Where Do We Find Accurate Dates? – Part I

In trying to determine accurate dates for the Book of Mormon, Mesoamericanist Joseph L. Allen claims that other information, dates and cultures are important.  He claims that: “To develop a format for reliable Book of Mormon correlations with other cultures, we must be aware of the time periods in which the other cultures were in existence” (Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon, S.A. Publishers, 1989, p13)

These are the only people we have any knowledge of from the Book of Mormon that occupied the Land of Promise given to Lehi and his descendants. There is no other suggestion in the scriptural record of any other people

    The first question this raises is “What other cultures?” There are no other cultures that we know of other than the Jaredites, Nephites, Mulekites and Lamanites that were in the Land of Promise during Book of Mormon times about which we know. If other cultures were there, certainly in the historical part of the Book of Mormon and Mormon’s complete abridgement no other culture or people is mentioned or suggested in any way.
    The second question we should ask, is “What time periods?” is he suggesting? The Jaredite time period, or the Nephite time period? If either of these, then again, in the historical part of the Book of Mormon and Mormon’s complete abridgement no other time period is mentioned or suggested in any way.
    So, if you are not a Mesoamericanist and a believer that other cultures occupied the Land of Promise before and during the time frame of Lehi’s landing and the existence of the Nephite Nation, but accept the Lord’s promise to Lehi, in which the patriarch expressed to his children: “notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord” (2 Nephi 1:5, emphasis added).
    To make sure this is understood, three areas above were italicizd for emphasis:
1. For the inheritance of my seed. This Land of Promise was for Lehi’s descendants, and for at least 600 B.C. to about 220 A.D., they were a righteous people (at least part of them) and were the recipients of that promise.
2. Covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever. This was no temporary covenant, but one that would last forever. Meaning that Lehi’s seed, at least those numerous generations that lived in the Land of Promise for upwards of 800 years earned that inheritance.
3. Those who should be led out of other countries. The promise regarding the inheritance of the Land of Promise also extended to other people or groups who would be led out of other countries. Note the future tense: who would be led. This suggests that the Land of Promise that Lehi and his descendants occupied was not occupied by anyone else during that 800 years or so.
    This means that if Mesoamerianists are correct in there being other cultures in the land that was promised to Lehi at the time he arrived in the land, then the Lord is lying. Since that is not a possibility, then it can only be understood that no one else was in that land that was promised to Lehi before he arrived!
Thus, Mesoamerica cannot be the place of Lehi’s landing and the Nephite Nation’s territory!
    In addition, Lehi was also promised:

Just before his death, Lehi taught his family about the promises the Lord made to him about dedicating the Land of Promise to his seed forever

“Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord” (2 Nephi 1:6).
    Now Lehi went on to say again, in the future tense, that none would come into the Land of Promise, unless led there by the hand of the Lord. From Nephi’s earlier vision we learn who those would be that the Lord would lead into the land:
1. Columbus: “I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land” (1 Nephi 12:12);
2. Gentiles (Europeans): “I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters…and I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten” (1 Nephi 12:13-14);
3. Gentiles (Settlers): “And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain” (1 Nephi 12:15).

The American continent (North and South America) was considered to be the Land of Promise in Nephi’s vision, for he saw Columbus landing in the Land of Promise and Columbus never set foot in North America or Mexico, but did in South America) and this entire Western Hemisphere was dedicated to these Gentiles for their settlement. North America would obviously be included, and specifically what is now the United States, as Nephi added: “I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles who had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them… And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle… And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations…And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did prosper in the land; and I beheld a book, and it was carried forth among them” (1 Nephi 12:17-19).
    So we see that through Lehi’s promises and Nephi’s vision, that the Land of Promise overall meant the Amrican continent, i.e., North and South America; but the portion dedicated to Lehi’s seed was a much smaller area in along the western Andean shelf of South America.

The latter part, i.e., Nephi’s vision, is also included in the final statement of the Lord’s promise to Lehi: “Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever” (2 Nephi 1:7).
    Therefore, the Mesoamericanist who tries to convince us that other cultures lived in Lehi’s area of the Land of Promise do themselves and others a disservice by trying to tell us that the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotect, and numerous other cultures existed at the same time in the Land of Promise given to Lehi as the Nephites did. There were no others there at the time—again, if there were, then the Lord’s promise to Lehi was being violated even as the covenant was being made and that is not the way the Lord operates and those theorists who want to claim he does need to rethink their position on this for the Lord is not a God of confusion, nor is he one to break his own covenants.
    Thus, Allen’s quote: above ““To develop a format for reliable Book of Mormon correlations with other cultures, we must be aware of the time periods in which the other cultures were in existence.” Again, the above should tell us that no other cultures were in existence during the time of the Nephites in Lehi’s portion of the Land of Promise, none other than the Jaredites, who had their own promise of the Land Northward, were anywhere around at the time Lehi landed and thereafter until at least 200 A.D., and probably not before 421 A.D.
(See the next post, “Where Do We Find Accurate Dates? – Part II,” for more of Allen’s descriptive information that poses as Book of Mormon discussion but really is meant to solidify his Mesoamerican model)