219 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
219 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
The following is the text of a series of messages by Ted Lapoint, sysop
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of Kingdom Come! BBS concerning archaeology and the Book of Mormon:
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=======================================================================
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Biblical archaeology is a major field of inquiry that has filled museums
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with artifacts had has filled libraries with books on cities, temples,
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fortresses, coins, inscriptions, and so on, that have been dug from
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mounds and ruins in Israel as well as in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iran
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(Persia), Iraq (Babylon), and other lands mentioned in the Bible.
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Archaeologists have often used the Bible as a guide to what to look for
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and where, and the objects and writings uncovered have confirmed the
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Bible as factual, proving that the people and places spoken of in the
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Bible actually existed.
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Ancient Egyptian and Babylonian records unearthed by archaeologists may
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portray their own pharaohs and kings as superior to the kings of Judah
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and Israel, but they thus verify the existence of those Jewish and
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gentile leaders named in the Bible. They may commemorate Egyptian and
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Babylonian victories over ancient Israel, while they ignore their own
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defeats, but they thus confirm that the battles really took place as
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recorded in the Bible. Can the same be said for the Book of Mormon?
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Have archaeologists digging in North, South and Central America
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used the BOM as a guide, as they have used the Bible in the Near and
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Middle East? Has the BOM guided them in locating and uncovering ruins
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of cities, temples, and fortifications mentioned in that book the way
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the Bible has? Have coins and inscriptions been unearthed in the
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Americas bearing the names of nations and ruler spoken of in the BOM as
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excavations in Bible lands have uncovered references to Old Testament
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kings, New Testament Caesars, and even Pontius Pilate? And have any
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writings been found in the Americas referring to the BOM's alleged
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appearances of Christ in this hemisphere, comparable to the nearly
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contemporary Roman and Jewish Talmud accounts, which refer to Jesus as a
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criminal and an impostor but at least acknowledge that he did walk the
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earth in the first century A.D. Judea? What archaeological evidence is
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there for the BOM?
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While apologists for the Mormon Church have written on the
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subject, and organizations have been formed by the LDS members - with
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the purpose of producing support for the BOM- with the result that
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Mormons are able to trot out alleged "proof" of its authenticity - there
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is an obvious difference between such chauvinistic efforts and the
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legitimate work of professional archaeologists. Thus, if the LDS Church
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members choose to ignore the findings of the anthropology and
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archaeology departments of schools across the country in favor of
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conclusions reached at Brigham Young University, this should not be
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surprising. But anyone who approaches the subject with both eyes open
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quickly notices that Mormons keep citing Mormon sources for their
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support, because support is lacking from academically recognized
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non-Mormon experts in the field.
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Undoubtedly, one of the most comprehensive sources for
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historical and archaeological information on the Americas is the
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Smithsonian Institution to inquire concerning the authenticity of the
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historical events portrayed in the Book of Mormon.
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In a letter to the Smithsonian - dated January 1, 1990, the
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following letter was sent:
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Dear Sir or Madam:
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I have been reading the Book of Mormon, a scripture of "The
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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" (the Mormons). I have
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questions concerning the authenticity of the historical events that it
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portrays. They are:
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1) Is the Book of Mormon used to find archaeological sites in
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the New World?
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2) Is there archaeological evidence that prior to the European
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influence, the North, Central and South American Indians did:
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a. use iron and or steel?
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b. use vehicle with wheels like full size wagons,
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carts, chariots or similar?
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c. use or have access to asses, goats, horses, sheep,
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elephants, cattle, oxen, cows?
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d. use of have access to domesticated plants like
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wheat, barley, oats, millet, and rice?
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e. use silk and or linen?
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3) Did some or all of the original ancestors of the American
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Indians come from Israel or some Semetic family?
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4) Have any New world archaeological sites ever been connected
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to a Book of Mormon event or location? If so, please name them.
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Thank you for your response to the above and any related
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information you may wish to send. I have enclosed a check for $2.00 to
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cover postage, handling, etc.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Now, I would like to list all of the areas in the BOM that instigated
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the above questions:
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Iron (2 Nephi 5:15;20:34; Jarom 1:8; Mosiah 11:8; Ether 10:23)
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Steel (1 Nephi 4:9; 16:18; 2 Nephi 5:15; Ether 7:9)
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Vehicles with wheels (Alma 18:9-10, 12; 3 Nephi 3:22; 21:14)
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Asses (1 Nephi 18:25; Mosiah 5:14; 12:5; Ether 9:19)
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Goats (1 Nephi 18:25; Alma 14:29; Ether 9:18)
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Horses (1 Nephi 18:25; 2 Nephi 12:7; Enos 1:21; Alma 18:9-12; 3 Nephi
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3:22l 21:14; 1:21; 3 Nephi 3:22; 6:1; Ether 9:19)
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Sheep (Ether 9:18)
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Elephants (Ether 9:19)
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Cattle (Enos 1:21; 3 Nephi 3:22; 6:1; Ether 9:18)
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Oxen (1 Nephi 18:25; Ether 9:18)
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Cows (1 Nephi 18:25; Ether 9:18)
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Wheat (Mosiah 9:9)
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Grain (Helaman 11:17)
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Silk (1 Nephi 13:7; Alma 1:29; Ether 9:17)
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Linen (1 Nephi 13:7-8; Mosiah 10:5; Alma 1:29; 4:6; Ether 10:24)
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And this, was their response:
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Your recent inquiry concerning the Smithsonian Institution's
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alleged use of the Book of Mormon as a scientific guide has been
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received in the Smithsonian's department of Anthropology.
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The Book of Mormon is a religious document and not a scientific
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guide. The Smithsonian Institution has never used it in archaeological
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research and any information that you have received to the contrary is
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incorrect. Accurate information about the Smithsonian's position is
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contained in the enclosed "Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon,"
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which was prepared to respond to the numerous inquiries that the
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Smithsonian receives on this topic.
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Because the Smithsonian regards the unauthorized use of its name
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to disseminate inaccurate information as unlawful, we would appreciate
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your assistance in providing us with the names of any individuals who
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are misusing the Smithsonian's name. Please address any correspondence
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to:
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Public Information Center
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Department of Anthropology
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Natural Museum of Natural History
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Smithsonian Institution
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Washington, DC 20560
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PREPARED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY - SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
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The "Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon" is as follows:
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1. The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any
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was as a scientific guide. Smithsonian archaeologists see no direct
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connection between the archaeology of the New World and the subject
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matter of the book.
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2. The physical type of the American Indian is basically Mongoloid,
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being most closely related to that of the peoples of eastern, central,
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and northeastern Asia. Archaeological evidence indicates that the
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ancestors of the present Indians came into the New World - probably over
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a land bridge known to have existed in the Bering Strait during the last
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Ice Age - in a continuing series of small migrations beginning from
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about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago.
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3. Present evidence that the first people to reach this continent from
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the East were the Norsemen who briefly visited the northeastern part of
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North America around A.D. 1000 and then settled in Greenland. There is
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nothing to show that they reached Mexico or Central America.
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4. One of the main lines of evidence supporting the scientific finding
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that contacts with Old World civilizations, if indeed they occurred at
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all, were of very little significance for the development of American
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Indian civilizations, is the fact that none of the principal Old World
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domesticated food plants or animals (except the dog) occurred in the New
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World in pre-Columbian times. American Indians had no wheat, barley,
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oats, millet, rice, cattle, pigs, chickens, horses, donkeys, camels
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before 1492. (Camels and horses were in the Americas, along with bison,
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mammoth and mastodon, but all of these animals became extinct around
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10,000 B.C. at the time when the early big-game hunters spread across
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the Americas.)
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5. Iron, steel, glass, and sild were not used in the New World before
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1492 (except for occasional use of unsmelted meteoric iron). Native
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copper was worked in various locations in pre-Columbian times, but true
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metallurgy was limited to southern Mexico and the Andean region, where
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its occurrence in late prehistoric times involved gold, silver, copper,
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and their alloys, but not iron.*
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6. There is a possibility that the spread of cultural traits across the
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Pacific to Mesoamerica and the northwestern coast of South america began
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several hundred years before the Christian era. However, any such
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inter-hemisphere contacts appear to have been the results of accidental
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voyages origination in eastern and southern Asia. It is by no means
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certain that even such contacts occurred; certainly there were no
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contacts with the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, or other people of Western
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Asian and the Near East.
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7. No reputable Egyptologist or other specialist on Old World
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archaeology, and no expert on New World prehistory, has discovered of
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confirmed any relationship between archaeological remains in Mexico and
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archaeological remains in Egypt.
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8. Reports of findings of ancient Egyptian, Hebrew, and other Old World
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writings in the New WOrld in pre-Columbian contexts have frequently
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appeared in newspapers, magazines, and sensational books. None of these
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claims has stood up to examination by reputable scholars. No
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inscriptions using Old World forms of writing have been shown to have
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occurred in any part of the Americas before 1492 except for a few Norse
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stones which have been found in Greenland.
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* Authors note: Iron proceeds steel.
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**********************************************************************
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So, while archaeologists working in the Near East and the Middle East
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have found an abundance of artifacts confirming the history found in the
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Bible, what archaeologists have found in the Americas fails to support
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the Book of Mormon and, in fact, contradicts it.
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Both Mormon founder Joseph Smith Jr., and LDS Church President (late?)
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Ezra Taft Benson have called the Book of Mormon "the keystone of our
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religion." (The ENSIGN - January 1992, pp-2-5) The archaeological
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evidence against the Book of Mormon,then, serves as evidence also
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against the entire Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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