Exploring the book of mormon in americas heartland. Regarding point 1, i have read all of sorensons works and most of what farms and the maxwell institute have. The land of zarahemla is at a lower elevation relative to the land of nephi. As each new theory surfaces, we gain fresh hope of acquiring additional insights into it ancient location, but are all too often disappointed. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. While some of these sources treat book of mormon geography in only the vaguest generalities, others make very specific claims on the topic. Wayne may presents archaeological support of the book of mormon to a group in malad, idaho in february of 2017. In 1841 joseph smith read stephens incidents of travel in central america. Mar 26, 2016 the material below covers the geography of the book of mormon in north america. Anti mormon criticisms of the book of mormon are frequently based on a questionable set of assumptions concerning the nature of historical and archaeological evidence, the role of governing presuppositions, and the nature of historical proof. The author wrote in the preface to this 1959 book, for more than a hundred years there has been a need for a geography of the book of mormon. The church emphasizes the doctrinal and historical value of the book of mormon, not its geography. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations.
I have watched more than 20 hours of wayne may book of mormon lecture videos and conversed with both wayne may and rod meldrum in person. Another significant problem for traditional book of mormon geography involves the premise that the native populations of the vast north and south american continents are the descendents of two tiny groups of transoceanic semitic immigrants the jaredites, who arrived in the new world between 3000 2000 b. All are located in the midlatitudes and then only on the west side of continents because of the earths. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. A limited geography model for the book of mormon is one of several theories by latter day saint movement scholars that the book s narrative was a historical record of people in a limited geographical region, rather than of the entire western hemisphere as believed by some early latter day saints. All my studies suddenly made sense, all aspects of the book of mormon finally became clear. Below is the modern map of the area of smiths youth. Book of mormon geography your site for lds theology. The likelihood of such a setting was greatly strengthened by john l. The book of mormon geography lands and map with dna evidence.
Moronis america the north american setting for the book. The reason people have focused on the book of mormon people landing and residing on the north american continent is because of what smith wrote in his testimony. Basic methodological problems with the antimormon approach. Antimormon criticisms of the book of mormon are frequently based on a questionable set of assumptions concerning the nature of historical and archaeological evidence, the role of governing presuppositions, and the nature of historical proof. Book of mormon perusing, pondering, and pattering about the book of mormon where the records come from in the book of mormon mormon scholar and islam expert dan peterson made his name defending the mormon faith. Book of mormon geography, the near cumorah setting book of. Book of mormon geography in joseph smiths day book of. Although the book of mormon is primarily a religious record of the nephites, lamanites, and jaredites, enough geographic details are embedded in the narrative to allow reconstruction of at least a rudimentary geography of book of mormon lands. Proposed book of mormon geographical setting wikipedia. Numerous attempts have been made to diagram physical and political geographies depicting features mentioned in the text, but this requires many additional assumptions and is difficult to accomplish without making approximate relationships appear precise sorenson, 1991. This book is great, but like i said, is the tip of the iceberg.
That joseph smith and successive generations of mormon presidents and apostles taught that the nephites and lamanites ranged over all or most of south and north america and fought a battle to. It contains a lineage history of three small colonies who came from the old world and settled in an american land of promise. Joseph smith made several comments concerning book of mormon geography throughout his life which support both a north american setting1, and central american setting. Lost civilizations of north america documentary4, deborah bolnick on haplogroup x. Book of mormongeographynew worldlimited geography theory. A radically different book of mormon geography theory. Sorensons groundbreaking book, an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, published in 1985. However, all of these models however suffer many of the same substantial problems.
I now know that the book of mormon happened in the usa in the historic heartland that is such a significant part of american and book of mormon history. Home true book of mormon geography lands western new. Gods word is to be established by two or more witnesses 2 cor. The material below covers the geography of the book of mormon in north america. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence. We read about a narrow neck, a narrow neck of land, a small neck of land, a narrow pass, a narrow passage, and a narrow strip of wilderness. Not only this, but he allowed several opinions of north, south, central, and hemispheric geography of the book of mormon to be published, taught, and republished without any. Book of mormon geography in north america the products services offered by wayne may are neither made, provided, approved nor endorsed by intellectual reserve, inc. This site can be used as a study guide to help understand the book of mormon. The mediterranean climate occurs in only a few spots of the earths surface. According to the book, two of these groups originated from ancient israel. The book of mormon is supposed to be a history of real people living in a real place. After several months of intense careful study of the text i have put together the following proposed map, showing the relative positions of book of mormon lands, cities, rivers, etc.
The scientific search for nephite remains mormons in transition. Historical antecedents and early interpretations matthew roper introduction the book of mormon is a record prepared and written by ancient american prophets. The majority of mesoamerican book of mormon geography models seek to correlate the isthmus of tehuantepec or the isthmus of guatemala. As the above logo depicts, we do respect this mandate, and our model is unique in this regard. The scientific search for nephite remains mormons in. A complete description of the book of mormon geography bomgeography, including an internal map model, external map model i. Book of mormon geography in the world of joseph smith. American exceptionalism and book of mormon geography book. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1985, p. Feb 18, 20 a clip from the dvd book of mormon and new world dna produce by us at fair. What is the heartland model of book of mormon geography mark alan wright. All opinions, speakers and presenters represent and express their own individual opinions, and not necessarily the opinions of firm foundation, book of mormon evidence, or its employees, and no information or opinions represent the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Throughout the book of mormon we read of such features as the narrow neck of land which was a day and a halfs journey roughly 30 miles separating two great seas. Book of mormon geography, the near cumorah setting there have been numerous attempts to locate the long, lost lands of the book of mormon over the years.
Joseph smiths statements regarding book of mormon geography. See my answers to questions about the book of mormon here. Generations of mormons grew up with the notion that american indians are descended from a lost tribe from the house of israel, offspring of a book of mormon figure named lehi, who left jerusalem and sailed to the americas around 600 b. A careful investigation of the book of mormon s internal geography is useful to guard against bias by researchers using favored knownworld settings andor traditions. Chief among these is the fact that we know we certainty where the story beginsin old world jerusalem.
Mar 23, 2017 wayne may presents archaeological support of the book of mormon to a group in malad, idaho in february of 2017. The products services offered by wayne may are neither made, provided, approved nor endorsed by intellectual reserve, inc. It is a striking and extraordinary coincidence, that, in the book of mormon, commencing page 563, there is an account of many cities as existing among the nephites on the narrow neck of land which connected the north country with the south country. There is generally no direct support amongst mainstream historians and archaeologists for the. An approach to the book of mormon geography, february 2009 5 paci. Book of mormon geography in north america wayne may. Hemispheric geography theory lds have traditionally interpreted the text hemispherically and assumed a blank continent.
It was one of several presented in a written symposium on book of mormon geography sic. This book of mormon map along with a wall map are available for down loading in color and the book of mormon geography book a promised land, the land of promise with all the mormon maps and details is also available at alpha publishing at. The core locations and events detailed in the text of the book of mormon took place in mesoamerica, but many nephites and lamanites migrated and established settlements far northward. See the video below for a great overview on the topic as well as the debates ive had on this topic with mormon apologists. Sorenson, an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, salt lake city. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Many book of mormon names and places are strikingly similar to many local names and places of the region joseph smith lived. Moronis america the north american setting for the. Joseph smith and the geography of the book of mormon. They far exceed the heartland models in their ability to synthesize the text with known archaeology.
Book of mormon geography, the near cumorah setting book. While some latterday saints have looked for possible locations and explanations for book of mormon geography because the new york hill cumorah does not readily fit the book of mormon description of cumorah, there are no conclusive connections between the book of mormon text and any specific site. Basic methodological problems with the antimormon approach to the geography and archaeology of the book of mormon william j. Book of mormon geography problems life after ministries. Jerry grovers book, which uses geological principles to explain the occurrence of natural events in the book of mormon, is not as widely known. The book of mormon, the founding document of the latter day saint movement and one of the four books of scripture of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church, is an account of three groups of people. For the first 150 years of mormonisms existence, everyone thought it was a story about a people who left the middle east and came to south or central america, and who fought wars clear up into new york state where. Comparing book of mormon geography models mormon lds. The name mesoamerica is a term used to identify the heartland of a number of significant precolumbian cultures. A discussion of the arabian, or old world, geography of the book of mormon enjoys many advantages over discussion of new world matters. Discussion of the south american model of book of mormon geography by.
Includes every geographical place mentioned in the book of mormon. A limited geography model for the book of mormon is one of several theories by latter day saint movement scholars that the books narrative was a historical record of people in a limited geographical region, rather than of the entire western hemisphere as believed by some early latter day saints these models, developed in an effort to reconcile claims in the book of mormon with archaeology. A clip from the dvd book of mormon and new world dna produce by us at fair. The following is a brief overview of the book of mormon s new world american internal geography. Join us now as we enter a mysterious building that no outsider has ever visited a mormon temple for today were studying that most curious of history texts, the book of mormon the mormons, formally and properly known as the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, is the same as any other more conventional christian church, but with the additional element of a belief that after. The book of mormon geography and map with dna evidence and the location of lands and cities such as zarahemla, cumorah, the narrow neck, mexico, caribbean sea, american indians, and true evidence are all here.
Yet another serious problem for the limited geography theory is the 45 degree directional skewing that is necessary in order to fit the various geographic features of the book of mormon into the proposed central american site, and the resulting complete absence of a sea north and a sea south, basic features of the area in the book of mormon. Basic methodological problems with the anti mormon approach to the geography and archaeology of the book of mormon william j. Jerry grovers book, which uses geological principles to explain the occurrence of natural events in the book of mormon, is. Before we examine some of the possible locations for book of mormon geography however, i would like to stress the fact that as of today, the lord has not revealed where the nephites or lamanites lived, and as such, the lds church has taken no official stance on anything related to book of mormon geography. Even though the mormon church formally denies endorsing any geographical theory regarding the location of book of mormon events, its many book of mormon editions, film strips, pamphlets and professors using images and references exclusively of the mesoamerican area speaks otherwise. Even though the mormon church formally denies endorsing any geographical theory regarding the location of book of mormon events, its many book of mormon editions, film strips, pamphlets and professors using images and references exclusively of the. Moronis america the book of mormon in north america. Herewith is a copy of my recent 1975 paper on book of mormon matters. Book of mormon geography further analysis and information on book of mormon geography compared to land of joseph smiths youth. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates. The two big problems with the mesoamerican model for book of mormon geography are 1 there is zero evidence of the book of mormon narrative there and 2 the proponents insist joseph didnt know much about the book of mormon.
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