SUNDAY THOUGHT

Quetzalcoatl is an Aztec sky and creator god. The name is a combination of quetzal, a brightly colored Mesoamerican bird, and coatl, meaning serpent.

[1] Quetzalcoatl is often referred to as The Feathered Serpent and was connected to the planet Venus. He was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood, of learning and knowledge.

[2] Today Quetzalcoatl is arguably the best known Aztec deity, and is often thought to have been the principal Aztec god.

Several other Mesoamerican cultures are known to have worshipped a feathered serpent god: At Teotihuacan the several monumental structures are adorned with images of a feathered serpent (Notably the so-called "Citadel and Temple of Quetzalcoatl"

[3] Such imagery is also prominent at such sites as Chichen Itza and Tula. This has led scholars to conclude that the deity called Quetzalcoatl in the Nahuatl language was among the most important deities of Mesoamerica.

[4] The worship of Quetzalcoatl sometimes included animal sacrifices, and in most traditions Quetzalcoatl was said to oppose human sacrifice.

Being LDS, I always wondered if Quetzalcoatl was originally a representation of Christ. But what always was weird to me was that he was represented as a serpent. The first thing I always think of when a serpent is mentioned is the serpent in the garden of Eden. The Devil.

But I was thinking the other day that there's probably no better motif for Christ to early BOM peoples than a serpent. Remember the Bible story:

6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 ¶ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Scripture link

Moses, raising a serpent of brass on a pole is a representation of Christ. BOM peoples were well aware of this story and it's quoted a few times in the BOM.

Notice that in the Bible the phrase is "fiery serpent." In Nephi 17 the phrase is "fiery flying serpents."

41 And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.
Scripture link

What better motif for Christ than a feathered serpent.

I also found it interesting that Quetzalcoatl was associated with Venus. Venus is also known as the "Morning Star." Most christians associate the "Morning Star" to be another reference to Christ.