The fight over book of mormon geography deseret news. Jonathan neville is an advocate of the book of mormon heartland model who has been generating an endless array of polemical posts against mesoamericanists, including me, on 2 different blogs. The church and byu stay neutral in questions of exactly where the book of mormon took place. The land of zarahemla was on the coast of the book of mormon west sea. Much of the heartland of the united states may then correspond to the book of mormon south county or south countries. Book of mormon geography in nevillenevillelandjonathan neville is an advocate of the book of mormon heartland model who has been generating an endless array of polemical posts against mesoamericanists, including me, on 2 different blogs. To clarify, i am not a proponent of the hopewell interaction sphere as all inclusive, as is often implied by the heartland theory. The heartland is the place where it all happened, right under our very noses. The heartland model or heartland theory of book of mormon geography states that the book of mormon. Until the proponents of the heartland model can reasonably show where the. Some red flags regarding brazil and sealed portion seeking yhwh. Prisoners there were subjected to rope bindings, irons, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement. Lost civilizations of north america documentary4, deborah bolnick on haplogroup x.
Home true book of mormon geography lands western new. The book of mormon also describes the journey of 2 other groups to america. Over 500 stunningly beautiful photographs combine with quotes, stories, charts, commentary, maps and scripture to introduce the reader to the rapidly mounting body of evidence that presents the very real possibility. Figure 1 an internal book of mormon map taken from the lds church institute manual. The heartland model or heartland theory of book of mormon geography postulates that the events described in the book of mormon took place, primarily. This book is great, but like i said, is the tip of the iceberg. Sorry to just now respond to this ive been helping care for 6 very active young grandsons today. In the other corner is the challenger, a new theory that places book of mormon events in a north american heartland setting. Summary of problems with rod meldrums heartland theory. This theory regards political history as a continuous struggle between land and sea powers with the ultimate victory going to the continental power. Lunds book joseph smith and the geography of the book of mormon. Jun 18, 20 book of mormon lands the definitive mesoamerican book of mormon lands map stay safe and healthy. The geographical setting of the book of mormon is the set of locations of the events described. The land of zarahemla is at a lower elevation relative to the land of nephi.
Exploring the book of mormon in americas heartland a. During his visit, neville thought of the prison as an. I now know that the book of mormon happened in the usa in the historic heartland that is such a significant part of american and book of mormon history. 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. A comparison of book of mormon geographies showing new york to be the most viable setting for book of mormon events.
It is titled exploring the book of mormon in americas heartland a visual journey of discovery. According to this theory, the continental power was represented by the world island which consisted. Rod meldrum and wayne may are big names in this area. As the above logo depicts, we do respect this mandate, and our model. It is interesting to see how goble started out with this theory, yet he ended up where he is now on the subject, believing in cumorah in new york and a mesoamerican setting for zarahemla. Interactive book of mormon map virtual book of mormon. No sea directly west of zarahemla no sea directly east of zarahemla stated travel times make it clear book of mormon lands were small. Before we examine some of the possible locations for book of mormon geography however, i would like to stress the fact that as of today, the lord has not revealed where the nephites or lamanites lived, and as such, the lds church has taken no official stance on anything related to book of mormon geography. Exploring the book of mormon in americas heartland book. Nov 17, 2014 the book of mormon map described in alma chapter 22 has finally been deciphered. Book of mormon, general, lds scriptures tagged with.
Sep 04, 2015 jonathan neville is an advocate of the book of mormon heartland model who has been generating an endless array of polemical posts against mesoamericanists, including me, on 2 different blogs. Which model of book of mormon geography do you favor and why. Exploring book of mormon in americas heartland photobook. I give this book a five star rating because of the evidence and theories it espouses. 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. Oct 02, 2014 finally there is a way to really explore john sorensons book of mormon geography. It is interesting that mormon reverses his couplets in line 5. Jan 18, 2018 the book of mormon gave only scattered clues, speaking of a narrow isthmus, a river called sidon, and lands to the north and south occupied by the nephites and their enemies, the lamanites.
Unfortunately, exploring and testing his geographic. Book of mormon map book of mormon, scripture study lds, lds. How a mormon lawyer transformed archaeology in mexicoand. On the east wind in the book of mormon dan peterson. Rediscovering the book of mormon remnant through dna. Finally there is a way to really explore john sorensons book of mormon geography. Jul 15, 2019 first let me state straight away that i believe joseph smith was making up his tale of nephites and lamanites and that the limited amount of fictitious geography that can be gleaned from his book of mormon leads to no reasonable conclusions as to. While most lds scholars who grapple with details of book of mormon geography see mesoamerica as the most likely or only reasonably candidate for the ancient new world setting of the book of mormon, several people have.
A heartland book of mormon exploration the millennial star. May, 2018 those who believe that the book of mormon events took place in north america often quote in the almost complete absence of written records, one must be permitted to guess, because there is nothing else to do. Mayan zone of influence olmec heartland soconusco region chiapas state. The purpose of adding this quote, which was written after the dc 125 revelation, is to show that even joseph smith didnt interpret dc 125 as. Proposed book of mormon geographical setting wikipedia. In his april 2020 general conference address about the restoration of the gospel, president ballard taught. Neal rappleyes article, war of words and tumult of opinions. However, i do believe the prophet joseph smith knew full well where the book of mormon took place and made irrefutable statements involving the hopewell lands that definitively include them. The book of mormon describes a journey by a group of people led by a prophet named lehi from the old world to the new world in approximately 600 b.
Barring unforeseen mishap, ill be on the interpreter radio show tonight sunday night with martin tanner, between 7 pm and 9 pm. Errors of rodney meldrum true book of mormon geography. Exploring the book of mormon in americas heartland. Book of mormon study map alma 127 the red headed hostess. Although there are some interesting parallels the heartland theory has with book of mormon geography, people mostly use the heartland theory to reconcile the location of the hill cummorah as it is called today. An argument could be made that he was wrong and the heartland theory represents the main nephite culture before spreading south.
The first and most obvious red flag in my opinion is where this group is located, brazil. Home true book of mormon geography lands western new york. Use these to follow the story, take notes, draw more pictures whatever you want. And other fatal flaws with the heartland theory by tyler livingston book of mormon geography is a topic that is of little importance and has no bearing on our. Book of mormon map book of mormon, scripture study lds.
This book is helpful in understanding the theoretical basis for the heartland theory for book of mormon lands, much like rod meldrums book and dvds. Virtual book of mormon book of mormon maps and learning. Even so, the american heartland is part of the book of mormon. This book locates everything from the narrow neck, to zarahemla, from cumorah, to the land of promise, bountiful. Diagrams, doodles, and insights my life archives the red headed hostess story maps for the book of alma. I print these off, trim the edges, and paste them into my chapters journal, like this. Here is another map for book of mormon study purposes. It is true that evolutionary biology does not help the heartland model, but the model has failed long before. That definition might help the heartland confluence idea. Mormon describes that wilderness in line 5 which features reiterations of couplets e and f as originally found in line 2 and as reiterated a second time in line 8.
Since the mayans and others of the western united states, mexico, central and south america have been found to have asian blood, this makes it unlikely that these lamanites are the original lamanites of the book of mormon. Recent research has been conducted on native american dna, studies potentially related to the book of mormon that may lend support to its claims. Book of mormon map alma this one is for alma which includes korihor. Book of mormon geography your site for lds theology. This zarahemla centric model map is based on a series of entity relationship definitions of geography see the entity relationship table in section 3. The head of the river sidon in mormons map insert in alma 22 some 500 years later is. Some red flags regarding brazil and sealed portion. Like other heartlanders, he has adopted an unfortunate mode of discourse which blames mesomaricanists for damaging faith and even misleading the church.
Additional convergences are found in the book of mormon account, including the destruction in 3 nephi 810, which is consistent with volcanic events accompanied by earthquakes. It is very interesting, easy to read, and is definitely worth picking up if you are interested in the book of mormon. Second, book of mormon authors rarely mentioned weather, and when mormon did alma 46. Book of mormon geography jeff lindsays site and the shake. Jonathan neville and the uses of propaganda neville. Jun 10, 2019 it has been with keen interest that the editors of the annotated edition of the book of mormon have watched the nonstop litany of attacks frantically being hurled at the heartland geographic theory over the past few years and now the latest target found worthy of the heavy artillery is the annotated edition of the book of mormon. Click on the map and then click track the ships progress. You cant, along with many other unsolvable issues the heartland theory brings up. The purpose of constructing unbiased internal maps is to orient major lands, seas and landmarks mentioned in the. Its clear that the heartland model is mostly laid out wrong. This heartland model for book of mormon geography downplays the geographical information in the text. Meldrum identify thirtysix prophecies and promises in the book of mormon that relate to the land of the book of mormon and to the. It was quite beautiful experience, set in within the red sandstone walls of three lakes canyon.
The book of mormon archeology foundation has a handy short list of major flaws with the recent heartland model for book of mormon geography. This page is about the book of mormon geography by rodney meldrum and has the same deficiencies as wayne may, jonathan neville, and other heartland modelers. Book of mormongeographynew worldlimited geography theory. More thoughts on the heartland model of book of mormon. In my opinion the events of the book of mormon began in florida area and went up into the heartland of north america. Made popular by his 1985 publication an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, sorensons geographic model for the book of mormon has withstood the test of time and remains the preeminent geographic model for book of mormon events.
The heartland model 1 misrepresents the papers cited for dating x2a, many of which are also out of date. Mar 05, 2017 what are the main objections to the heartland model of book of mormon geography. The heartland model or heartland theory of book of mormon geography postulates that the events described in the book of mormon took place, primarily, in the heartland of north america among its proposals are that mound builders, including the hopewell and the adena, were among those peoples described in accounts of events in book of mormon books such as alma and helaman. Over 300 photos, works of art, artifacts, maps, charts, scripture and commentary introduce the reader to the growing body of evidence that suggests the very real possibility of a north american setting for the events of the book of mormon. The book of mormon and the united states of america, bruce h. Jan 01, 2011 220 pages 11 x 9 full color case bound heirloom edition. As the above logo depicts, we do respect this mandate, and our model is. The book of mormon geography lands and map with dna evidence. One thing that mesoamerican and heartland supporters can agree on is that a. A limited geography model for the book of mormon is one of several theories by latter day saint movement scholars that the book s narrative was a historical record of people in a limited geographical region, rather than of the entire western hemisphere as believed by some early latter day saints these models, developed in an effort to reconcile claims in the book of mormon with archaeology. Like other heartlanders, he has adopted an unfortunate mod latterday saint blogs is a portal for mainstream blogs about the church of jesus. I believe in the heartland theory aka what is known as eastern united states.
One group was the people of mulek supposed by bible authors to have died, who was the son of zedekiah. After years of studying maps, mormon scripture, and spanish chronicles. The scientific legacy of a quest to prove the book of mormon. Then more recently north america theories including heartland, etc. Taking his words at face value, neville apparently believes that president m. Jonathan neville recently visited the hanoi hiltonthe infamous vietnamese prison where over six hundred american prisoners of war were tortured and brutalized. This includes attacks on byu, lds scholars, lds who offer a different model, the national science foundation, the national association of science, the american association for the advancement of science, dna researchers on mutation rates and dating haplotype x2a, elder james e. The heartland model basics for new world book of mormon geography.
For that reason, our design team has chosen to develop an internal map that shows relational directions and approximate distances that match the. May 29, 2012 book of mormon study map alma 127 i wanted to repost this because this is where many of you are in sunday school. Was zarahemla in iowa and other errors with the heartland theory. While many lds scholars are converging on the idea of mesoamerica as the focal point for the book of mormon in the new world, there is a notable movement calling for new york and the eastern united states as the place of the book of mormon. According to the book of mormon, bountiful was one of the first areas settled by the nephites, ancient people who supposedly sailed from israel to. In the face of so many divisive and vastly different models, maps, books, etc. Russell ballard, acting president of the quorum of the twelve apostles, is an intellectual who spins the original sources to accommodate m2c.
The heartland theory is essentially that the ancient inhabitants of the heartland of north america known as the hopewell mound builders. The book supports its heartland theory of the book of mormon with overwhelming evidence that is. All my studies suddenly made sense, all aspects of the book of mormon finally became clear. This weeks come follow me lesson focuses on 1 nephi 17 in the book of mormon, which tells the story of lehis call as a prophet in jerusalem, the peoples rejection of his message, his flight with his family into the wilderness, establishing camp in a rivervalley along the coast of the red sea, and his sons two return trips back to.
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. May 30, 2018 they have embraced a 100yr old rlds mesoamerica twohill cumorah book of mormon geography theory which came about basically in 1919 and 1924. Gods word is to be established by two or more witnesses 2 cor. Third, this argument, if applied consistently, precludes central america as a possible setting because the text never once mentions volcanoes, jungles, jade, tapirs, or. Red sea ran in a southsoutheast direction 1nephi 16. And you have embraced an older concept that was quite popular, but fails in terms of geography, history, agriculture, geology, and population sizes. Saints and book of mormon geography church history. We have been disappointed to read online commentary from individuals favoring a heartland model of book of mormon geography that asserts. How can statements of joseph that might seem to point to a heartland geography be reconciled to the mesoamerican. Although historians and archaeologists consider the book to be an anachronistic invention of joseph smith, many members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church and other denominations of the latter day saint movement believe that it. They were forced to give coerced public statements of their guilt.
Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. In their heartland model book, prophecies and promises. However, there is tonawanda creek of the length you describe on that mapit formed part of the erie canal. The book supports its heartland theory of the book of mormon with overwhelming evidence that is very convincing. The research herein refutes the claim that dna analysis proves the book of mormon false, on the contrary it explores genetic dna evidence that may actually support the claims of the book of mormon. The standard of truth, 18151846, some concern has been expressed online and to us personally that the text of the book has expressed a preference against a heartland model of book of mormon geography. At least eighty versions of a book of mormon map have been produced. See my answers to questions about the book of mormon here. Two hundred and twenty gorgeous full color pages filled with more than 500 stunning photos, artwork, maps, charts, artifacts, quotes, scripture and commentary introduce the reader to the rapidly mounting body of evidence that suggests the very real possibility of a north american setting for the events described in the book of mormon. Five misunderstandings of the book of mormon text that veils. What is the heartland model of book of mormon geography mark alan wright. The lord could have removed all questions regarding the exact locations of these events but he did not.
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