subgenius wrote:but the point being made speaks more to a lack of isolation for the people that settled there.
The doubts aren't about wether or not people other than Lehis landing party lived in the Americas before during and after the Book of Mormon era. There's plenty of evidence that they did. Proof of the landing party on the other hand....
Can you provide proof that any particular 6 or 12 people lived in mesoamerica at about the same time period?
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
subgenius wrote:Can you provide proof that any particular 6 or 12 people lived in mesoamerica at about the same time period?
I've prayed and felt good about it, that counts a s firm evidence, right?
That said, with the Book of Mormon, we are not dealing with a civilization with no written record. What we are dealing with is a written record with no civilization. (Runtu, Feb 2015)
"there came a man among the people of Nephi" incorrect assumption: that he was a stranger or non-Lehite he could have been a Lamanite, Zoramite, Lemuelite, Ishmaelite, or for that matter a Nephite. that short phrase implies nothing. "There came a man among the people of Provo" could easily be referring to someone born and raised in Provo. If a crowd gathers in Provo and a man comes among them, he has come among the people of Provo, regardless of whether he also lives in Provo or not. Additionally, the Book of Mormon (specifically first edition) is full of incorrect grammar and awkward sentences like this, so there is no reason to strain for an alternative meaning when the context of the story does nothing to imply a foreigner.
"he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people" incorrect assumption: that he is not a native speaker of the Nephite's language and had to learn it the entire verse: "And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil." The distinction of being perfect in language is clearly one in terms of perfecting one's own native language in terms of grammer, usage, vocabulary, reasoning, etc, not in terms of perfecting a second language.
"I have sought much opportunity that I might speak unto you;" incorrect assumption: that Sherem had to travel long distance to meet Jacob or otherwise lacked in opportunity to talk to Jacob that's a possible reading but not necessary. The phrase "sought much opportunity" doesn't really make sense. I could also assume it meant "I've been thinking about talking to you for a long time" or "I prepared a long time for this encounter"
incorrect assumption: this happened within 20 years of when Nephites landed Jacob's son Enos died 179 years after Nephites landed. It could be 100 years later.
incorrect assumption: it would be impossible for Jacob and Sherem to be unfamiliar with each other 1. the story still makes sense even if they are familiar with each other 2. They were populating a new land. A point of reference for number of children was Sariah, who had at least eight children. The time frame could be multiple generations later. There were a couple dozen people on Lehi's boat, so it's easy to extrapolate that out and imagine two people not knowing each other.
Further: 1. The Book of Mormon is full of internal inconsistencies dealing with numbers, ie populations growing too fast, battles with the number of slayed way too high to be realistic, ages not making sense (the Jacob-Enos thing is repeated often). There is no reason to make a wild extrapolation about Sherem based on something like the numbers not making sense. 2. Sherem believed in an Old Testament Law of Moses Hebrew religion. And he read and was familiar with Hebrew scripture. This theory requires one to believe Sherem, a native Mesoamerican, was converted to the Lehites Hebrew Christianity, read their scriptures, determined the prophesy of Christ was false, and came to believe the original form of Old Testament religion was true. That's a real stretch. And opens a can of worms. Why does the Book of Mormon never make mention of other non-Lehite converts or ministries to the non-Lehite population? They speak a lot about ministries to the Lamanites and Lamanite converts.