Book of Mormon Geography
From MormonWikia
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made no official statements about the locations described in the Book of Mormon. Scholars have zeroed in on Mesoamerica as the area where most Book of Mormon events took place. Critics of the Book of Mormon like to claim that the Church hasn’t come out with official declarations because they have no idea where it took place; however, Mormon scholars have studied possible locations for a long time. The Book of Mormon, from the start, was labeled as a record of “the ancient inhabitants of the Americas” (Introduction to the Book of Mormon).
[edit] Official Church Neutrality
The Mormon Church’s neutrality on the subject of Book of Mormon geography doesn’t necessarily indicate that that Church is ignorant on the subject. The Church’s focus on the book is strictly spiritual, since that is the most important message contained in the book. Official doctrines of the Church aren’t based entirely on research; doctrines may be proved or supported by science, but they are based on revelation from God to ancient and modern prophets. Revelation from God may change, but it never becomes incorrect; scientific research and speculation often becomes obsolete—even laughable. Just because the Church doesn’t take a stand as to where exactly the events took place, it doesn’t mean the events didn’t happen.
The Mormon Church does officially believe that the events in the Book of Mormon took place somewhere in the Americas, as stated in the Introduction to the Book of Mormon. Though popular opinions about specifically where the events took place have changed, the Church hasn’t latched on to any of them. When it comes right down to it, if it mattered to the salvation of humankind, the Lord would reveal the historical locations of the Book of Mormon to his Church. We can understand from this lack of revelation on the topic—at least for now—that the focus of the Book of Mormon is the message it contains—not it’s historical value.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints neither discourages nor encourages members to study possible for Book of Mormon geographies. According to John E. Clark in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “No internal geography has yet been proposed or approved by the Church, and none of the internal or external geographies proposed by individual members . . . has received approval.” In other words, besides not officially approving a general location for Book of Mormon events, the Church also does not stand behind any geographies that show the locations of Book of Mormon places relative to each other.
[edit] Possible Locations
Though in early Church history, many believed that the Book of Mormon peoples likely covered most of North and South America (Hemispheric Geography Theory), scholars have now centered on Mesoamerica as the most likely geographical area for the events of the Book of Mormon. Though some scholars still disagree about where the Book of Mormon was set, scholars do agree that the geographical references in the Book of Mormon are consistent in relation to one another.
Mesoamerica has been the target of much of this speculation for several reasons. First, Mesoamerica is the only area that had developed enough to have the writing system, cities, commerce, and agriculture described in the Book of Mormon. The hourglass shaped geography of the Book of Mormon fits nicely around the Isthmus of Teuhuantepec (as the “narrow neck of land” referenced in the Book of Mormon). Other geographical features like rivers, climate, and volcanic activity support the Mesoamerica theory as well.
[edit] Ancient Names for Modern Locations
There are many areas named after cities or other locations named in the Book of Mormon. While these names sometimes reflect a former belief by some that the place was the same as the one in the Book of Mormon, the locations usually have no correlation. One popular point of confusion is that Mormons named the hill where Joseph Smith found the golden plates (from which he translated the Book of Mormon) the Hill Cumorah. While the Book of Mormon does record Mormon burying plates in a Hill Cumorah, the plates that became the Book of Mormon actually went on to another writer. Moroni, the final writer of the Book of Mormon, never says where he planned to bury the plates, but it is quite credible—and required, for Joseph Smith to have found them—that he traveled to New York and buried them.
