Author Description

An Alternative Hypothysis Book of Mormon record keepers drew upon the natural world thousands of times to enrich their speaking and writing. Their references to beasts, fruit, seashore, stones, trees, vineyards, and wilderness (to name only a few) provide amazing insights into how, and where, those record keepers lived. A near consensus among Latter-Day Saint scholars is that Mesoamerica is the land where they Book of Mormon took place. This book tests an alternative hypothesis--that Lehi landed in a Mediterranean (dry desert rather than jungle) eco-region of the Americas, and that the Book of Mormon record keepers- from Nephi to Moroni- lived in such a region. Crookston evaluates 107 ecology-related words in their spiritual and temporal contexts, examining what each word suggests about where the writers lived. The consistency of the results is remarkable. Across almost 3,000 years of history (Book of Ether included), and 2,065 verses written by at least 24 separate authors, when there is a better fit, the text always supports the Mediterranean eco-region as the location for the Book of Mormon. This constitutes a unique and fascinating validation of the authenticity of the text.