Here are more comments that we have received from readers of this website blog:
Comment #1: “I have noticed that Nephi’s brother Jacob seems to be quite the opposite of Nephi, perhaps even sadder or more subdued in life. Have you noticed that?” Darlene W.
Response: While Jacob followed his brother, Nephi, as both prophet and keeper of the sacred record, he indeed was a very different individual. He was born during their eight years in the wilderness, grew through his childhood years under the constant fear and threats of his oldest brothers, Laman and Lemuel, who continually threatened his other brothers, Nephi and Sam, no doubt found no solace or comfort in Ishmael’s sons, his mother would have been much older, his father constantly ridiculed by Laman and Lemuel, his life was one of trials and tribulations during their eight-year wilderness trek.
He undoubtedly worked daily on the building of the ship doing “gopher” type jobs, perhaps fearful throughout their dangerous voyage, frightened by the storm, suffered the loss of his parents probably in his early to mid-teens, fled from their first home in fear of his older brothers and their evil group, and then spent his life as a prophet over a people who he felt were less righteous than their enemies, the Lamanites, lived under constant threat of war, but evidently was not a warrior himself as was his older brother, Nephi, and probably had really only one true friend and that his younger brother, Joseph.
He saw the need for constant preaching and calling to repentance of his people, yet seemed reluctant to always have to talk to them about their sins. His closing remarks near the end of his life seem to sum up his feelings about that life, “the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days” (Jacob 7:26).
I think that while Nephi is a great reminder to us of how we should be strong, faithful and obedient in all things, trusting in the Lord, that Jacob also addresses our fears and inner tender feelings as he experienced a life sadder than most of us would ever know.
Comment #2: “You talk a lot about mountain folding, warping, etc., and that the Andes shot up like overnight, but every geologist I have ever heard about says this takes millions of years” Monty G.
Response: geologists call the phenomenon you mention “the buckling of a plate on an elastic foundation.”
That is the Continental Plate, being on a frictionless surface, buckled up from contact or pressure caused by another plate, as ocean basins opened, accelerating the downhill slide.This is what took place with the hydroplates during the continental-drift phase in which the topography of an area, within minutes folded, creating mountains that rose to various heights under the pressure.
This did not take millions of years—it is a process that can happen quickly, as we know from the mountains that were formed and shot up at the crucifixion “whose height is great.” No void would open deep inside the earth, because pressures were too great. Consequently, high-pressure rock from below would buckle up to fill the space. That would not leave a void farther down, because even deeper rock would be squeezed up to fill the space. Ultimately, mass from the opposite side of the earth must depress to compensate for the rising Mid-Atlantic Ridge—which typically would cause oceans to rapidly form.
As for most geologists, they belong to an “Old Age Earth” philosophy wherein Uniformitarianism belongs—that is, what happened in the past is what you see happening today. Meaning that since it takes a long time for change to be seen in the world today, it must have always been that way. This eliminates any involvement of the very being that formed the earth, the heavens, and the universe.
Comment #3: “Just read your posts from October "Once upon a time," which was a fascinating summary of the history and "evolution" of the "sciences." Thank you! Have you ever thougth of putting some reviews of your books on your sight? I just bought your first one through Amazon. There are only a couple reviews there. Not sure why there are not many reviews; you seem to have a lot of followers and your work is amazing. Also, I'm curious why you don't list your book on “Inaccuracies of Mesoamerican and Other Theorists,” anymore? You have a page with a picture of your other 3 books and it looks like the last one is still available on a drop down menu, but no picture or description of it. I've wondered if a Mesoamerican theorist gave you legal grief over it or something. Just curious.” David K.
Response: Thank you for your kind words. The book Inaccuracies of Mesoamerican and Other Theorists, is available along with the others; however, the website managing group has not as yet made that and several other changes to our website and none of us know html to make the changes ourselves. As for not more reviews, good question. If you figure it out, let us know since we sell a lot of books through Amazon, as well as elsewhere, including directly from our website. Of course, we have received many reviews on our site from readers of the blog.
Comment #4: You speak often of Christopher Columbus as a man fulfilling a prophecy and guided by God to reach the Americas as though he was fulfilling a destiny and God-directed. Do you not know of all the murders and atrocities he committed? One can hardly link him with God in such a spiritual manner” Lucy K.
Response: It is very misleading to judge an ancient people or a person by today’s standards. They lived under different circumstances and protocols than we do today, and in many cases, committing acts that were acceptable in the past that would horrify people of today. In the Old Testament, as an example, people of God were directed to kill every man, woman, child, and animal in the cities of the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). Samson, the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites, pulled down the stone columns that resulted in the death of all the Philistines. Also, Israelite soldiers killed every man, woman, infants and nursing babies, as well as oxen, sheep, camels and donkeys” (1 Samuel 15:3).
The problem many people have with these stories of mass killings is that they do not fit the popular conception of the acceptable behavior. Even for people who are convinced that the Bible is true and represents God’s revelation of Himself these accounts can be deeply troubling, especially when one thinks about the death of innocent children.
In this ancient time, it was not uncommon for kings in the Near East of Old Testament times to annihilate the populations of whole cities as an offering to their gods.
There was a time when the world applauded Columbus’ achievements. He felt that he was guided by the spirit in his discovery and bravely challenged the unknown in his conquest of the oceans to find an entire continent. Our Founding Fathers were men of great courage who acted on behalf of a large cross-section of the entire population in signing the Declaration of Independence knowing they were putting their lives in certain jeopardy and that the British would consider them committing high-treason against the king and kill them all if captured.
Yet, like all people, they were not perfect. Many of them had slaves; others had storied backgrounds. Benjamin Franklin was a womanizer; John Adams was an elitist; Thomas Jefferson had a patriarchal attitude toward women; Andrew Jackson was a duelist, challenging over 100 men. As in all men, these had all-too-human quirks, personality flaws and family issues, all had flaws as well as successes—in short, they were human like we are today. Even the most successful person of our day has flaws, though their successes have temporarily raised them above their peers.
Yet, these Founding Fathers appeared to Wilford Woodruff when he was an Apostle and the President of the St. George Temple. He stated, in part, “I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McCallister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others.”
In fact, Elder Ezra Taft Benson upon assignment from President Spencer W. Kimball, once stated after seeing the original temple work records in the vaults of the St. George Temple: “The temple work for the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence and other Founding Fathers has been done. All these appeared to Wilford Woodruff when he was President of the St. George Temple. President George Washington was ordained a high priest at that time. You will also be interested to know that according to Wilford Woodruff’s journal, John Wesley, Benjamin Franklin, and Christopher Columbus were also ordained high priests at that time. When one casts doubt about the character of these noble sons of God, I believe he or she will have to answer to the God of heaven for it.”
This is one of the reasons we should judge no person. It seems likely that at some point in our existence we are going to come to know for a surety of the greatness of these early men who discovered and built this western world.
Comment #4 about Cristobol Columbo (Christopher Columbus) c
ReplyDeleteReference to number 2 above this geologist believes in a young earth and catastrophic mountain building as described by the prophets at the death of Christ. The interesting thing is these are eye witness accounts. What old earth geologists are describing are only guesses that are not tied to any reality.
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