Product Description

The Book of Mormon narrates voyages to the Americas by ancient Israelites. "2 Nephi 1:9 Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; [The Americas] and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves" The descendants of these ancient seafarers are said to be the tribes of Native Americans who were on hand to greet Columbus, the Spanish Conquistadors, and the Pilgrims. Israelites are also said to be the ancestors of the Polynesians.

Enter DNA. With the advent of molecular genealogy, scientists now have a tool to test hypotheses about Indian origins, previously based on skull shapes, blood types, linguistics, and cultural studies. By means of DNA genealogy, Native Americans have been traced to an area surrounding Lake Baikal in Siberia before their migration to the New World over 14,000 years ago. The evidence is definitive and unequivocal.

What do Latter-day Saint scientists have to say about this? Is it possible that a few, not all, Native Americans could be of Israelite origin? Could Polynesians represent an admixture of Southeast Asian and Israelite heritage? Professors at Brigham Young University are proposing a radical new reinterpretation of the Book of Mormon to accommodate this new field of science.

Explaining the scientific and theological issues in this debate is Dr. Simon Southerton, a molecular geneticist from Australia. He particularly responds to the issues raised by the BYU professors such as the implications of the mysterious lineage X, absent in Mesoamerica, and supposed anomalies in the genetic picture such as Kennewick Man and even the genetic history of the lowly sweet potato. Having been raised Mormon, Southerton knows the theological side of the issue as intimately as he knows the science.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #298362 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

From Publishers Weekly
From the time of its publication in 1830, both the Book of Mormon and its translator, Joseph Smith Jr., have been the focus of admiration as well as criticism. The book's account of pre-Christian journeys from the Middle East to the Americas and subsequent identification of North American indigenous populations with Israelite tribes was not uncommon among Smith's contemporaries. Southerton, an Australian molecular scientist, explores these claims from a scientific standpoint and concludes that there is no evidence of Israelite descent among American Indians, Polynesians or others identified as ancestors of Book of Mormon peoples. Discussions about genetics and heredity can be a bit impenetrable to the nonscientist, but these constitute only part of the book. The author, raised Mormon but no longer a believer, uses the DNA issue to launch an attack on both bad science and what he perceives as widespread racism in the LDS Church. He blames the Book of Mormon for what he calls the church's "insidious view of a superior white race." Southerton proffers a book that is part scientific exploration and part anti-Mormon polemic, so it's likely to be closely studied by the Mormon apologetic community. Readers will decide for themselves how credible his arguments are.
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About the Author
Simon G. Southerton is a senior re-search scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organiza-tion (CSIRO) in Canberra, Australia. He is a former senior research scientist in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Queensland, and post-doctoral fellow at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, England. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney in plant science, and he now specializes in the molecular biology of forest trees. He has published research articles in international journals such as Plant Molecular Biology, Molecular and General Genetics, and Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology. He served an LDS mission to Melbourne in the 1980s.

Customer Reviews

Temple for the educated
I am intrigued by the detail that was included in this writing. This man has changed the history of the church. His attention to detail is impeccable and I have done the research to make sure! Much of what is written is dry stats and not always engaging . But this is the point. Numbers do not lie. This guy did his homework. I am not a practicing Mormon, I am a theologian, working to discover the truth. I abide by many of the Mormon tenets and therefore look to seek truth. Good book, slow read.

Sound, engaging, fascinating, enlightening
This book is so well written, so clearly explained, and so carefully reasoned. I learned a tremendous amount about Mormon beliefs -- and the science that soundly refutes these beliefs. This book is a model of fine argumentation and popularized science. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding Mormon beliefs, genetics, human migratory patterns, and the truth about what modern science teaches us about all three.

Very.. Very Good
The author covers this superbly, although his charts of their family history left me mistified (I am not used to family charts, X chromosone charts etc..) I have read this twice since I purchased it and learn more each time.