Informed Saints

Did Joseph Smith ever reveal where the Book of Mormon took place? The very first missionaries told reporters that Lehi landed in Chile, and that the Nephites' final battle ran all the way from Panama to New York. So where did that picture come from, and has the question ever been settled by revelation? Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot sit down with Matt Roper, veteran Book of Mormon researcher at Scripture Central (formerly with FARMS and BYU's Maxwell Institute). Together they trace nearly two centuries of what prophets, apostles, missionaries, and members have said about Book of Mormon geography. The conversation draws on Matt's article "Limited Geography and the Book of Mormon: Historical Antecedents and Early Interpretations," published in The FARMS Review (2004). Whether you lean Heartland, Mesoamerica, or haven't picked a map at all, this is the shared history behind every model. ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye Further Readings: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/book-of-mormon-geography https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1637&context=msr&fbclid=IwY2xjaw https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1821&context=msr&fbclid=IwY2xjaw https://cdn.interpreterfoundation.org/jnlpdf/roper-v16-2015-pp161-205-PDF.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjaw https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/06/a-review-of-the-annotated-edition-of-the-book-of-mormon-part-3a.html?fbclid=IwY2xjaw https://scripturecentral.org/archive/periodicals/magazine-article/editorial-thoughts-book-mormon-geography https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book/geography-book-mormon-events-source-book?fbclid=IwY2xjaw https://archive.org/details/brighamyounguniv00wilk/page/160/mode/2up https://scripturecentral.org/knowhy/why-did-the-lord-command-the-three-witnesses-to-rely-upon-his-word https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1525&context=jbms&fbclid=IwY2xjaw https://cdn.interpreterfoundation.org/jnlpdf/roperetal-v17-2016-pp13-61-PDF.pdf https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/zarahemla-revisted-nevilles-newest-novel If you love digging into the history and evidence behind the Book of Mormon, subscribe and join us for the next episode. Study deeply, believe boldly. <...

Was Quetzalcoatl really Jesus Christ? Is the famous "Lehi Stone" actually a carving of Lehi's tree of life? And if the Book of Mormon is true, why hasn't DNA found the Nephites? A Mesoamerican historian who believes the Book of Mormon takes on the myths that never seem to die. In this episode, Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot sit down with Dr. Mark Christensen, professor of history at Brigham Young University and a specialist in Nahuatl and Yucatec Maya, for a preview of his upcoming presentation at the Book of Mormon Culture Conference this November in Provo, Utah. His case: the Book of Mormon doesn't need our help being true — but it does deserve careful, responsible scholarship. Book of Mormon Culture Conference (November 2026, Provo, Utah): https://register.bomal.org/ ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye Mark's previous conference talk on Nahua annals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSz4qku3CvA Our episode on Meso America : https://youtu.be/lHEAG87wh9Y John E. Clark, "A New Artistic Rendering of Izapa Stela 5" (Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 1999): https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol8/iss1/6 Dallin H Oaks Talk on Book of Mormon Historicity https://rsc.byu.edu/historicity-latter-day-saint-scriptures/historicity-book-mormon 0:00 Debunking Meso myths - Mark Christensen 4:34 Self-imposed assumptions 9:50 Meso model helps w/ BoM understanding 12:50 Quetzalcoatl issues 18:18 Christ-figure evidence? Other Gods? 22:45 What Nephite & Lamanite mean? 26:06 Small evidences from texts 33:45 Misinterpretations? 37:30 Why Bro Christensen believes the BoM We unpack: • Why the DNA objection assumes an empty hemisphere — and what migration across Beringia 16,000 years ago means for Book of Mormon peoples • Genetic drift, bottlenecks, and a drop of food coloring in a swimming pool • Flipping the question: not "Where is the Old World in the New?" but "How did the New World shape the Nephites?" • Why Mesoamerica checks the boxes: population density, writing, permanent architecture, social stratification, and intensive agriculture • Quetzalcoatl (Kukulkan), the feathered serpent — and how the "white bearded god" legend took shape in 16th-century Spanish mission schools before becoming Cortés, St. Thomas, and finally Christ • Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews and Quetzalcoatl as Moses • Burned records, humidity, and temples built over temples — and why the Nephites feared losing their records too • No "Maya empire": rival city-states, local creation stories, and the Popol Vuh's hero twins • What "Nephite" and "Lamanite" really mean — 2 Nephi 5, Jacob 1, plural marriage in Jacob 2, and "many of them are our brethren" (Alma 31:35) • Nahua annals and the Book of Mormon's year-by-year "and it came to pass" entries • Izapa Stela 5: what John E. Clark's 1999 drawing revealed — bloodletting, the wind god Ehecatl, and a celestial caiman where "12 roots" were once seen • World trees in Mesoamerica and the ancient Near East, and how Lehi's tree of life fits an Old World setting • Why Mark still believes the Book of Mormon Subscribe to Informed Saints for faithful scholarship on scripture, history, and the ancient world. Study deeply, believe boldly. Featuring Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye,...

We're diving into the top highlights and reveals of the October 2026 General Conference, including a surprising address from President Christofferson on the spiritual dangers of gambling. ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by: The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye https://ancientamerica.org/ ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #lds #mormon #livestream #churchofjesuschrist

Jesus told us to search Isaiah diligently—so why does it so often feel like a closed book? What if the passages that confuse us most are actually some of the most carefully crafted poetry in all of scripture? Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot sit down with Dr. Donald W. Parry—professor of Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls at BYU, a member of the international team of Dead Sea Scrolls translators since 1994, and one of the few scholars with his depth of expertise on the Great Isaiah Scroll (and Jasmin and Stephen's former Hebrew professor!). Drawing on his paper "Unlocking Isaiah's Closed Book," published in Steadfast in Defense of Faith: Essays in Honor of Daniel C. Peterson (Interpreter Foundation), and his new translation of Isaiah, Don walks through the three barriers that keep readers out of Isaiah—and the keys that let them in. A perfect companion for studying Isaiah in Come, Follow Me. ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye In this episode: • The 3 barriers to reading Isaiah: poetry, about 60 different speakers, and figures of speech • Hebrew parallelism 101—1,100+ examples in Isaiah (Isaiah 1:3; 65:14; 54:7) • Why Mark Twain mocked the Book of Mormon's repetition—and why it's great Hebrew • Plural amplification: why the Book of Mormon says "bloodsheds" • Lady Zion and the nursing mother (Isaiah 49:14–15) • Isaiah's rare rhymes: mishpat/mispach and tsedaqah/tse'aqah (Isaiah 5:7) • Gendered-noun patterns (Isaiah 43:16), "eat or be eaten" with the Hebrew verb 'akal (Isaiah 1:19–20), and the Lord as attorney and judge (rîb, Isaiah 3:13) • Chiasmus: 100+ in Isaiah (Isaiah 6:10; 60:1–3) and 300+ in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 4:33–35; 15:25) • Qumi ori ("arise, shine")—and a speculative thought on the name Cumorah • 44 figures of speech: "as scarlet… white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18), "Holy, holy, holy" (Isaiah 6:3), exclamations, metonymy, personification, and rhetorical questions • Prophetic past tense in Isaiah 53—and how Abinadi explains it (Mosiah 16:6) • Why Isaiah is a Jehovah-focused book: the divine name about 450 times and 200+ direct quotations • Joseph Smith's Hebrew studies with Joshua Seixas—and how to start learning biblical Hebrew yourself Go deeper with Don's work: → A New Translation of Isaiah: Based on Ancient Scrolls and Texts (FAIR): https://fairlatterdaysaints.org/store/product/a-new-translation-of-isaiah-based-on-ancient-scrolls-and-texts/ → "Unlocking Isaiah's Closed Book" (Interpreter Foundation): https://interpreterfoundation.org/reprint-unlocking-isaiahs-closed-book → Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon (Maxwell Institute): https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mi/61 → Learn biblical Hebrew with Don (textbook + online courses): https://hebrew.byu.edu → Jesus Christ in Scripture with Don Parry & Tammy Uzelac Hall: https://www.youtube.com/@JesusChristinScripture Study deeply, believe boldly. ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of...

Everyone knows where the Hill Cumorah is… right? Joseph Smith received the gold plates from a hill in upstate New York. But is that the same hill where Mormon hid the Nephite records and the Nephites made their last stand in Mormon 6? It's one of the most debated questions in Book of Mormon geography, and the history behind it may surprise you. In this episode of Informed Saints, Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot walk through what the Book of Mormon itself says about Cumorah, trace when the New York hill first came to be called by that name, and look at what the Church has officially said. Along the way they draw on the Joseph Smith Papers, the Church's "Book of Mormon Geography" statement, and the Hill Cumorah issue of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, including archaeologist John E. Clark's assessment of the site. Chapters: 0:00 The Hill Cumorah background 5:35 Is it in New York? 12:00 Assessing the sources 16:57 What’s from Joseph Smith? 21:21 David Whitmer sources 25:27 The Church’s position 28:00 What the BoM says? 35:15 Looking at the archeology 42:50 Another candidate in Mexico 47:00 Conclusion - Learning more ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye Further Readings: Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Hill Cumorah issue: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol13/iss1/ "Book of Mormon Geography," Gospel Topics: www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/book-of-mormon-geography Our Book of Mormon geography episode with Brant Gardner: https://youtu.be/lHEAG87wh9Y https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/hill-cumorah-site-guide/03-curators-notes https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book/introduction-study-book-mormon https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/MStar/id/27175/ https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/41 https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/the-cowdery-conundrum-olivers-aborted-attempt-to-describe-joseph-smiths-first-vision-in-1834-and-1835 https://bhroberts.org/records/pWTXhj-mc2Zjf/w_w_phelps_identifies_the_hill_cumorah_as_being_in_new_york https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/9 https://bookofmormonresources.blogspot.com/2016/10/ramahcumorah.html https://bhroberts.org/records/zrSENb-yN34Vd/heber_c_kimball_recounts_the_cumorah_cave