How large is a limited geography?

[_Henry Jacobs]

John Sorenson says, “There’s no question about the scope of the Book of Mormon geography, because there are hundreds of statements in the book that say it had to be a limited area. The distances involved and their references say the area could not have been greater than say, 500 or 600 miles long and 200 miles wide.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBsCxfOLZCc

Sorenson, Peterson, Tvedtnes et. al., may not have any physical evidence with which to locate their limited Book of Mormon model, but they certainly have taken a legitimate approach to understanding the scope of the territory that is described in the book. Their result is an area, somewhere, that encompasses approximately 110,000 square miles.

Trying to gain a perspective on how large an area 110,000 square miles is, I found these reference points useful.

110,000 sq. miles is approximately equal to:

The State of Nevada
The Island of Cuba
32 Yellowstone Parks
6 of California’s San Bernardino County

Using Google Earth, I also plotted the area represented in the map of Vernal Holley’s “Book of Mormon Authorship” theory. The area inside a perimeter from Rama(Ramah) to Tecumseh(Teancum) to Jerusalem(Jerusalem) to Shiloh(Shilom) to Agathe(Ogath) is . . . 112,605 Square Miles.

If nothing else, Sorenson has a great handle on the size and scope that the author of the Book of Mormon conceived. The result of his efforts to correlate the “hundreds of statements” of distances and references is that the book's events took place within approximately 110,000 square miles. Doesn't Sorenson then provide support for the size of Holley’s proposed of Book of Mormon geography model? According to Sorenson, Holley nailed the scope nearly dead on!

[_beastie]

You may be interested in reading my essay on the size and power of the Nephite polity here.

The Book of Mormon actually describes a polity that would be at least as large and powerful as the later Aztec polity, and perhaps even more-so. This, in and of itself, is a serious anachronism.

[_antishock8]

Conneticutt

[_collegeterrace]

Using Google Earth, I also plotted the area represented in the map of Vernal Holley’s “Book of Mormon Authorship” theory. The area inside a perimeter from Rama(Ramah) to Tecumseh(Teancum) to Jerusalem(Jerusalem) to Shiloh(Shilom) to Agathe(Ogath) is . . . 112,605 Square Miles.

If nothing else, Sorenson has a great handle on the size and scope that the author of the Book of Mormon conceived. The result of his efforts to correlate the “hundreds of statements” of distances and references is that the book's events took place within approximately 110,000 square miles. Doesn't Sorenson then provide support for the size of Holley’s proposed of Book of Mormon geography model? According to Sorenson, Holley nailed the scope nearly dead on!

Does Rodney Meldrum know this?

If he does, does he use it in his very popular http://bookofmormonevidence.org speaking circuit?

[_moksha]

Conneticutt

Napa Valley