My brother (who is normally a sportswriter) has this article in today’s Deseret News, dealing with Mormon tours of Central America. Noel Reynolds, Stephen Houston, and Brian Birch weigh in. I’ll have to tell him that Sorenson’s book is “An Ancient *American* Setting . . .”
LDS Newsroom
- Family and Church Leaders Eulogize Frances J. Monson as One Who “Deeply Loved” May 23, 2013
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- Church Working With Oklahoma Officials to Provide Support in Wake of Tornadoes May 21, 2013
- Funeral Services for Frances J. Monson Announced May 20, 2013
- Frances J. Monson, Wife of President Thomas S. Monson, Passes Away May 17, 2013
- Elder Dallin H. Oaks Honored for Championing Religious Freedom May 16, 2013
- Mormonism in the News: Getting It Right| 15 May 2013 May 15, 2013
- Rendering of Meridian Idaho Mormon Temple Now Public May 15, 2013
- Mormons Around the World: Country Newsroom Websites |14 May 2013 May 14, 2013
A Nepotistic Link
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Gets to write about sports for a living, and an occasional piece about ancient settings for the Book of Mormon? Tough job.
I remember on my mission in Guatemala, there is certainly a lot of word from local leaders, “this is the place the Book of Mormon happened.” And not so much of the caution that scholars use — i.e. that no one really knows these things.
I find it interesting, though perhaps not surprising considering the publication, that the article doesn’t mention at least some of the genetic and archaelogical reasons why mainstream scholars have problems seeing the BOM as history. Still, it is nice to hear warnings from credible sources against taking specific maps too seriously.
Greg, I didn’t realize Jeff Call was your brother. I read most of what he writes about sports. Can we just agree that people who rely on Book of Mormon geography tours to bolster their testimony are in trouble spiritually? Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the ruins shown in the article. Maybe we could start T&S Tours and write off the cost on our taxes?
The interesting thing about reliance on the theory that the events of the Book of Mormon took place in Central or South America is that a strict interpretation would then lead to the conclusion that Guatemala, or one of its neighbors, is the promised land, and not necessarily the United States. Either our “historians” geography is off, or to paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut in Hocus Pocus, God’s not heavily into geography.
Not to get into the discussion, but if the BoM took place around southern Mexico, that doesn’t entail the rest of the Americas being somehow less of the promised land. Just that we have recounted to us only one group of many who lived in the promised land.
Mr. G. Smith,
Sign me up! Since we’re all *sophisticated* members here who realize that proposed geographies are inexact, we could take tours to lots of different places. I here Chile’s nice this time of year. Same with New Zealand.
I have a somewhat speculative theory that the entire Book of Mormon happened on the beaches of Santa Barbara, California. Its at least worth a dig, no?