Difference between revisions of "User:InProgress/Reinventing Lamanite Identity"

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• The author claims that "the Book of Mormon teaches—that "the Lamanites...are the principal ancestors of the American Indians."

• This is based upon a phrase added in the 1981 introduction to the Book of Mormon.
• The 1830 Book of Mormon contains no such claim.
• Are the Lamanites the principal ancestors of the American Indians?

• "Introduction," Book of Mormon (1981 edition).

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• The author claims that LDS scholars have been led to "shrink and dilute" the Book of Mormon's "American Israelite" population as the result of DNA analysis showing that Native Americans have an Asian genetic signature.

• The author quotes a number of genetic studies.

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•  Author's quote: As BYU geneticist Michael Whiting stipulates, a hemispheric colonization model for the Book of Mormon “is indeed incorrect” and “appears falsified by current genetic evidence.”

• From the cited source:

If we grant that the global colonization hypothesis is the correct lineage history emerging from the Book of Mormon, this hypothesis predicts that the modern-day descendants of the Lamanite lineage should contain the Middle Eastern genetic signature. Since current population genetics suggests that Native Americans (presumed by some to be the direct genetic descendants of the Lamanites) have an Asian genetic signature, the above hypothesis is indeed incorrect. To this point all we have shown is that the global colonization hypothesis appears falsified by current genetic evidence. But is the global colonization hypothesis the only hypothesis emerging from the Book of Mormon? This is the crux of the matter. Critics who argue that DNA analysis disproves the authenticity of the Book of Mormon need to demonstrate that the global colonization hypothesis is the only way to interpret the Lamanite lineage history and the only hypothesis under question. The authenticity of the Book of Mormon is in question only if this is an accurate interpretation of the historical population dynamics inferred as existing before, during, and after the Book of Mormon record takes place. However, if the above description of the lineage history in the Book of Mormon is oversimplified, then these genetic results demonstrate only that this oversimplified view does not appear correct. But Book of Mormon scholars have been writing about certain complicating factors for decades, so this conclusion about oversimplification really comes as no surprise. (emphasis added)

• Michael F. Whiting, “DNA and the Book of Mormon: A Phylogenetic Perspective,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 12, no. 1 (2003): 28, 31. {{link|url=