From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

The Bible declares that the Messiah of Israel was to be born in Bethlehem, and the gospel of Matthew records the fulfillment of this prophecy. But the Book of Mormon states ‘…the son of God… shall be born of Mary at Jerusalem, which is the land of our forefathers’.

The Tell El Anarma Tablets say the “land of Jerusalem” was an area larger than the city itself. The phrase “land of Jerusalem” is not in the Bible and was not current in Joseph Smith’s day. It is, however, an accurate description for Jerusalem and the surrounding cities and is precisely the language that would have been used by an ancient Israelite in 600 BC.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 42: Land of Jerusalem appeared first on FAIR.

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

What young adult in Jacksonian America would make a connection between a sacred tree and the Virgin Mary? In Nephi and Lehi’s day, however, the connection would have been obvious (and obviously colored by their cultural background). Mary was a perfect mortal typification of Asherah –she was a virgin, fair, and the mother of the most joyous subject in the world. While Mary is not Asherah, to Nephi the symbolism would have made sense and would have taught him not only of the coming of the Christ, but also would have helped him understand the meaning of the sacred tree. It’s easy to see how Nephi’s culture would have prepared him to understand such an interpretation in his vision as recorded in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 11). But how did Joseph Smith know this in 1830?

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 28: Nephi and His Asherah appeared first on FAIR.

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

Not many years ago, while attending Duke University, Mormon scholar John Welch participated in a graduate seminar on early Christian writings, when the professor began to discuss a little-known writing entitled the Narrative of Zosimus. This narrative –written in Hebrew and dating to about the time of Christ or earlier –purports to tell a tale that could date to Lehi’s day, and shares many similarities with Lehi’s vision of the tree of life.

Outside of the possibility that both Lehi and Zosimus shared similar revelations, Mormon scholars are still attempting to determine just what relationship exists between the two narratives. Perhaps Lehi made contact with others in their Arabian Journey and shared tales of his vision, or some ancient source or tradition influenced both the Narrative of Zosimus and Lehi’s vision.

Within recent years other similar motifs have been discovered –dating from the fifth century BC to the AD third century — in Italy, Sicily, Crete, and Macedonia. These motifs depict the dead wandering through a world of darkness in search of a white cypress tree. Non-Mormon commentators agree that the cypress tree represents the tree of life and that this mythology most likely originated in Egypt.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 27: Tree of Life Part I appeared first on FAIR.

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

Despite the high quality of Nephi’s bow, it broke during one leg of their journey. To make matters worse, his brother’s bows “lost their springs” around the same time. After their bows failed, Nephi found wood to construct new bows. Eugene England writes, “Around Jiddah grows the pomegranate tree, excellent for bowmaking”. Not only did Nephi make bows, but he also made new arrows. As Near Eastern specialist Dr. William Hamblin points out, his new wooden bow would need longer, lighter arrows than his long-range bow”. It’s nothing less than amazing that Joseph Smith got so many things right –things that go unnoticed but end up accurately reflecting an ancient world setting, just as the Book of Mormon claims.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 26: Nephi’s Bow appeared first on FAIR.

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

Lehi and his family lived in the wilderness for many years, most likely following trails which were previously known only in ancient times. Today, scholars are aware of ancient caravan routes along “Frankincense Trails” where traders traveled to bring frankincense and myrrh from the southern coast to inland cities. At least two of these trails run south along the Arabian Peninsula near the shore of the Red Sea. Nephi likewise tells us that after Lehi departed Jerusalem, “he came down by the borders near the shore of the Red Sea; and he traveled in the wilderness in the borders which are nearer the Red Sea” (1 Nephi 2:5; italics added).

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 25: Trails in the Book of Mormon appeared first on FAIR.

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

By Michael R. Ash

How easy would it have been for a young man in 1830 to write a novel about the ancient Old World and have it stand up to scrutiny nearly two hundred years later? When Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon the best scholars of his day knew little about the ancient world in which the Lehites traveled through southern Arabia. The few bits of information available were generally wrong and almost consistently described Arabia as a barren wasteland. According to some authors, Arabia was so hot that animals were roasted on the plains and birds in midair. The southern coast of Arabia was thought to be dismal and barren –nothing but rocky wall. It was said that not even a blade of grass could be grown along the coastline. If Joseph had written the Book of Mormon with information sponged from his environment, he would have turned to the so-called experts of his day. So inaccurate were the experts of 1830 America, however, that if Joseph has sponged their information he would have produced a book filled with errors.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 24: Unknown Arabia appeared first on FAIR.

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

After Nephi killed Laban, he donned the governor’s robes and went to the treasury disguised as Laban, where he tricked Laban’s servant Zoram into acquiring the brass plates. When Zoram discovered that Nephi was not Laban, Nephi gripped Zoram and swore into his ear, “as the Lord liveth, and as I live” that he would spare Zoram’s life if he would only listen (1 Nephi 4:32). Upon hearing this simple phrase, Zoram followed Nephi without further problems.

Among the desert people, an oath is the one thing which is held as most sacred. Arabs generally will not break an oath, even if their lives are in jeopardy. Nearly all Arabs –whether Nomad or city dweller– believed that oaths were sacred and served as powerful covenants between two parties. The most binding oaths were those sworn by the life of something. As Dr. Hugh Nibley explains, “The only oath more awful than ‘by my life’ is the wa hayat Allah, ‘by the life of God,’ or ‘as the Lord liveth,’ the Arab equivalent of the ancient Hebrew hai Elohim.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 23: Killing Laban and the Oath of Zoram appeared first on FAIR.

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

When Nephi and his brothers asked Laban for the brass plates in trade for their silver and gold, Laban tried to kill them and he took away their possessions. After a narrow escape, Laman and Lemuel complained about the impossibility of their task because of Laban and his “fifty”:

“And after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?” (1 Nephi 3:31)

To modern readers this sounds like a small army indeed, but to those of the ancient Near East, the size of Laban’s garrison fits neatly into Old World customs. According to Dr. Hugh Nibley, a permanent garrison in a big city of Lehi’s day consisted of thirty to eighty men. In a recently discovered letter of Nebuchadnezzar (a contemporary of Lehi,) the king speaks of a garrison of “fifty”. In Babylonia, a platoon in the army consisted of fifty men. This permanent unit was always called a “fifty” just as Nephi spoke of “Laban with his fifty”.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 22: Laban and his “Fifty” appeared first on FAIR.

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

The Book of Mormon opens with Lehi prophesying to the unrighteous people at Jerusalem in about 600 BC. Modern research has since demonstrated that the sixth century BC was a time of unusual change and excitement. Some scholars have referred to the general era as an “Axial Period” in world history because it was a pivotal point around which history turns. Some of history’s greatest changes were taking place among the people and Lehi and his followers were right in the center of it. This was unknown, of course, in Joseph Smith’s own day.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 21: The Axial Period appeared first on FAIR.

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

When Christ visited the Book of Mormon people in the ancient New World he gave a discourse that is nearly identical to the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament. Critics claim that Joseph Smith simply plagiarized the New Testament sermon, however there are differences between what we find in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon. For example, in Matthew 5:22 Christ said: “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment”. In 3 Nephi 12:22 Christ said: “But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment”. The astute reader will notice that in 3 Nephi the words “without a cause” are absent. When we examine the earliest Greek copies of the New Testament –documents that were discovered after Joseph Smith had died –we find that the phrase “without a cause” is also generally absent. As Professor John Welch notes, the verse in 3 Nephi discourages all anger whereas the verse in Matthew permits justifiable anger. Some non-LDS scholars believe that “without a cause” was added to Matthew 5:22 during the translation process, while the Book of Mormon more accurately reflects the likely original intention of the passage. The fact that Joseph Smith got it right, when no scholars in his world would have been aware of the later Greek insertion shouldn’t be amazing –but it is.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

The post Faith and Reason 20: “Without a Cause” appeared first on FAIR.