This will be the first in a series of posts exploring basic archetypal symbols and their meaning within a doctrinal context. This first post will focus on the number one and some of it’s many meanings.

Alonzo L. Gaskill, an assistant professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU, brilliantly debunks the “Seal of Melchizedek” myth while sustaining the idea that, yes, we can create our own new meanings for symbols in our day.

I propose that Mormon demonstrates at least a couple of times how Nephi’s prophecy about war and the fountain of filthy water are connected. It seems the river Sidon actually becomes the fountain and why it is filthy is a…