Daniel Johnson's Blog, page 8

The latest book news.

While things have currently been quiet in the area of firesides, Daniel has been working on updating chapters on what we hope to be our book on the Yucatán. We haven't heard much from our publisher lately, so he has been contacting them to find out just how things are going. Specifically, we are trying to convince them that publishing An LDS Guide to the Yucatán would be a worthwhile endeavor, especially if it came out in 2012. The current sales numbers we have from them state that over 2700 copies of our book have been sold. We know it has actually been more than that, because Daniel has purchased many boxes to sell at events he has attended, and those don't count toward sales. These numbers look good to us, but we don't really know how they look to professionals in the book publishing industry. Cedar Fort and some LDS bookstores have been offering drastically reduced prices on our book recently, so if you still haven't picked up your copy of An LDS Guide to Mesoamerica, now might be the time.

Some original Yucatán chapters have been revised already, and we are pleased to be able to offer a PDF of our chapter on Chichén Itzá. It is perhaps the best known ancient site in Mexico, and probably the most visited. The Book of Mormon comparisons from this site include Quetzalcoatl, Human Sacrifice, Bearded Toltecs, Warfare, the Underworld, Metal Weapons and Tools, Rule by Councils and Judges, Indigenous Horses, Plates of Gold, and Writing of Unknown Origin. This should be an interesting read, so please read it and let us know what you think. Chichén has been in the news lately because, much to our amazement, new excavation work has been done there since we last visited and  earlier structures have been found under the plaza around the Pyramid of Kukulcan. Also in the works is a new museum dedicated to ancient Maya culture of the area and officials are planning to feature some gold plates found at the Sacred Cenote. It just goes to show that there is always some new mystery to uncover here.

Click here to download the PDF.
Website for Cedar Fort, our publisher

Article on metal plates up at the BMAF website

The Book of Mormon Archaeological Foundation has published Daniel's latest article on ancient metal plates. Originally, he was asked by a representative of the BMAF to write an article responding to the announcement a few months ago of various ancient books or codices made from bound lead plates that were supposedly discovered in Jordan.

This seemed like a fascinating find, but the more he looked into it, the more suspicious these artifacts became. Most experts denounced them on many grounds and while there is no final word on the matter, it does appear that they are probably modern forgeries. But if they are, it means that the idea of ancient metal books is now widely supported. Daniel's article also includes many examples of non-controversial genuine ancient plates, mainly from the Mediterranean area, made from gold and other precious metals.

Click here to read Daniel's article on the BMAF website.
Click here to download a multi-page, formatted PDF of the article.

Successful Chilean fireside

Daniel had been contacted by a bishop in Chile about doing an online fireside for his ward in Chile. They worked out the details and set a date, but it was postponed due to a funeral that same evening. Luckily, the event was rescheduled for last month and completed using a video call through Skype.

The fireside was held on Sunday 29 May. Daniel had to rush home after church because of the time difference. A few technical glitches later and everything was up and running. For about an hour, Daniel used a webcam and microphone to give our latest presentation in Spanish. On the other side of the connection was the El Libertador ward in Chillán, Chile. Attendees could watch Daniel on a laptop and see the presentation projected up on a wall. The fireside was organized and presided over by Álvaro Rodrigo, Figueroa Zapata, bishop of the ward. We are told that all who attended had a good time and learned a lot about archaeology and the Book of Mormon. According to Bishop Figueroa, there aren't many Spanish resources for this kind of information on Book of Mormon scholarship.

We are pleased that information from our book and studies are being appreciated in other parts of the world. Bishop Figueroa has translated some of Daniel's BMAF presentation and other papers into Spanish on his own blog. We have also become aware of a blog that has translated this content into Portuguese. Maybe one day we will be able to actually travel to these countries to meet members and give presentations in person there.

Visit the El Libertador ward's Facebook page.

Another fireside down and content on Deseret News

Jared and Daniel gave their fireside in Santa Rosa, CA on the first of May. At first, it seemed that not many were going to show up, but before long, more people arrived and kept arriving, so that several more rows of chairs had to be set out to accommodate them all. It had been a while since Jared and Daniel had been able to give a fireside together, so they had a great time and wish to thank those responsible for organizing this event.

Those attending enjoyed it and many stayed afterward to ask about the book and talk about what we had discussed. We are always interested in giving more firesides, so anyone who would like to put on a fireside or other presentation can get in touch with any of the authors to plan the event. Daniel is still interested in doing firesides in Spanish. It looks like his online fireside to Chile is being rescheduled for later this month.

The last post mentioned Daniel's article for Mormon Times about Maya gold plates from Chichén Itzá. That article was also picked up by the Deseret News website and appears on there as well. For a while, there was a link to it on the homepage. The article has received many comments, both positive and negative. Some see it as nothing but PR spin for the Book of Mormon; others see it as important evidence to be considered. Many of the comments touched more on the authenticity of Mormon scripture and why it is important. The information has been shared before, but we are pleased to share it again with a wider audience.

Mormon Times has also completed a review of An LDS Guide to Mesoamerica in its book reviews section. Our book was reviewed by Jarrod Hiatt, who gives a concise overview and says many positive things about it, writing that it is a compelling read for anyone traveling to or interested in Mesoamerica.

Click here to read Daniel's article on gold plates at Deseret News.
Click here to read the Mormon Times review of our book.

Fireside updates and an article on MormonTimes.com

Sadly, the Chilean fireside was canceled at the last minute. Daniel got a message last Sunday from their bishop that a member of that ward had died and the chapel would be used for funeral services. They are still anxiously looking forward to having it, so plans are underway to do it later this month.

Our fireside in Santa Rosa today is still going on, so please stop by the Yulupa chapel if you are in the area and have time, starting at 7:00 this evening. It has been a while since both Daniel and Jared presented one together, so it should be a good time.

In other news, MormonTimes has published an article written by Daniel. It was adapted from his paper and presentation on gold plates in Mesoamerica, so there is nothing really new there, but we are excited to have something on the MormonTimes website and share our findings with a wider audience. Hopefully, this will be the first of many.

Click here to read Daniel's article on MormonTimes.com.

New firesides coming up and Brazilian fans

A lot has been going on behind the scenes these days. Daniel is putting the final touches on his fireside for the ward in Chile. He has done them in Spanish before, but this time, it will also be done over the Internet, using Skype to video-conference. It's scheduled for this Sunday afternoon. Bishop Alvaro Figueroa is our contact in Chile, and he is putting it together. Absent any technical difficulties that could understandably arise, we are looking forward to this one.

In other South American news, we have been sent a site that has the Metals and Gold Plates online presentation translated into Portuguese. Like the Spanish one, this was a surprise to us, but we are always pleased with more opportunities to share our research and the book.

Closer to home, Daniel and Jared have a fireside on Sunday, the 1st of May. It will be at 7:00 pm at the Yulupa chapel in Santa Rosa, CA.

Ancient lead plates from Jordan...or not

The lead books have between 5-15 pagesStarting near the end of last month, news sites carried articles about the discovery of a group of ancient codices, or books of lead plates now in Israel, but possibly found in Jordan. Among LDS circles, mailing lists sent out notices of this fantastic find. The claim was that they were Christian writings from the first century AD, the earliest ever found. Since Daniel has written and lectured about various examples of authentic metal plates from antiquity, the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum asked him to write a review on these plates, which was sent out to their members on 1 April (maybe not the best choice of dates).

Some are about the size of a credit cardThis does seem to be exciting news and the few photos that have surfaced on the web look convincing, at least to non-experts. But as Daniel researched the topic further, more doubts and questions appeared. Most experts are claiming them to be outright hoaxes, or at least, taking a very cautious position on the plates. Daniel's initial review sent out by the BMAF was quite positive, but he began to have concerns, so he wrote a follow-up article, which was sent out a few days later. He also performed a computer graphics analysis of some images on the plates. The second BMAF newsletter sent out shows that even though we hope they are real, there may be good reason to be skeptical. You can read Daniel's comments and see his visual analysis below:

Recently, an announcement was sent out about a collection of supposedly ancient lead codices from the Middle East. They are being considered seriously by some as authentic ancient artifacts from that region, but they may be a clever forgery instead. The books have pages that are engraved with what appear to be simple images of Jewish and Christian iconography, as well as coded Hebrew writing that could be messianic in nature, according to those behind this announcement. However, only a handful of phrases have been 'translated' and few released photos show much actual text.

Beyond this tantalizing bit of information, however, many of the details and backstory of this discovery are questionable. The most popular news reports claim that they date to the first century of the Christian era, making them almost 2000 years old. Jewish supporters associate them with the Kabbalah, while New Testament enthusiasts believe these codices contain the earliest know examples of Christian literature. It is also possible that they are genuine, but date to a much later era.
But as more details become available, doubts and inconsistencies arise. More recent photos show various sizes of books, much larger than the initial credit card-size. Some reports list 70 codices found, others as few as 20. And the legal issue remains: were the books found only a few years ago in Jordan, or have they been passed down in an Israeli family for a century? The fact that many reports came out around the 1st of April added to the speculation that the whole incident was a hoax. As an example, one website had a quote from Jordanian expert Aloof Lirpah (read the name backwards).
Perhaps the most damaging evidence against the plates' authenticity lies with their most vocal advocate, British scholar and author David Elkington, who spoke about them on the radio show Coast to Coast on 2 April. He has other such finds in his possession, including what purport to be ancient bronze plates from the same region. However, because of typos in the ancient Greek text they contain, they have been unequivocally denounced as fake by experts. Even worse, one of these bronze plates contains a palm tree image that very closely matches up with a palm tree motif on one of the lead plates, leading to the almost inescapable conclusion that they were cast from the same mold. If this one lead plate is a modern creation, are all the rest fakes as well? Not necessarily, but this is a strong mark against them. More seasoned and experienced experts are now taking sides against the plates.
On the overlay, the lighter background is the lead plate; the dark lines are the bronze plate.Extreme caution is warranted, and only time will tell what the truth is behind these enigmatic artifacts. The Dead Sea Scrolls' authenticity was doubted at first, and we could be looking at a similar situation with the lead codices. It is also very possible that they could be another in a continuing line of modern forgeries. That would be disappointing, but we are in no worse position for recognizing and accepting the truth. The validation of the lead codices as genuine artifacts would be encouraging for Book of Mormon supporters, but if they do turn out to be fakes, other legitimate examples of ancient records are widely known and accepted. Even if they are faked, what were those responsible trying to copy? Forgeries are usually patterned after known items. The very fact that hoaxers unconcerned with LDS issues might be creating these kinds of relics demonstrates a greater acceptance of ancient metal plates.

Click here for information on David Elkington, the British author at the center of this controversy.
Click here for Hebrew scholar Daniel McClellan's excellent page on the plates and their linguistic errors.

Some bad news and some good news

First the bad news: it appears that our book did not win the LDS Reader poll at Goodreads. Spencer W. Kimball's Faith Precedes the Miracle won out. Well, being beaten by Pres. Kimball is not too bad. For the good news, Daniel was contacted recently by some interested LDS bishops from Chile, Israel González and Alvaro Figueroa.

They have a blog in Spanish for Book of Mormon evidences. Click here to view it. Somehow, they found Daniel's online presentation about metals and gold plates in Mesoamerica and created a Spanish version of it as a post in their blog. Daniel has been in contact with them, sharing ideas. It appears that there is not much information like this available for the Spanish-speaking world, so we are excited to help Israel and Alvaro in their goal to share these findings.

To do so, Alvaro had an interesting suggestion for Daniel. He is the bishop of the Libertador ward in the Chillán stake. He would like Daniel to give a fireside to his stake next month. No, he won't provide airfare to Chile; his plan is for Daniel to do an online presentation using Skype and a webcam for a fireside that would be projected onto a screen at a chapel in Chile. Until that time, Daniel and Alvaro are communicating back and forth to figure out the technical details to make this happen. We will let you know how it turns out. This is an exciting opportunity to share our research with another part of the world.

Click here to see their post on gold plates with images and content translated from Daniel's BMAF presentation.

The first presentations of the year

We have finally been able to confirm some new dates for firesides and presentations. This Wednesday the 16th, Daniel will be giving the lunchtime discussion at the LDS Institute at Santa Rosa Junior College. It starts at noon and will run for almost an hour.

Next Sunday on 20 March, Daniel and Jared will be giving their latest multimedia presentation as part of a missionary activity. It will be held at the Petaluma chapel at 7:00 in the evening. The president of the Santa Rosa Mission will also be speaking. This looks to be an interesting event. If you are in the area and have some time on either of those days, we invite you to come by.

Derek and Daniel are working on some events in Utah in the next month or so. We will keep you posted when we have more information.

Vote for our book in an online poll

Daniel is a member of Goodreads.com, a site for authors and people who love to read. There are several groups of LDS readers that share their thoughts on the books they are reading. One group takes a poll of books to read and review each month, both doctrinal and fictional. Our book has been included in the doctrinal/non-fiction group to read for March. If you enjoy reading and are always looking for something else good to read, this is a good site to join. If you join, you can search books, see what people are reading, get reviews, and leave reviews on books you have read. We hope you join and leave a good review for our book and vote for it in the poll.

Click here to view the poll
Click here to see Daniel's author page on Goodreads.com