Christopher Columbus was a man of great faith and determination to follow the promptings of the Spirit of God. While not without his faults, overall, the study of his life is inspiring and he provides a good example for Christians to follow. This presentation focuses on what LDS / Mormon prophets have said about this remarkable man.

1. What the Prophets
have Taught about
Christopher Columbus
LDS Denton Institute – Friday Forum – November 3, 2017
By Jimmy Smith

4. “For five centuries scholars have
analyzed his life, his achievements,
and his character. If all that has been
written about Columbus were
brought together in one place, the
load would easily sink the small ship
that carried him to America.”
Clark B. Hinckley, from the Introduction to his book, A Man among Gentiles

5. Agenda: What the Prophets have
Taught about Christopher Columbus
• Nephi’s prophecy about Columbus
• What Columbus said about his own motives,
relationship with God, and Spiritual Inspiration
• Moroni’s Role according to Elder Orson Hyde
• Wilford Woodruff and temple work for Columbus
• Quotes by Ezra Taft Benson and Gordon B. Hinckley

7. “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.”
1 Nephi 13:12

8. “I, Lehi, prophesy according to the
workings of the Spirit which is in
me, that there shall none come into
this land save they shall be brought
by the hand of the Lord. Wherefore,
this land is consecrated unto him
whom he shall bring.”
2 Nephi 1:6–7

9. “Unto Nephi, son of Lehi,
was shown the future of his
people, including the
degeneracy of a branch
thereof, afterward known as
Lamanites and in modern
times as American Indians.
The coming of a man from
among the Gentiles, across
the deep waters, was
revealed in such plainness as
to positively identify that
man with Columbus; and the
coming of other Gentiles to
this land, out of captivity, is
equally explicit.”
Elder James E. Talmage of the Quourm
of the 12 Apostles

10. “With a hand that could be
felt, the Lord opened my
mind to the fact that it
would be possible to sail
and he opened my will to
desire to accomplish the
project . . . This was the fire
that burned within me . . .
Who can doubt that this
fire was not merely mine,
but also of the Holy Spirit
…urging me to press
forward?”
West and Kling, Libro, 105.The Inspiration of Christopher Columbus
by José María Obregón, 1856

11. “I prayed to the most
merciful Lord
concerning my desire,
and he gave me the
spirit and the
intelligence for it.”
(West and Kling, Libro, 105)

12. “I spent seven years here in
your royal court discussing
this subject with the leading
persons in all the learned
arts, and their conclusion
was that all was in vain. That
was the end, and they gave
it up. But afterwards it all
turned out just as our
redeemer Jesus Christ had
said, and as he had spoken
earlier by the mouth of his
holy prophets*”
(West and Kling, Libro, 107)
*See Matt 24:14, Mark 13:10, and John
10:14-16

13. Columbus awes the Jamaican natives by predicting the lunar eclipse of 1504. By Camille Flammarion - Astronomie
Populaire 1879, p231 fig. 86, Public Domain

14. Celestial Voice to Columbus:
“O fool, slow to believe and serve thy God,
the God of all! …Since thou wast born,
ever has He had thee in His watchful care.
…Of the barriers of the Ocean Sea, which
were closed with such mighty chains, He
gave thee the key; and thou wast obeyed
in many lands, and among Christians thou
hast gained an honorable fame.”
( Varela and Gil, Textos, 491–92)

15. Landing of Columbus (12 October 1492), painting by John Vanderlyn

16. Paraphrasing from Isaiah and the Revelation of John, Columbus
said in his journal:
“Of the new heaven and the new
earth, of which Our Lord spoke . . . He
made me the messenger and He
showed me where to go.”
(Varela and Gil, Textos, 430. See Isaiah 66:22; Revelation 21:1.)

17. “In the circumstances of
this voyage, He has
miraculously made [his
power] …manifest, as
one may understand
through this writing,
through the signal
miracles that He has
performed during the
voyage and for me …I
hope in Our Lord that it
will be the greatest honor
to Christianity that,
unexpectedly, has ever
come about.”
(Dunn and Kelley, Diario, 401–3.)
Earliest Known Painting of Columbus.
In The Virgin of the Navigators, 1531–36. Alejo Fernández
(1475-1545) - Photo by historian Manuel Rosa.

18. • He called Moroni “the
guardian angel of
America.”
• “That same angel of God
that appeared to Joseph
Smith presides over the
destiny of the United
States of America.”
• “That same angel was
with Columbus on the
stormy deep. He guided
his frail vessel to the
desired haven, and he
calmed the troubled
elements.”
See Journal of Discourses, 6:369.
also
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1988/03/i-have-a-question?lang=eng
and
http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2003_
03_11_Rudd.htm
Elder Orson Hyde,
member of the
Quorum of the 12,
gave a talk in Salt
Lake City on July 4,
1854.

19. Replicas of Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria sailed from Spain to the Chicago Columbian Exposition. E. Benjamin Andrews.
History of the United States, volume V. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 1912.

20. On October 9, 1492, the Pinzón brothers came aboard the Santa
María, where they “held a more or less stormy
conference with Columbus in his cabin, demanded
that the search for land be abandoned, and that
advantage be taken of the southerly breeze to start
home.” (Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea, 220–21.)
Columbus later wrote in his journal that God “had delivered
him on the outward voyage, when he had greater
reason to fear from his troubles with the sailors
and people that he took with him, who all, with
one voice, were determined to go back and to rise
against him in protest.” (Dunn and Kelley, Diario, 369.)

22. On their return voyage, when they were almost home, they
encountered a massive storm off the coast of Portugal.
“The people of the town spent all that morning
in fervent prayer for them, and after they got
inside the people came to see them and to
marvel at how they had escaped.”
(Dunn and Kelley, Diario, 391–93)
Columbus learned later that twenty-five ships had been lost in
the storm.

23. “That We May Be Redeemed”
Painting by Glen Hopkinson

24. “The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to
know why we did not redeem them. Said they, “…We laid
the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and
we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it
and were faithful to God.” …They waited on me for two
days and two nights. I thought it very singular, that
notwithstanding so much work had been done, and yet
nothing had been done for them …I straightway went into
the baptismal font and called upon brother McCallister to
baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of
Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one
hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and
others.”
(Wilford Woodruff, in Journal of Discourses, 19:229. https://www.lds.org/manual/presidents-of-the-
church-student-manual/wilford-woodruff-fourth-president-of-the-church?lang=eng)

25. “President George Washington
was ordained a high priest at that
time. You will also be interested
to know that, according to
Wilford Woodruff’s journal, John
Wesley, Benjamin Franklin, and
Christopher Columbus were also
ordained high priests at that
time. When one casts doubt
about the character of these
noble sons of God, I believe he or
she will have to answer to the
God of heaven for it.”
(Benson, Ezra Taft This Nation Shall Endure,
Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1977, 22.)

26. “I have read and reread one
important and prophetic verse
from the Book of Mormon [1
Ne. 13:12], and also a very long
biography of Christopher
Columbus. …We interpret that
[verse] to refer to Columbus. It
is interesting to note that the
Spirit of God wrought upon him.
After reading that long
biography, a Pulitzer winner of
forty years ago, titled Admiral of
the Ocean Sea—I have no doubt
that Christopher Columbus was
a man of faith, as well as a man
of indomitable determination.”
(Building Your Tabernacle – Gordon B.
Hinckley – October 1992)

27. Thank You
• Find me online at JimmySmith.org