Jaredites in Nephite Times – Part I

 

John L. Sorenson speaking on his book of a Mayan Nephite location for the Land of Promise

 

There are certain beliefs and opinions theorists have that do not match the scriptural record, yet they are promoted as facts. As an example, John L. Sorenson, the guru of a Land of Promise location in Mesoamerica, and promoter of such in his teaching at BYU, creates his own theory by inserting his own geographical terrain into the Book of Mormon descriptions of the Land Northward. To do this he asks and answers his own Mesoamerican question:

“It may seem strange, looking at a map, that the Nephites did not concern themselves with the highland mass constituting the western half of the land northward, which had included the Moron of the Jaredites. The reason is probably simple: few, if any Nephites or allied lineages were located there. Those who did inhabit it would have been mainly unrelated in lineage and probably also in language.

His statement covers the following inaccuracies:

1. A highland mass covering the western half of the land northward;
Inaccuracy: First, there is no mention in the scriptural record of a highland mass in the western part of the Land Northward; Second, there is no mention of any physical or geographical division in the Land Northward; third, the description of the Land Northward indicates a sea to the west, suggesting a lowland area, not highland to the west;

2. The Jaredite city was located in a highland mass;

Inaccuracy: The Jaredites landed (Ether 6:12) and “they went forth upon the face of the land, and began to till the earth” (Ether 6:13, emphasis added), which suggests they remained in the area of their landing near the seashore. While, the city of Moron may have been in the mountains, that is not certain—it is only mentioned that it was elevated above the area of the seashore landing, as in:

Corihor Marching up to Moron to battle the king

 

“when he had gathered together an army he came up unto the land of Moron where the king dwelt, and took him captive, which brought to pass the saying of the brother of Jared that they would be brought into captivity” (Ether 7:5, emphasis added). The point is, we do not know the elevation, placement or location of the Jaredite city of Moron

3. “Few, if any Nephites dwelled in the land of Moron.”

Inaccuracy: Several Nephite-occupied cities in the Land Northward are mentioned by Mormon in his book that the Nephites passed by in their retreat, but none can be tied to the city of Moron. In addition, no Nephites are mentioned in Ether, so there is no way such a conclusion can be made. On the other hand, Mormon states that: “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), suggesting that there would be no area they did not occupy—suggesting a sea to the west as well as a sea to the east in the Land Northward;

4. “There were non-Nephite lineages allied to the Nephites in 350 AD;”

Inaccuracy: There is no question that no other lineage occupied the Land of Promise as described in the Book of  Mormon—those that did were: Jaredites, Mulekites, Nephites, and Lamanites. In addition, after their demise, Jaredites are not mentioned in any way, other than Corianthumr, who died in the Mulekite city of Zarahemla before Mosiah (Nephites) ever reached there. In addition, there is no suggestion or statement that there was any overlap of Jaredites living into the Nephite era. And there is certainly nothing in the scriptural record to lead any theorist to believe that there were, yet despite this fact, the theorists believe that there were.

5. “People unrelated to the Nephites lived in the area of Moron”;

Inaccuracy:  Who lived in the area of Moron after the Jaredite civil war that ended in their complete annihilation, is not known. It certainly was not Jaredites—they no longer existed, and since Lamanites were to the south, it would not have been them—so that leaves only Nephites once they moved into the Land Northward (after 200 BC), specifically in 65 BC for the purpose of inheriting the land (Helaman 3:3).

6. “People who spoke a different language than the Nephites lived in the area of Moron.”

Inaccuracy: There is no indication of this, neither in the location or the language in the scriptural record. In addition, there is no specific indication of the language the the Jaredites spoke, and the Nephites spoke Hebrew (Mormon9:33), the language spoken at Jerusalem (1 Nephi 1:2), and wrote the record in the (reformed) language of the Egyptians (Mormon 9:32)

Outskirts settlement in the Land of Moron

 

7. “These people living in the area of Moron were descended from the Jaredites.”
Inaccuracy: Again, there is no indication of lineage, neither in the location or the language in the scriptural record—in fact, Moron is not mentioned or described by in any way.

8. “We know from linguistic and archaeological study that it was occupied by groups descended in part from Jaredite times.”

Inaccuracy: Again, there is no indication of lineage during Nephite times descended from the Jareidtes anywhere—neither in the area of Moron or anywhere else.

All of these unprecedented, unsupportable, and non-doctrinal speculations that are completely made up by Mesoamerican theorists, including Sorenson, as shown above, that rely on the history of Mesoamerica, and not the scriptural record to determine the history of the Land of Promise—create a hardened theory from which these theorists cannot and will not retreat, and as a result are forced to change the language and intent of the Book of Mormon to support their model.

These are simply speculative assertions that Sorenson and the others continually make. There is no scriptural reference to indicate any of these points. Yet, Sorenson continues:

 “At least it is quite certain that the Zapotecs and various language relatives of theirs were already established in the highlands, although that point is not settled.”

It should be noted that “quite certain” is defined as “completely sure of something,” on the other hand, “not settled” means “not decided nor determined—undecided.” So Sorenson is saying: “It is completely certain that the Zapotecs and various language relatives of theirs were already established in the highlands though this is still undecided.” Or, “It is completely certain that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the Narrow Neck of Land, though this has not been determined.” Or, “It is certain that indigenous people occupied the Land of Promise before during and after Lehi landed, though this has not been determined and is still undecided.”

This kind of double-talk is found throughout their writings, tours, and books. How can something be “quite certain” yet “not settled?” This is the kind of language theorists use to try and prove their points. Stated differently, they are stating that “unsettled points that are quite certain” show that unrelated Nephite languages existed in the land northward around 350 A.D. and that these unrelated languages show that Nephites  lived in this area-but that is not well established.

This is why it is recommended that the scriptural record be used for the basis of all maps, models, theories and opinions. That does not mean one can use a scripture but change it to mean something else. As an example: Cardinal north—shown in Nephi’s use of south-southeast (1 Nephi 16:13), which Sorenson replaced with his “Mormon North” skewing the Cardinal points 90º to the east.

In fact, in the Scriptural Record there is no indication, no record, no reference, not even a hint of suggestion that any indigenous or non-Nephite people, culture or languages, existed in the land of promise during the Book of Mormon record. As a result, it can be suggested that none existed within the Land of Promise, for none are mentioned in over 500 pages by numerous prophet-historians, and in his abridgement, Mormon provides not a single word to indicate their existence.