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A Response to the Heartland Book of Mormon

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A Response to the Heartland Book of Mormon PRE-COLUMBIANSTUDIES INSTITUTE . JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 o VOLUME19 NUMBER1 A Responseto the HeartlandBook of Mormon )fy (fourth article in a series) 'ph notesgrew out of questionsabout the latest theorypromoted by o coreof LDS-at first referredto as the Limited North American Model, or LNAM, and later changedto the Heartland Model. It was initially developedby Rod Meldrum. In previous glyph notes articles we have presented the positives for why Mesoamerica- not the United States-is the geographicalsetting for The Book of Mormon. In fact, these past 20 years, the mission of the Pre-Columbian Studies Institute has been to provide positive,faith-building evidencesfrom archaeology,epigraphy, and linguistics to witness that the book is true. This fourth article in the serieswill directly addressthis Heartland theory. All geographytheories which place Book of Mormon events in the U.S./Great Lakes/ Canada regions have as an anchor a small hill at Manchester,New York, which is south of Palmyra.Historically, this is the hill where fosephSmith was directed and found the stonebox containing The Book of Mormon platesdeposited by Moroni, the last record keeper.Today, this hill is owned by the Church of fesus Christ of Latter-d"y Saints (LDS) and called "Hill Cumorah," where an annual outdoor pageantis performed in fuly (Argetsinger L992:3M). This annual pageanthas reinforced the common assumptionthat Moroni buried the platesof Mormon in the same hill where his father had buried the other plates,thus equating this New York hill with the Book of Mormon Cumorah. Becausethe New York site does not readily fit the Book of Mormon description of Book of Mormon geography,some Latter-day Saints have looked for other possibleexplanations and locations, including Mesoamerica (Palmer 1992:346-347). In general,the LDS tradition embracesthis hill in NewYork asthe original Hill Cumorah in The Book of Mormon. In addition to the pageant,this idea is conveyedby stories passed down through generations and by those serving their mission in that area. Their stories are of "tremendous earthworks," "defensivetrenches," large deposits of metal weapons and evidencesof a major battle-all of which are either exaggeratedor fabricated and are not supported by archaeological evidences. For many, this tradition is acceptedas truth; for others who havesearched for evidences as well as studied Book of Mormon requirements, this is no longer the case.See "Looking for Artifacts at New York's Hill Cumorah," written by one LDS man who grew up in the "Palmyra-as-Cumorah" culture, but when he investigated, looking for archaeological support, he found there was none (BMAF Staff; also Smith 2001). The theory has been proposed that there were two Cumorah's-one in Mesoamerica and a second in New York. John Clark, former director of the New \florld Archaeological Foundation, relates: Until I heard the two-Cumorah theory after returning from my mission, I had no idea that the location of Cumorah was even a question or that the location of Book of Mormon lands was a topic of research.My initial reaction was to take offense and to argue the point . it soon dawned on me that I had unthinkingly accepted Cont'd on page 2 Pncpr IleSpOll.Se('or tt'rl f)ot tr trrut'I l GREATERIAND a traditional view of the matter and had never OF PROMISE Gcntiles out of Captivity seriouslylooked at the statementsfrom the Book Lands of of Mormon (Clark 1994:93-94). Inheritance I So, What's It All About? !-; The foundational beliefs that led to the Heartland theory can be summarized as follows: 1) Cumorah anchoredin New York; 2) possibleU.S. Native American DNA evidence linked to the Middle East, leading to Jaredites HillCumorah. selectedcivilizations of Hopewell and Adena as Book lt/k|lt& of Mormon people;and 3) scriptural support relating Narrownecky' NarrowStrip V to propheciesand promisesin The Book of Mormon. of Wilderness These beliefs led to the development of a "hierarchy" of witnessesor standard works. Meldrum ranks them Figure1. Greater Land of Promise-showinglands of in order of importance (Porter and Meldrum 2009:19). inheritancefor four groups 1. Book of Mormon propheciesand promises. of inheritanceis upon the Land of Promiseand doesnot . in relation to the PromisedLand and the necessarilymean their land of inheritance covers the peopleassociated with it. entirety of the Land of Promise. It is "a mighty nation 2. Inspired and revealed statements of the amongthe Gentilesupon the faceof this land,"i.e., there Prophet Smith on geography. Joseph are more Gentilesthan just in the mighty nation, and is "real world" evidence, such as 3, Physical "aboveall other nations upon the face of the land" or in correlatingcivilizations in the correct time other words, this nation is not the only nation on this frame, archaeologicalfindings as described Land of Promise. cultural lifestyles,genetic within the text, the The Book of Mormon account records that three relationships,and linguisticties. separategroups were brought to the Land of Promise, 4. Geographicalindicators or passagescontained each to a dffirent location-the faredites (to the Land within the Book of Mormon. Northward),Lehi's group (to the southernpart of the Land Meldrum treatsthe first two categoriesas nearly equal Southward),and the peopleof Mulek (to the northern part in "credibility"and "strength."Along with propheciesand of the Land Southward).See Figure 1 above.Through promisesfrom The Book of Mormon, any and all words examining the four groups brought to the Promised of foseph Smith are equally consideredas inspired and Land-three separateareas in Mesoamerica and the revelatoryas The Book of Mormon. This also includes Gentilesas the fourth group in the U.S.-I saw distinct accountsof what otherssay loseph said. The third category landsgiven for an inheritanceto eachnation, all within a combines the DNA and archaeology "evidences."The greater Land of Promise. last, and least-valued,category views Book of Mormon 2. Inspired and revealed statements of the Prophet geographicalreferences as incomplete and inconclusive |oseph Smith on geography becauseit doesnot fit their paradigm. In the secondcategory of their hierarchyof witnesses 1. Prophecies and Promised Land are the "inspiredand revealed"statements of the Prophet The top categoryof "Heartland"witnesses is described foseph Smith on geography,including accountsof what as spiritual and prophetic. The key scripture used in otherssay fosephsaid. Table 1 at right presentsexcerpts supportof this theory is the prophecyabout the Gentiles from a few letters by fosephSmith referring to a range of who go forth out of captivity to the Land of Promise places,from the U.S. to "Central America."In addition, and obtain their land of inheritance (Nephi'svision, I during his tenure as editor of Times €z Seasons(March Nephi 3:148-177[13:13-30 LDS]). Additional promises 15, 1842 through November 15, 1842),there appeareda and propheciesin The Book of Mormon are quoted number of his editorial articleshighlighting discoveries extensivelyand used to prove that "the United Statesis in Guatemala,etc., and associatingthem with The Book 'Western the only nation in the Hemispherethat qualifies" of Mormon (seeTable 2 on page4). as the Land of Promise (emphasisadded; Porter and However, from the Heartland viewpoint, foseph Meldrum 2009:19,94). couldn't possibly have written these articles because they say that, during part of this time as editor, foseph But is it? was apparentlyin hiding. Meldrum concludesthat he is As I began to focus my own study on the various not even in town so someoneelse has to be responsible passages,the referencein Nephi's vision turned out to for these statements.Research, however, has shown that be the key in toppling their house of cards and in fact fosephwas in town, stayingwith friends until October is the very scripture that led me to an entirely different 8th (Lund 2009). conclusion.The crucial point is that the Gentiles'land The statementsin Tables 1 and 2 made by foseph Pecr z Smith illustrate his opennessto consider a larger area archaeology region for The Book of Mormon lands is than just the United States. As evidences came forth directly tied to DNA studies among the U.S. Native and knowledge grew, so did his understanding of the Americans. But it is not sound scholarship to make this lands of The Book of Mormon. These statements are leap, to draw absolute conclusions based on incomplete, "primary sources,"whereas numerous accounts by others preliminary data. For more about this research see the of what foseph said are "secondary."Primary or firsthand timely article by Don Beebe in which he points out that witnesses differ from secondary witnesses which are "caution must be exercisedin claiming too much for this perceived as secondhand or hearsay and are considered method.... Many of the discrepanciesand much of the inadmissiblein a court of law. It is becauseMeldrum views unreliability of the data employed in the study lies in everything |oseph said as inspired and revelatory that he the sample sizesof the populations used" (Beebe2004:3, must dismiss the Timesand Seasonscomments attributed quoting Peter fones of the University of Georgia). As to him. It is my opinion that excluding these Times and new data was released (the European and Middle East Seasonscomments by foseph is an attempt to discredit a connection), "earlier conclusi " Mesoamerican connection. This becomesapparent when (emphasisin original). "However, the experts in the field you realize that the "secondary" information is crucial to have raised serious doubts and advised caution" (Beebe the Heartland theory about the geographycorrelations as 2OO4:7). covered below. This caution should still be exercised, based on continuing disagreement and conflict in this field of 3. Physical "real world" evidence study. Even the genetic experts disagree. "Significant The third category in part combines DNA and loss of mtDNA information . can occur in short time archaeological "evidences." The identification of the Cont'd on page 5 Table1.
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