Dna and the book of mormon a phylogenetic perspective taking

The question of the historical authenticity of the book of mormon has long been a source of contention between most members of the latter day saint movement and nonmembers. Now, finally, incontrovertible scientific evidence can either prove the book of mormon to be true and therefore mormonism is the true, restored gospel or the book of mormon is a fabricated tale and the claims of mormonism false. The book of mormon for more than 170 years, the church of jesus christ of latterday saints has declared the book of mormon to be a scriptural and literal history. Two empirical examples and a third hypothetical example concerning amberpreserved insects are presented to illustrate these phenomena. Sorenson and matthew roper, journal of book of mormon studies, vol. The criticism of the mormon church is the following. This paper debunks the myth that the book of mormon has been proved false by modern dna evidence.

Its from michael whiting in an essay titled, dna and the book of mormon, a phylogenetic perspective. Hence, moroni had to carry the plates from central america to new york. The book of mormon and mesoamerican travels northward. The critics argue that the book of mormon predicts that the lamanite lineage should carry the genetic signature of a middle eastern origin and that the genetic descendents of the lamanites are native americans. The utility of dna sequence characters from fossil specimens is examined from a phylogenetic perspective.

Typically phylogeneticists study one of the following types of question. The lds church claims they are and the validity of the book of mormon requires that they are. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints affirms that the book of mormon is a volume of sacred scripture comparable to the bible. After the children of lehi separated into the nephites and the lamanites, the lord changed the physical appearance of the lamanites to discourage intermarriage between the believing nephites and the. Some people like to compare dna to a architects blueprint, but this is a really bad analogy. The first group that a reader encounters is the family of lehi, which begins their journey from jerusalem.

A phylogenetic perspective, journal of book of mormon studies 12, no. Whiting journal of book of mormon studies 121 2003. They should be read along with the four articles appearing in journal of book of mormon studies 121 2003. Group two is found on the western hemisphere, but they also claim to have originated from jerusalem. Phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relationships among biological entities often species, individuals or genes which may be referred to as taxa. For the first 150 years of mormonisms existence, everyone thought it was a story about a people who left the middle east and came to south or central america, and who fought wars clear up into new york state where. For example, humans share 75% of their dna with chickens. The book of mormon is supposed to be a history of real people living in a real place. Mormon revisionists today believe that moroni went from one hill cumorah to the next to bury the plates.

I have worked with dna quite a bit, so i can give you my perspective. Whiting, director of brigham young universitys dna sequencing center and an associate professor in byus department of integrative biology, concluded in his article dna and the book of mormon. Maybe its my exmo perspective coloring my rationality but the arguments made by apologists when it comes to dna seem weak. The book of mormon contains three groups of people that are found or end up in the western hemisphere. The scientific fact that native american dna evidence does not in any way support the literal history of the book of mormon destroys the credibility of the book of mormon. Apologetic response to losing a lost tribe simons dna. You take his copy, and see that it looks like this weve highlighted the errors to make. Divine discourse directed at a prophets posterity in the plural. For nonlds, on the other hand, its historicity is not accepted, and specific claims made in the book of mormon have been questioned. For those who have taken the time to actually map out and look at the.

Articles which do not invoke any type of limited geography in their discussion include. The notion has arisen that modern dna research will either vindicate or refute the book of mormon as a record of some or all the ancient inhabitants of the americas, whether to bolster ones own faith, to persuade the nonbeliever, or, conversely, to justify ones own rejection of the document as an ancient historical record and evidence of. In 2003, when meldrum first became aware of the book of mormon dna. Pdf phylogenetic relationships in the genus florestina. In fact, the dna evidence does not refute the claims of the text itself, nor does it preclude a divine origin for the book of mormon. The book of mormon claims that the native american peoples are descended from the house of israel, but the dna evidence, according to this book, points to an asiatic origin for the american continents native people. Many scientists date the genetic divergence of modern native americans as having arisen from migrations between 10,000 and 15,000 b. Certain passages of the book of mormon suggest that it would be impossible to support or refute the claims of the book or mormon with dna evidence. For many mormon s, book of mormon historicity is a matter of faith. The book of mormon documentary accurately presents the consensus of the scientific community that northern asia not israel is the place of origin of the native american indians. Discussion regarding the historicity of the book of mormon often focuses on archaeological issues, some of which relate to the large size and the long time span of the civilizations mentioned in the book.

This must mean that amerindians are not descended from book of mormon peoples, and the book of mormon is false. This blog is dedicated to providing a forum for those who have seen the dvd presentation of dna evidence for book of mormon geography to discuss their thoughs, feeling, questions, and concerns about this research project no crude, vulgar or unethical comments will be allowed, however views differing from the authorseditors will be allowed so long as they are not abusive. However, this view finds little acceptance outside of mormonism. Below is the modern map of the area of smiths youth. This page is an appendix to dna and the book of mormon. Not having the ancient israelite gene for comparison and the inability for dna testing to link some jewish groups that are known to be related, see butler, john m 2006.

Understanding the scientific evidence this page supports my main mormon answers page on dna evidence and the book of mormon. The major elements of phylogenetics are summarised in figure 1 below. Implications of ancient dna for phylogenetic studies. Civilizations of their magnitude and duration would be expected to leave extensive archaeological records. Does dna evidence prove the book of mormon to be false. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations.

The only part of the data that has not yet been explained in harmony with the book of mormon story is the timing. Refuting criticism that american indians are descendants of israelites dna the indictment. Most, but not all, mormons hold the books connection to ancient american history as an article of their faith. Applying dna studies to the book of mormon assumes the validity of the global colonization hypothesis.

Book of mormondna evidenceissues identifying ancient dna. Simon southertons new book general discussions mormon. A recently published book claims that dna evidence proves the book of mormon, one of the books of scripture used by the mormon church, incorrect. Dna evidence has relatively little to do with the authenticity of the book of mormon, but does provide importance tentative insights into the origins of many ancient american peoples. After all, they were just taking back what was rightfully the property of illtreated. The book of mormon and the x haplogroupagain fairmormon. During joseph smiths lifetime he made several statements which seem to place nephites in north america. Official lds essay on book of mormon and dna studies, annotated. Phylogenetic trees 1 phylogenetic trees how do the changes in gene sequences allow us to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships between related species. It might be useful to point out to the casual reader of these articles, that the scholars involved in critiquing the annotated edition of the book of mormon differ from the editors on some fundamental assumptions which accounts for much of the discord and criticism in their expose. I argue that dna testing challenges some common faulty assumptions some people have made about. While the church has no official position on book of mormon geography some still put a lot of credence into these statements while ignoring later statements by joseph smith placing the book of mormon in mesoamerica to inaccurately show that he only supported their north american theory. Some lds scientists argue that the book of mormon does not present a.

Critics have tried to apply american indian dnabased. Dna lamanites book of mormon genetics genealogy genesis. A phylogenetic perspective, journal of book of mormon studies 12. For the visual learner shows slides prepared by a ph. Genetic attacks on the book of mormon focus on the fact that amerindian dna seems closest to asian dna, and not dna from the middle east or jewish dna.

Perego, the book of mormon and the origin of native americans from a maternally inherited dna standpoint, in robert l. A phylogenetic perspective, journal of book of mormon studies 121 2003. Historicity of the book of mormon wikipedia republished. A phylogenetic perspective, journal of book of mormon studies the book of mormon and the origin of native americans from a maternally inherited dna standpoint, byu religious studies center. And since the book of mormon is touted by lds church leadership as the keystone of the lds faith, once you remove the keystone, the entire structure crumbles. It is extraordinarily difficult to use dna sequence information to track the lineage of any group with such a complex lineage history as the nephites and lamanites. The phylogenetic study of the whitebellied sea eagle haliaeetus leucogaster based on dna barcoding cytochromec oxcidace sub unit i coi june 2014 conference. Four ways that fossil characters can alter phylogenetic hypotheses are discussed. The lineage history outlined in the book of mormon is a conundrum from a dna perspective.

The book of mormon teaches that these israelites are the principal ancestors of modernday native americans. The question of whether the book of mormon is an actual historical work or a work of fiction has long been a source of contention between members of the latter day saint movement and nonlds. Answers to apologetic claims about dna and the book of mormon. Dna and the book of mormon mesoamerican antiquities. A phylogenetic perspective, journal of book of mormon studies 121 2000. Welcome to the dna evidence for book of mormon blog. Study 19 phylogenetic trees flashcards from james c. Phylogenetic perspective, journal of book of mormon studies 12, no peer. Subtitled another testament of jesus christ, it recounts the story story of an israelite family who immigrated to and fully populated the american continents. Pdf the phylogenetic study of the whitebellied sea. It is a place where other molecules bind and then react with one another. The documentary is a must see for all those who view the book of mormon as an accurate history of the native american indians.

Dna samples taken from modern american indians show no connection to the dna of the peoples of the middle east. Genetics and the book of mormonarchive 1 wikipedia. The use of dna sequence data made it possible to test the validity of taxonomic classifications against phylogenetic hypotheses, and have been widely used for species separation and identification. A phylogenetic perspective, journal of book of mormon.