Fake Book of Mormon Geography -- holes in the script

[Shulem]

16 And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.

This multistory specially constructed thick stone building is a major feat and an accomplishment for any work force having all of the necessary workmen, supplies, tools, pack animals, and equipment to build such a marvelous edifice designed to surely please any nation state king. The enormous weight of each stone, cut to precision, transported from the rock quarry to the site, and raised and set in place would require a construction crew working full time for many years.

Does this sound like a job for Nephi, Sam, Zoram, and their sons? Does this sound like something they can undertake in-between their regular schedules of building homesteads, raising crops, tending animals, and performing any and every duty while raising families in an uncivilized world that requires their every attention?

Or is it that Joseph Smith bit off more than he could chew when he wrote his silly novel?

[Shulem]

I interrupt this thread in order to bring you a special message from Mormon Defender, Stephen Smoot. I'm afraid that Stephen is chasing shadows and playing a game which he has already lost. Can Stephen actually imagine Nephi, Sam, Zoram, and their band of children constructing a building after the manner of the temple of Solomon? I wonder if Stephen has ever worked with his own hands to any significant degree?

New Archaeological Discovery Sheds Light on Nephi’s Temple

[Shulem]

Sic et Non

“Another Temple in Judah!” and another victory for the Book of Mormon

One of the criticisms often leveled against the Book of Mormon is that no Jew would have built a temple outside of Jerusalem. Yet Nephi does just that, sometime in the early sixth century before Christ:

I could care less how many Jews build temples outside of Jerusalem! What concerns me is that YOU (Dan) are telling the world that Nephi, Sam, Zoram, Jacob, Joseph, and their children built a temple on par with the workmanship of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, although not built of so many precious ornaments or precious elements in which to enrich it. It was nonetheless claimed to be built and constructed after the manner of Solomon's temple -- exceedingly fine.

But, say the critics, Nephi’s supposed construction of a New World temple proves the Book of Mormon to be fictional.

I don't have a problem with an ancient work crew that is organized and equipped in building a New World temple in the Americas. That's not the problem. The problem is that Nephi, Sam, Zoram, and their children did not raise such a building in their frail lifetimes while struggling to live and survive in the wild.

Although, zombie-like, that criticism still appears from time to time, it is, or should be, dead.

Imagine how Nephi would look after cutting a thousand large stones to exact shape down in the quarry. Imagine how Sam would look after dragging those stones on sleds across hills and valleys to a construction site on a hill. Imagine how Zoram would look after having to lift those stones up and stack them in place -- with a little help from the kids.

Book of Mormon Defenders love to find parallels and examples to support Book of Mormon claims but they will never be able to describe or explain how Nephi, Sam, and Zoram could have humanly pulled off such a feat. It is, impossible.

[Shulem]

Let's suppose this is Nephi's temple.

This is an enormous undertaking requiring the services of a fulltime crew possessing many skills having to do with construction, stone cutting, material handling, mathematics, and so forth. It is an enormous undertaking that will require countless hours of manual labor as well as the precise calculations of skilled technicians.

The amount of work and labor to level the field and clear it in order to lay the required foundation to support the main structure would require many hours of hard labor while toiling in the dirt and soil. Leveling the earth requires careful and coordinated measurement as well as removing tons of earth and rock.

Is this a job for Nephi and Sam? What about Zoram, he's not feeling well and has been sick for days. The children are hungry!

[Shulem]

1) How were thousands of stones cut and transported to the temple site?
2) How were thousands of stones lifted and set in place?





A building constructed after the manner of Solomon's temple could not be constructed by a small group of people consisting of several families such as the Nephite clan. It's impossible. It would require a highly organized and disciplined work force to erect such a structure. This is the kind of project undertaken by the civilized world while existing in a city state.

Nephi's temple in the Book of Mormon is pure fiction.

[Moksha]

Can Stephen actually imagine Nephi, Sam, Zoram, and their band of children constructing a building after the manner of the temple of Solomon?

The ruins shown in the picture were in Israel not the Yucatan. Smoot was demonstrating that building technology was present in that part of the world. If such ruins could be found anywhere on the American continents, it would be noted with banner headlines in the Deseret News.

[Shulem]

Can Stephen actually imagine Nephi, Sam, Zoram, and their band of children constructing a building after the manner of the temple of Solomon?

The ruins shown in the picture were in Israel not the Yucatan. Smoot was demonstrating that building technology was present in that part of the world. If such ruins could be found anywhere on the American continents, it would be noted with banner headlines in the Deseret News.

(You're correct, I should have been more clear in quoting them)

It's the presentation and headlines that are what's so deceptive. It's designed to make one feel that such a temple like that could just as easily be found in the New World, built by Nephi, as any other place in Israel, even outside Jerusalem. A picture tells a thousand words and the headline wants to marry it. Same goes for the shameful tactics of Dan Peterson, he seems to think that another temple dig in Israel is another victory for the Book of Mormon.

How about these two university clowns discuss what it would take to build such a temple and what kind of work force would be required to pull it off? Watch it get real quiet!

[Shulem]

What might construction at a massive stone building look like in Nephi's day?

With Nephi, Sam, Zoram, Jacob, Joseph, and the kids working on the temple every day, year after year, that leaves little time for anything else such as hunting food, raising crops, building homes, and attending to all their other needs.

Folks, there is no way a temple built after the manner of Solomon's was erected by the struggling Nephites who would have of necessity spent all their energy building habitations and keeping themselves alive as they battle the forces around them and strive to survive. A massive building such as this could have only been built by highly trained organized labor already existing or living off of civilized city accommodations. But the Book of Mormon claims that Nephi built it himself with a little help from his ragtag family and friends.

Go figure.



Over there, Sam!

16 And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.

[huckelberry]

In the manner of could be meaning purpose and function. It could have been much smaller made of wood and adobe.

[Shulem]

Fun fact-based tidbits from the Web:

• Experts believe stones as long as 24 feet were extracted from the quarry and then dragged by oxen to building sites in Jerusalem for major projects such as Solomon's temple.

• Solomon had seventy thousand laborers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country.

• Extrapolating from the number, the cost of building an economized version of Solomon's temple (for Nephi) using cheaper materials including the labor costs would have been over hundreds of millions of dollars. Building this temple will take years.

(Please allow a building allowance for Nephi's more cheaply made building which was "not built of so many precious things" such as walls being lined with cedar, prized palm trees, and elaborate furnishings abundantly overlaid in gold, etc.)


Solomon's Temple, Wikipedia