Skeptics have argued since its publication in 1830 that the the Book of Mormon is the creative work of a religious con man, whose purported visit by an angel and account of hidden gold plates from which the book was written undermine it outright.
Believers revere Joseph Smith as a modern prophet, who translated the book from ancient inscriptions "by the gift and power of God" as a precursor to restoring Christ's original church and priesthood authority to Earth, after it was "corrupted" during the Dark Ages.
Now at least three organizations, all with Utah roots, are attempting to "map" their own versions of where geographic features mentioned in the book are located. Two of the groups publish textual materials and are producing video essays about their theories regarding places, names, language patterns and other particulars about the book's historical value.
Group members have widely divergent backgrounds, education and motivation. None claim to represent The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which holds the copyright to the Book of Mormon and considers it sacred scripture, "another testament" of Jesus and an account of his appearance to ancient inhabitants in the western hemisphere. Latter-day Saints believe the book chronicles not only a spiritual, but a limited societal history of selected inhabitants of Mesoamerica-America, many of whose ancestors are believed to have left Jerusalem in 600 B.C.
Professionals and amateurs alike agree that Mesoamerica — central and southern Mexico and northern Central America — is the only legitimate geographical "fit" for the events chronicled within its pages. But that's where much of the agreement ends for those who have attempted to reconstruct a map of geographic features, including cities, bodies of water, hills and other formations.
Joseph Allen, a former LDS seminary instructor with a Ph.D. from BYU in ancient and modern scripture, gave up his teaching career several years ago to concentrate full-time on his Book of Mormon tours travel business, and his fascination with Mesoamerican geography. Allen has guided dozens of Latter-day Saint groups through the area he believes was the setting for the book.
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Though he has produced a map of "proposed sites" for Book of Mormon cities and other landforms, he says doesn't "bear testimony" of the actual sites on the tour, but only of the book's spiritual message. Legitimate scholars are "free to disagree" on the geography, he said.
In fact, "the text itself wasn't meant to be historical or geographical. Its message is spiritual. We've found over the years that the land teaches us more about the Book of Mormon than the Book of Mormon teaches us about the land."
The Orem resident recently co-founded the Book of Mormon Archaeological Foundation with Atlanta-based partner David Asay, as a non-profit corporation dedicated to "promote both the historical and spiritual message of the Book of Mormon through excellence in research, education and service." The foundation publishes a quarterly tabloid-sized digest, in English and Spanish, with literature produced by foundation members on current archaeology as it relates to various Book of Mormon topics.
The group is also producing the third of a 12-part video series on "the sequential history and geography" of the book, featuring LDS personalities including author Chris Heimerdinger and former Miss America, Sharlene Wells Hawkes. It held its first "Book of Mormon Convention" in Mexico City last fall, with about three dozen participants, and has plans for another such meeting in Guatemala this fall.
Last month, the foundation hosted its first "Book of Mormon Lands Conference" at Thanksgiving Point, featuring 14 speakers, including Elders Robert E. Wells and Ted E. Brewerton, both emeritus members of the LDS Church's Quorums of the Seventy. Two BYU faculty members also participated, as did V. Garth Norman, an archaeologist and president of another "unofficial" LDS group called the Ancient America Foundation.
Norman, an independent archaeologist in Utah County, is considered the world's leading authority on the Izapa sculpture and worked on a research project for BYU on that artifact in the 1970s. His research career has focused on helping develop the field of Book of Mormon historicity research.
The group's Web site — www.ancientamerica.org — says the Ancient America Foundation (AAF) was originally established in 1949 as the non-profit University Archaeological Society, whose members included researchers associated with BYU. In 1962, the group's name was changed to the Society for Early Historic Archaeology. It later became the Ancient America Foundation as it aligned itself more closely with Book of Mormon research and Maya studies.
Via the Web site and e-mail, the foundation is dedicated to promoting "current scholarship on Book of Mormon studies in relation to Mesoamerica-America," drawing on past research by both LDS and non-LDS scholars "in an attempt to understand the geography and culture surrounding the ancient text."
A map of proposed Book of Mormon sites in Mesoamerica is in the works, Norman said, adding he hopes to publish it before the end of the year. The foundation also publishes a newsletter on current archaeological topics, with some 1,500 subscribers, and the number is growing, Norman said.
Public discussion about Book of Mormon topics includes a lecture scheduled Wednesday, April 9, at the Provo Library on a geometric design format for ancient Mesoamerican sculptures that corresponds directly to similar work in the ancient Near East. A related lecture will be held next month, with details on the foundation's Web site.
Though there is a lot of circumstantial evidence that applies to the Book of Mormon history, what continues to motivate Norman and others is the search for "some solid evidence. . . We need some actual proof, like a monument that can be linked specifically to the Book of Mormon. And I believe we'll (archaeologists) be able to achieve that. There are a number of possibilities under investigation."
Others have felt a similar "pull" to examine specifics about the book — in a vastly different part of the world.
George Potter, a northern Utah CPA who spends most of his time in Saudi Arabia, has organized a search for the trail that, according to the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Lehi, his son, Nephi, and their family followed from Jerusalem to the Red Sea at God's command. The book says they then built a ship and sailed to the western hemisphere, becoming the progenitors of what grew to become millions of Mesoamerican inhabitants known as Nephites and Lamanites.
Also a Book of Mormon archaeology buff, Potter said he and Timothy Sedor set out into the Arabian desert on weekends a few years back, following leads in the earliest chapters of the book's text to give them clues about land formations and bodies of water that could help them find "Lehi's trail."
Five years and 100,000 miles later, the excursions became so intriguing to Potter, that he set up an independent research group known as the Nephi Project, which now has its own organization and a Web site — www.nephiproject.com — "to discover Book of Mormon archaeological sites relating to Nephi's writing." To date, the organization has produced six videos, featuring Potter's narration of what he believes is every major site mentioned along Lehi's trail. Visitors who sign up on the Web site can receive a free newsletter and a book about the trail.
With three groups all organized and simultaneously looking for evidence, Allen said the interest in such studies is not surprising, but predictable.
Technology and the Internet mean the amount of information available to do private research has "exploded" in the past 20 years, he said, fueling discussions and fostering a thirst for "hands-on" experience that has driven the like-minded to organize and to have the chance to rub shoulders with others fascinated by the questions they share.
Their quest is not unique, but the realm of organized exploration has heretofore been left largely to LDS scholars like those associated with Foundation for Ancient Research in Mormon Studies — known to many Latter-day Saints as FARMS. Norman believes it's time for more public access — and discussion — about such topics.
It's tempting and easy for people to speculate when they truly believe, he said, "so understandably we have to be cautious. But there is a lot of exciting research going on and developing that needs to be shared. Hopefully we can move in that direction."
E-mail: carrie@desnews.com