I am stunned by the complete lack of intelligent thought in this article. They canNOT be serious. This is utterly ridiculous.The painting “Profile of a Young Fiancee,” first believed to be created by an 18th-century German artist, was once valued at $20,000. But on closer examination of where the portrait came from, scholars discovered the piece was actually created by 16-century inventor, philosopher and artist Leonardo da Vinci.
The painting was accordingly revalued at $160 million.
“Nothing changed about that painting,” said Steve Lundwall, a solo practitioner at Lundwall Law PLLC, who co-taught a lecture at Brigham Young University’s Education Week 2023. “What changed was people’s appreciation of its provenance. That’s it. And when people appreciated that, all of a sudden, they valued it. Now, let’s apply that principle to the Book of Mormon.”
He was joined by his wife, Rebecca Lundwall, an associate professor in developmental psychology at BYU. On Tuesday, Aug. 22, among the many classes of BYU Education Week, the duo taught about the authenticity of the Book of Mormon as seen through its provenance.
They explained how old records and documents get their legitimacy from “provenance” — or the tracking of ownership with historic material over time — and how the Book of Mormon’s provenance gives undeniable proof of its place in history.
The book’s chain of custody
“If you know the provenance story of a thing, book or art,” said Rebecca Lundwall, “and have evidence to back that provenance story up, that thing becomes monumentally more valuable.”
She said that provenance consists of two things: first, evidence to show the chain of custody of where something came from. Second, a detailed itinerary of it over time.
A historic document is considered authentic if proof of its origin can be shown, yet this can be difficult to find because records are lost and destroyed over time. Even the Bible’s provenance can be difficult to determine because it was compiled of many sources from various locations.
The Book of Mormon, however, has detailed documentation about who wrote each book, since the records were passed on to descendants. Mormon abridged the gold plates by referring to original sources kept through history. The passing on of these records continued until Moroni himself entrusted the Prophet Joseph Smith with the gold plates, “thereby keeping intact the provenance of that record,” said Steve Lundwall.
This is one reason the book of Omni includes many writers, even when some had not much to say. Rebecca Lundwall said, “I do think this was instruction for the custodians and scribes of the record to always document the passing on of the records, because God is trying to keep the provenance intact.”
Steve Lundwall said the Book of Mormon “is a work of art that took millennia to make, that God overshadowed to keep the record accounted for.”
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-fa ... thenticity
They are arguing for the provenance of a nonexistent item. What are these people thinking?!!!!!!
