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==Question: What is the Vernal Holley map?== | ==Question: What is the Vernal Holley map?== | ||
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===Vernal Holley claimed to have reconstructed a Book of Mormon geography based on the region in which Joseph Smith lived=== | ===Vernal Holley claimed to have reconstructed a Book of Mormon geography based on the region in which Joseph Smith lived=== | ||
− | Vernal Holley claimed to have reconstructed a Book of Mormon geography based on a Great Lakes setting from the Book of Mormon text, which he then compares to the New England of Joseph Smith's day.<ref>James R. Spencer, "BoM Empire Discovered," mazeministry.com (accessed 26 October 2008) claims that "My friend, the late Vernal Holley, originally published these maps....the two maps compare a "proposed map" constructed by Vernal from the internal descriptions of the Book of Mormon and comments, over the years by Latter-day Saint scholars, with a map showing actual place names on maps of the area around Palmyra, New York, where the Book of Mormon originally was published."</ref> | + | Vernal Holley claimed to have reconstructed a Book of Mormon geography based on a Great Lakes setting from the Book of Mormon text, which he then compares to the New England of Joseph Smith's day.<ref>James R. Spencer, "BoM Empire Discovered," mazeministry.com (accessed 26 October 2008) claims that "My friend, the late Vernal Holley, originally published these maps....the two maps compare a "proposed map" constructed by Vernal from the internal descriptions of the Book of Mormon and comments, over the years by Latter-day Saint scholars, with a map showing actual place names on maps of the area around Palmyra, New York, where the Book of Mormon originally was published."</ref> Holley based his theory on the [[Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Spalding manuscript|Spaulding Theory]] of authorship for the Book of Mormon. |
+ | In the alleged "second manuscript" that some imagine that Solomon Spalding produced, it is theorized that either Spalding himself, or Sidney Rigdon as the person who allegedly stole a yet-to-be-discovered second Spalding manuscript, incorporated existing place names in some form into the story. In Spalding's extant (and unfinished) manuscript, he is known to have incorporated known place names to identify specific groups of people (e.g. "Kentucks", "Delwans," and "Ohians"). Critics have used Holley's geography and map to support the Spalding/Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship. | ||
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+ | ===Holley's reconstruction is seriously flawed, and does not match the Book of Mormon text.=== | ||
In order for Holley's theory to work at all, critics must develop a map based on New England; they cannot reconstruct their map from the Book of Mormon text itself—the Book of Mormon's geography is coherent and consistent, and it does not match Holley's efforts at all. | In order for Holley's theory to work at all, critics must develop a map based on New England; they cannot reconstruct their map from the Book of Mormon text itself—the Book of Mormon's geography is coherent and consistent, and it does not match Holley's efforts at all. | ||
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It is interesting to note the critical response to these issues: | It is interesting to note the critical response to these issues: | ||
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# "On his maps, [Holley] sees a parallel between this river [the Sidon] and the Genesee River, yet on pages 14-15 he draws a parallel between the river Sidon and the Ohio River."<ref>{{FR-1-1-10}}</ref> | # "On his maps, [Holley] sees a parallel between this river [the Sidon] and the Genesee River, yet on pages 14-15 he draws a parallel between the river Sidon and the Ohio River."<ref>{{FR-1-1-10}}</ref> | ||
− | We should note too that many of Holley's "matches" are locations mentioned only once in the Book of Mormon text—they cannot be placed with any confidence on an internal map based on the text alone, and so Holley can simply plop them wherever he likes in New England without fear of contradiction. (He relies heavily on Jaredite place names, and Jaredite geography is much less clear than Nephite.) His map would be more impressive if locations mentioned frequency in the Book of Mormon actually matched his map in | + | We should note too that many of Holley's "matches" are locations mentioned only once in the Book of Mormon text—they cannot be placed with any confidence on an internal map based on the text alone, and so Holley can simply plop them wherever he likes in New England without fear of contradiction. (He relies heavily on Jaredite place names, and Jaredite geography is much less clear than Nephite.) His map would be more impressive if locations mentioned the frequency in which the Book of Mormon actually matched his map in relative location and distance. |
Clearly, then, this map has been designed by ''first'' looking at a New England map, and ''then'' placing Book of Mormon place names on it. The map is incoherent if one starts with the Book of Mormon text itself. This portion of the argument, then, is merely an exercise in circular reasoning and proves nothing, save that those who think this represents a plausible map do not know the Book of Mormon text well. | Clearly, then, this map has been designed by ''first'' looking at a New England map, and ''then'' placing Book of Mormon place names on it. The map is incoherent if one starts with the Book of Mormon text itself. This portion of the argument, then, is merely an exercise in circular reasoning and proves nothing, save that those who think this represents a plausible map do not know the Book of Mormon text well. | ||
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{{SeeAlso|Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Place names from North America|l1=More maps and analysis here}} | {{SeeAlso|Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Place names from North America|l1=More maps and analysis here}} | ||
− | === | + | ===An Accurately Reconstructed Map=== |
− | + | For those that want an internal map of the Book of Mormon map that is accurately reconstructed, the two below, and particularly the one on the left done by scholar John Sorenson, are helpful: | |
− | + | [[File:Sorenson-clark.jpg]] | |
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{{endnotes sources}} | {{endnotes sources}} | ||
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[[pt:Pergunta: Qual é o mapa Vernal Holley?]] | [[pt:Pergunta: Qual é o mapa Vernal Holley?]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Questions]] |
Vernal Holley claimed to have reconstructed a Book of Mormon geography based on a Great Lakes setting from the Book of Mormon text, which he then compares to the New England of Joseph Smith's day.[1] Holley based his theory on the Spaulding Theory of authorship for the Book of Mormon.
In the alleged "second manuscript" that some imagine that Solomon Spalding produced, it is theorized that either Spalding himself, or Sidney Rigdon as the person who allegedly stole a yet-to-be-discovered second Spalding manuscript, incorporated existing place names in some form into the story. In Spalding's extant (and unfinished) manuscript, he is known to have incorporated known place names to identify specific groups of people (e.g. "Kentucks", "Delwans," and "Ohians"). Critics have used Holley's geography and map to support the Spalding/Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship.
In order for Holley's theory to work at all, critics must develop a map based on New England; they cannot reconstruct their map from the Book of Mormon text itself—the Book of Mormon's geography is coherent and consistent, and it does not match Holley's efforts at all.
It is interesting to note the critical response to these issues:
The Book of Mormon geography is well documented and has been shown to be internally consistent, therefore such critical speculation based upon absent evidence that Holley to document does not carry any significant weight.
Some geographical problems with this map include:
Even based on these three errors, it should be clear that Holley's map has serious problems.
But, the problems continue with virtually every place name on the map:
We should note too that many of Holley's "matches" are locations mentioned only once in the Book of Mormon text—they cannot be placed with any confidence on an internal map based on the text alone, and so Holley can simply plop them wherever he likes in New England without fear of contradiction. (He relies heavily on Jaredite place names, and Jaredite geography is much less clear than Nephite.) His map would be more impressive if locations mentioned the frequency in which the Book of Mormon actually matched his map in relative location and distance.
Clearly, then, this map has been designed by first looking at a New England map, and then placing Book of Mormon place names on it. The map is incoherent if one starts with the Book of Mormon text itself. This portion of the argument, then, is merely an exercise in circular reasoning and proves nothing, save that those who think this represents a plausible map do not know the Book of Mormon text well.
For those that want an internal map of the Book of Mormon map that is accurately reconstructed, the two below, and particularly the one on the left done by scholar John Sorenson, are helpful:
Notes
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