Anachronisms
Book of Mormon Anachronisms
CES Letter Core Question
Why do we see Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon?
Horses, cattle, oxen, sheep, swine, goats, elephants, wheels, chariots, wheat, silk, steel, and iron did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times. Why are these things mentioned in the Book of Mormon as being made available in the Americas between 2200 BC - 421 AD?
Unofficial apologists claim victories in some of these items but closer inspection reveals significant problems. It has been documented that apologists have manipulated wording so that steel is not steel, sheep become never-domesticated bighorn sheep, horses become tapirs, etc.
CES Letter, Page 11
The Letter to a CES Director make claims of anachronisms. An anachronism is "a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists." However, such claims ignore valid contradictory evidences in every case and the fact that language translation may make literal interpretations impossible. Also, many things existed in ancient America that have yet to be discovered. The most common charges include the following (click on item for more information):
FAIRMORMON LINKS TO RESPONSES TO THE LETTER TO A CES DIRECTOR'S CHARGES OF BOOK OF MORMON ANACHRONISMS
- Response to claim: "Horses...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "cattle...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "FairMormon considers a tapir to satisfy this requirement, I’m sorry but that just won’t work. Tapirs do not pull chariots. Especially chariots without wheels"
- Response to claim: "sheep...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "swine...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "goats...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "elephants...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "chariots...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "wheat...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "silk...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "steel...did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"
- Response to claim: "iron did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times"