Challenging Issues, Keeping the Faith: Challenging Issues, Keeping the Faith: A better methodology

This doesn’t mean we have to rule out the possibility that the Book of Mormon can be found in ancient America, but the methodology is weaker than that employed by a new generation of LDS scholars. As Brant Gardner has often explained, a superior methodology is to look for “Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon.” Gardner’s six-volume set, "Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon," is currently the best published material that encapsulates this more rigorous approach.

As Gardner explains, the second approach is superior because it examines the “text for evidence that the Mesoamerican cultures, concerns and developmental trends are reflected in the Book of Mormon text” (1:4).

This approach not only affords some interesting evidences that the Book of Mormon is an ancient New World text, but helps illuminate several Book of Mormon passages in fascinating and exciting ways.

Michael R. Ash is on the management team for FAIR (the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research FAIRLDS.org) and is the author of "Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One's Testimony In the Face of Criticism and Doubt" (ShakenFaithSyndrome.com) and "Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith" (OfFaithandReason.com). Michael's column, "Challenging Issues, Keeping the Faith," appears Mondays on MormonTimes.com.