The H38 Map of the Land of Promise – Part IV – The Internal Map

Arlin Nasbaum, creator of the highly flawed and totally inaccurate H38 Virus concept, has made arrogant claims about what he calls his “internal map,” and uses the concept to ridicule other models. First of all, as he states: ”The reason to have an internal Book of Mormon geography map is to show that the modeler understands the text, and whether a bias has crept into it."

Consequently, when someone creates a map of the Land of Promise, this “internal map” should be compared against the scriptural record to see if the creator followed Mormon’s description of the geography or whether the creator’s own ideas are reflected in the map.

Actually, most maps created by Book of Mormon scholars and theorists are flawed and can easily be measured against the scriptural record. But the important thing here is to evaluate Nasbaum’s own “internal map” against his criteria of “to show that the modeler understands the text and whether a bias virus has infected it.”

Let’s take a look at Nasbaum’s internal map (shown above):

1. There is nothing in the scriptural record to say that the “Great Deep” bordered the northern part of the Jaredite Lands or Land Northward. The term “great deep” is used only three times in the Ether account (2:25; 7:27; 8:9), the first has to do with not being able to cross without the Lord’s help, and the other two have to do with a recollection that their fathers were brought across it.

2. We do not know how large Ripliancum was. It may have been the Sea North mentioned in Helaman 3:8, but we do not know this, nor that it covered the entire northern area of the Land Northward as shown.

3. Cumorah and Ablom were not beyond or east of the Sea East as shown. Ether tell us: ”and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed, and from thence eastward, and came to a place which was called Ablom, by the seashore” (Ether 9:3). Obviously, the Land of Cumorah and the Land of Ablom were both to the west of that seashore, with Ablom east of Cumorah.

4. We do not know that the Sea South is the Sea that divides the land as shown. “And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land” (Ether 10:20). We do not know if this sea was the South Sea mentioned in Helaman 3:8. This is merely an assumption on Nasbaum’s part. The term “sea that divides the land” is only used once in all the Book of Mormon, and is given no directional reference. It is used only to show that between the Land Northward and the Land Southward, there was a narrow neck and a city was built there where the sea divides the land. This is further described by Mormon “And now, 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; and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward” (Alma 22:32). The point is, there is no reference that the Sea South mentioned in Helaman 3:8 is the same as the “sea that divides the land” mentioned in Ether 10:20.

5. The narrow neck of land has been arbitrarily placed to the left (west) in Nasbaum’s internal map. We do not know if it was toward the middle or to the right (east) of the “sea that divides the land.” On the other hand, since Hagoth built himself several “exceedingly large” ships (Alma 63:5,7-8,10), he would have needed some type of bay or inlet to protect the vessels, which would suggest that the narrow neck of land was not to the far west, but likely toward the middle or east, for the ships were launched into the West Sea (Alma 63:5).

(See the next post, “The H38 Map of the Land of Promise – Part V – The Internal Map Part II,” to see the additional points that contradict Nasbaum’s “internal map”)

The H38 Map of the Land of Promise – Part III – The Ancient Watershed and Lake Tonawanda

The first ten points of how the map of Arlin Nusbaum. who developed his critical and extremely flawed H38 Virus concept, runs contrary to the list of numerous scriptural references appeared in the last two posts. Following are the additional points, and most importantly, the fallacious idea of a Lake Tonawanda at the time of the Jaredites.

11. Overflowing Watershed. As long as Nasbaum is going to use the ancient watershed area of Tonawanda (see the earlier post: “Great Lakes Theorists’ Ripliancum, Land Northward and the East Sea – Part II) as his Sea South and Sea East, let us look at the actual ancient watershed of the Great lakes region. This watershed basin covers parts of eight U.S. states—Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, and also the Canadian province of Ontario. Note the arrow on the map showing that Nasbaum’s entire Land of Promise would be underwater at the time Lake Tonawanda existed.

The dark area (left) denotes the extent of the present Great lakes Watershed formed and the ancient water coverage when Lake Tonawanda existed. This watershed, in ancient times, was the expanded region of the Great Lakes area, that covered a considerable distance, including (arrow right) the entire area of Nasbaum’s Land of Promise.

12. In addition, Nasbaum has written that the area of the Land of Promise cannot extend beyond the U.S. Government controlled lands—yet, the western shore of Lake Erie, his West Sea, where the “Land of First Inheritance” was located (Alma 22:30) is within the Canadian province of Ontario and, therefore, does not even meet his own criteria.

13. Another problem is that to the west of the Niagara River (the farthest west of his Land of Promise, a point now considered to be the current Welland Canal, finished in 1829) is the Canadian lands through which an attacking Lamanite army could circumvent the narrow neck of land and attack the Land Northward from the west, or could also circle around the East Sea and the ancient Lake Tonawanda and attack the Land Northward in the east. Thus, his Land of Promise does not meet the criteria Mormon indicated when he wrote: “the Nephites had inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east unto the west sea, and thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south, that thereby they should have no more possession on the north, that they might not overrun the land northward. Therefore the Lamanites could have no more possessions only in the land of Nephi, and the wilderness round about. Now this was wisdom in the Nephites -- as the Lamanites were an enemy to them, they would not suffer their afflictions on every hand, and also that they might have a country whither they might flee, according to their desires. (Alma 22:33-34)

14. And lastly, the ancient Lake Tonawanda and adjoining wagershed is shown in a BLM diagram and there is no area shown that could be construed as a narrow neck of land. The ancient lake ran from the Niagara River eastward, separating a series of land or islands (the area of Nasbaum’s Land Northward), and shows no area in between the area to the south and the area to the north that connected to two lands (alma 1122:32)/

Thus, Nasbaum’s touted H38 Virus idea, and his western New York model for the Land of Promise, has met a considerable number of stumbling blocks. It is not that he can probably explain away some of these problems, but when added together, they show a complete disregard for the scriptural record. It is as though he has centered his entire map, ideas, and beliefs on one single scripture—Helaman 3:8—to the exclusion of so many others that disagree with his ideas. Rather then the Book of Mormon, he has chosen to accept comments from Church leaders on the geography of the Book of Mormon, despite there being numerous other such statements that disagree with them. Men, even church leaders, when speaking as men and expressing their individual opinions, are not going to be more accurate than the scriptures themselves. Only when men, including church leaders, when speaking with the spirit and speaking from the positions to which they have been called, are going to be correct and, in such cases, are going to be consistent with the scriptures.

(See the next post, “The H38 Map of the Land of Promise – Part IV,” Nasbaum’s highly touted Internal Map and how his matches his claim)

The H38 Map of the Land of Promise – Part II – Nasbaum’s Ripliancum

The first seven points of how the map of Arlin Nusbaum. who developed his critical and extremely flawed H38 Virus concept, runs contrary to the list of numerous scriptural references. Following are the additional points:

8. Ripliancum: Waters that “Exceeds All.” Nusbaum’s Sea North, or Ripliancum, now called Lake Ontario, was first called Lac de St. Louis in 1632, and changed in 1660 to Lacus Ontarius—an Iroquois term meaning “Beautiful Lake.” Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world, but the smallest of the Great Lakes in surface area. Yet, the Jaredite Sea North, Ripliancum, is described as waters that exceed all (Ether 15:8).

9. In addition, his Ripliancum lies 243 feet above sea level, but 325 feet below Lake Erie. Thus it would not be possible to sail into his West Sea (Lake Erie) via its only outlet to the sea (Atlantic Ocean) because a ship could not get past the 325 foot “climb” up the falls (see #10 below).

Lake Ontarior (Nasbaum’s North Sea) is the smallest of the Great Lakes. How does the smallest lake qualify as the waters of Ripliancum “to exceed all”?

9. “Large, or to exceed all.” His Ripliancum (Lake Ontario) has 7,340 square miles of water surface, while his West Sea (Lake Erie) has 10,000 square miles of surface area. Ontario is 190 by 50 miles, while Erie is 241 by 57 miles. Ontario’s shoreline is less than 700 miles while Erie’s shoreline is nearly 900 miles—thus, his West Sea is much larger than the his Sea North, yet the Jaredites named it Ripliancum. This hardly gives credence to the Jaredite term “Ripliancum,” and should disqualify Lake Ontario as the Sea North of the Land Northward.

10. His Land Northward. The distance between the two lakes is 35 miles. Somewhere along this 35 mile stretch Nasbaum has his narrow neck of land separating the Niagara River from the ancient Tonawanda Lake, created as part of the ancient watershed east of the river (which is also his South Sea and extends southward along the east shore to include the East Sea). This causes the Land Northward to be extremely narrow with a much greater width, but still only an area of about 10 miles north to south, extending to about 20 miles further east, and about forty miles wide from west to east. Mormon describes the south to north distance of the land Northward by writing; “And it [Land of Bountiful] bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed” (Alma 22:30). This hardly describes a land that is only about 10 to 12 miles from south to north on his map, beyond the area of the narrow neck.

Nusbaum’s Land of Promise within western New York. See how tiny this area is by comparison with the eastern U.S.

At a most liberal figure, Nasbaum’s Land Northward would provide about 800 square miles—a very small area to house upwards of 12 to 15 million people as recorded in the scriptural record. As a comparison, the Wasatch front, at 192 miles long from Santaquin to Ogden and 5 miles wide is 965 square miles, about 20% larger than his Land Northward, and presently contains 80% of the state’s population at just over two million people (Both Salt Lake County and Utah County are 2000 square miles each).

11. The falls along the Niagara River were always an obstacle to navigation into the upper lakes until the Trent-Severn Waterway, along with the Welland and Erie Canals were built to allow ships to pass around this bottleneck. The only outlet from Lake Erie was through Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean. However, the St. Lawrence River was also blocked to navigation of any kind northeast of Montreal until the system of canals and locks, known as the Saint Lawrence Seaway were finished in 1959. That is, no vessel of any kind coming off the Atlantic Ocean could have reached Lake Erie (Nasbaum’s West Sea) because of two blockages—one at the Lachine Rapids on the St. Lawrence and the other at the Niagara Falls on the Niagara River. Yet, the area of First Inheritance was along the west shore of the West Sea (Alma 22:28).

(See the next post, “The H38 Map of the Land of Promise – Part III,” for the rest of these points of inconsistency, and also to understand the fallacy of his Lake Tonawanda)

The H38 Map of the Land of Promise – Part I

In order for any map of the Land of Promise to seriously be considered, it must match all the scriptural record relating to the geography of the Land of Promise as stated in the Book of Mormon. It must also be apparent either now or at sometime in the past, and its confines in agreement with the scriptural record and Mormon’s writings.

The following map, touted by Arlin Nusbaum who developed his critical and extremely flawed H38 Virus concept, runs contrary to the list of numerous scriptural references.

1. Driven forth before the wind. Getting to his Land of Promise in Nephi’s ship, the Lehi Colony was “driven forth before the wind” (1 Nephi 8:8-9) and “sailed again towards the promised land” (1 Nephi 18:22) and “after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land” (1 Nephi 18:323). Upon their arrival they “went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land” (1 Nephi 18:23). While it may seem a mundane point, how did Nephi’s ship reach any of the seas of Nusbaum’s map? As has been pointed out numerous times, no approach existed from the ocean/sea to either Lake Ontario (his Sea North) or Lake Erie (his Sea West) or the ancient (now nonexistent) Lake Tonawanda (his Sea South), or the ancient watershed he calls the East Sea. How he claims the Lehi Colony reached his area of the Land of Promise hundreds of miles inland is unknown, but obviouisly he has ignored Jacob who said, “we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea” (2 Nephi 10:20).

As can be seen from this map, there was no movement up the St. Lawrence River to the Great lakes because of two distince navigation blocks that were not bypassed until the 19th and 20th centuries. Obviously, there could be no sea path to the area of “First Inheritance” described in Alma 22:28.

2. Jerusalem seeds grew in abundance. “And it came to pass that we did 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. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance” (1 Nephi 18:24). Jerusalem seeds came from a Mediterranean Climate, and the Great Lakes area—western New York—has far too frigid of a climate for such seeds to grow at all, let alone exceedingly.

3. His Land of Nephi does not border the East Sea (Alma 50:8).

4. His Land of Zarahemla is basically east rather than north of the Land of Nephi (Alma 22:27-29) with no narrow strip of wilderness between them that ran in a straight line from the Sea West to the Sea East (Alma 22:27).

4. He has an area labeled “Lamanite Lands of Possession” to the south and east of the land of Nephi, yet there is no such phrase or land mentioned in the scriptural record in the south except the land of Nephi. “on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance” (Alma 22:28)—even where they first landed and dwelt was called the Land of Nephi.

5. His map ignores the fact that the Land of Nephi ran from the east sea to the west sea: “the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west” (Alma 22:27).

6. His Land Bountiful does not border on the West Sea

7. It is not possible to land a ship “driven forth before the wind” in his West Sea (Lake Erie)—it is a lake with no navigatable outlet to the sea. Yet, the area of Lehi’s landing, “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) would have had to be reached by the ship Nephi built.

(See the next post, “The H38 Map of the Land of Promise – Part II,” for the rest of these points of inconsistency, and also to understand the fallacy of his Ripliancum)

Lehi's not Ether's Land of Promise – Part VI

When the waters receded off the “face of the whole earth” (Genesis 8:9), the entire Western Hemisphere was reserved by the hand of the Lord from the knowledge of other people and nations. And regarding the Land of Promise, Ether wrote: “after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof” (Ether 13:2). Thus, this entire Western Hemisphere became a choice land to be used for the Lord’s purposes. To this land he brought the Jaredites about 200 years after the Flood. 1500 years later, he brought Lehi and his extended family, and within a few years, brought Mulek and those who secreted him out of Jerusalem. His purpose for this land is thoroughly described in the Book of Mormon.

It has been said, that the inheritance of Ephraim shall be North America and the inheritance of Menasseh shall be South America. Moses wrote: “And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn” (Genesis 48:14), but Joseph objected and tried to place his father’s right hand upon Menasseh, his first born. Israel refused, saying, “I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations” (Genesis 48:19).

In this sense, South America is truly a great land, with natural resources among the world's greatest. Peru, Chile and Ecuador are leading exporters of precious ores, they produce and export all manner of fruit and foods, and have been protected from many world maladies that have struck Europe, Asia and Africa. There are no kings over these lands, and have been free of the wars that have struck the Eastern Hemisphere for more than a century. Truly, South America “shall become a people, and also shall be great”—but not as great as North America.

Israel also said in his blessing: “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (Genesis 48:16).

It is interesting that the word “midst” is contracted from the word “middest” and means “in the middle,” and the Western Hemisphere is often cited as in the midst of the ocean and, in fact, in the midst of the continents or the earth—that is, “in the middle between the west and east continents,” or between the Far East and the Western World (Europe and Mediterranean).

There seems little doubt that the vision Nephi had of the Gentiles overrunning his brethren was very prophetic. He wrote: “I looked and beheld many waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren. And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren” (1 Nephi 13:10-11). Nephi obviously was seeing the future destruction and subjugation of the descendants of his brethren—the Lamanites—when he wrote: “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 13:14).

This event occurred in both North and South America, beginning in the south with Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro conquering the Aztecs of Mexico, and later Spanish conquistadores defeated the Maya. Not long after, Francisco Pizarro y González defeated the incredible Inca Empire of South America. Within a few short years, the greatest empires of the Western Hemisphere, the Aztec, Maya and Inca were conquered by a relatively few Gentiles from across “the many waters.” Thus, the vision Nephi received was nearly all fulfilled. It took longer in North America, but by the early to mid 1800s, almost all of the tribes of what is now the United States were subjugated on reservations. Today, what we refer to as the American Indians, have been reduced mostly to insignificance and poverty in the entire Western Hemisphere.

Thus, both Ether and Nephi prophesied of the Western Hemisphiere and what would befall it, from the bringing of the Jaredites, Nephies and Mulekites in B.C. times, to the Gentiles, beginning with Columbus (1 Nephi 13:12), to the total destruction of the great empires of Lehi’s descendants. Obviously, then, it cannot be said that the Land Northward of the Land of Promise was a particularly special place—especially in light of the fact that the Land of Promise was never in the United States at all, though Nephites and Lamanites eventually spread northward into Central and North America as the emigrants in Hagoth’s ships (Alma 63:4,6-7).

Indeed, North and South America became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord. (Ether 13:2), and Ephraim, or North America, “shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations” (Genesis 48:19).

Lehi's not Ether's Land of Promise – Part V

Coming back once again to the H38 Virus website, which claims to have the “True Book of Mormon Geography,” we find that author claiming that: “1. The Land Northward was a prized piece of land. The Jaredites lived there solely, and the Nephites protected it at all costs, living there exclusively just before their extinction in 400 AD. The land was considered "choice above all other lands." Ether truly told them of all things from the beginning of man and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord. (Ether 13:2).”

Let’s take the these points one by one:

1. “The Land Northward was a prized piece of land.”

At no time does the scriptural record single out the value of the Land Northward over that of the rest of the Land of Promise. The Land Northward was a specific topographical feature of the Land of Promise, just like the Land Southward. In fact, it was obviously smaller in size than the Land Southward. The Nephites occupied the Land Southward for about 900 years, with Zarahemla the nation’s capitol for about 500 of those years. Before that, the Nephite capitol for about 300 years was the City of Nephi in the Land of Nephi, also in the Land Southward. At no time was the Nephite capitol ever in the Land Northward.

In fact, Moroni considered the Land Southward extremely important. “When he had poured out his soul to God, he named all the land which was south of the land Desolation, yea, and in fine, all the land, both on the north and on the south -- A chosen land, and the land of liberty. (Alma 46:17).

2. “The Jaredites lived there solely.”

The Lord brought Jared, his brother, and their friends into the Land Northward. They were obviously not an expansionist people and remained in that land, spreading east, west, and northward “And the whole face of the land northward was covered with inhabitants” (Ether 10:21). At one time when their animals were driven into the narrow neck of land and to the Land of Bountiful (Ether 9:31-32), where “the Lord did cause the serpents that they should pursue them no more, but that they should hedge up the way that the people could not pass, that whoso should attempt to pass might fall by the poisonous serpents” (Ether 9:33). Thus, the Lord prevented the Jaredites from going into the Land Southward, because it was promised to Lehi and his descendants” (2 Nephi 1:9). This does not make the Land Northward a more choice place, merely the one given to the Jaredites.

3. “The Nephites protected it at all costs.”

The Nephites considered the Land Northward as a “land of last resort”—that is, it was a land to which the Nephites could retreat if they were overrun by the Lamanites from the south and pushed far northward. The Narrow Neck of Land separating the two lands was an excellent “stop gap” or last line of defense against the Lamanites if that were to happen (which, of course, it did). They did not protect the Land Northward because it was special, they protected it to keep their enemies from circling them and having to fight or defend two fronts. As Mormon wrote:

“The Nephites had inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east unto the west sea, and thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south, that thereby they should have no more possession on the north, that they might not overrun the land northward. Therefore the Lamanites could have no more possessions only in the land of Nephi, and the wilderness round about. Now this was wisdom in the Nephites -- as the Lamanites were an enemy to them, they would not suffer their afflictions on every hand, and also that they might have a country whither they might flee, according to their desires.” (Alma 22:33-34).

4. “(The Nephites) living there exclusively just before their extinction in 400 AD.”

The Nephites had no choice in this. Around 350 A.D., about 35 years before they were annihilated at Cumorah, the Nephites were forced into the Land Northward by a treaty with the Lamanites (Mormon 2:28-29). This occurred because the Lamanites had conquered all of the Land Southward and the Nephites lost all of the southern area of their inheritance. For 35 years, they lived exclusively in the Land Northward, however, during the last 25 of those years, they were constantly at war with the Lamanites, beginning in 360 A.D. (Mormon 3:4) and ending in 385 A.D. (Mormon 6:15-16).

5. “The land was considered "choice above all other lands."
Ether truly told them of all things from the beginning of man and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord. (Ether 13:2).”

As part of the Land of Promise (actually, the entire Western Hemisphere), the Land Northward was a choice land. “After the waters had receded from off the face of this land” refers not only to a small portion of the land in the Western Hemisphere, but the entire land mass called a single continent in Joseph Smith’s time, but two continents today. On the other hand, Ether, writing from his perspective, did not know about the Land Southward other than it was used as a hunting ground (Ether 10:19-21). His perspective was solely to the land they had occupied for 1500 years. The same attitude is displayed by Moroni calling the Land Southward the Land of Liberty (Alma 46:17).

(See the next post, “Lehi's not Ether's Land of Promise – Part VI,” to see that the Land Northward cannot be considered more choice than the Land Southward)

The Error of H38

It is true that many theorists misplace the various seas mentioned in the Book of Mormon, like moving the Sea West to the south (Joseph Allen), or Sea West to the east of the Sea South (Richard Hauck and V. Garth Norman), or the Sea South to east of the Sea East (Phyllis Carol Olive), and numerous others, but in the same token, it is just as silly to move the Sea South to the middle of the Land of Promise (Arlin Nusbaum).

First of all, the seas mentioned in the scriptural record are directional seas, that is, they denote a direction. Therefore, the sea must be placed in the direction of their name. Secondly, since the Land of Promise was an island (2 Nephi 10:20), these seas must be connected, forming one total sea around the island. This is obvious in the statement made by Jacob and recorded by Nephi: “we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea” (2 Nephi 10:20). Let’s take a look at this statement:

1. “we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance,” which obviously means the Land of Jerusalem (1 Nephi 1:4; 2 Nephi 2:2-3).

2. “but we have been led to a better land,” which obviously is the Land of Promise (1 Nephi 18:23).

3. “for the Lord has made the sea our path,” which obviously refers to the ocean over which the Lehi Colony sailed to the Land of Promise in Nephi’s ship, called Irreantum when they sailed (1 Npehi 17:5).

4. “and we are upon an isle of the sea,” which obviously can mean only that the Land of Promise was an island at the time Jacob made this statement. In addition, since the sea was their “path,” and they were led to this “better land,” and that land was “upon an isle of the sea,” it must be concluded that they set sail on an ocean at one point and landed upon the Land of Promise on that same ocean at another point.

Therefore, it must needs be that the Land of Promise was on an ocean (the word sea meant ocean in Joseph Smith’s time according to Noah Webster’s 1828 “American Dictionary of the English Language”), and that ocean was the same one into which they set sail (1 Nephi 18:6,8), which sea was called “Irreantum” by Lehi, which meant “many waters” (1 Nephi 17:5). Thus, the ocean (Arabian Sea) they set sail upon, must also be connected to the sea that surrounded the Land of Promise island. This is obvious by looking at any map, for the Arabian Sea is part of the Indian Ocean, which is part of the Southern Ocean, which is part of the Pacific Ocean, which surrounded the Land of Promise island.

Thus, since the Land of Promise was an island, and the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla (obviously including the Land of Bountiful) were nearly surrounded by water except for the Narrow Neck of Land (Alma 22:32), there had to be a sea in every direction—west, east, and south. And including the Land Northward, a north sea.

In the scriptural record, we find two indications of very large bodies of water. First, bordering Bountiful (1 Nephi 17:5), and the second in the north of the land Northward (Ether 15:8). One indication is Irreantum “many waters” and the other is Ripliancum “to exceed all,” both of which describe an ocean that would appear unending to those who stood on its shores or sailed upon it. And since the Land of Promise was an island, the “to exceed all” water in the north was part of the Irreantum “many waters” where the ship was launched.

And to make sure we have no doubt that Jacob meant that the land of Promise was an island, he also said, “But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren (2 Nephi 10:21).”

Now this brings us to the so-called H38 Virus. As described by its creator, the H38 Virus “is looking for a single body of land surrounded by four bodies of water. It is particularly aggressive against models with a larger northern body of water. Here is an example of what the H38 Virus is seeking to remove from Book of Mormon Geography models:”

According to the website, the H38 Virus stands for Helamn 3:8 which says: ”And it came to pass that they did multiply and spread and did go forth from the land southward to the Land Northward and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the Sea South to the Sea North, from the Sea West to the Sea East” (Helaman 3:8).”

See the previous post, “Lehi's not Ether's Land of Promise – Part IV,” to see how H38 misinterprets the cornerstone scripture of their entire argument.

However, more for humor sake than anything else, the Land of Promise and Land Northward shown in “Lehi Never Saw Mesoamerica,” also can be considered to have a Sea South, though it is doubtful the Nephites ever called it such.

Concluding with the H38 website, the author’s personal profile ends with: "Every man and woman who ever testified of the truthfulness of that book will be judged by what they did with it." –Arlin

I couldn’t agree more! —Del

(See the next post, “There is But One Land of Promise in the Book of Mormon,” to see how erroneous it is to think that the Land Northward was more special than the Land Southward)