Apologist claim that knowledge of Arabia was not available when the BofM was written.

It is a lie, because books were available in Meadville Pennsylvania, only 50 miles from Harmony during the time that the head in the hat trick was going on.

Another claim is that accurate information about Arabia was not at Dartmouth University during the time that the Smith family lived nearby. Here is one of the apologist sources making that claim:

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=8&chapid=61

The link mentions Robert Mayo's An Epitome of Ancient Geography and claims it was not in print until 1818, after the Smiths had moved away.

Here is a link to the book, with a letter from the President of Dartmouth to Dr. Mayo dated 1813.

http://books.google.com/books?id=EP41AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA2&dq=%22dartmouth+college%22&hl=en&ei=vu8ATeDlN4ulnQed1ZjlDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22dartmouth%20college%22&f=false

It's a lot of fun to debunk Mormon apologist "findings" using the resources available from Google Books.

Of course, when the apologists make claims that certain books with certain information weren't available to JS, because he didn't live in a certain area during a certain time period ... they are "forgetting" that JS had MANY contacts with individuals--especially in the form of local and itinerant clery--who most likely DID have access to many resources related to Book of Mormon material. And when you take into account all the "MISSES"(errors) found in the BoM, the "HITS" become practically irrelevant.

(Note: did you notice that the titles are a bit different: "An Epitome of Ancient Geography" versus "A View of Ancient Geography, and Ancient History"? Do you think these are the same book?)

Thanks for the interesting post!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2010 03:41AM by Fetal Deity.

"Note: did you notice that the titles are a bit different: "An Epitome of Ancient Geography" versus "A View of Ancient Geography, and Ancient History"? Do you think these are the same book?"

Glad you brought that up. It is what the apologists do not tell us.

A View of Ancient Geography was the first edition. The title was changed to An Epitome of Ancient Geography in the 1818 edition.

The translation of D'Anville's work appears in this 1813 edition with the title A View of Ancient Geography.

Here is an example on page 121 -

http://books.google.com/books?id=EP41AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=mayo+%22view+of+ancient+geography%22&source=bl&ots=d9BOSJUYqC&sig=7R5fQCEjgTH1OROiKQp6WYwehtg&hl=en&ei=sEACTfzlF8T9nAf7xLnlDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

page 121
Arabia.
We proceed to survey a vast country...

Compare this to volume 2 of D'Anville's book -

http://books.google.com/books?id=urUBAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:M66W6PplrHcC&hl=en&ei=dUcCTZb3HNnhnQfn-pHlDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=arabia&f=false

see page 437
Arabia.
We preceed to survey a vast country...

The text is identical because Mayo published an earlier edition of D'Anville's work on Arabia than the apologists admit to.

I guess Mopologists think they can get away with things like that--or maybe they never bother checking in the first place, or updating their articles once new information becomes available. I wonder if they have even discovered Google Books yet ... LOL!

(A few months ago, Michael Ash published an article at Mormon Times, making an implication that was EASILY debunked by me--a rank amateur--with a very simple search on Google Books. I'm glad to see you're doing the same! : )

JS and many people of his time were fascinated by pirates tales. The Comora island with its capital city of Moroni was believed to be a secret hideout of Captain Kidd. Thomas Jefferson had to deal with the Barbary pirates. I would wager that the people of JS time were MORE familiar with the geography of Arabia than people today. The bible and much of classic history is rooted in those lands. They didn't have television and movies to distract them. The most exciting tales of their time revolved around that area. He probably knew as much about Arabia as kids today know about Hogwarts.

Did you notice one of the "enthusiastic reviewers" was John Wheelock, president of Dartmouth? Just wondering if he was any relation to Cyrus Wheelock, of smuggling-the-pistol-to-Joseph Smith fame.

On a slightly different but related topic, yesterday I took in our copy of a giant foldout 'Synchronological Chart, or History of World' from 1879 (it starts history with Adam & Eve and features things like the Tower of Babel and Noah's ark as factual) to my daughter's history class, and even though these kids have the world at their fingertips via the internet, they were completely fascinated by a 130 year-old document. It made me think that a kid like Joseph Smith would have been equally interested in the outside world and fascinated by any maps and stories from outside his little area and pored over maps, just like these kids.

...what books JS might or might not have had access to is irrelevant.

Personally, I think it was a group effort, with Rigdon cribbing Spalding, various preachers and the Bible, Cowdery cribbing Ethan Smith, and JS throwing in his fantasy tales. All three (and possibly others) also pulled from popular fringe ideas and stuff they'd heard here and there.

I agree with you Stray Mutt.

The case of Solomon Spalding and others being near libraries with these books and maps is a study that needs to be pursued.

Having some bit of info available only means it wasn't IMPOSSIBLE for the person in question to know that thing. It doesn't mean he MUST have known it.

So when Mopologists claim JS couldn't have written the BoM because he couldn't have known X, I think the better answer is that most likely it was written by a committee of conspirators, JS among them.

And as mentioned above, a lot of what anyone knows is transmitted orally. So it's not just a matter of what JS knew, it's what anyone he might have ever met knew, and what everyone those people ever met knew, and so on. Add in any coconspirators, and soon you have thousands and thousands of people, just at the third-hand information level.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2010 04:22PM by Stray Mutt.