‘Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.’ Jeremiah 14:14
The other day a television show my husband Kirk and I were watching reminded me yet again why Joseph Smith’s golden plates were anything but authentic.
The show had a group of guys out site seeing in the rugged canyons of Colorado, and at one point they stopped to check out a large outcropping of rocks well known for the Petroglyphs on one side of them.
After looking at the rudimentary display on the rocks of men, animals, and their hunting trips, one of the guys on the program jokingly offered his interpretation and said, ‘Yes, and I’ll have fries with that please’. It was nothing more than an offhanded comment, but it got me to thinking…
Similar Petroglyphs are found from one end of the American Continent to the other. If experts date these back roughly 1,500 years, one has to wonder why they didn’t have a better writing system like the Nephites enjoyed.
After all, the BoM people and the inhabitants we’re speaking of lived around the same era, so it stands to reason language skills should have been about the same, if not more advanced. Certainly, the petroglyphs we see on the side of rocks can’t be from the Nephites who spoke 17th century Jacobean English!
The dark truth about the Nephites can be found in Smith’s own words if one is up to a little homework. Not long after I left the Church I discovered the originator of these things was none other than Satan himself.
An example for this is listed in our series, Interesting facts of 3-in-1 Part 1. You’ll find that Smith’s identity of the angel Moroni has been cloaked in euphemisms and scattered throughout Mormon canon.
2nd Nephi tells us that Satan is an angel of light.
Smith’s testimony tells us Moroni visited him 3 times in one night before a cock crowed (think Matthew 26:33-35, 74-75 when Peter denied Jesus 3 times.
Intro of 1976 D&C and earlier versions, Smith tells us Moroni is an angel of light.
Now the reason for bringing Moroni into the conversation is important because Moroni’s the middle man. Without Moroni’s visits, there’s no story about the Nephite people.
Another clue the Nephites and their golden plates story can’t be trusted is from what we can’t see. There are no sites to dig, original writings to decipher, nothing. Conversely, we see hundreds, if not thousands of archaeological proofs existing throughout all of the Americas telling us stories about the people who lived here previously, what they ate, whom they worshiped, and their now extinct traditions. A great resource for this can be found at Jim O’Donnell’s blog; Top Ten Must See Archaeological Site in Colorado.
One of the most fascinating things to explore is known as the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park. (See image on left) They believe the palace was used by the Puebloan people between 600 – 1300 AD. I can’t help but think of Smith’s story in 2nd Nephi telling us they built a temple on the scale of Solomon’s Temple, yet not one shred of evidence, nor even a shard of pottery has been found. Yet this palace is filled with historical data we can see, touch, and smell. Where o where, are the Nephites’ remnants?
Please pray for LDS members to think about things like this and for Jesus to intervene!
With Love in Christ —
Michelle ✟
Originally posted 2016
