Some mormon researchers claim that it is not valid to use genetics to attempt to prove or disprove the historicity of the book of mormon, citing a lack of source genes and the improbability of tracing israelite dna even if present. Ancient mitochondrial dna provides highresolution time scale of the peopling of the americas science advances mormons heres proof that nobody in the americas ever came from the middle east. If youve listened to my interviews on the book of mormon, ive asked a few people, like jim vun cannon and david rosenvall about the lemba tribe in africa. Critics intent on discrediting the restoration point to dna studies on indigenous american peoples in an attempt to expose joseph, the book of mormon. Serious book of mormon scholars tend to believe that lehis people lived only in mesoamerica, not all over the americas.
For these same reasons, arguments that some defenders of the book of mormon make based on dna. Dna and the book of mormon book of mormon archaeological. Mills successfully extracted mitochondrial dna mtdna from the teeth of 34. Southerton claimed that since there is not a significant amount of jewish mitochondrial dna in american indians, that it was proof that the book of mormon is false. Genetic drift particularly affects mitochondrial dna and ychromosome dna, but it also leads to the loss of variation in autosomal dna. Cherokeephoenician dna connection book of mormon evidence. The haplogroups most commonly studied are ychromosome y dna haplogroups and mitochondrial dna mtdna haplogroups, both of which can be used in determining genetic dispersion in population studies. Founder effect, genetic drift, bottlenecks and the book of mormon author. Researchers working with native american mtdna among populations in north america found a new genetic strain that didnt match any of the. The book of mormon documentary examines and compares genetic evidence identifying the dna fingerprints of the jewish populations and american indian populations, and presents the testimony of several dna experts in seeking to answer the question, are israelites the principal ancestors of native american indians. Response to the essay book of mormon and dna studies in the rest of this article, we will comment on specific statements in the essay book of mormon and dna studies pertaining to what it says about the science of dna research as it applies to the issues raised by the book of mormon. A statement on our united position visavis creation and dna dating. Dna research and mormon scholars changing basic beliefs. But being the strongest evidence so far against the book of mormon is a relative thing, akin to selecting the best smelling skunk in your local forest.
The book consists of 10 essays that approach the issue from various areas of expertise and point out weaknesses is the claim that the dna data proves that the book of mormon is false. John dehlins mormon stories essay on dna and the book of mormon makes the following claim. Dna vs book of mormon incredible new evidence youtube. Dna analysis has concluded that native american indians do not originate from the middle east or from israelites but rather from asia. Thomas murphy, mormon anthropologist, american apocrypha, 2002, p. Regardless of whether or not the book of mormon is true, something to consider before thinking the. The book of mormon and the origin of native americans from a maternally inherited dna standpoint ugo. The book of mormon teaches that these israelites are the principal ancestors of modernday native americans. Book of mormon and dna studies as recent as 2005 i was taught by a 35 year old at the time mormon missionary from poland that american indians are the descendants of lamanites who decended from lehis rebel kids lamanlemuel etc. The strongest evidence yet against the book of mormon. Mitochondrial dna, as researchers point out, tends to be inherited from relatively recent generations. The book of mormon, the founding document of the latter day saint movement and one of the four books of scripture of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church, is an account of three groups of people.
While two different lds scientists have said that dna research discounts the book of mormon as an ancient, historical document, a researcher told participants saturday at the book of mormon lands conference that such claims are faulty when the details and capabilities of dna gene mapping are understood. In the past few years, dna studies have been used to provide what may be the strongest and most convincing evidence so far against the authenticity of the book of mormon. Ces letter links to a poorly written wikipedia article as the basis of their sweeping. Davis molecular anthropologist, sunstone symposium, 2002. This remarkable find coincides with the true book of mormon geography which is centered in western new york not mesoamerica because the nephites were nearly exterminated, any chance of locating an existing tribe carrying nephite dna on book of mormon land is unrealistic. The arguments claiming that near eastern dna is not found in the americas is also disproved by haplogroup x mtdna. There is a strong correlation between the ojibwa tribe of the great lakes area, and the druze of israel. Dna evidence proves book of mormon claims about ancient. If the book of mormon is false, joseph smith was not a prophet. Human cells also have dna in a series of cell components called the mitochondria. The dna anti book of mormon argument is the y2k of the critics weapons arsenal. This work is the sum of over four years of nearly continuous research into possible dna connections between the native american peoples, and the prophesied remnant of the house of israel as contained in the book of mormon. Mitochondrial dna lineages for 15,555 american indians from over 200 widely dispersed tribes across the new world have been published over the last 30 years.
Fairmormon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing welldocumented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. The book of mormon and the origin of native americans from a. Dna and the book of mormon brigham young university. It is conceivable that much of the dna of book of mormon peoples did not survive for the same reason. Dna and the book of mormon a recently published book claims that dna evidence proves that the book of mormon, a book of scripture used in conjunction with the bible by the mormon church, is incorrect and points to an asiatic origin versus a middle eastern origin for the inhabitants of. Click to view on the internet rediscovering the book of mormon remnant through dna by rod meldrum. Moreover, it is likely that there were other peoples living in the new world when lehi arrived, 2 hence intermarriage and the resultant admixture of dna would complicate the interpretation of dna sequence data. Dna research and mormon scholars changing basic beliefs lds researchers question mormon tenet that polynesians and native americans descended from israelite patriarch lehi. The first human molecular genealogists focused their attention on mitochondrial dna, a small dna molecule about 16,500 bases with a simple pattern of inheritance. Dna genetic material found in mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell.
This short version article is here and the long version may be downloaded here, titled rediscovering the book of mormon remnant through dna by rod meldrum effectively and powerfully addresses, and provides supporting evidence about the dna questions you may have. Mitochondrial dna is of limited value in assessing the overall heredity of populations, as an individuals entire mitochondrial dna comes from a single female ancestor. Both lehis and ishmaels families are from the semitic tribe of joseph who married asenath, an egyptian. Dna and the book of mormon archives mormon stories essays. It might be useful to point out to the casual reader of these articles, that the scholars involved in critiquing the annotated edition of the book of mormon differ from the editors on some fundamental assumptions which accounts for much of the discord and criticism in their expose. All the dna that has been talked about in this video is referred to a genetic molecule known as mitochondrial dna that is transmitted exclusively along the unbroken maternal line. The dna challenge to the book of mormon that fizzled. To see just how accurate and robust the mormon stories essay on dna and the book of mormon is, lets do a tally of what sources are cited or otherwise linked to in the essay the first source cited in the essay is dr. The paternal y chromosome ycs and maternal mitochondrial dna mtdna inheritance patterns. This means that this approach cannot be easily used to determine the genetic ancestry of male lineages such as those described in this video and in the book of mormon. As technology has improved, analysis of autosomal dna has allowed geneticists to conduct sophisticated studies involving combinations of multiple genetic markers. In fact the book of mormon again and again reiterated that only a small remnant of the nephite seed would remain. Mitochondrial dna was the first type of dna to be sequenced and was thus the first that geneticists used to study populations.
This book of mormon is brought to you for free and open access by the all journals at byu scholarsarchive. Response to rodney meldrums incredible new dna evidence. Mormons and mitochondrial dna by chad ressler in august 2004 simon southerton released a book entitled losing a lost tribe. During the past few years, a number of anti mormon writers and groups have been pushing the idea that dna studies of native americans prove that the book of mormon is false. Theyre a tribe that has middle eastern dna, unlike native americans who dont. Perego, the book of mormon and the origin of native americans from a maternally inherited dna standpoint, in no weapon shall prosper. Understanding the scientific evidence this page supports my main mormon answers page on dna evidence and the book of mormon.
The basic concept though is that the mitochondrial dna taken from a group of surviving native americans demonstrates that they were descended from asians and not the ten lost tribes of israel as the book of mormon claims. Founder effect, genetic drift, bottlenecks and the book of. Evangelical protestants dont let secular geneticists saying genetic inference shows we are cousins with apes and noahs ark is a fake get in their way, but are excited to use the same genetics against the book of mormon kind of hypocritical. There is generally no direct support amongst mainstream historians and archaeologists for the. While dna shows that ultimately all human populations are closely related, to date no intimate genetic link has been found between ancient israelites and indigenous americans, much less within the time frame suggested in the book of mormon. Sounds menacing from a distance, but is feeble when viewed close up. According to the book, two of these groups originated from ancient israel. Your book of mormon is proven to be a fraud, by science alone.
Dna and the book of mormon explained fulllength video. The problem, of course, is that most members of the church arent dna experts and havent followed the dna book of mormon. Does dna evidence prove the book of mormon to be false. Testing of the ychromosome dna and mitochondrial dna are. Dna haplogroup x2a is a major mtdna subclade in north america. Dna samples taken from modern american indians show no connection to the dna of the peoples of the middle east. Dna evidence of the book of mormon in north america, linking. The book of mormon and the x haplogroupagain fairmormon. In august 2004 simon southerton released a book entitled losing a lost tribe. Dna that is contained within the mitochondria the chemical powerhouses of the cell.
With pride i tell those who come to my office that a lamanite is a descendant of one lehi who left jerusalem some 600 years before christ and with his family crossed the mighty deep and landed in america. The lenba sic are a group of 80,000 south africans who claim jewish heritage, practice many jewish rituals, and claimed to be descended from small group of middle eastern men perhaps as small as seven who migrated to south east africa 2,500 years ago and intermarried with the local women. Rediscovering the bom remnant through dna book of mormon. The mitochondrial dna of the majority of icelanders living at that time simply did not survive the random effects of drift. New discoveries in dna research currently allow scientists to test this historical claim. Dna claims rebutted on book of mormon deseret news.
Nothing is known about the dna of book of mormon peoples, and even if their genetic profile were known, there are sound scientific reasons that it might remain undetected. Mitochondrial dna is passed intact from mothers to their offspring and the dna it contains can be used to construct maternal ancestries. The book of mormon and the origin of native americans from. This must mean that amerindians are not descended from book of mormon peoples, and the book of mormon is false. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 2011, 171217. The criticism of the mormon church is the following. Critic thomas murphy writes that some of the most revealing research into native american genetics comes from analyses of mtdna, and.