We continue to have comments, questions and criticisms being
sent in from readers of our blog. Here are a few more with our responses.
Comment #1: “It
appears likely that Nephi had daughters but no male offspring. Note that the
records went to his brother Jacob and then to Jacob’s son Enos” Aiden T.
Among the Jaredites, Jared held the leadership role and the Brother of Jared
was the prophetic leader
Response: At the time of the Jaredites, Jared held the
kingly line, which descended through him; his brother held the religious or
prophet lineage, and the Jaredite record was kept by them. In Nephi’s time,
before he died, he set up his much younger brother, Jacob, to be the next
prophet (Jacob 1:1), and through Jacob’s lineage the records were kept and the
prophet lineage continued until King Benjamin's time, when the plates were full (Omni 1:30), and delivered into the hands of King Benjamin (Words of Mormon 1:10).
On the other hand, through Nephi’s direct lineage,
the kings or leaders descended. He annointed the next king (Jacob 1:9), and the
people were desirous that these kings should bear Nephi’s name as 1st
Nephi, 2nd Nephi, etc. (Jacob 1:11). Now, under Hebrew and Jewish
law, the son of the king became the next king, and under Nephite law, the same,
even with judges, was the rule until a later Nephi was voted out of office
(Helaman 5:1-2). To say that Nephi had no sons is unrealistic and without
support in the scriptural record. The kings kept the large plates of Nephi, and
that record was kept by Nephi’s descendants. In fact, under Hebrew, Jewish and
Nephite custom, descendancy was claimed through the father, thus, when Aminadi
says he was a descendant of Nephi (Alma 10:3), Nephi would have had to have had
sons for this descendancy to have existed, and also for the descendancy of
Helaman, who was the son of Helaman, who was the son of Alma, who was the son
of Alma, being a descendant of Nephi who was the son of Lehi.
Comment #2: “Numerous
archaeologists claim that basically the most accurate ways to date any ancient
location is by the pottery that is found in a location” Pauline.
Response: In a recent case in finding pottery pieces in an
excavation in Israel, an archaeologist dated his conclusions on the
clay and chalk pottery shards that were found in the remnants of a house. The
pottery shards were considered to date from the Hellenic Roman period from 100
B.C. to A.D. 100, since they matched other potshards of that type to that
period. This method of matching pottery from a site to other pottery in an attempt
to properly identify the time frame of the dig, is one of the most frequently
used dating methods in archaeology and considered one of the most effective.
However, the
archaeologist automatically eliminates any possibility that the pottery could
have been made earlier in time (from a potterer traveling to a different area
where such pottery was known, or was shown about it from a traveler), or later
in time (by a potterer who happened to like that pattern and style and did not
want to change, or had clients who preferred to stay with that old style). The
trouble is, that archaeologists believe that pottery was made anciently by
people “who were careful imitators but reluctant innovators, and that style did
seem to change from period to period, slowly but decisively,” meaning that all
pottery of a people started at the same time and ended at the same time, with
all potterers of that people moving on to another style at the same basic time.
According to archaeology, because of this attitude, “we are now able to observe
those changes in style and from them establish a chronology.
The methodology is
not exact, but within reasonable limitations it does provide a workable
typology upon which to construct a fairly reliable chronology.”
Left: Mochica; Center: Nazca; Right: Wari—all
of South American Peru. According to Archaeologists, this means there was no
overlap of these talents and designs, but each was isolated to certain areas
and people and time
Again, archaeologists
simply reject the possibility that a potterer might like change, or moved and
stopped making pottery there, or his children did or his grandchildren, who
took their craft elsewhere and adapted to new ideas and methods. None of which
sounds like a fool-proof system and should not be used to make any intelligent
decision about the time frame of an event.
Comment #3: “V. Garth Norman has stated: ‘Another huge clue provided by Mormon is
that the Land Southward was "nearly surrounded by water" (Alma
22:32). It had seas to the east, south, west and north (Helaman 3:8). No doubt
it was for that reason that some of the first who arrived with Lehi's group
believed that they were on an island (2 Nephi 10:20),’ so maybe they only
thought they were on an island” Thibaut.
Response: Norman is a
Mesoamerican Theorist, and has produced a map of Mesoamerica for his Land of
Promise location. Naturally, he cannot accept that Jacob’s comment in 2 Nephi
10:20 as being accurate. Like all theorists with a pre-determined model that
does not allow for now, or in the past, an island location, they have to alter
the direct and simple meaning of the scriptural record.
First of all, at the time Jacob
makes this statement about the Nephites being “upon an isle of the sea,” it was
sometime between 559 and 545 B.C., probably closer to the former than the
latter, which is the date of Nephi’s death, and the beginning of Jacob’s record
(Jacob 1:1). Now, at this time, the majority of Nephites present had been only
in the area of the City of Nephi, with Nephi, Sam, Zoram, Jacob, Joseph, and
those of the original landing, also having been along the West Sea to the
south, where the colony had first landed. Consequently, there is no way at this
time they could have known about a Sea East or a Sea North, and maybe not even
a Sea South.
Thus Jacob’s comment would have
to have come from the Spirit, not from actual knowledge. Which means that Jacob
knew they were on an island, “an isle of the sea,” that same sea they had
crossed and landed along its shore (2 Nephi 10:20) like this representative island.
Which makes Norman’s comment
self-serving, and inaccurate!
Comment
#4: “And the Lord said
unto me: Thy fathers have also required of me this thing; and it shall be done
unto them according to their faith; for their faith was like unto thine” (Enos 1:18). Notice that Enos’
fathers have required this thing. Who were his fathers? Jeremy J.
Response: Jacob and Nephi had
made this request of the Lord, not Lehi as far as we know. Nephi had molten the
plates and made the record. Jacob and the first-born daughter of Nephi were
probably close to the same age and may have married, both being born in the
wilderness of the south Arabian Peninsula (1 Nephi 17:2; 18:7). This is purely
speculation, but certainly a possibility.
Comment #5: “I saw this statement recently that most of
the people fighting the change away from the Mesoamerican Theory to the
Heartland Theory are people who have something to lose financially or by
reputation, I feel for them. ... How would it be when you've spent your life
trying to prove The Book of Mormon location ... if someone came along and said
you'd ignored the statements of Joseph Smith. What do you think? ”Brighton
R.
Response: That
statement was made by Bruce H. Porter, who is connected with Rod Meldrum and
Wayne May, both of which have written extensively about their theory of the
Book of Mormon Land of Promise being in the eastern United States, basically
east of the Mississippi and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. We have
written extensively in these posts about both Mesoamerica and their Heartland
locations as both being without merit in regard to the descriptions Nephi and
Mormon left us.
While I agree that people tend to be unwilling to give up their
pet theories because of many years investment in their ideas, the financial
part is interesting because all three of these men, Meldrum, Porter and May,
have worked extensively in earning money on their theory with tours and
numerous items for sale. I suspect they, too, would not give up their own pet
theory. And they should, since their claims are even more spurious than
Mesoamerica. At least Mesoamerica has some examples of Book of Mormon
descriptions—the Heartland has nothing other than the Hill Cumorah in New York
to make any worthwhile and accurate connection at all.
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