More Covino Comments Answered-Part XI-Did Mormon Bury More Records than at Cumorah?

According to Peter Covino in his True Book of Mormon Geography website, Mormon did not hide the records in the Hill Cumorah, but in the Hill Ramah. He writes:

1. Covino: “They fail to understand that Mormon only hid the records "entrusted to him" at Cumorah, all others where hid at the Hill Ramah, the true place of the Jaredite battle: "And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold 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)

During the third generation after the appearance of Christ in the Land of Promise, the people “began to be divided into classes around 210 A.D. (4 Nephi 1:26-27). About twenty years later, in 231 A.D. there was a great division among the people (4 Nephi 1:35), and between 245 A.D. and 301 A.D., both the Lamanites and the Nephites “had become exceeding wicked one like unto another” (4 Nephi 1:45), and “there were none that were righteous save it were the disciples of Jesus” (4 Nephi 1:46). Four years later, Amos, son of Nephi, died, and his brother Ammaron, “did keep the record in his stead” (4 Nephi 1:47).

 “When three hundred and twenty years had passed away, Ammaron [the last record holder before Mormon] being constrained by the Holy Ghost, did hide up the records which were sacred -- yea, even all the sacred records which had been handed down from generation to generation, which were sacred -- even until the three hundred and twentieth year from the coming of Christ” (4 Nephi 1:48-49). “And about the time that Ammaron hid up the records unto the Lord, he came unto me, (I being about ten years of age, and I began to be learned somewhat after the manner of the learning of my people) and Ammaron said unto me: I perceive that thou art a sober child, and art quick to observe; Therefore, when ye are about twenty and four years old I would that ye should remember the things that ye have observed concerning this people; and when ye are of that age go to the land Antum, unto a hill which shall be called Shim; and there have I deposited unto the Lord all the sacred engravings concerning this people. And behold, ye shall take the plates of Nephi unto yourself, and the remainder shall ye leave in the place where they are; and ye shall engrave on the plates of Nephi all the things that ye have observed concerning this people” (Mormon 1:2-4).

At this point we can see that Ammaron had hid ALL “the records which had been handed down from generation to generation, which were sacred” in the Hill Shim.

Somewhere around 334 A.D., Mormon had gone to the Hill Shim “and taken the plates of Nephi, and did make a recording to the words of Ammaron” (Mormon 2:17). And about 30 years later, in 375 A.D., when Mormon was 65 years old, he went to the Hill Shim again and “did take up all the records which Ammaron had hid up unto the Lord” (Mormon 4:23).

At this point we can see that Mormon had gone to the Hill Shim and “did take up all the records which Ammaron had hid up unto the Lord.” Consequently, Mormon now had ALL the sacred records of the Nephites. All the records “which had been handed down by our fathers” (Mormon 6:6). All these records had been entrusted to him by Ammaron which were “all the sacred engravings concerning this people” (Mormon 1:3).

In 384 A.D., Mormon gathered “together all our people unto the land of Cumorah, by a hillwhich was called Cumorah” (Mormon 6:2,3). Here 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).

These are the records Ammaron hid in the Hill Shim. These are the records Ammaron told Mormon about. These are the records “entrusted to Mormon” by the Lord through Ammaron. These are the records Mormon took from the Hill Shim. These are the records Mormon hid in the Hill Cumorah in 384 A.D., before the last, great battle of annihilation in 385 A.D.

Now Covino tries to tell us that Mormon did not hide all the records in the Hill Cumorah, but “hid only records entrusted to him at Cumorah.” He goes on to tell us that “all others where hid at the Hill Ramah.”

Two points of interest should be considered here:

1. What records did Mormon have that had not been entrusted to him?

2. Moroni tells us the Hill Ramah is the same hill where Mormon hid the records! (See the last post for a full explanation of this).

By the way, when Mormon hid the records in 384 A.D. in the Hill Cumorah, his son Moroni would have been somewhere around 50 years of age. And since Mormon entrusted records to his son Moroni (Mormon 6:6), one might think Mormon had great respect and trust for his son. In addition, Moromi would have been at Cumorah with his father, and was one of his top lieutenants, commanding 10,000 warriors (Mormon 6:12), and with his father when Mormon died (Mormon 8:3), and, along with his father, was righteous enough to have seen the Three Witness, Disciples of Christ, that were allowed to tarry (Mormon 8:11). In all of this, it stands to reason that Mormon would have taken Moroni with him when he hid up the records. Thus, Moroni would have known where the records were hid, in what hill, the name of the hill in both Nephite times and Jaredite times, since he lived much of his life in the Land Northward, and translated the entire Jaredite record. It also stands to reason that when he called both hills as being the same, he knew what he was talking about. On the other hand, Covino, who was not there, does not know for certain where anything was, wants to tell us he knows more than Mormon and Moroni.

Consequently, Mormon says he hid all the records in the Hill Cumorah (Mormon 6:6), and Moroni tells us that the hill Ramah was the same hill where his father hid the records (Ether 15:11); however, Covino now comes up with a set of mysterious records in his possession never mentioned in the scriptural record, and claims 1) the Jaredite Hill Ramah is not the same hill as Nephite Hill Cumorah, and 2) the Hill Ramah is somewhere else and that Mormon hid some mysterious records there that had not been entrusted to him. It should also be noted that at no time in his abridgement of the entire record, or in his own writings, does Mormon mention that he was in possession of any records other than the ones entrusted to him by Ammaron.

(See the next post, “More Covino Comments Answered-Part XII, for more of Covino’s so-called “errors” of others which, in fact, are errors he makes in the defense of his model, and what the early Brethren said about what was hidden in the Hill Cumorah)