In the last two posts, we have responded to an
article written by Don R. Hender, Logic
of the Aftermath of Cumora, taken from his
website on which he has written numerous articles. At the request of a reader,
we are answering some more of these articles, beginning with Mormon’s Internal Map Defined.
Article: “It
has been presumed by readers of the Book of Mormon, which has become a
misconception of 'traditional stance', that the site of Lehi's First Landing
and the Land of First Inheritance are both at the same general location. That
is a presumption based outside of what the book states. Yet the traditional
presumption persists. There is nothing in the Book of Mormon that substantiates
that conclusion that the site of their 'first planting' where they reaped in
abundance is where they stayed and settled.”
When the Nephite Colony arrived at the Land of Promise, both Lehi and Sariah would have been quite old, and knowing he was near dying (2 Nephi 3:25), Lehi blessed all his household (2 Nephi 4:12) and died. It is doubtful the colony would have moved further inland than necessary
Response: Nephi tells us that “After
we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land;
and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it
the promised land” (1 Nephi 18:23). This should show that: 1) They sailed for
some time, 2) reached their destination, 3) left the ship and set foot on the
land, and 4) pitched their tents. Or, in other words, they settled where they
landed, which makes a great deal of sense, since leaving their ship at this
point probably would not have been the smart thing to do, not knowing what further
use of it they might have. The important point here is the very next thing they
did is “begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put
all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem”
(1 Nephi 18:24). Before the record was separated into verses, the planting
followed directly without separation their landing and pitching tents. Later, when Nephi separates from his older brothers, we find that those he took with him did not include his parents, thus we might conclude that they had died before that time (2 Nephi 5:6), again suggesting that they would have been too old once landing to have been on the move inland.
They
landed and went forth on the land and pitched their tents and then cleared,
tilled, and planted the seed they brought from Jerusalem
In
addition, we find Mormon, in Alma, making this even clearer that the land of
first inheritance was by the west seashore: “Now, the more idle part of the
Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; and they were spread
through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and also on the
west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and on the west
in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and
thus bordering along by the seashore” (Alma 22:28).
For
Hender to say, “There is nothing in the
Book of Mormon that substantiates that conclusion that the site of their 'first
planting' where they reaped in abundance is where they stayed and settled,” is
a rather remarkable presumption on his part, since once a new colony in a new
land makes the effort to clear an area, till and cultivate the ground, plant,
water, weed, care for while waiting for the harvest, they would have been there
for at least six months, which would have been a considerable investment in
time, effort, and resources. The question to ask at this point is “would Nephi
have moved after that time, with Lehi and Sariah as old as they were?” After
all, once the exceedingly great harvest came in, they were blessed with
abundance—again, why would they move from such an area? Certainly, if the
Liahona had told them to go elsewhere, Nephi would have recorded it, since he
recorded the most simple involvement of the compass or director, such as
showing him where to go to obtain food with his bow (1 Nephi 16:30).
Article: “In
point of fact in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon where there is no
division between chapters 18 and 19 as we have today, the verse which in
condensed abridged form clearly speaks of Lehi's next 'journeyings' in the land
of promise (1 Nephi 18:25) is immediately followed by the next paragraph in the
same chapter explaining that Nephi did engrave upon his large plates further
concerning these 'journeyings', there being more particularly given. This
rather hints that Lehi's party did not settle at the site of their first
landing, but rather then took their journey into the land of promise's
wilderness finding all manner of animals and ores of every kind as they
journeyed. And these details are upon the large plates.”
Response: We cannot speculate on what might have been written on the Large Plates. The record we
have of the Book of Mormon is from the small plates made by Nephi and are both
condensed from his large plates, and were written after the fact. That is,
Nephi is reminiscing in some of his writings. As an example, at this point in
his writing, he is thinking back on the events that have already occurred, and
states that 1) They landed, 2) pitched tents, 3) tilled and planted, and 4) had
an abundant harvest—that period alone is at least a six month period. And
during that time, no doubt they were doing many things, one of which was
exploring this new land and “seeing what was over the next hill.” That is, “as
they journeyed in the wilderness,” they discovered “beasts in the forests of
every kind…and all manner of wild animals.” In addition, they “did find all
manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper” (1 Nephi 18:25). So
in a handful of sentences, Nephi brings us up-to-date with what happened after
they reached the Land of Promise. So if we eliminate the verse separation, and
the chapter separation, Nephi goes on to tell us that the Lord had him make
additional plates (1 Nephi 19:1) and then he abridged onto them what he had
already written on the large plates (1 Nephi 13:2-4). He also then follows with
what should be written on the plates, and then goeson to talk about the coming
of Christ (1 Nephi 19:8) and the many things about the Savior that would take
place and that he would do. All of this shows that these events are not
separated by some additional mysterious journey, which Hender wants to claim
took place so he can locate the area of First Inheritance elsewhere. But the
fact of the matter is, there simply is no comment about moving anywhere—the
word journey is not defined as a permanent move. After all, a journey of
discovery is simply a tour or travel from a point of origin to another point
and can just as easily be back to the original point.
Article: “And at the end of that next journey in the
land of promise wilderness did Lehi's party then finally arrive at the land of
first inheritance on the east of what would become known as the land of Nephi.”
Response: Mormon makes it quite clear that the area
of the First Inheritance was along the west seashore. In his overall
description of the entire Land of Promise, he wrote: “on
the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first
inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore” (Alma 22:28). Obviously, Hender is way off base placing
this area of First Inheritance “on the east of what would become known as the
land of Nephi.” Mormon tells us just the opposite.
Article: “Another
careless presumption outside the Book of Mormon is that Lehi's descendants did
ever journey northward. The only thing which fuels this assumption is the
notion of a coast of Chili landing, which is not a part of the internal
information of the book either.”
Response: First of all, Mesoamerica, Heartland, Upstate
New York/Great Lakes, etc., etc., etc., are all “not part of the internal
information of the book” either, which proves nothing. Secondly, as for the
coast of Chili landing “fueling the assumption” of “that Lehi’s descendants did ever journey
northward,” is a careless statement. Whether Lehi’s descendants journey
northward or not is found in the scriptural record, not some place claimed to
be Lehi’s landing site. That the two could be identical depends upon the
location of first landing claimed. However, let’s deal with the scriptural
record and not try to fit it into a pre-determined location. Third, and briefly, Mormon tells
us that Lehi landed in the area later called the Land of Nephi (Mormon 22:28),
and that a narrow strip of wilderness lay between the Land of Nephi and the
Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:27), and that Mosiah, when leaving the city of Nephi
traveled into the Land of Zarahemla (Omni 1:13). Obviously, then, if a narrow
strip of wilderness ran from sea to sea between these two lands, it places Zarahemla
to the north of Nephi—so obviously,
rather than being “another careless presumption,” the fact of the matter is
that Lehi’s descendants did travel north!
Article: “Remember
Lehi's first journey was some 200 miles from Jerusalem to the Valley of Lemuel,
his second journey was across Saudi Abrabia...”
Response: No. His second journey was down along the
Red Sea, from the Valley of Lemuel to Nahom, a journey of about 500 miles. (For
the record, the first journey from Jerusalem to the Valley of Lemuel has been
stated as 180 miles, not 200, and this 180 mile journey was undertaken five
times before the so-called second journey). Now, at this area of Nahom, they
traveled nearly eastward across Saudi Arabia, actually across the Rub’ al Khali, called the Empty Quarter,
to Bountiful and the shores of Irreantum, a journey of about 900 miles.
(See the next post, “Looking at Mormon’s Internal
Map – Part II,” for more on the articles
on his website and the errors he uses to support his model and views)
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