Timothy Ballard - The Pilgrm Hypothesis

Cover image: The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, Plymouth, Massachusetts, North America on December 21st 1620 , contributed by Hilary Morgan / Alamy Stock Photo

Cover design copyright 2020 by Covenant Communications, Inc.

Published by Covenant Communications, Inc.

American Fork, Utah

Copyright 2020 by Tim Ballard

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any format or in any medium without the written permission of the publisher, Covenant Communications, Inc., 1226 South 630 East, Suite 4, American Fork, UT 84003. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed within this work are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Covenant Communications, Inc., or any other entity.

First Printing: April 2020

ISBN 978-1-52441-284-5

Praise for The Pilgrim Hypothesis

If you have ever read the stories of Moses, Lehi, or the Brother of Jared and wondered why miracles like that dont happen today, then this book was written for you. Filled with history and replete with miraculous interventions, The Pilgrim Hypothesis will convince you of the reality of a God whose promised-land miracles arent only recorded in scripture. The stories in this book will endear you to historical figures such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, William Bradford, John Howland, and even Christopher Columbus. More importantly, Tim Ballard will convince you that Gods fingerprint can be found woven through the words of modern-day prophets and historical heroes. I will treasure what I learned about the American covenant in reading this book, and my Fourth of July celebrations will never be the same.

Emily Belle Freeman, Bestselling co-author of Dont Miss This in the Book of Mormon and author of Grace Where You Are

What Tim Ballard, one of the worlds experts in extraction operations, does with this book is extract evidence of Gods hand in the discovery, colonization, and faith of the pilgrims. Tim teaches that the pilgrims self-understanding was based on the biblical notion of covenant. The covenant was not merely one doctrine among others for them; it was the foundation of a church and the society they hoped to establish.

Paul Cardall, Internationally Acclaimed, Dove Award Winning Pianist

A super insightful view of the least likely set of characters and their impact on the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ. Tim unfolds a number of sacred scriptures that suddenly come to life as they connect covenants and prophesies with the enduring faith of Columbus, the Pilgrims, the Puritans, Native Americans, the Founding Fathers, and the Prophet Joseph Smith. It will change the way you think of modern-day America and the role you and I must play in the future!

Tom Holmoe, Athletic DirectorBrigham Young University

For Katherine

Contents

pilgrim / pil-gr m/, noun: A person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons.

Publishers Note

A hypothesis is not a statement of fact, though it often reads like one. It is, rather, a jumping-off point, a tentative assumption made that provides a framework for examining and organizing facts. Most scientific or historical queries begin with a hypothesis, which is calculated based on the facts already known and then either supported or rejected by additional research.

The Pilgrim Hypothesis is a bold conjecture based on extensive historical research. The miraculous events of the discovery and colonization of America and the remarkable strength of character embodied in the explorers, pilgrims, and prophets are demonstrable facts. In this book, Timothy Ballard has shared many of those facts and drawn some fascinating conclusions from them. Not only that, but unlike a traditional historical work, The Pilgrim Hypothesis has a religious bias, specifically one based on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as described in the subtitle and throughout the book. Whether or not you come to the same conclusionswhether you support his hypothesis or notwe believe you will gain a new appreciation for the events that shaped America as a nation and for those historical figures who followed the inspiration they received to find and found this great American nation under God.

Authors Note

In researching for this book, I visited almost every city and location that I wrote about. I was astonished at the impact it had on me to actually walk on the same ground and enter the same buildings and spaces the historical personages in this book walked on and entered into. In an effort to share something of what I experienced on my journey, I have included QR codes throughout this book that will direct you to digitized videos. Using these QR codes, I will bring you, through video, to some of these historical spaces, introduce you to some of the experts who helped me on my way, and expound upon the lives and times of the men and women who built our American nation.

To access these videos, simply open the camera application on your phone and hold it over the QR code. When a prompt appears, press it, and you will be taken to your video. Depending on the model of your phone, you may need a QR code reader app to access this additional content.

Foreword by Glenn Beck

C hristopher Columbus. William Bradford. John Winthrop. The Mayflower mothers. John and Abigail Adams. These are just some of the inspiring historical characters you will be introduced to in this book. One definition of pilgrim is a person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons, which makes all of these people pilgrims in their own right.

For many years, as I thought upon these heroes of history, a recurring question dogged me. Where are our pilgrims today? Where is Bradford? Where is Abigail Adams? Where are Washington and Lincoln? God knows we need them now more than ever. For as The Pilgrim Hypothesis will show, they all knew the same secret to our national salvation. It is the secret that built the nation, that allowed us to conquer the worlds superpower to gain our independence, and that allowed us to liberate slaves by the millionsthat secret is a covenant with heaven. Its a two-way promise. If you are righteous, the Lord declared, then will I conquer evil and bless your land. Its the same covenant the ancient Israelites made, and its the same covenant that, if lived, builds nations under God and blesses the world with the peace and light it so lacks today.

So again, I ask, Where are our American pilgrims today?

Shortly before Billy Graham passed away, I had the unique opportunity to sit with him one-on-one, and I asked him this very question.

I dont know that we will see another Washington or Lincoln, Graham told me. Instead of seeking for a single national leader to command a revolution or liberate the captive, Graham explained that we should look to individualsthousands of themworking independently of each other but toward that common cause. Working toward that national covenant with God.

I believe Graham. And I believe it is time to call these individuals together. This book by my good friend Tim Ballard is that call. Admittedly, The Pilgrim Hypothesis looks at history through the lens of the gospel as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But the stories, the foundation of the book, are events all Americans share, and all who read this should feel free to plug their own faiths into these stories. For all faiths have grown and flourished because of what these pilgrims did. Let these stories, then, be our common foundation, our national standard, our rallying cry against the forces of darkness.