Book of Mormon/Lamanites/Relationship to Amerindians

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The relationship of Native Americans to Lamanites

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• Identity of the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon
• Are all Native Americans descendants of Lehi?
• Relationship of the Maya and the Olmec to the Lamanites and the Jaredites
• Statements by Church leaders related to the identity of the Lamanites

Identity of the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon

Jump to details:

• Question: How have views within the Church regarding the origins of the American Indians changed over the years?
• Question: Are all Amerindians the exclusive descendants of the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi?
• Source:Gospel Topics:Book of Mormon and DNA Studies:The evidence assembled to date suggests that the majority of Native Americans carry largely Asian DNA
• Source:JBMS:Sorenson and Roper:Lehi saw from the beginning that Nephites and Lamanites were labels that would include a variety of groups that could have differing biological origins, cultures, and ethnic heritages
• Question: Does the fact that the Doctrine and Covenants refers to North American Indians as "Lamanites" contradict the theory that the Book of Mormon events took place in Mesoamerica?
• Statements by Church leaders related to the identity of the Lamanites

Book of Mormon/Lamanites/Relationship to Amerindians

Relationship of the Maya and the Olmec to the Lamanites and the Jaredites

Jump to details:

• Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe that Mayan cities were inhabited by the Nephites?
• Question: Were Mayan cities inhabited by the Nephites?
• Question: Is it possible that the Nephites and Lamanites are associated with the pre-Classic Maya, and the Jaredites are associated with the Olmec?
• Question: Who are the Maya, and how might they be related to the Nephites or Lamanites?
• Question: How do current Mesoamerican limited geographical theories fit with the existing data?
• Question: What is the focus of Latter-day Saint research regarding the Maya?

Statements by Church leaders related to the identity of the Lamanites

Summary: A collection of all known statements made by Church leaders regarding the identity of the Lamanites

Jump to details:

• Statements by Church leaders regarding the Lamanites: 19th century
• Statements by Church leaders regarding the Lamanites: 20th century
• Statements by Church leaders regarding the Lamanites: 21st century

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Source(s) of the criticism

Critical sources

Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism (Harvest House Publishers: 2005). 67, 70, 365 n.115. ( Index of claims ) John Dehlin, "Why People Leave the LDS Church," (2008). Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Revised) (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1997), 202. ( Index of claims ) Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2004) 17–22, 45, 142. ( Index of claims ) Tower to Truth Ministries, "50 Questions to Ask Mormons," towertotruth.net (accessed 15 November 2007). 50 Answers

Notes