This book locates everything from the narrow neck, to zarahemla, from cumorah, to the land of promise, bountiful. More nailpounding into the mormon churchs lamanite dna. Dna is a long chainlike molecule comprised of four repeating units called bases, represented by the letter a, c, g and t. I nodded at his logic as i blurted out, it seems that while there was no scientific evidence against the book, the church believed its leaders about all the indians being descendants of the lamanites, and that the nephites covered the whole face of the north and south american continents. Lamanites is a term used in the book of mormon and was originally used to describe the descendants of laman, the firstborn son of lehi a prophet who was led by god out of jerusalem to the promised land or the americas, and his followers. Researchers compare existing genetic evidence with the book of mormon story. The salt lake tribune byu gene data may shed light on. Gondwana provides dna testing services to tree breeders to enable them to select. Dna evidence and molecular genetics disprove the book of mormon. Can we find lamanite dna or any archaeological evidence.
Shortly after their arrival in the land of promise, nephis family split over increased tensions, chief among them being misplaced concerns that nephi sought political dominance over the clan 2 nephi 5. According to the book of mormon, the lamanites developed a dark skin, either because their dna mutated or from interbreeding with other civilizations which apparently came over the bering strait. The book of mormons validity lies beyond the purview of scientific empiricismas it always has. How a mormon lawyer transformed archaeology in mexicoand. Dna evidence has never proved a specific origin for the american indian.
Dna evidence contradicts this origin story, and the lds church has had to backtrack on many of their false and racist ideas regarding native americans, their heritage, and their skin pigmentation. The american indians of today are without doubt a mix of many originsincluding asiatic. Another testament of jesus christ, is true, not false. The lamanites fell upon hard times after killing several hundred thousand nephites in upstate new york. For these stories to be true joseph smiths imaginary civilizations must have been very large and covered a. Scientists theorize that in an era that predated book of. Archaeology itself can be divided and subdivided into numerous disciplines. According to the book of mormon, by 385 ad the darkskinned lamanites had wiped out other. They are just embarrassed by it, but it was such a big part of mormon beliefs and now they want to pretend it never happened. Mormons and mitochondrial dna by chad ressler in august 2004 simon southerton released a book entitled losing a lost tribe. In the book of mormon, the book of nephi tells the story of a hebrew family that flees the city of jerusalem around 600 b. The name of the indigenous peoples inhabiting book of mormon lands prior to the arrival of lehi or mulek is lamanite by birth.
They prosper but are in a constant state of war with other tribes. Supporting evidences of the book of mormon are broadly identifiable. Dna vs book of mormon incredible new evidence youtube. May 21, 2012 discovering instead that native american dna was almost 100% of asiatic origin, this seriously challenged simons belief that the lamanites are the ancestors of the american indians, and that the book of mormon is a historical document. Jul 01, 2011 the overwhelming evidence negates the claim, the book of mormon claim, that the american indian represents a genealogical descendant from israel. The volume has long invited scrutiny from all branches of science. I couldnt possibly cover every book of mormon correlation in one sitting.
He also notes that most dna sampling so far has been tied to maternal lineages, which makes it impossible to find a direct line back to lehi, a male. The book of mormon clearly implies that migrant israelites lived over a wide area of the american continent. Now i find tbms dont even want to discuss the topic. I happen to know the backstory, which has never been published. Its been a few years since i talked about dna and the book of mormon. Since the mayans and others of the western united states, mexico, central and south america have been found to have asian blood, this makes it unlikely that these lamanites are the original lamanites of the book of mormon. Being warned by the lord to flee his brothers, nephi took his family members and all those who would go with. The book of mormon teaches that the darkskinned lamanites are of the house of israel, and many mormons believe lamanites were the ancestors of the modern american indians.
With the new information from our recent book, the annotated edition of the book of mormon, i am excited to continue the path of learning. Dna evidence proves book of mormon claims about ancient. Since 2014which was the last time i discussed lehis missing dnatheres been a few articles of interest that i thought i would mention and comment on. Antimormon groups claim that a lack of dna evidence connecting the people of south and central america to the middle east is proof that the book of mormon is not a true record of jewish people in the new world. Dna evidence of native americans not being lamanites was my biggest shelf crasher. Dna evidence of the book of mormon in north america, linking native americans to the jewish population in the middle east. Does dna disprove the book of mormon claim of native. Dna evidence has been found to show israelite blood in many native american indian tribes near the great lakes in the usa.
The evidence strongly contradicts the historical accounts contained within the book of mormon and statements in the doctrine and covenants where god referred to the indians in missouri as lamanites. Although wars and contentions are mentioned by nearly every chronicler who wrote on nephis small plates, most of these conflicts are specified as being between. Hinckley was asked by a reporter if he had a comment about the lack of dna evidence for the book of mormon. Hebrew dna in cherokees the best evidence for nephite dna is found in a study on cherokee indians. For these stories to be true joseph smiths imaginary civilizations must have been very large and covered a very large area of land. He also notes that most dna sampling so far has been tied to maternal. Oct 22, 2016 the book of mormon records the record of a light skinned people from the old world who sailed to the promise land north america.
Indeed, byus sorenson says dna evidence likely may never yield a definitive answer on the question. The change in skin color is often mentioned in conjunction with gods curse on the descendants of laman for their wickedness and corruption. Book of mormonlamanitesrelationship to amerindians. Whiting, a prominent geneticist whose work has received widespread attention it was featured as the cover story in cover article in nature in midjanuary 2003, recently gave a lecture at byu entitled, does dna evidence refute the authenticity of the book of mormon. The following essay is the official lds released essay entitled book of mormon and dna studies. Dna science challenges lds history christian research. Jun 09, 2016 nothing is known about the dna of book of mormon peoples, and even if their genetic profile were known, there are sound scientific reasons that it might remain undetected. They prosper for two hundred years and then are exterminated by the surrounding tribes. A closer examination demonstrates that dna evidence does not discredit. Sep 08, 2016 on january 31, 2014, the lds church published an essay entitled book of mormon and dna studies in the gospel topics series on its official website. In this post i wanted to emphasize physical evidencesstuff you can touch, see, feel. Smith retrieved the plates, and his translation of them was published in 1830 and titled the book of mormon. The lamanites also play a role in the prophecies and revelations of the doctrine and covenants, another sacred text in the latter day.
Nov 20, 2018 critics of the book of mormon have even used this evidence to argue for the books fraudulence. Is there dna evidence between native americans and the. The overwhelming evidence negates the claim, the book of mormon claim, that the american indian represents a genealogical descendant from israel. Dna lamanites book of mormon genetics genealogy genesis. At the end of the book of mormon, the lamanites overthrow the nephites, destroying their civlization. For instance, there is a genetically related bluish mark near the base of the spine of newborn aztec babies, called the mongoloid spot, which is characteristic of east asian children. Jun 09, 2009 smith retrieved the plates, and his translation of them was published in 1830 and titled the book of mormon. Dna research and mormon scholars changing basic beliefs. The book of mormon describes a single battle between nephites and lamanites where the nephite casualties alone numbered over 100,000 mormon chapter 6. Three geneticists respond to the lds essay on dna and the.
Consequently, simon resigned from his calling as bishop in 1998 and left the church soon thereafter. Dna evidence is pretty conclusive that the persons tested came from asia tens of thousands of years ago. Dnalamanites are a remnant of the jew book of mormon evidence. The remainder of the video features interviews with experts in history, biology, anthropology, linguistics and archaeology. The express purpose of the book is to show unto the remnant of the house of israel what great things the lord hath done for their fathers. I nodded at his logic as i blurted out, it seems that while there was no scientific evidence against the book, the church believed its leaders about all the indians being descendants of the lamanites, and that the nephites covered the whole face. In fact, several mormon organizations have been founded. Two of the most prevalent claims for the book of mormon are, there is much archaeological proof to the book of mormon, and the american indians are descendants of israelites who came to america as described in the book of mormon. Discovering instead that native american dna was almost 100% of asiatic origin, this seriously challenged simons belief that the lamanites are the ancestors of the american indians, and that the book of mormon is a historical document. The title page of the book of mormon states it is an abridgment of the record of the people of nephi, and also of the lamanites written to the lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of israel.
Naturally, many have wondered where the lamanites are today. In this article, we will provide some background on this issue focusing on the scientific issues, followed by a point by point response to various statements made in the essay about the book of mormon. Lamanites true book of mormon geography lands western. Anyway, after 4 ne the lamanites and nephites are no longer. Last updated 05302011, this documents some of the interaction between book of mormon believers and skeptics relating to scientific dna research on lamanites and nephites who lds faithful believe descended from middle easterners centuries ago. Five compelling archeological evidences for the book of mormon. Dna vs book of mormon incredible new evidence that proves the book of mormon. Dna evidence and molecular genetics disprove the book of mormon by rich deem introduction. Dnalamanites are a remnant of the jew book of mormon.
As time moves on research into dna studies continues to show new evidence that many native americans east of the mississippi have the same haplogroup x as many in western eurasia. How can mormons say that the american indians descend from. A recent study found an ancient cherokee princess with jewish dna, or rather dna markers from middle easternnorth africa. It was released by the church to help explain how the book of mormons credibility is not harmed due to recent dna evidence which concludes that the native americans are not the descendants of the book of mormon people, and to explain why the churchs credibility is not harmed due to having such a. Book of mormondna evidenceresponding to critical claims. One explanation for this is that the dna of the lehites has disappeared. Lamanites true book of mormon geography lands western new. There is no credible evidence that a small band of migrating. In recent years, genetic evidence uncovered from dna testing has revealed that native americans carry primarily asian dna. Nonmormon archaeologists speak on book of mormon evidence. The book of mormons validly lies beyond the purview of scientific empiricismas it always has.
From the new york cumorah perspective, the prophets identification of lamanites throughout the hemisphere works not because of dna, but because of the assumption that over the centuries, trade and intermarriage would have distributed the blood of lehi widely, albeit in concentrations too dilute to detect with dna. Dna evidence proves book of mormon claims about ancient america. And he had caused the cursing to come upon the lamanites, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. Yet the book of mormon states that lehi and his family came from the mid east to the americas about 2600 years ago. The book of mormon was written to the lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of israel. I am finding some amazing things about dna and a connection between the lamanites and the jews. Byu gene data may shed light on origin of book of mormons lamanites. On its web site, under the mistakes in the news heading, the church declares, recent attacks on the veracity of the book of mormon based on dna evidence are ill considered. The chief claim, and the premise of the entire book, is that hebrews carried the message of the coming messiah on a voyage across the atlantic. Mormon leaders over the years have also taught that these supposed book of mormon people called lamanites are the ancestors of native american peoples from alaska to argentina as well as the native inhabitants of the polynesian islands. He simply responded that all the information wasnt in yet.
Lds views of native american origin from the lamanites, nephites, and mulekites. A fictious book of mormon people modern dna evidence shows they never existed. There is no straightline conclusion between dna evidence and lamanites. Genetic, or hereditary information, is stored in the order of these bases and is passed from generation to generation in all living things. The evidence assembled to date suggests that the majority of native americans carry largely asian dna. Eventually after years of drought and hunger, they gathered in the area now known as san francisco where they built a huge fleet of barges each tight like unto a dish out of redwood trees and sailed of to asia. Ces letter links to a poorly written wikipedia article as the basis of their sweeping claim. The book of mormon gave only scattered clues, speaking of a narrow isthmus, a river called sidon, and lands to the north and south occupied by. So either way, the book of mormon indicates israelite dna indicators were bred out of the lamanites. The book of mormon geography lands and map with dna evidence.
Nothing is known about the dna of book of mormon peoples, and even if their genetic profile were known, there are sound scientific reasons that it might remain undetected. Instead, archaeologists, linguists and genetic experts outside mormon culture say all the evidence points to asia as the place from which american indians originated. Jan 18, 2018 the book of mormon gave only scattered clues, speaking of a narrow isthmus, a river called sidon, and lands to the north and south occupied by the nephites and their enemies, the lamanites. Byu gene data may shed light on origin of book of mormons lamanites, by. Over the past several years there has been a lot of debate over dna and the book of mormon. At worst, they have misrepresented themselves and the evidence in the. Dna science challenges lds history christian research institute. John adair wrote in the 18th century that some cherokees were known to speak a kind of jewish language. Is there dna evidence between native americans and the lamanites. The book of mormon records the record of a light skinned people from the old world who sailed to the promise land north america. The book of mormon specifically mentions that they are descendants of ephraim and manasseh. And finally, inspiringly, they affirm lehis kinship as one of covenant, not genes.
While evidence against the book of mormon and its miraculous origins has. This has caused many to wonder how modern native americans could possibly be descendants of lehi. The lamanites, and they were the principal ancestors of the american indians is changed to the lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the american indians. The understanding of joseph smith and of traditional mormonism is that the book of mormon reveals that the american indians are descendants of the lamanites, who descended from lehi and are therefore a remnant of the house of israel. Apr 30, 2020 since 2014which was the last time i discussed lehis missing dnatheres been a few articles of interest that i thought i would mention and comment on. The nephites and lamanites continuously warred against each other for a thousand years. On january 31, 2014, the lds church published an essay entitled book of mormon and dna studies in the gospel topics series on its official website. The book of mormon makes several scientific claims that can be tested.
Dna analysis has concluded that native american indians do not originate from the middle east or from israelites but rather from asia. When looking at the mormon question the religions claims and whether it is fundamentally a true religion, you have to look at the totality of the evidence, the big picture, if you will. In the book of mormon, lamanites are described as having received a skin of blackness to distinguish them from the nephites. He points to the fact that the first hurdle is to identify a specific gene pool for ancient jews. As the experts continue to try and explain away this evidence, the more i become excited about it. For these same reasons, arguments that some defenders of the book of mormon make based on dna studies are also speculative. However, dna evidence yields no support for such a conclusion. The evidence for ancient origins, edited by noel b. The book of mormon at the bar of demography, book of mormon authorship revisited.
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