View source for Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Geography

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|A=The Interactive Bible
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==Quick Navigation==
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Geography#Response to claim: "Why isn't the terrain of Central America described?"|Response to claim: "Why isn't the terrain of Central America described?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Geography#Response to claim: "Why is it that numerous LDS books and papers describe proposed Book of Mormon locations for cities and the "narrow neck of land"? No city has been identified as being Nephite, Lamanite, Jaredite, etc."|Response to claim: "Why is it that numerous LDS books and papers describe proposed Book of Mormon locations for cities and the 'narrow neck of land'? No city has been identified as being Nephite, Lamanite, Jaredite, etc."]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Geography#Response to claim: "Why didn't any of the place names from the Book of Mormon still exist when Columbus arrived?"|Response to claim: "Why didn't any of the place names from the Book of Mormon still exist when Columbus arrived?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Geography#Response to claim: "Where was the Hill Cumorah? Was it in New York or Central America?"|Response to claim: "Where was the Hill Cumorah? Was it in New York or Central America?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Geography#Response to claim: "Why don't gaps exist in the archeological record of Mesoamerica if these missing people existed?"|Response to claim: "Why don't gaps exist in the archeological record of Mesoamerica if these missing people existed?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Geography#Response to claim: "Did the Book of Mormon take place outside of Mesoamerica?"|Response to claim: "Did the Book of Mormon take place outside of Mesoamerica?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Geography#Response to claim: "Why don't any archeologists theorize any Hebrew or Egyptian linkages or influences in Mesoamerica?"|Response to claim: "Why don't any archeologists theorize any Hebrew or Egyptian linkages or influences in Mesoamerica?"]]

==Response to claim: "Why isn't the terrain of Central America described?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why isn't the terrain of Central America described?"
}}
{{propaganda|The Book of Mormon was not intended to be a geography primer: It was written as a spiritual history of a group of people. Any mention of geography is there simply to support the narrative. The authors did not intend to use up precious space on the metal plates describing geographical details that had nothing to do with the purpose of the record.}}

==Response to claim: "Why is it that numerous LDS books and papers describe proposed Book of Mormon locations for cities and the 'narrow neck of land'? No city has been identified as being Nephite, Lamanite, Jaredite, etc."==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why is it that numerous LDS books and papers describe proposed Book of Mormon locations for cities and the 'narrow neck of land'? No city has been identified as being Nephite, Lamanite, Jaredite, etc. For example, Zarahemla was occupied for hundreds of years, but we still don't have any real evidence of it ever existing. The Book of Mormon describes a time period from 2000 BC to 400 AD and millions of people. No city they occupied has yet to be found."
}}
{{misinformation|Plenty of cities have been found, with new cities being located periodically. However, it is not yet possible to determine whether or not those cities were occupied by Book of Mormon peoples because of the Mesoamerican practice of constructing new buildings on the ruins of old ones.}}

==Response to claim: "Why didn't any of the place names from the Book of Mormon still exist when Columbus arrived?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why didn't any of the place names from the Book of Mormon still exist when Columbus arrived?"
}}
{{misinformation|Practically all of the original place and city names in Mesoamerica have been lost, not just any that could have been related to the Book of Mormon. Ironically, one of the few cities which has retained its original name is called "Lamanai."}}
{{:Question: What do we find in Mesoamerican archaeology with respect to place names, such as city names?}}

==Response to claim: "Where was the Hill Cumorah? Was it in New York or Central America?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Where was the Hill Cumorah? Was it in New York or Central America? If it was in Central America, why hasn't it been found? If it was in New York, how did they move that quickly and where are all the remains?"
}}
{{propaganda|We do not know where the Book of Mormon took place. Some believe that it was Mesoamerica, and some believe that it took place in New York. The Church has not authoritatively identified a location. However, asking why a specific hill in Central America, whose original name has been lost hundreds of years, cannot be found, is a pointless exercise.}}
{{:Question: Where is the Hill Cumorah?}}
{{:Question: Does the Church authoritatively identify the location of the Hill Cumorah?}}

==Response to claim: "Why don't gaps exist in the archeological record of Mesoamerica if these missing people existed?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why don't gaps exist in the archeological record of Mesoamerica if these missing people existed?"
}}
{{propaganda|This question doesn't even make any sense. First of all, we do not know if the Book of Mormon people are associated with any of the known groups in the New World, so we cannot even know if there are, or are not, "gaps" in the archaeological record that correlate with them. Second, there is no such thing as an archaeological record that does not contain "gaps" that need to be filled in. If such were the case, we would have no need for archaeologists, whose job it is to study the archaeological record and fill such "gaps."}}

==Response to claim: "Did the Book of Mormon take place outside of Mesoamerica?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Did the Book of Mormon take place outside of Mesoamerica? The History of the Church records an incident from June, 1834 in which JS identified a skeleton found in an Indian burial mound in Illinois: ". . . the visions of the past being opened to my understanding by the Spirit of the Almighty, I discovered the person whose skeleton was before us was a white Lamanite, a large, thick-set man, and a man of God. His name was Zelph . . . who was known from the Hill Cumorah, or eastern sea to the Rocky mountains." (HOC 1948 ed., II: 79-80)."
}}
{{misinformation|The authors refer to the story of Zelph, who was claimed by Joseph Smith to be a "white Lamanite," and whose bones were located in North America. However, the Book of Mormon does not mention Zelph. His story, whatever it may be, takes place outside of the Book of Mormon narrative and geographical area. The Book of Mormon talks of people traveling to the lands northward, but it does not contain any information about those people once they left.}}
{{:Question: Does the story of Zelph have implications for Book of Mormon geography?}}

==Response to claim: "Why don't any archeologists theorize any Hebrew or Egyptian linkages or influences in Mesoamerica?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why don't any archeologists theorize any Hebrew or Egyptian linkages or influences in Mesoamerica?"
}}
{{propaganda|A better question is why do some Mormons assume such links? It is pretty rare that the wider cultural norms will be shifted to adapt to the small immigrant population, particularly when the survival skills in a new region depended upon different materials, animals and plants. As for art--how much art would we think Lehites hauled through the desert for 8 years and then across the ocean. If it wasn't "in style" in the New World, why continue it?}}

{{endnotes sources}}