It is also claimed that no draft animals existed in the new world to pull such chariots. Horses in the book of mormon book of mormon archaeological. The tapir whisperer daniel peterson farms byu book of mormon brother peterson is not only a legend in his own mind but a legend in the mind of kbyu movie studios. The book of mormon claims that horses were found on the american continent after the arrival of at least two groups of people. In responding to the anachronistic use of the word elephant in the book of mormon, fair responds.
May 06, 2011 if the book of mormon truly is an ancient history of america, we can search the book of mormon, then search archaeology to discover if the book of mormon is accurate. In light of this view, latterday saints have approached this question in one of two ways. Horses in the book of mormon general discussions mormon. Hunting for elephants in the book of mormon meridian. Several recent publications on this topic deserve to be considered. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. Aug 09, 2017 fairmormon is arguably the leading mormon organization devoted to defending the lds religion. Ted dee stoddard, in the issue of the word horse in the book of mormon, reminds us that horses existed at one time in the ancient world, but were believed to have become extinct. Maxwell institute for religious scholarship has recently published a new study edition of the book of mormon. The blog article horses gives more information about his work. The book of mormon mentions horses, yet these animals seem not to have been known to native americans who greeted the spaniards upon their arrival in the new world in the sixteenth century.
Horses are mentioned in eight different book of mormon episodes that involve an. There are a number of words and phrases in the book of mormon that are anachronistictheir. There are three possible ways to approach this puzzle, dealing with archaeology, ancient cultural practices, and difficulties in translation. Some people believe that references to horses are out of place since it is widely believed that they were extinct long before book of mormon times. May 26, 2018 the book of mormon talks about horses.
Book of mormon horses do not function anything like nineteenthcentury farm or field horses, nor are they utilized by either the nephites or lamanites as were the horses belonging to the farmers, explorers, or native americans in joseph smiths milieu. The beginning of the book of mormon is what was actually translated at the end due to the original first 116 pages being lost. The book of mormon is supposed to be a history of real people living in a real place. Thus, the mention of horses in the americas during book of mormon. Fairmormon comprises volunteers who seek to answer questions submitted to its web site.
I looked at countless christian, aka antimormon websites, in addition to fair and farms to get a collective list of which things were questionable in the book of mormon and came up with eighteen items. It should be remembered that chariots do not play a major role in the book of mormon. In my opinion, a more likely candidate for the nephite loanshift. Book of mormonanachronismsanimalshorsesloanshifting. In quest of the fair god pierre honore illustrates a white god among the native. The filmography of daniel is nearly as long as his patriarchal blessing. Miller and matthew roper, animals in the book of mormon. As an evangelical scholar engaged in research, writing, and ministry in relation to mormonism, i try to keep up with what fairmormon does and have made. While the red and black identifications are predictable, its interesting that mormons have begun to think of themselves as the true whites separated out from the pale horse of other americans because mormons have pure israelite.
Apr 11, 2016 and it came to pass that the people of nephi did till the land, and raise all manner of grain, and of fruit, and flocks of herds and also many horses. Jul 05, 2018 the 20th fair mormon conference will be august at the utah valley convention center. Book of mormon artifacts and metallurgy life after. Despite the charges of some critics, the early americans did have native pigs. My guess is that the session was based upon his and steve jones work on dating horse bones that was published in th. As an evangelical scholar engaged in research, writing, and ministry in relation to mormonism, i try to keep up with what fairmormon does and have made frequent reference. Below is the modern map of the area of smiths youth. Moreover, archaeological evidence for the presence of the horse in the precolumbian americas is presently scant and inconclusive. He is the worlds expert on the animals in the book of mormon and his current research interest centers on horses.
Nor do horses or chariots play any role in the many nephite wars. The mention of horses among domesticated animals kept by book of mormon peoples has raised questions in some peoples minds, due to the. The tapir whisperer daniel peterson farms byu book. The presence of precolumbian horses in america 2018 fair mormon conference. Today with sit down with lds mesoamerican expert daniel johnson and talk about the setting of the book of mormon. There does not appear to be archeological proof for their existence in the new world during the time period in which they are mentioned 600 b. The book of mormon mentions that horses were known and used by the jaredites and the people of lehi. The session i was most intrigued by was wade millers this morning on horses. Horses are mentioned in eight different book of mormon episodes that involve an ancient new world setting. New evidence for horses in america book of mormon central. Nor does the book of mormon text indicate that horses or chariots play any role in the many nephite wars despite a popular classic book of mormon painting by arnold friburg depicting helaman leading the 2000 stripling warriors while astride a battleready horse. Book of mormon artifacts and metallurgy life after ministry. Horses in the book of mormon post by nibbler fri apr 27, 2018 7. The tapir whisperer daniel peterson farms byu book of.
A related discussion is in my post, update on horses in the book of mormon, mormanity blog, feb. Aug 01, 2018 friday opened with wade miller talking about paleontology. Assuming that they were present in order to pull the chariots must be extrapolated. The book of mormon does not mention horses pulling chariots. Jan 29, 2018 donors interested in supporting this work can do so through book of mormon central. Although historians and archaeologists consider the book to be an anachronistic invention of joseph smith, many members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church and other denominations of the latter day saint movement believe that it. In fact, book of mormon horses are never mentioned in a combat narrative. Scholars go over evidence and discuss horses found in precolumbian times, chariots, and elephants. Mormon challenges are precolumbian horses in book of.
When joseph smith began translating the book of mormon, marin harris wanted to show his wife lucy the manuscript to calm her fears that. Each possible explanation also teaches important lessons about archaeology, ancient writings, and the. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. Friday opened with wade miller talking about paleontology. Daniel is considered by the brethren to be the john wayne of all farms hands. In fact, besides offering bibliographies of scholarly resources on the book of mormon xviixviii, 624, the mise also directs its readers attention to official latterday saint resources on the history, transmission, and translation of the book of mormon in the form of the joseph smith papers website and the gospel topics essays. The book of mormon never mentions horses pulling chariots or being ridden. They are as busy as bees with this mission impossible task. For addition precolumbian dated horse bones, see miller and roper, animals in the book of mormon, 164. The aztecs called them pisote, which basically means glutton and was often applied to the peccary or wild pig. And it came to pass that the people of nephi did till the land, and raise all manner of grain, and of fruit, and flocks of herds and also many horses. In other words, critics claim that the book of mormon is a fraud, since horses mentioned in the book of mormon couldnt have lived here at the time of the nephites. Mormonthink is again unaware or withholding information. Book of mormon by steve benson dec 2011 in an earlier act, fair s premier funny man, michael r.
It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Farms fair shields mormon apologetics farms and fair and shields apologize for the book of mormon and the book of abraham. Horses, scholars believe, were only reintroduced by columbus to the carribbean in 1493, and by cortez to the continent over two decades later in 1819. The trajectory of book of mormon studies, 2 august 2007 at the 2007 fair. The presence of precolumbian horses in america 2018 fair. That leaves 11 times that the book of mormon claims that horses existed in the new world. Another scholar pointed out several possibilities for mentions of horses. Lets examine the book of mormon passages which records horses living alongside prehistoric man, prior 1492 when columbus sailed the ocean blue. Horses and the book of mormon why the lds church is true. Many critics ridicule the mention of horses in the book of mormon, for it is widely assumed that horses were not known to man in the americas prior to contact with europeans. The 20th fair mormon conference will be august at the utah valley convention center. Book of mormon mention of horses in precolumbian america has drawn much criticism, and no definitive answer to this question is at present available. Fairmormon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing welldocumented answers to criticisms of latterday saint mormon doctrine, beliefs.
The book of mormon mentions horses a few times, even though were not in the americas before the spanish arrived, according to current expert opinion. Horses are claimed most often as livestock and work horses, but never mentioned as riding animals. Ash, and william hamblin of fair, note that the book of mormon does not mention the materials. This paper is based on a talk and powerpoint presentation given to the book of mormon lands conference, 20 october 2007. Anachronisms, or out of place items, have long been a subject of controversy with the book of mormon.
In the book of mormon, there are many chapters of isaiah directly incorporated from the king james version kjv of the bible, complete with translation errors that were obviously not possible to have been recorded on the gold plates since the kjv was not available until thousands of years. Daniel johnsons 20 book of mormon archaeological forums bmaf. For the first 150 years of mormonisms existence, everyone thought it was a story about a people who left the middle east and came to south or central america, and who fought wars clear up into new york state where. For additional discussion, see the bibliography associated with this book of mormon central article here and the interpreter article here. Excerpt from the horses in the book of mormon article on fair mormon. Others believe that the word horse in the book of mormon does not refer to members of the. Fair argues that conspicuously absent is any role of the horse in the many journeys recorded in the book of mormon. Every year it holds a conference in which mormon scholars and apologists present papers of relevance to the defense of mormonism. Each possible explanation also teaches important lessons about archaeology, ancient. Jan 29, 2018 these citations from prominent non mormon voices concerning the book of mormon, and others like them which could be multiplied, may, however, mislead an unsuspecting reader into believing that the book is worthy of any sort of genuine scrutiny or god forbid fair, evenhanded analysis free of prejudice or ideological partiality. We talk about what evidence we find and what evidence is really not fair to ask for. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading science and the book of mormon.
It is also striking that the book of revelations colored horses become colored races in the mormon prophecy. Bmc has sponsored wades expeditions for the last couple of years. Apr 11, 2016 the book of mormon mentions horses a few times, even though were not in the americas before the spanish arrived, according to current expert opinion. The most likely animals to have been included in the expanded definition of the book of mormon horse are the deer and the tapir. My guess is that the session was based upon his and steve jones work.
Horses, chariots, elephants in the book of mormon youtube. Donors interested in supporting this work can do so through book of mormon central. Deuteroisaiah verses in the book of mormon overview of the deuteroisaiah problem in the book of mormon. Several latterday saints over the years have attempted to examine. Since the publication of the book of mormon in 1830, mormon archaeologists have attempted to find archaeological evidence to support it. The following article is courtesy of fair, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing welldocumented answers to criticisms of lds doctrine, belief and practice. Book of mormon by steve benson dec 2011 in an earlier act, fairs premier funny man, michael r. If youre not able to go theyll provide streaming of the presentations. Horses in the book of mormon book of mormon mormon. There are a small number of mentions in the book of mormon of horses. Modern horses did not arrive in the new world until they were brought by spanish explorers. Feb 05, 2018 in fact, horses went extinct in the americas thousands of years before they show up in the book of mormon.
There were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. But, now the lds church is saying the horse referred to in the book of mormon is probably a tapir or deer like animal known in central and south america, as is noted in an article from the fairlds site horses in the book of mormon by mike ash. In my opinion, a more likely candidate for the nephite loanshift horse would have been the central american tapir. Linguistic data suggest that book of mormon horse need not refer to equus, but could indicate some other quadruped suitable for human riding, as mesoamerican art suggests sorenson, 1985, p. I was hoping to be at the fair conference this week but work had other plans. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. In fact, horses went extinct in the americas thousands of years before they show up in the book of mormon.
The book of mormon abridged for reddit ploni almoni. While the mention of horses is thought to be anachronistic to the book of mormon, we can find germane parallels in mesoamerican culture. Edited by grant hardy, the maxwell institute study edition mise incorporates important advances in book of mormon scholarship from the past few decades while grounding the readers experience in the text of the book of mormon. This is an abbreviated version of a fulllength video which fair. Ash, entertained his rfm audience with nonstop laughs as he explained how nephite warriors fought their enemies not from horsedrawn chariots since horses and wheels werent around during that new world era, but rather, from sleds pulled by deer. The first day this year is a womens workship with an emphasis on women in the church. Dec 01, 2017 horses, scholars believe, were only reintroduced by columbus to the carribbean in 1493, and by cortez to the continent over two decades later in 1819. We talk about his trips to these ancient cities and what we find their to. Book of mormon peoples, unsurprisingly, acted like real people second, book of mormon peoples should be expected to act and behave just as real people have throughout history. This article contextualizes the use of horses in the book of mormon to better understand their function in society. The book of mormon records that the nephites constructed houses of cement, 34 as well as temples, synagogues and sanctuaries 35 throughout their territories. In addition to mastodons, another species of an elephantlike creature existed in the new world and did not go extinct until after the time of christ. Book of mormon artifacts and metallurgy life after ministries.
Fairmormon is arguably the leading mormon organization devoted to defending the lds religion. Taken collectively, these findings suggest the possibility that horses may have existed on the american continent close to or during book of mormon times. Nov 01, 2008 but, now the lds church is saying the horse referred to in the book of mormon is probably a tapir or deer like animal known in central and south america, as is noted in an article from the fairlds site horses in the book of mormon by mike ash. These dates range all the way from the journey of the jaredites preabraham, up until the time just prior to the appearance of christ in the americas 33 ad. Any casual student of archaeology knows scientists frequently find animals alive that were previously believed to be extinct.
The book of mormon mentions chariots, which one assumes to be a wheeled vehicle. We talk about his trips to these ancient cities and what we find their to support our testimonies in the book of mormon. These citations from prominent nonmormon voices concerning the book of mormon, and others like them which could be multiplied, may, however, mislead an unsuspecting reader into believing that the book is worthy of any sort of genuine scrutiny or god forbid fair, evenhanded analysis free of prejudice or ideological partiality. Aug 03, 2018 i was hoping to be at the fair conference this week but work had other plans. Horse remains have been found in california which radiocarbon date before the spanish arrival to the area. Earthshaking discovery of book of mormon horses hagerman horse found within smithsonian institute.
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