Did the Land of Promise Span Two Continents? Part XII—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 9 were covered in the previous posts. Here we continue with #10:

Fact #10: "The land of Bountiful is south of the land of Desolation which is the furthest land north and touches the east and west seas, Alma 22:29-31, 33. Similarly, the land of Nephi goes from the same two seas, Alma 50:7. They do not overlay each other since they co-exist simultaneously having the same two seas mutually."

Response: In this last convoluted sentence, we can assume Covino means the two lands both extend from the east sea to the west sea, are separate lands but exist next to one another. In any event, there are several points that can be made from this so-called "fact."

1) Despite Covino's statement, his Land of Bountiful does not extend to the Sea East, only to the Sea West which, as can be seen from his map, is basically south of nearly the entire stretch of land;

2) There is a narrow neck of land separating the Land of Desolation on the North and the land of Bountiful on the South. Their map does not show this (Alma 22:29-30,32). In fact, the scripture says, "Thus the land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful" (Alma 22:31), and "it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea: (Alma 22:32); however, on their map, there is no dividing line between the Land Northward and the Land Southward from the east to the west sea--there is a dividing line that runs north and south. Thus, according to the scriptural record, the Land of Desolation and the Land of Bountiful are separated from south to north by a narrow neck of land, with the Land of Desolation on the North and the Land of Bountiful on the south--however, Covino's map shows this separation from east to west, and the dividing line between the two lands covered over 500 miles--hard to cover in a day and a half journey;

3) The border between the Land of Bountiful and the Land of Desolation is shown on Covino's map as covering some 2200 miles or more in opposition to the scriptural record of a narrow dividing line;

4) The River Sidon on Covino's map runs to the north of the city of Zarahemla, and the entire land of Zarahemla despite the scriptural record saying it runs to the east and through the Land of Zarahemla from the south wilderness (Alma 22:27,29; 50:11);

5) There is no mention of the Mississippi River (which divides his Land of Bountiful its entire length from north to south) in all of the scriptural record, though it is 2348 miles long, second largest river after the Missouri (2341 miles long, 500,000 square miles draining area), in the United States (which is also not mentioned in the scriptural text, though it is in Covino's Land of Bountiful also and Land of Desolation), and its drainage area covers 31 states, 1.25 million square miles--about 40% of the United States.

Left: Mississippi River; Right: Missouri River, combine for 4689 miles of river through Covino's Land of Promise with no scriptural mention

On the other hand the Rio Grand or Rio Bravo river--Covino's River Sidon--is 1896 miles long, only the fifth largest river in the U.S., and its watershed covers only 182,000 square miles, yet the River Sidon is mentioned continually in the scriptural record, but the Mississippi and Missouri (running a total of 4689 miles in length through his Land of Desolation and Land of Bountiful) are not mentioned at all. Hardly makes any sense at all;

Fact #11:  "The land of Desolation and the land of Cumorah were in the same place north of Nephi, Bountiful, and Zarahemla, Onmi 22; Alma 22:30; 46:17; Hel 3:3-5; Mos 8:7-11."

Response: First of all, Omni 1:22 only states "...and their bones lay scattered in the land northward," which is hardly a reference to the Land of Desolation or the Land of Cumorah, but the overall area north of the Narrow Neck of Land. Secondly, the Land of Cumorah was really in the Land of Many Waters, which is described as being far north of the Land of Desolation. But they were both north of the lands of Bountiful and Zarahemla.There is another point of discrepancy in Covino's map, and that is his Land of Bountiful runs far to the east (about 1000 miles) of his Land of Zarahemla. And his Land of Desolation is about 800 miles east of his Land of Zarahemla though the scriptures point out that it is northward (east is not northward, and not "north of Nephi, Bountiful, and Zarahemla").

Fact #12: "The south and north seas are not the east and west sea, Hel 3:8; 11:20."

Response:  While this is absolutely true, Covino's map does not show this. In fact, his map shows the East Sea separated from the west sea by only about 160 miles with no Land of Zarahemla or Land of Nephi between them as the scriptures point out. In fact, the Land of Nephi stretches from the west sea to the east sea, as does the Land of Zarahemla, AND the narrow strip of wilderness that runs between them from the east sea to the west sea. However, none of this is shown on his map--nor does he have a North Sea on his map.

(See the next post, "Did the Land of Promise Span Two Continents? Part XIII" for more of Covino's so-called "facts" that he claims proves his theory and map, but so far has done just the opposite)