Digging Into The Book Of Mormon

[ANACO]

.It will not be a bad plan to compare Mr. Stephens' ruined cities with those in the Book of Mormon: light cleaves to light, and facts are supported by facts.

It's been done. F.A.R.M.S. has admitted the Nephites were not the Maya. Now they claim the Nephites lived among the Maya.

.it is important to emphasize that the Nephites were not the Maya...

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=66&chapid=738

I've repeated myself here with this quote. I apologize for that.

Kind regards.

[mfbukowski]

I find nothing wrong in questioning "prophetic utterances". In fact we are encouraged to develop our own testimonies.

[ANACO]

I find nothing wrong in questioning "prophetic utterances". In fact we are encouraged to develop our own testimonies.

Then you'll be welcomed by NAMI and FAIRLDS.

Kind regards

[Calm]

The statement above in quotes, is key to the LGT Theory to remove or question prophetic utterances made by the Prophet - all to bolster the LGT.

The LGT relies on the prophetic utterances of the prophets who actually wrote the Book of Mormon---who were actually there and would know best----and judges the comments of the Prophet who translated/transmitted their words to us---who wasn't there and would only know if the geography had been revealed to him which he did not ever state----by the context given by the prophetic utterances recorded in the BoM. Edited July 24, 2012 by calmoriah

[poulsenll]

In light of the fact that some have assumed that Joseph Smith was unware of what the BofM had to say about geography, I would like to point out that he carefully edited the original and printers copy as well as earlier editions to produce the 1840 edition of the Book of Mormon. It is highly unlikely that he could have done such editing without understanding the geopraphy described in Alma 22. It is more likely that he was unfamiliar with the local geography of Central America, being aware of the general shape of the American continents, until he read Stephens and Catherwood's book. In that book they published a map of their journey from the Carribian Sea to the Pacific Ocean with a description of what they observed. This included references to the wildernes characteristics of the Cuchamatan Mountains that form a narrow range of mountains that reach from Carribian Sea on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Having just finished reading their account, I can see how it must have resonated with Joseph Smith about their comments and what he had read in the text of the Book Of Mormon. They even described large stellae carved with images of men and hypothesized that these were warriors and that the glyphs told the history of their conquests, a concept in opposition to that held at the time by scholars writing about the Mayas. Stephens concept has of course been vindicated by modern studies. In addition they described the Mayan structures and Catherwood published elaborate drawings of a number of such structures.

See:

http://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/57827-stephens-and-catherwood/

After sending a thank you note to Bishop Bernhizel, Joseph Smith authored in part or in whole a series of articles in Times and Seasons comparing the the comments of Stephens to the Book of Mormon and even suggestiung that the lands described could well be those of the Nephites and Lamanites. Matthew Roper has carried out a word print analysis of these articles confirming Joseph Smith as an Author.

See:

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/insights/?vol=30&num=6&id=923

It matters not what has been said by later General Athorities about BofM geography, the text of the book and the words of Joseph Smith in the Times and Seasons strongly support a Mesoamerican location for the events described in the book.

Larry P

[Robert F. Smith]

In case anyone is interested this website shows the state of geographic knowledge by school kids of about 1810 to about 1840.

http://www.davidrums...aps-by-children

Wonderful. I had no idea. Thank you.

[Robert F. Smith]

It's been done. F.A.R.M.S. has admitted the Nephites were not the Maya. Now they claim the Nephites lived among the Maya.

.it is important to emphasize that the Nephites were not the Maya...

http://maxwellinstit...d=66&chapid=738

I've repeated myself here with this quote. I apologize for that.

Kind regards.

You apparently do not understand what has been said in these and other instances: There were a great many different peoples and cultures living in Mesoamerica in Book of Mormon times. The text of the Book of Mormon itself limits just where and under what circumstances these peoples may have interacted with or even assimilated with the peoples of the Book of Mormon, from Jaredite times right down to the end of the Nephites. During that entire period, there is no reason I know of why the Book of Mormon peoples would ever have been cross-identified with the Maya, even though the Lamanites would likely have known and interacted with the Maya within the Guatemalan altiplano. The Nephites and Mulekites would likely have been centered along the Grijalva River within the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, which is not a Mayan area. Because the Maya are so well-known, people naturally think of them when discussing Mesoamerica, a mistake which you apparently make as well.

[Calm]

It is more likely that he was unfamiliar with the local geography of Central America, being aware of the general shape of the American continents, until he read Stephens and Catherwood's book.

This is actually what I meant. I have assumed from what his mother described that Moroni showed him much information about the lifestyle of the BoM inhabitants, but I assumed the lesson didn't come with a map or use of current names he would recognize. He would have to know both sets of geographical detail in order to connect them up.