Continuing from the last post with more of the points
that are absolute musts for a Land of Promise model and its adjoining theory to
be accurate. The previous post covered the first eight points that match the
scriptural record and cannot be discarded, ignored, or explained away. In addition, any Land of Promise must contain the following
additional areas as described in the scriptural record, which are also
inarguable since they are clearly stated, and cannot be ignored, even though
there is only one place in the Western Hemisphere where they can all be found:
9. Two animals that were unknown to Joseph Smith, that were
“useful to man” as the elephant (Ether 9:19). No animal in the entire Western
Hemisphere outside of the Andean area of South America has two such animals
that are indigenous and that correctly fit that description.
10. Two valuable grains that were unknown to Joseph Smith
that were on a par with corn, wheat and barley (Mosiah 9:9). This would be
grains that were not only healthy, but contained quality nutrients as the other
three. Again, only one place in the Western Hemisphere is known to have had such grains in Nephite times.
11. Plants and herbs used for medicinal purposes,
specifically one that cured fever and kept people from dying with fever (Alma
46:40). Fever deaths, of course, are the result of malaria, simply called
“fever” anciently, and only one place in the entire world where an indigenous
plant grows that produces a cure for malaria and that is the cinchona tree in
Andean South America, which produces quinine from its bark. Obviously, no other
model anywhere in the world outside of Andean South America could meet this
requirement.
12.
Walls of stone. As found in Alma: “And also building walls of stone to encircle
them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all
round about the land” (Alma 48:8). Since these were defensive walls that were
built to defend the country against Lamanite attacks, they would have been
built well, and not merely stacked rocks which could be knocked over, but
sturdy construction to withstand an army’s concentrated assaults. Such walls
would be found even today, certainlyh intact and obviously showing their sturdy and defensive use as are the walls in Andean Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.
13.
Roads and Highways. “And 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). Obviously these were not just a few simple roads, but highways that
led to numerous cities and places within the Land of Promise, and can be found in Andean South America, from Ecuador to Chile and throughout Peru.
14.
A climate that matched or very similar to Jerusalem, including temperature,
precipitation and soils where seeds from Jerusalem would have grown and
produced an exceedingly large and bountiful harvest (1 Nephi 18:24). Only two such climates exist in all of the Western Hemisphere--Southern California in the north and 30º south latitude in Chile in the south.
15.
At the time of Alma in the last century B.C., a major river ran from the south
to the north, from the narrow strip of wilderness between the Land of Zarahemla
and the Land of Nephi, past to the east of the city of Zarahemla, and emptied
into the sea. This river was wide enough and had enough downward flow to carry
hundreds of bodies along and deposit them in the sea (Alma 44:22). Such a river exists in Peru that actually runs north, while those in Mesoamerica run contrary to their model's north.
16.
The land had to have been able to be reached from the southern Arabian coast in
600 B.C. in a weather ship “driven forth before the wind” (1 Nephi 18:8-9),
that is, the currents and winds had to drive the ship from the Arabian coast to
the final location of the Land of Promise. According to the scriptural record,
this was non-stop (1 Nephi 18:21-23).
The winds and currents move a vessel
along the route shown. Once past the 30º south latitude in South America, the
current picks up again and is pushed westward back out into the ocean by the
Peruvian bulge and into the South Pacific Gyre toward Australia. A ship “driven
forth before the wind” would not have been able to reach further northward to
Central America
17.
Copper ore containing both gold and silver “And we did find all manner of ore,
both of gold, and of silver, and of copper” (1 Nephi 18:25). This was not individual ores, for Nephi words it as a single ore containing all three of these
precious metals. Such deposits are frequent to the Andean area.
18.
A land where earthquakes occur (3 Nephi 8:12). This was not a small earthquake
where the epicenter was in an isolated area, for there was an “exceedingly
great quaking of the whole earth (3 Nephi 8:12). South and Central America have such earthquake areas in what is called "the rim of fire."
19.
A land northward filled with many waters, rivers, and fountains existed (Mormon
6:4); these fountains were the sources of the waters of this land. Such an area is found in Ecuador and on ancient maps, called "the Land of Many Waters."
20.
A land where a recent range of mountains arose suddenly (Helaman 14:23). These
are not hills, or low mountains, but mountains that Samuel the Lamanite called “whose height is great.” Such mountains are only found in the Andean area of South America in the Western Hemisphere.
Other
things that also had to exist to match a Book of Mormon Nephite culture:
1. A
highly religious civilization where temples, priests, and religious centers
existed, and people traveled great distances for special religious meetings;
2. A highly developed
civilization with large cities, palaces, kings, and a large and formidable military;
3. An agricultural base,
irrigation capabilities, and evidence of large fields of crops to feed and
support several millions of people;
4. Artisans and
highly skilled craftsmen capable of working with all manner of wood, and iron
(2 Nephi 5:15) that could build temples, palaces, and large city complexes (Mosiah
11:8-9);
5. Highly skilled
workers in textiles, copper, brass, steel, gold, silver, and precious metals
(Alma 1:29);
6. Highly skilled
masons who could work with stone and build stone walls capable of defense
against an enemy (Alma 48:8);
7. Sea ports where
the Nephite ships could dock and buy, sell and trade (Helaman 3:14).
8. Use of thin
sheets of gold, like in a book, around 600 BC (2 Nephi 5:29-30);
9. Practice of circumcision,
which would have been under the Law of Moses
(2 Nephi 25:24);
10. The use of slings as a
weapon were used in the land (Mosiah 9:16; 10:8; Alma 2:12; 3:5; 17:7; 43:20;
49:20
This list is not complete, but
it is meant to show that in the scriptural record, there are numerous
descriptions and items that would be expected to be found in the history of any
Land of Promise location. If a suggested model location cannot meet every one
of these items listed here, then it cannot claim to be the location of the Book
of Mormon. It might be of interest to know that the Andean area of South America meets every single one of these criteria as well as all the others stated in the scriptural record.
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