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Home > Archaeology and the Book of Mormon

 
Mormon apologists and skeptics alike have long attempted to demonstrate through archaeology that The Book of Mormon is on the one hand a work of history or on the other work of fiction. Most Mormons and Mormon apologists, though not all, view the characters of The Book of Mormon as real people who lived in a real place in the Americas. Apologists have identified numerous archaeological details that support the idea of a historical Book of Mormon narrative. Similarly, skeptics have identified numerous archaeological details that support the idea that the Book of Mormon is an entirely fictional narrative. Because it would be nearly impossible under any conditions to prove archaeologically whether the book is historical or fictional, the book's historicity is fundamentally a matter of belief for most interested parties. Both Mormons and skeptics seem to find abundant support for their beliefs.

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Linguistics and the Book of Mormon and Reformed Egyptian

1 View of Mormon apologists

Probably in recognition of the fundamental problem of apologetics through archaeology, many believing Book of Mormon researchers have in the late twentieth century shifted their focus from "apologetics" to "studies". This has resulted generally in better scholarship among believers as researchers have focused more on real answers than on talking points. Though ironically this shift of focus has provided better material for apologists, for apologetic researchers "archaeology and The Book of Mormon" is no longer driven solely by the apologist/skeptic debate, but also by a serious research interest in the Book of Mormon itself.

The following are some of the specific reasons most Mormon apologists do not place much emphasis on apologetics through archaeology:

  1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially discourages conversion through the intellect in favor of conversion through personal revelation.
  2. Book of Mormon studies are still in their youth, and various interpretations prevail. For example, the Book of Mormon narrative has been placed everywhere from South and Central America to the Finger Lakes region in New York (possibly relating the people in the story to the Mound Builders). Though some consensuses are being formed, using conflicting conclusions for apologetics is problematic.
  3. Both casual apologists and casual critics tend to makes errors of assumption because
    1. Most of the modern archaeological research of the mesoamerican area dates to a time after the Book of Mormon narrative ends and the people purportedly disperse and their language, religion and culture deteriorate.
    2. Recent interpretations of the text of The Book of Mormon suggest there may have been other people and cultures in the same lands at the same time (though the book concerns itself exclusively with the peoples of the narrative), possibly large populations and many different cultures.
    3. The Book of Mormon narrative leads readers to the conclusion that the Lamanites hunted down and destroyed the surviving Nephites and most evidence of the Nephite civilization and culture.
    4. Much of North American archaeology has been lost or misunderstood because of common misperceptions, stereotypes, and lack of preservation (for example, most don't know of the existence of structured stone and "cement" cities and pyramids that existed in Eastern North America, but rather identify Native Americans migratory and as teepee or wigwam dwellers).

2 State of archeological research

Only a small percentage of known archeological sites in the Americas have been fairly excavated, particularly in North America. While there is a great deal of archeological data (as well as historic accounts) of the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlán over which Mexico City was been built, many other ancient cities of the Americas have had little serious excavation done on them. Still, archaeology has provided a some data on the lives, customs, technology, etc. of the ancient American peoples.

Both this body of knowledge and interpretations of it regarding The Book of Mormon is changing rapidly. In 1973, a prominent Mesoamerican archaeologist, Michael Coe of Yale UniversityYale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third oldest American collegiate institution (or fourth, if St. John's College, Annapolis is included) and one of the most prestigious in the world. The Univer, said "As far as I know there is not one professionally trained archaeologist, who is not a Mormon, who sees any scientific justification for believing [the historicity of The Book of Mormon], and I would like to state that there are quite a few Mormon archaeologists who join this group." ("Mormons and Archaeology: An Outside View," in Dialogue, A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol 8, No 2, (Summer 1973), p. 42.) But since then Brigham Young UniversityBrigham Young University BYU or simply The Y was founded as Brigham Young Academy in 1875 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church; see also Mormon). It has grown to become the largest private university in the United States and one has sponsored a number of archeological excavations in MesoamericaMesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south through the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European, and the state of research has progressed generally to the point that statements such as Coe's are harder to find today.

Much of the literature of the Pre-Columbian MayaThis article is about the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. See Maya people for a discussion of the modern Maya. The Maya are a people of southern Mexico and northern Central America with some 3,000 years of rich history. The Maya were part of the Mesoamer was deliberately destroyed by the SpanishThe Kingdom of Spain is a country located in the southwest of Europe. It shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. To the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. It inc when they conquered the region in the 1500sCenturies: 15th century 16th century 17th century Decades: 1450s 1460s 1470s 1480s 1490s 1500s 1510s 1520s 1530s 1540s 1550s Years: 1500 1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510 Events and Trends Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa External li. On this point, Michael Coe noted:

"[O]ur knowledge of ancient Maya thought must represent only a tiny fraction of the whole picture, for of the thousands of books in which the full extent of their learning and ritual was recorded, only four have survived to modern times (as though all that posterity knew of ourselves were to be based upon three prayer books and Pilgrim's Progress)." (Michael D. Coe, The Maya, London: Thames and Hudson, 4th ed., 1987, p. 161.)

As the state of archeological knowledge in the Americas progresses, many interested apologists and skeptics evaluate each archeological discovery for its probative value regarding the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, comparing the text of the book (animals, objects, place names, directions, etc.) with the archealogical record.

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Topics: Archaeology And The Book Of Mormon, View Of Mormon Apologists...

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