A Careful Response to Connor Boyack’s Review of the Nemenhah Sacred Records
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A Careful Response to Connor Boyack’s Review of the Nemenhah Sacred Records
Questions Worth Studying Before Reaching a Final Conclusion
“Come and see.”
Recently, Connor Boyack published a video examining the Nemenhah Sacred Records, sometimes called the Mentinah Archives.
I plan to place his full video directly below so readers can hear his arguments in his own words.
CONNOR BOYACK’S VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb_t9SZAM5c&t=426s
I appreciate several things about Connor’s presentation.
He clearly loves the Book of Mormon.
He believes that additional sacred records may yet come forth.
He questions plural marriage and the present form of Doctrine and Covenants 132.
He believes people should seek truth through the Holy Ghost rather than merely following religious institutions or influential personalities.
On those principles, we agree.
However, after carefully listening to the video, I felt that several conclusions were reached without fully examining what the Nemenhah Sacred Records actually claim.
This article is not intended to attack Connor.
It is also not intended to demand that anyone accept the Nemenhah Sacred Records.
It is an invitation to look more deeply.
Some of Connor’s questions are fair.
But fair questions deserve complete answers.
1. Who Were the Translators?
One of Connor’s primary concerns is that the translation appears to rest almost entirely upon the testimony of Philip “Cloudpiler” Landis.
He asks:
Who were the other translators?
Where are their names?
Why have they not spoken publicly?
Those are reasonable questions.
However, the current Ayahtkuhyaht Nemenhah: Complete Text—Second Edition does name members of the Translation Council.
It dedicates the work to:
César Padilla de Ramarra of Guatemala
Tui Xiu of Guatemala
Menemi Shen of Taiwan
Porfiro Muñoz de Xiu, formerly of Ethiopia
Philip Landis is identified as the Talking Feather of the Translation Council.
This does not automatically prove that the Record is ancient.
It does, however, mean that the statement that no other translators are identified is not accurate when applied to the present edition.
A better investigation would ask:
Who were these individuals?
What portions did they translate?
What languages did they know?
What records or family traditions did they possess?
Are there surviving testimonies, letters, recordings, or family accounts?
Those are legitimate questions.
But we should begin with the information that is actually printed in the Record rather than assuming that Cloudpiler acted entirely alone.
2. Where Are the Plates?
Connor places great weight upon the fact that the original Nemenhah records are not available for public inspection.
That is a serious historical limitation.
Anyone considering the Record should acknowledge it honestly.
But another question must also be asked:
Where are the Book of Mormon plates today?
They are not in a university collection.
They cannot be placed under a microscope.
They cannot be carbon dated, weighed, photographed, or examined by modern archaeologists.
The Book of Mormon has named witnesses, and that is an important difference.
Three Witnesses testified of seeing the plates through a divine manifestation.
Eight Witnesses testified that Joseph Smith showed them the plates and that they handled them.
That evidence should not be minimized.
But none of us living today has personally inspected the Book of Mormon plates.
Our testimony of the Book of Mormon ultimately rests upon more than physical evidence.
We read it.
We examine its doctrine.
We recognize its patterns.
We compare it with scripture.
We observe its fruits.
And we ask God.
The absence of publicly available artifacts creates an unanswered historical question.
It does not, by itself, prove fraud.
That standard must be applied consistently.
3. Is Hagoth Merely a Convenient Fictional Beginning?
Connor compares the Nemenhah account of Hagoth to a modern novelist taking a minor character from a popular story and writing an imaginative sequel.
It is an interesting comparison.
But it is not evidence.
The Book of Mormon tells us that Hagoth was an exceedingly curious man who built ships near the land Bountiful.
Large groups entered those ships and sailed northward.
Some returned.
Others were never heard from again.
See Alma 63:4–8.
The Book of Mormon leaves the story unfinished.
The Nemenhah Sacred Records begin with Hagoth—called Hahgohtl—because they claim to preserve the history of people associated with those northward migrations.
If the Record is fictional, Hagoth would certainly provide a convenient starting point.
But if the Record is genuine, Hagoth would also be the natural starting point.
Therefore, using Hagoth proves neither authenticity nor fraud.
The real question is whether the hundreds of pages that follow form a coherent continuation worthy of deeper examination.
4. Did Connor Compare the Same Visit of Christ?
This is one of the most important issues in the entire discussion.
Connor observes that the destruction in the Book of Mormon began early in the thirty-fourth year, while Christ’s recorded appearance at Bountiful occurred near the ending of that year.
He therefore reasons that Christ appeared at Bountiful many months—perhaps more than three hundred days—after the signs began.
He then compares this with a Nemenhah passage describing an appearance of the Peacemaker “not many days” after the signs.
He concludes that the chronology contradicts the Book of Mormon.
But this conclusion assumes that the two records describe the same appearance in the same location to the same gathering of people.
The Nemenhah Sacred Records do not make that claim.
The Book of Mormon records Christ’s appearance to a multitude gathered near the temple in the land Bountiful.
See 3 Nephi 11:1–10.
The Nemenhah Sacred Records describe appearances among other communities in other locations.
One account identifies Mayntinah as a place where the resurrected Peacemaker came in glory to the Nemenhah. The record of Mahnti opens with his personal testimony that he witnessed the Peacemaker at the temple in Mayntinah:
“I was present and did witness the Peacemaker when He came in His glory to the Tuhhuhlnuhmtsipi at Mayntinah.”
— The Book of Mahnti 1:1
The Nemenhah tradition also preserves another visit among people farther north.
These are presented as additional appearances—not alternative versions of Bountiful.
This is completely compatible with Christ’s own declaration:
“Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring.”
— John 10:16
At Bountiful, Christ explained that the “other sheep” were not the Gentiles, but scattered covenant peoples whom He would personally visit.
See 3 Nephi 15:12–21 and 3 Nephi 16:1–3.
Therefore, the proper question is not:
“Why does the Nemenhah date disagree with Bountiful?”
The proper question is:
“Are these records describing the same visit—or different visits among different branches of Israel?”
If they are different visits, then the alleged contradiction disappears.
A visit shortly after the signs and a later visit at Bountiful can both be true.
5. Do Temple Similarities Prove Modern Borrowing?
Connor argues that the Nemenhah temple teachings contain language and practices resembling the Latter-day Saint temple endowment.
He points to:
washing and anointing
sacred clothing
covenant progression
obedience
sacrifice
the gospel
virtue or chastity
consecration
sealing by the Holy Spirit of Promise
calling and election
the more sure word of prophecy
the Second Anointing
entering the presence of God
These similarities are real.
They deserve careful examination.
But similarity does not automatically prove plagiarism.
If Joseph Smith restored portions of an ancient covenant pattern, and if the Nemenhah Record also preserves an ancient covenant pattern, we might expect some similarities.
The deeper question is whether the Nemenhah temple account merely copies the modern Latter-day Saint ceremony.
When we study the Record closely, important differences emerge.
The Nemenhah ceremony is described as a community event, involving families and villages rather than an ordinance controlled exclusively by a priestly institution.
The present edition explains that the community tells the sacred story together and that the ordinance is not something received merely through the authority of one officiator.
The temple is also presented as a living walk.
Its purpose is not simply to memorize information or pass symbolic sentinels.
Its purpose is to bring a person into actual communion with angels, ancestors, the Peacemaker, and ultimately the Divine Parents.
Mahnti teaches:
“This is the Endowment of Power—to gain the ability to stand upon the Way and converse with your kindred dead, with Angels, with guides and guardians, and with Ayahtsuhway Sahnhehmpeht Himself.”
— The Book of Mahnti 8:20
He then explains that the purpose of the High Place is to prepare mortals to enter the spiritual sphere, receive instruction from heavenly messengers, see the Peacemaker, and be presented by Him before the Aylohhihm.
See The Book of Mahnti 8:20–31.
This is not merely a ceremony to attend.
It is a spiritual path to walk.
The question is therefore larger than:
“Does this sound familiar?”
We must also ask:
“What does the Record say the endowment is supposed to accomplish?”
6. Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father
This may be one of the most important teachings Connor passed over too quickly.
In the Nemenhah creation account, Heavenly Mother is not an unnamed, silent companion standing somewhere behind Heavenly Father.
She is active.
She speaks.
She creates.
She gives life and awareness.
She possesses Her own divine endowment.
The Record calls Heavenly Mother Pah Aylohway and Heavenly Father Tsi Aylohway.
Together, in Their united and covenantal sense, They are called the Aylohhihm.
The forward to The Book of the Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn explains that “Aylohhihm” refers to God the Mother and God the Father united in sacred covenant and joined in sealing power.
The creation story begins with Heavenly Mother looking upon the Deep and seeing possibility:
“I see space there—space to fill, space to build, space to do a great thing.”
— The Book of the Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn 1:3
Heavenly Father organizes matter.
Heavenly Mother brings life, awareness, and perception.
Neither completes creation alone.
They recognize that organization without life remains incomplete, while life without organization remains in confusion.
Their powers become fruitful when joined together in covenant.
The account teaches that Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother become:
“one in heart, one in mind, and one in purpose.”
This is described as the first covenant of our Heavenly Parents.
The pattern then becomes the foundation for marriage, family, community, and creation.
This teaching is not a small decorative addition to modern temple language.
It changes the entire picture of God.
It explains why women possess divine gifts.
It provides the foundation for the Council of Mothers.
It teaches that creation itself flows through the united powers of Father and Mother.
It presents the feminine divine not as secondary, symbolic, or silent, but as essential to life and creation.
A fair review should ask:
Is this merely borrowed from modern Mormonism?
Where is this full theology clearly taught in the modern LDS endowment?
Why does the Record give Heavenly Mother such a central voice and creative role?
How does this teaching shape the Nemenhah understanding of women, councils, marriage, priesthood, and creation?
Calling the account a modern embellishment does not answer those questions.
7. The Council of Mothers
The active role of Heavenly Mother continues in the earthly organization of the people.
The Nemenhah Sacred Records repeatedly describe Councils of Mothers.
The First Book of Tsi-Tuhgohhah even contains a chapter specifically titled “Council of Mothers.”
See The First Book of Tsi-Tuhgohhah, chapter 9.
The mothers were not placed in a decorative auxiliary organization.
They helped guide communities.
They considered the welfare of children, families, future generations, healing, marriage, stewardship, and leadership.
Their authority did not arise because men temporarily delegated a portion of priesthood power to them.
Their gifts came from their relationship with Heavenly Mother and from their own covenant walk with the Creator.
This is one of the clearest ways the Nemenhah system differs from much of institutional Mormonism.
A complete examination should consider the entire theological pattern:
Heavenly Mother creates with Heavenly Father.
Women possess divine gifts corresponding to that heavenly pattern.
Mothers participate in governing and protecting the people.
Marriage is a covenant partnership.
Zion cannot be built while half the human family is treated as spiritually secondary.
That is far more than a slightly altered version of a modern temple script.
8. Jacob, Isaac, Wives, Concubines, and Eternal Marriage
Connor argues that the Nemenhah passage concerning Jacob, Isaac, wives, and concubines resembles Doctrine and Covenants 132.
There are similarities in how the question is introduced.
That should be acknowledged.
But the doctrine taught afterward is not the same as the plural-marriage system associated with Section 132.
The Nemenhah passage makes a sharp distinction between:
temporary household or national arrangements connected with ancient customs, and
an eternal spiritual marriage sealed by the Holy Ghost.
Regarding Jacob, the Record says that only the covenant with the woman of his heart was sealed by the Holy Ghost.
The other women in the household were not sealed to him in that same eternal relationship.
Regarding Isaac, the Record says that he had only one eternal wife, although a handmaid was taken into the household for the continuation of the nation.
Most importantly, the Record teaches:
“The spiritual marriage, or that marriage and bond which the Holy Ghost maketh eternal, shall arise only out of that which one man and one woman determined together in their hearts.”
It continues by teaching that the man and woman labor together with the Holy Ghost to make their union eternal.
This is not the doctrine of one man eternally sealed to many women.
It is the opposite.
The Nemenhah teaching separates ancient social arrangements from eternal marriage and defines spiritual marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman, sealed by the Holy Ghost.
That distinction matters.
The Book of Mormon condemns men who take many wives and concubines to satisfy their own desires.
See Jacob 2:23–35.
Joseph Smith’s Inspired Translation also corrects biblical passages later used to justify David and Solomon.
The Nemenhah passage does not celebrate plural marriage as the highest order of heaven.
It teaches that eternal union belongs to one man and one woman whose hearts and intentions are joined and whose covenant is ratified by the Holy Ghost.
Readers may still disagree with the explanation of ancient concubinage.
But it is not fair to say that the Record simply repeats the eternal-polygamy doctrine of Section 132.
The two systems should be carefully compared rather than treated as identical.
9. Chiasmus and Literary Structure
Another issue deserving deeper study is the Record’s literary structure.
Chiasmus is a pattern in which ideas are presented and then repeated in reverse order, often emphasizing a central message.
Chiasmus appears in the Bible.
It also appears extensively in the Book of Mormon.
Readers have identified chiasmic structures and related literary patterns in the Nemenhah Sacred Records.
Chiasmus alone does not prove that a work is ancient.
A modern writer who understands the form can deliberately construct one.
We should therefore avoid claiming that chiasmus is absolute proof of divine origin.
But neither should it be ignored.
The more important question is whether the literary patterns are:
extensive rather than accidental
meaningful rather than superficial
integrated into doctrine
consistent across different books and narrators
centered upon covenant ideas
connected with the larger structure of the Record
The Nemenhah Sacred Records contain recurring patterns involving:
creation
covenant
four directions
four pillars
emergence
sacrifice
virtue
consecration
destruction and restoration
gathering and scattering
the Way
hearing the Voice
returning to the presence of the Creator
These patterns are woven throughout hundreds of pages.
They should be studied carefully before the whole work is dismissed as casual religious fiction.
10. The Four Pillars
Connor’s video concentrates heavily upon provenance, temple similarities, chronology, and plural marriage.
Those are legitimate subjects.
But a reader could watch the entire presentation and never understand some of the Record’s most central teachings.
One example is the Four Pillars:
Knowledge
Sacrifice
Virtue
Consecration
These are not merely four words placed into a ceremony.
They form a pattern for daily life.
Knowledge
Knowledge requires us to seek truth, listen, learn, and receive correction.
Sacrifice
Sacrifice asks what we are willing to give so that another life may be strengthened.
Virtue
Virtue concerns integrity, faithfulness, restraint, moral courage, and the proper use of power.
Consecration
Consecration asks us to use our time, abilities, possessions, land, learning, and spiritual gifts to bless others.
The Record describes consecration in practical language:
“You will utilize the gifts of the Aylohhihm for your own maintenance and with the surplus you covenant to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, lift up the hands that hang down, and to shoulder each other’s burdens.”
— The Book of the Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn 6:1
This is not merely speculation about ancient history.
It is an invitation to become a Zion people.
11. The Haymehnay and Personal Revelation
The Record places extraordinary emphasis upon the Haymehnay, often compared with the power, mind, and gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Truth is not supposed to be accepted merely because a chief, translator, priest, scholar, prophet, or institution declares it.
Mahnti gives this invitation:
“Submit all these things unto the confirmation of the Haymehnay.”
He teaches that readers should approach the Record with good intent and faith in the One who is mighty to save.
See The Book of Mahnti 12:1–7.
This is important because the Record itself warns readers not to depend upon the word of any man—living or dead.
That includes Cloudpiler.
It also includes Connor.
And it includes me.
The invitation is not:
“Believe this because an authority has declared it.”
The invitation is:
“Read it, test it, and seek personal revelation.”
12. Would God Send Another Record While the People Are Under Condemnation?
Connor argues that the Church and the Gentiles remain under condemnation because they have treated the Book of Mormon lightly.
See Doctrine and Covenants 84:54–59.
I agree that this condemnation is serious.
But Connor then reasons that God would not permit another sacred record to come forth while the people remain wicked and unprepared.
Is that necessarily true?
God repeatedly sends prophets, warnings, records, and revelations because people are under condemnation.
The appearance of another witness does not necessarily mean:
“Congratulations. You have been righteous enough to receive more.”
It may mean:
“You have ignored what I already gave you, so I am sending another witness to call you to repentance.”
The Book of Mormon itself came forth to a world filled with pride, violence, division, priestcraft, slavery, oppression, and unbelief.
Its appearance was not proof that the world had become righteous.
It was a warning to a world that had not.
Perhaps the Nemenhah Sacred Records, whether ancient history, apocryphal teaching, or something between, should be evaluated by what they call us to become.
Do they flatter the Gentiles?
Or do they warn against pride, control, inequality, religious domination, neglect of Native peoples, misuse of the earth, and the accumulation of wealth?
Do they congratulate modern religion?
Or do they call people back to covenant, personal revelation, consecration, peace, and the direct presence of Jesus Christ?
Those are important questions.
13. What Did the Review Leave Out?
A seven-hundred-page sacred record cannot be fairly evaluated through a handful of selected passages.
A complete examination should also consider:
Hagoth’s northward journey
the civilization that followed
the additional appearances of Jesus Christ
Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father
the creation covenant
the Four Pillars
the Medicine Wheel
the Haymehnay
the Council of Mothers
women’s divine authority
the Way
consecration
stewardship rather than ownership
Moroni’s later ministry
Samuel the Lamanite’s family history
the Three Nephites
the prophecies of the Foreign Strangers
warnings against corrupted religious institutions
the gathering of the remnant
the establishment of Zion
the repeated invitation to seek the face of the Peacemaker
None of these automatically proves antiquity.
But they are part of the evidence that should be examined.
A reviewer should not focus only upon passages that appear suspicious while passing quickly over the larger theological and historical structure.
14. What Are the Fruits?
Jesus gave a simple but powerful test:
“By their fruits ye shall know them.”
— Matthew 7:20
Historical evidence matters.
Witnesses matter.
Chronology matters.
Language matters.
Literary structure matters.
But fruits also matter.
Therefore, I ask:
Does the Record bring a person closer to Jesus Christ?
Does it encourage repentance?
Does it teach people to hear His Voice?
Does it encourage personal revelation?
Does it honor both Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother?
Does it elevate women and protect children?
Does it condemn priestcraft, domination, greed, and pride?
Does it teach virtue?
Does it call us to feed the hungry and lift the poor?
Does it teach stewardship of the earth?
Does it ask us to consecrate our lives to the blessing of others?
Does it invite us to become peacemakers?
Those questions do not settle every historical claim.
But they should be part of any honest evaluation.
What the Record Says—and What I Believe
What the Nemenhah Sacred Records claim
The Record claims to preserve histories and teachings associated with Hagoth’s descendants and other covenant peoples in ancient North America.
It describes additional appearances of the resurrected Jesus Christ.
It presents a creation account involving Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father.
It teaches sacred ceremonies, the Four Pillars, the Way, consecration, the Council of Mothers, and direct revelation through the Haymehnay.
Those are the Record’s claims.
My personal reflection
I do not ask anyone to accept those claims merely because I have found meaning in them.
I began reading because I wanted to know whether there was truth here.
I continued reading because I repeatedly found teachings that directed me toward Jesus Christ, personal revelation, service, virtue, consecration, family, peace, and Zion.
I have found patterns that deepen my understanding of the Book of Mormon rather than replace it.
I have found teachings that challenge institutional control and invite each person to hear the Voice of the Peacemaker.
I have found a Heavenly Mother who is not silent.
I have found a Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother working together as equal Divine Parents.
I have found women participating in sacred governance.
I have found the temple described not merely as a ceremony, but as a walk into the presence of Christ.
That does not remove every question.
But it does mean the Record deserves more than a quick dismissal.
The Final Invitation
Connor has raised questions worth considering.
Some of those questions remain unanswered.
Some appear to rest upon incomplete information.
Others depend upon assumptions that deserve to be challenged.
The proper response is not anger.
It is not blind defense.
It is not blind rejection.
It is deeper study.
Read the Book of Mormon.
Read the Nemenhah Sacred Records.
Compare them.
Look for contradictions.
Look for harmony.
Study the history.
Study the doctrine.
Study the literary patterns.
Observe the fruits.
Then ask God.
Do not surrender your spiritual judgment to Philip Landis.
Do not surrender it to Connor Boyack.
Do not surrender it to me.
Let the Holy Ghost have the final word.
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