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Reposted below:
A workmate of mine has just handed me a leaflet given to him by Mormon Missionaries operating in the UK. It has a few pertinent theories to offer regarding the original colonisation of the Americas, which I thought non-US readers might be interested in, and US readers more familiar with Mormonism might be able to help me with:
<i><b>"Who wrote the Book of Mormon</b></i><br /> Like the Bible, the Book of Mormon was written by prophets of the Lord. they lived in ancient Palestine <i>and ancient America</i>" (italics mine).
The Mormons claim that America was originally colonised in three waves of migration, the earliest dated to c.4000 BCE and the latter two to c.600BCE.
They claim that "Lehi's people and Mulek's people eventually merged and became one nation, the ancestors of the American Indians".
Now, I'm not familiar with Utah archaeology (do the universities in Utah teach archaeology/anthropology?), but can anyone enlighten me as to how the Mormon Church regards the archaeological and genetic evidence which completely gainsays the Book of Mormon, wrt the origins of the first American settlers, and the date of this first occupation?
Obviously, belief in the infallibility of Scripture is difficult to reconcile with 'harder' evidence, but I'd be interested in hearing how the Mormons have attempted to do this (if indeed they have).
Thanks in advance for shedding light on this....</HTML>
