Four (1809)of the native Indians occurred in the Western Hemisphere during the fifth century A.D.
at about the same time the medieval period began in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Two Churches Only
The era we know as the Renaissance period was described to Nephi this way:
“Among the nations of the Gentiles [there is] the formation of a great church...which is most
abominable above all other churches.”^10 Book of Mormon readers often mistake this “great
church” with the Catholic Church.^11 The angel later explained, however, more about this
“church” by qualifying what it actually represents. The angel simplified Nephi’s
understanding by telling him:
Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of
God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth
not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is
the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.^12“Two churches only” does not include the many, many religious groups that existed
at the time; and there certainly was no religion upon the earth known as the “church of the
devil.” If a contemporary author rewrote the text of the Book of Mormon to relate it in
modern terms, the “church of the devil” would correspond to the “Great Renaissance.” It
was during this period that the people began to desire “gold, and the silver, and the silks,
and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots,”
which are described as the “desires of this great and abominable church.”^13
During this period, the people of the earth increasingly sought for wealth. Those
in power, along with their friends and peers, wore the most “precious clothing” and
were devoted to riches and wealth to such an extent that there came to be a great
inequality of financial classes that negated the simple gospel of Christ (the church of the
Lamb of God). Unlike literal proponents who justify their righteousness by a pious
judgment of others, “harlots” in this context does not represent those who sell sex for
money. The term is used instead to describe an action of devotion to corrupt or
unworthy purposes (e.g., such as we might describe a lawyer today who prostituted
[became a harlot] his ability to practice law in order to defend the mafia). Zealots seeking to
justify their piety or business acumen dodge this secondary usage of the term “harlot,”
believing that they are above a close examination into their true intentions, or better,
what they “sell” under the perception and delusion of “respectability” in the fields of
religion, business, and politics.
The Man...Upon the Many Waters
It was during this time period that the developing nations and kingdoms of Europe
(“separated from the seed of my [Nephi’s] brethren by the many waters”^14 ) were seeking
wealth through the establishment of trade routes and colonies. The most notable explorer of
the Western Hemisphere (at least as recorded in modern American history books) was
Christopher Columbus (1451–1506). He had one thing in mind when he was commissioned
by Isabella I of Castile: to find as much “gold, silver, silks, scarlets, fine-twined linen, and
precious clothing” as he could for the nation of Spain.^15 Thus, Columbus was an emissary