![FairMormon Logo](https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021_fair_logo_primary.png)
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
m (→Issues of Geography) |
m (→Issues of Geography) |
||
Line 48: | Line 48: | ||
# The city Teancum is near the city Desolation in the Book of Mormon ({{s||Mormon|4|3}}) by the seashore. Yet, the city and land of Desolation is on the east coast, near the narrow neck of land (see {{s||Alma|22|30-34}}). Holley places Teancum far from the narrow neck between his sea east and west. | # The city Teancum is near the city Desolation in the Book of Mormon ({{s||Mormon|4|3}}) by the seashore. Yet, the city and land of Desolation is on the east coast, near the narrow neck of land (see {{s||Alma|22|30-34}}). Holley places Teancum far from the narrow neck between his sea east and west. | ||
# the "hill Ephraim" is likewise mentioned only once ({{s||Ether|7|9}}). Not much information is given, though it seems to be near the land of Desolation. Yet, in Holley's map hill Ephraim is far to the northeast of the narrow neck, and on the completely opposite side of the map as Teancum, which is also supposed to be near Desolation (see above). This looks like an instance in which Holley simply placed a city based on a New England map, rather than the Book of Mormon text. This is circular reasoning. | # the "hill Ephraim" is likewise mentioned only once ({{s||Ether|7|9}}). Not much information is given, though it seems to be near the land of Desolation. Yet, in Holley's map hill Ephraim is far to the northeast of the narrow neck, and on the completely opposite side of the map as Teancum, which is also supposed to be near Desolation (see above). This looks like an instance in which Holley simply placed a city based on a New England map, rather than the Book of Mormon text. This is circular reasoning. | ||
− | # Holley is again guilty of circular reasoning the case of the city "Kishkumen." This city is mentioned only in {{s|3|Nephi|9|10}}; there is not enough information to place it on a map. Yet, | + | # Holley is again guilty of circular reasoning the case of the city "Kishkumen." This city is mentioned only in {{s|3|Nephi|9|10}}; there is not enough information to place it on a map. Yet, he inserts it on his Book of Mormon map based on the correlation he wishes to prove. He cannot use the location of American cities to create a Book of Mormon map that he then uses as evidence that the Book of Mormon used the location of American cities to construct its map. |
# "Ogath" is mentioned only once, and it is south of Ripliancum in Jaredite territory ({{S||Ether|15|10}}. Its correspondence with a New England location is again an example of circular reasoning. | # "Ogath" is mentioned only once, and it is south of Ripliancum in Jaredite territory ({{S||Ether|15|10}}. Its correspondence with a New England location is again an example of circular reasoning. | ||
− | # "Shurr" is another Jaredite placename mentioned in only one place ({{s||Ether|14|28}}. Shurr should be near the eastern seashore ({{s||Ether|14|26}}, but it is nowhere near the map's "sea east." Furthermore, after this battle the armies gather at Ramah, which is far to the west of Holley's Shurr. Why would Shiz allow Coriantumr to regain territory | + | # "Shurr" is another Jaredite placename mentioned in only one place ({{s||Ether|14|28}}. Shurr should be near the eastern seashore ({{s||Ether|14|26}}, but it is nowhere near the map's "sea east." Furthermore, after this battle the armies gather at Ramah, which is far to the west of Holley's Shurr. Why would Shiz allow Coriantumr to regain extensive territory and resources that his army has just chased him over, traveling east? |
− | # Holley places the city of "Angola" south and west of Zarahemla; yet Mormon tells us that Angola was encountered as the Nephites retreated "toward the north countries | + | # Holley places the city of "Angola" south and west of Zarahemla; yet Mormon tells us that Angola was encountered as the Nephites retreated "toward the north countries." After being driven from Angola, they come to the city of David, which "was in the borders west by the seashore" ({{s||Mormon|4|1-7}}). Yet, Holley's Angola is south of Zarahemla, and already directly on the west seashore. His geographical reconstruction does not match the text or the described tactics. Why would the Nephites, headed for the land Northward, march ''southward'', and put a lake to their north which would block their flight? |
− | # Holley places the valley of Alma to the west of Midian. Midian is again mentioned only once ({{s||Alma|24|5}}), and so this is a case in which Holley has placed his Book of Mormon map based on New England: more circular reasoning. However, it is unlikely that the Valley of Alma would be west of Midian, which is near the Lamanite territory in which the Limhites settled. Alma the Elder left King Noah's land, and traveled eight days into the wilderness, to Helam. They later fled one day's journey to the valley of Alma. They then fled a further twelve days to Zarahemla. Unless Alma is heading generally north during each of these | + | # Holley places the valley of Alma to the west of Midian. Midian is again mentioned only once ({{s||Alma|24|5}}), and so this is a case in which Holley has placed his Book of Mormon map based on New England: more circular reasoning. However, it is unlikely that the Valley of Alma would be west of Midian, which is near the Lamanite territory in which the Limhites settled. Alma the Elder left King Noah's land, and traveled eight days into the wilderness, to Helam. They later fled one day's journey to the valley of Alma. They then fled a further twelve days to Zarahemla. Unless Alma is heading generally north during each of these journeys, Holley's map cannot hope to work--the distances are too great. Thus, it seems unlikely that Alma would have journeyed 13 days west of Lamanite territory (Midian) before heading north to the Nephite lands. (See [[Book_of_Mormon_geography/New_World#Distances|here]] and [http://www.fairlds.org/DNA_Evidence_for_Book_of_Mormon_Geography/DEBMG02F.html here] for more extensive discussions on mapping the distances of this key journey for Book of Mormon internal geography.) |
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 relatively location and distance. | 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 relatively location and distance. |
Critics claim 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 | Ste Agathe |
Moriancum | Moravian | Angola | Angola |
Onidah | Oneida | Kishkumen | Kiskiminetas |
Jacobugath | Jacobsburg | Jerusalem | Jerusalem |
Alma | Alma | Land of Lehi-Nephi | Lehigh |
Shilom | Shiloh | -- | -- |
Answers portal |
Book of Mormon |
![]() |
![]() |
---|
General information: Book of Mormon & Bible: Criticisms: |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Vernal Holley's theory relies on a Great Lakes setting to make his model plausible. He claims 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.
However, his reconstruction is seriously flawed, and does not match the Book of Mormon text. (An anti-Mormon ministry has reproduced the maps here, which are under copyright.)
Some geographical problems include:
Even based on these two errors, it should be clear that Holley's map has serious problems. But, the problems continue with virtually every placename he includes:
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 relatively location and distance.
Clearly, then, Holley's map has been designed by first looking at a New England map, and then placing Book of Mormon place names on it. His map is incoherent if one starts with the Book of Mormon text itself. This portion of his argument, then, is merely an exercise in circular reasoning and proves nothing, save that he does not know the Book of Mormon text well.
We now pass to the question of parallels in the Book of Mormon place names.
Finding "parallels" between almost any subject is usually easy to do. Such parallels become more impressive if data which do not support the parallel are ignored, if only parallels are considered (instead of parallels and "UNparallels"), and if one does not consider alternate explanations.[2]
Joseph Smith was not well-traveled, and he almost certainly did not have access to detailed maps.
Despite these facts, to obtain this list of parallels, a huge geographical area has been scanned to obtain names like Rama, Ontario (over 100 miles north of Toronto, Canada); St. Agathe, Quebec (north of Montreal and Ottawa); Shiloh, New Jersey; Jerusalem and Jacobsburg, Ohio; and Alma, West Virginia. Five states and two Canadian provinces yield this little list of strained parallels.
Some of the names listed by the critics are, in fact, Biblical names. If one is going to suggest that Joseph plagiarized the names, why rely on obscure and sometimes distant American towns? It is clear that whoever wrote the Book of Mormon was familiar with the Old Testament, and so it is not surprising that some Biblical names were used:
Critics scour modern maps looking for "parallels," and, without realizing it, use some place names that didn't exist at all during the period of time that the Book of Mormon was being translated in 1829.
This name is identical, and located within New York state. This would seem to be an excellent candidate for the critics' theory. However, the settlement at that site was not named "Angola" until 1855![3]
There's a chance Joseph could have heard of the little Angola post office, or of the territory of Angola in Africa, but it seems far-fetched to think that modern Angola, New York could have any direct bearing on the Book of Mormon.
Tecumseh, the supposed origin of Teancum, requires considerable creativity to even make the words the same. (The critics rely on the fact that words which start with the same letter seem "the same" to us on a cursory glance.) To get Teancum from Tecumseh, one has to take off the last syllable, add "an" after the "Te," and there you have it. Tecumseh = Teancum. Kind of like John = Joshua!
But could Joseph have known about Tecumseh, Ontario? As a prophet of God, yes, but as a plagiarizer, unlikely. Tecumseh, Ontario did not get this name until 1912. As Wikipedia explains:
Desperate to save this idea, other critics have suggested the town of Tecumseh, Michigan instead of the Tecumseh, Ontario, replacing a ridiculous candidate with one that is merely silly (and even further from Joseph Smith than its later Canadian cousin).
A check of the Michigan location reveals that this tiny Western suburb of Detroit had just barely been settled by a tiny handful of people in the late 1820s, but at least there was a village of Tecumseh in 1824. Insignificant and remote for those in Joseph Smith's area, it's hard to imagine Joseph being aware of that village and feeling some need to stick it on a mental map of the Book of Mormon. And while he may well have heard of the Indian warrior Tecumseh, it's still quite a stretch to get Teancum from that name.[6]
Some of the supposed "parallels" are extremely weak.
It seems no evidence is too weak when attacking Joseph.
Alma, West Virginia is another interesting name. Unfortunately, the town is so small that there is almost no information about it on the Web - not even a stub in Wikipedia. The satellite image of the town suggests that there might be a couple of businesses in the area, but there seems to be little there even in modern times.
With so many other sources of "Alma" to choose from - like "alma mater" or the female Latin name Alma, why do we have to drop down to West Virginia to find this "incredible" parallel? Alma isn't a city in the Book of Mormon - it's a prominent name for a couple of prophets. True, there was a valley that Alma's group encounters in Mosiah 24 that his people briefly called the valley of Alma on their way back to the main land of the Nephites, but this is nowhere close to a notable landmark in Book of Mormon geography. The reality is that nothing available to Joseph Smith would have informed him that Alma was not a female name, but was actually an authentic male Jewish name in Nephi's day, a name that could have been brought to the New World by Nephi's group.
See FAIR wiki article: Book of Mormon "anachronisms"—Alma as a male Hebrew name
As indicated above, Ramah is a perfectly good Biblical name.
Critics claim, however, that "Rama, Ontario" was Joseph Smith's source for this name. However, it is on the opposite side of Lake Huron, and today holds only a casino and about 500 inhabitants.[7] How likely is it that Joseph would have even heard of this obscure spot? Ramah is also the Jaredite name for Cumorah, yet Holley's map does not place it at the New York Cumorah location, but in Ontario. This would seem to be more evidence that he created his "Book of Mormon map" by looking at New England placenames, and not by looking at the Book of Mormon text.
A modern survey of thousands of square miles and hundreds of small townships can doubtless turn up a few coincidental matches to Book of Mormon place names—or place names from any other source.
Cognates and similar names occur easily by chance and can readily be found anywhere one looks. (One LDS author has compiled a list of Hawaiian "parallels" that are at least as convincing as the critics', to demonstrate how pointless this exercise is.)[8]
The examples provided by the critics fail on multiple grounds, as this color-coded chart demonstrates:
Book of Mormon City | Claimed Source | Book of Mormon City | Claimed Source |
---|---|---|---|
Teancum | Tecumseh | Ramah | Rama |
Moron | Morin | Ogath | Ste Agathe |
Moriancum | Moravian | Angola | Angola |
Onidah | Oneida | Kishkumen | Kiskiminetas |
Jacobugath | Jacobsburg | Jerusalem | Jerusalem |
Alma | Alma | Land of Lehi-Nephi | Lehigh |
Shilom | Shiloh | -- | -- |
Key
Critics are desperate to discredit Joseph, and so even resort to suggesting place names that did not exist in his day. They also resort to extremely small, distant sites about which Joseph almost certainly could have had no knowledge.
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 they insist that he forged the Book of Mormon, isn't the Bible a far more likely source for these names than obscure hamlets hundreds of miles away?
And, for any of this to work at all, they 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.
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We are a volunteer organization. We invite you to give back.
Donate Now