nation from its religious or sectarian roots, “… to combine against all righteousness.”

The net effect of this initiative among the Nephite cultural elite was clearly manifest. “And they did set at defiance the law and the rights of their country … that the land should no more be at liberty …” (Ibid. 6: 30.)

Something appallingly similar seems to be afoot in our nation today. While politicians give flowery lip service to individual rights, public service and moral rectitude, their personal behavior is often just the opposite. Presidential associates and appointees, for example, are found to hold opinions that are blatantly contrary to constitutional principals and morality, some even openly condemn America and its traditional values. Hypocrisy seems rampant in both political parties. None seem trustworthy any longer.

The good news for us, perhaps, is that the chief judges, high priests and lawyers in Nephite times failed in their endeavor. No Nephite king was enthroned. This bodes well for the outcome of our similar state of affairs. But the net effect of the struggle utterly demolished their government, and it threatens to do so to ours as well.

Will this be our fate? “And the people were divided one against another; and they did separate one from another into tribes, every man according to his family and his kindred and friends; and thus they did destroy the government of the land.” (3 Nephi 7: 2.)

Yet, there was no warfare: “… there were no wars as yet among them.” (Ibid. 7: 5.) However, what we have certainly feels like a war, a contest of wills for power and supremacy, where the ammunition is words and the casualties are truth and justice.

But “the regulations of the government were destroyed, … and they did cause great contention in the land.” (3 Nephi 7: 7.)

Contention is the order of the day in Washington. Our government seems to be descending into chaos amid an extraordinary level of acrimony and controversy. There is an unprecedented rush to pass questionable legislation, without due deliberation and consideration. No one, including the legislators themselves in some cases, seems to know what provisions legislation contains or what it will cost. Our economy is staggering. Unemployment is rising. Our leaders are sending conflicting messages to us, to our allies and to our enemies.

Our condition bears ominous similarities to that of the Nephites.
“And thus six years had not passed away since the more part of the people had turned from their righteousness, like the dog to his vomit, or like the sow to her wallowing in the mire.” (3 Nephi 7: 8.)

Numerous pundits have commented on how quickly we have turned from our constitutional roots in recent years. We’ve done an about-face almost as quickly as did our Nephite cousins. They united to defeat terrorism, in the form of the Gadianton robbers, in their time. Then, in a handful of years, they tore their nation apart from within.

While the terrorist attack on the World Trade Towers immediately brought us together as a nation, speaking with one voice, subsequent events have moved rapidly to undermine our culture and our government. Like the Nephites, we have gone from united to divided in a few, short years. It seems apparent that if we continue on our present course, our nation will suffer a fate equally grievous to that of the Nephites.

Surely the inclusion of this tragic saga in the Nephite narrative was meant to warn us that we would suffer a similar outcome in our day. Surely, Mormon meant us to clearly see our time in this highly polished Nephite mirror.

Will we, too, live the Nephite nightmare?

This viewpoint, provided by an analysis of Nephite history, allows us to sort out the truth, to see through the subterfuge, confusion and contradiction that dominate our present political discourse. The media, the politicians and the pundits cannot misguide those of us who take the Book of Mormon as our guide. It provides a certain compass we can use to steer a course through the present and coming chaos. It is the “more sure word of prophecy,’ as Peter put it.

Given this perspective, no LDS politician who truly believes the Book of Mormon to be the word of God can, in good conscience, support the present movement away from constitutional principles where “the voice of the people” governs. He or she would have to first dismiss the Book of Mormon as irrelevant to our time. He or she would have to deny the God given rights that Nephite prophets declared were vested in the people. In effect, they would have to ignore the Book of Mormon, the very cornerstone of our religion.

I am well aware that my position will infuriate some Latter-day Saints. So be it. It was so with those who sought to undermine freedom and agency in Nephite times; it will be so now. Those who are so angered thereby betray their perfidy.
At the same time, this discourse will strike a chord of recognition in those who truly embrace the Book of Mormon and the Restored Gospel. They will see the remarkable similarities that mark the two histories, and they will want to do something about it.

So, you may ask, “What can I do?” The answer is both easy and hard.
First, as a believing Mormon, your concept of the sanctity of agency requires that you get involved—“anxiously engaged” is the Lord’s terminology. Of that I am certain.

But what I cannot tell you is ‘what’ you should do. You must make that determination for yourself. All I can add is to suggest you follow the counsel of Pres. Spencer W. Kimball: “Do it … now!”

We Latter-day Saints have not heeded the lessons chiseled in the Nephite record. We failed to take note of a vital part of that sacred witness, meant to warn us of our national folly. The diligence of those ancient prophets, who patiently carved their crucial message on precious plates of gold, the determination of a modern prophet to publish their revelation to the world at all odds and the repeated efforts of recent church leaders counseling us to re-read the Book of Mormon, saying that the church is under condemnation for failure to do so, has been set at naught by our indolence. We have the ignominious misfortune of watching the government of our nation self-destruct before our very eyes, just as did the Nephites, while we scarcely lift a finger to oppose it, let alone rush to save our Constitution. That sacred document has too long hung by a thread while we dally. As a result, the forces of evil and darkness are rapidly moving to grind it under the unforgiving foot of oppression and tyranny.

The time for mincing words is far past. It is time to declare our allegiance—either to God, agency and freedom or to watch our great nation follow those that have preceded us onto the scrapheap of failed nations down through history.

What happens next is too terrible to contemplate. If you care to know the details of what awaits us just around the corner, read 3 Nephi, chapter 8. And don’t think it couldn’t happen to us; every prophet since the beginning of time, including the Savior himself, has predicted our fate. Read it, O Zion, and weep, O Israel. Judgement is now at our doorstep.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2009

Proof that the Church Is True

Abstract: LDS temple tradition provides the strongest argument for the claim that Mormonism is the only true religion. Though we do not see it as such, our temple tradition has the virtue of providing physical evidence, empirically verifiable, that the church is a restoration of the ancient order, held sacred by all ancient cultures. Its existence in Mormon sacred tradition is long established, irrefutable fact, and its links to the past are becoming more verifiable every day, due to remarkable new research into ancient history, cosmology, comparative mythology and plasma physics. As such, it is the sole element in Mormonism that comes the closest to verifiable, demonstrable proof of Joseph Smith’s claims to divine revelation.

Revelation is the cornerstone of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its founder, Joseph Smith, claimed to be a latter-day prophet of God. This claim of divine guidance thrust him into the 19th century limelight and continues today to energize the religion he founded, as well as providing fodder for attacks against it.

Our religion, popularly called Mormonism, purports to be a restoration, through the ministry of angelic and divine visitors to men, of the original church founded by Jesus Christ during his ministry. It is said to be the modern equivalent of that ‘primitive’ church, which was governed by apostles and prophets after Christ’s death and resurrection.

As verification of these bold claims, most Mormons point to internal ‘evidence.’ Some point to the Book of Mormon as evidence of Joseph Smith’s gift of translation via divine revelation. Some point to the restoration of the authentic priesthood by ministering angels at the inception of this dispensation. Still others point to the same organization in the modern church as that which existed in the primitive church, established by Christ himself.

For Mormons, our belief in these things comes from a personal verification by the Holy Spirit. We call it a “testimony.” We believe that all who seek it are entitled to this revelatory confirmation. It is, in our view, a more certain test than mere knowledge.

Nevertheless, in an effort to provide ‘evidence’ to support those claims to outsiders and to ourselves, many of us look for confirmation of our beliefs beyond that of a personal witness. We seek for corroboration, or as some would put it “proof,” in disciplines outside the church, in the scholarly and scientific world.

Hence, we see the interest among many Saints in the geography of the Book of Mormon, for example. Attempting to locate the present physical location of pre-Colombian Book of Mormon sites—external evidence—is a way of substantiating the claims that the book makes. Others among us look for documentary evidence that would support the church’s claims for the Egyptian papyri, which Joseph Smith also claimed to translate.

But anything approaching empirical truth is hard to come by when dealing with things metaphysical. These claims still rest almost wholly upon personal revelation. There is no empirical test for their validity. Belief cannot be verified with test tubes or telescopes. Things of the spirit that come via revelation simply do not lend themselves to physical investigation or empiricism.

It is at this point where our evidentiary efforts hit a dead end. It seems we are meant to accept these things on the strength of our faith, born of the personal witness we each acquire via revelation through our own diligent inquiry of God, rather than to any outside evidence.

Do not despair, however.

Ironically, there is an element, unique to Mormonism, which we overlook in our rush to assert to the world our authenticity as the one true church.

That overlooked element is the incorporation in our religion of temple use and practices, something other Christian denominations consider “pagan” and of little value. In fact, they see our use of temples as worthy of nothing except derision, ridicule and scorn. Yet it is in our temple tradition—in its purpose, its iconography and its ritual—that we find the best evidence for the validity of our claims.

How so, you ask? Let’s examine the potential for validation in this fascinating feature, exclusive to Mormonism.

From the outset, no other Christian denomination—from Catholicism to Protestantism, including the more recent Adventist and Millennialist movements—saw the need or value of a temple. Mormonism was and is still entirely unique to Christianity in that regard. To sectarians and religionists, Christianity had no need for a temple. In their eyes, temples—unlike chapels, synagogues and mosques—were solely a feature of pagan religions, certainly not a proper feature of Christ’s true church, established in the meridian of time.

In contrast, Joseph Smith established our temple tradition in Mormonism nearly 200 years ago, saying it was vital to the true religion. This point of departure is critical. Either he was right about temples and the rest of Christianity was wrong, or he was completely misguided and the orthodox view was the correct one.

Our temple use has changed little since then. Because the rites and rituals practiced within those sanctified walls are perceived to be sacrosanct, they’ve been kept inviolate, perfectly preserved word for word in their original state. While certain elements within our rites may have been eliminated, as some historians maintain, the basic rites themselves retain their original form. It cannot be argued, therefore, that discoveries of ancient beliefs and practices in recent times have influenced our temple rituals. They have not been significantly altered or added upon since their inception nearly two centuries ago.

Thus, it can be properly claimed that our temple tradition, as still practiced today, came solely through revelation to Joseph Smith, just as every other aspect of our religion, and not through modern discovery.

And mainstream Christianity is perfectly happy to allow that claim to stand, thinking it to their advantage. In their minds, our use of temples and our belief in odd doctrine gives them leverage to demonstrate to the world that Mormonism is a fraud, a “cult” rife with “pagan” practices perpetrated on foolish and gullible people by Joseph Smith and perpetuated up to the present day by designing men with questionable motives.

In order for Latter-day Saints to comprehend the full value of their temple tradition as a certain claim to divine revelation, they must first see temples for what they truly are: instructive institutions dedicated to rehearsing the past as well as the commonly acknowledged concept that they are sites for making sacred covenants. That is, most see LDS temple tradition as things revealed—hallowed knowledge and ritual having no connection to anything temporal or historical. But, nothing could be further from the truth.

It is this author’s claim that our temple rituals, what we call an endowment, find their origin in the same source as the sacred rites and rituals of all antique cultures: the ancient heavens—whether the ancient ritual takes the form of a dance around a bonfire by Native Americans, ceremonies in an Egyptian temple or pyramid, sacrificial rites on a Mayan pyramid, Inca rituals at Machu Picchu, strange Druidic or Celtic rituals in a henge, mysterious rites in a Hopi kiva, worship in a Buddhist or Hindu temple, ceremonies in a Hebrew, Babylonian, Greek or Roman temple or any other sacred practice in all reverenced precincts the world over.

Furthermore, our temple endowment rehearses the primary elements of all prophetic visions, what this author calls the “One Story.” That story tells of the ascension into heaven of the prophet or holy man via a stairway, path, road, ladder or mountain, which is based in cosmological imagery as well. As he progresses, the holy man encounters various “guardians” or “angels” to whom he must give certain secret signs and words in order to pass. Ultimately, the visionary reaches the celestial realms, where he sees God, the City of God or the Throne of God, elements that also have their origins in cosmological events. Thus, beginning to end, our temple endowment is a symbolic rehearsal of ancient cosmological events, the only exceptions being the sacred covenants or promises made in the endowment.

And there is much more. Antique temple ceremonies included rites of washing, anointing, coronation, resurrection and marriage, among many others—all elements also found in LDS temple rites.

In fact, upon close inspection, nearly every element of LDS temple ritual can be found in one form or another in ancient temple practices. As Dr. Hugh Nibley amply demonstrated with his many books, whole volumes could be dedicated to these similarities. (Detailed comparative analysis of cosmological events to ancient beliefs, traditions and practices and their relationship to LDS theology, scriptural interpretation and temple tradition is offered elsewhere in this author’s presentations. It will not be cited here and now. So voluminous, all encompassing and sweeping are these concepts that this forum is woefully inadequate for their proper delineation. Readers are encouraged to search out the information this author has provided, based in remarkable new research into ancient history, cosmology, comparative mythology, archeoastronomy, geology, archeology, anthropology and plasma physics, that has already been provided in his books, papers and occasional lectures, as well as forthcoming material to be made public as time and means permit.)

The vital element that Nibley failed to explore, and other LDS scholars presently fail to see, is the absolute connection between the temple traditions of all mankind and events in Earth’s ancient skies. When scholars do venture to connect temple practices to cosmology, their interpretation is restricted to explaining those traditions, rites and rituals in terms of the heavens we see overhead today, when in reality they actually relate to the “old heavens and the old earth,” as the ancients and modern revelation assert, of the Patriarchal Age, before and immediately after Noah’s Flood.

Such misplaced and misguided analysis on the part of modern LDS scholars leads to pronounced distortions of the scriptural, cultural and traditional record, leaving us with confusion and contradictions that cannot be reconciled, though many have attempted to do so.

In contrast, those contradictions and confusions vanish when looking at the evidence with this new, cosmological paradigm. Not only that, it throws open the door to discovery of the scriptures, prophetic and temple symbolism and metaphor in a way that anyone can understand. No advanced degrees are necessary—a development that every Latter-day Saint should applaud and embrace for their own edification, enlightenment and satisfaction.

Once those fabulous and magnificent sky pageants that played out in Earth’s heavens in the millennium from Adam to Abraham are properly understood, then the origin and meaning of temple rituals and tradition of all past cultures, as well as our own temple tradition, becomes crystal clear. It becomes obvious that ancient traditions and practices recall and celebrate astral elements unseen in modern skies.

When we acknowledge the astounding fact that LDS temple tradition reflects that same, ancient cosmological tradition, in all its principle elements and meanings, through rituals, furnishings and iconography, we discover that our temples are full of information from the past, powerful evidence that Joseph Smith tapped into the only source capable of relaying that information to him nearly two centuries ago: divine revelation. It therefore comes closer to providing proof of Mormonism’s claims than any other element of our religion.

It cannot be claimed that any of this knowledge was available anywhere else in the world. Least of all was it available to a young man living on the American frontier in the 19th century, since it is only now beginning to come to the fore as the result of research done by a few, avant guard scholars, researchers and scientists. Only now, with the formidable body of information coming to light in the last half century of research and discovery, can we begin to see the relevance of LDS temple tradition to the common roots of all ancient worship in past cosmological events.

That is not to say that cosmology is all there is to Mormonism or to its temple tradition. Not by any means. The same revelatory power that gave us a proper cosmological, temple tradition unique in modern Christianity also provided insights into the teachings of Jesus Christ that were either missing from the scriptural record or had been lost through apostasy. That is, the accuracy of our temple tradition lends great credibility to the rest of Mormonism’s claims. To put it another way, the conformity of the LDS temple tradition to its ancient counterparts comes closer to providing proof to the world of Mormonism’s validity than anything else we Latter-day Saints have to offer.

Joseph Smith’s was truly a dispensation of truth lost to the world until a prophet of God once more restored it in these latter days.

Terrorism, Politics and the Book of Mormon

Modern terrorists have an analogue in Nephite history: the Gadianton robbers. The part of that sacred story that most nearly pertains to our time is found in the opening chapters of Third Nephi.

Every Latter-day Saint knows that the Book of Mormon was brought forth, in part, so that we might learn from the successes and avoid the errors of the Nephites. In fact, the resemblances between events and situations in both eras, ours and theirs, are quite striking in many vital respects. A case in point is the conflict we confront at this very moment in our history.

The Gadianton robbers that plagued the Nephites were remarkably similar to the terrorists that confront us today. We read in Third Nephi that

… the ninety and third year did also pass away in peace, save it were for the Gadianton robbers, who dwelt upon the mountains, who did infest the land; for so strong were their holds and their secret places that the people could not overpower them; therefore they did commit many murders, and did do much slaughter among the people. (3 Nephi 1:27.)

Clearly, the Nephites did not know what to make of this new threat nor were they prepared to appropriately deal with it. Hence, they were indecisive.

As a result of the Nephites’ inaction, the threat grew to epic proportions.

And it came to pass in the thirteenth year there began to be wars and contentions throughout all the land; for the Gadianton robbers had become so numerous, and did slay so many of the people, and did lay waste so many cities, and did spread so much death and carnage throughout the land, that it became expedient that all the people, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, should take up arms against them. (3 Nephi 2:11.)

It also appears that the Lamanites were slow to engage in the conflict. Yet, events soon forced them to unite with the Nephites against this new, common enemy.

Therefore, all the Lamanites … did unite with their brethren, the Nephites, and were compelled, for the safety of their lives and their women and their children, to take up arms against those Gadianton robbers … (3 Nephi 2:11, 12.)

These events are stunningly akin to the progression of events in our time.

America’s initial reaction to terrorism was virtually identical. Emboldened by our inaction, our enemies extended the reach of their terror campaign. Our lack of response to the gathering threat eventually brought the battle to our very doors.

On September 11, 2001, terrorists struck at our heartland, “laying waste” to the World Trade Center and a substantial section of Lower Manhattan as well as part of the Pentagon. The “death and carnage” were almost beyond comprehension.

As a result, our president decided to “take up arms against them.”

In the initial American military response, many of our former allies — “brethren” — were reluctant to participate, and many remain so to this date.

Our other “brethren” or allies in Europe may also come to our aid in this war just as the Lamanites came to the Nephites’ aid once they, too, began to suffer at the hands of the Gadianton robbers.

We read that the Nephite armies enjoyed some early success.

And it came to pass in the commencement of the fourteenth year, the war between the robbers and the people of Nephi did continue and did become exceedingly sore; nevertheless, the people of Nephi did gain some advantage of the robbers, insomuch that they did drive them back out of their lands into their secret places. (3 Nephi 2:17.)

This is largely where we find ourselves today in relation to the Nephite timeline. After seeking out terrorists in Afghanistan and demolishing a rogue state in Iraq, we have driven the terrorists “into their secret places.”

Of course, some will say these similarities are superficial. Thus, any assumptions based on them must be rejected. Yet, the parallels between the two histories, Nephite and American, which began with our Second World War and continue right up to the present, are much too numerous to list in this brief summary. They are persuasive and not so easily dismissed.

The likeness between our world and the Nephite world allows certain fascinating comparisons and inferences about our near future. Re-read chapters three and four in Third Nephi to learn what might lie ahead for us.

The good news is that the parallels between the two histories strongly suggest we will overcome our terrorist problem, just as the Nephites overcame their Gadianton problem. The bad news is that the struggle will be long and difficult, just as it was for the Nephites.

This puts Latter-day Saints in the unique position of seeing today’s headlines through the prophetic vision of Mormon. Seen from this viewpoint, filled with striking connections between the two histories, passages from Third Nephi read like our late breaking news.

The political rhetoric we confront today can be overwhelming at times. Claims and counterclaims, charges and rebuttals fly back and forth, sometimes leaving us only more confused.

Yet, given the prophetic perspective that Mormon provides us in the Nephite record, we can clearly see those in our day who would thwart the efforts of good and just men in our time with political sophistry and doubletalk, misdirection and outright deceit. We can see the righteousness of our struggle to defeat terrorism, and we can trust that victory will be ours, as it was for our Nephite counterparts.

What a joy to know that we can turn to the Book of Mormon for guidance in today’s perplexing world. How comforting for Latter-day Saints to have the reassurance that the Lord has provided answers in modern revelation to the most disquieting questions of our time for those who will accept them.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2004