Continued from the previous post
regarding a Reader’s points on North America vs. South America for the Land of
Promise:
• Comment: “In the area of a written language, the North
American model has the advantage over South America and Mesoamerica, since
native tribes such as the Iroquois had a written language while the Inca did
not, and the Mayan and Aztec languages have zero resemblance to the characters
on the golden plates.”
Response:
First, the scriptural record tells us that the brethren of Amulon were
appointed by the Lamanite king to teach his people the Nephite language (Mosiah
24:4), and how to read and write (Mosiah 24:6). At this time they were
“friendly one with another” (Mosiah 24:5), thus providing a means and necessity
to use a language—trade and commerce (Mosiah 24:7). In addition, at the time of
the Nephite destruction the Lamanites still had the written language of the
Nephites, since Mormon and the king of the Lamanites wrote epistles to each
other (Mormon 3:4; 6:2).
Second:
We do not know how the epistle Mormon wrote was delivered. It might have been
by courier, by emissary, or some other means.
Third,
we do not know the king of the Lamanites could actually read or write. There
were numerous Nephite defectors among the Lamanites who could have “read” the
content of the epistle. Nor is it said in what format the king of the Lamanites
responded (Mormon 6:2-3).
(Image
A – The Civil War among the Lamanites
that lasted for many years following their defeat of the Nephi Nation
Fourth,
shortly after the Lamanite victory at Cumorah, Moroni tells us they became
involved in a serious war among themselves since they were “at war one with
another” (Mormon 8:8). This suggests a war not of one side against another (Lamanites
against Nephites), but of all factions against each other (Lamanites against
Lamanites), which was “exceedingly fierce among themselves” (Moroni 1:2).It
should also be noted that this civil war was still going on 36 years later, and
no doubt continued for some time after the close of Moroni’s record.
Fifth,
it should also be understood that the scriptural record does not suggest that
the Lamanites were determined to destroy all
writing, just the records of the Nephites.
Of course it is possible that in the degenerate state of the Lamanites in South America, that they ended up destroying all written language at some point prior to the rise of the Inca.
Of course it is possible that in the degenerate state of the Lamanites in South America, that they ended up destroying all written language at some point prior to the rise of the Inca.
It
should also be pointed out that the Lamanites hated all things Nephite, and
following a 1,000-year history of being hereditary enemies, that the Lamanites
would want nothing to do with anything Nephite, language included. However, the
main point is that any language, left to its own without written guides and
people who taught and instructed in said language, is doubtful to continue. It
is far more realistic for the written language to cease, than for it to
continue in written format, since they were at war one with another, there
would have been no need for writing, no one to contact outside their own small
group—we see much of the same situation among the vast majority of American
Indians, especially North America, at the time of the European arrival.
(Image
B– Top: Iroquois language; Middle:
Reformed Egyptian language; Bottom: Hebrew language. Reformed Egyptian (of the
Book of Mormon) is closer to the early Hebrew (pre-6th century BC)
than the Iroquois, which shows no resemblance at all
The
Iroquois language has a long history
beginning as early as 4,000 years ago when it split into its northern and
southern branches. The northern branch includes: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga,
Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora; while the southern branch includes only Cherokee, still spoken widely among
the Cherokee people today. Cherokee is also the only written form of Iroquoian.
The Cherokee syllabary consists of characters specific to the Cherokee people
that represent syllables used to construct the written and spoken forms of
language. It should be noted from the above comparison that the
Iroquois-Cherokee language does not resemble the early Hebrew that would have
been known to Lehi at all, though the characters Joseph Smith wrote down from
the writing on the plates at least shows a resemblance.
Comment:
“The Land of promise is clearly
identified with a major river flowing southward out of the north, and the city
of Zarahemla on the west bank of the river. This exists perfectly in North
America, with the Mississippi and the Zarahemla of the early Church being on
the banks.”
Response:
This is erroneous on at least two major points: 1) The scriptural record does
not say the Sidon River flowed to the south—actually it shows just the
opposite; and 2) The city of Zarahemla was not situated on the bank of the
Sidon River according to Mormon’s descriptions.
First,
the headwater of the Sidon River were in the mountains to the south of
Zarahemla—those mountains between the Land of Zaarahemla and the Land of Nephi,
in what is called the Narrow Strip of Wilderness, matches the continual
statement of the Nephites going up to the Land of Nephi and the Lamanites going
down to the Land of Zarahemla. Being south of Zarahemla, the course of the
river would have to flow northward in order for it to cross the Land of
Zarahemla. As an example, Mormon states: “the
hill Amnihu, which was east of the river Sidon, which ran by the land of Zarahemla, and there they began to make
war with the Nephites” (Alma 2:15). Note that the river ran “by the land,” not
“through the land,” or past the city of Zarahemla—it ran by the land of
Zarahemla. In addition, the land of Minon was above the land of Zarahemla,
evidently between the Land Zarahemla and the Land of Nephi, for, as Mormon
states: “in the land of Minon, above the land of Zarahemla, in the course of the land of Nephi, we
saw a numerous host of the Lamanites” (Alma 2:24)
(Image
C – NO Caption
Now
the word “course” is much the same today as it was in 1828 when it was defined
as “The direction of motion; line of advancing; point of compass, in which
motion is directed,” thus showing that the Lamanites were coming from their own
land, the Land of Nephi, and heading through the mountains between the two
lands, on a “course” for the Land of Zarahemla. In so doing, they became
visible to those on the north side of the hills, and the frightened
non-combatant Nephites were running from the Lamanites (Alma 2:26). The
intruding Lamanites joined the Amlicites and engaged the Nephite army as they
crossed out of the Land of Nephi and across the Sidon into the Land of Gideon
(Alma 2:26-27).
Following
a vicious battle between the Nephites and the Lamanites/Amlicites, the Nephites
crossed from the east to the west into the Land of Zarahemla, but they were yet
nowhere near the city of Zarahemla, as the frightened Lamanites fled westward “before
the Nephites towards the wilderness which was west and north, away beyond the
borders of the land; and the Nephites did pursue them with their might, and did
slay them” (Alma 2:36). The Nephites drove the Lamanites into the wilderness
called Hermounts (Alma 2:37). Now after the ensuing battle, the Npehites buried
their dead and they “all returned to their lands and to their houses, and their
wives, and their children” (Alma 3:1).
Obviously,
if the city of Zarahemla was on the west bank of the Sidon River, this battle
would have been around the city, not to the north in the wilderness of
Hermounts.
All
this, of course, illustrates that the Sidon River flowed northward, with its
“head” or “headwaters” in the mountains or hills south of Zarahemla in the
Narrow Strip of Wilderness, and ran by the Land of Zarahemla, meaning it had to
have been flowing northward.
Comment:
“A
group ostensibly consisting of the very young and old with "their
flocks" and some belongings, could travel from the land of Nephi
"down" through a "strip" of wilderness to the land of
Zarahemla in less than 21 days, showing the Land of Promise was not as large as
your South America.”
Response:
First, the Land of Promise was an island in 600 BC, as Jacob so states (2 Nephi
10:20). Second, the Andean region of western South America was also an island
at one time as numerous geologists point out.
As pointed out in a
recent post, “We now know
scientifically and geologists agree that much of South America was underwater
and at some time in the distant past rose up out of the water to its present
configuration. We also know that at this time, the Andes mountains, which are
the youngest mountains in the world, formed, that the seas that once covered
the central continent receded, and that these events occurred recently in
geologic time. We also know from new research by Carmala Garzione of the
University of Rochester that points to a rapid surface uplift of mountain
ranges that the Andes “spurted up,” and “not through a continuous gradual
uplift of the surface, as was traditionally thought” (Carmala Garzione, “Andes
Mountains Formed by Growth Spurts,” Earth
and Planetary Science Letters, Newscenter, University of Rochester, April
21, 2014). In fact, from 2006-2008, Garzione and several colleagues provided
the first estimates of the timing and rates of the surface uplift of the
central Andes in the article “Mountain Ranges Rise Much More Rapidly than
Geologists Expected” (Andrew Leier, et al., “Stable isotope evidence for multiple pulses
of rapid surface uplift in the Central Andes,” Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol.371-372, Elsevier, June
2013, pp49-58).
The only qualifier is the difference between
Biblical time and geologic time, the former being given by God, the latter by
man.
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