Abstract: The Liahona’s faith-based functionality and miraculous appearance have often been viewed as incongruous with natural law. This paper attempts to reconcile the Liahona to scientific law by displaying similarities between its apparent mechanisms and ancient navigation instruments called astrolabes. It further suggests the Liahona may have been a wedding dowry Ishmael provided to Lehi’s family. The paper displays the integral connection Nephi had to the Liahona’s functionality and how this connection more clearly explains the lack of faith displayed by Nephi’s band during the journey than traditional conceptions of its faith-based functionality.

.wp-caption .wp-caption-text {padding-left: 0 !important;"}

“Yet I will say with regard to miracles, there is no such thing save to the ignorant — that is, there never was a result wrought out by God or by any of His creatures without there being a cause for it. There may be results, the causes of which we do not see or understand, and what we call miracles are no more than this — they are the results or effects of causes hidden from our understandings … [I]t is hard to get the people to believe that God is a scientific character, that He lives by science or strict law, that by this He is, and by law He was made what He is; and will remain to all eternity because of His faithful adherence to law. It is a most difficult thing to make the people believe that every art and science and all wisdom comes from Him, and that He is their Author.”— Brigham Young1

[Page 208]The Liahona, a navigational and revelatory instrument described in the Book of Mormon, is perhaps the greatest historical enigma of the ancient account. Its miraculous appearance and ostensibly spiritual operation have often been met with derision by individuals who are critical of the Book of Mormon’s historical plausibility. Indeed, as stated in the words of Hugh Nibley, “The Liahona has given rise to endless merriment and mockery among critics of the Book of Mormon; only the shining stones of the Jaredites can equal it as a laugh-getter.”2 Perhaps as a response to these criticisms, a surprising number of authors have attempted to correlate aspects of the Liahona’s functionality with known scientific principles.3 With minor variation, the majority of these previous apologetic works have suggested parallels between the Liahona’s navigatory features and geomagnetic navigation devices. While the present work also attempts to reconcile the Liahona’s functionality with historical navigation devices, it challenges traditional conceptions of both the Liahona’s magnetic and faith-based functionality. Textual and cultural evidence seem to suggest the Liahona may in fact have been a star-based navigation instrument, one similar in function to that of an astrolabe.

A Note on Magnetism

In the interest of establishing the need for the present work, a few critiques about the predominant theory of a geomagnetic Liahona are warranted. A chapter from the book Re-exploring the Book of Mormon, entitled “Lodestone and the Liahona,” written by Robert F. Smith provides a functional reference to the theory.4 Smith proposed that the navigational properties of the Liahona may have functioned on “geomagnetic principles,” while the revelatory aspects of the device were faith-based and wholly outside the realm of scientific discovery.5 Smith and other proponents of the theory have ...