Smithsonian statement on Book of Mormon archaeology
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This article is a draft. FAIRwiki editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
Contents |
Criticism
The Smithsonian Institution sends a form letter to those who inquire about their use of the Book of Mormon for archeological purposes. The National Geographic Society has a similar letter.
- Critics trot out this letter as proof that the Book of Mormon has no archeological support and is therefore false.
- One critic claims that "generations of youth" in the Church have been taught that the Smithsonian uses the Book of Mormon to guide their research.
Source(s) of the criticism
- Institute for Religious Research.
- Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2004) 204. ( Index of claims )
- Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 133. ( Index of claims )
Response
In response to inquiries from Mormons and non-Mormons, the Smithsonian Institution sends out a standard letter denying that they use the Book of Mormon as a guide for archeological research. The content of the letter has changed over the years; the current version (revised 1998) reads:
- Your inquiry of February 7 concerning the Smithsonian Institution's alleged use of the Book of Mormon as a scientific guide has been received in this office for response.
- The Book of Mormon us a religious document and not a scientific guide. The Smithsonian Institution has never used it in archeological research, and any information that you have received to the contrary is incorrect.
- Your interest in the Smithsonian Institution is appreciated.
Taken at face value, the letter is correct: The Book of Mormon is a religious document and not a scientific guide. Its purpose is "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations" (Title Page), not to give a history of all (or even most) ancient Americans.
Conclusion
While archeology could be useful in determining where the events of the Book of Mormon took place, it does not contain the sort of historical detail that would make it useful for non-Mormon archeologists.
That the Smithsonian does not use the Book of Mormon in its research says nothing about the book's divinity and truthfulness.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
- FAIR Topical Guide: Smithsonian Statement FAIR link
- FAIR Topical Guide: Archeology and the Book of Mormon FAIR link
External links
- John L. Sorenson, "An Evaluation of the Smithsonian Institution 'Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon'" (lightplanet.com). off-site
- John L. Sorenson, "A New Evaluation of the Smithsonian Institution 'Statement regarding the Book of Mormon'" (Provo, Utah: FARMS, n/d). off-site
- Anonymous, "New Light: Smithsonian Statement on the Book of Mormon Revisited," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 7/1 (1998): 77–77. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
- Jeff Lindsay, "The Smithsonian Institution's 1996 'Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon'". off-site
- Kerry Shirts, "The Book of Mormon and the Smithsonian Institute" off-site
- REDIRECT Template:BoMArchaeologyLinks
Printed material
| Book of Mormon archaeology printed works |
- Warren P. Aston and Michaela Knoth Aston, In the Footsteps of Lehi: New Evidence for Lehi's Journey across Arabia to Bountiful (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994), 1. ISBN 0875798470
- John E. Clark, "Archeological Trends and the Book of Mormon Origins," Brigham Young University Studies 44:4 (2005): 83–104.
- Eugene England, "Through the Arabian Desert to a Bountiful Land: Could Joseph Smith Have Known the Way?," in Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins, edited by Noel B. Reynolds and Charles D. Tate (eds.), (Provo, Utah : Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University ; Salt Lake City, Utah : Distributed by Bookcraft, 1996 [1982]), 143–154. ISBN 0884944697 GospeLink GL direct link
- Alan Goff, "Mourning, Consolation, and Repentence at Nahom" in John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (eds.), Rediscovering the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Co. ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 92–99. ISBN 0875793878. off-site GospeLink GL direct link
- John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Co. ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1996 [1985]), 1. ISBN 1573451576. GospeLink
- John L. Sorenson, "The Book of Mormon as a Mesoamerican codex," in Newsletter and Proceedings of the Society for Early Historic Archaeology No. 139: (Provo, UT, 1976): 1–9.
- John L. Sorenson, "The Book of Mormon as a Mesoamerican record," Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins, edited by Noel B. Reynolds, (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1997), 391–521 ISBN 093489325X ISBN 0934893187 ISBN 0884944697. off-site GospeLink
- John L. Sorenson, "Fortifications in the Book of Mormon account compared with Mesoamerican fortifications" in Warfare in the Book of Mormon, edited by Stephen D. Ricks and William J. Hamblin (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1990), 425–444. ISBN 0875793002. GospeLink
- John L. Sorenson, "How could Joseph Smith write so accurately about ancient American civilization?," in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), 261–306. ISBN 0934893721 off-site
- John L. Sorenson, Images of Ancient America: Visualizing Book of Mormon Life (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1998), 1. ISBN 0934893284 (Key source)
- John L. Sorenson, "The political economy of the Nephites," in Nephite Culture and Society: Collected Papers, edited by M.L. Sorenson, (Salt Lake City, Utah: New Sage Books, 1997), 195–226. ISBN 1890902012. ISBN 978-1890902018.
- John L. Sorenson, "Seasons of war, seasons of peace in the Book of Mormon" in John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (eds.), Rediscovering the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Co. ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 249–255. ISBN 0875793878. off-site GospeLink
- John L. Sorenson, "The significance of an apparent relationship between the ancient Near East and Mesoamerica," in C. L. Riley et al. (editors), Man across the Sea: Problems of Pre-Columbian Contacts (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1971), 219–241.
- John W. Welch, "Lehi's Trail and Nahom Revisited,," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1992), 47–49. ISBN 0875796001 off-site FAIR link GospeLink GL direct link
- Diane E. Wirth, Parallels: Mesoamerican and Ancient Middle Eastern Traditions (St. George UT: Stonecliff), 2003. ISBN 0960209603. 978-0960209606.
