if the Smithsonian is involved... we will not get a fair hearing

I really love your videos, you cover such interesting topics and discoveries! I disagree with your take on this one, though. Your concern about members outright dismissing the book of Deuteronomy because of arguments that it’s “corrupt” is something I’ve never heard anyone say, so, I’m not emotionally invested in this topic. I get why you’d be concerned if that’s indeed what you perceive to be a growing trend. I just read this scripture right now and it reminded me of this video, so I’m putting it out there as evidence of what seems like purposeful editing-out by ancient scribes. As we all know, our current media and government is full of manipulative actors who report on things that aren’t INNACURATE, per se, but it’s the things they conveniently leave out that tell the real story. “And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught *and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write*, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men-among as many as shall believe.” Moses 1:41

Umm, who are you? Did Joseph not say we believe in the Bible as it is translated correctly? You are way off base, brother, and you need to do some research. These so-called influencers have Ph. D.s in scripture and very strong testimonies. Do you read Hebrew? Do you read Greek? The adversary has got you twisted around, but you can overcome this easily.

IN MY OPINION, The Old Testament is incomplete- and needs the New Testament. The Bible is incomplete - and needs The Book of Mormon. Even being the most perfect book, The Book of Mormon is incomplete, needing The Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Greatt Price. And all those books of scripture are incomplete - needing continuous revelation through prophets, seers, and revelators.

Keep up the good work!!! I don't necessarily agree with everything you are bringing up.....I don't disagree either. I think it is a fun conversation to have and I appreciate you bringing it to light. Keep up the good work and hopefully we will see more videos from you soon.

I've been diving into the topic for a few months but feel like I've only scratched the surface. Currently I'm reading a BYU article called: THE DEUTERONOMIST DE-CHRISTIANIZING OF THE OLD TESTAMENT by Kevin Christensen. I've found it to make some compelling points, but the reason the Deuteronomist theory resonates with me is it would explain some of the cultural and religious attitudes the Ishmaelites, Zoramites, and Lamanites evidently have based on the subtext of the book, but also why Laman and Lemuel were so resistant to Lehi's instructions. I think there is also a contemporary angle on all of this. Some members of the church falsely believe going through the motions and worshiping ordinance participation, rather than a real and living testimony of the Savior. They think going through the motions and paying lip service will get them into a Heaven full of mansions and luxuries, the things their hearts are truly set on. I've sat through countless Fast and Testimony meetings where Testimonies are given on "living the gospel" with no real explanation of what that means, rather than testimonies of people who have leaned on Christ and his Atonement. These same members bear testimony online, have written books and some have even been Bishops and Stake Presidents, but their agency to ignore a deeper testimony doesn't negate the truth of the restoration or the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think that the prophets in the time of the OT were true prophets of God, but we have millennia where language has changed and evolved, where context has been obstructed and some important details never recorded or simply lost. The idea that like many old documents things were intentionally changed seems very plausible to me, and if proven true could add a deeper layer of appreciation for what we do have in the scriptures that is true. In a way it might force us to look harder and drink deeper.

Has the Y-Chromosome proven to be uniquely Elohim? Or is it a Y-Chromosome already commonly on Earth? Is the Mitochondria of the House of David?

1 Nephi 13:24-25 says that when the Bible went forth from the Jews, it went forth "in purity" unto the Gentiles. How do fans of the Deuteronomist theory explain the Book of Mormon's vouching for the purity of the Old Testament when it was written by the Jews? Nobody is saying that there can't have been errors, but 1 Nephi 13:25 seems to exclude the idea that the Old Testament is corrupt or that much of it was written by evil liars.

8:40 So if claimed: "They go forth in PURITY", and they have embellishments, quoted by the BofM & Jesus, then the BofM & Jesus are embellishments! There is such embellishments.

I don't think the people in question are calling the Old Testament as a whole corrupt. Just certain portions that are questionable. Are we really believe that the people who kept these texts over centuries of time kept them perfect? They did not edit out things that bugged them? The keepers of these text where the most honorable and upstanding people of those days? Where is Jesus Christ in the Old Testament outside of a few whispers. The Book of Mormon is saturated about Jesus Christ before Jesus was born. I don't see these arguments necessarily as a attack on the Old Testament being corrupted as much as declaring that while there is a lot of good in the Old Testament, there is a whole lot missing.

I think there's a lot more research you should do on this first. Some questions: 1) Why doesn't the BoM speak in types and symbols like the OT? 2) Why do Jesus, Lehi, Abinadi, Helaman and Paul all reference missing OT prophets and prophecies? 3) The scribes of Christs day were absolutely deuteronomists, the resesrch on this is clear. And Jesus absolutely condemned the scribes' motives. Why save His harshes criticism for scribes? 4) Why did Jeremiah, Amos and Isaiah all write about the scribes redacting their prophecies? 5) Why did the Jews mistake the Messiah? 6) Why didnt the Jees know the time of Christs birth but the Nephites and the wisemen did? 7) Why did Joseph Smith spend 99% of his substantive changes to the Bible (JST) exclusively on correcting the Old Testament? 8) Why have a Book of Mormon at all? Unless the OT is corrupted, why do we need a preservation of old scripture? 9) Why wasnt Deuteronomy on the brass plates? 10) Why wasnt 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings or Judges on the brass plates? 11) Why does the OT mention Satan 1/100th as frequently as the BoM does? 12) Why does the OT get the Creation wrong? 13) Why does the OT get the Fall wrong? 14) Why does the OT get the Expulsion wrong? 15) Why does Jude, John, Paul and even Jesus mention the Book of Enoch but the OT omits it? 16) Why didnt JS say the Bible is the Word of God Period.? Why caveat it? 17) Why did JS say he believed in the Bible as it was written originally? Why not just say he believes it period? 18) Why does the BoM contained prophecies from Joseph of Egypt but Genesis doesn't? 19) Why does the BoM contain prophecies from Jacob but Genesis doesnt? 20) Where are Noah's Messianic prophecies that the BoM says should jave been there? 21) Where are Adam's Messianic prophecies that the BoM says should be there? 22) Where are Abraham's Messianic prophecies? 23) Where are Isaac's Messianic prophecies? 24) Where are Jacob's? 25) Where are Shem's? 26) Where are Jonah's? 27) Where are Oded's? Every prophet before Lehi should have Messianic prophecies...yet they dont. 28) Where's the book of Zenos? 29) Where's the Book of Zenoch? 30) Where's the Book of Neum? 31) Why a need for the Book of Mormon at all?

Great video, one thought that came to mind was the Song of Solomon, which JS said was uninspired writing, so there is one example of something not pure that got in. Thanks for the thoughtful video, it was nice to offer some counter arguments in a respectful way.

Hey brother, to be clear, these guys talking about the deutoronimists aren’t saying that the OT isn’t scripture. But as LDS we don’t believe in the inerrancy of scripture as you well know. So we are free to explore the scriptures with our eyes wide open. Have you ever read about the documentary hypothesis? It’s so compelling that you can’t unsee it once you’ve noticed it. It’s ok to know that these ancient documents are written by sometimes opposed nations like the kidgom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. It doesn’t take away from the wisdom found in the OT. I highly recommend Who Wrote the Bible by Richard Elliot Friedman.

When quoting the 8th Article of Faith, bear in mind that it was written by Joseph Smith, and he had a long, consistent history of using the word "translate" expansively. There are plenty of examples of him speaking of the "translation" of ancient works in ways that we, today, would use the word "preservation" instead. To him, it seems, the two concepts were one and the same. So, we believe the Bible to be the word of God, _as far as it has been preserved intact and translated correctly._ This does not conflict with the notion that the Biblical texts were not preserved intact in OT times.

The JST and Pearl of Great Price (and Isaiah) seem to differ with the view expressed in this video. Joseph did far more than correct the translation of the Old Testament. The JST often inserts whole verses and passages. I'm sorry. I just don't see a reason to reject the idea of a Jewish apostasy contemporary to Lehi's day which the Book of Mormon affirms. The word "Theory" does not give proper credance. There is mounting evidence of the Deuteronomist Reformation under King Josiah in a time shown by historians to be just prior to Lehi. It is no wonder that such an apostasy would have led to the destruction of Jerusalem Interesting take though.

Thanks for testifying about this

I guess I'm misunderstanding your motivation for this, I think you and I would agree the main narrative in the BofM happened in No. America, and the BofM is restoring plain and precious truths along with the Book of Moses and the rest of the Pearl of Great Price etc. As the BofM states all prophets testified of Jesus, so why is he so hidden in the Old Testament? I think what is left of the Old Testament can be true while still wondering why it does not more explicitly testify of the Savior?

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My habit is not to take a firm stance on things until I've seen significant evidence for one side of the argument. With that in mind, I take this idea about the Deuteronomists with a grain of salt. Still, I feel that a more compelling argument than this would be needed to refute it. At face value, I can see how the cited scriptures support your position, but it would not be a stretch to interpret them differently. The word "translated" in the 8th Article of Faith is of particular concern, given our understanding of how Joseph Smith used the term. Simply put, translation is a revelatory process which may not necessarily include a word for word change from one language into another. In fact, some argue that the translation of The Book of Mormon included significant expansion of the original text in order to preserve and better convey the spirit of the message therein. Taken from this perspective, an error in translation could be far more significant than mistaking one word for another. As far as the acceptance of the Old Testament as a whole, I would argue that the church's stance is actually quite nuanced. Joseph Smith, for example, was clear in his statement that The Song of Solomon is not inspired scripture. Additionally, he claimed that it would be beneficial to study extra-biblical or apocryphal texts. I believe the strongest support for the Deuteronomist theory comes from an interplay between the known removal of "plain and precious things," explicit teachings of Christ in The Book of Mormon considered by many to be anachronistic to BC writings, and the apocryphal works which counter that argument. These are difficult to reconcile with a hard stance on the integrity of the Old Testament. Knowing that the Reformation and the founding of the Roman Catholic Church involved major changes to what is considered canonical, along with our understanding of cyclical mass apostacies and restorations in each dispensation, we should fully expect to see evidence of major omissions an consequential revisions of scripture throughout the ages. As far as Christ's use of Deuteronomy in His ministry, it should be noted that supporters of this theory do not endeavor to toss out the book in its entirety. It is thought to be corrupted scripture, not fabricated. It should also be noted that Christ's greatest criticism of the Pharisees and scribes was that of hypocrisy. What better way to prove that than to use their own corrupted scripture to condemn them? In short, I don't believe we have the scriptural basis to reject this theory entirely. We must consider all the facts on either side and reserve our final opinion until sufficient research has been done. Even then, this theory, right or wrong, should not affect our personal striving towards Christ in any significant way unless specific guidance is given by those who are authorized to do so.

I don't take an absolute stand on the issue. I do believe it is an interesting theory and, with all due respect, did not find your argument against it convincing. You make the claim that this is just some theory a few "content creators." But Margaret Barker has been visiting with academics and speaking at BYU since around 2000. They welcome her in gladly. They see in her work interesting notions that fit into our faith. I personally question her work on the divine feminine because I am curious to know if there is a feminist desire for that or if she is on the level. But she makes very good points that should be fleshed out. I like the book of Deuteronomy. But we are in the pursuit of truth. Is it possible there was shenanigans going on? Yep. Could the reforms have been bad? Yep. You seem to forget that apostasy is every present in our history. If we were able to end up with the Trinity...why is it not possible that the temple and scripture were corrupted? I think it is premature to outright reject this Deuteronomist Theory.

Lol unsubscribing. It's all detailed in the Old Testament when things went south, and it's the exact same time that Lehi was there. Hilkiah the high priest "finds" a "lost" book of Scripture in the Temple and brings it to King Josiah, who then reads it and rents his garments and freaks out because it says they've been wicked and worshipping God wrong, and they end up changing everything because this new Scripture says if they don't, then Jerusalem will be destroyed, so they overhaul everything, they kill and burn Lehi's priest contemporaries that were worshipping as they had since Abraham on their own altars, and they're content that now Jerusalem won't be destroyed. Then Lehi is given a book to read by the Lord that says the exact opposite, and that if they keep doing what they're *now* doing with all the incorrect reforms to God and the Temple that ripped out the brass serpent on a pole that Moses made that resided in the Temple, they ripped out the Menorah from the Holy of Holies and put it where it didn't belong in the 2nd room in the Temple, all these things that Hilkiah through King Josiah rammed through, that now ended up making the God of Abraham this mysterious Great Spirit that they still worship in Judaism and made God essentially unknowable and without parts or passions, that Jerusalem would be destroyed. Then Jerusalem is immediately destroyed. Hmm... Only 1 of them could be right about why, and King Josiah did *everything* that the "scriptures" they "found" in Hilkiah the High Priest's Temple renovation (that Hilkiah most likely wrote himself, to consolidate all spiritual power to him), so if he and this so called Scripture of his were real, Jerusalem wouldn't have been destroyed, and Lehi and Jeremiah and all the many other prophets the book of 1 Nephi says were called to preach repentance or Jerusalem would be destroyed *right after these big changes to the original religion of Abraham would have been super unnecessary, they were already repented it would seem so they would be spared. Lehi was called to preach repentance against these changes, the God of Abraham didn't change, and He didn't tell them to do any of these things, and after much preaching which they ignored, Jerusalem was destroyed as prophecied. The Book of Mormon is a witness from the side of history that got written out by the "victors" who wrote it. The Old Testament *is* Scripture, but go read Deuteronomy 13 lol, and then read 1 Nephi again. Laman and Lemuel only decide they want to kill their father once he tells them of his visions and dreams, they are not lazy slackers, they are Deuteronomist zealots lol. It never says they don't keep the law of Moses, and they are 100% obeying Deuteronomy 13 to the letter. Lehi is telling them of visions and dreams from a God that is very different to the once Hilkiah made up, and it says anyone who does that, including family members, are to be put to death. They got fully sucked in to the new spiritual revolution that they just witnessed. The Old Testament is scripture, but there is stuff in there that shouldn't be there. And, as for King Josiah, he murdered *so* many priests and made examples of them by burning them on their own altars. He killed all the old good priests who were simply following the old righteous religion of their fathers, the religion of Abraham. Abraham wouldn't recognize the new Judaism that Hilkiah invented for his own benefit, and Josiah committed so much murder in God's name, only to have Jerusalem be immediately destroyed despite all his efforts, and directly according to Lehi's prophecy of what would happen if they didn't undo all that Deuteronomist garage. Lehi and his story exposes their crimes and let's us know why Jerusalem was really destroyed. God brought their secret works of darkness to light. Anyway, the Old Testament is *mostly* true, but the Deuteronomist editing of pieces of it is directly the reason the Pharisees and scribes refused to recognize their Messiah, He had a body, He had a Father, He had parts and passions and was *very much* wanting to be known, and for people to know His Father. He was living proof that the council of multiple Gods that Abraham worshipped and that the Deuteronomists collapsed into 1 unknowable God outside of space and time was real and He was a direct threat to their consolidation of spiritual power, He was there to end their priestcrafts. And they couldn't have that it stand for it. Every part the Deuteronomists changed was directly related to why the children of Israel didn't recognize their Savior when He came. The Bible directly contradicts itself, the newer parts of the Old Testament go against the earlier parts. I don't know how you can't see this. Read through the JST when Moses got the tablets, it specifically mentions the Gospel and the Priesthood that they almost got, which they lost due to their wickedness, but that was edited out and restored through Joseph Smith. Heck, I mean, you say the Old Testament is flawless but if it was, we wouldn't have needed Joseph Smith to bring back the entire Book of Moses and the Book of Abraham separately in the Pearl of Great Price lol. They *used to be in the Old Testament* at one point. He was revealed those entire books that were removed a long time ago, and every JST verse brought back is a plain and precious truth that was specifically targeted for removal by someone who really didn't want their people to know that. Their replacements in the Bible are *just similar enough* to skate by, but nowhere near what the original meaning of the verse was. Now those all may or may not have been removed specifically by the Deuteronomists, but they do very specifically go against every single thing they believed and represent everything they hated and actually wanted to remove from the Old Testament, so 🤷🏻‍♂️. The Books of Moses and Abraham are *very clear* about things that they couldn't stand. Not even all of Deuteronomy was corrupted, as, as you mentioned, Jesus did quote from parts of it. But they completely changed the God of Abraham to what Judaism is today, and that only took very targeted, specific removals of key parts of Scripture, and if you look closely, they weren't perfect, they left their fingerprints here and there. I know the Old Testament is scripture, but the Book of Mormon is directly calling out the crimes against God that the Deuteronomists committed and it's written specifically to Jews, to let them know about the real God their fathers worshipped, and how He really dealt with them. So...

I’m open to the dueteronomist theory, but not married to it. I appreciate your straightforward rebuttal, I’m going to have to rethink this.

Thank you very much for this video. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who doubts the claims of these LDS influencers. When they undermine the Old testament and the Book of Deuteronomy, they undermine the Book of Mormon and scripture and Jesus Christ himself. And a lot of these brothers and sisters are also part of the cult that worships Heavenly Mother. For example, I read Dave Butler's book, In the Language of Adam. In that book, not only does he attack the integrity of the Old testament, but he manages to see or to read in references to Heavenly Mother or Ashera in almost everything he looks at. Now I have nothing against David Butler. I love him as a brother. But he doesn't possess priesthood keys to declare Doctrine or to interpret scripture. Thank you, brother, and keep up the good work.

I do think referenced of Christ were veiled but even in The Book of Mormon where there is deliberate testimony of Jesus Christ it still says “great are the words of Isaiah” as there is greater understanding to be had. We do know there was absolutely scribal updating, there are a number of examples of this but my favorite to point to is Ur of Chaldea. This is Urcashdin or Urkesh: Urcashdin used for Chaldean, is referring to Urkesh. Ur of the Chaldeans. (Acts 7:4) Urkesh BECAME the Land of the Chaldeans because they were located there in the 8th century BC when the text is updated/made/copied. It would be an inacorism because the Chaldeans were not around at the time of Abraham. And we do have historical synchronization for Abraham’s father being a ruler in Urkesh and becoming a “tent dweller.” Recognizing this context adds to the authenticity of revealed scripture and allows us to historically and contextually see the patriarchs. We see what scripture says, we see what scholars say, this helps us discern how the Lord works yesterday and today and reveals how the world distorts our view to be blind of the things of God.

X2c Brazilian

This all makes very good sense. Thank you.

Great insight. Thanks for all of your hard work and rationale approach.

The more I read the scriptures, the more I believe the Land Southward is the Land Bountiful, and the Land Northward is the Land Desolation. Between the Land Northward and Southward is the Narrow Neck or Narrow passage. I feel the best fit is Michigan for Land Desolation and Iowa/Ohio for Land Bountiful. In Mormon 2, the Lamanites control all the land Southward (Bountiful) and the Nephites control all the land Northward. What is dividing these lands, the great lakes. This would be a great defensive position for the Nephites. I don't believe the Buffalo area is thee Narrow Neck because the line between the Land Northward and Land Southward ran east to the west sea (Alma 22). Buffalo line runs North to south. When they are talking about the South countries, I don't think that is talking about the Land Bountiful but many countries south of Cumorah. There is a Shawnee account of Ancient whites fleeing south and crossing the Ohio to Sand Island. The ancestors of the Shawnee caught up with them on Sand Island and exterminated all.

Yes I believe that the Lamanites and Nephites had a great battle around the hill Camora and if you believe that Moroni and Mormon would travel from south America to New York aria to hide the plates is ridiculous. I believe that the Indian civilization have stories that connect these people to the battles in the Book of Mormon.

You are so awesome! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you and your channel. You are helping me and many others understand our faith better. Thank you!

This coincides with the book “The History of Kentucky” where the remainder of the nephites fled south from Cumorah. “It is related upon good authority that Col. James Moore, of Kentucky, was told by an old Indian, that the primitive inhabitants of this State had perished in a war of ex-termination waged against them by the Indians; that the last great battle was fought at the falls of the Ohio, and that the Indians succeeded in driving the Aborigines into a small island below the rapids, where the whole of them were cut to pieces.” This the Indian said was an undoubted fact handed down by tradition, and that the Colonel would have proofs of it under his eyes as soon as the waters of the Ohio became low. When the waters of the river had fallen, an examination of Sandy Island was made, and a multitude of human bones was discovered.” There is a similar confirmation by the Chief Tobacco, in a conversation with Gen. Clarke. It is said that the Indian Chief Cornstalk told substantially the same story to Col. McKee. The Chief said that Ohio and Kentucky had once been settled by a white people who were familiar with arts of which the Indians knew nothing; that these whites, after a series of bloody con-tests with the Indians, had been exterminated; that the old burial places were the graves of an unknown people, and that the old forts had not been built by Indians, but had come down from ” very long ago ” people, who were of a white complexion, and skilled in the arts. “ kentuckygenealogy.org/todd/traces_of_the_earliest_inhabitants.htm

Do you think the other Nephite generals would let Nephi lead their nation into a trap?

I do not listen scripture central, they seem to go by their own rules. There are two narrow neck of lands.

You are a massive hypocrite to say the Meso scholars are reading into the text, and then in the same breath make huge assumptions about the reason for Mormon asking the Lamanites to fight at Cumorah. YOU are the one trying to make the text fit the NY model instead of accepting what the text actually says. The absolute pride and narcissism from Heartlanders is astonishing to me sometimes.

The so-called "hill Cumorah" in NY is not even close to being the location of best strategic value in the area. There are literally hundreds of drumlins in the area of similar size. In fact, the hills just ten miles west near Rochester are much taller and would have been a far better strategic position.

16:00. Why would you assume that Mormon is asking the Lamanites for permission to fight at Cumorah because it was in Lamanite lands? You literally just pulled that assumption out of thin air. Nothing states that in the BoM text.

For me it’s were the plates came from and were Joseph. Said about. It. I’ll go with my learning of 60 years. Ago. And were the old apostles and Joseph himself. Said I am more a heartland. Believer now then mesa America. Although both can have. Truth

Thx. Very good.

once again thank you for your thoughts and efforts always helpful and appreciated.

THE TOWER OF BABEL!! Someone should compare all of the proto languages!

great information!

It is accross from Nauvoo

I lean towards Joseph being during the Hyksos reign, chariots are present, cultural context is receptive, even a vassal king in Avaris/Goshen was Yacub-Hr, or Jacob Horus. Some may dismiss that as Jacob being common Semitic name, or Jacob would not have Horus connected to his name, what people forget is that Joseph would be considered an Egyptian High Priest, likely of Amun, and Jacob and Joseph were mummified with Egyptian gods all over their funerary text, but during this time semetic groups repurposed the existing Egyptian traditions to fit their own beliefs. Would love to talk to you on this sometime.

I do think Yuya and even the Tut family would have been related to Joseph if we had the Brass plates and that family tree, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Yuya as an Egyptian descendant of Joseph, one who would be more Egyptian than Israelite but yet still related.

The famine stela was written much later, and Imhotep was way too early. However Egyptians were experts in propaganda and reforming history to serve their means. Imhotep was largely forgotten and then came back into prominence later and even made into a god. Joseph was part of the Hyksos reign in the Second Intermediate period, a time in Egypt that was largely erased by the 18th Dynasty at the beginning of the New Kingdom period. The New Kingdom period attempted to resurrect various golden ages of Egyptian History. The Hyksos king names shared many names of rulers in Mesopotamia during Abraham’s time like in Mari, this made Joseph like a distant kissing cousin as he is descended from rulers from the same era of the great wars of Mesopotamia and spreading of tribes. The 12-13th Dynasty of Egypt created a precedent for migration especially at the start of the lifting of the seal which brought forth famines and dried the flood waters. The 7 year pattern of famine and storage facilities had been in Egypt for some time, but the rule of the Hyksos foreign rulers and their high frequency of rotation in government many practices were lost. Even the Egyptian dream interpretation book would contradict how Joseph interpreted dreams, his knowledge of God and history Jacob taught him made him an excellent servant that would be received in Egypt and able to exalt and when Egyptian returned for the New Kingdom Era would want to erase and reform and repurpose many histories to their gods and rulers. This is my absolute most favorite topic and I can’t get enough of it! Thanks!

The Patterns of Evidence videos are very enlightening to me arguing the Exodus as actual history and also credibly casting strong doubt on long accepted Egyptian dating of eras. This is also one of the reasons I still believe Imhotep was Joseph as Egyptian dating is so tenuous and the attributing of saving Egypt from famine so strongly credited to Imhotep. However I'm still open on that one. Simcha Jacobovici a Jewish scholar along with James Cameron also produced a film 'The Exodus Decoded' also showing their arguments of Exodus as actual history. On another note, Jacobovici (who does not believe Jesus was god) wrote another book 'The Lost Gospel' argues that a found gospel from Syriac sources shows that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, that might be of interest to the LDS. Thanks for your research and sharing.

I'm a descendant of the Joseph of Israel, son (descendant) of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah. I'm sure JS is a descendant of Egypt itself.

I grew up in TN and have visited the Old Stone Fort twice. Both times, I just knew this was a Nephite fort - or place of retreat. It's actually quite large in area. We walked around the entire thing and it too FOREVER pushing two strollers lol. The assertion from archaeologists that it's NOT a fort is actually silly; or suspicious. The surrounding landscape provides very steep inclines up to the tops of the walls, meaning any enemy attempting to breach the fort would likely be eliminated simply by dropping stones on them. It's very steep from the bottom of the river (all sides) and up to the wall. The entrance isn't so narrow that 3-4 people can't walk shoulder to shoulder thru it, but it isn't straight shot thru either. Additionally, the entrance provides perfect kill and pill boxes within it and to the sides. Even if there weren't ramparts, they wouldn't be needed. There were artifacts discovered at Old Stone Fort, albeit not as many as other sites. Those of us who believe it's Nephite tend to see it as a "back up" or place of retreat, and NOT a main fort. It could also be something that the Nephites built as an outpost and was abandoned. There are lots of ideas that abound among us who are familiar with it. In any case, I think (strongly) that it's legitimately Nephite.

How is it possible to trace the DNA of Joseph Smith to the Joseph of scripture? There's not been any way to trace DNA to Jesus or any other Biblical figures. If so, where can we find this information?

Many old Nephite and Lamanite mounds and structures still left here in the South.