This article
is from a presentation given at the 2001 FAIR conference. This
year’s conference,
August 7th and 8th is at UVSC in Orem,
UT. The conference
is open to the public, but you must register in advance. For more information, or to register for the conference, click
here: FAIR
conference information.
Lehi In The Wilderness:
81 New Evidences Documenting the
Book of Mormon Is a True History
There is only one
Book of Mormon geographical area that scholars have identified
with a high degree of certainty. It
is Nephi’s description of his family leaving Jerusalem and crossing
Arabia in the early years of the sixth century B.C. It
is for this reason that critics of the Book of Mormon see Arabia
as their ‘O.K Corral’. If
they can show that 1 Nephi is fallacious, they believe it will
document that the book is a fabrication. In a very real way,
1 Nephi’s description of Arabia has become “ground zero” in the
battle being waged against our sacred book.
Here
are just a few red herrings the critics have been chasing:
1) There is no river
of Laman – scientist have shown that there are no continuously
flowing rivers or streams in Saudi Arabia, nor has the climate
changed significantly in that area since Lehi’s era, 2) There
is no firm, steadfast and immovable valley among the sandstone
hills of northern Arabia, 3) there are no ‘most fertile parts’ (1
Nephi 16:14) in Arabia, 4)
there was no land of Bountiful, abounding in fruit and wild honey
in Arabia, 5) Nephi could not have built a ship in southern Arabia,
for there is, nor ever has been, timber growing in Arabia from
which a ship could be built, and 6) Nephi was a native of Jerusalem,
a land with virtually no seamanship lore, thus despite any number
of divine revelations, he would not have
been capable of building and sailing a large ship.
On the surface, these challenges to the Book
of Mormon seem daunting. But after 5 years and 75,000 miles of
field work in Arabia, George Potter and Richard Wellington are
ready to challenge the critics. Both have said in effect “go
ahead and draw your guns”. They believe their research shows that the
Book of Mormon 1) accurately describes a passage to southern
Arabia in ancient times, 2) provides actual instructions on how
to find a magnificent valley with a river that still runs through
it, 3) discloses the location of the one site in southern Arabia
where fruit grows on the seashore and where ALL the resources
needed to launch, construct and learn to sail a large ship existed
in Lehi’s time.
Potter
and Wellington’s
work is based on the latest archeological research in Arabia.
Potter and Wellington believe that the more that scientists uncover
in the Arabian sands, the more the findings will support Nephi’s
account. The two LDS
explorers believe that the book of 1 Nephi is a very precious
historical account. They
believe it is the earliest written record of a passage down the
Frankincense trail, one of the key routes that shaped history.
Their
work has been consolidated into a book “Lehi in the Wilderness, 81 New Evidences
Documenting the Book of Mormon Is a True History (available August
2003). George Potter has produced six films on Lehi’s Trail.
You can learn more about their research on Lehi’s trail and on
the Jaredite trail at www.nephiproject.com.
As part of their
annual conference on August 7th and 8th, the Foundation for Apologetic
Information and Research (FAIR) will feature a presentation by
George Potter (USA) and Richard Wellington (United Kingdom).
In a conference session on the afternoon of August 8th, Potter
and Wellington will show video footage, slides and maps of what
they believe is the Valley of Lemuel, the River of Laman, the
Most Fertile Parts, Nahom, and the harbor where Nephi built his
ship.
The
FAIR conference is sponsored by faithful Latter-day Saints
and is open to all. FAIR
is a non profit organization. For
information about the conference, and to purchase this
book, click
here or go to the FAIR website at www.fairlds.org.
