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(→Question: How valid are the names used in the Holley Map?) |
(→Question: How valid are the names used in the Holley Map?) |
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*<span style="color:green">'''Oneida Castle</span> = Onidah, Hill'''—Oneida Castle, New York is located at 43°4′42″N 75°38′0″W. The town has existed since the 18th century. | *<span style="color:green">'''Oneida Castle</span> = Onidah, Hill'''—Oneida Castle, New York is located at 43°4′42″N 75°38′0″W. The town has existed since the 18th century. | ||
*'''<span style="color:red">Omer</span> = Omner'''—We cannot find "Omer" on any modern map of Pennsylvania, New York or Canada. | *'''<span style="color:red">Omer</span> = Omner'''—We cannot find "Omer" on any modern map of Pennsylvania, New York or Canada. | ||
− | *<span style="color:red">'''Rama</span> = Ramah'''—Holley speculates that "Today, south by southeast from Lake Superior (Waters of Ripliancum?), near Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada, is the Rama Indian Reservation, [61] located within the boundaries of Rama Township." [62] <ref name=holley>Vernal Holley, ''Book of Mormon Authorship'', 62.</ref> However, the Rama Indian Reservation did not exist as such until 1836, when the Chippewas of Lake Simcoe and Huron were "Forced to move again after our land was taken in what is now being termed an 'illegal surrender', we purchased land in Rama Township in 1836 and made a new beginning for our people." <ref>[http://www.ramafirstnation.ca/about.asp Chippewas of Rama First Nation, "About Us"]</ref> This is six years after the publication of the Book of Mormon. | + | *<span style="color:red">'''Rama</span> = Ramah'''—Holley speculates that "Today, south by southeast from Lake Superior (Waters of Ripliancum?), near Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada, is the Rama Indian Reservation, [61] located within the boundaries of Rama Township." [62] <ref name=holley>Vernal Holley, ''Book of Mormon Authorship'', 62.</ref> However, the Rama Indian Reservation did not exist as such until 1836, when the Chippewas of Lake Simcoe and Huron were "Forced to move again after our land was taken in what is now being termed an 'illegal surrender', we purchased land in Rama Township in 1836 and made a new beginning for our people." <ref>[http://www.ramafirstnation.ca/about.asp Chippewas of Rama First Nation, "About Us"]</ref> This is six years after the publication of the Book of Mormon. Moreover, the Rama Township, Ontario, itself was only "first surveyed in 1834." <ref>''Reflections of the Past : the story of Rama Township : a joint project of the Township of Rama and the Orillia Public Library'', {{link|url=http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=1037713}}</ref> This is four years after the publication of the Book of Mormon. <ref>Holly has two footnotes in his book ''Book of Mormon Authorship: A Closer Look'' related to the name "Rama": [61] According to G.H. Armstrong, in his ''The Origin and Meanings of Place Names in Canada'', Toronto, 1972, "Rama is the Greek form of Ramah of the Bible, which is said to mean 'high place'"; [62] J.G. Farewell, ''History of the County of Ontario'', 1907.</ref> |
*'''<span style="color:green">Ripple Lake</span> = Ripliancum, Waters of'''.—Holley speculated that "Waters of Ripliancum may have been Lake Superior, the largest of the five Great Lakes. On or near the north shore of Lake Superior are Ripple Bay, Ripple Creek, Ripple Reef, and Ripple Lake -- names surprisingly similar to the "Waters of Ripliancum." <ref name=holley>Vernal Holley, ''Book of Mormon Authorship'', 62.</ref> However, Ripple Lake is so small that it is difficult to locate on ''modern'' day maps, and it is one of more than 250,000 lakes in Ontario. Are we to assume that Joseph selected this one location amongst many, and then converted the name "Ripple Lake" to "Ripliancum?" | *'''<span style="color:green">Ripple Lake</span> = Ripliancum, Waters of'''.—Holley speculated that "Waters of Ripliancum may have been Lake Superior, the largest of the five Great Lakes. On or near the north shore of Lake Superior are Ripple Bay, Ripple Creek, Ripple Reef, and Ripple Lake -- names surprisingly similar to the "Waters of Ripliancum." <ref name=holley>Vernal Holley, ''Book of Mormon Authorship'', 62.</ref> However, Ripple Lake is so small that it is difficult to locate on ''modern'' day maps, and it is one of more than 250,000 lakes in Ontario. Are we to assume that Joseph selected this one location amongst many, and then converted the name "Ripple Lake" to "Ripliancum?" | ||
*'''<span style="color:blue">Sodom</span> = Sidom'''—The name "Sodom," of course, is well known 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">Sodom</span> = Sidom'''—The name "Sodom," of course, is well known 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. |
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,
Notes
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