BYU Studies Quarterly BYU Studies Quarterly

Volume 32 Issue 4 Article 17

10-1-1992

Christopher Columbus: A Latter-day Saint Perspective Arnold K. Arnold K.

Garr Garr

Mark L. Grover

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Grover, Mark L. (1992) "Christopher Columbus: A Latter-day Saint Perspective Arnold K. Garr," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 32 : Iss. 4 , Article 17. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol32/iss4/17

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ARNOLD K GARR christopher columbus A latter day saintperspective provo utah religious studies center brighamyoung university 1992 xv 103105103ppappp maps appendix bibliogra-phy index 8958.95895

reviewed by mark L grover latin american bibliographer harold B leelibrary and chair latin american studies brigham young university

it has been a difficult year for columbus in most respectsbut not within the LDS church special firesides sacramentmeeting talks a fifty foot four panel mural in the los angelestemple visitors center and even a laudatory statement inpresident gordon B hinckleysHinckleys discourse in the october 1992general priesthood meeting have been part ofthe commemora-tion of the discovery of the americas columbus would haveappreciated the affirmation that he was inspired by religiousmotives and experiences to make the voyage the way mormons in general view columbus is probably similar to the wayhe would have wanted I11

curiously although latter day saints have long used bookofmormon prophecy to identify columbus as a man wroughtupon by the spirit of god members of the church have donelittle research prior to this past year on the religious elementsof columbussColumbuss life even though recent columbus scholarsgenerally have not taken his religious views and belief ofspiritual guidance seriously and consequently have not writtenabout them those views have been available in his publisheddiary and his work libro de las profeciasprofecias book of prophe-cies 2 typically LDS commentators have used limited second-ary sources to support the claim that columbus felt himself tobe inspired rather than drawing from the rich primary docu-ments where columbus several times alluded to his feelings ofspiritual guidance 3 given this weakness in mormon columbusresearch the volume by arnold K garr assistant professor ofchurch history at brigham young university was anticipated

this book must be understood as a volume oriented to thegeneral church population and not the scholar for this audi-ence the volume provides what was intended it is a shortbiography about seventy pages of text excluding maps andblank pages asserting that columbus was an inspired instru-ment who accomplished the purposes of the lord in the

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Grover: <em>Christopher Columbus: A Latter-day Saint Perspective</em> Arn

Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1992

review of christopher columbus 207

discovery of the americas but acknowledging the admiralslack of inspiration in attempting to govern the colonies thosewith even a limited knowledge of columbus however willwin beleft wanting more

garr primarily has two objectives in the volume the first isto give a historical sketch ofcolumbussColumbuss life and his voyages to theamericas using recent scholarship on the topic this part is wellwenweliweildone the second purpose is to outline columbussColumbuss religiousconvictions and demonstrate that he believed himself an instru-ment in the hands ofthe lord this section has some deficienciesthere is only a limited discussion of his religious views andbackground columbus had a scholastic catholic view of theuniverse as permanent and unchanging and of a world that wasdivided into three parts europe asia and africa As garr pointsout columbus believed in the prophecies of the old and newtestament regarding the conversion of all of the worlds peoplesto christianity the final recovery of the holy land and the returnof the messiah A major stimulus for his travel and discovery was astriving to fulfill prophecy he believed that his understanding ofthe world came about through inspiration and that his subsequentdiscoveries were inspired by and influenced by god he believedhimself to be selected and predestined to fulfill this importantquasi final scene in the worlds history 4

the author draws some statements on columbus fromearly writers who recognized this important religious compo-nent his first biographers his son ferdinand and bartolomeBartolom6 delas casas both emphasized his religious training and convic-tions 5 in his study of the european discovery and explorationof the americas alexander von humboldt felt that columbuswas a strange combination of ideas and sentiments giftedwith a high intelligence and with an invincible courage in

nourished scholastic 1166adversity on theologygarr includes little concerning those who influenced

columbus and recognizes only briefly the religious climate andmillennial fervor that was part of his environment columbussColumbussreligious feelings and beliefs were not atypical but representa-tive of an important faction of the catholic church whoanticipated the spread of the gospel and the subsequent apoca-lyptic end of the world even sir isaac newton spent time withthe numerology of the theapocalypseapocalypse attempting to determine thesecond coming of christ many of the educated and prominent

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people ofeurope believed the discovery ofthe newworldwasnew world wasone of the final events to occur before the end columbussColumbussbeliefs were not unique but typical of his time 7

the greatest disappointment in the volume is its failure toexamine seriousseriouslytheseriouslythezseriouslylythetheltheZlibrobroaro&ro de lasprophecias the author devotesabrieffivebriefnivefive pages to the document formormonscormons its translation andpublication in english may be the most significant event of thequincentenary in it we learn much about columbussColumbuss feelingsand emotions about his role in religious history we learn that heloved to read and believed the foundation ofall learning was in thebible we recognize clearly that he saw himself as the chosenmessenger ofgod destined to open the way for the evangeliza-tion of the newly discovered lands his search for gold is justifiedbecause it would be used by the sovereigns ofspain to reclaim theholy land garrsbarrs approach to the document is descriptive withsome discussion oftheodtheofthe scriptures columbus used greater analysisis needed to clarify how the scriptures were understood bycolumbus and to address other questions columbussColumbuss accountraises for latter day saints anexplicit comparisonwith LDSIDS beliefswould also have been helpful

the volume includes maps and appendixes with a colum-bus chronology and a brief list ofcolumbus quotes related to hisspiritual beliefs and experiences also included are a list ofquotes by latter day saint prophets and apostles on columbusand a list of the one hundred eminent men baptized byproxyin the st george temple in 1877 ofwhom columbus was one

the book will provide church members with a summary ofthe life ofcolumbus and a briefdiscussion of his religious percep-tions within the framework of the book ofmormon prophecy anin depth study of his religious beliefs and activities and how theyrelate to LDS thought has yet to be written

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Grover: <em>Christopher Columbus: A Latter-day Saint Perspective</em> Arn

Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1992

review of christopher columbus 209

NOTES

1 in her study of columbussColumbuss spiritual background pauline moffittwatts indicated that columbus had strong feelings about his place inreligious history he felt strongly about the scientific and discovery ad-vances he had brought about but felt equally strong about his spiritualaccomplishments he came to believe that he was predestined to fulfill anumber of prophecies in preparation for the coming of the antichrist andthe end of the world see prophecy and discovery on the spiritualorigins of christopher columbussColumbuss enterprise of the indies americanhistorical review 90 february 1985 74 garr includes the work in hisbibliography the work is also discussed in Reexploring the book ofmormon ed john W welch salt lake city deseret book and provoFARMS 1992 32 35

21 one of the reasons may be that of language his diary has beenavailable in english for years the libro however was published in 1894 inthe original spanish and latin it was translated into english only in 1991199iggi1A copy of the 1894 version has been part of the rare books collection atbrigham young university for several years BYU also recently acquired afacsimile of the original manuscript

3 A favorite columbus quotation used by mormonscormons is drawn from abiography published in english in 1930 by the german author jacobwasserman which was described by a reviewer as not a biography ofcolumbus based upon the sources but a picture made up of personalimpressions having almost no relation to the known facts see jacobwassermann columbus don quixote of the seas trans eric suttonboston littlebrownleBrownLittlittlelittie brown 1930andp1930andpbiggarittbiggarittBiggaritt recentbooksonrecent Booksonbooks on columbus

canadian historical review 12 march 1931 61 an article in theimprovement era quoted his visitation experience during the fourthvoyage that reference was not mentioned by other mormon writers seehyde M merrill christopher columbus and the book ofmormon improve-ment era 69 february 1966 131351555

4 watts 795 ferdinand columbus coigncolancoloncol6n the life of the admiral christopher

columbus by his son ferdinand trans and annotated by benjamin keennew brunswick NJ rutgers university press 1959 and bartolomeBartolom6 de

las casas history of the indies trans and ed andree collard new yorkharper and row 19711971

6 alexander von humboldt examen critique de ihistoirephistoire de lageographic du nouveau continent et des progrsprogresprogreso de lastroiastronomielastronomienomienautiquenautique aux quinziemequinzienequinzimequinzquin feneieneziMezise siglessieclessi&les paris librairieLib rairie de gide 1836 110 seealso alejandro de humboldt cristabalcristobalcrist6bal domn y el descubrimento deamerica madrid libreriaLibreria y casa editorial hernando 1926

71 for studies of the religious environment see margorie reeves theinfluence of prophecy in the later middle ages A study injoachimismoxford clarendon press 1969 bernard mcginn visions of the end

apocalyptic traditions in thethemiddleagesmiddiemiddle ages newyorknewyork colombia universitypress 1979 and john leddy phelan the millennial kingdom of thefranciscans in the new world berkeley university of california press1970

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