2010 8th ANNUAL BOOK OF MORMON CONFERENCE

PRESENTS THE


150 W 500 S
 Salt Lake City                                     
Keynote speaker begins promptly at 9 am.  Last speaker ends at 5:30 pm


Registration (8am-9am) at front door is $40. Pre-registration using this website is $35 (see below).  Lunch is included.  We highly recommend that you pre-register on this site.

   
  KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Richard Lyman Bushman, PhD

"The Gold Plates in Mormon Thought and Culture"


Graduated Magna Cum Laude, Harvard University,
PhD from Harvard University, currently Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University.
Author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (The New York Times says, 'Remarkable'); The Joseph Smith Papers; Mormonism, A Very Short Introduction; On the Road with Joseph Smith; The Refinement of America; Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism and many papers and co-editors.
Professor of History at Brigham Young University, Boston University, University of Delaware, and Columbia University.
Recepient of many awards including the Bancroft Prize and Guggenheim Award

BELOW ARE A FEW OF BROTHER BUSHMAN'S BOOKS:
JOSEPH SMITH ROUGH STONE ROLLING
THE REFINEMENT OF AMERICA
MORMONS IN AMERICA
BELIEVING HISTORY-  LDS ESSAYS
THE JOSEPH SMITH PAPERS

FEATURED SPEAKER:

Ugo Perego, PhD

Director of Operations and Study Research Coordinator 
Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation

"The general issue of DNA and Book of Mormon in light of the most recent scientific data, including the flaws in DNA-based theories supporting a specific geographic location for the events narrated in the Book of Mormon itself."


PRESENTERS:

Daniel Johnson 
"Gold and Gold Plates in Mesoamerica"

Ted Stoddard, PhD
"The Heartland Model vs the Mesoamerica Model"

Chris Heimerdinger  
"American nationalism and Book of Mormon geography"

Douglas Christensen
 "The Olmec, the Jaredites and the Origins of Quetzalcoatl"

BOOK STORE                                              SILENT AUCTION
(Hundreds of titles)                                                                     (many valuable treasures)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE

What's New at BMAF?

 WHAT'S NEW AT BMAF?


(1). BMAF E-MAIL ARTICLES:

(2). NEWSPAPER ARTICLES IN MORMON TIMES AND SOME RESPONSES:
      Mormon Times articles by Michael De Groote and comments


(3).  BMAF ON YOU TUBE:
    IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT CUMORAH  segment 1
     IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT CUMORAH  segment 2
     IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT CUMORAH  segment 3

(4). ALL BMAF ARTICLES LISTED BY SUBJECT MATTER click here


(5). NEW ARTICLES WRITTEN WITHIN THE PAST FEW MONTHS, LISTED BELOW:

Book of Mormon Statements with Mesoamerica and US Heartland Comparisons
by Stephen L. Carr  click here for sketch of author

Critical Criteria for Identifying the New World Lands of the Book of Mormon

 by Ted Dee Stoddard

Amazing Middle Eastern Connection: Measuring Mesoamerica by the Cubit

by V Garth Norman
A to Z,  Mesoamerican locale in a nutshell by Diane Wirth, MA

COLUMBUS in THE PROMISED LAND
by  Joe V. Andersen  click here for a biographical sketch of author

Footprint of Zarahemla Article One (Misinformation about Book of Mormon geography)

 by  Joe V. Andersen  click here for a biographical sketch of author

Footprint of Zarahemla Article Two (The Narrow Strip of Wilderness)

 by  Joe V. Andersen  click here for a biographical sketch of author

Why the Mississippi River cannot be the River Sidon

 by  Joe V. Andersen  click here for a biographical sketch of author

Book of Mormon Traditions Found Only in Mesoamerica

  by Diane E. Wirth


EVIDENCES THAT THE BOOK OF MORMON TOOK PLACE IN MESOAMERICA

Criteria for Book of Mormon Lands and People

There are several theories held among Latter-day Saints for the location of Book of Mormon lands. Some place the geography of the book in upstate New York or near the Great Lakes. Others look to Peru and South America, or to the Baja Peninsula, or Texas and some even propose the Malaysian Peninsula. BMAF supports a Mesoamerican context for the major Book of Mormon sites. Other locations may meet some of the following criteria, but only Mesoamerica meets all these elements required by the book itself.  This list of criteria is not a cafeteria list.  Any Book of Mormon lands proposal must be able to demonstrate all.
  (1) A Major River flowing from South to North (Alma 2:15, 22:27)
(2) A Major River originating from a mountainous narrow strip of wilderness that runs from "the sea east even to the sea west" and serves as a natural feature providing protection from the Lamanites (Alma 50:11)
  (3) Two High Civilizations with Kings and Priests and City-States with scribes as important officers and evidence of many major cities surrounding the Narrow strip of mountainous wilderness.  No other theory can show this fact.
  (4) The area of the northern culture must contain evidence of many cities made out of cement. (Helaman 3:3-18,)
John W. Welch, one of the original founders of FARMS, current Editor in Chief of BYU Studies and the discoverer of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon makes the following statement, January, 2010:
When people approach me with questions about the Great Lakes model of Book of Mormon geography, this is my standard response:

“Helaman chapter 3 requires a vast area north of the narrow neck where cement was the primary construction material because timber was scarce. Large cities were built almost entirely of cement. Cement structures deteriorate slowly, so even after hundreds or thousands of years, some ruins remain. In the Central Valley of Mexico, north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, I have visited the ruins of enormous cities dating from Book of Mormon times that were built almost entirely of cement.
Show me the ancient ruins of large cement cities around the Great Lakes. There are none. So, we can categorically dismiss the Great Lakes model because we are only interested in concrete Book of Mormon evidences.”
John W. Welch
  (5) Two Highly Literate (Written Language) Societies living adjacent to but separate from each other between 550 BC and 200 BC, one of which lived "far northward" from the other.  They must have coexisted for at least 250 years
  (6) A small, narrow neck of land dividing the land Northward from the land Southward (Alma 22:32, Heleman 3:8, Ether 10:20)
  (7) Multiple, functional Calendar and Dating Systems
  (8) A Merchant Class Using Weights and Measures tied to gold, silver and grain     (Alma 11)
  (9) Engineers to Build Temples, Towers, and Highways, using Cement  (Click to see statement by John W Welch)
  (10) Highly-skilled Craftsmen - working with Precious Metals, Stonework (Hel.6:11)
  (11) A Warrior Society - Great Battles, Structured Armies, Sophisticated Fortifications
  (12) Legends of a White and Bearded God
  (13) Must be in the Western Hemisphere but where Joseph Smith could not have known about it in 1829
  (14) The winter climate must be bearable enough for Lamanite combatants to wear loin-cloths and shaven heads (Alma 3:5, 20-25)
  (15) The land must show evidence of susbstantial gold and silver in the Land of First Inheritance, the Land of Nephi, the land of Zarahemla and the land of the Jaredites. (Helaman 6:9)
  (16) An Agricultural Base to support several millions of people, Columbus having visited the area.     (1 Nephi 13:12)
   ANY BOOK OF MORMON LANDS PROPOSAL MUST INCLUDE ALL OF THE ABOVE TO BE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED
        

WHY THE GREAT LAKES/HEARTLAND MODEL CANNOT BE CORRECT
  (1) no major river running South to North, Mississippi River flows North to South
  (2) no mountainous strip of wilderness that can hide Gadianton robbers, defend against Lamanites and serve as military dividing line for Captain Moroni (Alma 22:33-34,50:11)
  (3) very little gold and silver east of the Mississippi
  (4) no evidence of cement buildings anywhere in eastern U.S. or Canada, archaeologists have determined that the vast majority of discovered archaeological sites dating to the time period of the Book of Mormon are located in Mesoamerica
  (5) no evidence that Adena and Hopewell co-existed for 250 years     We make a grave mistake in trying to piece together the historical puzzle of the Book of Mormon if we ignore the traditional history of Mesoamerica.
  (6) Adena and Hopewell were not true civilizations, but were small, loosely knit, family related units with no evidence of a written language. The area in and around the Isthmus of Tehuantepec constituted the embryo for both the calendar system and the written language of the Americas. This fact alone virtually eliminates any other geographical area from being considered as “lands of the Book of Mormon."
  (7) So-called DNA "Proofs" use unsubstantiated theories
  (8)  Joseph Smith's last statement about Book of Mormon geography points us to Mesoamerica  (click here to see what Joseph Smith said about Mesoamerica)

(9)  Columbus was directed to "the promised land", yet he never visited North America

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