Understanding Mormon – Part VI

The last five posts have dealt with a recent posting on a websight sent to me that were five ideas expressed to help one understand Mormon and to determine “How might we proceed to discover the map in Mormon’s mind.”

While the last five posts have dealt with the inaccuracy of that author’s points, this post will show how we can truly understand Mormon’s writing and the map he had in his mind of the Land of Promise.

The first, and most important point, is to accept the scriptural text—word for word—as it is written, without adding, altering, or trying to read something in which is not written, knowing that Joseph Smith translated the plates through the gift of the Spirit which acknowledged the correctness phrase by phrase of Joseph’s translation.

Following are the other important points:

1. Know where the Lehi Colony left, i.e., the Land of Jerusalem (1 Nephi 1:4).

2 Know where they traveled “in the wilderness,” i.e., along the Red Sea (1 Nephi 2:4-5), then turned eastward to the sea (1 Nephi 17:1).

3. Know where they embarked in their ship that Nephi built, i.e, off the Arabian coast into the Arabian Sea.

4. Know where the winds and currents would have taken them “driven forth before the wind” (1 Nephi 18:8), which any Atlas will show.

5. Know where these winds and currents die down and a landing could have occurred, i.e., along the 30º South Latitude in the Bay of Coquimbo, Chile, which any Atlas will show.

Now, having reached the area of the Land of Promise,

6. Match this area with the Mediterranean Climate of the Land of Jerusalem where their seeds “we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem” and which grew exceedingly and provided an abundant crop (1 Nephi 18:26).

There are only 5 Mediterranean Climates in the world outside of the Mediterranean area

7. Match this area with where gold, silver and copper was found in a single ore (1 Nephi 18:25).

8. Match this area with two unknown grains (Mosiah 9:9).

9. Match this area with two unknown animals “which were useful unto man” and as useful as the elephant (Ether 9:19)

10. Match this area to where natural plants and herbs cured fevers (Alma 46:40).

11. Match this area to where a narrow neck of land could be crossed in a day and a half (Alma 22:32).

12. Match this area to where ruins of ancient buildings, temples, and palaces are found (2 Nephi 5:15-16; Mosiah 8:8; 11:9,12).

13. Match this area to where “there were many highways cast up, and many roads made, which led from city to city, and from land to land, and from place to place” (3 Nephi 6:8).

14. Match this area to where there is, or was, an island (2 Nephi 10:20), where the land was surrounded by water (Alma 22:32), and where there were four seas “the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east.* (Helaman 3:8)

15. Match this area to where resorts (forts) and walls of stone to circle about the cities were built (Alma 48:5; 50:5; 52:6; 55:20), and fortified walls of stone built to contain an attacking force from the south (Helaman 4:7).

(See the next post, “Understanding Mormon – Part VII,” for more points one must match in order to validate any Land of Promise model)