There is absolutely no archaeological evidence directly supporting the Book of Mormon or the Nephites/Lamanites numbered in the millions. This is one of theReasons why unofficial apologists use the limited geography model (in Centralor South America happened) came up. And that the real Hill Cumorah is not in Palmyra, New York, but elsewhere and possibly somewhere down there in South America. This is in direct contradiction to what Joseph Smith and other prophets taught. The Church also has a Visitor Center in New York and holds annual Hill Cumorah Festivals.

 

The Book of Mormon also records inventions like steel or the seven-day work week long before those things were actually introduced. In addition, heavily populated cities and large battles with tens of thousands of participants are reported, of which not a single trace has been found so far.

 

Animals in the Book of Mormon

Horses and chariots are mentioned, which, according to current, generally accepted knowledge, did not exist on the American continent before the time of Columbus (until 1492).

According to apologists, other animals were meant:

 

The horses were actually tapirs, cattle and cattle were actually mountain goats, llamas or the ancestors of bison. Sheep probably also meant llamas.

Goats probably meant deer and deer. Pigs actually meant peccaries, but they were never tamed by humans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology_and_the_Book_of_Mormon#Old_World_species

 

geography

The geographical conditions described in the Book of Mormon could not be clearly assigned to today's geography, which is why Mormon cannot be given a place of birth or a place of death that can be localized on today's maps. Book of Mormon critics therefore believe that Joseph Smith copied names such as Moroni and Cumorah from old 19th-century maps into the Book of Mormon; so isMoronithe largest city and today also the capital of the archipelagoComoros. There have been numerous unconvincing attempts to locate geographically and historically the places and events described in the Book of Mormon.

By the way, the island of Comoros and the city of Moroni were known from the stories of Captain Kidd. The stories of Captain Kidd were well known among treasure hunters of the time.

Joseph Smith was a treasure hunter and fan of pirate stories. A contemporary source reports that young Smith was a fan of the Captain William Kid Pirate novels, where some of these stories are set in Comoros ("Camorah" in English) and Moroni. The name "Camorah" appeared in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, but the spelling was later changed.

 

Problems with verses in the Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 5:15–16

15  And I taught my people to build buildings, and to work every kind of wood, and also iron, and copper, and brass, and steel, and gold, and silver, and precious ores, which were abundant.

16  And I, Nephi, built a temple; and I built it after the pattern of Solomon's temple, except that it was not built of so many precious things; for these were not to be found in the land, therefore it could not be built like Solomon's temple. But the structure was like Solomon's temple, and the work on it was most painstaking.

 

Two verses, side by side, in direct and complete contradiction to each other. But let's dig a little deeper: steel was plentiful in the country, but steel itself was not available at all in the country as it is a mixture of carbon and iron. Okay you say, but he meant there was an abundance of iron and carbon to make steel. Okay, except that the knowledge of steelmaking didn't exist in that region by the time Nephi left Jerusalem.

He would have no source of possible knowledge of steelmaking and no knowledge of the material itself. Okay say God told him so. That's all well and good, but who told the boys back in Jerusalem how Laban's sword is made?

 

But let's put that aside and just focus on the temple itself. Nephi built a temple, fellow. If he didn't build a miniature model, then he needed help. Let's assume he had the support of everyone who followed him away from Laman and Lemuel. How fast could the population have grown in that time? We'll start with a handful of people with a typical lifespan. So, at best, Nephi and those who went with him might have some youth to support them. Are we generous and say he has 30 people in total who were able to help. How long would it take 30 people to build a temple? The Salt Lake Temple took over 40 years and involved more than 30 people with much better equipment.

 

But he didn't just build any temple, he built a replica of Solomon's temple. How long did that take? In 1 Kings 6:38 we learn that it took seven years. I think that means Nephi would be able to complete his replica in less than 40 years because "the construction was like Solomon's temple".

But wait, what is this? In 2 Chronicles 2 it says:

“And Solomon numbered seventy thousand that were carrying burdens, and eighty thousand that were cutting stones on the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers over them.”

 

So that's 70,000 guys carrying materials, 80,000 whocutting stones, and 3,600 in middle management. This is quite a challenge for Nephi, who built a temple like Solomon's in his lifetime, if it took Solomon's 153,600 men about seven years. So Nephi either built Solomon's Temple Model as a hobby, or we have a serious problem in just two verses.