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This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
==Questions
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Some Church authors have used Izapa Stela 5 as evidence for the Book of Mormon. What can you tell me about this?
Detailed Analysis
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Advances in our understanding of Mesoamerican art and iconography have led most LDS researchers with knowledge of the relevant disciplines to be very skeptical about a direct link between the stella and the Book of Mormon.
The history of the stella in LDS thought and writing is available here. We note that while some LDS members embraced this connection, other scholars (such as Hugh Nibley and John L. Sorenson) disagreed with its use even during this idea's "heyday."
Nibley and Sorenson's view seems to have predominated over time; FAIR has not seen any LDS author with a background in Mesoamerican studies raise this as a "point" for the Book of Mormon recently. A more accurate drawing of the stella has also tempered the initial enthusiasm for this concept (discussed in links above).
==Answer
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At present, extreme caution should be used in invoking Izapa Stella 5 as evidence for the Book of Mormon's historicity.
== Notes == None
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