Continuation of the list of items regarding the matching of the scriptural record: 1 thru 20 are in the previous posts. Here we continue with 22 below:
(22) Narrow Pass. In order to understand the Narrow Pass (Alma 50:34; Mormon 3:5) and Passage (Mormon 2:29), we need to understand the five main points about the Narrow Neck of Land:
• It was small (Alma 22:32);
• It was narrow (Alma 63:5);
• It was located where the sea divides the land (Ether 10:20);
• It was the only land connection between the Land Southward and the Land Northward (Alma 22:32);
• It had a sea on each side, one to the east and one to the west (Alma 50:34).
With these five points in mind, it is clear that Mormon is describing the overall Land of Promise, i.e., there were two large land masses, one to the north and one to the south (Land Northward and Land Southward), with a small and narrow neck of land in between where the sea divided these two land masses, which kept the Land Southward from being completely surrounded by the sea.
Now since the Narrow Pass also ran from the Land Southward to the Land of Northward, it is obvious that this Narrow Pass ran through the Narrow Neck of Land. In addition, this Narrow Pass is also called a Narrow Passage.
Thus, a location for a Theorist’s Land of Promise would have to show a single Narrow Pass running the length of the Narrow Neck of Land between their land northward and land southward, providing egress and ingress from the Land Southward into or out of the Land Northward. It might also be noted that both Pass and Passage have the same meaning—as the 1828 dictionary has it:
• Pass: is a narrow or difficult place of entrance and exit; as a pass between mountains; a passage; a road.
• Passage: The act of passing or moving by land; as the passage of a man or a carriage; a road; way; avenue; a place where men or things may pass or be conveyed.
In Mesoamerica there is no such area that is so limited as being the single avenue of movement between the Land Southward and the Land Northward—the importance of this is borne out by the military action between Morianton and Teancum (Alma 50:33) in which the Narrow Pass within the Narrow Neck of Land played an important role.
Some Mesoamerican Theorists have more than one narrow neck of land and two or three passes—all of which is contrary to Mormon’s simple descriptions of a single small and narrow Neck and a single Pass. As an opposite example, some Mesoamerican Theorists have the Paseo Nueva Pass along the Gulf of Mexico and La Joya Neck of land along the Pacific Ocean.
In North America, Theorists have numerous suggested narrow necks and passes, however, in no area of the Heartland or Great Lakes is there a single narrow neck or single narrow pass.
Peru. On the other hand, in Peru there is a single area at the east end of the Gulf of Guayaquil where a small and narrow neck runs north and south between the shore and presently the steep mountains, and anciently, between two seas.
(23) Hagoth Ships Sailing North. Around 55 BC, a man named Hagoth built an exceedingly large ship that carried immigrants to a “land which was northward” (Alma 63:4). As Mormon stated: “And behold, there were many of the Nephites who did enter therein and did sail forth with much provisions, and also many women and children; and they took their course northward” (Alma 63:6, emphasis added). Note he did not write they went into the Land Northward, or sailed to the Land Northward.
In these few verses, “a land which was northward” and “took their course northward” are different than “the Land Northward.” Note the latter relates to the location of the Narrow Neck of Land, while the other two (not using the term “Land Northward”), refer to the land to which they sailed.
It should be noted that this difference is grammatically proper if the land to the north, or land which was northward, reference an unattached area of land. This is borne out by the wordage “And it came to pass that in this year there were many people who went forth into the land northward” (Alma 63:9, emphasis added), and “Corianton had gone forth to the land northward in a ship, to carry forth provisions unto the people who had gone forth into that land” (Alma 63:9, emphasis added), these being attached land.
The problem with these verses is that they do not match either Mesoamerica or the Heartland or Great Lakes. As an example, in Mesoamerica, with its east-west setting, to leave the area of their Narrow Neck of Land, a ship would have to sail 90 miles westward before being able to turn northwest, and further before being able to set a course fully northward.
Using the Theorists Land of Promise map, the Red Arrow shows the distance a ship leaving the Theorist's narrow neck of land and heading north would be a short distance. White Arrow shows a movement on foot to the same point. The cost of going by ship and going overland provides no reason to go by ship
In the Great Lakes, a ship sailing northward from their Narrow Neck of Land would mean the ship would cover only a few miles, from south to north across the lower tip of Lake Ontario—hardly a voyage worth making and certainly not worth building an exceedingly large ship to use. In addition, the Heartland model choice is to sail northward along the Mississippi River, a course impossible for an exceedingly large ship, or another model shows the Small Neck of Land to the far east, and the West Sea to the far west—hardly a match.
Peru. Only in Peru do we find where a narrow neck of land runs north and south and a ship leaving that area can immediately set a course northward. With Panama submerged at the time, a ship would travel to an unattached land in Central America.
(See the next post, “The Absolute Necessity of Matching Scripture – Part VIII,” for the continuation of the list of items regarding the matching of the scriptural record)
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