What It’s All About? Part II

Continuing the list of Andean Peru matches to the scriptural record that no other claimed Land of Promise can claim. The first 40 actual references appear in the last post, below, are other factors or criteria found in the scriptural record and in the area of Andean Peru, such as:
1. Crops that grew in abundance (1 Nephi 18:24; 2 Nephi 5:11);

The Nephites had a civilized society with building and accomplishments; the Lamanites were a nomadic family, living off the land and living in tents or abandoned Nephite buildings
2. Two distinct societies whose living conditions differed considerably from one another (Enos 1:20);
3. Signs of a combining or mixing of two cultures not at war with each other (Omni 1:19);
4. An explosion of cultural development, building, and rapid growth around 600 B.C. (Nephites entered the Land of Promise, 2 Nephi 5:15)
5. The geographical settings showing why cities and lands were so divided in the Land of Promise even though the Nephites filled up the land from sea to sea (Helaman 3:8)
6. A single language spoken by the surviving Lamanites after the destruction of the Nephite nation (Moroni the last Nephite; Mormon 8:5, 7)
7. A series of devastating wars around 400 A.D. in which one group was either totally or almost totally annihilated (Mormon 6:11-15; 8:2, 7)
8. A land where earliest beginnings are along the southern coast, then the next major development of culture in the southern highlands, and the second development in the north
(First Landing: Alma 22:28; City of Nephi, land of Nephi: Alma 22:27; Zarahemla and Bountiful: Alma 22:29)
9. A land to the north of the Land of Promise where Nephite building, constructions, culture, skills, and evidences are to be found (Alma 63:4, 6-7);
10. A reason why the Lamanites attacked the coastal Nephite cities rather than using other lines of attack (Helaman 1:26).
    In addition, a very involved, lengthy, and exact legend found in Peru and reported by several Spanish conquistador recorders, having heard the legends from many sources, talk about four brothers coming into the land of promise (1 & 2 Nephi). These legends talk of:

1. A central figure leading the group
2. An honored father (parents)
3. One was the ruler of the first settlers, and
4. Brothers coming to the Land of Promise as the first settlers
5. One group in the south who settled the land suddenly and were more skilled, but a
6. Second group, further south, eventually annihilated them
7. The appearance of a kindly, divine being after a period of darkness and devastation,
8. Who teaches light and truth of his ways and then disappears and is never seen again  (3 Nephi 8:20-23; 10:9; 11:1,8)
9. Two groups joining each other for a time, then fracturing once again (4 Nephi 1:2-3; 38-39)
10. A series of devastating wars around 400 A.D. in which one group was either totally or almost totally annihilated (Mormon 6:11-15; 8:2, 7)
11. A people of the Middle East, typically white skinned, bearded, and wearing flowing robes (as Jews typically looked in 600 B.C.) arrive or appear suddenly on the scene
12. Considered religious and spreaders of culture
13. Who are eventually wiped out or disappeared
    Of course, the record found in First and Second Nephi tells the story of a family arriving in the Land of Promise, where the father, a prophet, was considered wise and valiant, and one son, a highly respected and beloved leader, became the ruler of the people.  In Nephi's case, the people wanted him to be their ruler:  "...they would that I should be their king." (1 Nephi 5:18)  And after his death, he was so highly respected and beloved, that:  "...the people were desirous to retain in remembrance his name. And whoso should reign in his stead were called by the people 2nd Nephi and 3rd Nephi..." (Jacob 1:11). And throughout his life, Nephi honored and respected his father (1 Nephi 11:5) and never tried to usurp his authority (1 Nephi 16:23).
    Obviously, one can only assume such a beloved figure would show up in the legends of later inhabitants of the Land of Promise. In this, a rich tradition can be found in Peru. Sinchi Roca was the son of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, the legendary hero and his wife who were the founders of the Andean people.
    Manco Capac, the father, was a wise and most valiant man who had a golden staff and led ten clans of men and women into the land. His son, Sinchi Roca, which means "war chief" became the ruler and he had three brothers who came with him, then disappeared. Sinchi Roca built Cuzco and later conquered by persuasion and kindness where possible, but by force when necessary.
    While these legends are reported as Inca regarding a first people, long before the Inca themselves (though adopted by the Inca into their pantheon), older Peruvian legends of the first six centuries A.D. name a Naymlap god-leader from an earlier time.

And what better description of Nephi can one find?  He was the son of honored parents, he was the founder of the Nephite people, he built the City of Nephi, he had brothers who disappeared (or rebelled and disassociated themselves from the main Nephite group), he was a "war chief", leading the Nephites against the Lamanites in many wars (2 Nephi 5:34), yet he was a man of persuasion, always trying to talk his wayward brothers out of a problem, and a man of kindness, he always forgave his brothers (2 Nephi 33:3), but he was also a man of force when necessary (2 Nephi 5:14; Jacob 1:10).  His father, Lehi, was a wise and valiant man, who preached in Jerusalem though many were out to kill him (1 Nephi 1:20; 2:1), and who brought his family across half the world to a Land of Promise. This legend also speaks of a Sapa Inca, a Sole Lord!  Or, in Nephite language, the Lord, the one and only God, the true God!  And the descendants of these people, later called the Inca, considered themselves the "children of the Sun,” which might have originally meant the Children of the Son of God from earlier legends.

Indian legends of Peru, which claim their ancestors came from the sea, refer to a Naymlap, their great leader, who, after establishing the people of the Andes, ascended into heaven.  After his death, or ascent, his people, who had become great and numerous, were conquered by a people from the south. In reality, the Nephites, who occupied the lands to the north of the Lamanites, were eventually destroyed by those Lamanites "from the south."
    It is interesting that, despite these numerous and documented matches to the scriptural record, John L. Sorenson and other Mesoamerican theorists claim that there is “no other possibility for the Land of Promise other than Mesoamerica.” In fact, Sorenson claims that:
“Ingenious and impassioned arguments have been mustered in support of other theorized areas (from the Great Lakes to Peru or encompassing the entire hemisphere) as the scene for Nephite history. But every proposed geographical setting other than Mesoamerica fails to meet the criteria established by the text of Mormon's account.
    It is hard to believe anything could be found to match the scriptural record more than what has been listed in these two posts.

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