Peter Covino in his True
Book of Mormon Geography website, writes:
“And this land
shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings
upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles. (2 Nephi 10:11).” As
can be seen from these prophecies, there is a special blessing upon the land,
and there is an expectation from God that those who possess it honor Him and
fulfill it. This is a stewardship which has been fulfilled through the Constitution
of the United States of America. Those who try and associate The Book
of Mormon with any other land are denying this reality.”
Covino seems to misunderstand what he is quoting. Let’s
take a look at Nephi’s writing and Covino’s summation.
1. There were
kings in the Land Northward, and in the Land Southward. The Jaredites had
kings, the Nephites had kings, and the Lamanites had kings. However, the title
and position of king was eliminated from the Land of Promise around 91 B.C.,
when Mosiah taught his people they should no longer have kings (Mosiah 29:24),
and the people cast votes for judges to rule over them (Mosiah 29:38-39).
2. As to no kings—Nephi said: “And
this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no
kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles” (2 Nephi 10:11).
Note two things. 1) there shall be no Gentile kings in the Land of Promise, and
2) there shall be no kings upon the
land. Of all the kingdoms and countries of the 19th century, only
one area was free of kings “upon the land,” and that was North, Central and
South America. Nor has there ever been a king “upon the land” in the Western
Hemisphere from its “Gentile Discovery” until now.
3. Indeed,
there is a special blessing on this land—all of the Americas. It was first
given to Lehi, and later to the Gentiles who occupy the land.
4. The entire
Americas have enjoyed liberty once they threw off European controls. This began
with the United States in 1776; Haiti 1804; Paraguay 1811; Argentina 1816;
Chile 1818; Colombia 1820; Venezuela 1821; Peru 1821; Mexico 1821; Ecuador
1822; Central America 1823; Brazil 1823; Bolivia 1824; Uruguay 1828; and the
Dominican Republic 1844. In the course of approximately 70 years, the entire
Western Hemisphere went from being controlled by distant Europe to gaining
independence and liberty. It took longer for Puerto Rico, 1897, and Cuba, 1898.
Canada is the only country that is not exactly independent, though it has
complete autonomy and liberty with its own government separate from England
(Britain)--with no king (or queen) upon the land.
5. Stewardship
fulfilled by the Constitution of the United States. This is not directly true.
While it was the influence of the United States defeating Britain and gaining
independence that encouraged the seeking of liberty throughout the Western Hemisphere,
the Constitution of the United States is more of a guarantee to that liberty
than its cause.
The Monroe Doctrine
was implemented in 1823 to free the newly independent colonies of Latin America
from European intervention and control that would make the New World a
battleground for the Old. The doctrine put forward that the New World and the
Old World were to remain distinctly separate spheres of influence, for they
were composed of entirely separate and independent nations. But mostly it was
the power of the United States militarily that kept the Monroe Doctrine, or the
lasting liberty of independence for the Latin countries of Central and South
America.
Covino’s last
statement, “Those
who try and associate The Book of Mormon with any other land are denying this
reality,” is correct when associated with the Americas, or the American
Continent, however, that is not what he meant by stating it. He believes the
Land of Promise was in western New York, in a very small area, and nowhere else.
In addition, Covino also states: “She - America,
the current inhabiter of ancient Book of Mormon lands, would bless all other
nations,” and quotes Nephi again, “And it meaneth that the time cometh that
after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord
God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles,
yea, even upon the face of this land; and by them shall our
seed be scattered. And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will
proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great
worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the
Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders. And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles
but unto all the house of Israel, unto the making known of the
covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall
all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. (1 Nephi 22:7-9)” Then he
concludes: “America feels this stewardship and has been fulfilling this
prophecy for many years. She has been sending billions to nations all over the
world - even to our staunch enemies; there has been no other nation doing this.”
The only problem Covino has is in interpreting “the time
cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded,
that the Lord God will raise up a
mighty nation among the Gentiles,
yea, even upon the face of this land”
(1 Nephi 22:7).
The obvious and correct
interpretation is that after the house of Israel (the remaining Lamanites) had
been scattered and confounded (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries), the Lord
God raised up a mighty nation among the Gentiles (13 Colonies which became the
United States), on the face of this land (upon the Americas, the American
Continent, the Western Hemisphere, as opposed to the land of the Gentiles
[Europe]), and by them shall our seed be scattered (the United States, in
carving out this nation, displaced numerous Indian [Lamanite] tribes), and then
began to “do a marvelous work among the
Gentiles (the creation of liberty upon this land, the establishment of the
Constitution, the most marvelous document man has ever created, and the
establishment within this liberty of the restored Church and missionary work).
The Americas--North, Central and South America--is still a land of liberty. From time to time some of these individual countries or nations are threatened with dictatorial power that hinders liberty of its citizens, but the fact is, more liberty is found in this entire Western Hemisphere than in the eastern half of the world. It is a blessed land--all of it!
The Americas--North, Central and South America--is still a land of liberty. From time to time some of these individual countries or nations are threatened with dictatorial power that hinders liberty of its citizens, but the fact is, more liberty is found in this entire Western Hemisphere than in the eastern half of the world. It is a blessed land--all of it!
(See the next post, “More Covino Comments Answered-Part VII,
for more of Covino’s so-called “errors,” which, in fact, are errors he makes in
the defense of his model)
Good stuff thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteI am reading this blog with deep interest. I am familiar with Carol Phyllis Olive's work but am always interested in a different view.
If I may make an inquiry-
It seems your theory on the entire matter of South America being the Promised Land, and the land of the Book of Mormon, rests on the statement that there has never been a king in South America.
However, on 17 Sept 1822, Brazil got the shackles off from Portugal rule, and became an independant nation, and on 1 October of that year Pedro I became the first king of Brazil. He was followed by his son amongst others. I learned this from the Brazilians whilst spending time in that country on a few occasions.
I think you may need to revisit this with some research- of course, seeing the depth of your study and research, you probably already have an explanation for this.
Would love to hear your thoughts. If I have missed something, please set me right :)