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Benjamin or Mosiah? Resolving an Anomaly in Mosiah -&- Arabia and the Book of Mormon (WMV)

L. Ara Norwood, "Benjamin or Mosiah? Resolving an Anomaly in Mosiah," Mesa, Arizona: The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), 2001, Windows Media Video (WMV), 43 minutes.

This presentation outlines why a change may have been made to Mosiah 21:28 along with anti-Mormon reactions to this change and previous Mormon explanations about it. He takes a deeper look at the presence of parallel passages of the same event in the Book of Mormon as well other factors that may help explin this anomaly.

Ara Norwood observes the original "Benjamin" may be correct. There is no hard evidence that Joseph Smith was responsible for the correction of "Benjamin" to "Mosiah" in the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon. He suggests two different scenarios concerning AmmonÆs expedition, concluding that either Benjamin may have been alive when the events of Mosiah 21:28 were described, or Benjamin may have been dead and Ammon (at that time) was not aware of it. With either scenario, Norwood concludes that "the change from Benjamin to Mosiah was neither crucial nor necessary."

S. Kent Brown, "Arabia and the Book of Mormon," Redding, California: The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR), 2001 FAIR Conference, Windows Media Video (WMV), 75 minutes.

"Whenever students who are interested in the ancient world and want to pursue a career in the study of antiquity ask me about a direction that they might take, I say, "Think Arabia." There are literally thousands of inscriptions on temples and other buildings that are still preserved in southern Arabia and have never been read or studied. People who work archaeologically in other Near Eastern places would love just a couple of small inscriptions. In contrast, scholars of ancient Arabia enjoy access to hundreds and hundreds of unread lines."

This presentation outlines the trek of Lehi and Sariah, external evidences for an Arabian trek, and internal evidences for a desert journey.

Kent Brown conclude that the observations made do not prove the Book of Mormon to be true or false as nothing decisively proves it except a spiritual witness. Even so, a number of pieces from ancient Arabia fit Nephi's narrative and so we actually find ourselves with a clearer picture of what happened to this family and what their experience was. For Brother Brown, the way that one learns whether the Book of Mormon is true is by reading it and then by going into one's closet and praying. He concluded his remarks with his testimony of the Book of Mormon and his conviction that this story happened to real people in a place called Arabia. A slide presentation is included on this video.

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Title: Benjamin or Mosiah? Resolving an Anomaly in Mosiah -&- Arabia and the Book of Mormon (WMV)

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