If you answered No, the word snow is not found in the Book of Mormon, you would be in agreement with 90% of those in the Mesoamerican camp. They have said for so many years there is no snow in the Book of Mormon, yet most have not read that passage lately, or ever!
But these theorists would say, yea, but that was in a dream, Nephi wasn’t talking about real snow. Well, who was Nephi writing to? To his children and grand children and to us. Why would Nephi use the word snow if he had never experienced it? Why would he mention snow if his children wouldn’t understand what the word snow meant? Did you know the term “the whiteness of the driven snow” is not found in the Bible? They wouldn’t know about DRIVEN snow unless they lived in upstate New York or in Wyoming during winter.
CLIMATE
What was the nature of the climate of the Book of Mormon? One longstanding question has been that of snow. If the Book of Mormon lands were in North America, why was there no mention of snow? If I told you right now the word “snow” is in the Book of Mormon, what would you say? Over 80% of the people I speak to today say, “NO it isn’t”. Then I ask them to look it up, there is usually shock on their faces. From there it is easy to discuss this issue. We have been conditioned by the Mesoamerican Theorists that there is no snow mentioned in the Book of Mormon. I would also say that 40% of Heartlanders don’t even know that snow is mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
“Nephi recorded the description of his previous vision of the Tree of Life: “And I looked and beheld a tree… and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow” (1 Nephi 11:8). Nephi was addressing his own people after having separated from the Lamanites and wrote this description on the small Plates of Nephi, which he was commanded to make forty years after arriving in the Promised Land (2 Nephi 5:30-34). It was thirty years after he made the large set of plates which were used by his father Lehi to record his history and visions. Nephi’s children and grandchildren never lived in Jerusalem. The Nephites were living in the land choice above all others where “driven” snow must have been common in order for them to understand the analogy of “whiteness of the driven snow,” an expression not found in Hebrew Scripture.
As an example, Isaiah wrote: “…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” a passage that was written on the Plates of Brass in the book of Isaiah (1:18). Nephi did not write, “they shall be as white as snow,” Nephi instead wrote, “…the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.” In other words, the children and grandchildren of Nephi must have had experienced something similar to a blizzard—snow driven by the wind. Nephi may have experienced this weather condition in the Promised Land, and after living there for forty years, he knew that the generations of his people would understand this specific description as an analogy of the “whiteness” of the fruit of the Tree of Life. Nephi was commanded by God to write on the small plates “for the ministry of my people” (1 Nephi 9:3), suggesting this unique and specific analogy would have meaning to them.
By comparison Nephi records what his father, Lehi saw in the vision while in the Arabian wilderness: “Yea and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen” (1 Nephi 8:11). The phrase, “whiteness of the driven snow” is Nephi’s description, recorded forty years after arriving in the Promised Land, suggesting that he lived somewhere in North America where blizzards “drive” the snow, providing an analogy that had a special and understandable meaning for those who witnessed snow driven by strong winds.” (See p. 300, Annotated Book of Mormon “Four Seasons in the Promised Land.”)
“I want to mention something about the driven snow from an artist point of view. When the sun is at an angle and it hits the snow that is piled up or driven, it reflects so brilliantly that at certain angles it’s almost blinding to look at it. The top of the regular snow in most cases reflects the blue of the sky or the grey of the sky and really is not that white. But driven snow reflects that brilliant sunlight not off the surface but off the part of the snow that is driven or piled up and when it is in that condition it can be truly a bright white” – Clark Kelley Price, Professional Artist. See one of his brand new beautiful paintings below:
Actually, snow and hail are mentioned three times in the text in conjunction with dreams and exhortations (1 Nephi 11:8, Mosiah 12:6 and Helaman 5:12), but no mention is made that they experienced it happening. Both “rain” and “heat” are mentioned in seven verses; twice rain is mentioned as having occurred, once by the Nephites (Helaman 11:17) and once by the Jaredites (Ether 9:35), all other references are speaking in prophecy or metaphorically. There are three instances of observed normal weather phenomena and only two mention the most common—that of rain.
Only once is a hot day mentioned as having occurred as found in Alma 51:33 where it reads: “And it came to pass that when the night had come, Teancum and his servant stole forth and went out by night, and went into the camp of Amalickiah; and behold, sleep had overpowered them because of their much fatigue, which was caused by the labors and heat of the day.”
This solitary reference has formed the foundation upon which many have speculated about the climate of the Book of Mormon. From this one verse it has been surmised that a tropical climate is indicated by the text. But does the text justify such an assumption?
Assuming that the term “heat of the day” refers to the outdoor temperature of that particular day, the timing of the battle is important for context: “And thus endeth the twenty and fifth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi” (Alma 51:37). The Nephites’ lunar calendar meant that the end of their year was the beginning of spring on their observed Jewish calendar.
Weather patterns may have been different anciently, so it may not have been unusual to experience warm temperatures in the Midwestern States in April (the beginning of the Jewish New Year.) Even so, temperature data shows that Cleveland, Ohio, a city noted for its cold winters, recorded highs of 83 degrees F in March, 1945 and 88 degrees F in April, 1986. Similarly, weather almanac’s for St. Louis, Missouri for the month of April have recorded average high temperatures of 67 degrees F and record high temperatures of 93 degrees F. Source: http://myforecast.co/bin/climate.m?city=22127&metric=false
Therefore, it is quite possible that Teancum found Amalickiah much fatigued due to an unseasonably warm day at the end of the 25th year of the reign of the judges in March or April, 67 B.C. There is no reason to assume a tropical climate is necessitated by the text when all that would be required is one of any number of warm sunny spring days in the North American Heartland.
In Helaman 11:17, it says, “that it [rain] did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit”. In North America what is the season of her fruit? Look at the picture lower left and see that typically in Ohio the harvest season is July, August, and September. In South America what is the season of her fruit? All the time! See the chart below right and you will notice things are abundant almost any time of the year in Brazil.
Alma 46:40 it says, “And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate—”
At what seasons of the year would fevers be more likely? In South America there are basically two seasons. Hot and hotter. Or, warm and warmer. Rainy or not rainy? Dry or wet? In North America there are 4 seasons of the year and and at what time of the year are fevers and the flu more frequent?
The Flu Season
“While seasonal influenza (flu) viruses are detected year-round in the United States, flu viruses are most common during the fall and winter. The exact timing and duration of flu seasons can vary, but influenza activity often begins to increase in October. Most of the time flu activity peaks between December and February, although activity can last as late as May.” Center for Disease Control
“Remember that the southern hemisphere seasons are reversed – with summer roughly November to February, and winter in June to August. Peru is pretty much a year round destination thanks to its proximity to the equator. However, visit between January and March and you’ll be slap bang in the middle of the rainy season.” Responsible Travel
The Mothers of Invention of a Snowless Setting by Jonathan Neville
Below I will share highlights of a most enjoyable blog by Jonathan Neville, all about snow in the Book of Mormon. If you want the entire blog post visit here:
“Mesoamerican advocates have trained their followers well. If you engage in a conversation about Book of Mormon geography with people afflicted with Mesomania, within minutes they will say something such as, “If the Book of Mormon took place in North America, it would have mentioned snow.”
The argument is so irrational that we’re surprised it has endured, but I heard it again last week from a well-educated, experienced, long-time BYU-affiliated person who was perfectly serious.
The basic idea is explained throughout the publications of the citation cartel, so if you’re involved with this issue, you’ve surely seen or heard it.
Here’s one of the best explanations, this one from Jeff Lindsay, a persistent Mesoamerican advocate:
“If the Book of Mormon were based on elements from Joseph’s environment, and if he was describing a people who lived or at least fought major battles in the New York area (around the puny hill where the plates where buried, which many Mormons incorrectly and implausibly associated with the Hill Cumorah of the text), then we would expect the snow and cold of winter to play a key factor.”
http://mormanity.blogspot.com/2006/07/snow-in-jerusalem.html
This passage is a beaut on several levels.
First, the passage exemplifies the series of cascading assumptions that typify Mesoamerican “logic.”
Second, by rejecting the New York Cumorah and claiming that “many Mormons” are incorrect, the passage dismisses Joseph and Oliver as ignorant speculators who deceived the Church–but instead of mentioning them by name, he slyly includes them in the amorphous group “many Mormons.” (Note: few Mesoamerican advocates will openly admit they think this about Joseph and Oliver, but a few have. Whether they openly admit it or not, every Mesoamerican advocate rejects Joseph and Oliver. Every time you see a map (like the ones at BYU Studies I linked to yesterday) or see a display like the one in the North Visitors Center on Temple Square, or read an article promoting the Mesoamerican setting, or even look at the artwork in most chapels and the Arnold Friberg paintings set in Central America that are in missionary editions of the Book of Mormon, you are seeing an implicit repudiation of Joseph and Oliver. So it’s not shocking to us that Jeff Lindsay would write this. It’s typical.)
Third, we see this rejection of Joseph and Oliver framed as a proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon!
That’s my favorite element of the no-snow argument, actually. The “scholars and educators” are actually making the argument that if Joseph wrote the Book of Mormon, he would have mentioned snow as an integral part of the narrative. What they don’t mention is that “View of the Hebrews” also doesn’t mention snow (except when the immigrants came across the Bering Strait). Their argument actually bolsters the anti-Mormon claims.
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Here is the genesis of the Mesomania about snow.
1 Nephi 11:8 describes the fruit on the tree of life by writing “the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.”
This is the only mention of the term “snow” in the Book of Mormon (not counting the 116 pages). Presumably Nephi wrote this passage in the Old World, not the New World, and then, presumably, no one mentioned snow in the New World. Therefore, according to the citation cartel, the New World events of the Book of Mormon had to take place in a setting that lacked snow.
I know, you’re having trouble keeping a straight face reading their argument, but there’s more.
The “no snow” argument is really the inverse of the argument these same “scholars and educators” make about volcanoes. The text never mentions volcanoes, so these “scholars and educators” conclude the Book of Mormon had to take place in a setting that featured volcanoes.
Which is the same argument that the Book of Mormon had to take place in an area that featured tapirs and jungles and massive stone temples, none of which are ever mentioned or described in the text.
According to Mesomania logic, it is less likely that a feature of a geographical setting (i.e., snow) is actually found in that setting when it is mentioned in the text than when a feature (i.e., volcanoes) is not mentioned at all!
That’s only the beginning of this Alice-in-Wonderland logic invented by necessity.
The Fair blog at LDS Living has an all-time classic here. I’ll put my interlinear notes in red:
Weather in relation to Book of Mormon geography
by FAIR Blog Opinions & Features
Comments by Jonathan Neville in Red [footnotes omitted]
Snow [actually, “driven snow”] is only mentioned once in The Book of Mormon, and that is only when the Lehites were still in the Old World. [We don’t know when Nephi wrote this. Nephi wasn’t describing physical snow anyway; he was using “driven snow” as a metaphor, writing some time after the event (i.e., it’s just as likely he wrote chapter 11 in the New World as in the Old World). He wrote to his children (2 Ne. 26:1), so using “driven snow” as a metaphor while living in tropical Central America would be confusing at best, a contradiction to his insistence on writing in plainness (2 Nephi 32:7)]
This is very indicative of where The Book of Mormon took place. [I agree; it had to take place in an area that featured “driven snow,” especially since this is not a Biblical term.]
If they lived in an area that was cold, such as the area around the Great Lakes, surely the bitter winters known in that area would have been mentioned. [Lots of fallacies here, but I’ll just mention the obvious three. First, Nephi did mention driven snow. Second, Book of Mormon authors rarely mentioned weather, and when Mormon did (Alma 46:40), he mentioned “some seasons,” not just the two in Central America (rainy and dry). Third, this argument, if applied consistently, precludes Central America as a possible setting because the text never once mentions volcanoes, jungles, jade, tapirs, or even Mayans. But one thing we’ve learned from the citation cartel over the years: they don’t apply their arguments consistently.]
Other than the one reference , there is no mention of snow at all where the primary events of The Book of Mormon took place. [“Other than the one reference” is a classic dodge, isn’t it? If there were two references, the argument would be, “other than the two references.” This line of reasoning has no coherent limit. And the one mention is still one more than any mention of Mesoamerican features.]
John Lund states “The pilgrims of Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 often referenced the cold and the snow. If the major events of The Book of Mormon all happened around the New York Hill Cumorah, one would expect to hear about snow.”
[This is almost poetic, the ability to pack so many logical fallacies into two sentences. The pilgrims landed in winter and nearly starved. Lehi landed in the spring with plenty of time to plant crops and with abundant wildlife to eat in the meantime. Not even the text suggests that the major events of the Book of Mormon happened around Cumorah; only the final battles did. This is another fine example of a straw man fallacy (creating the straw man claim that the major events took place around Cumorah, then attacking that straw man on the ground that the text doesn’t mention snow). The poetry comes in adding “all” to major events. Needless to say, many of major events took place in and around Jerusalem, so this straw man fails on that account already. For that matter, why didn’t Nephi describe snow falling when he was confronting Laban, since snow is so common in Jerusalem now, according to these “scholars and educators.”]
However, the cold is not what we hear about. Instead, we hear phrases like “heat of the day”[This is a fun rhetorical trick. “Phrases like” implies there are other similar phrases, but there aren’t any! Plus, anyone who has been in the Midwestern U.S. or even western New York in the summer knows what “heat of the day” means. Besides, it’s easy to have a battle in the “heat of the day” even in cold weather. For example, in The Late War, we have this sequence (on p.49): “And when the battle waxed hot, and they began to rush upon one another with great violence, the small band of Columbia fought desperately, and the slaughter was dreadful; and the pure snow of heaven was sprinkled and stained with the blood of men!”], without any indication of a cold climate one would expect to see if The Book of Mormon took place in the North Eastern United States. [This reprise of the straw man expands the fake setting a little beyond the immediate proximity, but it’s no less misleading because of the straw man assertion that the Book of Mormon took place in the North Eastern U.S. Only the final battles took place at Cumorah.]
The Lehites came from the Middle East, travelled years through the vast Saudi Arabian deserts, and then we only hear about the heat of the new land. [I missed the part in the text where Nephi relates his encounter with all this heat in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. Why was it okay for him to forget to mention the weather in the Old World, but he was supposed to describe it in detail in the New World?]
If it were a new, colder climate, it would most certainly be mentioned. [The “most certainly” argument is a lot of fun, especially when FairMormon doesn’t know what was on the 116 pages and Nephi specifically focused not on history (or climate) but on prophecies and promises (which Mesomania also treats with great sophistry). A generation removed from Nephi, people had no “Old World” to compare with, yet they still presumably understood Nephi’s “driven snow” metaphor because Nephi wrote in plainness. And look at how Mesomania really uses the “most certainly” argument. If there were volcanoes, jungles, jade, jaguars, tapirs, massive stone pyramids, and, especially, millions of Mayans, these “most certainly” would not be mentioned, according to Mesomania. Do these Mesoamerican promoting “scholars and educators” really expect us to buy this argument? The answer, of course, is yes. They do expect us to fall for these arguments. And thousands of their students have gone through BYU accepting these logical fallacies, which they have continued to prop up as Institute and Seminary and Sunday School teachers ever since.]
The rest of this awesome article is found on Fairmormon here. It’s more of the same nonsense, IMO.
Source: Book of Mormon Wars by Jonathan Neville
See Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum, page 16, 300, and 566
More on book of Mormon Climate and Seasons is here: https://www.bofm.blog/seasons-4-heartland-vs-2-mesoamerica/
Order the Annotated Book of Mormon here!
http://bookofmormonevidence.org/bookstore/product/annotated-book-of-mormon/
