Landing of the Nephites- You Decide

Mesoamerican Opinion of the Landing of Lehi

John Sorensen of Mesoamerican persuasion said, “But when we analyze Book of Mormon statements about geography and events, the “land of first inheritance” can only lie west (Pacific) coast of Central America (1 Nephi 18:23; Alma 22:28)… [T]he southernmost portion of Guatemala’s Pacific coast or adjacent El Salvador is most likely where Lehi’s party landed and first settled. Sorenson, John L., An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon. http://www.bmaf.org/node/415

I disagree with Brother Sorensen. The voyage Brother Sorensen spoke of would take approximately 18-months and no one could survive that long, according to Captain Philip Beale  a friend of mine and a professional sailor. I believe most likely Lehi landed in Florida. See the map below;

The Phoenicia Expedition by former British Naval Captain, Philip Beale in 2009 proved that a 600 BC replica ship could leave Oman, and travel around the tip of Africa, and the currents would force the ship right into the Gulf of Mexico and land near Tallahassee, Florida in about 4-5 months. See the map below.

A Mesoamerican Opinion of the Landing of the Nephites

Mormon’s Codex: An Ancient American Book Hardcover – September 3, 2013
by John L. Sorenson (Author)

From 60 years of academic study of ancient Mesoamerica and its relationship to the Book of Mormon. Here Sorenson reveals that the Book of Mormon exhibits what one would expect of a historical document produced in the context of ancient Mesoamerican civilization. He also shows that scholars discoveries about Mesoamerica and the contents of the Nephite record are clearly related.

JOHN SORENSON also said, “Lehi and his party launched their vessel into the Indian Ocean from the south coast of the Arabian peninsula.  The winds no doubt bore them on the same sea lanes that Arab, Chinese and Portuguese ships used later, touching India and ultimately the Malayan peninsula.  From that point Nephi’s ship likely threaded through the islands of the western Pacific, then across the open reaches north of the equator to landfall around 14 degrees north latitude.  Nephi left us no information in the Book of Mormon about the route, nor did he tell us in modern terms where they landed.  But when we analyze Book of Mormon statements about geography and events, the “land of first inheritance” can only lie west (Pacific) coast of Central America (1 Nephi 18:23; Alma 22:28)… [T]he southernmost portion of Guatemala’s Pacific coast or adjacent El Salvador is most likely where Lehi’s party landed and first settled.(7) Sorenson, John L., An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City, Utah; Deseret Book Company and Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1985, pp. 138-139. http://www.bmaf.org/node/415

Phoenicia Voyages of Philip Beale

The Phoenicia Voyages by Captain Philip Beale and Team are an ideal test of the veracity of the Book of Mormon account. It shows not only that the materials and technology of 600 B.C. allowed construction of ocean-going vessels for both Lehi’s group and the Mulekites, but that both groups could have crossed the Atlantic and landed in North America, coming from the east

“The Phoenicia Expedition 2009-2010 (Website Here), you will see the Phoenicia Ship Expedition has now demonstrated unequivocally that Lehi’s voyage could have left the Arabian Peninsula and sailed around Africa to Florida, rather than attempting to cross the earth’s largest ocean, the Pacific at its widest point, as proposed by many Mesoamerican theorists. In 2009, the Phoenicia Expedition supports our vision, that Lehi’s Voyage to America was very possible.

Many people focus too much on geography and not on the evidences of the life of the Nephites. There are only a few scriptures to read, to know for an confident feeling, and through personal revelation, the proper geography of the Book of Mormon. Ether:13:1-6; The Land was the Land of Promise after the flood, and it was where The New Jerusalem was to be. Missouri, not Vancouver or Baja or Guatemala or Ontario. AMERICA (USA)

Why the Heartland Model Fits Best For Me

Whirlwinds are Tornadoes, like tornado alley in the USA, very few tornadoes in Mesoamerica, and no Volcanoes mentioned in the BOM. There were seasons and snow, Alma 46:40 (Seasons) and 1 Nephi 11:8 (Driven Snow) In Mesoamerica only two seasons, hot and warm. Ether 10:20, “And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land.” Niagara Peninsula is the Narrow Neck of land Near Buffalo, NY where the Seas, Erie and Ontario divide the lands, In Mesoamerica the Isthmus is where the land divides the sea. Wrong direction.

What are the beasts the Nephites are devouring and that they are following? Llamas, tapirs, agoutis, or Elk, Bison and Bear? These latter 3 are all migrating animals, none in Mesoamerica. The Law of Moses required the following plants and animals, lamb, goats, rams, bullocks, red wine, barley, wheat, and none of these exist in Mesoamerica at the time of the Book of Mormon. Lehi landed near Florida at about 31 degrees N. latitude same as Jerusalem where seeds would grow in Jerusalem and Florida and not in Mesoamerica. Mayans were not scattered by Gentiles, Native Americans were in the trail of tears. I could go on, but it is not necessary. it is up to you to decide for yourselves. Ether 9:34.

Of course the witness of the Spirit is critical for the truth of the Boom of Mormon, but these secondary evidences are valuable as Moroni promised us we could know the truth of all things.

I love the many witnesses from Parley P. Pratt you can read below that help you understand better the geography possibilities.

A Voice of Warning An introduction to the faith and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chapter IV by Parley P. Pratt page 160- page to 164 CHAPTER IV.

THE BOOK OP MORMON— ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS,

“We shall now introduce much circumstantial evidence, from American antiquities, and from the traditions of the natives, etc.

First, says Mr. Boudinot: “It is said among their principal or beloved men, that they have it handed down from their ancestors, that the book (Bible) which the white people have, was once theirs: that while they had it they prospered exceedingly, etc. They also say, that their fathers were possessed of an extraordinary Divine Spirit, by which they foretold future events, and controlled the common course of nature; and this they transmitted to their offspring, on condition of their obeying the sacred laws; that they did, by these means, bring down showers of blessings upon their beloved people; but that this power, for a long time past, had entirely ceased.” (Dark Ages?) Colonel James Smith, in his journal, while a prisoner among the natives, says: “They have a tradition, that in the beginning of this continent, the angels or heavenly inhabitants, as they call them, frequently visited the people, and talked with their forefathers, and gave directions how to pray.”

Mr. Boudinot, in his able work, remarks concerning their language: “Their language, in its roots, idiom, and particular construction, appears to have the whole genius of the Hebrew; and what is very remarkable, and well worthy of serious attention, has most of the peculiarities of that language.” There is a tradition related by an aged Indian, of the Stockbridge tribe, that their fathers were once in possession of a “Sacred Book (See Last Paragraph of Broadside Picture Left) ,” which was handed down from generation to generation; and at last hid in the earth, since which time they had been under the feet of their enemies. But these oracles were to be restored to them again; and then they would triumph over their enemies, and regain their rights and privileges. Mr. Boudinot, after recording many traditions similar to the above, at length remarks: “Can any man read this short account of Indian traditions, drawn from tribes of various nations; from the west to the east, and fsom the south to the north, wholly separated from each other, written by different authors of the best character, both for knowledge and integrity, possessing the best means of information, at various and distant times, without any possible communication with each other; and yet suppose that all this is the effect of chance, accident, or design, from a love of the marvelous, or a premeditated intention of deceiving, and thereby ruining their well established reputation? Can any one carefully, and with deep reflection, consider and compare these traditions and nations with the position and circumstances of the long lost ten tribes of Israel, without at least drawing some presumptive inferences in favor of these wandering natives being descended from the ten tribes of Israel?”

“Joseph Merrick, Esq., a highly respectable character in Pittsfield, Mass., gave the following account: That in 1815, he was leveling some ground under and near an old wood-shed standing on a place of his, situated on Indian Hill. He ploughed and conveyed away old chips and earth to some depth. After the work was done, walking over the place, he discovered, near where the earth had been dug the deepest, a black strap, as it appeared, about six inches in length, and one and a half in breadth, and about the thickness of a leather trace to a harness. He perceived it had, at each end, a loop of some hard substance, probably for the purpose of carrying it. He conveyed it to his house, and threw it into an old tool box. He afterwards found it thrown out at the door, and again conveyed it to the box.

” After some time, he thought he would examine it; but in attempting to cut it, found it as hard as bone; he succeeded, however, in getting it open, and found it was formed of two pieces of thick rawhide, sewed and made water-tight with the sinews of some animal, and gummed over; and in the fold was contained four folded pieces of parchment. They were of a dark yellow hue, and contained some kind of writing. The neighbors coming in to see the strange discovery, tore one of the pieces to atoms, in the true Hun and Vandal style. The other three pieces Mr. Merrick saved, and sent them to Cambridge, where they were examined, and discovered to have been written with a pen, in Hebrew, plain and legible. The writing on the three remaining pieces of parchment, was quotations from the Old Testament. See Deut., vi, from 4—9; also xi, 13—21; and Exodus, xiii, 11—16, to which the reader can refer, if he has the curiosity to read this most interesting discovery.

” On the banks of White River, in Arkansas Territory, have been found ruins erected no doubt by an enlightened population, of the most extraordinary character, on account of their dimensions, and the materials of which they were erected. One of these works is a wall of earth, which encloses an area of six hundred and forty acres, equal to a mile square, and having, in its centre, the foundation of a large circular building, or temple. Another, yet more strange, and more extensive, consists of the foundations of a great city, whose streets, crossing each other at right angles, are easily traced through the mighty forest. And besides these are found the foundations of houses, made of burnt bricks, like the bricks of the present time. These have been traced to the extent of a mile.” Quoted from A Voice of Warning An introduction to the faith and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chapter IV by Parley P. Pratt page 160- page to 164

Here is  information from the Joseph Smith Papers website.

Appendix 2, Document 3. Stick of Joseph,1844

Document Transcript

[1] See Ezekiel 37:16, 19; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 96, 248 [2 Nephi 19:21; Alma 10:3].

[2] For accounts of Harris’s visit to Anthon, see JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 5; JS History, vol. A-1, 9; and Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, 42; see also Kimball, “Anthon Transcript,” 325–352.

[3] It is unknown what document the characters were copied from, though they are nearly identical to the first three lines of John Whitmer’s copy. The editors of the Prophet did not have access to Whitmer’s copy, since he had been excommunicated in 1838. (See Characters Copied by John Whitmer, ca. 1829–1831.)

[4] See “From Priest’s American Antiquities,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1842, 3:814, which quotes Priest, American Antiquities and Discoveries, 68–70, which in turn reproduced the text of Smith, View of the Hebrews, 223. Josiah Priest argued that there was a lost race in the ancient Americas, possibly of Israelite descent. (See Priest, American Antiquities and Discoveries, 59–84.)