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*'''<span style="color:red">Ephrem, Saint</span> = <span style="color:blue">Ephraim</span>, Hill'''—The actual name is "Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce, Quebec." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-%C3%89phrem-de-Beauce,_Quebec Wikipedia] shows the town being established with that name in 1866. This is 36 years after the publication of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon name "Ephraim," of course, is easily found in the Bible. | *'''<span style="color:red">Ephrem, Saint</span> = <span style="color:blue">Ephraim</span>, Hill'''—The actual name is "Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce, Quebec." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-%C3%89phrem-de-Beauce,_Quebec Wikipedia] shows the town being established with that name in 1866. This is 36 years after the publication of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon name "Ephraim," of course, is easily found in the Bible. | ||
*'''<span style="color:green">Hellam</span> = Helam'''—According to [http://www.hellamtownship.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={982E3660-A631-442C-AA9B-2C98B648E367} their website], Hellam Township, Pennsylvania, was established in 1739. | *'''<span style="color:green">Hellam</span> = Helam'''—According to [http://www.hellamtownship.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={982E3660-A631-442C-AA9B-2C98B648E367} their website], Hellam Township, Pennsylvania, was established in 1739. | ||
− | *'''<span style="color:red">Jacobsburg</span> = Jacobugath.'''—Jacobsburg, Belmont Co., Ohio does not even show up on a [http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~747~70021:Geographical,-Historical,-And-Stati 1822 map of Ohio]. According to Wikipedia: "Jacobsburg was laid out in 1815. It was probably named for its founder, Jacob Calvert." Therefore, the town definitely existed prior to the publication of the Book of Mormon, but was too small to appear on the 1822 map. By 1833, three years ''after'' the publication of the Book of Mormon, Jacobsberg had grown to include "one tavern, two stores, a physician, sundry mechanics, and about 120 inhabitants." <ref>Wikipedia article [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobsburg,_Ohio "Jacobsburg, Ohio"].</ref> Jacobsburg does indeed appear on an 1831 map of Ohio (one year after the Book of Mormon was published). | + | *'''<span style="color:red">Jacobsburg</span> = Jacobugath.'''—Jacobsburg, Belmont Co., Ohio does not even show up on a [http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~747~70021:Geographical,-Historical,-And-Stati 1822 map of Ohio]. According to Wikipedia: "Jacobsburg was laid out in 1815. It was probably named for its founder, Jacob Calvert." Therefore, the town definitely existed prior to the publication of the Book of Mormon, but was apparently too small to appear on the 1822 map seven years later. By 1833, three years ''after'' the publication of the Book of Mormon, Jacobsberg had grown to include "one tavern, two stores, a physician, sundry mechanics, and about 120 inhabitants." <ref>Wikipedia article [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobsburg,_Ohio "Jacobsburg, Ohio"].</ref> Jacobsburg does indeed appear on an 1831 map of Ohio (one year after the Book of Mormon was published). |
[[File:Jacobsburg.ohio.1831.map.jpg|thumb|center|800px|By 1831, Jacobsburg appeared on a map of Ohio]] | [[File:Jacobsburg.ohio.1831.map.jpg|thumb|center|800px|By 1831, Jacobsburg appeared on a map of Ohio]] | ||
*'''<span style="color:blue">Jerusalem</span> = Jerusalem.'''—Jerusalem, Monroe Co., Ohio does not even show up on a [http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~747~70021:Geographical,-Historical,-And-Stati 1822 map of Ohio]. Even today the village of Jerusalem occupies only 0.2 square miles. Besides, the name "Jerusalem" is from the Bible. Joseph would not have needed to look at a map for this one, unless one accepts Holley's assertion that the Holley map is supposed to show the geographical locations of Book of Mormon places. | *'''<span style="color:blue">Jerusalem</span> = Jerusalem.'''—Jerusalem, Monroe Co., Ohio does not even show up on a [http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~747~70021:Geographical,-Historical,-And-Stati 1822 map of Ohio]. Even today the village of Jerusalem occupies only 0.2 square miles. Besides, the name "Jerusalem" is from the Bible. Joseph would not have needed to look at a map for this one, unless one accepts Holley's assertion that the Holley map is supposed to show the geographical locations of Book of Mormon places. |
It is claimed that Joseph Smith is clearly the author of the Book of Mormon because many Book of Mormon place names supposedly have clear evidence of "borrowing" from geographic locations in the United States and Canada.
Examples of this include:
Book of Mormon City | Claimed Source | Book of Mormon City | Claimed Source |
---|---|---|---|
Teancum | Tecumseh | Ramah | Rama |
Moron | Morin | Ogath | Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec |
Morianton | Moraviantown | Angola | Angola |
Onidah | Oneida | Kishkumen | Kiskiminetas |
Jacobugath | Jacobsburg | Jerusalem | Jerusalem |
Alma | Alma | Land of Lehi-Nephi | Lehigh |
Shilom | Shiloh | Ripliancum | Ripple Lake, Ontario |
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]
The original idea behind this proposal was that Joseph picked up these place names and locations from a map in order to create his Book of Mormon geography. However, once it becomes apparent that the locations are in the wrong place, critics who support this proposal then fall back to the claim that the locations of the names are actually unimportant.
After the geography is thrown out, we are simply left with a list of names that Joseph supposedly found on a 19th-century map. However, once it also becomes obvious that many of the place names that were allegedly located on a 19th century map did not exist at the time that Joseph was dictating the Book of Mormon, the entire theory falls apart. Of the few that actually did exist, some of these names represent extremely small, distant sites about which Joseph almost certainly could have had no knowledge.
So critics rely on names which are in the wrong place, which didn't exist during Joseph's time, and which were too small and distant for him to be aware of. The final blow to this theory is that they also overlook the Biblical source for their American "parallels," which are far more likely and plausible than giving Joseph an encyclopedic knowledge of North American place names. Even if critics insist that Joseph forged the Book of Mormon, isn't the Bible a far more likely source for these names than obscure hamlets hundreds of miles away, which did not appear on a map, and most of which didn't even exist with those names at that time?
The Book of Mormon contains 345 names. The theory, proposed by Vernal Holley and posted by Mazeministries, is that 28 of these names were derived by Joseph Smith by looking at the names of places in the surrounding region, then altering the names slightly to create a map of Book of Mormon lands. The original map from which the author obtained this information included names of places which didn't even exist in Joseph Smith's time.
The following correspondences are listed. In order to obtain this list of parallels, a huge geographical area must be scanned: Five states and two Canadian provinces yield this list of parallels, and it gets even smaller when one actually tries to locate many of these places on a map. In the list below,
Not only are the names claimed to be similar to those in the Book of Mormon, but also that the locations of those names are similar. In addition, since some of these names could have easily been taken from the Bible instead of the surrounding region, one must assume that their inclusion on the map also implies that their geographical locations relative to one another are important.
Looking at the geography, it is clear from Holley's map that a number of locations have been selected to make the names match the existing geography. Some examples:
Notes
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