Did the Land of Promise Span Two Continents? Part XI—Covino’s “Facts”

Continuing with Covino's book we come to his free download of so-called "facts" that he claims are inarguable. The first five were covered in the previous posts. Here we continue with Fact #6:

Fact #6: "The land of Desolation is north of the Missouri river at that location in America, History of the Church, vol II, p 445, and to the narrow neck of land where the east and west seas meet at the lands of Desolation and Bountiful Alma 50:34. The land of Cumorah and Desolation are the same place. Hel 3:3-6; Alma 22:29."

Response:  Alma 22:29 talks only about Bountiful. Evidently, Alma 22:30 was meant. This scripture tells us that the Land of Desolation went so far north, that it came into another land--"it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed" which is another land north of the Land of Desolation. Helaman 3:3-6 says the entire land northward was referred to as desolate because of the wars that took place there among the Jaredites, but does not call it the Land of Desolation. On the other hand, Mormon 6:4 refers to the Land of Cumorah being so far northward that they "did pitch our tents around about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites." Thus, Cumorah is referred to as being in a land of many waters, or in the Land of Cumorah. In any event, the area or Land of Cumorah, is a very small area compared to the overall Land of Desolation, which is quite large--they are not the same place.

Fact #7: "Mulek and the Jaredites landed in the United States and Lehi landed south of there, Joseph Smith, ibid, and Hel 6:10; Alma 22:30."

Response:  First of all, Helaman 6:10 does not say that at all. Helaman wrote: "Now the land south was called Lehi and the land north was called Mulek, which was after the son of Zedekiah; for the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land south." There is no mention of the North American continent, or the United States, etc. In addition, the Land North is not the same as the Land Northward, which has been pointed out by scripture in these posts numerous times. Secondly, Alma does not say that, either. Mormon wrote in Alma: "And it bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones we have spoken, which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, it being the place of their first landing." When comparing Omni 1:17 we realize that the people of Zarahemla landed where Mosiah found them (in the Land Southward)--this comment is meant to say that it was the place of first landing for the people of the bones (the Jaredites). Thirdly, for a ship "driven forth before the wind," it would be impossible to reach the United States sailing from the Arabian Peninsula in 600 B.C.

Fact #8: "The people of Zeniff went back to the land of Nephi and found it. The land of Shilom and the land of Nephi (meaning the area around their respective cities within the larger land of Nephi) are the exact same place, Mosiah 11:13."

Response:  No, they are not the same place. To say they are is like saying the state of Iowa is the exact same place as the United States. In the Book of Mormon, the Land of Nephi was a very large area that stretched from the west sea to the east sea. Within that land was an area called the Land of Shilom. There was also an area called the Land of Shemlon (Mosiah 11:12) within the Land of Nephi, as was the Land of Jerusalem (Alma 21:1), and the Land of Middoni (Alma 21:12) and numerous other lands. It is not true that the Land of Nephi around the City of Nephi and the Land of Nephi overall were separately called. Alma 22:27 tells us that the Land of Nephi "was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west," however, in Covino's map, there is no such possibility--at best, according to their map, the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla were between the Sea West and the South Sea. In addition, the distance on their map between the City of Zarahemla and the City of Nephi, is 1100 miles as the crow flies, about 1500 miles by land. It is ridiculous to claim that they have a map that is accurate when it does not even agree with simple scriptural points!

Fact #9 "Zarahemla is west of the river Sidon and south of Bountiful, and north of Nephi, Mos 7:6; Alma 6:7; 27:5; 46:22; 50:7; Ether 9:31."

Response: This is absolutely correct. However, their map does not show this. First of all, they have the Land of Nephi actually to the east of the Land of Zarahemla. But more importantly, they have the Sea West to the north of the Land of Nephi, and they have the Land of Zarahemla to the east of the West Sea, and the City of Nephi 790 miles due EAST of the Land of Zarahemla--all of this is in  contradiction to the scriptural account! They also have the Rio Grande, which flows north to south into the Gulf of Mexico, as the Sidon River, which flows from the south wilderness northward past the city of Zarahemla, or from south to north. It is completely disingenuous to claim a map should show something, then present a map that does not follow other descriptive scripture as well.

(See the next post, "Did the Land of Promise Span Two Continents? Part XIII--Covino's "Facts" for more of the numerous so-called "facts" Covino claims proves his theory and map)