In the case of the Heartland and Great Lakes theory, there are at least eight specific models or writers of that theory (Duane R. Aston, Delbert W. Curtis, Edwin G. Goble, Paul Hedengren, Wayne N. May, Rodney Meldrum, Bruce H. Porter, and Phyllis Carol Olive), all of which stretch the credibility of their ideas beyond the clear and simple language and understanding of the geography of the scriptural record as left to us specifically by Nephi, Jacob, Mormon and Moroni.
Take,
as an example, the first name on the list, Duane R. Aston, who tries to arrange
the five Great Lakes, and the numerous finger lakes, into four seas. First of
all, the scriptural record of four seas is stated in Helaman, where the North,
South, East and West Seas are mentioned. While many labor intently in trying to
discredit Helaman’s remark about four seas, he makes it quite clear why he does
so. And noting that reason, Mormon repeats the four seas in his abridgement.
Helaman
states quite clearly that the Nephites: “did multiply and spread, and did go
forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch
that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the
sea north, from the sea west to the sea east” (Helaman 3:8).
This was not an idle comment, but an explanation about how much of the land the Nephites had covered in their growth and expansion. He states: “And it came to pass that they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward” obviously meaning the entire Land of Promise, not just one portion of it. He tells us they spread from “sea to sea,” just as we in the United States say “from sea to shining sea,” referring to the entire land.
At the time of this great expansion, the Nephites had already spread throughout the Land Southward, a land that was completely surrounded by water except for a narrow neck of land that connected the Land Southward to the Land Northward (Alma 22:32). Thus the children of Lehi already occupied the entire Land Southward.
So, as they now expanded into the Land Northward, and over a short period of time, had spread throughout that land as well. Helaman tells us they covered both the Land Southward and the Land Northward, from sea to shining sea, or more accurately “from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east.”
But somehow that clear and simple understanding is lost on Aston and many other theorists, who try to surround a portion of the Nephite nation in numerous seas that are neither connected, nor form any semblance of a surrounding water course, such as an island would be surrounded, like Jacob describes in 2 Nephi 10:20, that the Nephites were on an island.
Or as Mormon states in an insertion in his abridgement when he says, “and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward” (Alma 22:32). Earlier he states that the narrow strip of wilderness that separated the Land of Nephi from the Land of Zarahemla ran from the sea east to the sea west.
This island the Nephites were on obviously had two main land masses, called the Land Southward—containing the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla, as well as the Land of Bountiful—and the Land Northward. There was a single, but small, land area, referred to as “a small neck of land” (Alma 22:32) and “a narrow neck” (Alma 63:5), and “narrow neck of land” (Ether 10:20), which connected these two major land masses. Thus, the Land Southward (Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla) “were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward” (Alma 22:32), and that narrow neck led from the Land Southward “into the land northward” (Alma 63:5).
Consider
the license taken with this map when comparing it to Mormon’s descriptions of
the land:
• Map: The narrow strip of wilderness is a river…
Mormon: Whatever word Mormon used in Reformed Egyptian, Joseph Smith translated it as “wilderness,” a word that in 1828 meant “A desert; a tract of land or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings, whether a forest or a wide barren plain. In the United States, it is applied only to a forest. In Scripture, it is applied frequently to the deserts of Arabia. The Israelites wandered int he wilderness forty years. Stated differently, it was not a river!
• Map: Narrow strip of wilderness runs between Land of Bountiful and the Land of Nephi…
Mormon: Narrow strip of wilderness divided the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:27);
• Map: Land of Bountiful is east of the Land of Zarahemla…
Mormon: The Land of Bountiful is north of the Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:29);
•
Map: Land of Zarahemla and Land of Nephi are not nearly surrounded by water…
Mormon: The land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward (Alma 22:32);
• Map: Sea East is north of the Land of Desolation…
Mormon: The Sea East is on the east of the Land of Bountiful, the Narrow Strip of Wilderness, and he Land of Nephi (Alma 22:27)
• Map: Cumorah is east of the Land of Desolation…
Mormon: the hill Cumorah is so far north, north of the Land of Bountiful and north of the Land of Desolation, in a land of many waters, rivers and fountains (Mormon ); it is the same as the Jaredite hill Ramah (Ether 15:11), which was just south of Ripliancum (Ether 15:8), the furthest point north mentioned in the scriptural record;
• Map: Sea West South, the lower part of the Mississippi River; the Sea West North, Lake Michigan…
Mormon: No such break in the Sea West; Two locations for the Sea West are not shown; the Land of Zarahemla bordered on the West Sea (seashore), while Map shows the Land of Zarahemla bordering on the Missouri River far to the west of the Mississippi, which is far west of the Sea West North, and north of the Sea West South.
• Map: Land of Nephi borders on the east with the Susquehanna River…
Mormon: The Land of Nephi bordered on the east with the Sea East (Alma 50:8);
• Map: Land of Bountiful borders the Land of Zarahemla on the west…
Mormon: The Land of Bountiful bordered the West Sea on the West (Alma 22:32,33; 63:5);
• Map: Land of Nephi is also to the east of the land of Bountiful with a common border with the land of Bountiful…
Mormon: The Land of Bountiful is north of the Land of Zarahemla, which latter land is between the Land of Bountiful and the Land of Nephi (Alma 22:27); there is no common border between the Land of Bountiful and the Land of Nephi;
•
Map: The only lands between the Sea East and the Sea West is the Land of
Desolation..
Mormon: The lands between the Sea West and the Sea East are: Bountiful, Zarahemla and Nephi (Alma 22:27-33).
More discrepancies could be shown, but enough are evident that, according to Joseph Smith, Harold B. Lee, Bruce R. McConkie, D. Todd Christofferson, and B. H. Roberts, these differences from the scriptural record show a distinct tendency toward error for “it is the scripture that prevails.”
(See the next post, “Why Do Theorists Have Such a Problem Relying and Following the Scriptural Record? – Part III,” regarding the various theories that simply are not consistent with the scriptural record of the Book of Mormon)
By 46 BC, the Nephites had spread as
far from the South (the rest was covered by the lamanites) or Sea South, to the
Sea North, beyond the Land Northward; and from the West Sea to the East Sea—in
other words, the Land of Promise had Lehie’s descendants throughout all the
land promised to Lehi
This was not an idle comment, but an explanation about how much of the land the Nephites had covered in their growth and expansion. He states: “And it came to pass that they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward” obviously meaning the entire Land of Promise, not just one portion of it. He tells us they spread from “sea to sea,” just as we in the United States say “from sea to shining sea,” referring to the entire land.
At the time of this great expansion, the Nephites had already spread throughout the Land Southward, a land that was completely surrounded by water except for a narrow neck of land that connected the Land Southward to the Land Northward (Alma 22:32). Thus the children of Lehi already occupied the entire Land Southward.
So, as they now expanded into the Land Northward, and over a short period of time, had spread throughout that land as well. Helaman tells us they covered both the Land Southward and the Land Northward, from sea to shining sea, or more accurately “from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east.”
But somehow that clear and simple understanding is lost on Aston and many other theorists, who try to surround a portion of the Nephite nation in numerous seas that are neither connected, nor form any semblance of a surrounding water course, such as an island would be surrounded, like Jacob describes in 2 Nephi 10:20, that the Nephites were on an island.
Or as Mormon states in an insertion in his abridgement when he says, “and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward” (Alma 22:32). Earlier he states that the narrow strip of wilderness that separated the Land of Nephi from the Land of Zarahemla ran from the sea east to the sea west.
This island the Nephites were on obviously had two main land masses, called the Land Southward—containing the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla, as well as the Land of Bountiful—and the Land Northward. There was a single, but small, land area, referred to as “a small neck of land” (Alma 22:32) and “a narrow neck” (Alma 63:5), and “narrow neck of land” (Ether 10:20), which connected these two major land masses. Thus, the Land Southward (Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla) “were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward” (Alma 22:32), and that narrow neck led from the Land Southward “into the land northward” (Alma 63:5).
One of the North American Land of
Promise Maps. Note the numerous discrepancies between this layout and the
scriptural record
• Map: The narrow strip of wilderness is a river…
Mormon: Whatever word Mormon used in Reformed Egyptian, Joseph Smith translated it as “wilderness,” a word that in 1828 meant “A desert; a tract of land or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings, whether a forest or a wide barren plain. In the United States, it is applied only to a forest. In Scripture, it is applied frequently to the deserts of Arabia. The Israelites wandered int he wilderness forty years. Stated differently, it was not a river!
• Map: Narrow strip of wilderness runs between Land of Bountiful and the Land of Nephi…
Mormon: Narrow strip of wilderness divided the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:27);
• Map: Land of Bountiful is east of the Land of Zarahemla…
Mormon: The Land of Bountiful is north of the Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:29);
Land of Nephi and the Land of
Zarahemla nearly surrounded by water except for the small neck of land; Red
Line: No sea shown for most of the distance of the line around these lands;
yellow circle: the location of “the small neck of land”
Mormon: The land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward (Alma 22:32);
• Map: Sea East is north of the Land of Desolation…
Mormon: The Sea East is on the east of the Land of Bountiful, the Narrow Strip of Wilderness, and he Land of Nephi (Alma 22:27)
• Map: Cumorah is east of the Land of Desolation…
Mormon: the hill Cumorah is so far north, north of the Land of Bountiful and north of the Land of Desolation, in a land of many waters, rivers and fountains (Mormon ); it is the same as the Jaredite hill Ramah (Ether 15:11), which was just south of Ripliancum (Ether 15:8), the furthest point north mentioned in the scriptural record;
• Map: Sea West South, the lower part of the Mississippi River; the Sea West North, Lake Michigan…
Mormon: No such break in the Sea West; Two locations for the Sea West are not shown; the Land of Zarahemla bordered on the West Sea (seashore), while Map shows the Land of Zarahemla bordering on the Missouri River far to the west of the Mississippi, which is far west of the Sea West North, and north of the Sea West South.
• Map: Land of Nephi borders on the east with the Susquehanna River…
Mormon: The Land of Nephi bordered on the east with the Sea East (Alma 50:8);
• Map: Land of Bountiful borders the Land of Zarahemla on the west…
Mormon: The Land of Bountiful bordered the West Sea on the West (Alma 22:32,33; 63:5);
• Map: Land of Nephi is also to the east of the land of Bountiful with a common border with the land of Bountiful…
Mormon: The Land of Bountiful is north of the Land of Zarahemla, which latter land is between the Land of Bountiful and the Land of Nephi (Alma 22:27); there is no common border between the Land of Bountiful and the Land of Nephi;
Their map shows (red arrows) the only
lands between the Sea West and the Sea East is the Land of Desolation; (red
circle) no seas to the west or east of the lands of Zarahemla and Nephi—or
Bountiful
Mormon: The lands between the Sea West and the Sea East are: Bountiful, Zarahemla and Nephi (Alma 22:27-33).
More discrepancies could be shown, but enough are evident that, according to Joseph Smith, Harold B. Lee, Bruce R. McConkie, D. Todd Christofferson, and B. H. Roberts, these differences from the scriptural record show a distinct tendency toward error for “it is the scripture that prevails.”
(See the next post, “Why Do Theorists Have Such a Problem Relying and Following the Scriptural Record? – Part III,” regarding the various theories that simply are not consistent with the scriptural record of the Book of Mormon)
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