The Book of Mormon's Mediterranean Biome

Last night as an Empty Nester activity, we had a dinner and a presentation. The presentation was called "The Book of Mormon's Mediterranean Biome:  A Compelling Confirmation of Authenticity." Our presenter was Kent Crookston.

Kent started out by talking about how when he was in graduate school studying soil science (ultimately he did research on corn at the University of Minnesota for many years as a professor), he was really disturbed when he read in the Book of Mormon that the Nephites planted ALL the seeds that they had brought over from Jerusalem and they ALL grew and produced grain. At the time, he didn't believe that could have possibly been true, but after much study, he believes it is true.

It turns out that seeds can be very area specific and seed growers have to sell you the seeds that will work for your area. If you plant corn seed in Texas that's specific for Minnesota, the summer nights in Texas will be too long for them, and they will immediately try to produce ears when they're a foot high because the amount of darkness they experience tells them when to produce. Conversely, if you plant Texas corn in Minnesota, the corn stalks will grow very, very tall but never produce grain because the night length will be too short for them to get the signal to produce corn. Unless the Book of Mormon people had settled in a place that was approximately the same latitude as Jerusalem, their seeds would have never produced grain. Over time, however, he realized that there IS a place in North America that has a Mediterranean biome like Jerusalem's which is near the ocean and is the same latitude as Jerusalem. That place is near the border of Mexico and California, on the Baja California peninsula and also a little farther north into California.

He made a careful study of the words in the Book of Mormon that provide clues to climate, crops and growing things. He compared it to reading a book and trying to figure out where the author lived according to the clues in the text. If you know the book you read was in Africa, and they had big families who loved music, that doesn't narrow it down because that's common to all the countries in Africa. However, if you also know that the author could see the Indian Ocean, then that narrows it down to the countries on the east coast of Africa. If you further know that the author saw a lot of lemurs running around, then that can only be one place:  Madagascar, because lemurs are only native to Madagascar like kangaroos are only found in Australia.

First, he looked at the words common to all of North America:

Then he looked at words that fit the Mediterranean biome as well as some other parts of North America. From his study of horses in North America, he is convinced that horses have always been here.

Then he looked at the words that are endemic (which means plants or animals that are native and restricted to a certain place--like lemurs in Madagascar) to the Mediterranean biome. That doesn't mean words that can't be used anywhere else but words that should be consistently used according to what you know about the area. For example, seeds brought from Jerusalem could only be grown successfully in a similar latitude and climate.

Figs was one example:

Seeds were another. Phytochromes are photoreceptors in plants that sense light and tell the plant when to germinate, when to flower, etc. Vernalization is the promotion of flowering in plants through a period of low temperatures. Tropical climates that never get cold cannot produce onions because they don't get the necessary low temperatures to tell them when to flower. Certain apple varieties can only grow in places with long enough winters. I think of Mediterranean climates as being very mild and not nearly as cold as Utah but they still have some cold weather. They cannot grow crops year-round like Guatemala or other tropical climates.

Another clue in the text is about rivers. If the Book of Mormon was in a tropical place, water would have been more abundant but there is only one river named. If all the bones from the Jaredites had been in a tropical climate, they would have quickly decayed. However, if they were in a much drier place like the Imperial Valley in California where it is very dry, the bones would not have decayed quickly. That area of the world also produces a huge amount of food, thanks to the Colorado River, and could have supported a very large number of people. 

He also found words in the Book of Mormon relating to distinct seasons as discussed above. Guatemala, where some people have placed the Book of Mormon does not have seasons. As our visiting student told us, Guatemala is the land of eternal spring and they grow food all year long.

He also talked the winds referenced in the Book of Mormon. The wind in that area of Baja California and California is famous for being very cruel at times because of how dry it is, ie. the Santa Ana wind.

He also talked about how the grain in the Book of Mormon never references corn, beans, or squash. It's all small grains.

Throughout his study of the Book of Mormon, our presenter found no conflict or disagreement that would be out of place, despite the many authors. There were no offhand references to snow, for example, which might happen if Joseph Smith was the author, given how much snow he experienced in Palmyra, New York. He found complete agreement with the assumption that the people of the Book of Mormon lived in a Mediterranean biome. 

In the end, the presenter concluded that his concern in graduate school was assuaged and he finds it to be one hundred percent authentic.