Destruction in the Land of Promise at the Time of the Crucifixion - Part I

Almost anywhere in the world could be shown to fit a description of ancient natural disasters when one limits the impact of those disasters to his own pre-determined intensity. The entire area of Southern Utah, for instance, is honeycombed with volcanic rock, ancient eruptions, cracks, seams, floods, and signs of tumultuous destruction.
All of western South America, Central America, western Mexico and the coastal area of western North America lay on various fault lines. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, cracks and seams have appeared over the past 2000 years along this entire 12,000 mile line with great intensity—and a researcher could find evidence of the destruction outlined in 3 Nephi if one limits the effect and results of that destruction to fit his own model.

The problem seems to be in trying to fit an existing model to the destruction indicated in 3 Nephi. Another possibility is that the land changed and, perhaps, is now beyond recognition. A third possibility is that some of the land changed and other parts of it did not and that certain areas, such as that around Zarahemla north to the narrow neck of land, is yet visible.

The truth of the matter is, that the record in the Book of Mormon is limited in describing the extent of the overall destruction that took place. Yet, with careful study, an understanding of what actually happened as the record states, and a thorough knowledge of the area dating back thousands of years could give us a clear picture of the location. One thing we do know is that the destruction suggested in the scriptural record was extensive, and in some cases extreme.

The two locations indicated by scholars, obviously, would be 1) the Mesoamerican lands of southern Mexico through Guatemala, or 2) the Andes area of Ecuador, Peru and Chile. First, let's take a look at the Mesoamerican model. To show that such is the location, scholars have indicated 9 points to counter the extreme conditions stated in the scriptural record. However, these 9 points are not supported completely by scripture:

Point 1: Mesoamerican Theorists claim only the “face of the land” was affected. However, the scriptural record says: The whole face of the land was changed (3 Nephi 8:12); the face of the whole earth was deformed (3 Nephi 8:17); hills and valleys were made in the place where cities had been (3 Nephi 9:8); mountains became valleys and valleys became great mountains (Helaman 14:23); roads were destroyed (Helaman 14:24) and smooth places made rough (3 Nephi 8:13); rocks were rent, broken up, fragmented, with seams and cracks appearing upon the face of the whole earth, and upon all the face of the land (3 Nephi 8:18).

Any earthquake that shook the whole earth, accompanied by thunderstorms (hurricanes?) and whirlwinds (tornadoes?) that lasts for 3 solid hours would so deform the land that it would be unrecognizable in many, if not most areas. After all, the intensity of all this destroyed numerous cities, raised mountains (1 Nephi 9:11) from level plains, sunk mountains into valleys, opened the earth (1 Nephi 9:11), formed lakes and inland seas, split the earth in seams, and ruptured the mountains into cracks that formed canyons, rifts and deep gorges. Thus, contrary to Mesoamerican theorists of just being "cosmetic alterations" on the face of the land, we find in Helaman that these changes were both above and below the earth (Helaman 14:21-22).

(See “Destruction in the Land of Promise – Part II” in the Next Post for more of these points)