She answers a lot of the questions that most people would ask. The fallacy of extremist theoriesthe baja california theory. George is a proponent that the book of mormon lands are in peru. North america covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers 9,540,000 square miles, about 16. The heartland model or heartland theory of book of mormon geography states that the book of mormon events primarily occurred in the heartland of north america. However, the church has no position on the location lands of the book of mormon, so quoting historic church leaders proves nothing.
Sep 08, 2009 mormon lands and accurately identifying the descendants of book of mormon peoples would need to undergo a radical paradigm shiftone that many would consider quite farfetched. Since that time, the history of baja california has been closely associated with a fierce division between north and south. In addition, it has become apparent that the text of the book of mormon describes the setting in north america quite effectively. Where i explain the meaning of the name zarahemla omni 1. The book of mormon describes massive destructions when christ was crucified. Apr 18, 2010 it is true that bison did roam the plains of north america but we have never suggested the book of mormon lands are in the plains of north america, our assertion is the baja peninsula which has no evidence of bison today or even hundreds of years ago. When i think of the baja california peninsula, i think of the baja. Joseph was consistent his entire life in his statements about the book of mormon in north america not central america. The land of zarahemla is at a lower elevation relative to the land of nephi. As each new theory surfaces, we gain fresh hope of acquiring additional insights into it ancient location, but are all too often disappointed. There are times when there is not the opportunity to get a clear understanding of what the traveler saw and these bulletins will help with that understanding. North america is the third largest continent by area, following asia and africa, and the fourth by population after asia, africa, and europe. So, as you pointed out we would not suspect bison would be mentioned.
This brings us to the rosenvalls second answer to the lack of. When you consider that baja california is a place where fertile lands are found in geographically restricted areas, the fact that those places are distributed in a way that matches up well to the book of mormon text is a significant strength to the model. Additionally, theodore brandleys north american theory, and garth normans. I publish an alternate model of the book of mormon lands in baja and the north american southwest which is somewhat broader in scope and different than. Moronis america today in 1936, when lds scholars first began accepting the twocumorah theory, apostle joseph fielding smith warned the saints. This fits very well with the idea that the book of mormon occurred largely in baja california like our model suggests, with diffusion of semiticegyptian language traits into the north american southwest during the nephites migrations into the land northward roughly 2,000 years ago. While some latterday saints have looked for possible locations and explanations for book of mormon geography because the new york hill cumorah does not readily fit the book of mormon description of cumorah, there are no conclusive connections between the book of mormon text and any specific site. Here is more evidence showing that the lamanites of the book of mormon are in north america not mezoamerica as published in our book several years ago. When you consider that baja california is a place where fertile lands are found in geographically restricted areas.
According to the book of mormon, the promised land shall be a land of liberty, with no kings upon the land 1, and be discovered by a gentile whom the spirit of god wrought, to cross many waters 2 in order. Such maps can be a useful introduction for those who are new to the book of mormon. Unfortunately, this can lead us to want to fill in the scientific blanks so badly that. See more ideas about book of mormon, mayan ruins and lds art. There were massive earthquakes, and darkness covered the land.
Jul 12, 2017 3 while putting that project together, he and his father came up with a new book of mormon geography theory on the baja peninsula. And it came to pass that the people of zarahemla, and of mosiah, did unite together. The book of mormon lands fit in mesoamerica and no where else. The products services offered by wayne may are neither made, provided, approved nor endorsed by intellectual reserve, inc. The climate of jerusalem, its got to be california or baja california, one of those californias. Mar 06, 2012 olive has done a lot of research into the ancient geography of the area of western new york and to me it makes a lot of sense that the lands of the book of morman are located in upper new york. City of moronihah, sidon river, land of sidom, city and land of manti, city of gideon, hill riplah, city of and land of moroni, land of helam, hill manti, land of first inheritance, land of bountiful. How manifest destiny destroyed book of mormon evidence the. In the beginning, this was a religious division, with northern baja california being dominated by the franciscan church and southern baja california being controlled by the dominican church.
The meaning of zarahemla from the book of mormon youtube. An approach to the book of mormon geography a choice land. In other words, as you travel north of bountiful and south of zarahemla, the. The lands of te book of mormon are found in mesoamerica. When i returned home from my mission in 1987, my father at the time was showing me something called hypertext. To help with the increasing amount of new information, a blog site has been setup for research relating to the book of mormon lands in baja california. Jan 12, 2015 the geography of the book of mormon has been a complex issue with multiple factors involved. Is this a plausible location for the book of mormon lands. May 02, 2010 another bonus is the fact that the baja peninsula is much closer to the generally accepted book of mormon locations than say the malay theory.
Geographical, and other evidences in support of the book of mormon landscape, as found in north america. In fact all of the plants that mentioned in the book of mormon are grown in baja california today including. Another baja california book of mormon model posted on september 9, 2014 by bruce nielson after making a post on a baja california book of mormon model, i was contacted by beau anderson who has put together his own baja california model. The hill cumorah in ontario county ny is the hill where joseph smith found the golden plates and is the same hill where the civilizations of the nephites cumorah and the jaredites ramah fought their last battles. When you consider that baja california is a place where fertile lands are found in. After several months of intense careful study of the text i have put together the following proposed map, showing the relative positions of book of mormon lands, cities, rivers, etc. A model for the book of mormon in baja the forgotten. Purpose of the book of mormon tour helps these single page descriptions of a specific book of mormon site are designed to provide pertinent information to the traveler about the site.
Proposed book of mormon geographical setting wikipedia. Clair river, andor land between lake st clair and lake erie detroit river, andor ew pass between lake erie and lake ontario near niagara falls, andor ew pass south of lake erie and north of the. It is pretty apparent to me that the book of mormon lands are much. Additionally, theodore brandleys north american theory, and garth. I still think there is a serious problem of imprinting a particular geographyeven an abstract onebut if the people involved accept the scripture on faith alone, they may never care about the realworld geography, so a mental abstract map is no problem. Below is more detail about the above north american map of the book of mormon. A study was done at the university of arizona where they looked at the dna of old world crops grapes, figs, pomegranates, dates, olives, barley and wheat in north america and found that the old world crops in baja california matched oman and egypt. Jun 12, 2016 joseph smith also seemed to believe that the united states was the book of mormon land. The book of mormon is the position of the church and is said to be the word of god. Both north america and south america contain numerous regions with good to tolerable. A typical response to baja california might well be. Dec 02, 2016 to help with the increasing amount of new information, a blog site has been setup for research relating to the book of mormon lands in baja california.
Lately ive been calling this group cumorah deniers to keep the basic distinction clear without getting into the. Moronis america the book of mormon in north america. Who were the mulekites, and why are they so important. For example, when the book was first published, it was commonly thought that native american indians had never achieved the level of civilization as defined in the book ancient society by lewis henry morgan which had become the handbook of instruction for the us government in dealing with the. Cities were burned, buried with earth, and sunk under water. Narrow neck baja california book of mormon geography. In this model of the book of mormon lands there are fertile lands where there are supposed to be fertile lands and there are wildernesses where there are supposed to be wildernesses. In any case, evidence appears to show that smith did not subscribe to the limited mesoamerican or south american geography theories promoted by some lds. The latest archaeology information on the lands of the book of mormon in north america. Dec 30, 2016 group b is the twocumorahs group that includes people who think the scope of book of mormon geography is limited to a specific area, such as baja california, mesoamerica, panama, colombia, peru, chile, eritrea, malaysia, etc. Book of mormon archaeology in north america home facebook. My new book, nephi in the promised land is now available in the nephi project discovery store. It conforms to the book of mormons requirement that the events took place in a. Jul 17, 2015 going deeper than just physical geography, members of the rosenvalls working group have also done a fantastic job of pointing out that the climate of baja california and southern california parallel climaterelated references in the book of mormon quite well.
None of the baja california theories include all geographical references, so comparing these theories to the book of mormon is incomplete. In the overview article, the rosenvalls go into great detail on showing how similar the climate of baja california is to the mediterranean. I have watched more than 20 hours of wayne may book of mormon lecture videos and conversed with both wayne may and rod meldrum in person. This one inconsistency invalidates baja california theories. The church emphasizes the doctrinal and historical value of the book of mormon, not its geography. It is our assertion that the heartlands of the book of mormon peoplesthe nephites, the lamanites, the jaredites and the people of mulekwere located in what is now the peninsula of baja california. Book of mormon geography in north america the products services offered by wayne may are neither made, provided, approved nor endorsed by intellectual reserve, inc. If it turns out that cochimiyuman speakers were the source of the old world language influence that brian has detected in protoutoaztecan, it will add tremendous evidence to the idea that the book of mormon occurred largely in baja california and that the colorado river delta and the north american southwest are the land of many waters. There are no large bodies of water more than one north of any part of the baja california chosen as the narrow neck. Book of mormon geography, the near cumorah setting there have been numerous attempts to locate the long, lost lands of the book of mormon over the years. Book of mormon land in baja general discussions mormon. Book of mormon lands discovering the lost lands of the book.
He revealed the site of the ancient manti city to be near huntsville, missouri history of js, vol 16, pg 296 smith also once identified some bones found in illinois during the zions camp march to be the bones of a lamanite whose name was zelph and who had died in one of the last battles. The book of mormon states several times that the land which they were led to, was the promised land, or a choice land. Book of mormon lands discovering the lost lands of the. Of specific interest here are the widespread extinctions that occurred at the close of the pleistocene or ice age epoch, especially throughout north america. Because of this theory, he wrote, some members of the church have become confused and greatly disturbed in their faith in the book of mormon. Olsens malay theory, and david rosenvalls baja california theory. His latest newsletter dated oct, 2009, says, 10 reasons why the book of mormon took place in peru. According to latter day saint scripture, the narrative in the book of mormon came to an end in the ancient land cumorah, where moroni, in 421 ad deposited the golden plates prior to his death. The book of mormon and the american indian the book of mormon is more than a history book of two ancient civilizations, it reveals the covenant land of joseph, the favorite son of jacob, israel who was sold into egypt by his brothers that being the promised land of america.
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