Who was Quetzalcoatl?

The story of Quetzalcoatl is very compelling and many LDS members have pointed to the legend of Quetzalcoatl as evidence to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

Who is Quetzalcoatl?

In case you are unfamiliar with pre-Colombian deities, Quetzalcoatl is the most well known Aztec god and is believed by many to be the principal Aztec God. The name itself is a compound formed from the Nahuatl terms for the emerald plumed quetzal and the serpent, or coatl. In other words, Quetzalcoatl means feathered serpent.

Was Quetzalcoatl a Resurrected Jesus?

The crowning event in the Book of Mormon is the story of Jesus Christ himself as a resurrected being visiting the people on the American Continent just after his crucifixion. Many Mormons believe that this event was the basis for Quetzalcoatl and other Native American pre-Colombian deities. But how does a flying snake relate to the same Jesus Christ that walked in Palestine?

Bruce R. McConkie writes in his book Mormon Doctrine regarding Quetzalcoatl:

Lamanitish tradition has preserved the account of the ministry among the ancient inhabitants off America of a white God called Quetzalcoatl...Quetzalcoatl was a favorably disposed man, of grave aspect, white and bearded. His dress was a long tunic...He told them that in time to come,...he would return, and then his doctrine would be received. Almost without exception Latter-day Saints have associated these traditions with the ministry of the resurrected Christ among the Nephites. President John Taylor, for instance, has written: 'The story of the life of the Mexican divinity, Quetzalcoatl, closely resembles that of the Savior; so closely, indeed, that we can come to no other conclusion than that Quetzalcoatl and Christ are the same being. But the history of the former has been handed down to us through an impure Lamanitish source, which has sadly disfigured and perverted the original incidents and teachings of the Savior's life and ministry.'

First, let me start off by saying that I find it confusing that the early prophets and apostles called the pre-Columbian Native Americans "Lamanitish" when most LDS apologists today are saying that the general population of Native Americans are not Lamanites, but that is another topic for another day. If anything, it demonstrates how un-inspired early chruch leaders were.

From a more modern source, LDS apologist John L. Sorenson writes in his book An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon:

Many Latter-day Saints know a little about the ancient Mesoamerican figure known by the name Quetzalcoatl...who bears some striking resemblances to Christ as reported in the Book of Mormon...By some accounts, Quetzalcoatl wore a long white robe...traditional native accounts written down by the Spaniards...document a widely held belief...[of] a sacred being, described as a bearded white man, appeared long ago, taught a demanding set of spiritual principals, then departed mysteriously with the promise that he would return someday.

Problems With a White God in Pre-Columbian America

In the Reader's Digest book Mysteries of the Ancient Americas, it brings up some of the serious problems with placing a white God in Mesoamerica. When talking about Quetzalcoatl as a white God, it says:

There is, however, a serious flaw in the theories of the white-god...It is only after the Spanish Conquest that Quetzalcoatl is depicted as having a white skin, and then only in accounts provided by the Spaniards themselves. In local Aztec art, he is usually depicted as a feathered serpent or as a human wearing a mask or shown to have a black face, sometimes with yellow stripes and a red mouth...Nothing known of Aztec legend, though, implies that he had been a white man...in his human form on earth.

So if we are to believe that Quetzalcoatl was indeed a white God, the only evidence we have to go on is the word of the Spaniards. Quetzalcoatl was never depicted as a white bearded robed man until after the Spaniards came, and only by the Spaniards accounts. All of the local artwork and murals that pre-date Columbus depict him as either a feathered serpent or a dark-skinned man.




Mysteries of the Ancient Americas continues:

Quetzalcoatl...by the lights of native believers, had [not] been expected to "return". These promises were noted, long after the fact, by the Spanish chroniclers with wit enough to see the advantages of being taken as actors in the fulfillment of prophecy...The Spaniards with their cannon and horses and ships...may at first have appeared like supernatural beings...But there is little evidence that the Aztec ruler or anyone else in the land thought that the Spanish invasion was a promised Second Coming of the God Quetzalcoatl.

It appears that all these accounts of a white God promising to return one day were nothing more than Spanish political propaganda. Hernán Cortés was a white bearded man that arrived to the Americas. It was very self-fulfilling for the Spanish chroniclers to portray the Native American deities in a manner that conveniently puts the Spanish in a godlike position over the Native Americans. The only illustrations that depict Quetzalcoatl as a bearded white man are from European documents, like the one to the right taken from a 16th century Spanish manuscript. Notice similar features to Cortés himself.

Chronological Disparity

Another problem when comparing the account of the resurrected Jesus in the Book of Mormon and the legend of Quetzalcoatl is trying to place them on earth during the same time period. The earliest date that Quetzalcoatl could have appeared-as a man- was at least 300 A.D. Biasil C. Hedrick, Director of the University Museum Southern Illinois University said regarding the time period of Quetzalcoatl appearing as a man:

adjusted calendars would suggest a time sometime about 900+ years subsequent to the Crucifixion. It frankly appears to me to be poppycock that the Mormons attempt to tout. They take advantage of similarities and seemingly logical comparisons to support a stand which they wish to take but choose to ignore all types of other information which would lead them to quite the opposite conclusion, if they were totally objective in their approach.

The similarities between Quetzalcoatl and the account of Jesus Christ in America are easily explained as combining early European influence, muddling of the evidence by Spanish chroniclers, coincidence and ignoring facts that conflict with the pre-conceived conclusion.

It is easy for Mormons to simply say that many aspects of the true history of Quetzalcoatl has been disfigured and perverted over time. After all, the name Quetzalcoatl has been confused and often mingled with the historical Aztec high priest Ce Acatltopiltzin Quetzalcoatl. However, this argument has serious flaws. If Quetzalcoatl is in fact the same person as Jesus in the Book of Mormon, then you would see more similarities the further back in time you go. However, we find just the opposite. We find much more similarities in accounts that were only produced post-Columbus, and by Europeans. When we look at pre-Colombian ancient murals and artwork, we see less and less similarities. If anything, the characteristics of Quetzalcoatl that resemble Jesus the most are the parts of the legend that have been disfigured and perverted.

Skeptical Mormon