This is an archived copy of a post written by Conflict Of Justice (conflictofjustice.com). Used with permission: Conflict Of Justice may not agree with any alterations made.
The obscure Spanish explorer account Yucatan Before and After the Conquest was only recently discovered and translated into English. Yet Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon bears striking resemblances to Diego de Landa’s descriptions of early America. Joseph Smith had no access to Friar Diego de Landa’s records. a
| Friar Diego de Landa (1566) | Book of Mormon | |||
| 1. Prophesy Of Foreign Rulers Bringing Gospel “As the Mexican people had signs and prophecies of the coming of the Spaniards and the end of their power and religion, so also did those of Yucatan some years before they were conquered… An Indian named Ah-cambal (a spiritual leader of the people)…told publicly that they would soon be ruled by a foreign race who would preach a God and the virtue of a wood which in their tongue he called vahom-che, meaning a tree lifted up…” (19) | “…then shall the fullness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed…they shall be remembered again among the house of Israel; they shall be grafted in, being a natural branch of the olive-tree, into the true olive-tree.” (1 Ne. 15:13-16) | |||
| 2. Origins From East “Some old men of Yucatan say that they have heard from their ancestors that this country was peopled by a certain race who came from the East, whom God delivered by opening for them twelve roads through the sea. If this is true, all the inhabitants of the Indies must be of Jewish descent…” (8) | “…after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land… we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem.” (1 Ne. 18:23-24) | |||
| 3. City Planning & Vineyards “Before the Spanish subdued the country, the Indians lived together in well ordered communities… in the center of the town were the temples, with beautiful plazas, and around the temples stood the houses of the chiefs and the priests, and next those of the leading men. Closest to these came the houses of those who were wealthiest and most esteemed, and at the borders of the town were the houses of the common people… their plantations were set out in the trees for making wine.” (26) | “And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things.” (2 Ne. 5:16) “And it came to pass that [King Noah] planted vineyards round about in the land; and he built wine-presses, and made wine in abundance;” (Mos. 11:15) | |||
| 4. Yucatan Mistaken As Island “Yucatan Is not an island, nor a point entering the sea, as some thought, but mainland.” | “…we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea.” (2 Ne. 10:20) | |||
| 5. Baptism & Sacrament “Baptism is… with a word meaning to be born anew or a second time, the same as the Latin renascer. Thus in the language of Yucatan sihil means ‘to be born anew’ or a second time but only however in composition, thus caput-sihil means to be reborn [Note from author: The specific term for baptism is distinct from caput-cuxtal, ‘to come to life a second time’]. It’s origins have been unable to learn, but it is something they have always used and for which they have such devotion that no one fails to receive it; they had such reverence for it that those guilty of sins, or those who knew they were about to sin, were obliged to confess to the priest, in order to receive it; and they had such faith in it that in no manner did they ever take it a second time. They believed that in receiving it they acquired a predisposition to good conduct and habits, protection against being harmed by devils in their earthly affairs, and that through it and living a good life they would attain a beatitude hereafter which, like that of Mahomet, consisted of eating and drinking.” | “Ye must repent and be born again… He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost.” (2 Ne. 31:11-12) “…blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized… by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled.” (Alma 32:16,42) “…they came forth and did confess their sins and were baptized unto repentance…” (Hel. 5:17) | |||
| 6. Saying Amen “They have the custom of assisting one who delivers a message by responding with a cadence of the voice, a sort of aspirate in the throat as if to say ‘it is well’ or‘be is so’” | “And thus it is. Amen.” (1 Ne. 9: 6, 14: 30, 22: 31, Hel. 12: 26, see also Alma 6: 8, 7: 27, 3 Ne. 5: 26, Ether 4: 19) Mormon congregations say in union ‘Amen’ at the end of each sermon | |||
| 7. Patriarchal Priesthood Structure “The people of Yucatan were as attentive to matters of religion as of government, and had a High Priest… He was succeeded in office by his son or closest kin. In him lay the key to their sciences, to which they most devoted themselves… He and his disciples appointed the priests for the towns, examining them in their sciences, and ceremonies, put on their charge the affairs of their office, and the setting of a good example to the people, he provided their books (scripture) and sent them forth. They in turn attended to the service of the temples, teaching their sciences they taught here… the administering of their sacraments, the omens of the days, their methods of divination and prophecies events, remedies for sicknesses, antiquities, and the art of reading and writing.” | “And it came to pass that king Mosiah granted unto [High Priest] Alma that he might establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla; and gave him power to ordain priests and teachers over every church… every church having their priests and their teachers, and every priest preaching the word according as it was delivered to him by the mouth of Alma.” (Mos. 25:19-21) | |||
| 8. Confessing Sins Avoids Sickness “The Yucatecans naturally knew when they had done something wrong, and they believed that death, disease, and torments would come on them because of evildoing, and sin, and thus they had the custom of confessing to their priests when such was the case. In this way, when for sickness or other cause they found themselves in danger of death, they made confession of their sins… the sins of which they commonly accused themselves were theft, homicide of the flesh, and false testimony.” | “…they went in unto the house unto Zeezrom; and they found him upon his bed, sick, being very low with a burning fever; and his mind also was exceedingly sore because of his iniquities; and when he saw them he stretched forth his hand, and besought them that they would heal him.” (Alma 15: 3-5) | |||
| 9. Punishment For Adultery “They had laws against delinquents which they executed rigorously, such as against an adulterer, whom they turned over to the injured party that he might either put him to death by throwing a great stone upon his head… For the adulteress there was no penalty save the infamy, which was very serious thing to them. One who ravished a maiden was stoned to death.” | “But if he murdered he was punished unto death; and if he robbed he was also punished; and if he stole he was also punished; and if he committed adultery he was also punished; yea, for all this wickedness they were punished.” (Alma 30: 10) (See the rules on stoning in the Bible, and Jacob 2:28-35 regarding mercy for women and death penalty for ravishing a woman.) | |||
| 10. Polygamy Outlawed “The Yucatan never took more than one single wife, although in other places they frequently took a number together.” | “….for there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none.” (Jac. 2: 24,27) | |||
| 11. Title Of Liberty “…he met certain Indian fisherfolk whom he asked what country this was, and who answered Catoch, which means ‘our houses, our homeland,’for which reason he gave that name to the cape. When he asked by signs how the land was theirs, they replied Ci uthan, meaning ‘they say it.” | “…they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church: And they were doing that which they felt was the aduty which they owed to their God.” (Alma 43:45-46) | |||
| 12. Divorce Condemned “Even though divorce was so common and familiar a thing, the old people and those of better customs condemned it, and there were many who never had but a single wife; nor did they ever marry one bearing their own name on the father’s side, for this was considered a very bad thing. Equally wrong was it held that a man should marry his sister in law, the widow of a brother.” | “It hath been written, that whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery; and whoso shall marry her who is divorced committeth adultery.” (3 Ne. 12: 31-32 ) | |||
| 13. Marriages Given To Unworthy “In olden times they married at the age of twenty, but now at that of twelve or thirteen. For this reason they divorce more easily because they marry without love and ignorant of a married life and the duties of married people; and if their parents could not persuade them to return to their wives, they hunted them another and others and others.” | “And they were married, and given in marriage, and were blessed… [later] they did deny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness, and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness.” (4 Ne. 1:11, 27) | |||
| 14. Genealogy Important “They make much of knowledge of the origins of their lineages, especially if they come from one of the houses of Mayapan; this they learn from their priests, it being one of their sciences, and they boast much about one of their lineage who has distinguished himself. The name of the father is transmitted to his son, but not to his daughters” | “I am the son of Mormon, and my father was a descendant of Nephi.” (Morm. 8:13) (Hebrew people commonly kept their lineage sacred and handed their name down to their son, especially in the Book of Mormon.) | |||
| 15. Child Baptism / Preparation “Their custom of preparing for baptism was as follows: the Indian women raised the children to the age of three… the priest proceeded in the purification of the house, expelling the demon… They asked the largest [children] whether they had done anything bad, or obscene conduct, and if any had done so they confessed them and separated them from the others, and began to bless the children with long prayers… went to the children and menaced each one with a bone on the forehead [Lehi, the father of the Nephi/Lamanite people, means bone of the forehead] nine times. After this, he wet the bone in a jar of water he carried, and with it anointed them on the forehead, the face, and between the fingers of their hands and the bones of their feet… after this the priest rose, removed the white cloths from their heads, as well as others they wore suspended from the shoulders containing a few feathers… The fiesta then ended with long eating and drinking; and this fiesta was called em-ku, which means, ‘the descent of the god.” | (See the Mormon baptism and other ordinances. Child baptism was condemned in the Book of Mormon, showing that it was indeed practiced among those people). “And he that saith that little children need baptism denieth the mercies of Christ, and setteth at naught the atonement of him and the power of his redemption.” (Moroni 8:20) | |||
| Fair-Skinned Women “Those who are beautiful are quite vain about it, and indeed they are not bad looking; they are dark-skinned, caused more by their constant bathing and by the sun, than naturally.” | “…caused that their fair daughters should stand forth and plead with the Lamanites.” (Mos. 19:13) | |||
| Scripture In Paper Books “the most learned of the priests opened a book, and observed the predictions for that year, declared them to those present, [and] preached to them a little enjoining the necessary observances… These people also used certain characters or letters, with which they wrote in their books about the antiquities and their sciences; with these, and with figures, and certain signs in the figures, they understood their matters, made them known, and taught them. We found a great number of books in these letters” | “And now it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he said unto them again, after he had expounded all the scriptures unto them which they had received, he said unto them: Behold, other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not… And now it came to pass that when Jesus had expounded all the scriptures in one, which they had written, he commanded them that they should teach the things which he had expounded unto them.” (3 Nephi 23:6,14) | |||
| Tree Of Life Diego Landa calls the tree of life in the Mayan heaven: “a refreshing and shady tree called Yaxché, the Ceiba tree, beneath whose branches and shade they might rest and be in peace forever.” | “And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy… And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy.” (1 Nephi 8:10, 12) | |||
| Temple Courts Exclusive For Men Vs. Women “When the New Year came, all the men gathered, alone, in the court of the temple, since none of the women were present at any of the temple ceremonies, except the old women who performed the dances. The women were admitted to the festivals held in other places.” | (Some courts in the Hebrew temple were segregated by men or women. Additionally, the new year temple celebration was an important part of the temple in both the Book of Mormon and Hebrew custom.) | |||
| Urim & Thummim “At death they shrouded the body, filled the mouth with ground maize and a drink they call koyem, and with this certain stones they used for money, that food might not be lacking to him in the other life… if a sorcerer his divining stones and other instruments of his office.” | “Also, that there were two stones in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates” (Joseph Smith Testimony) | |||
| Paradise After Death “They believed that after death there was another life better than this, which the soul enjoyed after leaving the body. This future life they said was divided into good and evil, into pains and delights. The evil life of suffering they said was for the vicious, and the good and delectable for those whose mode of life had been good.” | “And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.” | |||
| Fasting “Then they removed them from the hut and set them in another enclosure of branches for them in the court, where the priest blessed them with great solemnity, and an abundance of devout prayers; but first the priest and the artisans removed the soot with which they had covered themselves during their fasting.” | “Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.” (Helaman 3:35) | |||
| Belief In Immortal Soul “These people have always believed in the immortality of the soul, in greater degree than many other nations, even though they were not so civilized; and they believed that after death there was another life better than this, which the soul enjoyed after leaving the body.” | “I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together that I might rid my garments of your blood, at this period of time when I am about to go down to my grave, that I might go down in peace, and my immortal spirit may join the choirs above in singing the praises of a just God.” (Mosiah 2:28) |
It wouldn’t be surprising to see the conquistadors claim that the Natives had a legend of foreign invaders bringing a gospel, as this would give them justification for what they were doing to them. But if Friar Landa made it up, why would he mention the “virtue of a wood which in their tongue he called vahom-che, meaning a tree lifted up”? This couldn’t be referring to the brazen serpent, which is the only thing being “lifted up” I know of in the bible, so what is it talking about? In the Book of Mormon we find the answer. There is plentiful imagery of branches being lifted and grafted into the tree of Israel, as a symbol for the gathering of Israel and specifically referring to the gospel being preached to the Natives.
That’s how it is with each of these parallels. Friar Landa had no motive to introduce such a specific detail.
You would think that Friar Diego de Landa (1524-1579) would try to justify Spain’s invasion and make up evidence that Spain was delivering Christianity to a forgotten branch of Israel. But Friar Diego de Landa did not call Native Americans a branch of Israel. He never attempted to portray them as anything more than depraved primitives.
The writings of Diego de Landa about life in the Yucatan before the Spanish conquest indicate that the people of Mesoamerica lived in a manner consistent with the Book of Mormon.
All quotes from:
^ Yucatan Before and After the Conquest by Diego de Landa, Courier Dover Publications, May 23, 2012