View source for Question: Does Izapa Stela 5 depict Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon?

{{FairMormon}}
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==Question: Does Izapa Stela 5 depict Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon?==
===Extreme caution should be used in invoking Izapa Stela 5 as evidence for the Book of Mormon's historicity===

Some Church authors have used [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izapa_Stela_5  Izapa Stela 5] as evidence for the Book of Mormon. However, at present, extreme caution should be used in invoking Izapa Stela 5 as evidence for the Book of Mormon's historicity.

Advances in our understanding of Mesoamerican art and iconography have led most LDS researchers with knowledge of the relevant disciplines to be [https://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1396&index=6 very skeptical] about a direct link between the stela and the Book of Mormon.

The history of the stela in LDS thought and writing is available [https://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1396&index=4 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."
    
===A more accurate drawing of the stela has also tempered the initial enthusiasm for this concept===

Nibley and Sorenson's view seems to have predominated over time; FairMormon 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 stela has also tempered the initial enthusiasm for this concept.

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[[pt:Pergunta: É verdade que Izapa Stela 5 descreve a visão de Leí da Árvore da Vida no Livro de Mórmon?]]