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Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Culture
Response to "Difficult Questions for Mormons: General Questions"
| General Questions | A FAIR Analysis of: Difficult Questions for Mormons A work by author: The Interactive Bible
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Book of Mormon Metallurgy |
- Response to claim: "Why does the Book of Mormon mention Silk (Alma 1:29)?"
- Response to claim: "What about Chariots (Alma 18:9)? There is no evidence of actual wheeled vehicle usage in the 2,000 BC to 400 AD time frame in Ancient America"
- Response to claim: "Why does the Book of Mormon imply a seven day week (Mosiah 13:18) when it was not known to Ancient Americans?"
- Response to claim: "Why are Cimeters, an Old-World weapon of war, mentioned in Mosiah 9:16 and other verses when none have been found to exist in the New World?"
- Response to claim: "Why have some (like Elder Peterson and Elder Brewerton) used the Quetzalcoatl legend to "prove" the Book of Mormon's Christ when the Quetzalcoatl (or feathered serpent) legend dates to 1,000 years before the Book of Mormon's Christ?"
- Response to claim: "When the Nephites landed in the Americas there were already millions of inhabitants in the land with large cities and infrastructure. Why are these people not mentioned?"
- Response to claim: "Why didn't Nephi compare and contrast the New World with Jerusalem?"
Response to claim: "Why did the angel take Nephi Plates back to heaven?"
The author(s) of Difficult Questions for Mormons make(s) the following claim:
Response to claim: "Why does the Book of Mormon mention Silk (Alma 1:29)? LDS Apologist John Welch cites several New World fabrics as possible matches for Linen and Silk (Reexploring the Book of Mormon, pg. 162). Agave fibers and fig bark for Linen? Ceiba fibers, pineapple fibers and rabbit hair for Silk? Welch concludes with the staggering claim 'Mesoamerica evidently exhibits almost an embarrassment of riches for the "silk" and "linen" of Alma 1:29. All but the most trivializing critics should be satisfied with the parallels.' (pg. 164) My response to Welch: You'll have to forgive my trivializing nature but rabbit hair doesn't equal silk in my book."
FAIR's Response
Response to claim: "What about Chariots (Alma 18:9)? There is no evidence of actual wheeled vehicle usage in the 2,000 BC to 400 AD time frame in Ancient America"
The author(s) of Difficult Questions for Mormons make(s) the following claim:
Response to claim: "What about Chariots (Alma 18:9)? There is no evidence of actual wheeled vehicle usage in the 2,000 BC to 400 AD time frame in Ancient America."
FAIR's Response
Response to claim: "Why does the Book of Mormon imply a seven day week (Mosiah 13:18) when it was not known to Ancient Americans?"
The author(s) of Difficult Questions for Mormons make(s) the following claim:
Response to claim: "Why does the Book of Mormon imply a seven day week (Mosiah 13:18) when it was not known to Ancient Americans? The Mesoamericans used a variety of calendars, none of which match the Old World calendar. The Maya seemed to be oversupplied in the calendar department. One calendar consisted of a 260-day cycle divided into 13 'months' of twenty days. (This calendar was used by most of the ancient Mesoamericans). Each day was presided over by it's own god. Another consists of a 365-day cycle, also divided into 'months' of twenty days, eighteen of them in fact. The five leftover days were called the 'resting, or sleep of the year'. Another consists of a 3276-day cycle divided into four quadrants of 819 days (the product of 7*9*13, all sacred numbers to the Maya). And then, of course, there was the so-called 'long count' calendar, which simply counted days from the creation of the world (August 11, 3114 BC, if anyone wants to know). (Linda Schele, 'A Forest of Kings', pg. 78)."
FAIR's Response
Response to claim: "Why are Cimeters, an Old-World weapon of war, mentioned in Mosiah 9:16 and other verses when none have been found to exist in the New World?"
The author(s) of Difficult Questions for Mormons make(s) the following claim:
Response to claim: "Why are Cimeters, an Old-World weapon of war, mentioned in Mosiah 9:16 and other verses when none have been found to exist in the New World? John Sorenson cites a Mesoamerican 'maccuahuitl' for a Cimiter (An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, pg. 262). The Maccuahuitl was a hardwood club with obsidian blades. A Cimiter is a heavy, two-handed steel blade. What's wrong with this picture?"
FAIR's Response
Response to claim: "Why have some (like Elder Peterson and Elder Brewerton) used the Quetzalcoatl legend to "prove" the Book of Mormon's Christ when the Quetzalcoatl (or feathered serpent) legend dates to 1,000 years before the Book of Mormon's Christ?"
The author(s) of Difficult Questions for Mormons make(s) the following claim:
Response to claim: "Why have some (like Elder Peterson and Elder Brewerton) used the Quetzalcoatl legend to "prove" the Book of Mormon's Christ when the Quetzalcoatl (or feathered serpent) legend dates to 1,000 years before the Book of Mormon's Christ?"
FAIR's Response
Response to claim: "When the Nephites landed in the Americas there were already millions of inhabitants in the land with large cities and infrastructure. Why are these people not mentioned?"
The author(s) of Difficult Questions for Mormons make(s) the following claim:
Response to claim: "When the Nephites landed in the Americas there were already millions of inhabitants in the land with large cities and infrastructure. Why are these people not mentioned? The Book of Mormon seems to indicate that the continent was empty at the time. 2 Nephi 1:8 One wonders if 'knowledge' of the land had been kept from the natives who had already been there for thousands of years?"
FAIR's Response
Response to claim: "Why didn't Nephi compare and contrast the New World with Jerusalem?"
The author(s) of Difficult Questions for Mormons make(s) the following claim:
Response to claim: "Why didn't Nephi compare and contrast the New World with Jerusalem? These were two vastly different places."