Chronology: the Richard Nygren Affair

[Res Ipsa]

The number of events has exceeded my ability to keep dates straight in my head. i'm going to start a chronology of events that folks think are important. If you reply with date and event, I'll put it in this post.

7/18/14 Neal Rappleye publishes "War of Words and Tumult of Opinions": The Battle for Joseph Smith’s Words in Book of Mormon Geography" in Interpreter vol. 11. https://journal.interpreterfoundation.o ... geography/



8/21/15 Matthew Roper publishes The Treason of the Geographers: Mythical “Mesoamerican” Conspiracy and the Book of Mormon in Interpreter, vol. 16.
https://journal.interpreterfoundation.o ... of-Mormon/

8/22/15 Brandt Gardner publishes Examining the Heartland Hypothesis as Geography on the Interpreter blog. https://interpreterfoundation.org/blog- ... geography/

8/28/15 Matthew Roper publishes John Bernhisel’s Gift to a Prophet: Incidents of Travel in Central America and the Book of Mormon in Interpreter, vol. 16. https://journal.interpreterfoundation.o ... of-Mormon/

9/4/15 Neal Rappleye publishes "Book of Mormon Geography in Neville-Nevilleland" at the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum. http://www.bmaf.org/node/591

9/25/15 Matthew Roper, Paul Fields, and Larry Bassist publish Zarahemla Revisited: Neville’s Newest Novel in Interpreter, vol. ? (contradiction between date of publication and volume)

?/?/16 Joe V. Anderson posts Response to Jonathan Neville’s Two Books: Moroni’s America: The North American Setting for the Book of Mormon and Letter VII at The Book of Mormon Archeological Forum. http://bmaf.org/node/638 [Published before 8/26/16

4/22/16 Greg Smith publishes “From the Sea East Even to the Sea West”: Thoughts on a Proposed Book of Mormon Chiasm Describing Geography in Alma 22:27 in Interpreter, vol. 19. https://journal.interpreterfoundation.o ... alma-2227/

4/5-7/18 FIRM Foundation Conference https://universalmodel.com/event/um-pre ... tion-expo/

5/8/18 Book of Mormon Central posts "KnowWhy" titled Where Did the Book of Mormon Happen? https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/ ... mon-happen

7/26/18 Smoot publishes a blog entry titled "Seven Reasons Why Letter VII is not a Heartlander Silver Bullet. https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2018/ ... ullet.html

8/12/18 Rapplye publishes blog entry titled Getting to the Heart of the Divide on Book of Mormon Geography
https://web.archive.org/web/20201001035 ... ok-of.html

9/4/18 Saints vol. 1 published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_(book)

9/22/18 Annotated Book of Mormon is published, edited by David R. Hocking and Rodney L. Meldrum. https://bookofmormonevidence.org/25000- ... of-Mormon/ viewtopic.php?p=2683066#p2683066

10/9/18 Smoot posts blog entry: Yes, Joseph Smith Really Did Use a Seer Stone in the Translation of the Book of Mormon in response to presentation at the FIRM conference. https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2018/ ... ormon.html

11/30/18 Smoot posts blog entry: No kings upon the land: a note on 2 Nephi 10. https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2018/ ... hi-10.html

10/12/18 LDS.org publishes a statement by Jed Woodworth and Matt Grow: Saints and Book of Mormon Geography

Since the publication of Saints, Volume 1: The Standard of Truth, 1815–1846, some concern has been expressed online and to us personally that the text of the book has expressed a preference against a “heartland” model of Book of Mormon geography. We have been disappointed to read online commentary from individuals favoring a “heartland” model of Book of Mormon geography that asserts Saints works in subtle (and even conspiratorial) ways to suppress their views. This is not true.
Much of the concern has resulted because the word “Cumorah” does not appear in Saints. This omission has led some to believe that we left out that word in order to speak against a “heartland” model. We assure you that this is simply not the case.

The preface to Saints explains that the book is a narrative history. Narrative histories are governed by rules, and one of the rules implemented by our writing team is that characters are to live in the “narrative present” and not be burdened by the understanding of later time periods. Our rule states: “The whole story as we understand it will be told, but readers will be following that story scene-by-scene, or even volume-by-volume, as the narrative progresses. If readers desire a broader view of the story or want additional information, extensive footnotes are included, and other in-depth material is available online, including links to essays, videos, and other sources.”

Thus, as Saints tells it, Joseph Smith walks into the “woods,” not the Sacred Grove, in 1820. There he has a “vision” of God and Christ, not the First Vision.2 In the same way, Joseph walks to a “hill” not far from his father’s home, not to the Hill Cumorah.3 The reason for omitting “Cumorah” is not that the writers wanted to expunge it in order to promote a geographical theory. The reason is that there is no historical evidence that Moroni called the hill “Cumorah” in 1823.

Of course, early Latter-day Saints, including Joseph Smith, later called the hill Cumorah, but the best research on the subject puts the term into common circulation no earlier than the mid-1830s.4 The main historical source concerning events at the hill between 1823 and 1827 comes from the history Joseph Smith began in 1838. There Joseph uses the term “hill,” never “Hill Cumorah.”5 Saints follows Joseph’s lead.
As our rule states, additional material connected with Saints contains “a broader view of the story.” In the Church History Topics, where the rules of narrative history do not apply, the term “Cumorah” can be found (see topics entitled “Angel Moroni” and “Sacred Grove and Smith Family Farm” at saints.lds.org or on the Gospel Library App).

https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org ... SWfnLpyR0o

11/16/18 Book of Mormon Central posts "Executive Summary of the "Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon"

This executive summary gives a broad overview of errors and other problematic elements in the AEBOM. They are divided by category and numbered sequentially. An exhaustive review of each category is in preparation. In short, the overwhelming number of problems in the AEBOM are fatal to this project. Readers should be wary of the claims made in the AEBOM attempting to situate the Book of Mormon in the “Heartland” of the United States.

Note: did this become the Smoot, Roper, Rapplye and Rapplye blog series? Compare structure of this summary and the blog series]

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/blog/ex ... -of-Mormon

1/29/19 COJCOLD releases new Gospel Topics essay titled "Book of Mormon Geography"

“The Church takes no position on the specific geographic location of Book of Mormon events in the ancient Americas. Church members are asked not to teach theories about Book of Mormon geography in Church settings but to focus instead on the Book of Mormon’s teachings and testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel.”

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/blog/ch ... -geography



2/6/19 First entry posted in Neville Neville Land Blog (entry by Peter a.k.a. Mike Parker) https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2019 ... we-go.html

2/9/19 Neville Neville Land blog entry: "The Neville Land Manifesto" by Parker. https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2019 ... festo.html

2/12/19 Book of Mormon Central posts video of Steve Smoot interviewing a rare book dealer: Video: What did prophets think about Book of Mormon geography? Their old books may give clues. Video: What did prophets think about Book of Mormon geography? Their old books may give clues.

2/19/19 Captain Hook's first post at Neville Neville Land: Jonathan Neville's magical panacea for all the church's problems. https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2019 ... a-for.html

6/1/19 Smoot publishes blog entry titled "A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 1) [of 8]

What follows is a series reviewing the AEBOM. This review was originally conceived as an article for the journal Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. Over time, however, my co-authors (Matthew Roper, Neal Rappleye, and Jasmin Gimenez Rappleye) and I decided it would work better as a series instead of a single review. I was (and am) happy to host the series on my blog.

"https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/ ... art-1.html

6/3/19 A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 1)republished on the Interpreter's Blog. https://interpreterfoundation.org/blog- ... on-part-1/

6/10/19 A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Postscript) is published on Smoot's blog "https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/ ... cript.html and on the interpreter blog. https://interpreterfoundation.org/blog- ... ostscript/

9/10/19 Captain Hook's last blog post at Neville Neville Landhttps://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2019/09/jona ... eplus.html

2/29/20 Last mention of Captain Hook at the Neville Neville Land blog. https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2019 ... eplus.html

6/17/22 Spencer Kraus publishes "An Unfortunate Approach to Joseph Smith’s Translation of Ancient Scripture" in Volume 52 of the Interpreter. https://journal.interpreterfoundation.o ... scripture/

7/9/22 Robert Boylan posts his interview with Spencer Kraus on Boylan's youtube channel. This is the first known mention of "Richard Nygren"

At 5:21, Boylan says:

Of course, there's also Richard Nygren's blog Neville Neville land: a blog critiquing Jonathan Neville mainly. But also other heartland proponents where he posts on the nickname "peter pan." Richard is one of only few African American apologists in the church at the moment and he lives in Birmingham Alabama so be sure to check those out as well in the show notes.

at 26:13, Krauss says:

Jonathan Neville refers to constantly and even defends quite shockingly, a few anti-Latter-day saint sources. In fact, it was actually quite ironic; just yesterday he posted on one of his many blogs attacking Daniel c Peterson using an anti-source. He puts it in scare quotes, you know, "some people will complain that I'm using an anti-Mormon source, but this is just you know how the man's lived experiences" and whatnot. And Peter Pan, actually, uh Richard, put a wonderful piece up on his blog just yesterday responding to that. And how he deals with it. I highly recommend you guys read it.

6/24/22 Spencer Kraus publishes Jonathan Edwards’s Unique Role in an Imagined Church History in Interpreter, vol. 52

7/19/22 Neville Neville blog post (Parker) recommending and linking to Boylan's interview with Krauss.

Even though this interview goes into more detail about this blog than I’m comfortable with, I still warmly recommend it to my reader(s):

https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2022 ... oylan.html

10/14/22 Jonathan Neville publishes A Man That Can Translate and Infinite Goodness: A Response to Recent Reviews in Interpreter, Vol. 53.https://journal.interpreterfoundation.o ... t-reviews/

10/14/22 Spencer Kraus publishes A Rejoinder to Jonathan Neville’s “Response to Recent Reviews” in Interpreter, vol. 53. https://journal.interpreterfoundation.o ... t-reviews/

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

6/10/29 Smoot publishes postscript entry to "A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon."https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/ ... cript.html

You postin’ from the future, counselor?

- Doc

[Res Ipsa]

6/10/29 Smoot publishes postscript entry to "A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon."https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/ ... cript.html

You postin’ from the future, counselor?

- Doc

Not intentionally. Thanks.

[Tom]

The number of events has exceeded my ability to keep dates straight in my head. i'm going to start a chronology of events that folks think are important. If you reply with date and event, I'll put it in this post.

7/26/18 Smoot publishes a blog entry titled "Seven Reasons Why Letter VII is not a Heartlander Silver Bullet. https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2018/ ... ullet.html

6/1/19 Smoot publishes blog entry titled "A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 1) [of 8]"https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/ ... art-1.html

6/2/19 First entry posted in Neville Neville Land Blog (entry by Peter a.k.a. Mike Parker) https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2019 ... we-go.html

6/10/19 Smoot publishes postscript entry to "A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon."https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/ ... cript.html

I think you have the wrong date for the first NNL blog entry.

[Res Ipsa]

The number of events has exceeded my ability to keep dates straight in my head. i'm going to start a chronology of events that folks think are important. If you reply with date and event, I'll put it in this post.

7/26/18 Smoot publishes a blog entry titled "Seven Reasons Why Letter VII is not a Heartlander Silver Bullet. https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2018/ ... ullet.html

6/1/19 Smoot publishes blog entry titled "A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 1) [of 8]"https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/ ... art-1.html

6/2/19 First entry posted in Neville Neville Land Blog (entry by Peter a.k.a. Mike Parker) https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2019 ... we-go.html

6/10/19 Smoot publishes postscript entry to "A Review of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon."https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/ ... cript.html

I think you have the wrong date for the first NNL blog entry.

Yep. Corrected. Thanks.

[Tom]

A blog post on Book of Mormon Central dated November 16, 2018, introduced the Executive Summary of the Annotated Book of Mormon:

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/blog/ex ... -of-Mormon

[Res Ipsa]

A blog post on Book of Mormon Central dated November 16, 2018, introduced the Executive Summary of the Annotated Book of Mormon:

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/blog/ex ... -of-Mormon

Thanks, Tom. Added.

[drumdude]

July 9 2022:

Boylan mentions Richard Nygren for the first time in his YouTube interview with Spencer Krauss.

5:21:

"Of course, there's also Richard Nygren's blog Neville Neville land: a blog critiquing Jonathan Neville mainly. But also other heartland proponents where he posts on the nickname "peter pan." Richard is one of only few African American apologists in the church at the moment and he lives in Birmingham Alabama so be sure to check those out as well in the show notes."

Krauss then repeats back Richard's name later in the interview:

26:13:

"Jonathan Neville refers to constantly and even defends quite shockingly, a few anti-Latter-day saint sources. In fact, it was actually quite ironic; just yesterday he posted on one of his many blogs attacking Daniel c Peterson using an anti-source. He puts it in scare quotes, you know, "some people will complain that I'm using an anti-Mormon source, but this is just you know how the man's lived experiences" and whatnot. And Peter Pan, actually, uh Richard, put a wonderful piece up on his blog just yesterday responding to that. And how he deals with it. I highly recommend you guys read it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR6bJyjU-bc

July 19 2022:

Mike Parker posts the famous Nygren video from Boylan with the comment "Even though this interview goes into more detail about this blog than I’m comfortable with, I still warmly recommend it to my reader(s):"

https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2022 ... oylan.html

[Res Ipsa]

Thanks, Drumdude. Added.

[Tom]

9/4/15 Neal Rappleye publishes "Book of Mormon Geography in Neville-Nevilleland" at the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum. http://www.bmaf.org/node/591

Hat tip to Marcus