30/06/2024
CREATION IN MESOAMERICA AND THE ANCIENT ISRAEL.
The Book of Mormon claims that the ancient inhabitants of America had an in-depth knowledge of the creation of the earth as recorded in the scriptures of Moses (1 Nephi 5:10-11; Mosiah 28:17; Ether 1:1-4). The Book of Mormon further claims that these ancient scriptures were hidden in a hill called Cumorah (Mormon 6:6;
8:14). Various aspects of the creation as taught in the scriptures are strikingly similar to Native American beliefs.
Some remarkably close similarities to Latter-day Saint scripture are found in Native American histor-For example, the Popol Vuh, written by an Indian at Chichicastenango, Guatemala between the years 1554 and 1558 AD, contains many remarkable parallels to the Book of Mormon. For those who would assume that the writers of the Popol Vuh were influenced by the Spanish priests, note that many of the creation concepts of the Popol Vuh are closer to the Latter-day Saint understanding of the creation than that of the Catholics.
The Quiché-Mayan author claimed that there was a prevalent tradition among his people that his distant ancestors had at one time possessed a sacred book, written in hieroglyphics which was hidden, so he wrote his manuscript to replace that lost book. It was discovered in 1600 AD by Father Francisco Ximenez, a Catholic priest who officiated in the St. Tomas church at Chichicastenango. Ximenez obtained the manuscript from the Quiché-Maya Indians for the purpose of translating it from Quiché into Spanish. After his work was completed, Father Ximenez's translation of the Indian document remained in manuscript form for approximately two hundred fifty years before it was discovered and published in the Spanish language. It was not until 1950, that Delia Goetz and Sylvanus G. Morley translated it in English.
Of this, work Dr. Morley said: "This manuscript is, without doubt, the most vigorous, literary significant effort achieved by the American Indian in the field of mythology and history." (Goetz and Morley, Popol Vuh, The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiche-Maya, University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, Oklahoma, 1950], p. 75; cited by Milton R. Hunter, in Conference Report, [April 1955], p.105.)
Some of these striking similarities between the Popol Vuh and the scriptural accounts (including the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Pearl of Great Price) are listed below from Goetz and Morley, Popol Vuh, pp. 77-84, and 165-169; cited in Franklin S. Harris, Jr., The Book of Mormon: Messages and Evidences, (1961), pp. 76-78; and Hunter and Ferguson, Ancient America and the Book of Mormon (1950),
I have put together this series of parallels for you that I am sure you will enjoy very much!
