How does this quote square with the LGT?

[_beastie]

I'm not asking you to defend Sorenson, just pointing out the Mesoamerican theory is not well supported by science. There is no timeline that will support the type of polity described in the Book of Mormon.

by the way, I've read well over thirty books on the subject, and don't recall a single one talking about two races, one light and one dark.

[_Runtu]

I'm not asking you to defend Sorenson, just pointing out the Mesoamerican theory is not well supported by science. There is no timeline that will support the type of polity described in the Book of Mormon.

by the way, I've read well over thirty books on the subject, and don't recall a single one talking about two races, one light and one dark.

I visited Tiwanaku as a missionary in Bolivia and was told that the carved faces in the "templo subterraneo" depicted two races, one white-skinned and one dark. I couldn't see it at all (the faces were all carved from the same color stone). Later the tour guide explained to me that they had a separate narrative for Mormon visitors. Still makes me laugh.

[_rcrocket]

I'm not asking you to defend Sorenson, just pointing out the Mesoamerican theory is not well supported by science. There is no timeline that will support the type of polity described in the Book of Mormon.

by the way, I've read well over thirty books on the subject, and don't recall a single one talking about two races, one light and one dark.

I saw with my own eyes what I saw depicted in art work and Olmec and Toltec sculpture (depicting a bearded white man).

But, I may have read ten books on the subject as well, don't consider myself an expert, and can't recall two separate races.

P

[_Rollo Tomasi]

Some sources in addition to Rollo's in a paper I prepared for a study group (although most of these go to a subset of the issue -- Cumorah; but if you knock out the Cumorah problem you also knock out the LGT theory)

For me, the 'achilles heel' of the LGT has always been Cumorah. I have yet to read anything that even remotely comes close to getting the Book of Mormon Cumorah out of western NY state.

[_Runtu]

Some sources in addition to Rollo's in a paper I prepared for a study group (although most of these go to a subset of the issue -- Cumorah; but if you knock out the Cumorah problem you also knock out the LGT theory)

For me, the 'achilles heel' of the LGT has always been Cumorah. I have yet to read anything that even remotely comes close to getting the Book of Mormon Cumorah out of western NY state.

I agree. The "two Cumorahs" theory seems rather strained, like the insistence that the named rivers surrounding Eden were not the ones in the Middle East.

Beastie is right that, even if the timelines are right, Mesoamerican history does not in the least resemble what is described in the Book of Mormon. I'm no expert, but one of my degrees is in Latin American Studies (from BYU, no less), and it seemed like in every class the professors took pains to distance themselves from the Sorenson-types theories.

As far as I can tell, the only hope for the Book of Mormon is that somewhere there's some undiscovered evidence for a people like those described in the book. And who knows, maybe it will happen. But for now, there simply is no solid evidence supporting the Book of Mormon but there is a whole lot that casts doubt on it.

[_rcrocket]

Some sources in addition to Rollo's in a paper I prepared for a study group (although most of these go to a subset of the issue -- Cumorah; but if you knock out the Cumorah problem you also knock out the LGT theory)

For me, the 'achilles heel' of the LGT has always been Cumorah. I have yet to read anything that even remotely comes close to getting the Book of Mormon Cumorah out of western NY state.

I agree.

My personal opinion in that some, not all, use the LGT as a way to explain the lack of external evidence for the Book of Mormon. Those who rely upon LGT may be weak in the faith.

I think there is plenty of external evidence, but it is all corraborative (i.e., lots of evidence of pitched battles using earthworks as defensive mechanisms; some evidence of swords) not direct. Similarly, there is no external evidence of Jesus Christ unless one is willing to accept Josephus' two statements.

P

[_Brackite]

Thanks Rollo. I'd never seen either of those.

The reason I brought up the quote I did is because it is cannonized. If it's not, then the apologists simply brush it off as mere opinion. edit - see Runtu above. :)

But those are interesting, and at the very least indicate Joseph Smith's hemispheric view of the Book of Mormon.

Hi Who Knows,

What is also cannonized within the LDS Scriptures is the Universal Flood of Noah. I just recently Posted a Message on the Zion Lighthouse Message Board, where I list LDS Scriptures that I strongly believe Point to an Universal Flood of Noah. Here is the hyperlink to that Posted Message Thread: Please Click here

Since the Universal Flood of Noah is cannonized within the LDS Scriptures, that would mean that all of the inhabitants that were on the American Continent (except for Noah and his Family) during the time of the Universal Flood of Noah, would've have been slep off and killed by the Flood of Noah. Most Bible Scolars believe that the Flood of Noah happened sometime between 3500 B.C.E. And 2400 B.C.E. Then the next first Americans would've have been the Jaredites.