Historicity of the Book of Mormon

The dominant and widely accepted view in the Latter Day Saint movement is that the Book of Mormon is a true and accurate account of these ancient American civilizations whose religious history it documents.

In the essay on DNA studies, the church argues for "a more careful approach to the data," and states that The conclusions of genetics, like those of any science, are tentative, and much work remains to be done to fully understand the origins of the native populations of the Americas.

B. H. Roberts states the inadequacy of the hemispheric model in Studies of the Book of Mormon: [C]ould the people of Mulek and of Lehi ... part of the time numbering and occupying the land at least from Yucatan to Cumorah ... live and move and have their being in the land of America and not come in contact with other races and tribes of men, if such existed in the New World within Book of Mormon times?

Most LDS authors hold the belief that the Book of Mormon events took place within a limited region in Mesoamerica, and that others were present on the continent at the time of Lehi's arrival.

These include asses, cattle, horses,[23] oxen, sheep, swine, goats, elephants,[24] wheat,[25] barley,[26][27][28] silk,[29] steel,[30] brass, breast plates, chains, iron working,[i] plows, swords, scimitars, and chariots.

"[34][35] In 1955, Thomas Stuart Ferguson, an attorney and a Latter-day Saint and the founder of the New World Archaeological Foundation (NWAF), with five years of funding from the LDS Church, began to dig throughout Mesoamerica for evidence of the veracity of the Book of Mormon claims.

[36] In 1972, Christian scholar Hal Hougey wrote to Ferguson questioning the progress made, given the stated timetable in which the cities would be found.

[37] Replying to Hougey as well as secular and non-secular requests, Ferguson wrote in a letter dated June 5, 1972: "Ten years have passed .

"[38] After this article and another six years of fruitless search, Ferguson published a paper in which he concluded, "I'm afraid that up to this point, I must agree with Dee Green, who has told us that to date there is no Book-of-Mormon geography".

According to the text, the Nephites and the Lamanites initially spoke Hebrew (600 BC) and might have spoken a modified Semitic language until at least 400 AD, when the Book of Mormon ends.

[40] The non-canonized introductory paragraph to the LDS Church 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon stated that the Lamanites were the "principal ancestors of the American Indians".

[42][43][44] Several authors have published works that suggest that current studies of genetic anthropology using DNA evidence do not provide support for the Book of Mormon.

This paper was then delivered to professor Charles Anthon, a well-known classical scholar of Columbia College, for an expert opinion on the authenticity of the characters and the translation.

Adherents to the Book of Mormon claim that Anthon attested to the characters' authenticity in writing to Martin Harris but then ripped up his certification after hearing the story of Smith and the plates.