Continuation of the list of items regarding the matching of the scriptural record: 1 thru 27 are in the previous posts. Here we continue with 28 below:
(28) Volcanoes and Earthquakes. Some Theorists claim there were no volcanoes mentioned in the scriptural record. That is like a Colonial American saying there are no telephones—or seeing a telephone working, trying to explain it and more importantly, trying to name it. Most likely, if one today was writing to future readers, he would try to describe its use or how it works, or the result of its use.
In 34 AD, the Disciple Nephi was faced with this dilemma when he observed the destruction in the Land of Promise at the time of the crucifixion. He didn’t have such words and phrases at his disposal as volcano, volcanic eruption, pumice. ashfall, tephra, magma,
melted rock, volcanism, lava, epicenter, rock fragments, tectonic, or gas. It would have been the same problem if he tried to describe an earthquake since that word did not exist anciently even in Biblical or Classical Hebrew—a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages, spoken by the Israelites west of the Jordan River and east of the Mediterranean Sea. Today, the word “volcano” is volcan (הר געש),which literally means “raging mountain,” or (הַר פְּרָצִים), which literally means “mountain burst.”
Of these two events, eruption of a volcano and an earthquake, the ancient psalmists wrote: “The One who glances at the earth and it shakes; who touches the mountains and they let out smoke” (Psalms 104, emphasis added.
The interesting point is that the result of an earthquake is described in the incident of the darkness that was to come: “The people began to look with great earnestness for the sign which had been given by the prophet Samuel, the Lamanite, yea, for the time that there should be darkness for the space of three days over the face of the land” (3 Nephi 8:3, emphasis added).
When the Lord was crucified in Jerusalem, the event had an effect on the Land of Promise. As Nephi the Disciple wrote: “When the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease—for behold, they did last for about the space of three hours; and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours—and then behold, there was darkness upon the face of the land” (3 Nephi 8:19, emphasis added).
Compare this with the scientific definition of a volcano eruption which, incidentally, are typically heralded by earthquake swarms. They indicate the motion of molten rock beneath the surface. During the eruption, lava, heated gases and ash are mixed together in a "pyroclastic flow." The ash and pumice, along with a heavy feel of vapor, can extinguish light in a blinding darkness that can last hours or even days. At Mt. St. Helens, the first warning sign was a 4.1 magnitude earthquake striking underneath the mountain, signaling the first warning sign that the volcano had reawakened—60 days later, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck under Mt. St. Helens and within ten seconds, the bulge and surrounding area fell away in a gigantic, rock avalanche. The avalanche created a gap in the mountain, allowing the release of pent-up pressure that erupted laterally in a huge blast of pumice and ash. Within ten minutes, the plume of ash had reached 10 miles high with the eruption lasting nine hours.
It should be noted that while volcanoes exist in nearly the entire length of western South America, and also in Central and Mesoamerica, they are almost non-existent in North America, except for the west coast, except for Hawaii and 90 in Alaska alone. In fact, there are three main sections of the U.S. that tend to experience volcanic activity—the U.S. Geological Survey ranked 18 volcanoes as "very high" threats these three regions of Alaska, Hawaii and the Cascades—the vast majority of active volcanoes in the Lower 48 states are in the Cascade Range, a mountain chain stretching from southern British Columbia to Northern California.
This is a major reason why Heartland and Great Lakes theorists try to claim 3 Nephi 8 does not state “volcano,” yet they are obviously described.
In addition, Heartland and Great Lakes theorists pay no attention to the Land of Promise being racked with earthquakes since their location does not have earthquakes. Their argument lies in the fact that the word “earthquake” does not appear in the Book of Mormon, yet ignore the fact that there was no such word known to the ancient writers. Thus, they used such terms as: “insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder” (3 Nephi 8:6, emphasis added); “the whole face of the land was changed, because of the…exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth” (3 Nephi 8:12, emphasis added); “and many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain“ (3 Nephi 8:14, emphasis added); “thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the…quaking of the earth” (3 Nephi 8:17,19, emphasis added).
For those who have been in serious earthquakes, the words quake and shake are perfect definitions of an earthquake and so is “move up and down or from side to side with rapid, forceful, jerky movements.” The 1828 dictionary states an “earthquake” is:
“A shaking, trembling or concussion of the earth; sometimes a slight tremor; at other times a violent shaking or convulsion; at other times a rocking or heaving of the earth.” In addition, earthquakes almost always precede a volcano; in fact, there are what is called “earthquake swarms,” that occur beneath and precede the volcano outbursts. As an example:
An earthquake swarm hit El Salvador in 2017, involving 500 earthquakes within a two-day period, many in the 5.1 range. In 2008, Nevada was hit with a swarm of 1000 low-magnitude quakes, the biggest 4.7 magnitude. Another swarm hit Riverside County California containing 22,000 quakes as high as 4.7 on the Richter Scale. These earthquake swarms can last many hours to several days.
Thus, “this quaking of the entire earth (Land of Promise) suggests an earthquake, since nothing else shakes the earth like an earthquake. For those who have been in a severe quake know, quakes shake, knocking things over, off walls and shelves, damage and topple large buildings.
The magnitude of an earthquake is related to the length of the fault on which it occurs. That is, the longer the fault, the larger the earthquake. The largest earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 9.5 in 1960 along the western coast of Chile on a fault almost 1,000 miles long—a “megaquake” in its own right. It should be noted that quakes of magnitude 10 or larger cannot happen. . A fault is a break in the rocks that make up the Earth's crust, along which rocks on either side have moved past each other. No fault long enough to generate a magnitude 10 earthquake is known to exist, and if it did, it would extend around most of the planet.
(See the next post, “The Absolute Necessity of Matching Scripture – Part XI,” for the continuation of the list of items regarding the matching of the scriptural record)
The things you describe here are modern day observations of after effects of the cataclysm. They are not similar or comparable events.
ReplyDeleteWe must be careful not to impose our experiences, observations, and words onto the descriptions that are perfectly given by the prophets and translated into our language by the guidance of the Spirit.
Uniformitarian arguments, that modern day observation describes past events, are not applicable here. Modern day observations of volcanoes and earthquakes do not tell us what happened in Book of Mormon times. Modern day observations describe the after effects of the cataclysm, not the cause of it.
The Chilean earthquake is a perfect example. It had an epicenter on a large fault. Did the quaking of the entire earth described in the Book of Mormon have an epicenter on a fault line? Or did it, as Samuel perfectly states, create seams and cracks above and beneath? The Chilean earthquake is an example of a localized quake (and e very big one) but is not an event similar or compatible to the cataclysm. Modern day observations and speculations of volcanic processes are also not representative of the cataclysm. After all, those modern theories attribute observed volcanic processes to events spanning tens of millions of years. Have we observed a single birth of a new volcano? No. We're told that we only observe "young" volcanoes that have been forming over the last few million years.
Volcanoes in the Land of Promise were not the cause of the cataclysm. They're more likely a result of the cataclysm. Fault lines where we observe modern earthquakes in the Land of Promise were not a cause of the cataclysm. They are a result of the cataclysm. Just like the very high mountains in the Land of Promise are a result of the cataclysm. We should not confuse after effects with the event itself.
Your work in this blog is wonderful and life changing, so when approaching the cataclysm, be careful not to use the same approach that you often criticize when employed by other theorists. Don't decide what you want first (like volcanoes to be the cause of the cataclysm and thus a requirement of the model), and then say why it's okay that the written word doesn't exactly match, just because "they didn't use the same words that we use." That methodology is used to the extreme by heartland or Mesoamerican theorists, but not here. Like the current series is stating, there is an absolute necessity of matching scripture.
3 Nephi 8 immaculately describes the event. Let the words of the witnesses tell you what happened rather than interpreting the text to arrive where you want.
The modern landscape of the Land of Promise indeed bares the scars of the cataclysm, and those scars can tell us things. Yet scars are not the cause...they are the after effects. It is highly likely that there was no word for "volcano" among the Nephites because their experience lacked the context for such a word. The appearance of volcanic cones fed by vents (fissures) through the crust to the mantle was most likely a scar of what they described: a storm, even a tempest.
"...and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder.
And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land."
Thunder shook the earth. Earth shaking didn't "sound like thunder." Did they confuse cause and effect?
"...the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth;"
Land was changed BECAUSE OF the tempest. Because of the whirlwinds. Because of the thundering and lightning. Because of the quaking of the whole earth (not a local epicenter).
Anyway...I get triggered by the use of modern observation to defend a Land of Promise model, even if it's the right model, so forgive me for volcanically venting 😁