Christopher Columbus Overview from a Latter-day Saint Perspective

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"History has all the world's best stories, and the life of the weaver's son who discovered America could hardly be matched even by the most inventive imagination." -Felipe Fernandez-Armesto

The reputation of Christopher Columbus has been plagued with inaccuracy, aimed to create doubt and mistrust. Rumors that Columbus was evil, vengeful and a murderer are spread consistently in today's world. Was Columbus a good man inspired by God, or a murderer? Many hear misinformation about Christopher Columbus and believe it without questioning. For years, many have cherry picked information about Columbus, with malice. The view of the Latter-day Saints perspective is different than many. Latter-day Saints have been given more insights and information about Christopher Columbus from Prophets and Apostles which helps clear confusion. Trusting that Columbus was called of God to do a great work can give Latter-day Saints confidence in defending this great historical explorer.

The main example of Latter-day Saints theology defending Christopher Columbus comes from The Book of Mormon. The Prophets Lehi and Nephi in The Book of Mormon mention only two people who would be instrumental in the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The two men who were mentioned are Christopher Columbus and Joseph Smith. In the book of Nephi 13, Nephi, says the Christopher Columbus ‘stands out’ among the gentiles as an instrument of God. “a man among the Gentiles” wrought upon by the Holy Ghost “went forth upon the many waters even unto . . . The promised land”

The voyage of Christopher Columbus is the first event mentioned by Nephi that leads to the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ back to the Earth.

Nephi prophesied:

"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."

The journey of Christopher Columbus marks the beginning of the restoration! Hundreds of years of waiting for the restoration of the gospel, after the apostasy, the mission of Christopher Columbus was essential for setting up the perfect environment for the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

At a young age Christopher Columbus believed he was called by God to “open the sea”. Columbus felt God had called him to the sea in preparation for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world! This is perfectly inline with what is taught by the Church because Columbus’s journey made the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ possible!

Christopher Columbus left many documents from his life, from what he was thinking, and how he was led by God for a great work. Because many of these writings are filled with religion and God, scholars struggle with how to interpret the writings. Many scholars imply that Christopher Columbus is a “mystic” or a fanatic, out of touch with reality, or ignore his writings completely. The first translation and commentary of Christopher Columbus’s book “Libro de las profecias” into English happened in 1991, 500 years from Columbus’s first voyage! It had sat uncut and unopened on the shelves of Princeton University for ninety years!! Why would his own writings go unread for so many years?

Early Life of Christopher Columbus

Most of the personal letters and information about the life of Christopher Columbus came after his first voyage to the Americas. With little information about his childhood, scholars have filled in the blanks about his early life. A common theme throughout the life of Christopher Columbus was that he felt like he was "called of God for a great work." Columbus worked to prepare himself for the "great work" of God that would be his to accomplish.

Columbus did not come from money, and was not exposed to much schooling as a child. One contemporary said he was a man of "great intellect but without much formal education."

Columbus started working at sea at the age of 14, according to Christopher Columbus’s son. At a young age Christopher Columbus records hearing a divine voice declaring that “since thou wast born, ever has He [God] had thee in His watchful care” and when Columbus reached the age that pleased God “the barriers of the Ocean Sea, which were closed with such mighty chains, He gave thee the key.”(pg 24, “Christopher Columbus, man among the gentiles”)

Christopher Columbus worked in Portugal as a Map Maker, when he was not as sea. He worked as a map maker for nine years, 1476 to 1485. He was preparing for the great responsibility from the Lord, to connect the world.

Christopher Columbus met and married Dona Felipa Perestrello e Moniz in Lisbon, Portugal(she goes by Felipa). Through his marriage to Dona Felipa(through her status), Columbus was able to present his plan to sail the sea to Portugal nobility.

Christopher Columbus worked on his proposition for years before he was able to present it! He was very optimistic of the distance from Europe to India, this could have been the reason he was denied funding for so many years.

When Christopher Columbus was 33 he presented his plan to Portugal nobility. He was denied the funds to sail on his great expedition. Soon after being denied the funds, Columbus’s wife, Felipa, died. Columbus is then alone, in debt, with their young son to raise on his own.

After being rejected by Portugal nobility Columbus took his plea to Spain, but Spain was in a civil war and was not ready to fund the expedition. Columbus pleaded with Spain multiple times, and was rejected. After multiple rejections from Spain he went again to Portugal and was rejected again! Back to Spain to try again, and getting ready to go to France to see if they would say yes to him. Spain FINALLY agreed, and he did not have to go to France.

Voyage of Christopher Columbus

Columbus worked for years to get the first voyage funded and approved. He knew the Lord wanted him to take the journey. He was a man of persistence, feeling called by a higher power. It ended up taking Columbus 8 years to get approval for this first voyage!

Once approval and funding was given the crew was ready. It only took them four months to be sea ready after getting approval!

Columbus was given a 90 men crew. They were all experienced sailors, but none had ever sailed as far as they planned to go(Columbus hadn’t either)! There were real fears about what they were about to take on, it was hard to get the men to agree to this long of a journey.

They had three ships The Nina, The Pinta and The Santa Maria. The crew set sail on August 3, 1492.

Absolutely no voyage of any man in all of recorded history would change the world more than this first voyage of Christopher Columbus!

The only technology Columbus had to sail the ocean was a compass, a sand glass which marked ever half hour, a common quadrant to help with latitude.

On October 9-10 the ships and men were ready to give up. Something happened and the ships changed course.

Because they changed course Columbus made landfall on October 12, 1492! There has been lots of discussion about when the group actually made landfall but it is most commonly believed that they made landfall on the island of San Salvador.

The crew of Columbus went to multiple islands in that area and met the native people in each area.

When ready to return home the ship, The Santa Maria, became stuck. They moved what they could and the men they could onto the other ships, leaving The Santa Maria stuck in the land. Columbus, not having space for all the sailors to return home, with one less ship, had to leave men on the closest island, this is when the problems with the natives began.

On the way back to Spain his ship hit bad weather and almost did not make it. The weather was so bad they thought the ship would sink. Columbus truly thought he would die before he made it back home. Columbus turning to his Father in Heaven fasted and prayed for safety to make it back to Europe. Columbus believed that God answered his prayers and that it was only through the power of God that he made it back to Europe. Later Columbus learned that many ships did not make it through the storm that night.

The first voyage was made in 32 weeks!

Second Voyage

It does not appear as though Columbus intended to colonize the civilization he discovered. He intended his discoveries to be for purpose of trading, and spreading the word of God.

Columbus was in a hurry to get back to where he had to leave the men of his ship, back in the New World.

The second voyage was easier to get funding and sailors because they knew the expedition was possible.

The second voyage was filled with famous names Pedro de Las Casas, Juan de la Costa, Diego Alvarez Chanca, and Ponce de Leon(who would later discover Florida!)

The second voyage took 35 days, that speed would stand as a record for many years.

When Columbus went to find his ship mates that he left behind he found out his shipmates had been killed by the Natives. The shipmates had treated the natives terribly. They had raped and pillaged the villages, and the Natives had put his men to death. The members of Columbus’s new ship were mad that Columbus wouldn’t retaliate on the Natives! Columbus lost the respect of his terrible shipmates by not defending their awful behavior!

Two More Voyages of Columbus

On Columbus’s third voyage he discovered the South American Continent.

Columbus was not a skilled colonizer. He trusted people that should not have been trusted and the colonies had wide spread rebellion.

On one of Christopher Columbus’s voyages he was punished for not hurting the Native people. Columbus was put under arrest and was brought back to Spain in chains. When Columbus returned to Spain the Queen apologized but took away all of his governing rolls, Columbus was 50 years old.

Columbus took one final voyage in his old age, and was not in ideal health. Columbus wanted to find the Garden of Eden. He never was able to find it, and ran into multiple problems with the Natives.

Columbus returned home and was so sick he was not able to walk, after his last voyage. He worked to get what was owed to him by the Royalty of Spain. The queen had died soon after Columbus’s last voyage and the King was not willing to pay Columbus what he was promised.

Columbus passed away on May 20, 1506. Nobody is sure where he is buried. It is believed that his remains are in a family plot in Cuba.

Wilford Woodruff felt inspired to do baptisms for the dead for Christopher Columbus in the St. George Temple. Christopher Columbus was also ordained a High Priest during the same experience.

Why Columbus Matters

Columbus was the man called by God to open the sea!

Through Columbus’s journey’s the world is connected. This was simply not possible before, and Christopher Columbus was the trail blazer for the connection of the Wold.

Not only did Columbus discover a new land, but he documented the journey so everyone could follow! It’s like he created the road through the Ocean, for all to follow! There could have been others who went before, but none were able to recreate the journey for others to follow.

The route from Europe to the Americas is still used by Sailors today!!(it was that good!)

The Lord kept and preserved the land until the world was ready for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be brought back to Earth. In the Book of Mormon is says “there shall be none come unto this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.” And it also says that the land would be “kept from the knowledge of other nations.”(pg 206, Christopher Columbus, a man among the Gentiles) Christopher Columbus always felt called to this mission, and the Lord helped him do it!

Blaming Christopher Columbus for all the Problems

Christopher Columbus was not a perfect person, but the problems of the world should not be blamed on him. The main problem with Columbus was being a product of his time. There were major problems and prejudices of people, and that was carried to the New World. Columbus was not a colonizer, although he tried and failed. It is is failures in Colonizing the area, not being able to lead the people in an orderly manner where most of the unjust assumptions of Columbus stem.

Most scholars can agree that Columbus was not a good governor. He assumed that his crewmen and fellow Spaniards would treat the Natives better. His assumptions caused many problems, including the death of men.

Blaming Christopher Columbus for the horrendous treatment of the Native people seems to be off the mark. There were many that did not treat the Natives well, but Columbus was one of the few that did not hurt, pillage and rob the Natives according to his records. He worked hard to keep peace between the two groups and the Europeans felt their superiority allowed them to dominate the Native people.

Personal Note on Christopher Columbus

I was sitting on the beach of my Christmas Vacation, surrounded by family, reading a book on Christopher Columbus when a young girl about 10 years old see’s what I’m reading and says “Christopher Columbus is a bad man.” I ask her why she believes that and she says her teacher told her. I told her that I don’t believe Christopher Columbus was a bad man, but I had not studied much about him. She says “are you saying my teacher is lying?” I told her that I do not believe her teacher is lying but I do not believe her teacher has correct information.

I could not believe Christopher Columbus can cause such a stir in 2023, when the majority of people today have not read, even a single book on Columbus. His writings and letters are available, but we do not take the time to read them, and assume the teachers or social media influences are simply telling the truth, without deeper investigation.

Christopher Columbus has always been an interested topic, when I was young I was taught that he was a great explorer that discovered America. Over the years there has been many views expressed that say the opposite. Many say he is not great. He did not really discover anything, and he ruined the world.

I wanted to find good information on Columbus, to put out into the world. I was a little nervous to study and ‘get less than accurate’ information on Christopher Columbus or even find out that I’ve been wrong to think he was a good person. From Latter-day Church information we do know that Christopher Columbus was one of the people who appeared to Wilford Woodruff and asked to have his temple work done, that alone signifies the efforts of good.

Jacob Wasserman, in his book Columbus, the Don Quixote of the Seas, quotes the discoverer as saying: "The Lord was well disposed to my desire and he bestowed upon me courage and understanding; knowledge of seafaring he gave me in abundance . . . and of geometry and astronomy likewise . . . The Lord with provident hand unlocked my mind, sent me upon the sea, and gave me fire for the deed. Those who heard of my enterprise called it foolish, mocked me and laughed. But who can doubt that the Holy Ghost inspired me?" (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1959, pp. 19-20.)

Columbus' own son Fernando, in a biography of his father, quotes the discoverer as saying: "God gave me the faith and afterwards the courage so that I was quite willing to undertake the journey."

Columbus' last will and testament reads in part: "In the name of the Holy Trinity who inspired me."

The testimony of the discoverer of America is that God lives, for He inspired him. Shall we not accept his word? (Mark E Peterson Annual Conference, 1967)

Places to visit when learning about Christopher Columbus:

There are monuments to Christopher Columbus all over the world, and too many to mention in this post. I have limited my places to some for Spain and church sites with him. I included the Wikipedia page with all of the monuments throughout the world to Christopher Columbus.

Spain:

-Las Ramblas, Barcelona Spain

-Alcala de Henarez- Where Columbus met the King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to finance his fist voyage.

-Cadiz- The second voyage of Columbus

-Cartagena- Monumento de Colón, Muralla del Mar (1882)

-Cordoba-Cristobal Colón y los Reyes Católicos (Columbus with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella).

Utah:

-St. George Temple- Where Wilford Woodruff did baptism’s for the dead for Christopher Columbus.

Here is a list of places on Wikipedia of places to visit with memorials of Cristopher Columbus:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monuments_and_memorials_to_Christopher_Columbus