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Historical Context Section - Needs to be included[edit]
The fact that the "Mound Builder" theory that was prevalent at the time 1820s and 1830s is undisputable. That the Book of Mormon parallels the "Mound Builder" theory is the scholarly consensus. Early Latter Day Saints were in part attracted to the religion because of the "Mound Builder" theory. I get that it might be embarrassing for Latter Day Saints, and is sometimes exploited by anti-Mormon writers, but that is not a good reason for exclusion from Wikipedia(see WP:RNPOV). It is mentioned in just about every scholarly book on the Book of Mormon I could find, to include:
"Americanist Approaches to the Book of Mormon" Elizabeth Fenton and Jared Hickman page 31, Oxford University Press
"The Refiner's Fire" John L. Brooke at Location e-book location 2078 of 6221
"The Book of Mormon's Witness to Its First Readers" Dale Luffman (a former apostle in the Community of Christ) Location e-book location 3797 of 4274.
"Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling" Richard Bushman (he addresses it extensively, acknowledges the parallels, but is alone in his conclusion that the speculation probably didn't filter down to Joseph Smith) e-book location 2215 of 17510. Bushman has recently referred to the Book of Mormon as pseudepigrapha, so maybe he no longer feels this way?
"No Man Knows my History" Fawn Brodie
"Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet" Dan Vogel location 4829 of 19201
"The Mound Builder Myth" Jason Colavito, a scholar of the mound builder myth, not religion, with a section on the Book of Mormon concluding that the Book of Mormon falls within the genre. Page 101
"The Mound Builders" Robert Silverberg. Another scholar of the mound builders, who also concludes the Book of Mormon falls within that genre.
"By the Hand of Mormon" Terryl Givens, page 92-101. Givens, who works at the Maxwell Institute, notes the parallel, and how it played into early members beliefs.
These are not "anti-mormon" books, with the debatable exception of possibly Fawn Brodies. John Hammer, a seventy in the Community of Christ, actively advocates for the Mound Builder theory as a primary explanation of the Book of Mormon narrative. The fact that nowhere in this article is any mention of the mound builder theory is a glaring omission. Here is a quote by Orson Pratt in 1851, that is the Mound Builder theory summed up succinctly: "The bold, bad Lamanites, originally white, became dark and dirty . . . . They became wild, savage, and ferocious, seeking by every means the destruction of the prosperous Nephites, against whom they many times arrayed their hosts in battle. . . . The slain, frequently amounting to tens of thousands, were piled together in great heaps and overspread with a thin covering of earth, which will satisfactorily account for those ancient mounds filled with human bones, so numerous at the present day, both in North and South America." Here is another one from Joseph Smith in 1834 during the Zion's Camp march, "The whole of our journey, in the midst of so large a company of social honest men and sincere men, wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionaly the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity..." Wilford Woodruff added this about an experience with Joseph Smith in the early 1830s, "Brother Joseph requested us to dig into the mound; we did so; and in about one foot we came to the skeleton of a man, ... Brother Joseph feeling anxious to learn something of this man, asked the Lord, and received an open vision. The man's name was Zelph. He was a white Lamanite, the curse having been removed because of his righteousness. He was a great warrior, and fought for the Nephites under the direction of the Prophet Onandagus. ... There was a great slaughter at that time. The bodies were heaped upon the earth, and buried in the mound, which is nearly three hundred feet in height." Say what you will about the Zelph story, it is clear that the Mound Builder theory was prominent in the minds of early Saints.
The climactic moment in the Book of Mormon is the visitation of Jesus
This image was reverted. From the revert, "Not necessary as it implies an artist's rendition of an actual event, not a fictional interpretation". There are hundreds of thousands of images of fictional events on Wikipedia, in articles from Adam and Eve, Bible, Iliad, Harry Potter and many more. Having this image in no way implies endorsement of a historical viewpoint, nor does it violate any policy that I am aware of. This particular image is significant further in that it is a rare pioneer era painting from inside the Logan Temple. Epachamo (talk) 15:36, 15 October 2020 (UTC)
Comment. I see no problem with including this image. Good Ol’factory(talk) 22:18, 15 October 2020 (UTC)
