Why are there myths of gods visiting ancient America?

The focal point in the Book of Mormon is the visitation of Jesus Christ among the inhabitants of America. If this was a true account we would reasonably expect legends and myths of gods visiting America.

From Scott Hoyt:

Viracocha was the principal deity of ancient Peru, and according to the cronistas (Catholic historians, mostly priests, arriving in Peru shortly after Francisco Pizarro and the conquistadors in the 1500s) he was called the “creating God of the Andes.”

…Given the general similarities between the cronistas’ Viracocha and Jesus Christ as described in the Book of Mormon, some might wonder if Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, somehow gained access to the cronistas’ accounts and used their descriptions of ancient Inca legends in producing the Book of Mormon. This would have been unlikely if not impossible, however, because the cronistas’ writings generally were not published until well after the Book of Mormon was published in 1830.4 At the time Joseph Smith was translating the Book of Mormon in Pennsylvania and New York, the cronistas’ writings were securely ensconced in Catholic archives in Spain.

– Scott Hoyt – Viracocha – Christ among the Ancient Peruvians?

Why are there so many similarities between myths of gods in America and the Book of Mormon?

See:

• Scott Hoyt – Viracocha – Christ among the Ancient Peruvians?

© 2024 Showyourshelf.com

Show Your Shelf is not in any way sponsored or endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For official information from the Church please see churchofjesuschrist.org or comeuntochrist.org