The other day I overheard a professor briefly mention an ancient Hebraic document known as the "Narrative of Zosimus" that wasn't known to Western scholars until the late 1870's.
As his reference was tangential, I didn't gather much information beyond the fact that the story line/narrative concerned a "righteous" family that was instructed by God to leave Jerusalem before the Babylonian destruction, and that they were led to a land preserved for them. Additionally, their journey to the "blessed" land involved: a dark mist, an ocean, a great tree that bears sweet fruit, etc. (I can't remember all of it exactly, I apologize). Also, the account detailed that the family supposedly recorded their history on metal plates.
- Is there more information about this ancient text?
- Where can I find an English translation of the text so I can read for it myself?
While I realize that this is an ancient text that predates Christianity (supposedly, I don't have information on it), what struck me as particularly interesting was that it seemed to contain many, many parallels to Lehi's "Tree of Life" dream in 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
- Is there a correlation between these two texts? Are the parallels remarkable or just coincidental?
- What have non-LDS scholars researched and stated about the Narrative of Zosimus?
- Have any LDS scholars noted the extreme similar nature of these texts and conducted research on them? Have they proposed any theories to explain why they are so similar?