Challenging Issues, Keeping the Faith: Great Lakes Book of Mormon geography

In several earlier articles, I demonstrated that DNA cannot currently (and might never be able to) verify the Book of Mormon. Those who claim otherwise, or who claim that DNA supports their particular geographic model, buttress their claims by cherry-picking scientific quotes and distorting their context while actually rejecting the very science behind DNA research. In a recent review of the topic published by BYU’s Maxwell Institute, Dr. Gregory Smith details why the DNA-proves-the-Book-of-Mormon claim is false.

The "Michigan Relics" are a loose collection of copper, slate and clay pieces discovered in the Hopewell Indian mounds of Michigan from the late 19th century until the 1920s. Many of these relics are inscribed with various Old World (or supposed Old World) texts or with graphics depicting various scenes from the Bible.

The problem is that the relics are all fakes — hoaxes produced, buried, “discovered” and marketed by several men looking for fame and fortune.

After carefully examining the relics, Elder James Talmage (a scientist and apostle) declared them to be blatant forgeries. Several non-LDS scientists have agreed. The "Michigan Relics" do not support the Book of Mormon (or one particular geography), and it is deceptive to suggest that they do.