mormon – Lehi stone and the Book of Mormon
someone on alt.religion.mormon wrote:
I don’t understand your post. I have seen such Book of Mormon artifacts which prove the Book of Mormon true. Have you ever heard of the Lehi stone? It is a large stone covered with hieroglyphics telling the story of the tree of life from the Book of Mormon including the names of the three main characters – Lehi, his wife Sariah, and Nephi. Also, the Book of Mormon used to be published with many color pictures of such artifacts. Suggest you contact BYU’s archeology dept. for more information on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
Actually, you may want to get some info from real archaeologists. The ‘Lehi’ stone (or “Tree of Life Stone”) is a precolumbian religious stele from Izapa that has nothing at all to do with the Book of Mormon. The names ‘Lehi’, ‘Nephi’ and ‘Sarai’ do *not* appear on the stele. They actually only exist in the fevered imagination of Jakeman Wells, the Mormon scholar who interpreted the stone. Both Hugh Nibley and John Sorenson (two Mormon apologists) have expressed doubts about Wells’ interpretation.
Several decades ago, Michael Coe, one of the leading mesoamerican archaeologists and epigraphers said that there is absolutely nothing to suggest to a dispassionate observer that the Book of Mormon is true. That situation has still not changed. He recently reconfirmed his statement.