Scripture Central: extrinsic evidence

Scripture Central employees tell me that M2C is based on "science." 

But that's a hoax. 

M2C is pure bias confirmation, based on the assumption of certain scholars that the anonymous 1842 Times and Seasons articles were written by Joseph Smith, Jr. Then these same scholars assume that Joseph Smith didn't know about the setting of the Book of Mormon.

The speculative 1842 Times and Seasons articles about Mesoamerica constituted the original foundation for M2C. In 2005, the 1842 articles were an integral part of the “Worlds of Joseph Smith” symposium at the Library of Congress, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s birth.  

One author wrote, 

In 1842, after reading about ancient cities in Central America, Joseph speculated that Book of Mormon lands were located there (fig. 1b) [depicting the Times and Seasons]. I derive two lessons from his speculation: First, Joseph did not know exactly where Book of Mormon lands were; second, he considered their location an important question addressable through scholarship. 

John E. Clark, https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/archaeological-trends-and-the-book-of-mormon-origins

[We discussed this symposium here: https://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2015/06/the-worlds-of-joseph-smith.html]

It's amazing to see these scholars make such self-serving claims that (i) Joseph Smith merely "speculated" and (ii) Joseph Smith relied on their profession to figure out where Book of Mormon events took place.

But Scripture Central continues to promote this ideology. The 1842 articles have been cited in innumerable papers, books and presentations that develop and support M2C. 

And then they use the Mesoamerican articles to insist that Joseph, Oliver, and their contemporaries and successors were all wrong about the New York Cumorah/Ramah.

M2C map of "Cumorah" in southern Mexico.

https://geografia.centralldm.es/mapa-modelo/

Notice that this is in Spanish. Apparently Scripture Central doesn't dare present this map in English or on their main site where their donors would see it. We'll discuss this more in the next couple of days.

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This table below compares different approaches to extrinsic evidence. People can believe whatever they want to believe, but we need clarity to make informed decisions. That way we can compare multiple working hypotheses.

Authorities	M2C	Heartland
Relies on BoM text for abstract map of geography	Yes	Yes
Fits BoM text to real-world geography	Yes	Yes
Accepts entire text literally  - Cardinal directions (N,S,E,W)  - Animals and plants  - Surrounded by water  - Four seas  - 3 Nephi change face of land  - Law of Moses	No No No No No No	Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Relies on Times and Seasons articles about Stephens	Yes	No
Accepts D&C on Lamanites	No	Yes
Accepts D&C on Cumorah	No	Yes
Accepts D&C on Zarahemla	No	Yes
Accepts Oliver Cowdery on Cumorah in New York	No	Yes
Accepts David Whitmer on Cumorah in New York	No	Yes
Accepts Joseph Smith on Cumorah in New York	No	Yes
Accepts Joseph Smith on mounds in Midwest as evidence of BoM people	No	Yes
Accepts Joseph Smith in Wentworth letter that Lamanites are Indians living in “this country” meaning United States	No	Yes
Accepts archaeology	Yes	Yes
Accepts DNA evidence	No	Yes
Promised land is Mexico/Guatemala	Yes	No
Promised land is US/Canada	No	Yes