The Island of South America Part V

Continuing from the last four posts with the comments sent to me by a friend regarding statements made by a Baja Peninsula theorists, that modern-day cataclysms have not changed the face of the earth as Nephi described, consider their next point:

7. “Even Mormon who abridged the Book of Mormon was able to describe and locate all the features of the Book of Mormon some 350 years after the destruction that occurred at the time of Christ's crucifixion.”

Theorists love to point out this fact as they perceive the meaning of Mormon’s writings after the cataclysm in 3 Nephi. However, what they all seem to forget is that Mormon wrote 350 years after the event and had at his disposal all the records of all the Nephites: “And now there are many records kept of the proceedings of this people, by many of this people, which are particular and very large, concerning them. But behold, a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the account of the Lamanites and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contentions, and dissensions, and their preaching, and their prophecies, and their shipping and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues and their sanctuaries, and their righteousness, and their wickedness, and their murders, and their robbings, and their plundering, and all manner of abominations and whoredoms, cannot be contained in this work. But behold, there are many books and many records of every kind, and they have been kept chiefly by the Nephites. And they have been handed down from one generation to another by the Nephites” (Helaman 3:13-16).

That is, there were many books and records of the 1000-year history of the Nephites, of which Mormon could only include a hundredth part in his record—but he knew it all and perused those records to obtain a knowledge of the history and obviously the geography of the Land of Promise. Of this other information, Nephi said, “I did make a record upon the other plates, which gives an account, or which gives a greater account of the wars and contentions and destructions of my people” (1 Nephi 19:4). No doubt Mormon had at his disposal an enormous amount of information that described the land before, during and after the cataclysm. For us to sit and read 1/100th part of that history 2000 to 3000 years later and say this or that is what Mormon knew and understood is foolhardy.

As an example, I was not at Plymouth Rock when the pilgrims landed, I was not in Pompeii when Mt. Vesuvius exploded, I was not in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. But in all these and numerous other situations, both recent and ancient, I can picture in my mind what took place and what the area looked like before and after from all that was written about these and other events. And specifically, I was not in the Salton Sea area until long after the northern reaches of the Sea of Cortes dried up, but I lived there in recent times and could see where the sea once covered the area even though it is all desert now except for this small salt lake.

We do not know what changes took place during all the upheaval Nephi wrote about and of which Samuel prophesied—but we do know it was extensive, both above and beneath the ground.

8. “I know of no evidence that supports an island that is 600 by 100 miles in North or South America. We assume physical laws that apply today, applied 2000 years ago.”

Again, the arrogance of saying that the Land of Promise had to be a certain mileage distance for its length and width is beyond imagination (see earlier post on this subject). But for there being an island, every geologist who ever studies South America and its development knows that the land west of the Andes was once all that was above sea level and that to the east was not. They also know that the surface continent tilted as the four basic plates involved collided and changed the face of the land both above and below the surface.

When that occurred depends on your viewpoint of how old the Earth is. If you believe the Earth is 4.55 billion years old, then much of what is written here is not believable. However, if you adhere to the Earth being the age Moses claimed it was, then the scientific, geologic and physical attributes of this planet and the time length in which things took place, this blog is completely believable and understandable (see the book, “Scientific Fallacies and Other Myths” for a description of the Earth’s age and the events that have taken place on this planet since its organization).

And as to the evidence, once again, the deep sea drilling rig “Glomar Challenger” drilled along both sides of the Panama Isthmus and scientists all agreed the core drilling information obtained showed that in recent times Panama and South America were not connected above sea level and that a northern sea passage existed between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Also, scientist studying the Amazon Draining Zone (an area larger than the United States) show that this area was submerged in recent times and now is barely above sea level, and even now is submerged most of the year from flooding. And, too, saltwater sea shells from the Atlantic and trees and ferns from that seashore have been found along the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains.

Rosenvall may not know of these things, but then, he seems not to know of a lot of things about South America.

The Island of South America Part IV

Continuing from the last three posts with the comments sent to me by a friend regarding statements made by a Baja Peninsula theorists, that modern-day cataclysms have not changed the face of the earth as Nephi described. The reason for this is simple, but first by way of review, the theorist cited the recent catastrophes of Mt. Saint Helens, San Francisco earthquake, New Orleans hurricane, Indonesia tsunami, Krakatoa, etc. See the last post for information on these catastrophes—specifically how long each lasted.

Mr. Saint Helens – 4 minutes
San Francisco Earthquake – 1 minute
New Orleans Hurricane – storm 1 ½ hours
Galveston Hurricane – 1 hour 20 minutes
Indonesia Tsunami – Earthquake 3 to 4 minutes
Krakatoa Earthquake – there were three separate, major eruptions over a 10 hours period. Each actual eruption lasted a few minutes

The point is, each of these disasters lasted only minutes. Those that occurred in the islands and created tsunamis were far more devastating than just the earthquakes themselves. Hurricans, by their very nature, last a few hours, with winds building then abating over a 24 hour period, but the devastation usually occurs within a couple of hours.

These types of cataclysms do enormous damage, but not to the earth itself—just to objects built by man as a rule. Buildings collapse, houses disintegrate, roads and bridges are upheaved and crushed. But, as Rosenvall and other theorists have correctly pointed out, the face of the earth does not change much. The Alaska earthquake buckled highways so significantly their unusual pictures were covered in the news for days, as were the collapsed freeways in the San Francisco “World Series” earthquake in 1989. The hurricanes that come inland along the Gulf from Florida to Texas mostly do flooding damage, with whirlwinds ripping off rooftops and blowing over walls.

Earthquakes, on the other hand, can do damage to the earth, creating rifts, rips, gouges, even slippage that moves one side of a fault line several feet or even miles out of alignment, but no matter the damage from any earthquake witnessed—they last a minute or less. Even so, there have been some earthquakes in Central and South America that have destroyed entire cities with mudslides and mountains collapsing. But in general, except for Krakatoa and Mt. Vesuvius (which raised and extended the coast, changed the course of the Sarno River, and lowered a mountain), earthquakes usually leave the face of the land recognizable.

The point is, however, that the earthquake and storms that hit the Land of Promise at the time of the crucifixion were of a different kind. First of all, that event lasted three solid hours—far longer than any such event ever witnessed or known. Any earthquake that lasts more than a few minutes would be so devastating that the earth itself would be upheaved and totally defaced.

Consider an earthquake that breaks up the solid rock under the ground, shoves cordilleras a mile or two into the air forming mountains “whose height is great,” collapses mountains into valleys and depressions, sinks several cities into the ground and covers them with earth. Also consider the shoving up of rock formations and breaking the solid rock “which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass, shall be broken up; they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath” (Helaman 14:21-22). Several great cities completely disappeared in this extreme movement of earth and rock that not only changed the entire face of the earth, but also the ground and rock formations beneath the earth so severe that huge mountains rose up where valleys had once been.

Consider, too, that a very unusual storm which lasted for hours, creating enormous damage to the land, washing away tons of earth and filling depressions, flooding lowlands, and tornadoes or “whirlwinds” that sucked people into the air never to be seen again. But more importantly, consider that after this destruction, there is never again a mention of the East Sea, though it figured prominently in Mormon’s description of the land, and the events that took place there prior to this cataclysm.

(See the next post, “The Island of South America Part V,” for the reason why Mormon and Moroni were able to discern the landmarks after this great cataclysm that changed the entire face of the earth)

The Island of South America – Part III

Continuing from the last two posts with the comments sent to me by a friend regarding statements made by a Baja Peninsula theorists, the next point the theorist makes is:

6. “Think about recent catastrophes: Mt. Saint Helens, San Francisco earthquake, New Orleans hurricane, Indonesia tsunami, Krakatoa, etc. All of these are extreme catastrophes definitely changed the "face of the land" and many people where killed but the people who survived where still able to recognize the landforms around them.”

Triggered by a 5.1 earthquake, the lateral blast of Mt. Saint Helens took place in less than a minute, moving some 1300 feet of earth over a 230-mile fan-shaped area of devastation reaching a distance of 17 miles from the crater in just over 4 minutes. Temperatures rose to 660º F. and the power of 24 megatons of thermal energy. The largest landslide in recorded history swept down the mountain at speeds of 70 to 150 miles per hour and buried the North Fork of the Toutle River under an average of 150 feet of debris. Some areas were covered by as much as 600 feet. In all, approximately 23 square miles of material was removed from the mountain, and pyroclastic flows rolled out of the crater for about 9 hours after the eruption, covering 6 square miles at temperatures of nearly 1300º F. However, the extent of the total devastation of the blast and earthquake lasted barely over four minutes.

The 7.7 to 8.2 San Francisco earthquake, which killed 3,000 people and injured 225,000, ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time, lasted between 45 and 60 seconds, and was felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada. Rupturing the northernmost 296 miles of the San Andreas Fault from northwest of San Juan Bautista to the triple junction at Cape Mendocino, the earthquake tore open the ground for 270 miles along the San Andreas rift. Most of the earthquakes damage was from the resulting fires from ruptured gas lines.
The Category 3 hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans did damage, but most of the destruction occurred from the breaches in 50 drainage and navigational canal levees which flooded about 80% of the city, with water rising as high as 15 feet. 1,464 people died. Actually, Katrina was nowhere near as devastating as the category 4 storm and hurricane that hit Galveston Island, Texas, in 1900, killing between 6,000 and 12,000 people (official estimates place the number at 8,000). More people died in that hurricane than all the hurricanes to strike the U.S. since. The mercurial barometer showed a steady decline on the barograph for 1 hour and 20 minutes covering the intensity of the storm, and waters rose to as high as 15 feet across the island for another 1 hour and 10 minutes. Three thousand homes, half of Galveston’s residence portion had been swept away.

The recent tsunami that hit Indonesia—the world’s larges archipelago located on the Pacific Ring of Fire (a series of fault lines stretching from the western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia—was from an underwater 7.7 (some claim 9.0) earthquake on Sumatra island's coast. The monster Indian Ocean tsunami killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

The eruption of Krakatoa in the Sunda Islands of Indonesia, in 1883, lasted for 2 ½ days, however, the initial eruption which did all the damage lasted from about 1 ½ days. The island exploded, officially killing 36,417 people (though some estimates are as high as 120,000).
The explosion, which registered 6 on the VEI, and was equivalent of 200 megatons of TNT, about 13 times greater than the nuclear yield of the bomb that devastated Hiroshima, Japan, and four times greater than the largest nuclear device ever detonated, is still considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard nearly 3,000 miles from its point of origin. The shock wave from the explosion was recorded on barographs around the globe, and wiped out 2/3 of the entire island, leaving only 30% to view. 165 villages were destroyed and 132 seriously damaged, with 21,00 killed by the blast, and another 21,000 from the following tsunami.

It is interesting that Rosenvall includes Krakatoa in his list of “surface” catastrophes that did not change the face of the earth, for most of the island of Krakatoa disappeared, and the two other nearby islands lost much of their size. Four islands have since risen in the area, but three disappeared within a couple of years, though the fourth, Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa) has remained, producing lava flows faster than the waves could erode them.

(See the next post, “The Island of South America Part IV,” for the reason why these modern-day cataclysms did not change the face of the earth like described in the Land of Promise in 3 Nephi)

The Island of South America – Part II

Continuing from the last post with the comments sent to me by a friend regarding statements made by a Baja Peninsula theorist, the next points are:

4. “If you read the Book of Mormon carefully you will see that only one mountain rises up and one city falls into the sea.”

If you really read the Book of Mormon carefully, you will find that the one mountain which rose up covered a city—for that was the object of discussion in 3 Nephi: the destruction of cities and ending of life. However Samuel the Lamanite tells us a more complete story when he prophesized: “And behold, there shall be great tempests, and there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great” (Helaman 14:23). That is, there would be many mountains laid low (plural) and many areas that would become mountains (plural), and those mountains would rise to a great height. In addition, Nephi quoted the Prophet Zenos who described “three days of darkness“ at the time of the crucifixion, “and the rocks of the earth must rend,” and also said, “And others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up” (1 Nephi 19:10-11). Nephi then stated “he surely did show unto the prophets of old all things concerning them; and also he did show unto many concerning us; wherefore, it must needs be that we know concerning them for they are written upon the plates of brass” (1 Nephi 19:21).

Now, consider the “opening of the earth,” for this is not a cosmetic or just a surface change, but suggests something that changed the very appearance of the earth. In addition, while only one city (Moroni) is described as being sunk in the ocean, there are others covered with water, for the cities of Onihah, Mocum and Jerusalem “and waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof” (3 Nephi 9:5), which gives us at least four cities that were covered with water. The city of Gilgal was buried in the earth, as was the cities of Gadiandi, Gadiomnah, Jacob, and Gimgimmo were buried in the ground or covered with earth or both (2 Nephi 9:6,8). And two of these cities the Lord called “great,” evidently being quite large with many people living in them.

The three main types of fault motion. Note that all movement alters the face of the land by dropping or raising the solid block formations beneath the surface

5. “In fact the Book of Mormon uses the term "the whole face of the land was changed" (3 Ne. 8:12). We believe like many catastrophes the "face" was changed, not the entire continent.”

First of all, in Hebrew, the “whole face of the earth” is an idiom, meaning widespread, all over, covering the land, etc., and also used as such in the Bible. Secondly, the term “face” is not the only term used in the scriptural record to describe this cataclysm. Samuel the Lamantie said of this: “Yea, at the time that he shall yield up the ghost there shall be thunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours, and the earth shall shake and tremble; and the rocks which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass, shall be broken up;” (Helaman 14:21).

Now, in geology, the earth’s crust is believed to be about 20 to 30 miles thick, and composed of a great variety of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Beneath the crust is the mantle, the upper part composed mostly of peridotite, a coarse-grained igneous rock, which is denser than rocks overlying the crust. In creating a mountain, it is usually produced by the movement of lithospheric plates, either orogenic movement (folding and faulting uplifts), or epeirogenic movement (uplift or depression of a very large area). The compressional forces, isostatic (equilibrium) uplift and intrusion of igneous matter forces surface rock upward, creating a landform higher than the surrounding features.

The absolute heights of features termed mountains vary greatly according to an area's terrain, but major mountains tend to occur in long linear arcs, indicating tectonic plate boundaries and activity. Two types of mountain are formed depending on how the rock reacts to the tectonic forces—block mountains or fold mountains. From Samuel’s description, the mountains “whose height is great” would suggest block mountains, which are created when large areas are widely broken up by faults creating large vertical displacements. These in turn create both horsts (raisings) and grabens (lowerings) of the earth’s crust.

This also meets Samuel’s comment about where mountains would become valleys and valleys would become mountains. He also told us that: “Yea, they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath” (Helaman 14:22). These sheer faces might also be described as a “hanging wall” (that above the surface) and a “footwall” (that below the surface). It also meets Zenos’ comment about the “opening of the earth,” and “by mountains that will be carried up”---note the plural term “mountains.”

These large faults within the Earth's crust result from the action of tectonic forces, with the energy released with rapid movement on active faults being the cause of most earthquakes, such as occurs on the San Andreas Fault. Rocks, of course, that do not fault (fracture), tend to fold resulting in anticlines (upward) or synclines (downward), which is a gentler uplifting of the crust. As a side note, anyone studying the Andes Mountains of South America, tends to identify these sheer cliff faces in much the same language of “seams and cracks and broken fragments.”

With the rocks being broken up, and “one solid mass” being broken up, both above and below the earth, it would seem that Samuel was describing a tremendous force that would change much of the topography, for when rocks are broken beneath the earth, all sorts of tectonic activity takes place which then pushes and sinks, changing the terrain considerably. When we consider that this lasted for three hours, the resulting effects on the land would be staggering. Such an activity changed the entire face of the west coast of Mexico, splitting of the Baja Peninsula and forming a very large sea. While it is true people thereafter could still see the two lands—it was considerably different and not merely a face change.

In addition, when Nephi describes a three-day darkness, one is drawn to a conclusion that this was probably the smoke, debris and ash from numerous volcanoes erupting over a very large area. Such activity also creates mountains. These volcanic mountains are formed when molten rock (magma) deep within the earth, erupts, and piles upon the surface. Magna is called lava when it breaks through the earth's crust. When the ash and lava cools, it builds a cone of rock. Rock and lava pile up, layer on top of layer.

(See the next post, “The Island of South America – Part III,” for the rest of this theorists points that are inaccurate and not consistent with the scriptures)

The Island of South America

A friend forwarded the following comments from a theorist who believes that Baja California is the Land of Promise. His comments merely illustrate that people do not know as much as they think they do—and just because someone does not know something, does not mean it is not true. As an example, having been born and lived for 65 years in Southern California, and in all my time spent in Baja, studying the peninsula, and writing about the geography of that area, I had no idea the Sea of Cortes (Gulf of California), was also called the Vermillion Sea (because of the Noctiluca miliaris, spherical protozoa that cause a night glow). In any event, the comments this theorist has made follow, with explanations or answers to each point:

1. “I would ask you where you would find an island in North and South America that is about 500-600 miles long and 50-100 miles wide?”

First of all, the Book of Mormon does not tell us that Jacob’s Isle was only 500-600 miles long, nor only 50-100 miles wide. Secondly, even geologists claim that the area west of the Andes from about southern Colombia through just below the 30º south latitude of South America was the only area above water of the South American continent except for a highland in the Guiana area, and another along the eastern Brazil-Argentina border. The “Glomar Challenger” deep sea-drilling rig confirmed that fairly recently the Panama Isthmus was under water and not connected above sea level with South America.
2. “We don't subscribe to a catastrophic continental uplift or sea levels subsiding. To achieve what you are insinuating you would need to have at a minimum a 500-1000 feet continental change. If we assume the oceans have subsided then all the coastal cities around the world would have to see a similar change, of which there is no evidence.

The theory behind plate tectonics shows that the above statement is inaccurate. Besides, when the South American plate slammed into the Pacific Plate, causing the Andes to rise suddenly (“popped up” is the word recent geologists have used) in recent times, the San Andreas-Elsinore Fault Zone complex collapsed, causing the southward area to fall nearly two miles in places, separating the Baja Peninsula from mainland Mexico and forming the Sea of Cortes all the way to the Palm Springs area, at the same time the Rocky Mountains rose from the movement of the North American Plate. This depression of the Gulf of California created a coastline 2,500 miles long, and a sea that is one of the most diverse on the planet, with one of the sheerest floors in the world, a mean depth of 2,684 feet, though underwater canyons can reach as deep as 1.9 miles, and has a volume of a staggering 34,985 cubic miles. It is not rocket science to recognize that this displacement of land and filling of water could easily offset the shallow sea volume covering most of South America when it rose, not affecting other lands, let alone around the world.
Plate Tectonics. Note the arrows pointing inward along the west coast of South America showing the movement of the Nazca Plate under the South American Plate that caused the lift of both the Andes and eastern continent

3. “If we assume the continent rises up we would also see the change in sea level around the world due to the displacement of water from the up-heaval of land.”

As pointed out above, this is also inaccurate. The displacement of water from one area to another in the same vicinity would simply not result in any difference at all. In addition, when the above took place, the Caribbean Plate sank in the east, bringing water into what is today the Caribbean Sea, resulting in only the highest ridges remaining above water—what we see today as the Caribbean islands. Underwater investigation has shown numerous roads, rock walls, and other buildings representing the fact that at one time civilization was present in the area now underwater. As this eastern plate sank, or as the western edge rose from the plate tectonics involved, the Isthmus of Panama rose upward, bringing that connection to Colombia in South America upward. However, it should be understood, that all this area, the Caribbean Sea, the Amazon Delta, the Isthmus of Darien, are all barely above sea level. There was not a lot of water displacement involved, and the sinking of certain areas easily compensated for that displacement (excess water).

(See the next post, “The Island of South America – Part II,” for the rest of this theorists points that are inaccurate and not consistent with the scriptures)

One More Time—Baja is not the Land of Promise, Part II

For the peninsula known as Baja California to qualify for the Land of Promise, the 15 points listed in the previous post as set out by Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni, must exist in this land.

Of Nephi’s points:

1. The winds and currents do not blow toward Baja from the Arabian Sea. By the time they hit the Peru/Ecuador border area along the bulge of Peru, they are driven back out to sea, and either curve downward in a loop to Polynesia, or back across the Pacific in the South Pacific gyre;
2. A ship leaving the Arabian coast that was “driven forth before the wind” could only go southward into the Indian Ocean and then into the Southern Ocean, pick up the West Wind Drift and the Prevailing Westerlies, which would deposit the ship at the 30º South Latitude along the coast of Chile (a place called the Bay of Coquimbo and La Serena)—no ship from the south could have reached Baja;
3. Seeds brought from the land of Jerusalem would only grow in another like Mediterranean Climate in 600 B.C. This climate exists around La Serena at the 30º South Latitude in Chile. The only other like climate would be in Southern California—Baja has an extreme desert (north) or a hot and humid tropical (south) climate where such seeds would not have grown in 600 B.C.
4. Gold, silver and copper as a single ore is plentiful along the coastal region of both Chile and Peru. According to the International Mining maps, none is found elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere—no gold has yet been found in Baja;
5. The ruins found in both Mesoamerica and the Andean area of South America are the only places in the Western Hemisphere where such magnificent buildings of antiquity are found—there are no ruins of any kind found in Baja;
6. The only area in the Western Hemisphere that was once an island is the area west of the present day Andes in South America. This area consisted of southern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and western Bolivia—where all the Andean ruins are now found.

Of Mormon’s points:

1. The grains of quinoa and kiwicha are supergrains, perhaps the most nutritious grains grown on the planet. They have been grown in the Andean area since about 2000 B.C. and though forgotten between 500 A.D. and the time of the Inca, the Spanish considered them of great value when they arrived. These grains were unknown in America until late in the 20th century. No other unknown grains of value exist anywhere in the Western Hemisphere;
2. The only known natural cure for fever (malaria) is quinine taken from the cinchona tree, which only grew in the Andes until Europeans transplanted it in southeast Asia in the 19th century;
3. There is a magnificent wall a hundred miles across the Peruvian landscape called the Great Wall of Peru that archaeologists claim was built to keep invading armies from the south from gaining the northern lands. There are also numerous such defensive walls built across Peru—there are none in Baja;
4. In the island that was once the Andean area, the Bay of Guayaquil provides a narrow passage to the east of about 26 miles in width. No such narrow neck exists anywhere in Baja, which is a peninsula that is generally the same width from one end to the other;
5. In this area to the east of the Bay of Guayaquil in Ecuador is a narrow pass called the Pass of Huayna Capac after an Inca battle that took place there. This pass runs from the south to the north and is easily defended by a small force against a much larger one;
6. The Andean area west of the mountains has always been considered an island, even after the Andes rose up. This land as an island and even now is much longer than it is wide. This is the only feature consistent with the Baja peninsula in the scriptural record.

Moroni gives us even further information about this Land of Promise, especially the Land Northward:

1. The llama and alpaca are camelids and used for everything from transportation as beasts of burden to food to wool for clothing—perhaps one of the most useful animals for man that exists in the Western Hemisphere. These animals were unknown in the U.S. until the early 20th century. No such unknown animals exist in Baja;
2. This one is true of all the Western Hemisphere;

3. Baja as a peninsula has little to offer, let alone be a choice land (except for modern recreation along the beaches). Even today, the peninsula is not well populated (yellow areas on map show concentrations where some 90% of the population resides). That the peninsula is part of the Western Hemisphere it could qualify for that designation—but as a separate area of the Land of Promise as Rosenvall claims, there is nothing there to support a claim of a choice land above all other lands.

One More Time—Baja is not the Land of Promise

One might wonder why so many posts have been recently devoted to the area of Baja California and David Rosenvall’s claim that it is the area of the Land of Promise. The reason for this is simple—the Book of Mormon is an exact record of a remnant of the House of Israel upon this, the Western Hemisphere. It does the Church and its members little good when claims are made regarding the meaning of the scriptural record that cannot be substantiated by the record itself. And since the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, it seems reasonable, and even mandatory, that we treat it with the respect it is due by not misquoting, changing, altering, ignoring, or miss-applying its information.

For whatever reason, Mormon felt compelled, or inspired or both, to leave a record of the geography of the Land of Promise. While the book is not a history book, nor a geography book, nor even a complete record of the people who first frequented the Western Hemisphere, it is a record of their existence, their dealings with God, and their dealings with one another. It covers two distinct civilizations in the Jaredites from about 2200 B.C. to about 600 B.C., and a record of the Nephites/Lamanites and Mulekites from about 600 B .C. to 421 A.D., and in that period of time these peoples moved across the land the Lord promised to them with enough information to tell us a lot about this land.

The most complete record is among the Nephites and their 1000 year history in both a land to the south and the land to the north—the latter being the location of the Jaredite nation, which never left that area and never settled south of a division line called the “narrow neck of land.”

While Nephi gave us enough clues to show where he traveled from Jerusalem to the area they called Bountiful, which was along the coast of the sea they called Irreantum, and enough clues to tell us where he sailed the ship he built, where it landed, and what he found in that land, Mormon included much about the size and shape of the land they called the Land of Promise, and told us of many unique features of that land. In addition, Moroni gave us a brief, but adequate knowledge of the Jaredites who came out from the Tower at the time of the confusion of tongues, their settlement in the land later called the Land Northward, their dealings with one another, and some of the features of that land. He also showed some relationships between the Jaredite areas and the Nephite areas.

In all of these explanations, many diversions from the chronological dialogue of the happenings written by the original prophets, both Mormon and Moroni in their abridgements where they could only write down one-hundredth of the information available to them, still provide us with enough information to easily gain a working knowledge and understanding of the geography of the Land of Promise.

It behooves us who write about this land and the scriptural record that covers it, with accuracy and unbiased opinions—a factor that is all too often ignored by Book of Mormon historians, scholars, and theorists.

First of all, the simple truth is, Nephi tells us where he sailed from and where he landed:

1. He built a weather vessel, a sailing ship, that was driven forth before the winds to the promised land;
2. We know where he set sail, and where the winds blew and the currents moved, so we can determine without error where his ship went and where it landed;
3. He described what he found on this land, such as a climate that allowed his seeds from Jerusalem to grow exceedingly and provide an abundant crop, and there are only two places in the entire Western Hemisphere with a like Mediterranean climate as Jerusalem;
4. He described finding gold, silver and copper in single ore—something that is found in basically one place in all the Western Hemisphere;
5. He told us of his building ability he taught his people, and of the temple like Solomon’s he built, giving us cities, temples, and palaces to look for that would now be in ruins, and there are only two places in the Western Hemisphere where such magnificent ruins can be found;

6. He (or rather Jacob) tells us that the Land of Promise was an island in the middle of the ocean. Mormon gives us further information about this Land of Promise:

1. There were two unknown grains that grew in the land along with corn, wheat and barley, and in all the Western Hemisphere there is only one area where two unknown grains grow today and have since B.C. times;
2. There were herbs and plants that cured fever, and there is only one place in the entire world where a natural remedy for fever grew prior to the 19th century;
3. He tells us of defense walls built across the land to keep the Lamanites from advancing northward, and there is an area in the Western Hemisphere where a Great Wall was built, and many other defense works;
4. He describes two distinct lands, surrounded by water, with a narrow neck in between them, and that this narrow neck was an area that could be defended against an advancing enemy;
5. He describes a narrow pass through this narrow neck of land that led from one of the lands to the other;
6. He describes a land that is narrower than it is long.

Moroni gives us even further information about this Land of Promise, especially the Land Northward:

1. There were two unknown animals that were useful to man, even on a par with the usefulness of the elephant as a beast of burden, and there is only one area in the Western Hemisphere where two unknown animals that were useful to man as beasts of burden existed and can still be found;
2. This land would be held in reserve by the Lord, keeping other nations from knowing of it, and that it would be the location of the New Jerusalem;
3. That the Land of Promise was a choice land, choice above all other lands.

(See the next post, “One More Time—Baja is not the Land of Promise, Part II,”about how the peninsula of Baja California does not match most, if not all, of these points)