Plants in the Book of Mormon

Criticism

A brief explanation of the criticism.

Source(s) of the Criticism

• William Edward Biederwolf, Mormonism Under the Searchlight (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1947).
• Rick Branch, "Nephite Nickels," The Utah Evangel 29:10 (October 1982): 1.
• Gordon Fraser, Is Mormonism Christian? (Chicago: Moody Press, 1977), 141.
• Gordon Fraser, What Does the Book of Mormon Teach? An Examination of the Historical and Scientific Statements of the Book of Mormon (Chicago: Moody Press, 1964), 90.
• M.T. Lamb, The Golden Bible, or, The Book of Mormon: Is It From God? (New York: Ward & Drummond, 1887), 304.
• Walter Martin, Kingdom of the Cults (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1997),
• Latayne Colvett Scott, The Mormon Mirage : a former Mormon tells why she left the church (Grand Rapids : Zondervan Pub. House, 1979), 82–84.
• Charles A. Shook, Cumorah Revisited... (Cincinnati: The Standard Publishing Company, 1910), 382-383.
• James White, Letters to a Mormon Elder (Southbridge, MA: Crowne, 1990), 139.

Response

Barley

Barley in the New World was long a source of anti-Mormon amusement, with one author insisting, "barley never grew in the New World before the white man brought it here!" [Scott, 82.]

Unfortunately for Ms. Scott, this is simply false. New World barley has been known since 1983 [Sorenson and Smith].

Plants in the Book of Mormon

Linen

(i.e. flax)

[The Spaniards] encountered and referred to what they considered "linen" or linenlike cloth made from plants other than flax.

— Sorenson, "Zaputo," 335-336.[1]

• Bernal Diaz, who served with Cortez in the initial wave of conquest, described native Mexican garments made of "henequen which is like linen." The fiber of the maguey plant, from which henequen was manufactured, closely resembles the flax fiber used to make European linen
• yucca plant fibres makes linen-like cloth
• ixtle (agave) plant fibre makes linen-like cloth
• fig tree bark can be stripped, soaked, and pounded for a cloth with "some of the characteristics of linen."

Source:

• Sorenson, Ancient American Setting, 232.[2]
• Sorenson, Ensign (April 1992): 62. [3]

Neas

This crop is mentioned but once (See Mosiah 9:9). We do not know what it applied to, but this does not count against the Book of Mormon's claims.

Sheum

One must credit Joseph Smith with a bullseye on this issue:

The name rather obviously derives from Akkadian (Babylonian) "she'um," barley (Old Assyrian, wheat), "the most popular ancient Mesopotamian cereal name."[Sorenson, "Zaputo," 338; citing Robert F. Smith, "Some 'Neologisms' from the Mormon Canon," Conference on the Language of the Mormons 1973, Brigham Young University Language Research Center, 1973, 66.][4]

We do not know to which crop this name was applied, but it is certainly not out of place in an ancient context (See Mosiah 9:9). Critics must explain how Joseph Smith chose this word, since Akkadian was not translated until 27 years after the publication of the Book of Mormon.[5]

Plants in the Book of Mormon

Silk

(i.e. mulberry leaves and silkworms)

The production of Old World "silk" requires both silkworms and the mulberry trees upon whose leaves they feed, which critics have charged is impossible.

However, there are several examples of silk or silk-like fabric in pre-Columbian America:

• wild silkworms do exist, and some commentators insisted that the Amerindians spun and wove it from their coccoons
• hair from rabbit bellies was also spun into a cloth dubbed "silk" by the Spanish conquerors
• floss from the ceiba (silk-cotton) tree was made into a "soft delicate cloth," kapok.
• fibres from the wild pineable were also prized for their ability to be woven into a fine, durable fabric
• cotton cloth in Mexico from A.D. 400 is "even, very fine, and gossamer-thin"

Source:

• Sorenson, Ancient American Setting, 232.[6]
• Sorenson, Ensign (April 1992): 62. [7]

Wine (i.e. grapes)

[The Spaniards] spoke of "vineyards," not planted in grapevines but in maguey plants, from which pulque, which they termed "wine," was manufactured. Half a dozen different types of "wine" made from fruits other than grapes were identified by the Spanish explorers...[another researcher also] reports the Opata of northern Mexico used a drink made from native grapes.

—[Sorenson, "Zaputo," 335-336].[8]

So, there were grapes locally, as well as several other plant species which produced alcoholic drinks which the Spanish were quite happy to consider 'wine.'

Conclusion

None of the Book of Mormon's plant species causes a problem—Spanish conquerors described pre-Columbian products in exactly the terms used by the Book of Mormon. Barley, silkworms, and grapes were known. One of the terms unknown to Joseph's day (the Akkadian sheum) are persuasive evidence for the Book of Mormon's antiquity.

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Plants in the Book of Mormon

FAIR web site

• FAIR Topical Guide:
• Matthew Roper, "Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon" [9]

External links

• John L. Sorenson, “Silk and Linen in the Book of Mormon - Book of Mormon Update,” Ensign (Apr. 1992): 62. [10]

Printed material

• John L. Sorenson, "Plants and Animals," in "Viva Zapato! Hurray for the Shoe!" Review of "Does the Shoe Fit? A Critique of the Limited Tehuantepec Geography," by Deanne G. Matheny, Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 6:1 (1994): 342–48.[11],[12]
• John L. Sorenson and Robert F. Smith, "Barley in Ancient America," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992), 130–2.