I have heard it said in differing ways by those who support the limited Mesoamerican theory of the Book of Mormon geography that the majority of Book of Mormon students and scholars favor the limited Mesoamerican theory. I have to doubt that to be the case. For who does qualify as a 'student' and 'scholar' of the Book of Mormon. Certainly anyone who has obtained a testimony of that book has studied it and come to the divinely conveyed knowledge of the truth of the book is of a heavenly scholarship of the book. Often such 'gospel students of the Book of Mormon' are called 'mere hobbyists' in disdain by those of letters and arts and sciences. Yet, who has the right to teach of the gospel doctrines of the Church? Is it the men of science or the men of religion? It is basically surmised by men of science such as Dr. John Sorenson that Cumorah is in Central America.
The General Authorities of the Church, the men of religion, do not teach such. Many have stated otherwise and various accounts in Church History so proclaim Cumorah to be Cumorah in the State of New York. But who has the proper authority to so proclaim to the world where Cumorah is? And who are the true students and scholars of the Book of Mormon and of the Church? There is a middle field here of sorts. It is the Church Education System. It is the Church's program of Seminaries and Institutes of Religious Studies. This is where the Church teaches to the students of the world about the Church and about the Book of Mormon. And any student who has graduated from the Churches Schools of Seminaries and Institutes will have been taught and trained differently if they have done their homework and remain true to the teachings of the texts and manuals officially provided by the Church on the matter.
I will give some examples. First from the Student Manual for Religion 121 and 122, "Book of Mormon" Prepared by the Church Education System, Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, p. 136. There is taught the words of Marion G. Romney which he spoke in the October 1975 General Conference Report pages 51-53 of the Church and also published in the Ensign, November 1975, pages 35-36.
My beloved brothers and sisters, I invite you to join in a prayer that while I speak you and I may both enjoy the Spirit. I will give you a lesson today
that the Lord has taken great pains to bring to us.Among the questions frequently raised in connection with our upcoming national bicentennial is "Can we maintain our basic freedoms, peace, and prosperity for another 200 years?"
The answer to this question is yes, if we shall individually repent and conform to the laws of the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ.
He has stated the basics of his laws in the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and in the two great commandments:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. …
"And … thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Matt. 22:37, 39.)
Millennia ago he declared: "There shall none come into this land [he was speaking of America] save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.
"… this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them." (2 Ne. 1:6–7.)
Another ancient prophet said,
"
This is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ." (Ether 2:12.)It is my purpose in making these remarks to point out from the record of ancient inhabitants of America that the foregoing decrees have been carried out.
In the western part of the state of New York near Palmyra is a prominent hill known as the "hill Cumorah." (Morm. 6:6.) On July twenty-fifth of this year, as I stood on the crest of that hill admiring with awe the breathtaking panorama which stretched out before me on every hand, my mind reverted to the events which occurred in that vicinity some twenty-five centuries ago—events which brought to an end the great Jaredite nation.
You who are acquainted with the Book of Mormon will recall that during the final campaign of the fratricidal war between the armies led by Shiz and those led by Coriantumr "nearly two millions" of Coriantumr’s people had been slain by the sword; "two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children." (Ether 15:2.)
As the conflict intensified, all the people who had not been slain—men "with their wives and their children" (Ether 15:15)—gathered about that hill Cumorah (see Ether 15:11).
"The people who were for Coriantumr were gathered together to the army of Coriantumr; and the people who were for Shiz were gathered together to the army of Shiz. …
"Both men women and children being armed with weapons of war … did march forth one against another to battle; and they fought all that day, and conquered not.
"And it came to pass that when it was night they were weary, and retired to their camps; and … took up a howling and a lamentation for the loss of the slain of their people." (Ether 15:13, 15–16.)
This routine was repeated day after day until "they had all fallen by the sword, save it were Coriantumr and Shiz." Shiz himself "had fainted with the loss of blood.
"And it came to pass that when Coriantumr had leaned upon his sword, [and] rested a little, he smote off the head of Shiz.
"And it came to pass that after he had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised upon his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died.
"And it came to pass that Coriantumr fell to the earth, and became as if he had no life." (Ether 15:29–32.)
Thus perished at the foot of Cumorah the remnant of the once mighty Jaredite nation, of whom the Lord had said, "There shall be none greater … upon all the face of the earth." (Ether 1:43.)
As I contemplated this tragic scene from the crest of Cumorah and viewed the beautiful land of the Restoration as it appears today, I cried in my soul, "How could it have happened?"
The answer came immediately as I remembered that some fifteen to twenty centuries before their destruction, as the small group of their ancestors was being divinely led from the tower of Babel, the Lord "would that they should come forth even unto [this] land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people.
"And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared [their prophet-leader], that
whoso should possess this land … from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true [page 36] and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them."And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land," wrote the ancient prophet-historian, "that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.
"For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for
it is the everlasting decree of God." (Ether 2:7–10.)Pursuant to this decree concerning the land of America, the Jaredites were swept off in the manner we have reviewed, because, rebelling against the laws of Jesus Christ—the God of the land—they "ripened in iniquity."
Nor were they the only people who anciently were divinely led to this choice land to grow in righteousness to be a mighty nation and then to deteriorate in wickedness until they ripened in iniquity and were, pursuant to God’s decree, swept off.
I emphasize "divinely led" because, as above indicated, the Lord told them that they were being so led, and "that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.
"Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever." (2 Ne. 1:6–7.)
This second civilization to which I refer, the Nephites, flourished in America between 600 B.C. and A.D. 400. Their civilization came to an end for the same reason, at the same place, and in the same manner as did the Jaredites’. From the account of their death struggle, I quote:
"And now," says Mormon, their historian, "I finish my record concerning the destruction of my people, the Nephites. And it came to pass that we did march forth before the Lamanites … to the land of Cumorah. … And when … we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah, … my people, with their wives and their children, did … behold the armies of the Lamanites marching towards them; and with that awful fear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did they await to receive them.
"And it came to pass that they did fall upon my people with the sword, and with the bow, and with the arrow, and with the ax, and with all manner of weapons of war.
"And it came to pass that my men were hewn down, yea, even my ten thousand who were with me, and I fell wounded in the midst; and they passed by me that they did not put an end to my life.
"And when they had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people, did behold on the morrow … from the top of the hill Cumorah, [230,000] of my people who were hewn down, …
"Even all my people, save it were those twenty and four who were with me, and also a few who had escaped into the south countries, and a few who had dissented over unto the Lamanites, had fallen. …
"And my soul was rent with anguish, … and I cried:
"O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! … How could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!
"Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. …
"O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, … how is it that ye could have fallen! …
"O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you." (Morm. 6:1, 4, 5, 7, 9–11, 15–19, 22.)
Moroni a little later wrote:
"Behold I, Moroni, do finish the record of my father, Mormon. …
"… after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, … the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed.
"And my father also was killed by them, and I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people." (Morm. 8:1–3.)
The tragic fate of the Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations is proof positive that the Lord meant it when he said that this "is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity." (Ether 2:9.)
This information, wrote Moroni, addressing himself to us who today occupy this land, "cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles" (now, Gentiles is the term used by the Book of Mormon prophets to refer to the present inhabitants of America and to the peoples of the old world from which they came), "[this] cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.
"Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ." (Ether 2:11–12.)
In 1492, in harmony with the Lord’s statement heretofore quoted, "that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord" (2 Ne. 1:6), Columbus was divinely led to America.
Away back between 590 and 600 years B.C., Nephi, looking in vision down the stream of time, "beheld a man among the Gentiles [that is, among the nations of Europe], who was separated from [this promised land] by the many waters; and I beheld," said he, "the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto … the promised land.
"And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth … upon the many waters.
"And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise." (1 Ne. 13:12–14.)
Columbus himself corroborated the fact that he was divinely led to this land.
"In the royal presence of Isabella, Irving [his biographer] says: ‘He unfolded his plans with eloquence and zeal for he felt himself, as he afterwards declared, kindled as with a fire from on high, and considered himself the agent chosen of heaven to accomplish the grand design. …
"His son Fernando, in the biography of his father quotes him as saying on one occasion: ‘God gave me the faith and afterwards the courage so that I was quite willing to undertake the journey.’
"And the will of Columbus reads:
" ‘In the name of the … holy trinity, who inspired me with the idea and afterwards made it perfectly clear to me that I could navigate and go to the Indies from Spain, by traversing the ocean westward.’ " (Nephi Lowell Morris, Prophecies of Joseph Smith and Their Fulfillment, Deseret Book, 1945, pp. 289, 294–95; italics added.)
Because Columbus was led, we are here in this choice land.
God gave us victory in the Revolutionary War. We are indebted to him for our nation’s independence. He has prospered us in every righteous endeavor. He established the Constitution of the United States "by the hands of wise men whom [he] raised up unto this very purpose." (D&C 101:80.)
He himself with his Beloved Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith to open a new dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ here in this land. He has established his Church here and has sent and is sending representatives thereof into every nook and corner of the land—and as far as possible to all the earth—to declare and teach the laws of Jesus Christ, the God of this land.
He has revealed anew and repeated over and over again the ancient decree: "This is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God" concerning this land. (Ether 2:10.)
This knowledge has been revealed to us that we "may know the decrees of God—that [we] may repent, and not continue in [our] iniquities until the fulness come, that [we] may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon [us] as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done." (Ether 2:11.)
We are living in the dispensation of the fulness of times, which will be climaxed by the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning the approach of that event and what is in store for the inhabitants of the earth between now and then, the Lord said 144 years ago:
"The wrath of God shall be poured out upon the wicked without measure. …
"Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear."
And this is his message: "Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh;
"And the anger of the Lord is kindled, and his sword is bathed in heaven, and it shall fall upon the inhabitants of the earth. …
"The hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion.
"And also the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judgment upon … the world." (D&C 1:9, 11–13, 35–36.)
Now my beloved brethren and sisters everywhere, both members of the Church and nonmembers, I bear you my personal witness that I know that the things I have presented to you today are true—both those pertaining to past events and those pertaining to events yet to come. The issue we face is clear and well defined. The choice is ours. The question is: Shall we of this dispensation repent and obey the laws of the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, or shall we continue to defy them until we ripen in iniquity?
That we will repent and obey and thereby qualify to receive the blessings promised to the righteous in this land, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.
(Marion G. Romney, "America’s Destiny," Ensign, Nov. 1975)
Now any student and scholar of the Book of Mormon who reads this report and is open to be taught by a member of The First Presidency of the Church, will be able to tell you that Cumorah is Cumorah in the state of New York. And that it is one and the same as the ancient hill of Cumorah and Ramah of the Nephites and Jaredites as just explained by President Romney. If they are of a different opinion, then of personal opinion it is and not what the student and scholar of Church Education is taught from it authorized sources. And in that respect they did not learn their lessons well and are a poor student and scholar indeed.
A second example comes from the pages of the text used by the Church Education System for the Instruction of Church History, the Religion 341-series. On page 57 is found an account where Moroni himself states that he is 'going to Cumorah' when he is transporting the plates for safety reason from Harmony, PA to the land of Cumorah or the regions of Fayette and Palmyra, New York. This story is reported in many sources. It is from the "Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith" Millenial Star, 9 Dec. 1878, p. 772, that the CES text takes it reference. (See Religion 341-343, "Church History In the Fulness of Times" prepared by the Church Education System, Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, p. 57.) This account is also reported by by B. H. Roberts in his book, 'New Witness For God, Volume 2, beginning at page 123 as follows with some intervening commentary added by myself:
"Mr. Joseph Knight, Sen., of Colesville, Broome county, New York, several times
brought the young men provisions—food—which enabled them to continue the
work of translation without interruption. But for this timely assistance the work of
translation must have been relinquished from time to time in order to secure
supplies. Mr. Knight knew the Smith family and had called upon them a number of
times at their home in Manchester. He evidently had considerable faith in the claims
of Joseph concerning the Book of Mormon; for on the occasion of his visit to him in
May, 1829, he desired to know what his duty was with reference to the work that the
Lord was about to bring forth. The prophet inquired of the Lord and, as in the case
of Oliver Cowdery, after declaring that a great and marvelous work was about to
come forth, the revelation said:
Keep my commandments, and seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion.
Behold, I speak unto you, and also to all those who have desires to bring forth and
establish this work; and no one can assist in this work, except he shall be humble
and full of love, having faith, hope and charity, being temperate in all things
whatsoever shall be entrusted in his care. "
This revelation, as was given, is found as Section 12 of the Doctrine and Covenants. It was
dated as being given in May, 1829 without an exact day's date. Joseph had used the Urim and
Thummin to receive personal revelations in addition to the use of them for the translation of
the Book of Mormon. It was during this month of May that the Aaronic Priesthood was
restored to Joseph and Oliver on May 15, 1829 (See Section 13). As the revelations,
restoration, and translations was thus proceeding, Satan was stirring up the hearts of men
against the work.
"For a time the Prophet had been permitted to pursue the work of translation at
Harmony without interference. But now there began to be mutterings of an
approaching storm of persecution. Threats were frequent, and the young men were
only preserved from actual violence by the blessing of the Lord and the influence of
Mr. Isaac Hale, father of the Prophet's wife; who, though he had no faith in the
Prophet's work, and in the past had manifested some hostility towards him, still
believed in law and order; was opposed to mob violence; and was willing that Joseph
and his associates should be permitted to complete their work without interference.
"On account of the manifestation of this unfriendly spirit in the community,
however, Joseph and Oliver kept secret for a time the circumstance of their
ordination to the priesthood and their baptism. They could not, however, long
continue silent on such a subject, and in a few days, under a sense of duty, they
commenced to reason out of the scriptures with their friends and acquaintances
concerning the work of God. But Joseph was evidently uneasy concerning their
safety at Harmony, and under his direction Oliver wrote to David Whitmer at
Fayette, asking him to come down to Harmony and take them to the elder
Whitmer's home, giving as a reason for their rather strange request that they had
received a commandment from God to that effect. This request found David
Whitmer in the midst of his spring work. He had some twenty acres of land to plow
and concluded to do that and then go. "I got up one morning to go to work as
usual," he says, "and on going to the field, found that between five and seven acres
of my land had been plowed under during the night. I don't know who did it; but it
was done just as I would have done it myself, and the plow was left standing in the
furrow. This enabled me to start sooner." Nor was this the only assistance of like
character given to him. While harrowing in a field of wheat before starting on his
journey he found to his surprise that he had accomplished more in a few hours than
was usual to do in two or three days. The day following this circumstance he went
out to spread plaster over a field, according to the custom of the farmers in that
locality, when, to his surprise, he found the work had been done, and well done.
David Whitmer's sister, who lived near the field, told him that three strangers had
appeared in the field the day before and spread the plaster with remarkable skill. She
at the time presumed that they were men whom David had hired to do the work."
Even at this early date, a flaw in David Whitmer's character would begin to show forth. David
would put more stock in completing his own personal endeavors rather than responding to the
impression and guidance of that which is spiritual. Oliver's request from the Prophet was of an
urgent nature and was communicated to David Whitmer as 'a commandment from God.' Yet
David put off responding until 'his work' was completed. Not even miracles of assistance such
as the event of the '3 strangers' in the field being reported as doing his work and the other
events as reported above, would dissuade David from his earthly cares before 'his task' of
plowing his field was completed. Even 'a commandment of God' request was placed in second
place and the safety of the record and the prophet was placed at risk.
"This assistance, provided through some divine agency—it can be accounted for in
no other way, enabled David Whitmer to respond sooner than he otherwise could
have done to the call to go and bring the Prophet and his associate from Harmony,
where mob violence was impending, to the home of his father, Peter Whitmer, where
the work of translation could be finished in peace and security.
"When David Whitmer was approaching the little village of Harmony with his
two-horse team and wagon, he was met some distance from it by the Prophet and
Oliver. "Oliver told me," says David Whitmer, in relating the circumstance, "that
Joseph had informed him when I started from home, where I had stopped the first
night, how I read the sign at the tavern; where I stopped the next night, etc.; and that
I would be there that day before dinner, and this was why they had come out to meet
me; all of which was exactly as Joseph had told Oliver, at which I was greatly
astonished."
The need to have Joseph and Oliver removed was pressing. The persecution and mob fever for
violence was raising and Joseph had likely used the Urim and Thummin to see exactly how
David's coming to their assistance as had been requested was progressing. And David was
coming, later than expected as he just had to finish 'his' plowing and spring work first. But
isn't that the nature of most of us, we have to get our own interest completed first before we
see to the things of God.
"The day following David Whitmer's arrival at Harmony the plates were packed up
and delivered into the care of the Angel Moroni, that they might be safely conveyed
to Fayette. "When I was returning to Fayette," says David Whitmer, "with Joseph
and Oliver, all of us riding in the wagon, Oliver and I on an old fashioned, wooden
spring-seat, and Joseph behind us, when traveling along in a clear, open place, a
very pleasant, nice looking old man suddenly appeared by the side of our wagon and
saluted us with, 'Good morning; it is very warm;' at the same time wiping his face or
forehead with his hand. We returned the salutation, and by a sign from Joseph, I
invited him to ride if he was going our way. But he said very pleasantly, 'No, I am
going to Cumorah.' This name was somewhat new to me, and I did not know what
'Cumorah' meant. We all gazed at him and at each other, and as I looked round
inquiringly of Joseph, the old man instantly disappeared, so that I did not see him
again."
Now Joseph's and Oliver's translation would likely not have reached the abridged personal
book written by Mormon concerning his own time and history wherein the name Cumorah is
given. That would not be reached until the work of the translation would resume at a more
peaceful and rapid rate in the home of Peter Whitmer. Whether Oliver had heard Joseph use
the phrase 'land of Cumorah' or 'hill of Cumorah,' is not known. By 1830, Oliver Cowdery was
well aware of Cumorah and the facts of the matter for he taught it to the Indians during his
mission to the Lamanites. And Joseph had already used the phrase the 'hill of Cumorah' as
recorded by his mother; in September of 1827. And now in May of 1829, David Whitmer would
hear the name before it was ever translated or published from the recording of it by Mormon
on the plates of gold though David Whitmer at that time, May 1829, did not know what
'Cumorah' meant. It would have been a brand new word to him but not to Joseph Smith and
likely not to Oliver Cowdery either.
"Replying to the question, "Did you notice his appearance?" David Whitmer
replied: "I should think I did. He was, I should think, about five feet eight or nine
inches tall and heavy set, about such a man as James Cleve there (a gentleman
present at the Whitmer, Pratt and Smith interview), but heavier. His face was as
large; he was dressed in a suit of brown woolen clothes, his hair and beard were
white, like Brother Pratt's, but his beard was not so heavy. I also remember that he
had on his back a sort of knapsack with something in it shaped like a book. It was
the messenger who had the plates, who had taken them from Joseph just prior to
our starting from Harmony.
"Soon after the arrival at the Whitmer residence, in the garden near by, Moroni
once more delivered the sacred record to Joseph, and the work of translation was
renewed with even greater vigor than at Harmony; for when Oliver would tire of
writing, one of the Whitmers or Emma Smith would relieve him."
Thus from Harmony to the Whitmer residence, Moroni did carry the plates during the May 1829 journey. As Moroni stated, 'I am going to Cumorah.' David, Oliver, and Joseph all three heard it from the messenger's own lips when Moroni carried the record for safe keeping from Harmony PA to Fayette NY, and the regions about the Palmyra and Fayette New York was that of Cumorah to where Moroni was stating he was traveling to. So where is the land and hill of Cumorah but in New York? The well trained student and scholar of the Church Education System should certainly be able to say, and it is not in Central America.
A third example is taken from "The Pearl of Great Price" Student Manual for Religion 327, page 62 and from the text of Religion 341-series, "Church History In the Fulness of Times" prepared by the Church Education System, Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, p. 43. It is there that a quote taken from Lucy Mack Smith is given where the Prophet Joseph Smith calls the hill by the name of Cumorah in 1827 before having even received the Book of Mormon plates. And there is only one source from which the Prophet may have know to call the hill by the name of Cumorah, and that is from the ancient source of the Angel Moroni and other such visitors such as Nephi, Alma, the Nephite Twelve Apostles, and Mormon. (See Church History text of Relition 341 page 41 and History of Church 4:537, Journal of Discourses, George Q. Cannon 13:47, Journal of Discourses, John Taylor 17:374, 21:94.)
In the Religion 327 and 341 course materials it is paraphrased that 'Joseph said he had passed by the Hill Cumorah.' And then the rest of the quote is give. I will go directly to the full quote so there will be no mistake that it is recorded that Joseph, prior to obtaining the plates was speaking of the hill by the name of 'Cumorah' in familiar terms with his family members.
(History Of Joseph Smith By His Mother Lucy Mack Smith, p. 100)
Presently he smiled and said in a calm tone, "I have taken the severest
chastisement that I have ever had in my life."
My husband, supposing that it was from some of the neighbors, was quite angry
and observed, "I would like to know what business anybody has to find fault with you!"
"Stop, father, stop," said Joseph, "it was the angel of the Lord. As I passed by
the hill of Cumorah, where the plates are, the angel met me and said that I had not been
engaged enough in the work of the Lord; that the time had come for the record to be
brought forth; and that I must be up and doing and set myself about the things which
God had commanded me to do. But, father, give yourself no uneasiness concerning the
reprimand which I have received, for I now know the course that I am to pursue, so all
will be well."
Joseph said, "As I passed by the hill of Cumorah, . . ." In such familiar conversation which automatically conveys the fact that his listening family members would know exactly whereof he was speaking for they would have been well aquatinted with the name of Cumorah being the name associated with the hill from Joseph's previous conversations with them. Joseph's mother says that Joseph often would tell them stories of the ancient inhabitants, how they lived, what animals they rode and the like. (See the same History of Joseph Smith by Lucy Mack Smith page 83.) We do not have a record of all those tells which could have enlightened us more upon the subject of the ancient Book of Mormon peoples, neither do we have many accounts of Joseph stating that Cumorah is Cumorah. Shame on us, those who would have heard such, for not writing them down and quoting the boy Prophet as he would speak such. All we have is the 'paraphrased' statements from the likes of Parley P. Pratt that witness that the Angel Moroni isthe one who told Joseph Smith that Cumorah was indeed Cumorah, the ancient hill being one and the same as the hill in New York. And even then, there are those of us who take exception to that and contrive a Cumorah in Central America. How lightly we take the words of the Lord's anointed through the ages.
Certainly a dedicated student and scholar of the Book of Mormon, one taught in the official schools of the CES, and those of the Church courses, and of the words of the authorities through the decades of time should have little trouble understanding that Cumorah is Cumorah. It not, shame be on us for we have not done our homework properly and have not studied well the lessons and materials which are given us to study. I query, 'Just how teachable are we?' Are we the humble followers of the Church or are we like David Whitmer and others of the early Church, who where much of a mind of their own? Do we accept the 'line upon line,' the 'precept upon precept,' gaining here a little and there a little as we faithfully learn our gospel lessons. Or are we of a mind and contrivance of our own, thinking that by our own wisdom and learning of the world to know more of our own analysis and dissection of a matter than that of the word of the prophets, seers, and revelators of God?
I know myself that I am of that weakness. But at least I know that I am thus, therefore I can hopefully better deal with it. But what of those whose pride in themselves and their worldly gained letters of education who place them beyond such recognition of weakness, humility and being of a teachable nature? What of them? What of one who knows not or recognizes not his own weakness before God?
Now there are a number of other such bits of information provided in the materials provided by the CES and their courses for those who would be true students and scholars of the Chruch's gospel. But I will not take time to list them here in relation to Cmorah being Cumorah. If one will not accept three why would they accept if there where three dozen of more given? And much is already presented here in these pages concerning Cumorah being Cumorah that enough is enough. If such does not eluminate the mind, why would even more tend to do so. More is not always good, if one cannot at least first begin to accept that which has already been given.
~ Rev. 8-8-2011