Why This Website is Called “Nephi Code"

For the years I have had this website, and even during its development stage, I have been asked hundreds of times by numerous people why it was named Nephi Code. Unfortunately, people have suggested the "Nephi Code" is some type of hidden wordage meant to conceal the real message that Nephi buried in his writings that need to be uncovered and understood—such as The DaVinci Code novel that became a movie, or the type of codes or secret ciphers used during World War II and are now a part of the world of espionage.

Actually, the name was suggested by one of my sons, with the word “code” coming from the Latin codex which, in short, represents the concept of a list, a collection, and in a larger sense, a group of sheets or book, and is typically applied to scriptures, specifically the New Testament writings in early A.D. times, and today basically all scripture. However, it does not refer to hidden, buried, or unexplained ideas, concepts, or information. It is strictly used here to suggest that this site is about the Book of Mormon and the words of Nephi and Mormon and others that, at first glance, may not be understood in total unless one takes the time to "ponder" their writings for all that can be gleaned from them.

Consequently, there are certain words or wordage in the writings of Nephi that convey a deeper meaning than what is read at first glance, which convey information regarding the travels and locations of the Lehi Colony on their journey into and through the wilderness, their voyage to the Land of Promise, and the many items (list) found there.

It is not a mystery, nor a hidden set of information, nor wordage meant by Nephi to hide his meaning—it is merely an understanding of what Nephi wrote and the deeper meaning of what is conveyed in simple language in the Book of Mormon.

Stated differently, Nephi told us: 1) Where he lived when the trip in the wilderness began, 2) Where they traveled in the wilderness, 3) The location of Bountiful where they rested and built a ship, 4) Under what instruction and how the ship was built; 5) The items they carried from Jerusalem and the social interaction of two families mingling in marriage, 6) Under what condition and power the ship sailed from Bountiful to the Land of Promise, 7) Where they landed in the “New World,” and 8) What they found there. All this is conveyed in as much detail as needed to actually sit down and map out where they traveled and where they landed--consequently, in knowing where the Land of Promise was located and can now be found. However, when reading their writings like a book and skimming across their words in a rush to complete passages in a given time frame, much is missed. This website was developed to assist in the understanding of those deeper meanings.

The eight items, or list of events and facts covered above, were specifically placed within the scriptural record by Nephi and tell us all we need to know to follow the colony’s travels and know the locations of the places they stopped and eventually settled. Basically, all this information, or list of facts, appears in just a few chapters of Nephi’s first book, known as First Nephi. Thus, this website began as an explanation, or more accurately, as a correct writing of the eight items of the list, and what each item means in relationship to understanding the location today of where the Land of Promise was (and is) located,

Again, there is nothing hidden, secret, or meant to mislead in Nephi’s writing, or anywhere in the Book of Mormon—just simple statements that tell us exactly where the colony traveled and finally settled.

It is a sad commentary on man’s inability to understand Nephi that has led to so many misguided and inaccurate beliefs of the current location of the Land of Promise. At least a half dozen different locations have been written about and firmly stated, each with its own group(s) of followers—some very adamant about what they think, others less committed, but believers just the same.

Of course, I didn’t come by this understand either on my own or overnight. In fact, in my teen and young adult years, I found the Book of Mormon an embarrassment, and rarely, if ever, mentioned it in my religious discussions with others, especially during the two years I spent in the Bible-belt country of Oklahoma and the surrounding region. But eventually I had the extreme good fortune to learn much from two men, one named Wes, who was a former Institute teacher and well-versed student of the New Testament, and another named Art who was a well-versed student of the Book of Mormon.

Both men had spent a lifetime studying the scriptures and both taught me an extremely vital lesson about the holy word. Simply put, the scriptures, no matter where found, should not be read like a novel, or just from cover to cover as I had done a couple of times—but should be read slowly, pondering each separate verse for its deeper meaning, sometimes pondering only a single word for its true meaning. I remember being astounded when Art told me how many months he had spent contemplating the meaning of a single verse that was repeated several times in the Book of Mormon.

However, this practice was plainly justified when I was teaching Gospel Doctrine class in my early years of marriage in which the lesson manual covered the subject of Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well in the 4^th chapter of John, specifically 4:13, and the deeper meaning of his simple statement to her. In fact, the lesson was entitled “How Deep is the Well,” and covered some dozen meanings, each one deeper than the other in gospel learning. The idea changed my method of reading the scriptures and moved me toward a greater understanding and appreciation for the Book of Mormon as well as all scripture.

Consequently, when Art suggested to me that I should take more time studying Nephi’s writings, I began what has turned out to be a 25-year study of the simple statements and what they meant at a deeper and deeper level. It was astounding what came of that straightforward practice.

When I ran across the words of Nephi, which he stated twice, about his ship being “driven forth before the wind” (1 Nephi 18:8,9), I took more than a year delving into the actual meaning of that simple statement. This led to ocean systems, sailing techniques, weather- and sail-driven vessels, the writings of ancient mariners, the travels of the Portuguese, their ship-building, etc., etc., etc., until I came to understand how sea and wind currents work, where they flow, and what “drift voyages” meant.

In my younger years I met Thor Heyerdahl, went to his lectures, listened to the accounts of his voyages, discussed with him his early years in Polynesia and what he learned, etc., and what it meant. When I later began in earnest to study wind and sea currents, I went back and re-studied his experiences. Little by little it came to be self-evident that a ship leaving the Arabia Peninsula coast around Oman or Yemen could only reach the Western Hemisphere through one route and one route only. A ship “driven forth before the wind” could have reached the Americas traveling only with the winds and currents. I spent another several months verifying that knowledge in scores of libraries and reading in hundreds of books—mostly those written before 1900 before people began to rewrite history as has happened, I found out through my studies, since about the 1920s onward, and also before modern sailing techniques, engines, tacking, etc., became part of sailing.

When I found absolute proof that verified this single set of winds and currents that would have driven a ship launched from the southern Arabian coast, I realized how simple Nephi’s statement declared his landing location, which led to more studying about what he should have found in that location and verified it against what he said he found. It all began to add up.

There is nothing mysterious, difficult to understand, or needs a professor to explain it to you. Nephi said he loved “plain and simple language,” which is exactly what he used to tell us his story—a story that is clear and understandable that defies all opposing ideas and shows without question where the Lehi colony landed, and where the Land of Promise was located.

In all, the list grew from these eight, to a total of 65 different statements, concepts, and events as stated in the Book of Mormon by which the location of the Land of Promise can easily and unquestionably be located. These 65 items have been stated before in this blog, and can be found in the book Lehi Never Saw Mesoamerica.

For the Love of the Scriptures -- Del DowDell