Friday, June 26, 2009

The Definitive Answer about Book of Mormon Geography

In the Book of Mormon, "this land" is not defined, but there are clear statements that many peoples were led to it - apparently, given the inclusion of the Jaredite record, over the course of thousands of years. The only obvious description is that it is separated by the great waters from the other lands from which the travelers were led.

My main question for those who want to limit "the promised land" to our current United States or to Central and North America always has been, "Are we really applying territorial boundaries that didn't exist at the time of the prophecies?" Without such arbitrary lines, every elementary school student looking at a map of the hemisphere would identify "the land" as the entire hemisphere, I think.

So, the authoritative answer about Book of Mormon Geography is . . . "We don't know." Personally, I see no problem applying the "promised land" designation to the entire hemisphere (even though I personally believe in the Limited Geography Model for the land of the Nephites) - and only philosophical, provincial problems with including the Mounties and our neighbors up north. (*grin*)

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