...horses may have been in the Americas during Book of Mormon times after all.6 An international team of scholars—including experts in geology, biology, paleontology, and archaeozoology—recovered specimens of horse and other megafauna from a stratified context at Rancho Carabanchel, near Cedral, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
To establish the chronology of the site, several radiocarbon dates were obtained at each layer of strata from charcoal and other organic material recovered during excavations. Importantly, several horse specimens were recovered in close association with materials carbon dated to Book of Mormon times (see table).7
And here is footnote 7, to support that claim:
7.Unfortunately, researchers were not able to obtain any carbon dates directly from the pre-Columbian horse bones themselves because insufficient collagen had survived. This is a common challenge when dealing with ancient animal remains. See Terry O’Connor, The Archaeology of Animal Bones (Thrupp, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2000), 23–24.
When you are trying to prove a point and all the evidence is against you, you can either enter into a stupor of thought or else fudge the truth. Some apologists do both.
You know, I wish I were surprised. I can't imagine ever writing anything like that and trying to pass it off as a credible argument.
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
a more pertinent link I found connected to the one noted above. It is a paper about fossil horses in the time of Book of Mormon found in northern Mexico.
Apologists want to laser in on the details like this, and ignore the wider perspective that the story of the Book of Mormon as a whole bears no resemblance to anything we know about ancient American history. It's as out of place as the story of Harry Potter would be if it was placed in Mesoamerica. DCP would be saying "Aztec structures bear striking resemblance to the stone architecture as described in "Harry Potter and the Ghastly Hallows."
Even if they found horses, that does almost nothing to improve that situation.
Apologists want to laser in on the details like this, and ignore the wider perspective that the story of the Book of Mormon as a whole bears no resemblance to anything we know about ancient American history. It's as out of place as the story of Harry Potter would be if it was placed in Mesoamerica. DCP would be saying "Aztec structures bear striking resemblance to the stone architecture as described in "Harry Potter and the Ghastly Hallows."
Even if they found horses, that does almost nothing to improve that situation.
Exactly, and when the 'lasering in' can only be accomplished with what you rightfully identified as dishonesty, it's even more ridiculous.
I recently saw again Bokovoy's great takeown of the "nahom" evidence, which he ended with this:
So, no. This is not a significant discovery for the Book of Mormon, and honestly, even if the marker said, “Ishmael from Jerusalem: This marker was carved by Nephi the son Lehi,” this would still not change the fact that the Book of Mormon anachronistically relies upon biblical texts known to Joseph Smith, but which did not exist at the time the Book of Mormon uses them, nor would it change the fact that the Book of Mormon anachronistically presents a view of Christianity that historically evolved much later in history, and that the entire Book of Mormon narrative reflects a 19th century racist view of indigenous origins.
So even if that actual Nephite marker existed, the text itself would still not be historically reliable as an ancient account.
Noel Hausler added this excellent observation to Dan's blog, that in the face of contrary evidence to a belief, believers will often double down and increase their fervor:
noel: "In When Prophecy Fails Festinger writes " 'Increased fervor following the disconfirmation of a belief...The individual must have social support.. if a believer is a member of a group of convinced persons who can support one another , we would expect the belief to be maintained and the believers to attempt to proselyte or to persuade nonmembers that the belief is correct' P.4. m"
Dan: An excellent observation, noel. Permit me to add that, in biochemistry and metabolism, beta-oxidation is the catabolic process by which fatty acid molecules are broken down in the cytosol in prokaryotes and in the mitochondria in eukaryotes to generate acetyl-CoA, which enters the citric acid cycle, and NADH and FADH2, which are co-enzymes used in the electron transport chain. It is named as such because the beta carbon of the fatty acid undergoes oxidation to a carbonyl group. Beta-oxidation is primarily facilitated by the mitochondrial trifunctional protein, an enzyme complex associated with the inner mitochondrial membrane, although very long chain fatty acids are oxidized in peroxisomes.
Dan's childish response is always the same: "I'm going to call your evidence irrelevant."
You always know it's a good argument when Dan reverts to ad-hom attacks in defense. Classic comedic Dan.
I am sorry, I really do not see any dishonesty here. I find inconclusive but interesting findings. If it becomes seen that horses were in the America in some locations in Book of Mormon times that hardly proves the book to be history.It would eliminate one simple and minor argument against the book being real records.
I am sorry, I really do not see any dishonesty here. I find inconclusive but interesting findings. If it becomes seen that horses were in the America in some locations in Book of Mormon times that hardly proves the book to be history.It would eliminate one simple and minor argument against the book being real records.
The main text and the footnote run in different directions. "May" in the main text becomes "sorry the pertinent issue could not be tested."
I mean, wait until the testing can be done, right? With the Book of Mormon, it is always hope sold as research. It is a research of things hoped for and evidence as yet to be seen.
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
