Latter-day Saints, Catholics and the Orothodox faiths all have an important doctrine in common.  All believe the potential of each person is divinity, thosis, to become a god, to become like Jesus and Heavenly Father. In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner describes the sources of LDS beliefs on the origin of humans, which is an eternal, unmade intelligence, spirit or soul. He then describes the LDS and Early Christian beliefs that human potential is to become like God, and provides Early Christian quotes which mirror LDS thought.

In this episode of Religion Today, Martin Tanner gives insights into how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.  He used the "Nephite Interpreters" later called the Urim and Thummim to translate the Book of Lehi, which comprised the 116 pages lost by Martin Harris, plus a few more pages.  Thereafter Joseph Smith used the seer stone, which was used to translate the entire Book of Mormon we now have. The lost pages ended just before our current Book of Mosiah begins. Joseph Smith was not a scribe.  He always described himself as a translator. If he simply read words or characters, in a seerstone or Nephite Interpreters, he would have been a scribe.  Translating took, effort as we read in D&C Section 9:7-8. 

We have a very good idea of where Book of Mormon events actually took place. How can there be two Hlll Cumorahs?  The same way there are many "Jefferson Avenues" and "State Streets".  The Book of Mormon text does not fit the small gravel hill by the Smith family farm where Moroni buried the plates.  It does fit the large, prominent hill in the "Tuxtla Mountains" in southern Veracruz, Mexico, east of Mexico City, almost to the Gulf of Mexico, and a little South. The Hill Shim/Cumorah is likely the Mayan hill "Shim" later called the hill "Cintepic" by the Aztecs. Cin=corn tepic=hill.  Mayan and Aztec legends say the corn grown by the base of the hill Shim grows from the blood of their ancestors where the Jeredites and Nephites were slaughtered. The waters of Ripliancum are probably the "Hueyapan River." the River Sidon is most likely the Grijalva river.  The City of Nephi is probably the Kaminaljuyu city ruins on the western edge of Guatamala City.

In this Part 3 of three Religion Today shows on the evidence for where the Book of Mormon events actually took place, Martin Tanner, points out that no Native North American tribes or groups had a written language before Columbus.  Thus the Book of Mormon could not have been written by Native North Americans.  Many Mesoamerican tribes had a written language, making it most likely the Book of American came from Mesoamerica.  Cement cities are mentioned in Heleman 3:7. There are no Native American cement cities. El Mirador in southern Mexico, if a city that flourished from 550 BC, made almost entirely of ultra-high quality cement. Leprosy, weapons, volcanos and a sunken city in Mesoamerica are also discussed by Martin, as evidences which favor Mesoamerica, specifically the Yucatan Penninsula, as the place where Book of Mormon events happened.

Joseph Smith at one point thought North American Native Americans were Lamanites. At another point, he thought Native Americans in Central America were Lamanites.  Other Church leaders have widely varying ideas about which tribes are decended from the Lamanites.  If there had been a revelation on that point, there would not be widely varying ideas.  What we do know is that the Book of Mormon says there is a cave with vast numbers of plates in the Hill Cumorah. There is no cave, and no plates, in the New York hill. The Hill Cumorah in Mesoamerica is many times larger, has many caves and has not been explored.  The Book of Mormon says Hill Cumorah was by many streams and fountains of water. This describes the Mesoamerican hill, but not the New York hill.  Over 1,100 years elapsed between the end of the Book of Mormon account and Columbus voyage to the Americas, enough time for inter-marriage between Lamanites of Mesoamerica and numerous North American Tribes. Columbus never touched foot on North America.  His voyages were all to Mesoamerica.

Have you wondered where the events in the Book of Mormon took place?  If you have, you're not alone.  If this first of a multi-part series, host Martin Tanner gives the earliest idea, the "land northward" is North America, the "land southward" is South America and the "narrow neck of land" is Central America. This idea is untenable according to the Book of Mormon text. Martin next describes the "Heartland" theory and "Mesoamerican" theories.  He suggests a few of the best scholarly books on this fascinating topic.

Is there any scientific evidence for horses, elephants and steel swords in the New World before Columbus, as mentioned in The Book of Mormon?  Is there any scientific evidence for Native Americans with Hebrew ancestry, as described in The Book of Mormon? In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner explains why the answer is a resounding yes. The cutting edge scientific sources Martin cites are a Science magazine article on Native American DNA, archaeology authorized by the government of Israel, archaeology in Mesoamerica and North America coupled with carbon 14 testing. 

In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner describes some of the events that have happened since 1830, which were prophecied to occur before the Second Coming of Jesus happens.  But his main focus is describing events which are prophecied to occur before the Second Coming, but which have not yet occurred, including, (1) The Jewish Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem, (2) Water will flow from under the Jerusalem Temple, (3) two Jewish prophets (Revelation 11) will appear in Jerusalem, and, (4) the last great sign of the coming of the Son of Man, a comet or a planet, will be seen. 

In this Religion Today episode, using scriptures and statements of General Authorities, host Martin Tanner explains exactly how Jesus is our advocate with our Father in Heaven.  He explains how Jesus paid the price for our sins.  The only way for Jesus to be our advocate was and is for him to completely and totally understand us. That means Jesus understands all of our sins, faults, pain suffering, and also all of our good points. An advocate knows everything about his client, the person for whom he is advocating.  For Jesus loved the world so very much that he gave his life, and became our advocate, so that we would not perish, but have everlasting life.  Martin also brings up the current belief among most Latter-day Saints that Jesus atoned for all worlds, past, present and future.  Martin explains, however, that Brigham Young said each world has its own Savior, who is the son of the first parents of that world.

Handel's "Messiah" like many masterpieces, was inspired and thus composed in a short period of time, just 24 days.  Handel's Messiah was written with few revisions on 259 pages. The text was written by a wealthy English gentleman, Charles Jennens.  The music was composed by Georg Frideric Handel, although German born, also an Englishman when the Messiah was comosed.  The Messiah debuted in Dublin, Ireland to an audience of about 700. Its popularity grew steadily, until now, it is perhaps the most beloved Christmas musical performance of all.  Its scriptural basis is impressive.  It contains 81 Bible verses from 14 books of the Bible.  Isaiah is quoted most, 21 times. Next, Psalms, is quoted 15 times. First Corinthians is quoted 10 times.  Many people are moved to tears when listening to Handel's Messiah, including Martin Tanner, the host of Religion Today.