To simplify the discussion of the setting of the Book of Mormon, we can compare the two sets of assumptions that apply to the different working hypotheses.
These assumptions make it easier for people to understand the peer reviews on this blog.
I originally posted this in 2016 and recently updated it here:
https://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2016/05/simplicity.html
When comparing the two sets of assumptions, think about this wisdom from Naval Ravikant:
"It is the mark of a charlatan to explain a simple concept in a complex way" - @naval
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| William of Ockham |
On the topic of Book of Mormon geography, which setting requires the fewest assumptions?
Which explanation is the simplest?
The North American setting has two assumptions.
1. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery knew that the Hill Cumorah in New York was the place where the Nephite and Jaredite civilizations were destroyed because (i) Moroni told Joseph about Cumorah the first time they met (ii) Joseph and Oliver heard about Cumorah from the messenger who took the abridged plates from Harmony to Cumorah, and (iii) Joseph and Oliver visited the repository of Nephite records in the hill. Everything directly attributable to Joseph and Oliver is consistent with that setting, including Oliver's Letter VII which declares it is a fact that the hill in New York is the Hill Cumorah/Ramah of the Book of Mormon.
2. Contrary ideas are not directly attributable to Joseph and Oliver; therefore, these contrary ideas were produced by other people who didn't know what Joseph and Oliver knew, or who considered Joseph and Oliver misguided speculators and/or liars.
The Mesoamerican setting (M2C) promoted by Scripture Central and other LDS scholars relies on a series of assumptions:
1. Joseph Smith didn't know where the Book of Mormon events took place.
2. Oliver Cowdery (or another unknown person) at some unspecified date started a folk tradition that Cumorah was in New York, based on an incorrect assumption.
3. Joseph misled his wife Emma when he wrote to her about crossing the plains of the Nephites after he'd crossed Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
4. As Assistant President of the Church, and with the assistance of Joseph Smith, Oliver lied when he memorialized the incorrect folk tradition by declaring it was a fact that Cumorah/Ramah is in New York in Letter VII in 1835.
5. Joseph, for unexplained reasons, passively adopted Oliver's speculation and had copied into his own history and made sure it was widely republished (Times and Seasons, Millennial Star, Gospel Reflector, The Prophet).
6. Joseph, who wrote very little himself, nevertheless wrote a series of lengthy articles in the Times and Seasons about Central America that he left anonymous for unknown reasons. Even though they do not mention Cumorah, these articles prove that Joseph Smith thought the Nephites lived in Mesoamerica, despite what he wrote in the Wentworth letter a couple of months previously.
The Mesoamerican setting (M2C) promoted by Scripture Central and other LDS scholars relies on a series of assumptions:
1. Joseph Smith didn't know where the Book of Mormon events took place.
2. Oliver Cowdery (or another unknown person) at some unspecified date started a folk tradition that Cumorah was in New York, based on an incorrect assumption.
3. Joseph misled his wife Emma when he wrote to her about crossing the plains of the Nephites after he'd crossed Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
4. As Assistant President of the Church, and with the assistance of Joseph Smith, Oliver lied when he memorialized the incorrect folk tradition by declaring it was a fact that Cumorah/Ramah is in New York in Letter VII in 1835.
5. Joseph, for unexplained reasons, passively adopted Oliver's speculation and had copied into his own history and made sure it was widely republished (Times and Seasons, Millennial Star, Gospel Reflector, The Prophet).
6. Joseph, who wrote very little himself, nevertheless wrote a series of lengthy articles in the Times and Seasons about Central America that he left anonymous for unknown reasons. Even though they do not mention Cumorah, these articles prove that Joseph Smith thought the Nephites lived in Mesoamerica, despite what he wrote in the Wentworth letter a couple of months previously.
7. When Joseph wrote D&C 128:20, affirming that he learned of Cumorah from Moroni before he obtained the plates, he misled everyone.
8. Lucy Mack Smith lied when she said Moroni identified the hill as Cumorah the first time he met Joseph Smith. She further lied when she said Joseph referred to the hill as Cumorah in early 1827 before he obtained the plates.
9. Oliver Cowdery lied during his mission to the Lamanites in 1830 when he told them that Moroni had called the hill in New York Cumorah.
10. David Whitmer lied when he said on multiple occasions that he first heard the word Cumorah from the messenger who was taking the abridged plates from Harmony, PA, to Cumorah. He further lied when he said Joseph identified the messenger as one of the Three Nephites.
10. David Whitmer lied when he said on multiple occasions that he first heard the word Cumorah from the messenger who was taking the abridged plates from Harmony, PA, to Cumorah. He further lied when he said Joseph identified the messenger as one of the Three Nephites.
11. Joseph's contemporaries and successors in Church leadership misled everyone by repeating the false claim that the hill in New York is the hill Cumorah of Mormon 6:6.
12. Although the hill in New York was falsely named "Cumorah" by unknown early Latter-day Saints, the real hill Cumorah is somewhere in southern Mexico.
12. Although the hill in New York was falsely named "Cumorah" by unknown early Latter-day Saints, the real hill Cumorah is somewhere in southern Mexico.
13. Etc.
Which set of assumptions makes the most sense to you?
____________________________
Here are some relevant quotations about simplicity.
“If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”
― Albert Einstein
To which Groucho Marx replied:
“A child of five could understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.”
― Groucho Marx
“Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.”
― Isaac Newton
“Why did they believe? Because they saw miracles. Things one man took as chance, a man of faith took as a sign. A loved one recovering from disease, a fortunate business deal, a chance meeting with a long lost friend. It wasn't the grand doctrines or the sweeping ideals that seemed to make believers out of men. It was the simple magic in the world around them.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Hero of Ages
“People who pride themselves on their "complexity" and deride others for being "simplistic" should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading the truth.”
― Thomas Sowell, Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
“..things are never as complicated as they seem. It is only our arrogance that prompts us to find unnecessarily complicated answers to simple problems.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
“I am not a genius, I am just curious. I ask many questions. and when the answer is simple, then God is answering.”
― Albert Einstein
Which set of assumptions makes the most sense to you?
____________________________
Here are some relevant quotations about simplicity.
“If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”
― Albert Einstein
To which Groucho Marx replied:
“A child of five could understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.”
― Groucho Marx
“Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.”
― Isaac Newton
“Why did they believe? Because they saw miracles. Things one man took as chance, a man of faith took as a sign. A loved one recovering from disease, a fortunate business deal, a chance meeting with a long lost friend. It wasn't the grand doctrines or the sweeping ideals that seemed to make believers out of men. It was the simple magic in the world around them.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Hero of Ages
“People who pride themselves on their "complexity" and deride others for being "simplistic" should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading the truth.”
― Thomas Sowell, Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
“..things are never as complicated as they seem. It is only our arrogance that prompts us to find unnecessarily complicated answers to simple problems.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
“I am not a genius, I am just curious. I ask many questions. and when the answer is simple, then God is answering.”
― Albert Einstein
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