Robert F. Smith wrote:Bryce Hammond is more than fair and quite correct to claim that “there are mountains of evidence for an ancient origin of the Book of Mormon,” some of it still unpublished. Good evidence, which is compelling in a systematic way. Not simply vague parallels, as Steve Smith would have it.
I have been waiting all my life!
I only need one mountain Bryce . . . a Cumorah with one scintilla of evidence of a great battle around 400AD.
Kishkumen wrote:I think Robert F. Smith's thoughts are pretty humorous:
Of course Steve Smith is quite wrong on several counts: (1) FARMS has always employed the best in ancient Near Eastern studies and Mesoamerican studies by first rate archeologists and anthropologists to explore the nature of the Book of Mormon; (2) non-Mormon scholars can hardly be expected to suddenly abandon their a priori views and to actually give credence to legitimate Mormon claims — which might prove to be a career-ending move at worst, and a potential waste of precious time at best — so why bother? and (3) FARMS never attempted to quash opposing points of view.
Yes, Robert, they never attempted to quash opposing points of views. They never published them, and they sought to destroy the reputations of the people who did.
From one Bob to another: Which FARMS are you talking about? Not the one I know. The one I know published hit pieces, faked photos showing "two inks" on the KEP, and otherwise scrounged around for any possible parallels. And nowhere were they "exploring the nature of the Book of Mormon," as they were always working towards predetermined conclusions. Where I come from, that's called pseudoscience, not scholarship.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
Cicero wrote:I only need one mountain Bryce . . . a Cumorah with one scintilla of evidence of a great battle around 400AD.
I hope he wasn't looking in New York for it because it isn't there.
"You lack vision, but I see a place where people get on and off the freeway. On and off, off and on all day, all night.... Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful." -- Judge Doom
Drifting wrote:When he says 'some of it unpublished' that indicates that the balance (all of it - the unpublished 'some') has been published.
What is it? Where is it?
Where have I heard this before about unpublished articles and books that will completely destroy the critics' arguments?
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
Drifting wrote:When he says 'some of it unpublished' that indicates that the balance (all of it - the unpublished 'some') has been published. What is it? Where is it?
Where have I heard this before about unpublished articles and books that will completely destroy the critics' arguments?
They have one. The Gold Plates that God has in heaven. Now, if they have that, kudos. Show me the money!!!
"You lack vision, but I see a place where people get on and off the freeway. On and off, off and on all day, all night.... Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful." -- Judge Doom
Tobin wrote:They have one. The Gold Plates that God has in heaven. Now, if they have that, kudos. Show me the money!!!
Maybe the cipher-key theory was delivered by an angel.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
Tobin wrote:They have one. The Gold Plates that God has in heaven. Now, if they have that, kudos. Show me the money!!!
Maybe the cipher-key theory was delivered by an angel.
Ok, if they have an angel in a cage, that will do in a pinch too.
"You lack vision, but I see a place where people get on and off the freeway. On and off, off and on all day, all night.... Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful." -- Judge Doom
It is unlikely that modern scholars will ever locate with confidence the rest stop to which travelers of a lonely caravan gave the name Shazer—simply because they may never have spoken that name to anyone outside their group.
But Nahom is different. The name in Hebrew seems to mean “mourning,” or perhaps “comfort” or “consolation.” Was it a burial ground—a cemetery—to which the local people led the mourning travelers when one of their leaders died? (See Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, pp. 90–91.) Perhaps it was similar to the cemetery which Gerald W. Silver, who accompanied the Hiltons, photographed near Al Qunfudhah. (See Ensign, October 1976, p. 54.)
Although Nephi in his account makes no explicit mention of any person outside his father’s group as it passed through Arabia, the land must surely have been peopled. In view of the well-known longevity of place-names in the Semitic world, we could perhaps hope to find a name such as Nahom preserved in the speech of recent inhabitants. Its form would be altered, of course; at least minor changes in pronunciation would be expected with the passage of so many centuries.
Little mapping has been done in Arabia, however; detailed maps exist for only small parts of the land. Nevertheless, “the place called Nahom” may already have been found!
In 1763 Carsten Niebuhr prepared a map of Yemen (South Arabia or “Arabia Felix”) as a major project of the scientific expedition sent out by King Frederick V of Denmark. The name “Nehhm” appears on that map. It was a small administrative district located among the mountain valleys some 100 miles east of Luhaiya and about 25 miles north of the capital, Sana. (See accompanying map; also Thorkild Hansen, Arabia Felix: the Danish Expedition of 1761–1767 (1964), pp. 232–33.)
And what bearing does this have upon the route traced by Lynn and Hope Hilton? If the “Nehhm” of Niebuhr is accepted as the equivalent of “Nahom” of the Book of Mormon, then the discovery might confirm the general itinerary traced in the Hiltons’ article. (See Ensign, Sept. 1976, ill. 7, p. 49.) Nehhm is only a little south of the route drawn by the Hiltons. Nehhm could thus be the place where Ishmael was laid to rest, where his daughters “did mourn exceedingly” (1 Ne. 16:35), and whence the caravan then turned eastward toward the Indian Ocean.
A group of Latter-day Saint researchers recently found evidence linking a site in Yemen, on the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula, to a name associated with Lehi’s journey as recorded in the Book of Mormon.
Warren Aston, Lynn Hilton, and Gregory Witt located a stone altar that professional archaeologists dated to at least 700 B.C. This altar contains an inscription confirming “Nahom” as an actual place that existed in the peninsula before the time of Lehi. The Book of Mormon mentions that “Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom” (1 Ne. 16:34).
This is the first archaeological find that supports a Book of Mormon place-name other than Jerusalem or the Red Sea, says Brother Witt.
Why, indeed, is this "fact" not strong evidence that the Book of Mormon is true?
All I can say is that false etymology is the oldest scholarly sleight of hand in the book.
See also "sheum."
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado