There are three major theories held among scholars as to the location of Lehi’s Isle of Promise or the Land of Promise found in the Book of Mormon. Each of these three models or locations have glaring gaps in their theories.
1) Great Lakes: Some place the geography of the book in western New York and surrounding the Great Lakes. This theory was popularized by Phyllis Carol Olive and Delbert W. Curtis;
2) Heartland: Some place the geography of the book in the heartland of the United States, east of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. This theory is popularized by Rod Meldrum and Bruce H. Porter;
3) Mesoamerica: Some place the geography in Mesoamerica, which covers southern Mexico, Yucatan, Guatemala, and western Honduras. This theory was popularized by John L. Sorenson, David A. Palmer, and others at BYU.
In addition, other theories include the Baja California Peninsula; the Malaysian Peninsula; or the Florida Peninsula;
Obviously, they all can’t be right, although they could all be wrong. The only criteria to use to determine the accuracy of a location is the Book of Mormon scriptural record, which describes both the Land of Promise and much of what was found there.
The first thing that has to be excepted and cannot be changed, ignored or explained away, is that the writers of the scriptural record from Nephi to Mormon and Moroni, lived in the Land of Promise, the latter ones knowing the complete expanse of the land, with Mormon having been born in the Land Northward and also lived in the Land Southward, and was a military leader of the Nephite army which fought from the Land of Zarahemla through to the Land of Cumorah, almost the entire length of the Land of Promise.
Thus, Mormon especially, and the others as well, would have intimately known the land of which they wrote, its location, description, configuration, and appearance. Consequently, we are obligated to follow their descriptions and locations without change or alteration, or trying to explain away what does not agree with one's beliefs—Sorenson’s extensive explanation why his Land of Promise (Mesoamerica) was shaped east to west, rather than north to south as Mormon states. Further, the only way this matching can be done is to use all of the references found in the scriptural record and not just use the ones that seem to match one area or another. As an example:
1. The Land of Promise, at the time of Jacob, sometime between 559 and 545 B.C., was an island (2 Nephi 10:20). There is no disputing this statement without trying to change the obvious meaning of the scriptural record where Jacob said, “We are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea. But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren” (2 Nephi 10:20, emphasis added).
Despite how much Mesoamerican and other theorists try to either ignore this or attempt to discredit it, or change its meaning, the statement must hold true to the way it was written. Thus, at the time Jacob spoke this, the Land of Promise was an island! If not, why did the Spirit guiding Joseph Smith’s translation allow the word “isle” to be used when something other than the meaning of “isles” (Webster 1828: A tract of land surrounded by water, or a detached portion of land embosomed in the ocean) was given? Certainly the Spirit was not involved in some false meaning, which is what theorists claim by not accepting Joseph Smith’s translation that was verified by the Spirit.
2. The Land of Promise at the time of Helaman, about 46 B.C., had four distinct seas, each lying in a cardinal direction. That is, “They 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, emphasis added). This cannot be altered by claiming the sea north was simply a higher part of the sea east (such as the Heartland theorists), nor that the four seas were all in one basic area (such as the Great Lakes theorists), or that there were only two seas, not four, (such as the Mesoamerican theorists).
It is important to keep in mind that the purpose of Helaman’s statement was to show that the entire Land of Promise was inhabited and covered with people. Thus, at the time Helaman wrote this, the Land of Promise was surrounded by water. This point is non-debatable unless we are prepared to show that the scriptural record was not inspired by the Spirit and the writers following the path of other prophets who have been so guided.
3. The Land of Promise has a narrow neck of land between the Land Southward and the Land Northward, which was narrow enough that “it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite” (Alma 22:32), which could not possibly be more than 50 miles wide as described (averaging 2.8 miles an hour for 18 hours—12 straight hours one day and six straight hours the next morning), and probably much less than that, say about 30 miles (1.7 miles an hour for 18 hours). By comparison, Mesoamerica at 140 miles would be a pace of 7.8 miles an hour for 18 hours. No amount of claims about special runners that could cover greater distances, can be used to try and alter the simple meaning of Mormon’s statement, which was obviously meant to tell a future reader the width of that narrow neck of land (a man’s walking pace would not change over time).
4. In the Land of Promise there was the Land of Bountiful to the south of the narrow neck and the Land of Desolation to the north of the narrow neck “Thus the land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful” (Alma 22:31). No amount of trying to explain away the actual directions stated by Mormon can be used to try and alter this simple fact, that the Land of Promise ran north and south. Mesoamerican theorists erroneously have their land running east and; the Great Lakes theorists have their Land of Bountiful east of their Land of Zarahemla, and west of their Land of Nephi; and the Heartland theorists have their Land of Bountiful on the east of their Land of Zarahemla.
5. The Land of Promise has a West Sea that extends so far south, no indication in the scriptural record suggests that the Land of Promise extended beyond the point where Lehi landed, which was “on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore” (Alma 22:28). This was not only the place of the Lamanites’ first inheritance, but also that of the Nephites (Alma 54:12-13). In addition, we know that this West Sea is the same sea over which Nephi’s ship sailed, for Jacob tells us “for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea” (2 Nephi 10:20).
Mesomaerican theorists have Lehi landing along the south, not the west sea; Heartland theorists also have Lehi landing along the south; Great Lakes theorists have Lehi landing in Lake Erie when there is no way a ship could get there in 600 BC.
6. In the Land of Promise, the land to the south, called the Land Southward, was made up primarily of the Land of Zarahemla and the Land of Nephi, which were surrounded by water except for a “small neck of land”—“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, emphasis added).
Regarding the Land of Bountiful, Mormon writes “That I, being eleven years old, was carried by my father into the land southward, even to the land of Zarahemla” (Mormon 1:6, emphasis added), skipping over the Land of Bountiful as though it were a secondary location. The point being that Zarahemla, was the Nephite capitol, and sometimes the Land of Zarahemla is used to mean all the land between the Land of Nephi and the narrow neck of land. Obviously, this was the intent of Alma’s insertion when he said all that land was nearly surrounded by water except for the narrow neck of land. Obviously, then, the Land Southward was not flanked by two seas as Mesoamericanists claim, but surrounded by water except for the narrow neck. Nor is it a small lake in the north and not surrounding their Land Southward as both Heartland and Great Lakes theorists claim.
(See the next post, ”When Are We Going to Rely on Fact Rather than Theory – Part II,” for item #7 in the differences between theorists’ beliefs and Mormon’s facts)
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