Volcanoes: Proof of Truth

[_moksha]

On the MAD board, Consiglieri had this to say about a passage from the Book of Mormon:

Some interesting items came up in gospel doctrine class yesterday relating to the destructions among the Nephites prior to the Lord's appearance.

The darkness could be "felt." Not only that, no light or torch or fire could be lit, even with exceedingly fine wood. Not only that, but there were accounts of people being overcome by the darkness and perishing.

These phenomena have been documented as being consistent with a volcanic eruption, with the darkness consisting of fine ash blocking out the sun, preventing the lighting of torches, and the gases emitted from the volcano, being heavier than air, causing those in its path to suffocate.

An egyptologist by the name of Gee also pointed out an ancient Egyptian inscription known as the Tempest Stele which has been correlated to a volcanic eruption, which similarly mentions an unspecified number of days of darkness during which no torch could be lit in either upper or lower Egypt. This happened some time around 1,600 B.C.

How do we account for the presence of these phenomena in a book produced in early 19th century upstate New York?

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

However, the good guys were protected:

3 Nephi 10:13 And they (the more righteous) were spared and were not sunk and buried up in the earth; and they were not drowned in the depths of the sea; and they were not burned by fire, neither were they fallen upon and crushed to death; and they were not carried away in the whirlwind; neither were they overpowered by the vapor of smoke and of darkness.

Okay, riddle me this ye of alternate explanations:

1. How could volcanoes possibly be known in upstate New York?
2. Is this not proof of truth?


.

[_beastie]

There had been a massive volcanic explosion in Indonesia 1815 called Mount Tambora. This was such a traumatic event that it had a notable impact on global climate. "The Year Without a Summer" directly affected Joseph Smith's family, along with the rest of the world. I have very little doubt that the volcanic explosion, and its aftereffects, likely created quite a bit of interest in the media.

[_Ray A]

I also did a lot of research into this when I posted on FAIR, and couldn't find any volcanic activity, in NY or Central America, that could match the descriptions in the Book of Mormon. I even offered a 200 year leeway for this (from c.30AD), and could find nothing of such proportions. This was why I initially contacted Payson Sheets, but got that blunt reply. There is nothing, that I could find, to sustain the idea that such cataclysmic eruptions occurred during that time period. I went through the history of almost all of the known volcanoes in Central America, such as this site.

Something of the magnitude of what occurred in the Book of Mormon, would certainly have showed up.

Edit: I suppose I should clarify I wasn't replying to Mok's questions, just the phenomenon itself.

[_moksha]

And here the MAD discussers guffawed at Joseph having access to the writings of Pliny describing Vesuvius. They should have guffawed at the idea of this news of Tambor traveling to Palmyra in the summer without sun of 1816.

[_beastie]

I also dealt with volcanic eruptions, and what is described in the Book of Mormon here

[_beastie]

by the way, one of the texts that some folks believe was a source for the Book of Mormon, Wonders of Nature by Josiah Priest, has the following description:

"Darkness which may be felt.... vapours ... so thick as to prevent the rays of the sun from penetrating an extraordinary thick mist. ... no artificial light could be procured ... vapours would prevent lamps, etc. from burning. ... [T]he darkness lasted for three days." (p. 524)

[_Daniel Peterson]

Ray:

I'm by no means a vulcanologist, but I did have the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks, three years ago, wandering around Costa Rica with a superb vulcanologist (Ph.D., University of London) who specializes in the area. (Among other things, he's the discoverer of a previously unrecognized caldera that we visited.) We sat at the volcano observatory watching Mount Arenal spew forth lava blocks the size of buses every minute or so, climbed to the craters of three other volcanoes, etc.

It was pretty clear to me, although the subject of 3 Nephi never came up -- he's a believing Latter-day Saint, though (a two-time stake president, in Texas and in England), who plans to serve a mission with his wife after retirement, preferably in Costa Rica, where he served as a young man -- that the geological and vulcanological history of Mesoamerica is still being deciphered.

[_beastie]

From my website (linked above), just to give you an idea of what kind of massive volcanic eruption would be required for the Book of Mormon:

Certainly it is possible that some of the destruction described in the Book of Mormon could have originated from a massive volcanic eruption. Volcanoes can cause cities to be buried, burned, and even flooded when the volcano forces a river to change course. However, only a truly massive eruption could cause the magnitude of destruction described in the Book of Mormon that extended across an entire region. The cities of Zarahemla, Moronihah, Moroni, are specifically listed in Chapter 8. Chapter 9 lists more cities by name: Gilgal, Onihah, Mocum, Jerusalem, Gadiandi, Gadiomnah, Jacob, Gimigimno, Jacobugath, Laman, Josh, Gad, and Kishkumen. These cities extend across the entire region specified by the Book of Mormon as being “Nephite”, and even extend into the Lamanite region. Conservatively, 75,000 square miles were impacted by this event. Just what kind of eruption could have caused this level of destruction?

One of the most powerful Mesoamerican volcanic explosions, Ilopango, affected 4,970 square miles. This should provide some perspective on just how massive that explosion would have had to be.

[_Ray A]

It was pretty clear to me, although the subject of 3 Nephi never came up -- he's a believing Latter-day Saint, though (a two-time stake president, in Texas and in England), who plans to serve a mission with his wife after retirement, preferably in Costa Rica, where he served as a young man -- that the geological and vulcanological history of Mesoamerica is still being deciphered.

Don't you think, though, that such a cataclysmic eruption would have been recorded by now?

Global Volcanism Program

The GVP is unique in its documentation of current and past activity for all volcanoes on the planet active during the last 10,000 years. Smithsonian reporting on current volcanic activity dates back to 1968. During the early stages of an eruption anywhere in the world we act as a clearinghouse of reports, data, and imagery. This involves interaction with a worldwide network of contributors, which we refer to as the Global Volcanism Network.

[_Daniel Peterson]

Don't you think, though, that such a cataclysmic eruption would have been recirded by now?

I'm not sure.

Over the past few years I've picked up tantalizing hints of evidence suggesting a substantial volcanic event in Mesoamerica within 100 years, plus or minus, of the time of Christ. But I don't know where such studies stand at the moment.

I tend not to close scientific questions. I've read enough of the history of science to make me nervous about assuming that a question has been settled, with nothing left to discover and no surprises permitted.