Physics Guy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:08 pm
I don't think there's ever going to be a one true answer for exactly where in the Americas Smith meant the Book of Mormon lands to have been.
The term America
S is a modern apologetic construct. The Book of Mormon narrative repeatedly describes how Lehi and the Jaredites inherited the Promised Lan
D which Smith confidently confirmed within the narrative as America (in the singular term), the future USA.
Physics Guy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:08 pm
I think there is no real answer, because I don't think Smith meant to give enough detail to pin down any one location unambiguously.
Smith never did pin down an answer to that specific point. Nobody is on record for asking him to do so.
Physics Guy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:08 pm
I think instead he must have been consciously avoiding any exact correspondence with anywhere.
That's right. The text in the Book of Mormon does not match ancient definitions with modern terms or names.
Physics Guy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:08 pm
He wouldn't have wanted to paint himself into a corner about the location of, say, Zarahemla, for fear that locals in the area would know too much for him to get away it. Even if at first he was only writing a novel, I think he would have kept it a big vague like that, just to avoid spoiling the "found novel" frame. So in that sense I think the real answer to, "Where did Smith have in mind?" has got to be, "Nowhere in particular."
Yep, he kept it rather mysterious and couched it in mystery. I grant him that! But key elements provided in the narrative allow us to pinpoint where he was looking on the map. Maps were absolutely vital in those times. They absolutely depended on maps to travel. It's nothing like it is today.
Physics Guy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:08 pm
I think he probably did have at least one place in mind as a rough model, though. Whether you're a con artist or a novelist, you want any odd geographical features in your story—like the "narrow neck"—to be realistic. The easiest way to be sure you're being realistic is to copy something real. I just think Smith would have made a point of not copying his model so precisely as to single it out.
But Delmarva fits perfectly in size and orientation. It fits like a glove. Those who believe the Book of Mormon is historical must be able to locate the narrow neck and make it work with the narrative. Those who don't believe the Book of Mormon is historical only need look at the map to find that narrow neck and make it work and if they can't then nothing has changed because it's still NOT historical. Either way, for the nonbeliever, it's nothing more than fiction.
Physics Guy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:08 pm
For what it's worth I've always inclined to guess the Niagara peninsula as that model, just because it seems closer to Smith'a home turf. On the other hand I can also imagine Smith thinking of Central America as this narrow neck of land between North and South America, and just never being serious enough to make anything accurate beyond that.
The salty ocean doesn't correspond with the Great Lakes or a
narrow neck on fresh waters. It doesn't work. AND, I've not even discussed the point of
"whirlwinds" that swept peoples off the lands. That is a coastal affair! Hurricanes.
Physics Guy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:08 pm
The big thing that the Delmarva peninsula obviously has going for it, compared to Niagara, is that it's on the ocean. So a story about immigrants from Palestine doesn't have to go, "Yada yada yada, they all ended up several hundred miles inland." It can just let them hit the beach and get to work. Compared to all of Central America, on the other hand, Delmarva is a lot smaller and more isolated. A peninsula that close to being an island is the sort of natural stage that can inspire an author.
Yep, exactly. That's how I see it.
Physics Guy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:08 pm
But I can't really rule out that Smith might have vaguely used multiple locations as models, alternately or even simultaneously. He might have started out with the idea that his Lehites were landing smack in the middle of Central America, but then as he got more familiar with his characters he slipped into thinking about a smaller-scale setting closer to home, in kind of the way science fiction films are supposed to be set in the vastness of space but a lot of the action still takes place in small rooms.
The narrative of the Book of Mormon is well planned. It reads as though he had already mapped out the basics and then he executed the story when he dictated to Oliver. I've read the Book of Mormon many times and very carefully. Smith was exact in what he did and followed a timeline and geographical setting that was consistent throughout the story. It goes from point A to point B and on to C. Then D and E. It's all very organized just as is the chronology and dating.
Physics Guy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:08 pm
What would make me take Delmarva more seriously as a major source for Smith would be if it could be shown that he knew the area well. If for example he had hiked across its "narrow neck" as a kid, pretending to be Cortes marching to the Pacific, then I'd buy it that he might have used that place as a model in a more specific way.
Smith had never been to Delmarva. He began writing the Book of Mormon at age 22. He was young and inexperienced. He was creative and imaginative. He was also very bright and meticulous in everything he did.