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| + | #REDIRECT [[Population and demographics in the Book of Mormon]] |
| − | {{Resource Title|Book of Mormon demographics}}
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| − | {{BoMPortal}}
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| − | == ==
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| − | {{QA label}}
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| − | ==Question: Was the Lehite colony too small to produce the population sizes indicated?==
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| − | ===The Book of Mormon contains many overt references, and some more oblique ones, to 'other' peoples that were part of the demographic mix in Book of Mormon times===
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| − | A superficial reading of the Book of Mormon leads some to conclude that the named members of Lehi's group were the only members of Nephite/Lamanite society.
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| − | The Book of Mormon contains many overt references, and some more oblique ones, to 'other' peoples that were part of the demographic mix in Book of Mormon times. Indeed, many Book of Mormon passages make little sense unless we understand this. The Nephite record keeps its focus on a simplistic "Nephite/Lamanite" dichotomy both because it is a kinship record, and because its focus is religious, not politico-historical.
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| − | But, as one author observed, it is
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | inescapable that there were substantial populations in the "promised land" throughout the period of the Nephite record, and probably in the Jaredite era also. The status and origin of these peoples is never made clear because the writers never set out to do any such thing; they had other purposes. Yet we cannot understand the demographic or cultural history of Lehi's literal descendants without taking into account those other groups, too.
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| − | Hereafter, readers will not be justified in saying that the record fails to mention "others" but only that we readers have hitherto failed to observe what is said and implied about such people in the Book of Mormon.<ref name="sorenson">{{JBMS-1-1-2}}</ref>{{Rp|34}}
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | == ==
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| − | {{MaxwellInstituteBar
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| − | |link=http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1378&index=2
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| − | |title=When Lehi's Party Arrived in the Land, Did They Find Others There?
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| − | |author=John L. Sorenson
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| − | |publication=Journal of Book of Mormon Studies
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| − | |vol=1
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| − | |num=1
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| − | |date=1992
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| − | |summary=Several puzzles about the history of the Nephites and Lamanites are linked to the question of whether they found others already living in their promised land. It seems important enough to call for serious examination of the text of the Book of Mormon for all possible evidence. Let us first look at what the Nephite writers say about their own group. Then we will see what we can learn about other groups described or mentioned in the record. In each case we will not only look for direct data on population size, ethnicity, language, and culture but also will draw plausible inferences about those matters.
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| − | }}
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| − | ==Question: What was the fate of the original Lehite colonists?==
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| − | {{SeeAlso|Book_of_Mormon_tribal_affiliations|l1=Book of Mormon tribal affiliation}}
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| − | In 2 Nephi 5, Nephi and his group finally make a break with Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael:
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| − | <blockquote>5 And it came to pass that the Lord did warn me, that I, Nephi, should depart from them and flee into the wilderness, ''and all those who would go with me''. 6 Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me. And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words. 7 And we did take our tents and whatsoever things were possible for us, and did journey in the wilderness for the space of many days. And after we had journeyed for the space of many days we did pitch our tents. [italics added] ([http://scriptures.lds.org/2_ne/5/5#7 2 Nephi 5:5 - 7])</blockquote>
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| − | {| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
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| − | !"Nephites"!! Fate !! "Lamanites" !! Fate !! Other !! Fate
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| − | |-
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| − | |Nephi & family ||flee ||Laman [+wife?] || stay || Ishmael || Dies in Old World
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| − | |-
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| − | |Sam & family ||flee||Lemuel [+wife?]||stay|| Ishamel's wife|| Unknown (dies?)
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| − | |Jacob [no wife?] ||flee||Sons of Ishmael [+wives?]||stay|| Lehi|| Dies prior to split
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| − | |Joseph [no wife?] ||flee||—||—||Sariah||Unknown (dies?)
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| − | |Nephi's sisters ||flee||—||—||—||—
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| − | |-
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| − | |Zoram & family ||flee||—||—||—||—
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| − | |}
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| − | The majority of the original immigrants leave with Nephi, and, despite all the family members that he mentions, he also says he took "all those who would go with me." There is no one of the original colony unaccounted for; those who went with Nephi (and later made him their teacher and ruler) were likely 'others' who have "believed in the warnings and revelations of God."
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| − | {{:Question: What were the relative size of Nephites vs. Lamanites?}}
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| − | ==Question: Why aren't other inhabitants of the America's mentioned in the Book of Mormon?==
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| − | ===The Book of Mormon is likely a "kinship record," which is a history written from the point of view of a social clan: the Nephite ruling class===
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| − | The Book of Mormon is not primarily a history of a people. It is the history of a message—the doctrine of Christ—and those who either embraced or rejected it. It is also likely a "kinship record," which is a history written from the point of view of a social clan: the Nephite ruling class. Thus, the text focuses the majority of its attention on the doctrine of Christ, and how that doctrine affects the relatives of the kin group keeping the record.
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| − | The Nephite record keepers clearly understand that there is more going on, and are quite clear that the labels "Nephite" and "Lamanite" are political terms of convenience, where membership is varied and fluid. As Jacob said:
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings. [http://scriptures.lds.org/jacob/1/14#14 Jacob 1:14]
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | ===Boyd K. Packer: "The presentation of the Book of Mormon as a history of the ancestors of the American Indians is not a very compelling nor a very accurate introduction"===
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| − | Elder Boyd K. Packer emphasized that the Book of Mormon's view of itself is often not how some members of the Church portray it:
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | The Book of Mormon is often introduced as "a history of the ancient inhabitants of the American continent, the ancestors of the American Indians." We have all seen missionaries about the world with street boards displaying pictures of American Indians or pyramids and other ruins in Latin America. That introduction does not reveal the contents of this sacred book any better than an introduction of the Bible as "a history of the ancient inhabitants of the Near East, the ancestors of the modern Israelites" would reveal its contents. The presentation of the Book of Mormon as a history of the ancestors of the American Indians is not a very compelling nor a very accurate introduction. When we introduce the Book of Mormon as such a history–and that is the way we generally introduce it–surely the investigator must be puzzled, even disappointed, when he begins to read it. Most do not find what they expect. Nor do they, in turn, expect what they find…The Book of Mormon is not biographical, for not one character is fully drawn. Nor, in a strict sense, is it a history. While it chronicles a people for a thousand and twenty–one years and contains the record of an earlier people, it is in fact not a history of a people. It is the saga of a message, a testament.<ref>{{Book:Packer:Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled|pages=280–282}}</ref>
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | </onlyinclude>
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| − | {{FurtherReading}}
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| − | <!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
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| − | [[es:Demografía del Libro de Mormón]]
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| − | [[en:Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Demographics]]
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| − | [[pt:O Livro de Mórmon/Anacronismos/Demografia]]
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