If possible, make copies of the pages for each family member or take turns coloring the animals. Furthermore, cureloms and cumoms were thought to be more useful to man than horses ether 9. Anachronisms in the book of mormon religious studies center. Many have assumed that anachronisms in the book of mormon should similarly prove that it must be false, and it is a modern text only posing as an ancient one. Here are the relevant jaredite scriptures and also all manner of cattle, of oxen, and cows, and of sheep, and of swine, and of goats, and also many other kinds of animals which were useful for the food of man. Question hello gramps, i was studying this morning and i read about something that was interesting to me, though not terrible important. Cureloms and cumoms are hapax legomenonwhich is a transliteration of greek meaning appears only once. Miller begins by mentioning the smithsonian institutes history with the book of mormon pp. In the doctrines and covenants 17, the lord states.
But the book of mormon means so much more to latterday saints. Whatever cureloms and cumons were supposed to be, the book of mormon seems to say that elephants, horses, and asses were widely domesticated by the jaredites. This myth stems from the book of mormon s reference to cureloms, cumoms and elephants. Cureloms are an unidentified species of animals mentioned in the book of mormon, and serve as the subject of many debates among latterday saint scientists and theologists. The curelom and cumom have appeared in mormon literature. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from. The ancient jaredites used dinosaurs as beasts of burden. Until possible language affinities for jaredite names can be determined, all suggestions for etymologies of jaredite names must remain more speculative than substantive. Thoughtful insights from 32 top scholars continue the journey into the book of mormons thousandyear span, aiding understanding of this. Ever since the coming forth of the book of mormon, readers have wondered about the strange reference to elephants and especially to its companions the. A controversial book of mormon verse is found in ether.
Early mormon apostle orson pratt identified cureloms as mammoths in the journal of discourses 12. False its not really clear where this myth came from, but i have seen it more than once on the internet jokingly referred to as the flintstonian theory. And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms. The book of mormon is an important canon of scripture for members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. The mention of horses among domesticated animals kept by book of mormon peoples has raised questions in some peoples minds, due to the prevailing view that horses were not found in the americas during precolumbian times. Is the mention of cureloms and cumons a book of mormon anachronism. Most of this brief book deals with various mammals, but there is also a discussion of linen, silk, steel and glass, and some food items. Joseph smith returned the urim and thummin to the angel along with the plates. Evidently the animals that are referred to in ether 9. For addition precolumbian dated horse bones, see miller and roper, animals in the book of mormon, 164. While they only make a brief appearance in the book of mormon, these unknown beasts might as well be mythical creatures to most scholars, who have little to no evidence of which beasts cureloms and cumoms.
These names come to us through five channels of transmission. New evidence for horses in america book of mormon central. To the inside front cover are affixed four clippings of descriptions of different versions of first edition copies of the book of mormon and of an 1854 edition of the doctrine and covenants, along with a clipping describing the origin of the text of the book of mormon and a bookplate of the shepard book company of salt lake city, utah. Wade miller is actually highly qualified an eminent retired professor of geology. Yet this approach presents difficulties, for we also have the very specific book of mormon terms, cureloms and cumoms, representing animals which along with elephants were the most useful in the jaredite culture same verse, ether 9. The curelom and the cumom are useful animals mentioned in the book of mormon. Im waiting for someone to tie it all together and hypothesize that the cureloms and cumoms went extinct after the impact of the giant iron meteor.
Hugh nibley then applied the general principles of polos experience to book of mormon animals named in the book of mormon but unknown to our culture. Book of mormon, 1837, page 586 the joseph smith papers. These groupings also mean the cureloms and cumoms are confidently closer to elephants than to horses, cows, or any. A complete description of the book of mormon geography bomgeography, including an internal map model, external map model i.
Joseph smith also had and used a seer stone, which was not the the urim and thummim. Anachronisms, or out of place items, have long been a subject of controversy with the book of mormon. With that caveat, the onomasticon does offer etymologies for some jaredite names, especially if it is possible that some jaredite names were translated into nephite, or were otherwise related to one or more semitic. We have seen pictures of elephants, horses and asses and so when we read the word, we form a picture in our minds. The following information is from the annotated book of mormon by david hocking and rod meldrum, pages 472474. The smithsonian has long gotten letters from folks asking about the book of mormon. People have been criticizing the book of mormon for more than a century. Cureloms and cumoms moroni briefly mentions beasts called cureloms and cumoms in ether 9. Several latterday saints over the years have attempted to examine. Asterisk denotes a featured version, which includes an introduction and annotation book of mormon, 1830 book of mormon, 1837 book of mormon, 1840 book of mormon, 1841. That would be as true for the book of mormon as it is for any other text if the book of mormon claimed to be an ancient text, but it does not. Cureloms and cumoms are perhaps the most intriguing beasts mentioned in the book of mormon because they are unfamiliar names. Includes every geographical place mentioned in the book of mormon.
Here they make mirrors of highly polished steel, of large size and very handsome. Animals in the book of mormon mormon lds reformation. This suggests that a beast of burden in the book of mormon time period most likely would not have been a mammoth, although many latterday saints still persist in displaying cureloms as mammoths in literature and media. But you say that mammoths died out before the jaredites arrived. Indeed, horses may have been used primarily for food.
The authors of this study use archaeological evidence to argue the animals mentioned in the book of mormon had once been present in north america. Although they are implied to be beasts of burden in the book of mormon, very little is known about them. Book of mormonanimalscureloms and cumoms fairmormon. They are unquestionably elephants in the eyes of zoologists, he suggests. Before dismissing this book as being promormon, consider that dr. Elephants werent in america at the time of the bom. More especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms. To nonadherents, these animals are creatures of the book. The cureloms and cumoms could be tapirs and guinea pigs. When studying the etymology of jaredite words, the book of ether makes things complicated. It contains prophecies of christ and also reveals how christ, after his resurrection and.
Archaeological and historical evidence elephants, horses. This site can be used as a study guide to help understand the book of mormon. Animals in the book of mormon june 12, 20 2 comments in scriptural science, scriptural science sticky posts by lbw many book of mormon critics try to show issues or anachronisms with the lists of animals found in its narrative. Curelom and cumom flora and fauna book of mormon evidence. Jack has anyone identified which animals are being refered to in the book of mormon as cureloms and cumoms. What are cureloms and cumoms spoken of in the book of mormon.
The book of mormon, like the bible, contains a record of gods dealings with a part of the house of israel. Cureloms and cumoms and they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms. These are the same ones that joseph smith received and used in the translation of the book of mormon. Readers can interpret the presence of horses in the book of mormon in a variety of different ways. They are mentioned in the book of mormon at ether 9 from the context of their mention, it appears that they were large useful animals of some sort that werent elephants. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. According to history, the mammoths and mastodons and horses in america soon died upon the arrival of the first settlers in america in 10,000 bc 15,0008. It is interesting to look at criticisms people made of the book of mormon in the past and see how modern research has shown that those criticisms are not valid. A scientists look at book of mormon anachronisms third hour.
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