Nahom: The Strongest Evidence for the Book of Mormon? - LDS Discussions w/ Kolby Reddish | Ep. 2080

Is Nahom really the strongest evidence for the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon? In this episode, we take a deep dive into noe of the most cited archaeological “proofs” of the Book of Mormon -the discovery of altars inscribed with the letters NHM in Yemen.

John Dehlin and attorney and former clerk from the Idaho Supreme Court, Kolby Reddish examine what the text of the Book of Mormon actually says about Nahom, where it’s supposed to be located, and whether the archaeological evidence matches up. Along the way, we look at how apologists, scholars, and critics have each interpreted this find -and what it really says about the historicity of the Book of Mormon.

We also examine whether or not Joseph Smith could have known about Nahom (or Nehem) from maps or Biblical references, and how issues like confirmation bias and faith-based reasoning play into the debate.

This conversation aims to be evidence-based, thoughtful, and respectful -seeking understanding amid polarization in the Mormon and ex-Mormon communities.

00:00:00 Introduction00:03:15 Does the Book of Mormon need to be historical?00:04:31 John’s intentions for these episodes00:09:30 What is Nahom? - Introduction to First Nephi00:11:34 The place “which was called Nahom”00:14:10 What the Book of Mormon text says in 1 Nephi 16:34

00:18:35 S Kent Brown calling the issue of Nahom “basically settled”00:26:10 Photos of the altars with “NHM”00:27:30 How apologists are characterizing this00:29:27 Clip on an Inconvenient Faith on Nahom00:33:05 Where are “NHM” altars located and is it where the Book of Mormon says?00:36:45 What the Book of Mormon says about the location of Nahom00:43:48 Another map from Scripture Central page on an ancient tribal region00:46:00 The Site for the NHM altars (The Barran Temple)00:50:59 Brief introduction to the Sabaeans, a group of people much larger than those at Jerusalem00:52:15 The inscriptions on the altars01:00:24 Where this temple site is, 25 miles from the Nihm region01:02:56 Clip - Did Joseph Smith find “Nahom” on old maps01:09:40 Maps that include Nahom/Nehem01:13:50 Occam’s Razor01:15:43 Nahum in the Bible01:19:52 Oliver Cowdery purchased a Bible01:23:44 All the problems you would have to overlook to accept Nahom01:27:38 Parallelism - Chiasmus argument01:41:57 Closing remarks

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Show Notes

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