The Creation and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
“And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning.
And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents; (1 Nephi 5:10-11) 600 B.C. to 592 BC
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Even though the Nephites and the Lamanites tried to destroy all of the sacred records.
“…I, Mormon… having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I... hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni.” (Mormon 6:6) 385 AD
There still remained, in the 1500's AD among the Aztecs, Maya and Inca, knowledge and information about the creation, and Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. As recorded in the 'plates of Brass'.
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Diego Durán (c. 1537–1588 A.D.)
The Catholic friar, Diego Durán, recorded as follows;
"That I may leave nothing untold...an aged [Aztec], man from Cholula, about one hundred years old, began to describe their origins to me. This man... was quite learned in their ancient traditions. When I begged him to enlighten me about some details I wished to put into this history he asked me what I wanted him to tell. I realized I had found an old and learned person, so I answered, all that he knew about the history of his Indian nation from the beginning of the world. He responded: "Take pen and paper, because you will not be able to remember all that I shall tell you." And [he] began thus: In the beginning, before light or sun had been created, this world lay in darkness and shadows and was very void of every living thing. ...without even a tree or any other created thing. And then...the light and sun were born..."
<< (The History of the Indies of New Spain, P. 8)
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Pre-Columbus Meso-American carving/drawing
The above carvings on "two pure copper Medals found, [in 1794], in the vicinity of Guatemala", "two inches in diameter" may possibly represent Adam in the Garden of Eden with a serpent/Satan. The two larger trees may perhaps represent the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Source; (The Native Races of the Pacific States, 1886, Antiquities of Guatemala, page 118) (Antiquities of Mexico Vol. 6 p. 12) And (Antonio Del Rio. Description of the Ruins of an Ancient City)
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Another ancient drawing slightly different from the above.
<< "Ancient pre-Columbus drawing from Guatemala"
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An interesting interview by a Du Pratz with a Chief of a tribe of Indians called "the Guardians of the Temple," who lived near the Mississippi river.
"Du Pratz was very intimate with the chief of those Indians called "the Gardians of the Temple," near the Mississippi…. This chief being asked how God made man, replied, that "God kneaded some clay, made it into a little man, and finding it was well formed, he blew on his work, and the man had life and grew up…man was made first." (The Wonders of Nature and providence Josiah Priest p. 304)
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Landa, in 1572 A.D. was one of the first Catholic Bishop in the Yucatan. "Among the Maya we found a large number [thousands] of books " and "burned them all." After Landa had destroyed these ancient books he decided that someone should record information concerning the Maya people so he wrote the book 'Relacion of Landa,' (Landa's Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan) [A manuscript of the Maya people.] [The first edition of Relacion of Landa was published in French in 1864 and in English in 1937.]
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The following information is from the Catholic Encyclopedia - Pre-Cortés period.
"Among the Aztecs the idea of the creation had been preserved. They believed that Tloque-Nahuaque had created a man and a woman in a delightful garden..." (Catholic Encyclopedia, Bible Traditions in Mexico- Creation")
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<<Pedro de Cieza de León , was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of Peru.
"As I noted the many great and strange things that are to be seen in this new world of the Indies, there came upon me a strong desire to write an account of some of them, as well those which I had seen with my own eyes as those which I had heard from person of good repute." "...both ourselves and these, [Peruvian], Indians draw our origin from our ancestors Adam and Eve...." (The travels of Pedro de Cieza de León, A. D. 1532-50 : contained in the first part of his Chronicle of Peru, p. 5)
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<< Antiquities of Mexico by Lord Edward Kingsborough
Kingsborough records the following:
"...the Mexicans, [native Aztecs], believed ...that the first woman was created from the same bone as man..." (Antiquities of Mexico, by Lord Edward Kingsborough, Vol 8, Supplementary Extracts from Spanish Authors, p. 8)