Painting With a Broad Brush

Mesoamerican theorists, forever trying to sell their Land of Promise model in Central America (or more accurately, shove it down our throats), time and again make drastic, unprovable, unsupportable and broad sweeping claims. As an example:

John L. Sorenson wrote: “That the inhabitants of Book of Mormon lands knew and used formal writing systems and compiled numerous books (see Helaman 3:15) restricts the possible real-world location to Mesoamerica (central and southern Mexico and northern Central America).”

Actually, and almost humorously, it should be pointed out that this very thing should be a disqualifier, not a proof of location. But first, let’s finish the statement:

“In Mesoamerica there were thousands of books in use at the time of the Spanish Conquest, but nowhere else in the Western Hemisphere is there convincing evidence for genuine writing being used on a consistent basis.”

Now, for someone not trying to prove Mesoamerica is the site, let us consider the scriptural record about such matters of “convincing evidence for genuine writing.” On more than one occasion, we are assured by Mormon and others that if the Lamanites found any Nephite written records they would destroy them.

Mormon tells us: “Ammaron had deposited the records unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed” (Mormon 2:17), and also “I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni” (Mormon 6:6). Even those who were opposed to the Church, burned the Nephite records (Alma 14:8,14)

Even the magnificent buildings were destroyed, torn down, by the surviving Lamanites, evidence of their terrible destruction in the land.

It seems quite evident, that if ANY Nephite writings had survived this last, great battle, the Lamanites, in finding them, would have destroyed them. Keep in mind the hatred that drove the Lamanites to destroy the Nephites, also existed after the last Nephite had been killed, except for Moroni who wrote: “the Lamanites are at war one with another; and the whole face of this land is one continual round of murder and bloodshed; and no one knoweth the end of the war” (Mormon 8:8). Later, with these wars still going on, Moroni closes out his record by stating: “their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves” (Moroni 1:2).

Nephi tells us one of the purposes of having records “it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers” (1 Nephi 3:19). With the death of every Nephite, the records were not only removed (hidden away by the hand of the Lord), but did not come forth until 1829, 1400 years later. Thus, it might be concluded that whatever the Lamanites knew of writing in 400 A.D., would have been lost over time left to their own without records of their heritage.

So the question begs to be asked: “Why would we expect to find any written records in the Land of Promise where the Nephites were totally destroyed and the Lamanites continued with their hatred and wars?”

The Lord told us that the Lamanites would destroy the Nephite records. Mormon tells us the same, and hid them up to protect them so the Lamanties could not find them. These records were later taken by Moroni and hidden in the hill Cumorah. There were so many records that Brigham Young is quoted as saying: “There are many wagonloads of ancient records hidden in the hill Cumorah.” Obviously, the records were hidden from the Lamanites so they could not be destroyed, and evidently none but the Plates of Nephi and of Mormon have been allowed to come forth. Thus, all those records Helaman spoke of “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” (Helaman 3:13) are still kept from us in the wisdom of the Lord.

Once again, the question begs to be asked: “Why would we expect to find any written records in the Land of Promise where the Nephites were totally destroyed and the Lamanites continued with their hatred and wars?” Obviously, all those records were hidden up by the Lord. Whatever other records there might have been would have been destroyed, as the Lord told Mormon: “Having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them)” (Mormon 6:6).

So where are they now? They are “hid up in the hill Cumorah,” in such numbers to fill “many wagonloads.”

Thus, it should be said, if ancient written records ARE found in Mesoamerica, that is just another disqualifier of that area being the Land of Promise.

(See the next post, "Painting With a Broad Brush - Part II," for more on the writing of Mesoamerica compared to the writing of the Nephites/Book of Mormon")