False Prophecies of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon
As I’ve mentioned before there have been countless false prophecies uttered by Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon seems to be from none other than the fanciful imagination of Smith. The characters stories, location, et al, are all non-existent. That is according to the late Hugh Nibley, LDS Church historian.
Today we’re looking at one item within the Book of Mormon that causes problems for Joseph Smith’s story. The horse. Here’s the link to read more about the lack of archaeological evidences in the Book of Mormon
http://lifeafterministry.com/2011/01/15/book-of-mormon-artifacts-and-metallurgy
Horses
2 Nephi 12:7; “Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.”
The verse above supposedly took place between 550 and 545 BC; however, this is a huge problem with archaeological studies and evidences according to researchers. From the website of the Columbia Encyclopedia it said;
“The Spanish conquistadors brought horses to the New World, where Native Americans soon acquired them from ranches and missions. The Plains Indians of North America quickly developed a horse culture that led to their ascendancy in numbers and power. Horses were used for hunting buffalo and other game, for warfare, and for pulling loads on a travois . Escaped Indian horses were ancestral to the mustang , the so-called wild horse of the W United States.” (15)
Now if you’re a Mormon and believe in the validity of the Book of Mormon then you’ve got a problem according to the website mentioned above. If you believe that horses were in the Americas before the time of the Conquistadors then you have to believe in evolution.
If you look at the side in favor of Mormonism you’ll see what they continue to say at FAIR about the horse. I find the majority of their insights to be totally lacking factual evidence based upon what their own apologists state. The reader will also notice how they typically try to explain away the problems for the lack of evidence by making excuses for what the Book of Mormon actually claims.
From FAIR it says; “Non-LDS Canadian researcher, Yuri Kuchinsky, also believes that there were pre-Columbian horses…Unfortunately, however, such theories are typically seen as fringe among mainstream scholars. Due to the dearth of archaeological support, most scholars continue to believe that horses became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene period. Is it possible that real horses lived in the Americas during Book of Mormon times? And if so, why does there seem to be no archaeological support?
First, it is important to recognize that the Book of Mormon never states or implies that horses roamed the New World in large numbers–in fact, horses are mentioned very infrequently…”
See what I mean? The above explanation is case in point.
Again, this is not a prophecy. I just think the reader should understand this so as to not be fully deceived by the tactics of this series of blogs.
However, as concerning horses, there actually is evidence of horses in the America’s during the time of the Book of Mormon. It is just suggested that they were hunted rather than domesticated.
However, while there is no hard evidence, there is also the many cave pictures and other works of art through the Pre-Columbian times that depict horses.
Also, one must consider the fact that no culture in the world seems to have well established archeological evidence for any animals. Take the Huns, for instance. They built their empire with horses, and yet there is almost no archeological evidence for horses in all their vast empire.
In short, those who seek to use such silly ideas to discredit the Book of Mormon only make themselves look silly.
(Find proof of lions in Palestine, as the Bible claims.)
tnx for this site, it helps me how to witness a Mormon who visited me
Has anyone ever found any of the chariots mentioned? There was “no end” to them…
CAMDEN
I think you need to familiarize yourself with the Book of Mormon a little more.
Chariots are mentioned in only two narratives.
The first is that of Ammon serving King Lamoni in Alma 18, and later in chapter 20. The only chariots mentioned are the ones belonging to the King. (Alma 18: 9-10, 12; 20: 6). This easily indicates the rarity of them.
The second Narrative is the story of Lachoneus in 3 Nephi 3: 22, in which all the people gathered together in a tight community to defend against the Gadianton Robbers. Now, this might indicate that they were more common than the first narrative would have, but it still does not necessitate that everyone had them, only that they were common enough that they deserved a mention.
Now, I will admit that there are two other verses in the Book of Mormon that mention chariots, and it is to one of these that you are referring.
2 Nephi 12: 7 “Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.”
The problem with using this as proof of anything archeological is that it is actually a direct quote from Isaiah 2, which is acknowledged in the chapter heading. In fact, Nephi is quoting Isaiah for many chapter, and explains this near the beginning of 2 Nephi. So, while there is a mention of chariots and there being “no end” to them, this was stated by Isaiah as part of a prophecy regarding the last days (and thinking of cars as horseless chariots you can see why).
The other reference is in 3 Nephi 21: 14, which is another prophecy regarding the last days.
These two prophecies are not evidence of the Nephite culture, and thus have no meaning to the subject at hand.
Regarding the actual narratives that do speak about chariots, we must consider what a chariot was; or what the word would have meant in the times of Joseph Smith.
The most common understanding we have now is of the two-wheeled carriage used for war. However, since the term is never used in regards to war in the Book of Mormon it is safe to assume that its meaning is of a different type. The second most common understanding of the word is a stately carriage or vehicle. In the time of Joseph Smith this would have been a four wheeled pleasure carriage. This is also why the automobile was called the Horseless Chariot, because it was originally only the wealthy that could afford them.
This understanding fits perfectly with the accounts of chariots in the Book of Mormon, as it it is first used to refer to the king’s personal carriage, and then later as part of a list of things that were gathered together (any form of transportation would have been useful).
Also, with this understanding and the attendant uncommon nature of the chariot, it is not surprising that 2000 years later they have not been found.
I spend my time in the Bible, not the Book of Mormon and I wasn’t trying to start up any controversy… my dad had a book when I was younger (don’t remember the title) something along the lines of “Archeological Proof for the Book of Mormon” and I was wondering if they had found any chariots…
I heard they found chariots at the bottom of the red sea (Israelites fleeing Eygpt) just wondering if they had found any chariots (or anything else) mentioned in the B of M…
Camden
I am sorry that I misunderstood what you saying.
To simply answer the question, no they have not been discovered, though it has been discovered that the wheel was in use in various forms (such as wheeled toys) and thus the say that they had wheeled transportation is not a leap.
I will also say that the vast majority of things that were said to be false in the Book of Mormon according to archeology, have since been proven to be true (such as the use of cement and the sword).
Thanks.