One More Time—the Disingenuous Attitude of a Theory

Not wanting to beat a dead horse, but feeling compelled to illustrate the disingenuous attitudes behind scholars and theorists views of unsupportable locations for their Land of Promise models, this post is one more attempt to show the fallacious approaches theorists take to defend their views, the following recap is submitted.

No matter how well meaning, and how much one might believe in a theory, if that theory is not consistent with the scriptural record, it should be discarded. However, what seems to forever happen is once a person makes up his mind to a theory regarding the location of the Land of Promise they will defend it even when it is indefensible, including inserting false information into the scriptural record to make their points. Take, for instance, the following samples of ideas recently listed in these posts:

Ideas, inserted into the scriptural record not found or even implied in the Book of Mormon:

1. Mountain goats
2. Big Horn Sheep
3. Buffalo
4. A fresh water West Sea
5. A wood ship
6. Surviving Jaredites
7. Placing the Hill Shim on the east sea
8. Jaredites living in Zarahemla
9. Columbus landing in North America
10. Jaredites mingling with Lamanite riffraff

In addition, making the following claims that again, are not found in scripture.

1. Nephites not understanding cardinal compass points
2. The Narrow Neck of Land to be 140 miles across
3. Not having four seas in the Land of Promise
4. Claiming Bible interpretations of a Hebrew word to be wrong most of the time
5. Constantly claiming Nephi sailed against winds and currents while “being driven forth before the wind”
6. Claiming the Mulekites landed in the Land Northward when Amaleki said they landed where Mosiah found them
7. Landing somewhere along the east coast of North America and walking hundreds of miles to a large lake and claiming that was the West Sea
8. A West Sea (lake) only four feet deep where Hagoth launched his exceedingly large ships
9. Hagoth’s ships not able to sail north from their west sea
10. Jaredite barges landing somewhere other than in the Land Northward

There are also points in the scriptural record totally ignored by these theorists:

1. Jacob’s isle of the sea
2. The sea was Lehi’s path directly to their landing site
3. Traveling across a saltwater ocean and landing on an island of the same sea
4. Amaleki’s landing site of the Mulekites
5. The cureloms and cumoms, animals as useful to man as the elephant
6. Neas and Sheum, grains planted with corn, wheat and barley
7. Ziff, a metal used in decorations
8. Herbs that cured fevers
9. Jaredites carrying with them honey bees and the Nephites finding honey bees in Bountiful
10. The Law of Moses requiring circumcision

Also there are scientific points about the Andean area of South America that are completely ignored:

1. South America was once under water except for the Andean area
2. Panama was once not connected to South America
3. Quinoa and Kiwichi super grains that only grow in the Andes
4. Andes mountains the newest mountain and range on earth
5. Camelids indigenous to the Andes, that were useful to man
6. Quinine from the Cinchona tree which was the only cure for malaria and fevers
7. Gold and silver and copper in a single ore found almost solely in Chile and Peru
8. Metallurgy in Andean area dating well into B.C. times, earliest in all of Western Hemisphere in Peru (To date no one has found evidence of melting, smelting and casting in prehistoric eastern North America. In South America, such has been found, including purposefully alloying various metals, dating into early B.C. times)
9. The alpaca and llama only indigenous to the Andean area of South America
10. Bismouth, a metal used for decorations in ancient Peru, found mostly in the Andean country

Theories are worthless unless they answer ALL the questions raised by the scriptural record regarding both the geographical descriptions, and the flora and fauna of the scriptural record. A few points of agreement do not count—all points must be met.