Was the Land of Promise in North America?

In deciding upon a location and a basic map area for the Book of Mormon Land of Promise, one might want to compare such with the actual scriptural accounts of the geography as outlined by Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Helaman, and especially by Mormon, and also by Moroni.

On the following map, some of the location information created by BOM historians and scholars is shown in a rough location drawing. They are: 1) the Great Lakes Theory, 2) the Heartland or Eastern U.S. Theory, 3) The Zarahemla (Iowa) Theory, and 4) The Baja California Theory.

Now, let’s compare these basic areas with the following scriptural geographical points, keeping in mind that ANY location for the Land of Promise must meet ALL of these scriptural references:

1. The Land of Promise was an isle [island] (2 Nephi 10:20)

2. Nephi’s ship sailed across the ocean to land at a point, along the seashore, of their first landing [first inheritance] (Alma 22:28)

3. Zarahemla was southward from the Land Northward (Mormon 1:6)

4. A Land Northward and a Land Southward separated by a Narrow Neck of Land (Alma 22:32)

5. A Narrow Neck of land that was both "small" and "narrow" (Alma 63:5; 22:32)

6. The Land Southward was nearly surrounded by water except for the Narrow Neck of Land (Alma 22:32)

7. The Land of Nephi stretched from the east sea to the west (Alma 50:8)

8. Narrow strip of wilderness between the Land of Zarahemal and the Land of Nephi ran from the east sea to the west sea (Alma 22:27)

9. The Land of Bountiful was north of the Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:29)

10. The Land of Desolation was north of the Land of Bountiful (Alma 22:29,32)

11. North of the Land of Desolation was the land of the Jaredites (Alma 22:30)

12. The Land of Bountiful ran from the east sea to the west sea [hemming in Lamanites to the south] (Alma 22:33)

13. The Narrow Pass ran from the Land Southward into the Land Northward between the west sea and the east sea (Alma 50:34; Mormon 2:29)

14. Land of Nephi ran from the east sea to the west sea (Alma 22:27)

15. The Land Northward ran from the sea east to the sea west, and from the sea north to the sea south (Helaman 3:8)

16. There were four seas--north, south, east and west (Helaman 3:8)

17. The Land Northward was covered with large bodies of water (Alma 50:29)

18. The Land of Zarahemla (including north to the Land of Bountiful) ran from the sea west to the sea east (Helaman 11:20

19. North of the Narrow Pass was the city and land of Desolation (Mormon 3:5)

20. A major river, the Sidon, running down from the moutains to the south of Zarahemla, running from the south to the north through the Land of Zarahemla on the east of the city of Zarahemla (Alma 16:6)

21. Sidon, a major river to the east of the nation’s capital, that ran by (or through) the Land of Zarahemla, that eventually emptied into the sea with a strong enough current that would carry dead bodies along its course to the sea (Alma 2:15, 34; 3:3)

22. The Sidon river, either bridged, or shallow enough, so that armies could cross over the river (Alma 16:7)

23. A land that held a similar climate to that of Jerusalem (Mediterranean Climate) for Jerusalem seeds to grow exceedingly (1 Nephi 18:24)

24. Obviously, a land that was much longer than its width

In addition, there are many other points that do not match, or items not found in the eastern U.S.

1. Two unknown animals that were unknown to Joseph Smith—the cureloms and cumoms, which were useful to man like an elephant (Ether 9:19)

2. Two unknown grains that were unknown to Joseph Smith—neas and sheum (Mosiah 9:9)

3. Vast amounts of gold, silver and copper in a single ore (1 Nephi 18:25)

4. A land with its southern half surrounded by water (Alma 22:32) conducive to extensive ship building and shipping occupations (Helaman 3:10, 14)

Space does not allow for more, but see the author’s work “Lehi Never Saw Mesoamerica,” for a list of sixty-five different points of scripture that must be met by any claim for a location of the Land of Promise. And it should be obvious to any honest-thinking person that the above (map) locations do not match all of these points, let alone the entire 65 found in scripture. No matter what anyone says, or what anyone thinks, the true Land of Promise location MUST meet the criteria of the SCRIPTURE IN THE BOOK OF MORMON.

This does not mean that Nephites and Lamanites were not in other locations, such as Central and North America. It should always be kept in mind that Nephites and Lamanites lived throughout the Western Hemisphere, migrating from the south to the north, and over a period of time. Still, it is unwise to find a location where a Nephite or Lamanite people existed and say that “this is the Land of Promise” of the Book of Mormon unless the extensive list of Book of Mormon geographical and location description scriptures are met, only a few of which are listed above.