Great Lake Theorists - Ignoring Disagreeing Scripture

According to all Great Lakes Theorists, the Lehi Colony came across the Atlantic Sea and landed somewhere on either the east coast, or up one of the rivers, such as the Mississippi or St. Lawrence. In all cases, they claim that Lake Erie is their West Sea and Lake Ontario their East Sea. In some cases, they claim that Lake Huron is Ripliancum or the North Sea.
In any event, the area of the Great Lakes is completely landlocked, and until 1920s, did not have access via the St. Lawrence River to the St. Lawrence Gulf, which flowed into the Atlantic through the Strait of Belle Isle between Labrador and Newfoundland, or the Cabot Strait between Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island, as well as the Strait of Canso between Cape Breton Island and peninsular Nova Scotia (since 1955 and the construction of the Canso Causeway, this no longer opens into the Atlantic).

For those who are not geographically knowledgeable of this area, the St. Lawrence River (called Fleuve Saint-Laurent in French, and Kaniatarowanenneh, meaning "big waterway" in Mohawk) is the widest river in the world and flows approximately from southwest to northeast, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage of the Great Lakes Basin and traverses the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and forms part of the international boundary between Canada and the United States. The problem is, until the 19th century, this river, which runs 1900 miles from Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence estuary in the Gulf, was impassable just northeast of Montreal. In fact, until the early 1600s, the French used the name Rivière du Canada to designate the Saint Lawrence upstream to Montreal and the Ottawa River after Montreal, because they could not travel continuously on the river. By the very nature of the impassable Lachine Rapids, the river was not continuous for any kind of small or large raft, canoe, boat or ship and, therefore, not a connecting waterway for vessels to Lake Ontario. Not until 1825 was a canal dug around the rapids, allowing continuous river travel in either direction.

For modern-day Theorists, it might seem a good way to reach the Great Lakes, but for Nephi’s ship in 600 B.C. (and for any vessel until 1825), such a trip was impossible. This merely shows one of the great problems in modern day scholar work trying to prove what took place in 600 B.C.

In addition, these Great Lake Theorists completely ignore the preaching of Jacob and writing of Nephi when Jacob says: “And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea. But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren. For behold, the Lord God has led away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to his will and pleasure. And now behold, the Lord remembereth all them who have been broken off, wherefore he remembereth us also” (2 Nephi 10:20-22).

In this speech, Jacob tells us the Lehi colony were led across the sea by the hand of the Lord and landed on an island of the sea. And upon this island, they were not cast off from the presence of the Lord, for God knew them where they were on this island in the sea far from Jerusalem.

In addition, Amaleki tells us that the Mulekites (people of Zarahemla) wandered in the wilderness and “were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them, and they had dwelt there from that time forth” (Omni 1:16). They, too, were brought to this island, and where they landed upon the shores is where they dwelt and where Mosiah found them.

The point is, the Land of Promise was an island in the middle of the sea, surrounded by the ocean and, therefore, cannot be located in any land-locked area such as the Great Lakes or Mesoamerica which, in neither case, were ever islands surrounded by water.

It should be noted by all interested in the subject matter, that this scripture is never quoted by Great Lakes Theorists or Mesoamerican Theorists because it simply does not in any way agree with their models!