Stairs or Ramp

Exodus 20:25 says Israelite altars made of stone should use natural, uncut stones so as not to defile the natural building material with iron tools. Deuteronomy 27:5-6 and Joshua 8:31 reinforce this idea of using unworked stones in altar construction to avoid polluting them with iron.

Exodus 20:26 goes on to say that steps should not be used to access a high altar to avoid a priest inadvertently exposing his private parts to those below. During the exodus from Egypt, priests wore flowing robes with no undergarments so immodest public displays were possible.

Zealous but poorly informed students of the Book of Mormon sometimes use these verses to claim that the Nephites (Jarom 1:5) and Lamanites (Helaman 13:1), both following the law of Moses, would never have built buildings with hewn stones and steps. Voila! their argument goes, Mesoamerica could not be the place where the Book of Mormon happened because it is full of worked stone architecture and elaborate staircases.

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The truth is that soon after the instructions in Exodus 20 were given, God revealed Exodus 28:42 which instituted a new dress code for priests that included modest linen undergarments. This eliminated the problem with steps as Torah commentaries have noted for millenia. By the time Solomon's Temple was constructed, both hewn stones and stairs were used in the architecture. 1 Kings 6:7 specifies the use of stones shaped at the quarry or a remote workshop, while 1 Kings 6:8 specifies stairs. An image of Solomon's Temple on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem depicts both worked stones and steps.

Solomon's Temple per the Israel Museum

An image informed by good biblical and historical/archaeological scholarship shows the high altar from Solomon's Temple with both worked stones and stairs. 1 Kings 5:17-18 could hardly be more clear. Solomon's temple was built with hewn stones and timber.

Image of Solomon's Temple Altar per 1 Kings

Nehemiah 9:4 talks about the stairs of the Levites. Ezekiel 40:42 describes a temple with a hewn stone altar. Ezekiel 40:49 mentions steps. Ezekiel 41:7 in many versions (such as the NIV) mentions a winding stairway. Ezekiel 43:17 explicitly mentions stairs.

The Scripture Central YouTube channel, Messages of Christ, has a beautiful 3D model of Solomon's Temple that shows the best current thinking about its architecture. Solomon's Temple had at least 3 sets of stone stairs.

Self-credentialed "experts" on the law of Moses who denigrate Mesoamerican architecture are simply naive.

For another take on this subject from bright young Hebrew scholar, Spencer Kraus, see his blog article "A Note on Temples, Stairs, and Mesoamerica."

For information on similarities between Mesoamerican and ancient Hebrew temple architecture, see the Scripture Central Evidence Summary #257 entitled Mesoamerican Temples.

Free Nations

The Book of Mormon prophesies that as part of the gathering of Israel in the latter days the Gentiles who have scattered the remnant of the seed of Jacob will be established in the Americas as a free people (3 Nephi 21:2-4). In Ether we read the words of a covenant the Lord makes with nations who will inhabit the Americas: "whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage and from captivity and from all other nations under heaven if they will but serve the God of the land, which is Jesus Christ." (Ether 2:12). These passages say we should find free people and free nations in the Americas, and we do.

The generally accepted source for data on global freedom is Freedom House. Their annual rankings of countries by the degree of freedom their citizens enjoy is a respected source because it takes into account:

• political rights
• civil liberties
• voting
• individual expression
• equality before the law

Freedom House analyzes the effect of both state and non-state actors in a country and ranks nations with a freedom index number ranging from 1 (South Sudan, Syria, Tibet) where citizens enjoy almost no freedom to 100 (Finland, Norway, Sweden) where citizens are extraordinarily free. It turns out the Americas, Western Europe, East Asia, and former British colonies are the regions on earth with the most freedom.

Freedom House Map Green = Free, Purple = Not Free

Here are the Freedom House rankings of free countries in the New World:

1. Canada (98)
2. Uruguay (96)
3. Barbados (94)
4. Chile (94)
5. Dominica (93)
6. St. Lucia (92)
7. Costa Rica (91)
8. St. Vincent and the Grenadines (91)
9. The Bahamas (91)
10. Grenada (89)
11. St. Kitts and Nevis (89)
12. Belize (87)
13. Argentina (85)
14. Panama (83)
15. US (83)
16. Trinidad and Tobago (82)
17. Jamaica (80)
18. Suriname (79)
19. Guyana (73)
20. Brazil (72)
21. Colombia (70)
22. Ecuador (70)

US patriots sometimes portray "the land of the free and the home of the brave" as the only free nation in the Americas. That oversimplifies reality.