The fight over Book of Mormon geography

Mormon Times ^ | May 27, 2010 | Michael DeGroote

[Godzilla]

From the article:"The way I look at Joseph Smith's statements is that he either knew or he didn't know. If he knew, he knew by revelation. And if he didn't know, you've got to ask yourself why he said the things that he said," Porter said. "If he didn't know, was he trying to show off? If he really didn't know, why was he telling people?
"My feeling is that Joseph Smith did not lie," Porter said.
If you don't agree with this line of reasoning, by implication, you think that Joseph lied.

This is really the crux of the debate. Smith made very specific claims and statements regarding the locations of some bom events - and they are not in central america. In fact, Meldrum's theory more closely matches the assumptions that smith altered his geography from local landmarks in the NY area in smith's time with followed by associted "altered" bom names

In fact, my first bom contained pictures of the great lake with a reference to the sea west and sea east.

[Colofornian]

Personally I think it will eventually be shown that central America is where it all took place. /shrug But it really doesn’t matter on tiny bit.

(And next you'll tell us it won't matter one tiny bit if the Book of Mormon geography actually occurred on Mars or another planet...that location is irrelevant? Why does any Mormon, then, assume that we're even talking about the American continent at all? Maybe all this took place in Canada somewhere, eh? Or maybe the "Lamanites" were the Eskimos in Northern Canadian, region, eh?)

[Godzilla]

Personally I think it will eventually be shown that central America is where it all took place. /shrug But it really doesn’t matter on tiny bit.

Or baja california, or Malay Pennesula? or even Africa or Polynesia? How about it occured in a land called 'no where'? In all these hundreds of years of search not one solid piece of evidence has been able to be produced that shows a hebraic/egyptian/middle eastern culture with advanced metallurgy, horses, old world crops (and no new world crops),chariots writing or customs has been found. Unless you want to start second guessing the prophet and the seer stone in a hat and say that horses were actually deer and that tapirs are courloms.

[svcw]

Ok, M. Discussing theology is not hostility.

If you chose to believe that it is ok to not point out that the lds beliefs are counter to Biblical Truth, its ok, it is your choice.

I am not nor have I ever been anti-mormon (being I have family who are lds) but adamantly anti-mormonISM.

I want my family and friends free from this bondage and no others sucked into the void.

You choose one way and I have chosen another, I strive that people be free.

[Osage Orange]

I've never seen that before....

Doesn't surprise me in the least...

Wow...P.T. Barnum was totally right.

[svcw]

Oh, thought I’d post the whole link so people could get the rest of the explanation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Mormonism

[Tennessee Nana]

Please point out where I said anything bad about Christians?
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Mormonism was started by Joey Smith as an anti-Chersitian religion...

it is based on his hatred for anything and anyone whom he considered a hinderance to his ego maniacal lust for women, money and power..

He had at least 40 adulterous affairs, he printed his own $3 bills and had his own bank scam., and controlled his followers in a Piped Piper atmosphere of David Koresh tactics and Mohammadan wannabe copycatism ..he also rewrote pats of the Chrstian Bible in ordser to write himself into the pages as a prophecised future prophet and “savior”..one of the beliefs in mormonism is that he is the one who decides who gets into the mormon afterlife And not Jesus...

He declared himself king of the world, said that shortly the whole world would bow to him, made himself mayor of Nauvoo, promoted himself from civilian to general of his 5,000 strong private militia of guerrillas ...and ran for president in 1844 sending “missionaries” to knock on doors for a campaign he prophecicied he would win..

His first railings were against the Christian Churches because they ex-communicated his whole family when they chose to help spread his “restored gospel” thay Jesus of the Bible is supposed to have “lost”..

What Presbyteriasn Church would put up with distortuions of Christianity being pronounced in their pulpits ???

About a year after he foun ded his new religion, in 1831, he had an adulterous affair. He may have had other women earlier also.

As an excuse to cheat on his wife, he wrote a new doctrine just for her, stating that his new “god” would destroy her if she tried to stop him from having as many virgins as he wanted...

(Soes thius sound like a Chrsitian tenet to you ???)

He had a least 11 women who were already married to other men and a girl as young as 14, because her father would not give him her mother...

Mormonism is anti-Chrsitianity...
To support and agree with the doctrines of mormonism, it is necessary to reject Christianity...

There is nothing of Christianity in mormonism...

Indeed mormonism perverts the Bible and all Christian beliefs...even the Bible testimony of Jesus is watered down to where mormons believe their mormonj jesus was born as a man as a result of physical sex between their mormon god and Mary...and then became a god and therefore mormon males can become gods to and rule their own planets with large harems ...

Does this sound like Chrsitianity to you ???

[Godzilla]

Some dispute over some of the ‘names’, but not suprising. One of the big ‘discussions’ of smith’s era was whether or not the Indians were the lost tribes of Israel. A “View to the Hebrews” was very popular at the time the bom was written and parallels the bom on MANY points. Hill Cumorah is in NY - so it wouldn’t be too suprising that smith modeled most of the story on a NE geography - covered with enough ambiguity to make it difficult to see the plagerisms.

[donozark]

Again, PLEASE point out where EYE said anything bad about Christians. But thanks for the lecture.

[svcw]

mormon jesus was born as a man as a result of physical sex between their mormon god and Mary.

This belief (of lds) just makes me want to gag.

[Tennessee Nana]

Its that evil ???

I respect Mary as the mother of Jesus but I feel sorry for the Catholics who have to put up with such blasphemy...

How sick at heart it must make them feel to have Mary so maligned...

[Tennessee Nana]

Isnt that evil ???

[Tennessee Nana]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

How do you feel about 50,000 mormons being sent out to the homes of Christians to tell us we are going to Hell because we are not mormons ???

Do you also object to the mormons blatant anti-Christian bigotry and assault on Christians ???

Or is that OK ???

[donozark]

So do you have anything on the Hickory Grove phase of J. Smith’s life? NE Penn? Circa 1820-25?

[Tennessee Nana]

How dio you feel about the mormons targeting dead Chrsitians for their pagan dead dunking ???

To date most of my known American ancestors have been dead dunked...

and they were all identified as Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Huguenot, Walloon in their records...

and I’m speaking dozens...

Do you think that was OK for the mormons to display anti-Chrsitian bias against my Christian ancestors ???

How do you feel about the mormons dead dunking Father Damian who spent his life ministering to lepers in Hawaii ???

Father Damian lived a life of sacrifice and devotion to the people there and never married but chose to be celibrant his whole life...as a dedication to God..

But the mormons managed to find him a wife and “married” him to her along with the dead dunking...so he would have a wife in the mormon afterlife..

Is that OK with you ???

[Skenderbej]

LOL! Did you think of that yourself?

[donozark]

Madam, one would assume by your jactitations, that you were “dead dunked.” As recently as this morning....

[MEGoody]

So you agree that it’s ok to kill men, women and children because you’re pissed at the federal government?

Are you saying that Mormons alive today committed those acts? If not, what does your comment have to do with my post?

[svcw]

Cute but no cigar.

The prevaricator of lds archeology evidence is the topic, you appear to have forgotten.

Let us all get back on on the digs. ,-)

[Tennessee Nana]

There is no slack to ‘cut’. Joseph smith claimed that the amerindians of his day were descendants of the hebrew party that arrived in the americas 350 bc. This has been shown to be false.
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Joey Smith also claimed that Jesus visited America abd spent most of His time here during the 40 days after He rose again from the dead...

However His time is all accounted for in the Bible...He spent His time with His disciples and there is no mention that he was absent for any length of time...

It was important to Him to spend as much time as He could with the ones He had taught for 3 1/2 years so that He coulod instruct them on what to do next...

He sent out His disciples to preach the Gospel...

His work was done when He said “It is finished...”

He never went anywhere but Israel before He ascended back into Heaven from where He had come and he had always been previously..