Book of Mormon
Geography
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Mesoamerica
For many years the Church itself promoted the idea that the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica. Groups like Book of Mormon Central and individuals like John Sorenson and others still promote this idea. What is the evidence for this? Why has the church backed away from this idea?
Heartland Model
The Heartland Model of the Book of Mormon postulates the idea that the Book of Mormon took place in the Heartland of North America.
Ethiopia
Less well known is the theory that the Book of Mormon took place in Ethiopia.
So many church leaders proposed that the Book of Mormon took place all over North and South America and said as much from the stand at General Conference and elsewhere.
Since the discovery of three altars by Warren Ashton in the 1980s, with the letters NHM inscribed on them, members of the Church have seen this as a "bullseye" for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. I used to be in the same boat. On closer examination, however, the theory hardly holds up.
Moroni's Repository
Since the discovery of three altars by Warren Ashton in the 1980s, with the letters NHM inscribed on them, members of the Church have seen this as a "bullseye" for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. I used to be in the same boat. On closer examination, however, the theory hardly holds up.
“Some say the Hill Cumorah was in southern Mexico (and someone published it down still farther) and not in western New York. Well, if the Lord wanted us to know where it was, or where Zarahemla was, he’d have given us latitude and longitude, don’t you think? And why bother our heads trying to discover with archaeological certainty the geographical locations of the cities of the Book of Mormon like Zarahemla?”
[Harold B. Lee, 1966 (one of the Twelve Apostles at the time) “Loyalty,” address to religious educators, July 8, 1966; in Charge to Religious Educators, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Church Educational System and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1982), 65]
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