If I could ask them one question . . . Come Follow Me, Lesson 37

[annotatedbom]

For Come Follow Me, Lesson 37, Sep 14-20, 2020, 3 Ne 8-11

If I wanted to encourage thought and try to understand devout believers better, I might ask:
“Does Jesus’ visit to the Americas present some glaring inconsistencies?”

See the Things to consider for this lesson.

And, here’s a list of some other observations about this lesson’s reading.

Enjoy!
A-Bom

[jfro18]

This is a good one, and one I wish I had thought of as a believer. Why would Jesus come to America just to go scorched earth on it?

Will definitely be referring to this in the future!

[Hagoth]

This is one of those things that, when I finally thought about it for 2 seconds, made me say "wow, how didn't this ever seem like a problem before!"

It's like Jesus got humble and repented on the cross but as soon as he got off he slipped right back into his old Jehovah shenanigans.

The apologists' attempts to explain how the earth was changed from the earthquakes are pretty lacking.

"But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth; And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough.(3 Nephi 8: 12-13)

“And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth. And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the land” (3 Nephi 8:17–18).

I remember a FARMS explanation that the reason there is no evidence for these massive earthquakes is that they didn't change the topography in any way, they merely broke individual rocks and broke up the ground at the small scale level. Nibley proposed that the emphasis on wind and lightning is important because "some specialists" believe weather conditions cause earthquakes.

Another curious thing was that apparently a lot of people were carried away by a whirlwind, "and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away." (3 Nephi 8:16) I feel kind of excited for them on their adventure. I wonder if they got to see munchkins?

[Palerider]

I remember a FARMS explanation that the reason there is no evidence for these massive earthquakes is that they didn't change the topography in any way, they merely broke individual rocks and broke up the ground at the small scale level.

This is only partially correct. The topography was actually changed drastically but by using the theory of "limited geography" one must realize that the entire "land northward" only consisted of 143 acres and if we could only find that ravaged and twisted acreage somewhere deep in the jungles of Mexico or Guatemala.....it would prove the BoM true beyond a shadow of a doubt.

[Hagoth]

is only partially correct. The topography was actually changed drastically but by using the theory of "limited geography" one must realize that the entire "land northward" only consisted of 143 acres and if we could only find that ravaged and twisted acreage somewhere deep in the jungles of Mexico or Guatemala.....it would prove the BoM true beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Hey, here's a whole new line of apologetic pursuit for the next generation. We've been looking at the wrong scale for Nephites: