by Don R. Hender

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(Apostle - Scholar - Mormon Doctrinal Authority)

Renown and revered by members and the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, James E. Talmage was an exceptional person. His academic and spiritual scholarship and achievement stands apart. He wrote several books, a number of which due to their level of knowledge and understanding upon topics of the Church and its doctrine have been published officially by the Church. A couple of these best known text are his masterful book on the subject of Jesus Christ entitled, 'Jesus the Christ,' and another is his book, entitled 'Articles of Faith,' which expounded upon the basic thirteen Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These books, 'commissioned' by the Church, are held under Church copyright. A part of a select few books so held and authorized by the LDS Church. So is the level of 'intellectual' knowledge and understanding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held by Elder Talmage.

Elder Talmage has also written upon the subject of what the Church has held to be its long time understanding of what the geography of the Book of Mormon in general just happened to be. Though of a speculative nature with some phrases which where not stated in absolutes, his writing best represented what has come to be know as the 'Traditional View' of the geography of the Book of Mormon held by the Church and its authorities. Yet due to its 'non-absolute' nature and the fact that the Official Position held by the Church has come to be that they do not official sanction any geographic model to the Book of Mormon, there has been much speculation beyond the simple and somewhat disputed 'Traditional View.' Some today even go as far as to state that the Church did not have a past 'Traditional View,' which it certainly did. And this they state to weaken support of the Traditional Model it in lieu of the view which they are attempting to espouse. Thus they use the despicable tactic of raising their personal views up by tearing down those held by others. And the 'others' in this case just happen to be 'anointed servants' of the Lord Jesus Christ. Which I find to be totally inappropriate.

Regardless of the truth of the details of the 'Traditional View,' indeed it was and in a number of cases, perhaps with slight modifications, still is the preferred view held by numerous LDS faithful. This latter fact, a number of the 'new' Mesoamerican model tend to ignore and continue to thwart and discount, often in a manner which attacks the very fiber of the LDS Church, its history and the sanctity and honor entitled past and sometimes even present 'anointed authorities' of the Church. This level of disrespect for the words of past authorities is not practiced by all who support the Mesoamerican or other theories which depart from the 'Traditional View.' As one can disagree and still give honor and uphold our authorities of the past. Yet an ever increasing number are flat out stating that there was even a conspiracy to promote by 'forgery' such previous beliefs, and that these brethren were not of an honest and sincere nature for having done so at the expense of any other theory. Such just is not the case, and though the general authority base did basically did have its 'Traditional View,' it was not ever so founded. It was and is a very honest and 'traditional' view based upon the 'facts' of they matter as stated them from their honest views and understanding on the matter. And when one departs from that 'Traditional View,' they are taking it upon themselves to be in disagreement with such held view of the authorities of the Church.

It should be graciously noted that the current tolerances for the various 'promotions,' and they are pormotions often financially motivated, of 'other' views of the Book of Mormon Geography is being supported and allowed by those very 'general authorities' that are often attacked by those of varying opinion. Now the authorities are human as you and I. And they are prone to 'opinion' and at times error. And when one departs from what has been espoused by such authorities, one should consider it a serious matter and have a well founded set of facts and evidences for doing so doing, which do justify on an honest and sincere basis their departure from the so stated views of the authorities of the Church.

I myself, while holding to the 'spirit' of the Tradition View, have come to take a couple exceptions to it. Yet I still believe that the correct model of the Book of Mormon Geography is the 'Hemispheric Model' which is the solid basis upon which the 'Traditional View' is founded. And upon the points where I diverge from the 'Traditional Model,' I believe I am well founded in fact and logic to do so without destroying the 'spirit' of the 'Traditional Model' as held by the General Authorites of our historical religion. This slightly altered version of the 'Traditional View' I have labeled as being the 'Neo-Traditional Model' and for some of the points of departure, I have founded such upon other statements from various other Church Authorities, including Joseph Fielding Smith. But for now, lets present and fully establish and define with the words of Elder James E. Talmage, just what the Traditional View and Model held by the LDS Church does entail. And lets fully establish that it indeed did exist as the 'Traditional Model' held by the Church and its authorities of our historical and 'traditional' past.

Background To Statement

The Story of "Mormonism" as presented in the following pages is a revised and reconstructed version of lectures delivered by Dr. James E. Talmage at the University of Michigan, Cornell University, and elsewhere. The "Story" first appeared in print as a lecture report in the Improvement Era, and was afterward issued as a booklet from the office of the Millennial Star, Liverpool. In 1910 it was issued in a revised form by the Bureau of Information at Salt Lake City, in which edition the lecture style of direct address was changed to the ordinary form of essay. The present or third American edition has been revised and amplified by the author.

The "Story" has been translated and published abroad. Already versions have appeared in Swedish, modern Greek, and Russian.

The subject matter of THE PHILOSOPHY OF "MORMONISM" was first presented as a lecture delivered by Dr. Talmage before the Philosophical Society of Denver. It appeared later in the columns of the Improvement Era, and translations have been published in pamphlet form in the Danish and German languages.

The present publication of these two productions is made in response to a steady demand.

Note: Liberty has been taken to highlight and emphasize for the reader what is considered to be the defining points of the traditional model. This is done with bolding and colorizing such statements and adding in [brackets] any clarifying inserted notations.

"The record [golden plates] proved to be an account of certain colonies of immigrants to this hemisphere from the east, who came several centuries before the Christian era. The principal company was led by one Lehi, described as a personage of some importance and wealth, who had formerly lived at Jerusalem in the reign of Zedekiah, and who left his eastern home about 600 B.C. The book tells of the journeyings across the water in vessels constructed according to revealed plan, of the peoples' landing on the western shores of South America probably somewhere in Chile, [note the use of the non-absolute adjective 'probably'] of their prosperity and rapid growth amid the bounteous elements of the new world, of the increase of pride and consequent dissension accompanying the accumulation of material wealth, and of the division of the people into factions which became later two great nations at enmity with one another. One part following Nephi, the youngest and most gifted son of Lehi, designated themselves Nephites; the other faction, led by Laman, the elder and wicked brother of Nephi, were known as Lamanites.

"The Nephites lived in cities, some of which attained great size and were distinguished by great architectural beauty. Continually advancing northward, [This is partially contingent upon the non-absolute Chili landing site] these people in time occupied the greater part of the valleys of the Orinoco, the Amazon, [This is one of the weaker points of the traditional view due to with width of the South American Continent today.] and the Magdalena. During the thousand years covered by the Nephite record, the people crossed the Isthmus of Panama, which is graphically described as a neck of land but a day's journey from sea to sea, and successively occupied extensive tracts in what is now Mexico, the valley of the Mississippi, and the Eastern States. It is not to be supposed that these vast regions were all populated at any one time by the Nephites; the people were continually moving to escape the depredations of their hereditary foes, the Lamanites; and they abandoned in turn all their cities established along the course of migration. The unprejudiced student sees in the discoveries of the ancient and now forest-covered cities of Mexico, Central America, Yucatan, and the northern regions of South America, collateral testimony having a bearing upon this history.

"Before their more powerful foes, the Nephites dwindled and fled; until about the year 400 A. D. they were entirely annihilated after a series of decisive battles, the last of which was fought near the very hill, called Cumorah, in the State of New York, [This view is still very strongly held in the Chruch today despite the Mesoamerican theorist attempt to thwart it] where the hidden record was subsequently revealed to Joseph Smith.

"The Lamanites led a roving, aggressive life; kept few or no records, and soon lost the art of history writing. They lived on the results of the chase and by plunder, degenerating in habit until they became typical progenitors of the dark-skinned race, afterward discovered by Columbus and named American Indians.

"The last writer in the ancient record, and the one who hid away the plates in the hill Cumorah, was Moroni-the same personage who appeared as a resurrected being in the nineteenth century, a divinely appointed messenger sent to reveal the depository of the sacred documents; but the greater part of the plates since translated had been engraved by the father of Moroni, the Nephite prophet Mormon. This man, at once warrior, prophet and historian, had made a transcript and compilation of the heterogeneous records that had accumulated during the troubled history of the Nephite nation; this compilation was named on the plates "The Book of Mormon," which name has been given to the modern translation-a work that has already made its way over most of the civilized world. The translation and publication of the Book of Mormon were marked by many scenes of trouble and contention, but success attended the undertaking, and the first edition of the work appeared in print in 1830.

(~ James E. Talmage, The Story and Philosophy of "Mormonism", pages 14-16.)

The map to the right depicts the three most distinguishing features of this traditional model. They include a very southerly 'probable' landing site upon the western coast of Chili. A narrow neck identified as the Panama region, and the Hill Cumorah being in New York state from which the Prophet Joseph Smith extracted the plates. This is a generalized picture, and various detailed variations exist depending upon the interpretive conclusions of various writers who have supported this theory. Of the just stated three most identifying features of this theory, I would take but one well founded exception. And that is my agreement with President Joseph Fielding Smith that the Landing Site is more correctly assessed by the Times and Season's statement, which President Joseph Fielding Smith attributes to the prophet Joseph Smith Jr. And that is the landing location is the one containted in the Church authorized and supported text entitled, 'The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith' on page 267. There it states that Lehi landed a 'little south of the Isthmus of Darien.' Which would mean that Lehi's party first journeyed south. The the Book of Mormon does state that Lehi's party did journey in the wilderness after their landing in the promised land prior to being established in the 'land of first inheritance' (see 1 Nephi 18:25). According to the hemisphereic model, they likely into journeyed south into Peru prior to when the Lamanites began pushing the Nephites ever northward until the Nephite nations was destoryed in 385AD.