Sign 6 - Columbus Discovers America

Year:1492

Scriptures:

1 Nephi 13:12

12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.

In about 600 BC, the prophet Nephi saw a vision which spanned over 3000 years from the birth of Jesus Christ to the final Celestialization of the Earth. As recorded in 1 Nephi 13:12, he saw in vision the discovery of America by a “man among the Gentiles.” The man Nephi beheld was Columbus and the Gentiles he was among were the European people. The many waters that separated the Nephites and the Europeans was the Atlantic Ocean. Columbus went over the Atlantic Ocean to the seed of Nephi’s brethren which was the American Indians. The discovery of the Americas was a fulfillment of this Book of Mormon prophecy.

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in the Italian Republic of Genoa (Arnold K. Garr, Christopher Columbus: A Latter-day Saint Perspective [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1992] 1-2). In 1476 he moved from Genoa to Portugal. He said that “during this time, I have searched out and studied all kinds of texts: geographies, histories, chronologies, philosophies, and other subjects…. The Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies, and he opened my will to desire to accomplish the project. (Arnold K. Garr, Christopher Columbus: A Latter-day Saint Perspective [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1992] 19)”.

One of the primary motivations of Columbus to sail to the Indies was to spread Christianity. In a letter to Amerigo Vespucci he said "I feel persuaded by the many and wonderful manifestations of Divine Providence in my especial favour, that I am the chosen instrument of God in bringing to pass a great event—no less than the conversion of millions who are now existing in the darkness of Paganism (Arnold K. Garr, Christopher Columbus: A Latter-day Saint Perspective [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1992] 30)".

In 1486, Columbus approached King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile (whose countries later became part of Spain) to solicit their support as a sponsor for his sea voyage. He appealed to Queen Isabella, who was a highly religious and moral person, that his voyage would help spread Christianity. His appeal to King Ferdinand, who was an ambitious ruler, was the possible political and financial rewards of the voyage.

In 1492 Columbus began his historic voyage. After 33 days at sea, on October 12, 1492, he landed at San Salvador which is just off the northern coast of Cuba.

Columbus was inspired by the lord to discover America In preparation for the restoration of the gospel in this last dispensation, the dispensation of the fullness of times.