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Re: BoM Geography Theories (GT)

Posted: 10 Aug 2017, 23:02
by gospeltangents
David Rosenvall said that if he travelled from the Baja Peninsula to New York, it would have been the same distance as Provo to Ogden per year, which is definitely doable. So San Diego to New York over a span of decades was definitely doable.

Now if it was the Malay Theory (which I think is a fun theory), travel by boat is doable, but it's a bit longer to travel!

Re: BoM Geography Theories (GT)

Posted: 10 Aug 2017, 23:04
by Old-Timer
Actually, there is nothing in the book itself that says he was being chased until the end of his life.

He says as the destruction of his people has happened about 401 AD that the Lamanites are seeking to kill him, and everything he writes after that is dated in the book as "401-421 AD". It only is in the final chapter that he says it now is 421 AD - so there literally is a 20 year gap in the record, based solely on how he dates things.

There is no indication of where and how he lived, if he traveled or stayed in one place (and staying in one place would have been unlikely, since it would be in the heart of the area where his enemies lived), etc. There is nothing about anything in his life for twenty years- much like there is nothing recorded in the Bible for the 18 years between when Jesus was 12 and when he started his ministry at agre 30 - except the statement that he grew in stature and in favor with God and man (which is one of the most intriguing and theologically-challenging verses in the entire Bible).

Based solely on the book itself, not on anything anyone has said about it, Moroni could have been almost anywhere when his people were destroyed. What Joseph said about Moroni's description of the book makes it seem to have been somewhere in the Americas, but that isn't clear at all in the record itself.

Re: BoM Geography Theories (GT)

Posted: 15 Apr 2019, 21:04
by Daughter1
On my latest reading of the BoM, I had a thought about this. It indicates that after wandering around the desert near Jerusalem for a while, the whole group heads more or less due east for eight years. If you assume they walked an average of 6 hours a day, walking east on the Sinai Peninsula would take around 150-200 days. Less than a year. If you assume 6 hours a day going straight east, it would take about a year to get from the Red Sea to Vietnam. Since any version you look at must assume they didn't walk every day for 8 years, you have to then consider which makes more sense in other contexts. And the ship journey from Vietnam to the Americas is much more direct. Also, that allows for their party to grow. In 8 years, it is difficult for me to imagine that they didn't add people to their party. For genetic diversity to avoid inbred dysfunctions alone we need to assume that there were other people within a generation or so for them to marry. (This same logic applies when I consider who married the kids of Adam and Eve - the scriptures even state that there are other people whom the kids married.)

I really enjoy this sort of thing. Regardless of the historic accuracy (which is non-essential to my appreciation of the book as a work of scripture), I find considering what it would mean if it were accurate quite fascinating. Also, just further evidence that we aren't fully understanding or equally discussing all the evidence in the book - physical and spiritual. No one ever notes the fact that Nephi says they traveled pretty much straight east. And no one ever mentions that after telling the Nephites that they are "other sheep," Jesus then repeats his statement that He has yet other sheep.

Re: BoM Geography Theories (GT)

Posted: 16 Apr 2019, 02:13
by SamBee
Daughter1 wrote: 15 Apr 2019, 21:04 On my latest reading of the BoM, I had a thought about this. It indicates that after wandering around the desert near Jerusalem for a while, the whole group heads more or less due east for eight years. If you assume they walked an average of 6 hours a day, walking east on the Sinai Peninsula would take around 150-200 days. Less than a year. If you assume 6 hours a day going straight east, it would take about a year to get from the Red Sea to Vietnam.
The trouble is that travel in the desert can be slow. You can't travel during the middle of the day, you have to find water and food etc.