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==Question: Did LDS scholar Hugh Nibley support the "Heartland model" of Book of Mormon geography?== | ==Question: Did LDS scholar Hugh Nibley support the "Heartland model" of Book of Mormon geography?== | ||
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* "What of the mighty ruins of Central America? It is for those who know them to speak of them... It is our conviction that proof of the Book of Mormon does lie in Central America."<ref>{{Book:Nibley:Approach to the Book of Mormon|pages=378}} </ref> | * "What of the mighty ruins of Central America? It is for those who know them to speak of them... It is our conviction that proof of the Book of Mormon does lie in Central America."<ref>{{Book:Nibley:Approach to the Book of Mormon|pages=378}} </ref> | ||
− | * “Write on anything you want, because that is where you give yourself away. Joseph Smith could write anything at all; no one knew about Central America in those times long ago.”<ref> | + | * “Write on anything you want, because that is where you give yourself away. Joseph Smith could write anything at all; no one knew about Central America in those times long ago.”<ref>Hugh Nibley, ''The Prophetic Book of Mormon'' (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1989), 236.</ref> |
* “For example, the book describes in considerable detail what is supposed to be a major earthquake somewhere in Central America, and another time it sets forth the particulars of ancient olive culture. Here are things we can check up on; but to do so we must go to sources made available by scholars long since the days of Joseph Smith. Where he could have learned all about major Central American earthquakes or the fine points of Mediterranean olive culture remains a question.”<ref>{{Book:Nibley:Since Cumorah|pages=231}}</ref> | * “For example, the book describes in considerable detail what is supposed to be a major earthquake somewhere in Central America, and another time it sets forth the particulars of ancient olive culture. Here are things we can check up on; but to do so we must go to sources made available by scholars long since the days of Joseph Smith. Where he could have learned all about major Central American earthquakes or the fine points of Mediterranean olive culture remains a question.”<ref>{{Book:Nibley:Since Cumorah|pages=231}}</ref> | ||
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* "John Sorenson's book 'Images of America' must remain the indispensable handbook for students of the Book of Mormon. The only book of its kind — enlightening and convincing. Who else will ever bring such diligence, knowledge and honesty to the task?"<ref>[http://www.johnlsorenson.com/media/Hugh-Nibley-note-to-Dad.jpg Nibley to John Sorenson], 14 January 1999).</ref> | * "John Sorenson's book 'Images of America' must remain the indispensable handbook for students of the Book of Mormon. The only book of its kind — enlightening and convincing. Who else will ever bring such diligence, knowledge and honesty to the task?"<ref>[http://www.johnlsorenson.com/media/Hugh-Nibley-note-to-Dad.jpg Nibley to John Sorenson], 14 January 1999).</ref> | ||
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+ | {{Critical sources box:Book of Mormon/Geography/Statements/Hugh Nibley/CriticalSources}} | ||
{{endnotes sources}} | {{endnotes sources}} | ||
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[[pt:Pergunta: LDS erudito Hugh Nibley apoiar o "modelo Heartland" do Livro de Mórmon geografia?]] | [[pt:Pergunta: LDS erudito Hugh Nibley apoiar o "modelo Heartland" do Livro de Mórmon geografia?]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Questions]] |
Advocates of the "Heartland" geographical model claim that LDS scholar Hugh Nibley supported their view. Heartland advocates often cite Nibley selectively, and do not provide a full inventory of his statements. Nibley's writings suggest that he was partial to a Mesoamerican model, with later infiltration of some ideas northward. For example, in his 1946 reply to Fawn Brodie, Nibley rejected the idea that the moundbuilders of the eastern United States—used by the Heartland theory as evidence of Book of Mormon geography--had anything to do with the Book of Mormon:
"The Moundbuilders actually resemble the Book of Mormon people not at all. Who said they did? The Book of Mormon tells of a people ages removed from the Mound-builders and very far away." [1]
He would later say:
"All this took place in Central America, the perennial arena of the Big People versus the Little People."[2]
Whether Nibley agrees with an idea does not mean that it is true or false—each idea must be evaluated by the strength of the evidence. In this case, however, Heartland advocates attempt to trade on Nibley's prestige and authority to reinforce their position, by giving the false impression that he agrees with him.
This is not honest scholarship.
Critical sources |
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Notes
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