Continuing with the question I
would like to ask Hugh B. Nibley and John L. Sorenson, strictly using the
scriptures, in this three-part series:
20. “Where did the other people come from and why is there
absolutely no mention, suggestion or even hint of them in the scriptural record
you claim co-existed in the Land of Promise along with the Jaredites, Nephites,
Mulekites and Lamanites?”
The Pilgrims of 1620 were some of the early
Europeans who flooded the eastern shores of North America, and who were greatly
blessed
Twelfth, it seems pretty
simple and clear. As shown in the last post, the Nephite prophets prayed to the
Lord to bless the Lamanites and anyone who might come to this land. Surely if
there were already other people on the land, this magnanimous appeal to the
Lord would have in some way included them as well. After all, most of us pray
for our friends and neighbors, but few of us probably pray for our enemies—yet,
the Mesoamericanists would have us believe that these erstwhile Nephite
prophets of whom the Lord speaks prayed for their enemies, but not their
friends and neighbors?
Thirteenth, these
prophets did not ask the Lord to bless people already on the Land of Promise
if, in fact, there were, other than the Lamanites. Nor did the Lord mention
anyone, either in this discussion. Now this seems perfectly, and inarguably
clear and should need no further explanation—there simply were no other
people in the Land of Promise at the time of the Nephites; however,
Mesoamericanists sometimes have great difficulty understanding or accepting a
scripture that disagrees with their model and thinking, even when it is crystal clear, so perhaps we should take the space to clarify
the meaning of D&C Section 10:47-52:
1. Other nations:
other than the Nephite nation. The Nephite prophets knew of no other nation
nearby at the time, and did not know if anyone else were to occupy the Land of
Promise, and if so, what people or nation that might be, so the Lord says they
used the wordage “unto all of whatsoever nation, kindred, tongue, or people
they may be” (D&C 10:51). Obviously, there were no other people in the Land
of Promise at this time, nor can Hubley or Sorenson claim there were simply
because they want to claim it, or that these prophets ignored them, since these
prophets asked the Lord to bless all who might occupy the land!
Beginning in the 17th century,
America was flooded with immigrants who
the Lord brought to these shores
2. These prophets
left a blessing on this land that “whosoever should believe in this
gospel in this land,” yet they did not refer to anyone living there at
the time, other than Lamanites. So if there were all these others that Nibley
and Sorenson and others have been claiming, why did they not mention them? And
since they are all God’s children, why did the Lord not mention them?
3. “Their faith and
prayers was that this gospel should be made known also, if it were possible that other nations should possess this land.”
Obviously, these prophets did not know of anyone else occupying the Land of
Promise, yet wanted to make certain that if someone did, a blessing was left
for them over the land.
4. The Nephite
prophets left a blessing upon this land “that it might be free unto all of
whatsoever nation, kindred, tongue, or people they may be.” Obviously, the
prophets did not know of anyone in the land at the time, only that there might
be others led there in the future, to which they wanted a blessing on the land
for them whoever “they may be.”
5. The Lord told
Joseph Smith (left) that the prayers of these former Nephite prophets “should
be granted unto them according to their faith in their prayers” (D&C
10:47), sounds like the Lord intends to bless all those who were to occupy this
land…funny he would not bless all those people Nibley and Sorenson and other
Mesoamericanists claim were already in the Land of Promise at the time.
Fourteenth, there
simply is no way for anyone to claim that there were other people in the Land
of Promise. Two entirely different bodies of scripture—the Book of Mormon and
the Doctrine and Covenants—have absolutely no indication that anyone else
occupied the Land of Promise during Nephite times. One would think that would
be sufficient, after all, in the mouths of two or three witnesses, the truth
would be established (2 Corinthians 13:1; Matthew 18:16).
Fifteenth, Mesoamericanists
simply need to withdraw from their insistency about Mesoamerica being the Land
of Promise and start looking for somewhere that matches the scriptural record.
Will they? No. They will simply go on claiming their model to be accurate, the
best available match to the Book of Mormon, etc. However, as has been shown in
these past more than 1,400 posts in this blog, that is simply not true. Despite
the lack of evidence in the scriptural record, Mesoamericanists continued to
shout that no other area in the entire world matches the scriptural record as
well as Mesoamerica. Yet, example after example in this blog shows the opposite
to be the truth!
So the questions is
asked again, “Where did the other people
come from and why is there absolutely no mention, suggestion or even hint of
them in the scriptural record you claim co-existed in the Land of Promise along
with the Jaredites, Nephites, Mulekites and Lamanites?”
(See the next post, "Questions I Would Like to Ask –
Part XX-C," for the final installment on this question)
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