Reviewed: “Cumorah and the Limited Mesoamerican Theory” by Andrew H. Hedges, associate professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU in The Religious Educator, vol. 10, no. 2, 2009, pp. 111-134.
This paper reeks sensationalism and is riddled with platitudes:
“narrow neck of land” that figures so prominently in the book’s geography
The Narrow Neck is not a prominent feature of Book of Mormon geography and should be the last thing one identifies, not the first; it was less than a block wide and less than a block long:
SMALL NECK OF LAND between the land northward and the land southward. (Alma 22:31-32)
“Small” from eye level is less than a block, maybe fifty feet, something that could be blocked by snakes.
Great Lakes…have been convincingly discounted [???] on the grounds that they fail to account for some of the more salient geographical features mentioned in the Book of Mormon like the narrow neck of land and a prominent northward-flowing river, and for the lack of an archaeological record temporally and materially consistent with evidence from the book.
Truly Hedges pledged himself to the old school party line when he offered no new insights, scripturally or otherwise and ignored the wealth of evidence in support of Western New York including fulfilled prophecy and land promises. Notice the date of his treatise – 2009 which means when he Google/Yahoo/Bing searched the subject, he sought our site, saw the plethora of evidences, and chose to ignore facts.
These are facts Hedges has chosen to ignore:
a. The Narrow Neck was along the WEST SIDE of Book of Mormon lands.
b. The Narrow Neck connected to the Land Northward.
c. The Land Northward was completely surrounded by water.
d. There was a 1.5 day stretch of land EAST of the Narrow Neck.
e. The Hill Ramah is NOT the Hill Cumorah.
f. Final Nephite battle was OUTSIDE Book of Mormon lands.
g. Omer passed by where the Nephites were destroyed.
h. All these geography requirements are met in Western New York.
The fact Hedges ignores scripture is proof he is under the curse of condemnation cited in D&C and reiterated by President Benson. His interpretation nonetheless of a possible distant Cumorah outside Mesoamerica is flawed based on the travels of Omer.