Book of Mormon Geography

[Marcus]

When Joseph Smith says the American Continent, you must remember he claimed Lehi landed in Chile...

i must have missed that day in Seminary. Do you have a reference i can read that documents that Joseph Smith himself said Lehi landed in Chile?

[Zosimus]

Dan can come shout me down if I'm off base here but I believe this is what he is referencing: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper ... ber-1842/1

That looks right. Thanks!

[dan vogel]

Here a random example of “American Continent” referring to the entire western hemisphere.

“But since the Esquimaux Indians are manifestly a separate species of men, distinct from all the nations of the American Continent, ...” – Jedidiah Morse, The American Universal Geography (Boston: J.T. Buckingham, 1805), 88.

https://books.google.com/books/content ... -Rg&w=1025

[Zosimus]

Here a random example of “American Continent” referring to the entire western hemisphere.

I think it was common to refer to both North and South America as one continent even into the early 20th century. This is why the 1916 Olympic Flag has only 5 rings to represent 5 continents

[Shulem]

The "American Continent" can refer collectively to South, Central, and South America.

You mean to say, North, Central, and South. But they can’t properly be referred to collectively as one because they are not. South America is its own continent -- separate from North America. I’m not going to allow for such a broad interpretation when I understand Joseph being more exact in his telling. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary made it clear there was a marked difference between continent and hemisphere. Joseph would have known that. The Book of Mormon geography within the Book of Mormon text deals with a limited space and a fluid zone in which traveling back and forth from end to end was accomplished with the kind of ease that could not be experienced in a hemispheric model. Joseph saw all that while he dictated the original story to Harris and then again to Cowdery.

HEM'ISPHERE, noun [Gr.] A half sphere; one half of a sphere or globe, when divided by a plane passing through its center. In astronomy, one half the mundane sphere. The equator divides the sphere into two equal parts. That on the north is called the northern hemisphere; the other, the southern. So the horizon divides the sphere into the upper and lower hemispheres. hemisphere is also used for a map or projection of half the terrestrial or celestial sphere, and is then often called planisphere.

1. A map or projection of half the terrestrial globe.

CONTINENT, adjective [Latin]

In geography, a great extent of land, not disjoined or interrupted by a sea; a connected tract of land of great extent; as the Eastern and Western continent It differs from an isle only in extent. New Holland may be denominated a continent Britain is called a continent as opposed to the isle of Anglesey.

[Zosimus]

Fictional stories allow themselves much latitude. Think of how a great chunk of Middle Earth dropped off at the end of the First Age.

This should be true, but in the case of the Book of Mormon, there are very strict geographic requirements that make it very difficult for the Mesoamerica and Heartland (and the hemispheric, baja, delmarva and floridian) modelers to make a strong case. If much latitude was allowed in the Book of Mormon geography you could overlay it over top of the Hill Cumorah in New York and call it good. That's not the case.

[Shulem]

When Joseph Smith says the American Continent, you must remember he claimed Lehi landed in Chile...

i must have missed that day in Seminary. Do you have a reference i can read that documents that Joseph Smith himself said Lehi landed in Chile?

The Book of Mormon specifies that Lehi landed on the very place in which the Gentiles (WHITE AND DELIGHTSOME ) ruled and that they would nurse the Lamanites to health through the restored gospel. My other threads flesh that out, as you well know.

Lehi landed on future Gentile territory, not Chile down south. It’s America under the banner of stars and stripes in which is the land of liberty or the land of promise!

• Read the Book of Mormon.

• Understand the Book Mormon.

[Zosimus]

The Book of Mormon geography within the Book of Mormon text deals with a limited space and a fluid zone in which traveling back and forth from end to end was accomplished with the kind of ease that could not be experienced in a hemispheric model. Joseph saw all that while he dictated the original story to Harris and then again to Cowdery.

What else do you see in the Delmarva Peninsula that fits the Book of Mormon geography? Other than a narrow neck -- too narrow in my opinion because your Land of Nephi, which should be wider and higher in elevation than the Land of Zarahemla, is narrower and longer than your narrow neck -- I don't see much else that would provide correspondence as a template. There's no narrow strip, the river runs the wrong direction and drains into the sea near Zarahemla, which should be sitting in the center and not on the sea. The distances are not to scale and there don't seem to be wildernesses, mountains or hills where they are indicated in the text.

I'm not seeing much that Joseph could have used as a template

[Shulem]

The Book of Mormon geography within the Book of Mormon text deals with a limited space and a fluid zone in which traveling back and forth from end to end was accomplished with the kind of ease that could not be experienced in a hemispheric model. Joseph saw all that while he dictated the original story to Harris and then again to Cowdery.

What else do you see in the Delmarva Peninsula that fits the Book of Mormon geography? Other than a narrow neck (too narrow in my opinion because the narrow section in your Land of Nephi which should be larger and higher in elevation is narrower than your narrow neck ) I don't see much else that would provide correspondence as a template. There's no narrow strip, the river runs the wrong direction and drains into the sea near Zarahemla, which should be sitting in the center and not on the sea. The distances are not to scale and there don't seem to be wildernesses, mountains or hills where they are indicated in the text.

I'm not seeing much that Joseph could have used as a template

Zosimus,

I’m pretty sure that I will have a special response tailored just for you and it may come in shots, one right after the other, all in good time. In the meantime, I want you to read these two threads in their entirety. I’ve spent decades studying these things and so you can take a few hours to see what I have said. Then, you will be caught up and we can be on the same sheet of music, so to speak. Anyway, welcome to the board.

• Shulem Cracked the Book of Mormon Code, the Land of Nephi is now revealed! See for yourself! The Golden Key!

• Shulem Cracks Book of Mormon Geography

[Zosimus]

Zosimus,

I’m pretty sure that I will have a special response tailored just for you and it may come in shots, one right after the other, all in good time. In the meantime, I want you to read these two threads in their entirety. I’ve spent decades studying these things and so you can take a few hours to see what I have said. Then, you will be caught up and we can be on the same sheet of music, so to speak. Anyway, welcome to the board.

I've been going through your threads the past couple days, but need a few more days since I'm also trying to get through a deadline at work. I'm interested in your hypothesis because I also spent a good amount of time squinting at early 19th century maps of the colonies (including Delmarva), turning them all sideways, backwards, and upside-down until I was convinced there weren't any that would have served as a template for the Book of Mormon geography.

I'm presently digging in a different direction. To me it looks like the author of the Book of Mormon based the narrative and geography in the islands and peninsulas found in the popular pirate tales of the period. I won't hijack your thread, but at some point I'll share here or elsewhere and would love to get your input.