No Maps in the Book of Mormon

From FAIRMormon

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Contents 1 Criticism 1.1 Source(s) of the criticism 2 Response 3 Endnotes 4 Further reading 4.1 FAIR wiki articles 4.2 FAIR web site 4.3 Video 4.4 External links 4.5 Printed material

Criticism

Critics claim that the Church has no official position on geography of the Book of Mormon because the lands in the Book of Mormon never existed.

Source(s) of the criticism

Response

It is not required for salvation to know where the Book of Mormon took place. Critics often exaggerate the extent to which Biblical locations are known, and ignore the disadvantages under which New World archaeology labors compared to the Old World.

Critics also ignore that there is substantial evidence for the Old World accounts in the Book of Mormon that were not known in Joseph Smith's day.

Most LDS scholars believe that a Mesoamerican setting best matches the Book of Mormon data, but other models have been advanced by others. Given that the Church has no revealed geography outside the Book of Mormon text, it is unlikely that a "Church-endorsed" map will be published. This does not prevent other researchers from seeking the most plausible correlation, but such undertakings remain secular, not spiritual.

Endnotes

None

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Book of Mormon Geography

• Book of Mormon geography
  • Statements made by LDS leaders
    • First Presidency Letter
  • Old World
  • New World
    • Hemispheric geography theory (HGT)
    • Limited geography theory (LGT)
      • Plates to New York
      • Great Lakes geography?
        • Vernal Holley (1983) geography
      • DNA and geographic issues
        • Haplotype X2a?
    • Demographics and Population sizes
    • Lamanites in the Doctrine and Covenants
    • Borders of the Lamanites
    • Book of Mormon and the Mound Builders
    • Zarahemla near Nauvoo?
    • Zelph
    • Place names from Joseph's environment?
      • Comoros Islands and Moroni
• New World geography models in table form
• Historicity of Book of Mormon
• Archaeology and the Bible

FAIR web site

• FAIR Topical Guide: Archaeology and the Bible FAIR link
  
• FAIR Topical Guide: Book of Mormon geography FAIR link
  
• Brant Gardner, "Behind the Mask, Behind the Curtain: Uncovering the Illusion (Review of: The Bible vs. the Book of Mormon)," FARMS Review 17/2 (2005): 144–196. off-site PDF link FAIR link; originally available on FAIR link

Video

Journey of Faith, (Link to all FAIR Videos)

• Jerusalem, Lehi, and The Book of Mormon
• Nahom in The Book of Mormon
• Nephi's Bountiful in Arabia: The Book of Mormon
• The Book of Mormon and the New World
• Divine Kingship in Mesoamerica, and The Book of Mormon
• Jesus Christ in the New World (Book of Mormon)

External links

Printed material