archeological finds and my musings

It was in the news yesterday that metal or lead books containing images about Jesus and his crucifixion had been found in a cave in Jordan. Now, I know there have been hoaxes before, but the images seem pretty legit. Only time with tell, but they have me thinking... I had no idea that any culture had used metal to inscribe books on. Now, it makes sense, as paper and papyrus would eventually fall apart and the records would be lost. However, the first metal books I'd ever heard of were the ones the were supposedly found in New York state by Joseph Smith. In one of the articles I was reading about this newest discovery had a line that has me really thinking. "Other texts from the period tell of sealed books of wisdom and of a secret tradition passed on by Jesus to his closest disciples." (Dr Margaret Becker, former president of the Society for Old Testament Study) What was this tradition? Could it be communion? Well, sure, except that tradition was passed on from Passover and its clear that 1st century churches practiced it at every fellowship. What if this tradition of passing on information and history on these plates was the secret passed on? What if Jesus had asked his faithful to continue this history, knowing that proof would be needed later that this practice happened? One of the main, early arguments of the Book of Mormon was that no one had ever heard of books being written on metal plates, let alone gold plates. We now know that these books did exist. How could an uneducated farmer make that up, and it be true? Its a fanciful story, until there's evidence that the things written inside happened. We know that books were written on metal, human sacrifice happened on this soil (see Cahokia Mounds info from Illinois), a society just died out for no reason, their technology was far beyond what had ever been thought of by the people on this soil, trade routes came from India to California's coast before 1000 BC, etc etc. So many of these things are talked about in the Book of Mormon. Its starting to seem more and more plausible, huh? I'm not saying, nor will I ever say, that the LDS church is not a cult. Any group that raises a man to the same level as God or Christ is a cult. We are not, nor will we ever be, as High or Holy as they are. Joseph Smith was a fallen man, a sinner. He is not a God. He could have been a tool used by God, though. Well, just something to think about. I'm off to fix supper and pack Willow's clothes. She's off to Grandpa and Grandma's for the week! She's excited and just can't wait :-D