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Heartland Model of Book of Mormon geography
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Book of Mormon geography: The Heartland model
| Model Name | Date Proposed | Scope | Narrow Neck | Land North | Land South | Cumorah | River Sidon | Nephi's Landing | Religion | Type of model
Model name: Meldrum 2003Date proposed: 2003? |
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This geography was originally based on a DVD presentation (which is in turn based on fireside presentations) produced by Rodney (Rod) Meldrum: Rodney Meldrum, DNA Evidence for Book of Mormon Geography: New scientific support for the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon; Correlation and Verification through DNA, Prophetic, Scriptural, Historical, Climatological, Archaeological, Social, and Cultural Evidence (Rodney Meldrum, 2007), mail-order DVD. ( Index of claims ).
Other works and sources include:
- Bruce H. Porter and Rod L. Meldrum, Prophecies and Promises: The Book of Mormon & The United States of America (Salt Lake City, UT: Digital Legend, 2009), 1–.
- Rod Meldrum, Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA (Honeoye Falls, NY: Digital Legend Press, 2009), 1–.
- The FIRM Foundation
- LDSPromisedLand.com [this company was formed by Meldrum, Bruce Porter, Wayne May, and LDS Travel president Brian Mickelsen. The company was sold in 2012]. Despite being president of this group for a time, Meldrum opted to conduct his own seminars in competition with this group because of financial reasons. According to Bruce Porter:
- (Meldrum) felt that he needed to pull away from that company [ldspromisedland.com] because he could make more money doing it on his own. And that was a business decision that he made…. but it's what Rod does for a living, and everybody has a right to earn a living.[1]
Heartland model
Mark Alan Wright, "Heartland as Hinterland: The Mesoamerican Core and North American Periphery of Book of Mormon Geography"
Mark Alan Wright, Proceedings of the 2013 FAIR Conference, (August 2013)My basic thesis is this: The core locations and events detailed in the text of the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica, but many Nephites and Lamanites migrated and established settlements far northward of the core area and are thus simply outside the scope of the text. I am certainly not the first to make this argument or note the significance of this northward migration, but from countless conversations I have had about Book of Mormon geography over the past few years I have found that many people are unfamiliar with the ideas.
Click here to view the complete article
FairMormon Reviews
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Alternate theories are "apostate"?
Summary: Meldrum makes it clear that he regards those who disagree with his model as "apostate."Disdaining Joseph?
Summary: Do LDS scholars "disdain" the statements of Joseph Smith related to Book of Mormon geography?"Continent"
Summary: With regard to the location of Book of Mormon lands, it is sometimes claimed that "[t]here's a North American continent and a South American continent in Noah Webster's [1850] dictionary," and that this means that all references to "this continent" must refer to North America. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines a ""continent"" as follows: "1. In geography, a great extent of land, not disjoined or interrupted by a sea; a connected tract of land of great extent; as the Eastern and Western continent. It differs from an isle only in extent. New Holland may be denominated a continent. Britain is called a continent, as opposed to the isle of Anglesey." Therefore, Webster's definition of a "Eastern and Western continent" is equivalent to today's definition of "Eastern and Western hemisphere."Location of Zarahemla
Summary: It is claimed that the location of the city of Zarahemla was provided to Joseph Smith through revelation and that it was located on the Mississippi River opposite where Nauvoo is located today.Borders of the Lamanites
Summary: Critics claim that the proposal of a Mesoamerican limited geographical Book of Mormon setting contradicts D&C 54:8, which discusses the "borders of the Lamanites" being in North America.Summary: Sometimes falsified artifacts are used to promote a Book of Mormon geography
Heartland Model of Book of Mormon geography
Heartland Model of Book of Mormon geography
Book of Mormon Central, KnoWhy #493: Why Should Latter-day Saints Beware Fraudulent Artifacts? (Video)
The Bat Creek Stone is an artifact excavated in 1889 by the Smithsonian Institution: It is considered to be a forgery
A forged item can tell us nothing about ancient America in general, or the Book of Mormon in particular. Any current source that uses the Bat Creek Stone as evidence should be treated with caution; its author(s) are not using the most up-to-date information. At the very least, it is premature to rely on the Bat Creek Stone as evidence of anything related to ancient America.
The Bat Creek Stone is an artifact excavated in 1889 by the Smithsonian Institution [see Figure 1], and was also found with brass bracelets.
The stone was described in a 1894 publication by the same group. [1] The author of the report, Cyrus Thomas, claimed that the marks were Cherokee. A review of Thomas' subsequent publications demonstrates that he likely concluded that the items were forged, but he did not make a more public point of this because he and the Smithsonian "had placed themselves in a position such that they really could not afford to pronounce the Bat Creek stone a forgery after publishing it." [2]
After Thomas, little attention was paid to the Bat Creek stone until 1970--as noted above, Thomas had probably recognized that it was fraudulent by 1898. In 1970, Cyrus Gordon of Brandeis university argued that the stone had been oriented improperly in the original publication. [3] If it was inverted, Gordon claimed, it became clear that the text was Paleo-Hebrew, and read "for the Jews." [4] Other scholars joined the debate, and the positions are well summarized by Mainfort and Kwas:
- As of 1993/94, the opinions of the principals in the debate may be summarized as follows. Cyrus Gordon was the earliest credible proponent of the Bat Creek stone as an authentic Paleo-Hebrew inscription, though he acknowledged “problems” with three of the inscribed characters. Frank Moore Cross and Kyle McCarter pointed out additional paleographic difficulties and argued that too many of the characters were problematic for the inscription to be authentic. Huston McCulloch considered all of the inscribed characters to be legitimate Paleo-Hebrew (but disagreeing with Gordon about three of them) and presented radiocarbon evidence supporting an age for the stone in the first several centuries A.D. Finally, Mainfort and Kwas(1991, 1993a,1 993b) questioned the veracity of the find itself and presented evidence suggesting that Cyrus Thomas and his contemporaries recognized the Bat Creek stone as a fraud by the end of the nineteenth century. [5]
The case for forgery was strengthened in 2004
Although there were questions about the Bat Creek stone's origins, these were strengthened by a 2004 paper by Mainfort and Kwas. In it, they demonstrate that the text for the stone was copied from an 1870 book on Freemasonry: Robert Macoy, General History, Cyclopedia, and Dictionary of Freemasonry (New York, Masonic Publishing Co., 1870), 169. [See Figure 2.] The Masonic use of the inscription comes from a Jewish coin, reading "Holiness to the Lord," or "Holy to Yahweh." [6]
The man who discovered the Bat Creek Stone did so alone, and was not a professional archaeologist in the modern sense. He also seems to have "discovered" other artifacts that are clearly forgeries. [7] His problems with alcohol led to him being fired for a period; political pressure was necessary for him to regain his job, and his forgery may have been motivated by a desire to ensure his continued employment. [8] Others have argued that the evidence is not as air-tight as these authors believe. [9]
The Bat Creek Stone was also found with two bracelets, but these were dated to the eighteenth or nineteenth century
The Bat Creek Stone was also found with two bracelets, but these were dated to the eighteenth or nineteenth century. [10] This heightens the evidence of fraud still further.
McCulloch has replied to this analysis, arguing that the characteristics of the stone itself suggest many years of weathering, and argues that the inscription is not identical to the Masonic encyclopedia. [11]
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Notes
- ↑ Cyrus Thomas, Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology for the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1890-‘91 (Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.), 394.
- ↑ Robert C. Mainfort, Jr. and Mary L. Kwas, "The Bat Creek Stone Revisited: A Fraud Exposed," American Antiquity 69/4 (2004): 762-763.
- ↑ Cyrus H. Gordon, "New Directions in the Study of Ancient Middle Eastern Cultures," Bulletin of the Middle Eastern Cultural Center 5 (1991): 62. See Gordon's argument in an LDS publication: Cyrus H. Gordon, "A Hebrew Inscription Authenticated," in By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 27 March 1990, ed. John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1990), 1:67-80. ISBN 0875793398. Vol. 1 off-site Vol. 2 off-site
- ↑ Mainfort and Kwas, 762-763.
- ↑ Mainfort and Kwas, 764.
- ↑ Mainfort and Kwas, 765.
- ↑ Stephen Williams, "Fantastic Archaeology: Another Road Taken by Some," Paper presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Boston, Massachusetts, 1993 as cited by Mainfort and Kwas, 765.
- ↑ Mainfort and Kwas, 765-766.
- ↑ His reply was rejected for publication in American Antiquity where the original debate took place. It is available on-line in PDF.
- ↑ Mainfort and Kwas, 766. The authors cite their own previous work, Robert C. Mainfort Jr. and Mary L. Kwas, "The Bat Creek Stone: Judeans in Tennessee?" Tennessee Anthropologist 16/1 (Spring 1991): 1-19. For the reply, see J. Huston McCulloch, "The Bat Creek Stone: A Reply to Mainfort and Kwas," Tennessee Anthropologist 18/1 (Spring 1993): 1-26.
- ↑ J. Huston McCulloch, "The Bat Creek Stone," on-line posting, December 2005. His reply was rejected for publication in American Antiquity where the original debate took place. It is available on-line in PDF.
Heartland Model of Book of Mormon geography
Book of Mormon Central, KnoWhy #493: Why Should Latter-day Saints Beware Fraudulent Artifacts? (Video)
The Burrows Cave collection is a group of "artifacts" supposedly found in a cave in Illinois - These items are considered to be a hoax
The Burrows Cave collection is a group of "artifacts" supposedly found in a cave in Illinois, named after Russell Burrows, the person who initially found the cave. To this day, Burrows Cave enthusiasts have never demonstrated the existence of the cave. The artifacts contain many obvious hallmarks of modern manufacture, including the so-called "mystic symbol" found on artifacts in the Michigan artifacts collection. This is offered as evidence that the hoaxers deliberately meant to associate these artifacts with the Michigan collection. Some LDS people have fallen prey to those who push these artifacts as genuine.
There are no known caves in the proper area of Illinois--the geology isn't right
As one author notes, there are no known caves in the proper area of Illinois--the geology isn't right:
In the May 2012 issue of Public Archaeology, Joseph Wilson, a University of New Haven anthropologist, describes it as a phantasmagorical cave in southern Illinois that contains “life-sized solid-gold statues and a series of gigantic black stone statues in Egyptian and Carthaginian dress, solid gold sarcophagi and coffins containing mummies, stone sarcophagi, pagan idols, arsenals of bronze weapons, suits of armor ...” It goes on, but you get the idea.
Why haven’t you read about this amazing discovery in National Geographic? Burrows Cave has been largely ignored by archaeologists because there is no evidence to back up any of the extravagant claims made about the site.
In fact, Wilson observes that “there is no geological evidence of any caves” in that part of Illinois. Not surprisingly, the guy who claims to have discovered Burrows Cave has never allowed anyone else to see it. [1]
If we cannot confirm that a cave exists, and experts cannot even visit the cave, we ought to put no trust in its claims until they can be publicly demonstrated.
The Burrows Cave claims and artifacts should not be used as evidence of the Book of Mormon's account
Tablets that reportedly come from the cave are also not plausible:
Wilson says that thousands of inscribed stone tablets that were supposedly taken from the cave have been sold to “hopeful collectors and sympathetic research institutions such as the Midwestern Epigraphic Society in Ohio.”
Wilson says the tablets are obvious fakes. They include a weird mix of styles representing cultures separated by thousands of years. For example, one tablet has an image of an apparently Phoenician ship that is a carelessly copied, ridiculous mash up of two entirely different kinds of vessel — one end is the front of a warship with a ram, and the other is the front of a merchant ship with a carved animal-head at the prow. [2]
The Burrows Cave claims and artifacts should not be used as evidence of the Book of Mormon's account or of other aspects of ancient history.
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Notes
- ↑ Bradley T. Lepper, Archaeology: Magic caves in Illinois and other archaeological myths, The Columbus Dispatch (4 March 2013).
- ↑ Lepper, "Magic caves"
Question: Are the Michigan Artifacts evidence for the Book of Mormon?
The "Michigan Artifacts" or "Michigan relics" are a group of "artifacts" produced by hoaxers in the late 19th century: They do not provide any evidence for the Book of Mormon
The "Michigan Artifacts" or "Michigan relics" are a group of "artifacts" produced by hoaxers in the late 19th century and around the turn of the 20th Century from Michigan. They wanted to produce "proof" of the existence of the ancient civilization known in 19th century lore as the Mound Builders. Many contain scenes from biblical stories. Some LDS members have been misled into believing that the artifacts are genuine. Not surprisingly, advocates of the Michigan artifacts also push the Burrows Cave collection.
Both LDS and non-LDS scholars have repeatedly demonstrated the fraudulent nature of the Michigan artifacts
Both LDS and non-LDS scholars have repeatedly demonstrated the fraudulent nature of the Michigan artifacts. [1] Among the first to do so was James E. Talmage, a trained scientist who met some of the forgers, demonstrated evidence of the forgeries, and preserved accounts of these things in his journal. [2] Talmage recorded that the stepdaughter of the man who discovered the relics:
...solemnly declared to me that she positively knows her step-father, James Scotford, has made, buried, and dug up many of the articles reported to be genuine archaeological relics. She gave circumstantial details, and agreed to sign a written statement with the proviso that such statement shall not be made public without her consent during the lifetime of her mother, Mrs. Jas. Scotford. [3]
Also, in August of 1911, Elder Talmage published a document containing his evidence called "The 'Michigan Relics': A Story of Forgery and Deception."
A more recent assessment of the Michigan artifacts was performed by LDS scientist Richard Stamps, and reported in BYU Studies. [4]
A separate line of evidence likewise demonstrates the the Michigan artifacts are of recent date. As one archaeologist explained:
...Thom Bell, a documentary filmmaker with access to some of these artifacts, submitted one of the clay tablets to the Luminescence Dating Laboratory at California State University, Long Beach.
Luminescence dating is a relatively new technique that can be applied to materials including sediment and ceramics. The method is based on the principle that charged particles, created by cosmic ray bombardment or the radioactive decay of certain elements in rocks and the soil, might become trapped within flaws in crystals.
The longer a crystal is exposed to these various sources of radiation, the more particles accumulate. When the crystals are exposed to direct sunlight, they are "bleached," meaning the reservoir of particles is emptied and the "hourglass" is reset.
When a clay tablet is manufactured, for example, crystals in the grit temper are exposed to light and bleached. But when the clay hardens, those crystals sealed inside the clay begin to accumulate charged particles once again.
Technicians can carefully remove those crystals and measure their luminescence to determine how long ago the clay tablet was made.
The results obtained by the CSU team are illuminating if not surprising. Assuming the tablet was buried for some part of its history, it was made at around AD 1905.
This is precisely the period when these bizarre objects were being planted in mounds and then "discovered" - sometimes by innocent dupes such as William C. Mills, former curator of archaeology for the Ohio Historical Society.
Although this result applies to one of the hundreds of "Michigan relics," it kills the idea that these things have any relevance to American prehistory. Instead, they are windows onto a period of American history when archaeology was in its infancy and numerous frauds were being used to promote various religious, political and personal agendas. [5]
The Michigan artifacts should not be used as evidence of the Book of Mormon's account or of other aspects of ancient history.
Question: Can the Newark "Holy Stones" be used as evidence to support the Book of Mormon?
We don't have the sort of details on their discovery that we would like to be able to verify some sort of authenticity
The are two main issues with artifacts of this sort. The first is the issue of discovery. While there are several interesting artifacts, we don't have the sort of details on their discovery that we would like to be able to verify some sort of authenticity. Most of them were discovered by an individual, who wasn't using any kind of modern archaeological standards. This allows for questions of fraud and hoax to enter into the picture (particularly when we combine it with the fact that such a discovery, if authenticated, would be absolutely huge by any archaeological standards). Related to this issue is that since we have developed more rigorous standards for doing archaeological excavations, we haven't continued to find additional examples of these kinds of artifacts. This further encourages the sense that they may have been a hoax. (This isn't to say that they are a hoax - just that the evidence is inconclusive). It also shows how difficult it is to date objects once they have been removed from their original setting. This is true of nearly any single object - and we have the same problems with artifacts in the old world that simply show up (particularly on the proverbial black market). Any artifact which turns up on its own without some kind of rigorous investigative process is considered suspect.
Even if they are valid, these artifacts are outside the time frame that would be helpful for validating the Book of Mormon
The second issue is more relevant to us as LDS members. These objects use what you can see labeled in the link as a "post-Exilic square Hebrew letters". In the reference to Cyrus Gordon, we have mention of the first text as a potential Samaritan mezuzah. These issues give us some idea of what to consider in terms of dates on the assumption that they are authentic. They would most likely come from the period of about 100-300 AD - potentially representing a group leaving Palestine sometime during or after the second Jewish revolt in the second century. This places these artifacts outside the time frame that would be helpful for validating the Book of Mormon (or determining Book of Mormon geography related issues). It would help us recognize another potential migration from the old world to the new world. But I think that as LDS we want to be careful in trying to suggest that this is potential evidence here for the Book of Mormon.
Notes
- ↑ Francis W. Kelsey, "Some Archaeological Forgeries from Michigan," American Anthropologist 10/8 (May 1908): 48–59; Francis W. Kelsy, "A Persistent Forgery," The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal 33/1 (1911): 26–31; Stephen D. Peet, "A 'Stamp' Table and Coin Found in a Michigan Mount," The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal 15 (September 1894): 313.
- ↑ Frederick Starr, J.O. Kinnaman, and James E. Talmage, "The Michigan Archaeological Question Settled," The American Antiquairian and Oriental Journal 33, no. 3 (1911): 160–164.
- ↑ James E. Talmage, journal, June 1921; cited in Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Mormonism’s Encounter with the Michigan Relics," BYU Studies Quarterly 40, no. 3.
- ↑ Richard B. Stamps, "Tools Leave Marks: Material Analysis of the Scotford-Soper-Savage Michigan Relics," BYU Studies Quarterly 40, no. 3.
- ↑ Bradley T. Lepper, "New light shone on 'old relics'," The Columbus Dispatch (13 July 2009).
Statements
Summary: Statements made by Church leaders, members, and publications about Book of Mormon geography issues- No revealed geography—
Brief Summary: A collection of statements indicating that there is no revealed geography for the Book of Mormon (these quotes are also in the collections below, by date). (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗ - Statements by Hugh Nibley—
Brief Summary: LDS scholar Hugh Nibley is sometimes cited out of context by advocates of the Heartland theory who wish to claim his support for their ideas. They do this to disguise that Nibley argued for Mesoamerican involvement in the Book of Mormon. All of Nibley's statements should be considered if one wishes to know what he thought. (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗
- No revealed geography—
FAIR has a review of some of the contents and tactics used by this presentation.
There are both brief executive summaries and more detailed information.
- Full Review Click here
Other reviews
- Jerry L. Ainsworth, Dr. Ainsworth responds to Rod Meldrum DVD, mormonsites.org blog, 20 September 2008. FAIR endorses no Book of Mormon geography, and does not necessarily endorse all the conclusions in this off-site link. It is provided to properly credit the source.
- Anonymous, "Errors of Rodney Meldrum," bookofmormongeography.info (no date, circa April 2009). FAIR endorses no Book of Mormon geography, and does not necessarily endorse all the conclusions in this off-site link. It is provided to properly credit the source.
- Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum, "Great Lakes 'Heartland' Model" (summary page)
- Joe V Andersen, "A critical Review of Wayne N. May's This Land: Zarahemla and the Nephite Nation."
- Douglas K. Christensen, "The Hopewell Culture of Eastern North America."
- Chris Heimerdinger, "Revelatory Stewardship and the Book of Mormon."
- John L. Lund, "Where Was Joseph Smith between March 1, 1842 and Nov 15, 1842."
- John L. Sorenson, "A Whole Bunch of Reasons Why Book of Mormon Geography Could Not Have Included North America."
- Ted Dee Stoddard, "'Thick Darkness,' 'Vapor of Darkness,' and 'Mists of Darkness': Indications of Weather and Climate in the Book of Mormon."
- Ted Dee Stoddard, "'The Whiteness of the Driven Snow': An Evaluation of the Word 'Snow' in the Book of Mormon."
- Ted Dee Stoddard, "Joseph Smith and John Lloyd Stephens."
- Ted Dee Stoddard, "The Need for Evidence of a High-Level Written Language in the New World."
- Ted Dee Stoddard, "'I Write unto All the Ends of the Earth': The Need for Evidence of a High-Level Written Language in the New World."
- John A. Tvedtnes, "A Brief History of the Limited Geographic View of the Book of Mormon."
- Brant Gradner, "This Idea: The "This Land" Series and the U.S.-Centric Reading of the Book of Mormon (A review of "This Land: Zarahemla and the Nephite Nation; This Land: Only One Cumorah!; and This Land: They Came from the East" by: Edwin G. Goble and Wayne N. May; Wayne N. May; and Wayne N. May)," FARMS Review 20/2 (2008): 141–162. off-site wiki
- Matthew Roper, "Joseph Smith, Revelation, and Book of Mormon Geography (A review of "Prophecies and Promises: The Book of Mormon and the United States of America" by: Bruce H. Porter and Rod L. Meldrum)," FARMS Review 22/2 (2010): 15–85. off-site wiki
- Matthew Roper, "Losing the Remnant: The New Exclusivist "Movement" and the Book of Mormon (A review of "Prophecies and Promises: The Book of Mormon and the United States of America" by: Bruce H. Porter and Rod L. Meldrum)," FARMS Review 22/2 (2010): 87–124. off-site wiki
- Gregory L. Smith, "Often in Error, Seldom in Doubt: Rod Meldrum and Book of Mormon DNA (A review of "Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA" by: Rod L. Meldrum)," FARMS Review 22/1 (2010): 17–161. off-site wiki
- Ugo A. Perego, "The Book of Mormon and the Origin of Native Americans from a Maternally Inherited DNA Standpoint," FARMS Review 22/1 (2010): 191–227. off-site wiki
Blog posts
- FAIR Blog: Allen Wyatt, "A Faulty Apologetic for the Book of Mormon" (3 July 2008) FAIR link
- FAIR Blog: Gregory L. Smith, "Advice from a Nobel Prize Winner" (6 July 2008) FAIR link
- Mormanity: Jeff Lindsay, "Misguided Zeal: DNA Evidence for Book of Mormon Geography," (4 July 2008) off-site
- FAIR Blog: Allen Wyatt, "Examining the Secular Side," (3 Sept 2008) FAIR link
- FAIR blog: Scott Gordon, "Helping Those Struggling with Anti-Mormonism," (3 Sept 2008) FAIR link
- Dr. Jerry Ainsworth responds to DVD, blog, 20 September, 2008.
- Steven Danderson, Using and misusing scholarship and revelation…. (October 5, 2008)
- Robert White The Truth Will Out At Last (October 7, 2008)
- Steven Danderson, A look at Meldrum’s revised DVD…. (March 31, 2009)
Other resources
- Kristen Moulton, "Book of Mormon geography stirring controversy," Salt Lake Tribune (25 March 2010) off-site.
- Michael De Groote, "Mormon geography conferences to compete this weekend," Deseret News (29 March 2010) off-site
- Rod Meldrum/FIRM Foundation homepage off-site
- LDS Promised Land off-site
Plagiarism?
Ed Goble has also charged that this model plagiarized elements from his first geography (Goble-May 2002) without attribution.[2]
Note: Goble has since retracted his old belief in the US Heartland Model in favor of a new setting, the "Two Heartland" theory (Goble-2004). Also, more recently, Goble now realizes that his initial charge against Meldrum's model was too emotionally-based, and that excessive fault-finding about minutia is unproductive. Also, Goble now realizes that any new geographical model based in any particular setting is bound to build upon the former models, and it is understandable how it is that it can be difficult to give credit where each idea one builds upon comes from.
Conclusion of DVD uses the Michigan relics as evidence. The DVD elsewhere refers to these artifacts as "a person on a cross" which makes their identity clear (Meldrum, DVD (2007), Sect #14, 7:56.) For more details, see subheading "Michigan Relics as Evidence," in FAIR:Reviews of DNA Evidence for Book of Mormon Geography:Identifying the Nephites.
After the initial charge had been made about Meldrum's geography, the head of the FIRM Foundation (Rod Meldrum) replied:
- “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” would be a good idea for this last post. You have obviously not seen Meldrum’s DVD as he has no Michigan artifacts in it and he came to his DNA conclusions long before encountering Wayne May.[3]
The former claim is false, since the Michigan forgeries are in the presentation (see screenshot image)
The head of the FIRM Foundation later told Goble:
- This geography was not plagerized [sic] from you at all, as you so indicated in your rant. You called ALL of the Great Lakes ‘Sea West’, you claim the ‘Nephite North’ is a highly skewed angle nearly making Lake Ontario and Lake Erie north/south of each other (see p.75 of your book) which completely changes your geographic ideas. I do not espouse either of these arguements [sic]. If you had seen the DVD, you would have known that out [sic] geographies are substantially different, if not unrelated. Your unsubstantiated claim that I copied your geography is not true. I began to research North American geographies after I had worked on the DNA evidence. I had come to many preliminary conclusions prior to my meeting Wayne May. I found his geographic ideas were the closest to what I had found, and so went to one of his presentations to learn more. Again I am being accused without evidence in fact. I agree with you, your geography doesn’t work and I don’t blame you for abandoning it. The proposed geography of my DVD has many things that need to be addressed as well, and I am hoping for competent help in establishing a more complete understanding.[4]
It has, however, been pointed out that Meldrum's enthusiasm for Goble's book was much greater than his statements might lead us to believe, from a testimonial posted on Wayne May's website:
- “Wayne May’s book series provides the 'most comprehensive compilation of Book of Mormon background history, geography, logical research, and artifacts (complete with photographs), of any book on the subject to date….Open your mind and heart to the information contained in these books, and you will gain a renewed love for the prophet and the Book of Mormon itself. Truth will prevail.”[5]
Goble has pointed out that one of his ideas is quite unique, and matches the Heartland model's claim:
- “The idea of a confluence of rivers making up the head of the Sidon is lifted from MY book, Mr. Meldrum. That was MY idea.”[6]
This can be compared with The FIRM Foundation's identical idea.[7]
Index of geographical claims made in the DVD DNA Evidence for Book of Mormon Geography
The following tables respond to specific geographical claims made in the DVD. Only the geographical claims are treated here. For other issues related to this DVD and the presentation "Introduction to Book of Mormon Evidences," see the following:
A note about DNA claims
It is claimed in the DVD and associated seminars that criticisms related to DNA and the Book of Mormon have not been addressed by LDS scholars. This is incorrect. For a detailed discussion of DNA related claims, see the following:
| Heartland (Meldrum) Geography claims |
- DNA_Evidence for Book of Mormon Geography (DVD)
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Introduction
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 1:DNA
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 2:Geography
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 3:Joseph Smith
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 4:Promised Land
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 5:Prophesies and Promises
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 6:Tents, Temples, and Teepees
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 7:Weather and Climate
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 8:Buffalo Evidence
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 9:Chronological Evidence
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 10:Nephite Defenses
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 11:Nephite Structures
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 12:Mound Builders
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 13:Nephite Culture
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 14:Nephite Implements
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 15:Book of Mormon Lands
- Book_of_Mormon_geography/Models/Limited/Meldrum_2003/Section 16:Travel Indications
== Notes ==
- [note] Michael De Groote, "Mormon geography conferences to compete this weekend," Deseret News (29 March 2010) off-site
- [note] Ed Goble, comment on FAIR blog, (5 Sept 2008, 20h22) off-site
- [note] DNA Truthseeker [Rod Meldrum], MADB message board post (12 May 2008, 2h11) off-site
- [note] Rod Meldrum, comment on FAIR blog, (8 Sept 2008, 19h24) off-site
- [note] Rod Meldrum, (date?) off-site
- [note] Ed Goble, comment on FAIR blog, (5 Sept 2008, 20h22) off-site
- [note] "The Book of Mormon index indicates the Sidon River flows north into a sea, is this correct?," FAQ, bookofmormonevidence.org (accessed 9 April 2009) off-site