Christ visits America

[CurtisG]

We were discussing native American tribes and my friend (non mormon) announced that the Mormon Church "has it right" concerning Jesus ministering in America 2000 years ago. I consider that to be factual....I also suspect that Christ travelled to India and maybe further before finishing his ministry.
There is a "white canoe" story my friend talks about where a man (fitting the description of a middle easterner) visits an American Indian tribe and speaks of love and forgiveness. He was travelling in a white canoe, thus the story title.
Anyone know other stories handed down by indian tribes that seem to relate to Jesus peaching in America?

[ghostcat]

whoops, double post!

[ghostcat]

Yes. Many, many tribes have similar legends.

In 1963 a woman by the name of L. Taylor Hansen (who I believe was not LDS) authored a book called "He Walked The Americas" (http://www.amazon.com/He-Walked-Americas-Taylor-Hansen/dp/0964499703 (http://www.amazon.com/He-Walked-Americas-Taylor-Hansen/dp/0964499703)) that compiled many of these legends. She started compiling the legends in 1918 after listening to a chief of the Chippewa tribe, Dark Thunder, relate stories of a Holy Man who had visited the tribe in the distant past. She was intrigued with the similarities between this Holy Man and Christ. She spent the next 45 years collecting legends from tribes in both North and South America, the book was the end result of this quest.

Excerpts from the book can be found on the web, one such excerpt can be found here:http://www.wolflodge.org/sananda/walked-america.htm

I highly recommend the book as it was compiled before most Tribes had lost their oral traditions through the encroachment of modern civilization.

[CurtisG]

I want to read "He Walked".
I am reminded of a book i read called "Drama of the Lost Disciples". Supposedly some of the disciples (along with Mary) went to England and preached to the people there, including the Druids. It seems that the Druids had some prophecies about a messiah figure that would bring a message of peace. They were eager to hear the Gospel and many converted quickly.

[Justme]

Check out the book Voices From the Dust by David G. Calderwood. Calderwood did a series of lectures at BYU Education Week a few years ago. They were so popular that even though they were the first hour of the morning the line to get in had three or four times as many people as could fit. It was a little embarrassing that campus police had to come to help control the crowd. Calderwood's interesting personal story is not fully told in the book. He was missionary to South America, an Army officer stationed there, a mining official and then 25 years in the U.S. Foreign Service. He feels being repeatedly sent to S.A. was for the purpose of allowing him to gather accounts of Christ in the Americas which were preserved by early Spanish and Portuguese Chroniclers. These accounts which seem to have been suppressed by the Catholic church. They began to surface about 50 years after the Book of Mormon was published. perhaps so no one could say that Joseph Smith got the similar accounts in the Book of Mormon from these chronicles. Fascinating book but quite long.

http://voices-dust.com/voices-dust.html

[signseeker]

Supposedly some of the disciples (along with Mary) went to England and preached to the people there, including the Druids.

Interesting. I've heard an idea that Christ actually went to England before His appearance on the scene in Jerusalem at age 30. Also, that Joseph of Arimathea was from those northern areas as well.

Thanks for the good book suggestions, all!