By Jack H. West, 1954.
The ninth claim of the Book of Mormon is that anciently there were on this American continent great cities with dense populations and large buildings. It was pretty amazing to read these things in the year 1830. We think we are doing pretty well in this day and age when we start the foundation of one or two great buildings in a given city in a year, yet listen to Alma.
And it came to pass that the Nephites began the foundation of a city [not the foundation of a building, the foundation of a whole city], and they called the name of the city Moroni; and it was by the east sea; and it was on the south by the line of the possession of the Lamanites.
And they also began a foundation for the city between the city of Moroni and the city of Aaron, joining the borders of Aaron and Moroni; and they called the name of the city, or of the land, Nephihah.
And they also began in that same year to build many cities on the north, one in a particular manner which they called Lehi, which was in the north by the borders of the seashore. (Alma 50:13-15.)
Isn’t that remarkable? Note! In that same year they began to build many cities, starting the whole foundations of the cities at once.
Notice the dense population these cities had. We are told in the Book of Mormon that from sea to sea—from the sea south to the sea north, the sea east to the sea west—there were cities, and that implies there were many civilized people.
There is enough evidence to talk a solid week on any one of these points if we wanted to. It is a fascinating study. If you have not been interested in this thing, get interested in it. It is just an amazing and fascinating thing to follow the story of the scientific findings on this continent. In the interest of time we must press on, but listen to this testimony and remember, Dr. Sylvanus G. Morley of Carnegie Institute is one of the most careful scientists we have known. He is not in the habit of exaggerating. He is quoted on page 104 of our reference book:
Here in Yucatan a magnificent civilization had been developed. Great cities had flourished on every side. Lofty pyramid-temples and splendid palaces of cut stone, spacious plazas and courts filled with elaborately carved monuments of strange yet imposing dignity, market places, terraces, causeways, were to be counted not by the ten and scores but by hundreds and thousands.
Yes, they are to be counted by the hundreds and thousands. Other references verify this.
The tenth claim of the Book of Mormon says that these people experienced a great destruction at the time of the crucifixion of Christ. Read about it in 3 Nephi 8:5, 9:2. Read about what happened during those “three hours” of destruction. It’s a shocking, revealing account.
Now let us turn to just one quote on this: On page 41 of Farnsworth’s book we read from Bancroft again. He not only tells us of the great destruction which took place on this continent, but he also pinpoints the time of its having taken place. “The sun and moon were eclipsed, the earth shook and the rocks were rent asunder, and many other things and signs happened… This was in the year Ce Calli, which, the Chronology reduced to our system, proves to be the same date when Christ our Lord suffered, 33 AD.” Isn’t that something!
Now, brothers and sisters, I plead with you to read the Book of Mormon. Study it; I have hesitated for years to put what I have been giving in lectures in written form because I feared someone would read that and not read the original. Read the Book of Mormon more carefully than you have heretofore done; be honest with yourself the question, “Have I read that book from cover to cover?” I want you to be completely honest with yourself, and if you cannot answer that in the affirmative, read the Book of Mormon, now! I am a very slow reader. I tend to study as I read, but I can read the book from cover to cover in twenty-six hours. Most readers, if they are fast, can read it in eighteen hours. Verify that by reading a page and time yourself, and then multiply that by the number of pages in the book and you will find that I am correct. I have tested it time and time again.
Now, surely out of your lifetime you can spare twenty-six hours even if you are a slow reader, and read that book. Don’t let it lie on your shelves gathering dust. Contained within it is the story of Christ’s ministry on this earth, on this continent in particular. It has the answers to your personal problems, your family problems, national problems, and international problems.
I testify to you with every ounce of fervor in me, that unless we, as “the salt of the earth,” the “leavening” influence, read this book, understand it, can teach it, can tell our neighbors about it, and can spread the information throughout the world, the world will be in very great danger. Either we are going to turn to the things of Jesus Christ as we have never done before on the face of the earth, or we are going to be annihilated as a human race.
I humbly pray that we will go to the testimony of the book, that we will never doubt the Book of Mormon for a second, that our testimonies will grow and increase as we continue to study it. And this I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baldwin, John D. Ancient America, New York, Harper and Brothers, 1872. P. 176.
Bancroft, Hubert Howe. Native Races. 5 Vols. , 1893. Vol. V, pp. 19-22. 210.
Bradford, Alexander W. American Antiquities. New York, Dayton and Saxton; Boston, Saxton and Pierce, 1841. pp. 158, 159.
Brinton, Daniel Garrison. American Hero Myths. Philadelphia, H.C. Watts and Co. , 1882. pp. 145-146. Religion of Primitive Peoples. 1891. p. 251.
Desire. Ancient Cities of the New World. (J. Gonino and Helen S. Conant.) New York, Harper and Brother. 1887. p. 69.
Colton, Alvin. Origin of the American Indian. London. 1883
DeRoo, Peter. History of America Before Columbus. Philadelphia and London, J.B. Lippincott Co. , 1900. pp. 41,65
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New Americanized Encyclopedia. Vol. V, p. 3197.
Farnsworth, Dewey. The Americas Before Columbus. El Paso, Texas, Farnsworth Publishing Co. , 1947
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Jordan, Emil. Americans. New York, W.W. Norton and Co. , inc. ,1939, p. 21
Kingsborough, Lord. Mexican Antiquities. 1829. Vol. VI, p. 401; Vol. VIII, p. 3; Scraps, p. 277.
Lee, J. Fitzgerald. The Great Migration. 1932. P. 63
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Morley, Syvanus C. Introduction to the Study of Maya Hieroglyphs. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 57. Wash. D.C. , 1915. The Inscriptions at Copan. Carnegie Inst. Publication #219. Wash. D.C.. 1920.
Murray, Raymond Wm. Man’s Unknown Ancestors. Milwaukee, The Bruce Publishing Co. , 1943, pp. 47-49.
Nadaillac, Jean Francois Albert du Puget, marguis de. (Translated by N.C. Amvers. Edited by W.H. Dall.) Prehistoric America. New York, C.P Putnam. 1884. p. 181.
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Saville, Marshall Howard. The Goldsmith’s Art in Ancient Mexico. New York, Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
Spinden, H.J. Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America. New York, Handbook Series No. 3, American Museum of Natural History, 1922. pp. 49,75.
Thompson, Edward Herbert. People of the Serpent. Boston and New York, Houghton-Mifflin Co. ,1932. p. 228.
Willard, Theodore Arthur. The City of the Sacred Well. New York, The Century Co. , 1926. pp. 89-90, 134.
The Lord Jesus Christ in Mormonism
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