Sign up to get emails
 |
| Subscribe to BMAF |
| Visit this group |
Site Counter
- Site Counter: 158,842
- Unique Visitor: 19,719
WHY MESOAMERICA?
Criteria for Book of Mormon Lands and People
There are several different 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.
* A Narrow Neck of Land
* A Major River flowing from South to North (1 Ne.2:27; Alma 2:15) originating from a 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 easily invading the Nephites who lived in many cities in and near the narrow strip of wilderness betweem 200 BC and 400 AD
* Two High Civilizations with Kings and Priests and City-States
* An Agricultural Base to Support Several Millions of People
* Two Highly Literate Societies (Written Language) with scribes as important officers 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.
* Surrounded by 4 seas
* Multiple, functional Calendar and Dating Systems
* A Merchant Class Using Weights and Measures tied to gold, silver and grain (Alma 11)
* Engineers to Build Temples, Towers, and Highways, using Cement (Click to see statement by John W Welch)
* Highly-skilled Craftsmen - Precious Metals, Stonework
* A Warrior Society - Great Battles, Structured Armies, Sophisticated Fortifications
* Legends of a White and Bearded God
* Must be in the Western Hemisphere but where Joseph Smith could not have known about it in 1829
* The winter climate must be bearable enough for Lamanite combatants to wear loin-cloths and shaven heads (Alma 3:5, 20-25)
* 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.
* The area of the northern culture must contain evidence of many cities made out of cement (Helaman 3:3-18)
* The area must have been visited by Columbus because he was led by the Lord to "the seed of my brethren who were in the promised land" (1 Ne. 13:12) It was the same promised land where the Lord guided the Nephites "...we did arrive at the promised land...and we did call it the promised land" (1 Ne. 18:23)
ANY BOOK OF MORMON LANDS PROPOSAL MUST INCLUDE ALL OF THE ABOVE TO BE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED.
* A Narrow Neck of Land
* A Major River flowing from South to North (1 Ne.2:27; Alma 2:15) originating from a 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 easily invading the Nephites who lived in many cities in and near the narrow strip of wilderness betweem 200 BC and 400 AD
* Two High Civilizations with Kings and Priests and City-States
* An Agricultural Base to Support Several Millions of People
* Two Highly Literate Societies (Written Language) with scribes as important officers 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.
* Surrounded by 4 seas
* Multiple, functional Calendar and Dating Systems
* A Merchant Class Using Weights and Measures tied to gold, silver and grain (Alma 11)
* Engineers to Build Temples, Towers, and Highways, using Cement (Click to see statement by John W Welch)
* Highly-skilled Craftsmen - Precious Metals, Stonework
* A Warrior Society - Great Battles, Structured Armies, Sophisticated Fortifications
* Legends of a White and Bearded God
* Must be in the Western Hemisphere but where Joseph Smith could not have known about it in 1829
* The winter climate must be bearable enough for Lamanite combatants to wear loin-cloths and shaven heads (Alma 3:5, 20-25)
* 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.
* The area of the northern culture must contain evidence of many cities made out of cement (Helaman 3:3-18)
* The area must have been visited by Columbus because he was led by the Lord to "the seed of my brethren who were in the promised land" (1 Ne. 13:12) It was the same promised land where the Lord guided the Nephites "...we did arrive at the promised land...and we did call it the promised land" (1 Ne. 18:23)
ANY BOOK OF MORMON LANDS PROPOSAL MUST INCLUDE ALL OF THE ABOVE TO BE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED.
So-called DNA "Proofs" using unsubstantiated theories, convoluted explanations of the definition of "the promised land", claims that Mesoamerican proponents ignore statements by the Prophet Joseph Smith (Click here to see what Joseph Smith really said about Mesoamerica) and claims that primitive hunter/gatherer Adena and Hopewell groups are the Jaredites and Nephites do not qualify as evidences of Book of Mormon geography.