PROVO, Utah — Nephi's familiarity with an ancient Israelite goddess helped him to understand his vision of the tree of life.

Daniel C. Peterson, a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at BYU, told a BYU Education Week class on Tues. Aug. 18 about Asherah, an ancient deity figure whose symbol was a tree.

The Book of Mormon tells of a vision received by Lehi and later by his son Nephi. The central image of the vision was a tree of life. "The beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow," Nephi wrote in his account (1 Nephi 11:8).

Nephi asked the Spirit for the interpretation. "We expect the Spirit to answer Nephi's question. But the response to Nephi's question is really surprising," Peterson said.

Read the full story on MormonTimes.com.