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We have been questioned about whether or not we are LDS or Catholic or any of a number of religious backgrounds. The more important question is whether or not the Timeline is slanted in some way. (The Catholic question comes up because of the list of Popes on the Timeline. They are on there because they wielded great political power for centuries.) Here is the usual reason for questioning the LDS: The Native American belief in a White God who would one day return is mentioned on the Timeline because it is historical fact. You can find it online in the Complete Idiot's Guide to Native American History by Walter Fleming p.52 - a condensed version of history. You can also reference the following: "Letters and Dispatches of Cortes," translated by George Folsom (New York, 1843); Harvard trained historian Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico" (Boston, 1843) which is referenced on the Timeline; and Sir Arthur Helps's "Life of Hernando Cortes" (London, 1871) Cortes used the belief in the return of a Great White God (also referred to as "the White God", The Bearded God, The Fair God) to defeat the Aztecs by either claiming he was that God or at least not denying it. The original 1931 Timeline had numerous quotes referring to the comments by early priest/missionaries to North and South American natives who were struck by the similarities between Biblical teachings (partiularly the Old Testament) and native cultures and beliefs. We believe the purpose on the original Timeline was to show that as the families of Noah's sons spread throughout the world, the teachings spread with them although many were corrupted over time. All historians agree that the Spanish explorers/priest/missionaries wrote of these similarities. The disagreement arises over whether or not, in spite of what many early writers believed, this has anything to do with Christ or whether or not any Native Americans (north or south) are related to the lost ten tribes. As we have reprinted the timeline we have removed most of the references to any interpretations of history that are no longer accepted by the majority of historians. We left a few that made note of the historical belief in such coincidences. Why is there an LDS version of the Timeline? We began working with the Amazing Bible Timeline in 1975, forty-four years after its first printing in 1931. 1975 was a time when Christians were committed to building greater unity or cooperation among Christian faiths, very different from todays time of Bible bashing and rejection of any Christian whose faith does not exactly match our own. The contention among Christians today is appalling to us and we don't support it. (Incredibly we've been asked to prove there was such a time and attitude. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/178836/ecumenism) We were asked to provide an LDS version. We did it and we still provide it today. None of the original Timeline dates were changed. No LDS dates were added to the original Amazing Bible Timeline. A separate version was made. The two timelines have separate copyrights and ISBNs. When the North and South American history dates were added (Olmecs through Mayans and more) they were taken from archaelogists working in those areas. After that was done, not before, Book of Mormon dates were added to the LDS version. Unfortunately after the printing in 2000, Fedex destroyed our original film. We recreated it using the LDS version by removing the dates we had added. We either missed one or on the last reprinting in January 2009 the opaquing film fell off one date (out of over a thousand on the Timeline.) That error was corrected in Fall of 2009. Does the Timeline have an LDS slant? We don't know how it could. We work to make sure it has no slant. We feel we have a broad understanding of Christian doctrine. Our family members (parents, brothers and sisters, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles) are members of many different Christian churches including Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, Evangelical, LDS, Lutheran, Non-denominational and Unitarian. Our goal is to provide a product that all Christian churches can be comfortable using. Our commitment is to keep doctrine off of the Timeline and out of our website. Therefore, we willingly and happily answer questions about Bible history on our site. We do not answer doctrinal questions. Check out our answers to Bible questions page and decide for yourself if we keep that commitment. We feel strongly that the Amazing Bible Timeline should be just as accessible to all Christians as is the King James Bible and Ussher's chronology (the dates found in the Authorized King James Bible). We hope you enjoy using The Amazing Bible Timeline as the tool it is intended to be – If you have more questions you are welcome to either call us at 877-966-7300 or email us.  |