“Thick Darkness”: Volcanoes and the Historicity of the Book of Mormon

Copyright © 2015 by Ted Dee Stoddard

Frankly, 3 Nephi 8 of the Book of Mormon contains content that unequivocally supports the historicity of the Book of Mormon. That is, the “thick darkness” subplot of 3 Nephi 8 is such that Joseph Smith could not have authored it himself while living in upstate New York in 1829, a fact that suggests he also did not author the other plots and subplots of the Book of Mormon. In that respect, 3 Nephi 8 contains information about a natural physical phenomenon that only an eyewitness could describe with such vividness and accuracy. Joseph Smith could not possibly have been that eyewitness and could not possibly have had access to any eyewitness account while he was translating 3 Nephi 8. In other words, he translated 3 Nephi 8 “by the gift and power of God.” And if he indeed translated 3 Nephi 8, he also translated, rather than authored, the rest of the Book of Mormon. Thus, the very content itself of 3 Nephi 8 almost cries out in suggesting that the Book of Mormon is historical rather than ahistorical.

As recorded in the Book of Mormon, between 600 and 592 BC, Nephi, the son of Lehi, had several visions of the future in connection with the posterity of Lehi. Nephi was privileged to know about Jesus the Messiah’s forthcoming birth, death, and resurrection. Nephi undoubtedly understood fully the meaning of the law of Moses, much as Amulek expressed his knowledge of it in the first century BC: “And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal” (Alma 34:14).

Through a vision, Nephi foresaw the time in the future when Jesus would be sacrificed and resurrected. And Nephi foresaw the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus and the Savior’s subsequent visit to the posterity of Lehi following Jesus’s resurrection:

And it came to pass that I saw a mist of darkness on the face of the land of promise; and I saw lightnings, and I heard thunderings, and earthquakes, and all manner of tumultuous noises; and I saw the earth and the rocks, that they rent; and I saw mountains tumbling into pieces; and I saw the plains of the earth, that they were broken up; and I saw many cities that they were sunk; and I saw many that they were burned with fire; and I saw many that did tumble to the earth, because of the quaking thereof.

And it came to pass after I saw these things, I saw the vapor of darkness, that it passed from off the face of the earth; and behold, I saw multitudes who had not fallen because of the great and terrible judgments of the Lord.

And I saw the heavens open, and the Lamb of God descending out of heaven; and he came down and showed himself unto them. (1 Nephi 12:4–6)

About 6 BC, Samuel the Lamanite made several prophecies to the descendants of Lehi. Among his prophecies are comments about conditions in the New World at the time of Christ’s crucifixion:

And behold, again, another sign I give unto you, yea, a sign of his death. . . .

But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead.

Yea, at the time that he shall yield up the ghost there shall be thunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours, and the earth shall shake and tremble; and the rocks which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass, shall be broken up;

Yea, they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath.

And behold, there shall be great tempests, and there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great.

And many highways shall be broken up, and many cities shall become desolate.

And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many.

And behold, thus hath the angel spoken unto me; for he said unto me that there should be thunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours.

And he said unto me that while the thunder and the lightning lasted, and the tempest, that these things should be, and that darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days.

And the angel said unto me that many shall see greater things than these, to the intent that they might believe that these signs and these wonders should come to pass upon all the face of this land, to the intent that there should be no cause for unbelief among the children of men. (Helaman 14:14, 20–28)

Around six hundred years after the Book of Mormon’s account of Nephi the son of Lehi and just a few years after its account of Samuel the Lamanite, the people in the New World experienced these prophesied calamities at the time of Jesus’s crucifixion. According to Mormon’s abridged record, the following occurred:

And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land. And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder. And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land. (3 Nephi 8:5–7)

Coincidental with those events, in the land southward, the city of Zarahemla burned, the city of Moroni sank into the sea, earth the size of a mountain covered the city of Moronihah, and other “great and terrible destruction” occurred.

In the land northward, the destruction was worse. The whole face of the land was changed, highways were broken up, many cities were sunk, many cities were burned, many cities were shaken to the earth, many people were slain, and many people were carried away in a whirlwind. “And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth” (3 Nephi 8:17).

These events in the New World coincided with the crucifixion of Christ in the Old World. In the New World, the events lasted for about three hours. At that point, “there was darkness upon the face of the land.” Mormon says the following about the darkness:

And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness;

And there could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all;

And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.

And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them. (3 Nephi 8:20–23; emphasis added)

The Nature of Darkness in 3 Nephi 8

At this point, readers are invited to invoke mental images of nineteenth-century Palmyra, New York, and Joseph Smith’s involvement with the Book of Mormon in 1829. Next, readers are invited to evaluate the potential validity of the following statements: “The uniquely descriptive wording used by Joseph Smith in 3 Nephi 8 reflects either knowledge beyond his capacity to exhibit in 1829 or inspiration given directly to him through his translation powers. That is, 3 Nephi 8 speaks actively, authoritatively, and positively about the historicity of the Book of Mormon as a real account about real people.”

Bottom line: When readers truly understand the nature of massive volcanic eruptions, their evaluation of Joseph Smith in Palmyra, New York, in 1829 will be that the New World crucifixion-of-Christ events recorded in 3 Nephi 8 show, from a historicity perspective, that Joseph Smith translated, not merely authored, the Book of Mormon. The darkness of 3 Nephi 8 was such that the people could feel it. In Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, the word darkness at the time Joseph translated the Book of Mormon clearly meant “absence of light.”[1] But Joseph’s wording describing the darkness of 3 Nephi 8 involved more than mere “absence of light.” The terms thick darkness, mists of darkness, and vapor of darkness go beyond “absence of light.” What kind of darkness does Joseph’s translation describe with such terminology?

Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary is typically very useful in helping Book of Mormon readers understand precisely how words were defined during the time period of the Book of Mormon’s translation. In that respect, Webster gives unique insights about the word darkness as found in 3 Nephi 8 via the words thick (thick darknesss), mist (mists of darkness), and vapor (vapor of darkness) as found in the Book of Mormon’s 3 Nephi 8 account. Among the definitions are the following in 1828:[2]

· Thick, adj. Dense; not thin; as thick vapors; a thick fog.

· Mist, n. That which dims or darkens, and obscures or intercepts vision. v.t. To cloud; to cover with vapor.

· Vapor, n. (1) In a general sense, an invisible elastic fluid, rendered aeriform by heat, and capable of being condensed, or brought back to the liquid or solid state, by cold. The vapor of water is distinguished by the name of steam. (2) A visible fluid floating in the atmosphere. All substances which impair the transparency of the atmosphere, as smoke, fog, etc. are in common language called vapors, though the term vapor is technically applied only to an invisible and condensible substance, as in No. 1; fog, etc. being vapor condensed, or water in a minute state of division. (3) Substances resembling smoke, which sometimes fill the atmosphere, particularly in America during the autumn.

From a careful analysis of Webster’s 1828 definitions of darkness, thick, mist, and vapor in conjunction with a careful reading of 3 Nephi 8 in relation to the concept of “historicity,” the following conclusions can be made:

1. Yes, darkness means “absence of light.” According to the 1828 Webster, dark as an adjective means “destitute of light.” People routinely experience varying degrees of “darkness” in their lives; however, they can still typically “see” to some extent when they’re in the “dark.” But the kind of “darkness” in 3 Nephi 8 is “total darkness.” Seldom do people experience total darkness, such as that experienced by visitors to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. To give visitors a feeling for total darkness, the tour guide at Carlsbad turns off the lights while the group is in a deep underground setting. The resulting feeling is rather eerie and is almost frightening. It must be akin to the feeling a totally blind person initially has after being accustomed to the sensation of vision.

2. The expressions thick darkness, mists of darkness, and vapor of darkness imply the presence of something in the atmosphere. That “something” enabled the people to “feel” the darkness. People experience the feeling of something in the atmosphere when they’re in heavy fog—or dense or thick fog as a reflection of Webster’s definitions.

3. The term vapor of darkness is especially descriptive of the 3 Nephi 8 darkness. According to Webster, any substance that impairs the transparency of the atmosphere might be referred to as a vapor, although the term is commonly applied to a “condensible” substance. That description applies to any water vapor in the 3 Nephi 8 darkness, but it falls short of describing aptly the presence of dust in the atmosphere, perhaps in conjunction with a condensed substance. The description also falls short of describing appropriately the presence of poisonous volcanic gases that helped create the vapor of darkness. Mormon points out that among the righteous who were spared were those who were not “overpowered by the vapor of smoke and of darkness” (3 Nephi 10:13). That wording clearly suggests the presence of poisonous volcanic gases that are commonly associated with volcanic eruptions and that can be fatal to those who breathe the air filled with those gases.

4. The darkness of 3 Nephi 8 in the New World at the time of Christ’s crucifixion was altogether different from the darkness the people experienced in the Old World at the time of the crucifixion. Clearly, Joseph Smith’s choices of words to describe the New World darkness contribute significantly and positively to a hypothesis that Joseph Smith translated the golden plates as he claimed. That is, the potential historicity of the Book of Mormon’s is enhanced greatly by the facts of the unique nature of the darkness in 3 Nephi 8.

Initial Reflections about Darkness in 3 Nephi 8

Following are personal journal comments about the darkness and vapor of darkness in 3 Nephi 8:

Through about the first forty years of my life, I accepted 3 Nephi 8 and its vivid language on faith. As a youth, I assumed the earth must have stood still to provide the three days of darkness. I realized the darkness was unique—it was a “thick vapor of darkness” that the people could “feel.” Though my faith was always intact, I worried that nowhere else in history did any writer mention that the earth stood still for three days at Christ’s crucifixion. For some reason, no Sunday School teacher had ever attempted to teach me what caused the three days of darkness; so I continued to live with my faith that the phenomenon must be rational and explainable.

Shortly after the May 20, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington, I found myself conducting an educational seminar in Missoula, Montana, a few hundred miles from Mount St. Helens. Throughout Missoula, at the time, the volcanic ash from Mount St. Helens was everywhere. During the seminar, I visited with attendees who had been downwind from Mount St. Helens and who had experienced the results. Their comments about the eruption caused me to change my faith to knowledge about the events in 3 Nephi 8.

The attendees reported that at one point, they were in bright sunlight and then in complete darkness shortly thereafter. They commented about how they could “feel” the closeness of the darkness as the volcanic cloud obliterated the sun and showered fine volcanic dust over them.

In visiting with these eyewitnesses, I suddenly realized that 3 Nephi 8 must be a remarkably vivid eyewitness account of a massive volcanic eruption. I subsequently reread 3 Nephi 8 to detail the descriptive features of the eyewitness account. If 3 Nephi 8 is indeed an eyewitness account of a massive volcanic eruption, any similar eruption in other accounts might be expected to be described by such 3 Nephi 8 language as the following:

· “A great and terrible tempest” (verse 6).

· “Terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder” (verse 6).

· “Exceedingly sharp lightnings” (verse 7).

· “Great and terrible destruction . . . because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth” (verse 12).

· “The thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth . . . did last for about the space of three hours” (verse 19).

· “Thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness” (verse 20; emphasis added).

· “There could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all” (verse 21; emphasis added).

· “There was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land” (verse 22; emphasis added).

· “It did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them” (verse 23; emphasis added).

Could Joseph Smith in his wildest imaginations have dreamed up such vivid descriptions of a massive volcanic eruption? Simple reasoning tells me that in Palmyra, New York, in 1829, Joseph had nothing to consult to give him guidance in describing such an event—assuming the eyewitness account in 3 Nephi is a valid one.[3]

Eyewitness Accounts of Massive Volcanic Eruptions

In 3 Nephi 8 are found significant and very intriguing evidences about the historicity of the Book of Mormon—for at least four reasons.

First, the language used in 3 Nephi 8 to describe massive volcanic eruptions is so vivid and accurate that it could have been written only by an eyewitness or by someone who gathered evidence from eyewitnesses.

Second, very few eyewitness accounts of massive volcanic eruptions are available—even in the twenty-first century.

Third, the possibility that Joseph Smith in 1829 could have had access to an eyewitness account is essentially impossible.

Fourth, Joseph Smith did not have an appropriate experiential background to describe so vividly and accurately the types of events that are associated with massive volcanic eruptions.

Therefore, the language of the eyewitness account in 3 Nephi 8 “cries out historically” in suggesting that Joseph Smith indeed translated the Book of Mormon as he claimed. That is, he clearly gave in his translation a very vivid and accurate description of the things that go on during massive volcanic eruptions. Either he dreamed up the content from the figment of his imagination or he translated the content from Mormon’s plates. The possibility that he had access to an eyewitness account to help him in writing 3 Nephi 8 is essentially zero.

Does the wording of 3 Nephi 8 truly depict the events associated with massive volcanic eruptions? Readers can answer that question by discerning that 3 Nephi 8 is written from the perspective of an eyewitness who either saw the events or consulted other eyewitnesses who saw them. What will Book of Mormon readers find if they consult other eyewitness accounts of massive volcanic eruptions and then compare those accounts with the 3 Nephi 8 account?

The language in one eyewitness account is given by Vicente Romero, the commandant of the Salvadorian port of La Union, during the eruption of nearby Coseguina Volcano in Nicaragua in 1835. Undeniably, the Vicente Romero account is an eyewitness account of a massive volcanic eruption. Is 3 Nephi 8 also an eyewitness account? (For emphasis purposes, appropriate content is italicized in the Vincent Romero account.)

Vicente Romero

On the 20th (January 1835), the day having dawned with the usual serenity, at 8 o’clock, towards the southeast, a dense cloud was perceived of a pyramidal figure, preceded by a rumbling noise, and it continued rising until it covered the sun, at which elevation, about 10, it separated to the north and south accompanied by thunder and lightning; the cloud finally covered the whole firmament, about 11, and enveloped everything in the greatest darkness, so that the nearest objects were imperceptible. The melancholy howling of beasts, the flocks of birds of all species, that came to seek, as it were, an asylum amongst men, the terror which assailed the latter, the cries of women and children, and the uncertainty of the issue of so rare a phenomenon, everything combined to overcome the stoutest soul and fill it with apprehension, and the more so when at 4 P.M. the earth began to quake and continued in a perpetual undulation which generally increased.

This was followed by a shower of phosphoric sand, which lasted until 8 P.M., on the same day, when there began a heavy fall of a fine powder-like flour. The thunder and lightning continued the whole night and the following day (the 21st), and at eight minutes past 3 P.M. there was so long and violent an earthquake that many men, who were walking in a penitential procession, were thrown down. The darkness lasted forty-three hours, making it indispensable for everyone to carry a light, and even those were not sufficient to see with.

On the 22nd it was somewhat less dark, although the sun was not visible. And towards the morning of the 23rd, the tremendously loud thunder claps were heard in succession like the firing of pieces of artillery of the largest calibre, and this fresh occurrence was accompanied by increased showers of dust.

From dawn of the 23rd until 10 A.M., a dim light only served to show the most melancholy spectacle. The streets which, from the rocky nature of the soil are full of inequalities and stones, appeared quite level, being covered with dust. Men, women and children were so disfigured that it was not easy to recognize anyone except by the sound of their voices or other circumstances. Houses and trees, not to be distinguished through the dust which covered them, had the most horrible appearance, yet in spite of these appalling sights, they were preferable to the darkness into which we were again plunged from after the said hour of 10, as during the preceding days.

The general distress, which had been assuaged, was renewed and although leaving the place was attended by imminent peril from the wild beasts that sallied forth from the forests and sought the towns and the high roads (as happened in the neighboring village of Conchagua and this town), into which tigers (jaguars) thrust themselves; yet another terror was superior, and more than half the inhabitants of Union emigrated on foot, abandoning their houses, well persuaded that they should never return to them; since they prognosticated the total destruction of the town, and fled with dismay for refuge to the mountains.

At half past 3 on the morning of the 24th, the moon and a few stars were visible, as if through a curtain, and the day was clear although the sun could not be seen, since the dust continued falling, having covered the ground all around to a thickness of five inches. . . .

The 25th and 26th were like the 24th, with frequent though not violent earthquakes . . . and the showers of dust lasted till the 27th.[4]

For easy accessibility and comparability purposes, the 3 Nephi 8 account is given below. (Once again, appropriate words are italicized for emphasis purposes.)

3 Nephi 8

And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land.

And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder.

And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land.

And the city of Zarahemla did take fire.

And the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned.

And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah that in the place of the city there became a great mountain.

And there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward.

But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth;

And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough.

And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate.

And there were some cities which remained; but the damage thereof was exceedingly great, and there were many of them who were slain.

And there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away.

And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth.

And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the land.

And it came to pass that when the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease—for behold, they did last for about the space of three hours; and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours—and then behold, there was darkness upon the face of the land.

And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness;

And there could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all;

And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.

And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them. (3 Nephi 8:5–23; emphasis added)

The similarities in language between the Vicente Romero account and the 3 Nephi 8 account are both intriguing and startling. From a Book of Mormon historicity perspective, readers can draw no conclusion other than that, in dictating the content for 3 Nephi 8, Joseph Smith provides what is almost incontrovertible evidence that he translated the Book of Mormon as he claimed. The singular, most remarkable thing about 3 Nephi 8 is that it is obviously an eyewitness account of the events that commonly take place during certain kinds of massive volcanic eruptions. In the 1829 environment of Joseph Smith, he could not have invented the eyewitness language of 3 Nephi 8 unless he could have drawn on someone’s eyewitness account other than the account he found on the golden plates.

Relatively few eyewitness accounts of massive volcanic eruptions are found in print—especially accounts that preceded Joseph Smith in the 1820s. A few twentieth-century eyewitness accounts are available; and, depending on the circumstances, their language typically supports the language of 3 Nephi 8. Perhaps Bart Kowallis has written the most definitive explanation of 3 Nephi 8 in connection with massive volcanic eruptions, but the eyewitness accounts he cites were not available to Joseph Smith.[5]

One eyewitness account was in print at the time of Joseph Smith, although Book of Mormon readers would have to stretch their imaginations beyond the breaking point to support any contention that Joseph might have had access to it. This account concerns the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79.[6] The Roman fleet of ships, under the command of Pliny the Elder, was stationed across the Bay of Naples at Misenum. Pliny launched his ships and sailed toward the erupting volcano. He was unsuccessful in rescuing any people and died across the bay at Stabiae—perhaps as a consequence of the effects of the eruption.

Pliny’s nephew, known as Pliny the Younger, did not go with his uncle but stayed at Misenum and observed the events from there. He also accumulated information from those who had been with his uncle. Using this information, Pliny the Younger wrote two letters to the historian Tacitus to recount the events surrounding the eruption of Vesuvius and the death of Pliny the Elder. The versions used in this article were translated by Professor Cynthia Damon of Amherst College. Even if Joseph Smith had had access to these letters, they probably would have been written in Italian. Although Pliny the Younger’s words support, in general, the account in 3 Nephi 8, the Book of Mormon account is much more descriptive and personal. Following are excerpts from Pliny the Younger’s letters to Tacitus:

· The cloud was rising from a mountain—at such a distance we couldn’t tell which, but afterwards learned that it was Vesuvius. I can best describe its shape by likening it to a pine tree. It rose into the sky on a very long “trunk” from which spread some “branches.” I imagine it had been raised by a sudden blast, which then weakened, leaving the cloud unsupported so that its own weight caused it to spread sideways. Some of the cloud was white, in other parts there were dark patches of dirt and ash.

· The buildings were being rocked by a series of strong tremors, and appeared to have come loose from their foundations and to be sliding this way and that. Outside, however, there was danger from the rocks that were coming down, light and fire-consumed as these bits of pumice were.

· [Some of the people] tied pillows on top of their heads as protection against the shower of rock. It was daylight now elsewhere in the world, but there the darkness was darker and thicker than any night.

· Then came a smell of sulfur, announcing the flames, and the flames themselves.

· The carts that we had ordered brought were moving in opposite directions, though the ground was perfectly flat, and they wouldn’t stay in place even with their wheels blocked by stones. In addition, it seemed as though the sea was being sucked backwards, as if it were being pushed back by the shaking of the land. Certainly the shoreline moved outwards, and many sea creatures were left on dry sand. Behind us were frightening dark clouds, rent by lightning twisted and hurled, opening to reveal huge figures of flame. These were like lightning, but bigger.

· It wasn’t long thereafter that the cloud stretched down to the ground and covered the sea. It girdled Capri and made it vanish, it hid Misenum’s promontory.

· Now came the dust, though still thinly. I look back: a dense cloud looms behind us, following us like a flood poured across the land. “Let us turn aside while we can still see, lest we be knocked over in the street and crushed by the crowd of our companions.” We had scarcely sat down when a darkness came that was not like a moonless or cloudy night, but more like the black of closed and unlighted rooms.

· You could hear women lamenting, children crying, men shouting. Some were calling for parents, others for children or spouses; they could only recognize them by their voices.

· It grew lighter, though that seemed not a return of day, but a sign that the fire was approaching. The fire itself actually stopped some distance away, but darkness and ashes came again, a great weight of them. We stood up and shook the ash off again and again, otherwise we would have been covered with it and crushed by the weight.[7]

Did Joseph Smith have access to Pliny the Younger’s eyewitness account of the massive volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79? It is theoretically either the only eyewitness account in print in the 1820s or one of a very few such accounts, although it was undoubtedly available only in Italian at that time. And although Pliny the Younger’s account has great similarities to the account in 3 Nephi 8, the Book of Mormon account of a massive volcanic eruption is much more comprehensive and descriptive. Even with a very vivid imagination, Joseph Smith on his own would not have been able to fill in the details as found in the 3 Nephi 8 account. Or, as Bart Kowallis puts it:

A question that might be asked by those who doubt the truth of the Book of Mormon account is, “What is so remarkable about the account of a volcanic eruption?” “No doubt,” they would say, “Joseph Smith had read an account of a volcanic eruption and thought it would make a nice backdrop for the destruction he envisioned occurring at Christ’s death.” I would answer that the account is remarkable for its detail and accuracy and that such an account would have been impossible for an uneducated young man to have published in 1830. Volcanoes were neither well understood nor well documented in the early 1800s. Geology was a science still in its infancy. The first real textbook of geology was published the same year as the Book of Mormon, 1830, by Charles Lyell in Great Britain. But his descriptions of volcanic eruptions, as well as the few other accounts available in Joseph Smith’s day, are incomplete and do not include all the features found in the Book of Mormon account, features that are now known to occur with large explosive eruptions.[8]

Clearly, an understanding of the things that today are known to occur during certain kinds of massive volcanic eruptions provides novel, substantial, and historical data to suggest that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God as he claimed. How else can anyone justifiably explain the unique and descriptive language of 3 Nephi 8?

Critics’ Attempts to Deal with 3 Nephi 8

In that respect, critics of the Book of Mormon have, on occasion, attempted to prove the Book of Mormon to be false by using 3 Nephi 8 as part of their “evidence.” For example, in one anti–Book of Mormon tract provided through the Southwest Church of Christ in Austin, Texas, W. N. Jackson says:

The question giving this tract its title [“Is the Book of Mormon from God?”] is a most appropriate one. The system known as “Mormonism” claims to be the one true system of God for all men today; their own volume, The Book of Mormon, is presented as a work inspired by God; and their founder, Joseph Smith, is offered as a divinely-guided prophet of Jehovah. These are not small claims, and men need to give consideration to them to determine their validity. Such is the purpose of this little study. . . .

Truth is that which makes men free (John 8:32), and the Lord identified that truth as God’s Word (John 17:17). Paul tells us that the Scriptures furnish us completely unto every good work (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). Having the Word as our guide, then we can put all things to the test of God’s truth. It is in this spirit of “proving all things and holding fast to that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) that we look into the claims of Mormonism.[9]

Jackson then says, “It is interesting to look into the volume that Smith has produced, supposedly under inspiration from God. . . . Merely to read from this volume is to be convinced that it could not be a volume from God. We note these things.”[10]

Among the “things” Jackson notes is the darkness in the Old World at the crucifixion of Christ compared with the 3 Nephi 8 darkness in the New World during the same time period. Jackson says:

Whereas the Bible tells us of the darkness which covered the land for three hours when Jesus was crucified, Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44, Smith has it: “. . . he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you . . . for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead.” (Helaman 14:20) But not only this error, Smith then goes on to make the same mistake again: “. . . for the time that there should be darkness for the space of three days over the face of the land.” (3 Nephi 8:3) This, an inspired volume???[11]

Jackson, of course, missed completely the differences in darkness between the Old World and the New World. He does not understand that the darkness in the New World was caused by volcano-associated activities of a massive scale.[12]

Edward Decker, a former member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but later associated with The Godmakers, makes a “big ado about nothing” by pointing out that the darkness described in 3 Nephi 8 began after the darkness mentioned in the New Testament and that the New World darkness of the Book of Mormon erroneously lasted for three days instead of three hours. Decker says:

Another comparison the Bible offers us is the astronomical occurrence at the death of Jesus. . . . Luke’s gospel says that there was a darkness over all the earth (23:44–45). Matthew 27:45 says, “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour,” and Mark 15:33 concurs almost exactly. Now the word used in the Greek for “earth” almost always means the earth as a whole, or the entire inhabited earth. . . . Therefore, we can assume that the 3 evangelists meant that the darkness would include the Book of Mormon lands.

However, again we have a substantial difference between the two accounts. It seems clear from the Bible that there is nothing unusual about the darkness. Jesus’ disciples and the Romans about the cross got about without difficulty and saw the Lord die. John, an eye-witness, even makes a special point of saying that he saw Jesus pierced (John 19:34–35).

The Book of Mormon darkness seems to have started at the time the Biblical darkness ended (3 Nephi 8:19). . . . [Decker then cites material from 3 Nephi 8.]

Now that’s quite a different type of darkness. It seems to be a tangible thing which allowed no light at all. Not only that, but it lasted for 3 days instead of three hours. This is utterly different from the Bible. When the Bible says gloom covered the entire earth during the crucifixion, the Book of Mormon teaches that a mysterious “vapor of darkness” started right after the crucifixion and lasted for three days.

How can both be true, especially when you consider how this darkness would violate the laws of physics? No darkness can stop light, because it is the absence of light.[13]

Here again is a situation that is typical of those used by critics of the Book of Mormon to attempt to prove it false.[14]

At the same time, from the date of its first publication in 1829, Book of Mormon readers have typically read 3 Nephi 8 without realizing its implications for the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Therefore, critics such as Jackson and Decker can perhaps be forgiven for their misunderstanding of the facts as recorded in 3 Nephi 8 as they have misinterpreted the message of Mormon in sharing with Book of Mormon readers the 3 Nephi 8 eyewitness account associated with massive volcanic eruptions. Today, the unique, descriptive words appearing in 3 Nephi 8 give distinctive, authoritative, and clear evidence about the historicity of the Book of Mormon.

The Unique Words of 3 Nephi 8

Two primary points of this article are (1) that the words of 3 Nephi 8 describe the outcomes of massive volcanic eruptions and (2) that the descriptive accuracy of the content of 3 Nephi 8 is such that it has to be based on someone’s eyewitness account.

In both instances, a thorough examination of the unique words of 3 Nephi 8 seems appropriate and necessary if the account does, indeed, contribute positively to the historicity of the Book of Mormon.

Clearly, the language used in 3 Nephi 8 has to be that of one or more eyewitnesses to the events associated with massive volcanic eruptions. A person without any experience in connection with massive volcanic eruptions, such as Joseph Smith, simply would not be able to invent such descriptive language.

The point here is that Joseph Smith would have had to exceed even a genius in intelligence to invent the creative, authoritative wording used in 3 Nephi 8 that describes the New World lands of the Book of Mormon events of AD 34. At issue here is whether any writer could invent the language used in 3 Nephi 8 without the benefit of an eyewitness account for assistance.

At this point, readers are invited to participate in an academic exercise as they attempt to understand and appreciate the impact of the unique wording used in 3 Nephi 8. For this exercise, the various events associated with the volcanic eruptions are given along with the unique wording used to describe those events. Throughout the exercise, readers are invited to keep the following hypothesis in mind:

Neither Joseph Smith nor any other nineteenth-century person could be the author of 3 Nephi 8 because of the account’s unique terminology that requires, for content and historicity validity, an eyewitness account of what happens during massive volcanic eruptions.

Thus, readers are invited to pretend they are living in nineteenth-century America and are faced with the task of authoring 3 Nephi 8. Could anyone have invented the following events and used the descriptive, authoritative language that Joseph the translator used to “paint” appropriate word pictures of the events?

Storms. Inclement weather conditions are commonly associated with some types of volcanic eruptions.

The 3 Nephi 8 account describes the New World weather at the time of Christ’s crucifixion as involving both “a great storm” and as “a great and terrible tempest”: “And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land. And there was also a great and terrible tempest” (3 Nephi 8:5–6; emphasis added).

In his 1828 dictionary, Noah Webster defines the word great as “Large in bulk or dimensions; a term of comparison, denoting more magnitude or extension than something else, or beyond what is usual; Expressing a large, extensive or unusual degree of any thing; . . . Distinguished by extraordinary events, or unusual importance.”[15]

Webster comments about storm as follows: “The primary sense of storm is a rushing, raging or violent agitation.” He then defines storm as “A violent wind; a tempest. Thus a storm of wind is correct language, as the proper sense of the word is rushing, violence. It has primarily no reference to a fall of rain or snow.”

Finally, Webster defines the word tempest as “An extensive current of wind, rushing with great velocity and violence; a storm of extreme violence. . . . A tempest may or may not be attended with rain, snow or hail.”[16]

Perhaps creative writers of an account such as that of 3 Nephi 8 could go even further in using descriptive language to describe stormy weather. But if they had been living in nineteenth-century America without the benefit of an eyewitness account, they likely would not have been able to distinguish between a storm and a tempest and then associate the outcome appropriately with massive volcanic eruptions.

Thunder. Eyewitness accounts of volcanic eruptions commonly associate thunder with such eruptions—and often the thunder is described in the greatest of superlative terms because of its loudness and intensity.

The 3 Nephi 8 account is very descriptive in its use of the word thunder: “There was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder” (verse 6). And the Book of Mormon uses the plural noun thunderings in connection with the distinctive thunder.

Noah Webster defines thunder in rather “mild” but also very descriptive terms as follows:

The sound which follows an explosion of electricity or lightning; the report of a discharge of electrical fluid, that is, of its passage from one cloud to another, or from a cloud to the earth, or from the earth to a cloud. When this explosion is near to a person, the thunder is a rattling or clattering sound, and when distant, the sound is heavy and rumbling. The fact is in some degree the same with the report of a cannon. This sharpness or acuteness of the sound when near, and the rumbling murmur when distant are the principal distinctions in thunder.[17]

His association of thunder with the firing of cannons is reflective of Vicente Romero’s comments about the thunder in the 1835 volcanic eruption in Nicaragua: “The tremendously loud thunder claps were heard in succession like the firing of pieces of artillery of the largest calibre.”[18] Romero’s language goes beyond the language of Webster but still does not approach the language of 3 Nephi 8 in describing the thunder of the magnitude “that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder.”

People living in nineteenth-century America undoubtedly experienced thunder. However, they probably never experienced the kind of thunder that is associated with massive volcanic eruptions.

Lightning. References to lightning in 3 Nephi 8 go beyond the “bland” definition of lightning in Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary: “A sudden discharge of electricity from a cloud to the earth, or from the earth to a cloud, or from one cloud to another, that is, from a body positively charged to one negatively charged, producing a vivid flash of light, and usually a loud report, called thunder.”[19]

The author of 3 Nephi 8 refers to the lightning with the plural lightnings by pointing out that they “were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land” (verse 7; emphasis added). Their intensity was such that they lasted for about three hours (verse 19).

In Webster’s 1828 dictionary, the adverb exceedingly is defined as “To a very great degree; in a degree beyond what is usual.” Among his definitions of the adjective sharp, Webster uses the words severe, harsh, fierce, ardent, fiery, and violent to define sharp.[20]

Thus, the 3 Nephi 8 lightnings were greater than the New World Book of Mormon people had ever experienced—again attesting to the massiveness of the New World events associated with the crucifixion of Christ. Lightning and thunder are both typically associated with some types of volcanic eruptions, and the eyewitness account uses distinctive language to describe the magnitude of the lightning in AD 34.

People living in upstate New York in nineteenth-century America undoubtedly would have experienced lightning. However, without an eyewitness account to help them, they would have been stretched to the limit to describe lightning as the Book of Mormon does in 3 Nephi 8 and then to associate such lightnint with massive volcanic eruptions.

Whirlwinds. The noun whirlwind is used in several instances in connection with the catastrophic events of AD 34. In verse 12 of 3 Nephi 8, whirlwinds are listed as one contributor to the “great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed.” In verse 16, some of the people “were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away.”

Joseph the translator’s use of the word whirlwind rather than tornado is interesting. In 1828, Noah Webster defines whirlwind as “A violent wind moving in a circle, or rather in a spiral form, as if moving round an axis; this axis or the perpendicular column moving horizontally, raising and whirling dust, leaves and the like.” On the other hand, he defines tornado as “A violent gust of wind, or a tempest, distinguished by a whirling motion. Tornadoes of this kind happen after extreme heat, and sometimes in the United States, rend up fences and trees, and in a few instances have overthrown houses and torn them to pieces. Tornadoes are usually accompanied with severe thunder, lightning and torrents of rain; but they are of short duration, and narrow in breadth.”[21]

Joseph Smith probably knew about tornadoes and their destructive force. That he used the word whirlwind rather than tornado suggests his access to knowledge greater than he alone possessed. That is, tornadoes are commonly associated with rain in the Midwest of the United States and, in Webster’s words, “are of short duration, and narrow in breadth.” However, the whirlwinds of 3 Nephi 8 are not associated with rain and are associated with widespread destruction. In Mesoamerica where all New World events of the Book of Mormon probably occurred, the word hurricane is used rather than tornado. Thus, Joseph’s choice of whirlwind rather than tornado gives additional credence to the historicity of the 3 Nephi account of massive volcanic eruptions.

As Kowallis points out, “Large explosive volcanic eruptions are often accompanied by violent winds and whirlwinds.”[22] He further says: “Whirlwinds, or tornados, appear to be a fairly common feature of many explosive volcanic eruptions. The hot ash erupted into the air is a concentrated source of heat that causes severe updrafts, providing ideal conditions for the formation of whirlwinds. Only a few accounts, however, actually report whirlwinds, perhaps because they often cannot be seen due to the incredible darkness that usually accompanies eruptions.”[23]

Kowallis also says that “Central American volcanoes are so explosive that liquid lava is rarely erupted. Instead, almost all (99 percent) of the magma erupted out of Central American volcanoes is in the form of ash and pumice. This would perhaps explain why there is no mention in the 3 Nephi account of anything that sounds like lava flows.”[24] It also perhaps explains why the 3 Nephi account makes no mention of rain in connection with the whirlwinds and why Joseph Smith used the word whirlwind rather than tornado to describe the destructive forces associated with the massive volcanic eruptions in AD 34.

People living in upstate New York in the nineteenth century probably would have heard about tornadoes. Some of them may even have experienced tornadoes. Once again, however, without an eyewitness account and unique information to guide them, they would not have distinguished between tornadoes and whirlwinds and then correctly associated the concept of whirlwinds with massive volcanic eruptions.

Earthquakes. Earthquakes are clearly a phenomenon associated with massive volcanic eruptions. Initially, readers of the 3 Nephi 8 account might think the account deals largely with earthquakes. However, with appropriate background information, readers will realize that the account deals with both massive volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and that earthquakes are of secondary importance to the volcanic eruptions in connection with the 3 Nephi 8 contributions to the Book of Mormon’s historicity.

The word earthquake is not used in the 3 Nephi 8 account, although quaking, shake, and shaken are used on several occasions. Obviously, much of the “great and terrible destruction” can be attributed to earthquake activities that occurred in conjunction with the volcanic eruptions. The earthquake language of 3 Nephi 8 includes several very descriptive phrases: “shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder,” “the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth,” “the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea,” “the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah,” “the whole face of the land was changed,” “the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled,” “many great and notable cities were sunk,” “many [cities] were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth,” “the face of the whole earth became deformed,”and “the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth.” Obviously, such destructive activities must be associated with large-scale earthquakes.

Large-scale earthquakes have been studied carefully by scientists. “The energy released during large earthquakes comes from two blocks of earth moving rapidly past each other while years of accumulated strain is released. At most, the shaking of the earth during these massive earthquakes may last for a few minutes”[25] followed by aftershocks of a shorter duration.

Book of Mormon readers should appreciate the scope and significance of the 3 Nephi 8 earthquake activities by realizing the consequences of the earthquakes’ duration—the quakings “did last for about the space of three hours” (verse 19). According to Kowallis, three hours is “too long a time period for the shock from a single large earthquake and too short for the period during which aftershocks following a major earthquake usually take place. However, it is a very reasonable amount of time for the initial stages of a volcanic eruption.”[26]

Who can say with any certainty what Joseph Smith’s frame of reference or personal experiences were in connection with earthquakes? Clearly, he either had personal earthquake experiences, he had read extensively about earthquakes, or he merely translated the 3 Nephi 8 account as he claimed. The last alternative seems most tenable in light of the 3 Nephi 8 related evidence that suggests he was not capable on his own of using such accurate, descriptive writing and the relative impossibility that he had access to adequate written accounts of such massive volcano-related destructions.

If Book of Mormon readers of today had been living in upstate New York in the 1820s, they might have heard of earthquakes. However, the chances of their actually experiencing one would have been almost nil—especially an earthquake of the magnitude reflected in 3 Nephi 8. Again, without an eyewitness account to assist him, Joseph Smith could not on his own have accumulated the appropriate earthquake evidence to associate earthquakes with massive volcanic eruptions.

Vapors and mists. The earlier discussion in this article covers the role of vapors and mists in connection with the darkness reported in 3 Nephi 8. As noted by Kowallis, “It is the violent, explosive eruptions from subduction-related volcanoes . . . that can explain the events of 3 Nephi.”[27] In this respect, the gases and ashes from such volcanic eruptions produce the vapors and mists with which 3 Nephi 8 is concerned.

Speaking of ash fallout from volcanic eruptions, one writer notes the following:

When ash falls back to the ground it turns everything deathly gray. Falling ash can strip leaves and limbs from trees. If enough ash falls, fruit orchards and entire forests are left barren. A thick layer of ash can destroy crops and leave farm land unworkable for weeks or months at a time. Fields can be made useless for grazing animals and water may be unsuitable for drinking. Falling ash affects people farther from an erupting volcano than any other type of activity. . . . Falling ash usually creates a very dense haze sometimes turning day into night and creating a darkness that light can’t penetrate. Its an erie [sic] darkness and will last for as long as the ash falls. For some people, ash makes breathing strenuous and it irritates their eyes.[28]

The extreme darkness resulting from the ash-laden air of massive volcanic eruptions will naturally make people seek a source of light. The only source of light available to the 3 Nephi 8 survivors was a fire of some kind. However, the author of the account notes that a fire could not be started: “And there could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all” (3 Nephi 8:21).

The vapors and mists caused by the eruptions’ gases and mists must have been responsible for this situation. As readers peruse Joseph Smith’s descriptive language in verse 21, they should try to imagine the unexplainable horror and claustrophobia they would feel if they had been in such total darkness in AD 34 without the ability to light a fire. Today, the nature of the vapors and mists that have such a smothering effect on open flames is understood,[29] but the possibility that Joseph would have understood this strange phenomenon is very remote.

Even with the most vivid imaginations, people living in upstate New York in the 1820s could not have penned the descriptive language associated with vapors and mists in association with the massive volcanic eruptions in 3 Nephi 8—at least not without access to an eyewitness account about the vapors and mists associated with some types of volcanic eruptions. Interestingly, the Joseph Smith Sr. family moved from Vermont not long after the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. During the summer of 1816 in Vermont, they experienced the “year without a summer” because of the crop failures that resulted from the atmospheric ash from the eruption.[30]

Destruction of cities. The 3 Nephi 8 account is replete with descriptive language dealing with the destruction of cities in the New World at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. The cities were burned, shaken, covered with water, or covered with earth. The account uses the following language to describe these events:

· “And the city of Zarahemla did take fire” (verse 8).

· “And the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned” (verse 9)

· “And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city there became a great mountain” (verse 10)

· “And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate” (verse 14)

· “And there were some cities which remained; but the damage thereof was exceedingly great, and there were many of them who were slain” (verse 15).

After the earthquakes and in the midst of the darkness, the people heard the voice of Christ when He explained the destruction of the cities as follows:

Behold, that great city Zarahemla have I burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof.

And behold, that great city Moroni have I caused to be sunk in the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof to be drowned.

And behold, that great city Moronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants thereof, to hide their iniquities and their abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come any more unto me against them.

And behold, the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk, and the inhabitants thereof to be buried up in the depths of the earth;

Yea, and the city of Onihah and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Mocum and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Jerusalem and the inhabitants thereof; and waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come up any more unto me against them.

And behold, the city of Gadiandi, and the city of Gadiomnah, and the city of Jacob, and the city of Gimgimno, all these have I caused to be sunk, and made hills and valleys in the places thereof; and the inhabitants thereof have I buried up in the depths of the earth, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up any more unto me against them.

And behold, that great city Jacobugath, which was inhabited by the people of king Jacob, have I caused to be burned with fire because of their sins and their wickedness, which was above all the wickedness of the whole earth, because of their secret murders and combinations; for it was they that did destroy the peace of my people and the government of the land; therefore I did cause them to be burned, to destroy them from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up unto me any more against them.

And behold, the city of Laman, and the city of Josh, and the city of Gad, and the city of Kishkumen, have I caused to be burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof, because of their wickedness in casting out the prophets, and stoning those whom I did send to declare unto them concerning their wickedness and their abominations.

And because they did cast them all out, that there were none righteous among them, I did send down fire and destroy them, that their wickedness and abominations might be hid from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints whom I sent among them might not cry unto me from the ground against them.

And many great destructions have I caused to come upon this land, and upon this people, because of their wickedness and their abominations. (3 Nephi 9:3–12; emphasis added)

Readers are invited to attempt to attribute such descriptive language to Joseph Smith as the author of the Book of Mormon. If they are honest with themselves in doing so, they will conclude that Joseph simply did not have the background, education, or perspective to describe the destruction of cities with such detail and accuracy.

Indeed, the destruction of cities in 3 Nephi 8 goes hand in hand with the events associated with massive volcanic eruptions.

Cities were burned because of the explosive volcanism that showered hot ash onto the flammable structures in which the people lived (see Helaman 3:10–11).

The city of Moroni sank into the east sea because of the destructive earthquake activity itself or because of massive tsunamis caused by volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. As an aside at this point, most Mesoamerica models for Book of Mormon geography locate the east sea of the Book of Mormon off the east coast of Belize. If the opportunity presents itself, readers should cogitate about the connection between the city of Moroni and the east sea as they stand on the observatory platforms at the massive geographic relief map in Guatemala City and gaze at the sea off the east coast of Belize. With almost no imagination, they will see how the location of the city of Moroni was indeed somewhere off the east coast of Belize in the sea.

In the AD 34 massive destruction, cities were covered with earth because of cataclysmic earthquake or volcanic activities or both. Archaeologists will perhaps one day find some of the New World buried cities from AD 34 and excavate them much as they have recently excavated the city of Pompeii that was buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

Some cities, such as the city of Jerusalem, were covered with water. Lake Atitlan, located about ninety miles from Guatemala City, has been proposed as the site of Jerusalem. The lake, much like Crater Lake in Oregon, was formed as a crater following volcanic activity; and archaeologists have located the ruins of a city in the waters of Lake Atitlan.[31] While floating in a rowboat on Lake Atitlan, tourists participating in lands of the Book of Mormon tours involving Guatemala cannot help but feel the connection between the words of Christ, “waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof,” and the ruins of a city that existed beneath them in the waters of Lake Atitlan.

A “great mountain” took the place of the city of Moronihah, and hills and valleys took the place of other cities. The Book of Mormon wording for these events describes aptly the city of Paricutin, Mexico, west of Mexico City. In the 1940s, a volcanic eruption caused the earth to cover the entire village. Thereafter, the only visible evidence of the village is the Catholic church steeple that pokes up through the lava. The Paricutin volcano is the famous “volcano that grew out of a cornfield” because it literally originated in a field being plowed for the planting of corn.[32]

The descriptive writing associated with the destruction of Book of Mormon cities in AD 34 goes a long way in supporting Joseph Smith’s contention that he translated, rather than authored, 3 Nephi 8.

Destruction to the environment. A cataclysmic event such as that recorded in 3 Nephi 8 would naturally do severe damage to the environment. The scope of the damage to the environment is suggested by Nephi’s references to both the land southward and the land northward: “And there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward. But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth” (3 Nephi 8:11–12; emphasis added).

In another verse, Nephi says: “And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth” (3 Nephi 8:17; emphasis added).

As part of the cataclysmic damage, Nephi comments about the destruction of rocks: “And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the land” (3 Nephi 8:18; emphasis added).

Damage to the environment included also, of course, damage to the cities, as noted earlier.

In describing the damage to the environment, Nephi uses language that is unique and that supports Joseph Smith’s role as a translator rather than as an author. This language is associated with Joseph’s use of the word whole in his translation in connection with the destruction of the environment as well as in connection with other events in the Book of Mormon.

In his 1828 dictionary, Noah Webster defines the word whole as follows: “All; total; containing the total amount or number, or the entire thing; as the whole earth; the whole world; the whole solar system; the whole army; the whole nation.”[33]

Webster’s meaning seems obvious. But did Joseph Smith make an error by meaning all of the world when he used whole earth in describing the destruction? For example, did he mistakenly mean the entire world in such translated verses as the following: “And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder” (3 Nephi 8:6; emphasis added).

Surely Joseph Smith was smart enough to know that the destruction to the environment did not encompass the entire world as he knew it in 1829. And yet the language throughout 3 Nephi 8 sounds like he is making reference to the entire world.

In speaking about this issue, Bart Kowallis says:

One of the keys to understanding these passages of scripture is to understand the meaning of “whole face of the land” or “face of the whole earth.” What did Nephi mean? Certainly, he did not mean literally the whole earth, for we know from historical records that no massive destruction occurred at this time in the Mediterranean region, nor in Asia, Europe, or the Middle East. So if we cannot interpret “the whole earth” as being literally the whole earth, what did the writer mean? I think it is obvious that he meant his whole earth, or the whole land that was known and inhabited by the Book of Mormon peoples.[34]

However, on other occasions, the Book of Mormon uses the word whole in reference to the entire world—not just the whole earth of the people of the Book of Mormon. For example, according to the account in 3 Nephi, Jesus the Messiah visited the Book of Mormon people following His resurrection and said:

Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. . . . Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. (3 Nephi 11:10, 14; emphasis added)

Clearly, the word whole in this instance must refer to the entire world—not just the world of the Book of Mormon people. In a similar vein, the term whole earth is used in other instances that clearly refer to the entire world (see, for example, 3 Nephi 16:10, 3 Nephi 20:19, 3 Nephi 22:5).

On the golden plates, perhaps the symbol for whole had multiple connotations as reflected in Joseph Smith’s translation of the symbol on numerous occasions. In one instance, the word must mean the “micro world” of the Book of Mormon people. In another instance, the word must mean the “macro world” of all peoples of the earth. Joseph faithfully and correctly translated the symbol as whole to refer to both situations. Readers of the Book of Mormon must read carefully to discern whether the text should be associated with a micro or a macro meaning.

If Joseph had authored the Book of Mormon rather than translated it, logic suggests that he would have avoided the numerous references to the “whole earth” when the connotation was a micro meaning. That he used the word whole for both micro and macro purposes is subtle evidence that he translated the Book of Mormon as he claimed.

Readers are invited to examine this interesting aspect of Joseph’s translation work by exploring the word whole as it is used in the following scriptures: Alma 36:7, 38:7; Helaman 3:8, 11:6, 18, 20, 12:11, 14:22, 27; 3 Nephi 1:17, 8:6, 12, 17–18, 9:2, 9, 11:14, 16:10, 20:19, 22:5; Mormon 1:7, 13, 8:8; Ether 10:21, 13:17, and 14:21. In doing so, they will experience intriguing insights into the translation process through this exercise.

The dual connotations of the word whole surface when whole is put into perspective in connection with the massive volcanic eruptions with which 3 Nephi 8 is concerned. By understanding the word whole from a micro perspective in this section of the Book of Mormon, readers can feel confident in making the following statements about destruction to the environment at the time of Christ’s crucifixion:

· The destruction was a regional phenomenon confined to the geographic area occupied by the peoples as defined within the pages of the Book of Mormon. The destruction did not occur throughout the length and breadth of both North and South America.

· The destruction was not as widespread or as destructive as some readers of the Book of Mormon have attempted to describe it. Or, as Bart Kowallis says: “[The] description from 3 Nephi almost sounds as if, after the destruction, no mountains or valleys or other topographic features were recognizable—as if the face of the entire earth had been changed. And yet a careful reading makes it obvious that the basic geography of the Book of Mormon land was not changed after the destruction and that there were cities, especially around the land of Bountiful, that were probably not severely damaged.”[35]

· The geographic area known as Mesoamerica certainly has all the geologic conditions that are conducive to massive volcanic eruptions. Such eruptions routinely occur at one point or another in this geographic region—defined as the geographic area consisting of south and southeastern Mexico and the countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, and parts of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Most of the New World destruction to the environment as described in 3 Nephi 8 undoubtedly took place somewhere in the geographic area known today as Mesoamerica.

· At some point, archaeologists will identify additional evidences and locations of volcanic eruptions that occurred in Mesoamerica in AD 34. Those discoveries should help readers define even more precisely the potential locations of some of the cities and lands of the Book of Mormon.

· Careful analyses of the terms whole earth, whole face of the land, and face of the whole earth provide interesting, relevant evidence that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, as he claimed, rather than authored it, as the critics claim.

· The darkness of 3 Nephi 8 can be attributed to the massive volcanic eruptions. Some of the destruction to the environment can be attributed to the volcanic eruptions, but most of the destruction can be attributed to earthquakes that are commonly and naturally associated with massive volcanic eruptions. Joseph Smith probably had access to only one source, the Book of Mormon’s golden plates, from which he could write correctly about the relationships between volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

· Readers will enhance their understanding of several of the events involving destruction to the environment if they will internalize Noah Webster’s definitions of the adjectives all and whole. These words are defined as follows:

All, adj: (1) Every one, or the whole number of particulars. (2) The whole quantity, extent, duration, amount, quality, or degree; as, all the wheat; all the land; all the year; all the strength. This word signifies then, the whole or entire thing, or all the parts or particulars which compose it. It always precedes the definitive adjectives, the, my, thy, his, our, your, their; as, all the cattle; all my labor; all thy goods; all his wealth; all our families; all your citizens; all their property.

In his 1828 dictionary, Webster notes the following about all: This word, not only in popular language, but in the scriptures, often signifies, indefinitely, a large portion or number, or a great part. Thus, all the cattle in Egypt died; all Judea and all the region round about Jordan; all men held John as a prophet; are not to be understood in a literal sense, but as including a large part or very great numbers.[36]

Further, in his definition of whole, he shows all as his first definition:

Whole, adj: (1) All; total; containing the total amount or number, or the entire thing; as the whole earth; the whole world; the whole solar system; the whole army; the whole nation. (2) Complete; entire.[37]

Therefore, when applicable, both all and whole “are not to be understood in a literal sense, but as including a large part of very great numbers. Readers must be astute in determining (1) whether all indeed refers to the “whole quantity, extent, duration, amount, quality, or degree” or (2) whether all is “not to be understood in a literal sense, but as including a large part or very great numbers.” And because whole is defined as all, the same thinking can be applied to whole.

For example, when Mormon reports about the volcanic destruction and says that “the face of the whole earth became deformed,” readers should know that “whole earth” is not “to be understood in a literal sense, but as including a large part or very great number.”

Beginning date and duration of events. Access to encyclopedic-type information or to an eyewitness account would have been required in 1829 for a writer to write intelligently about massive volcanic eruptions such as those described in 3 Nephi 8. In understanding the availability, or lack of availability, of such information to Joseph Smith, today’s readers should realize that the eyewitness account of 3 Nephi 8 is testifying to them of the historicity of the Book of Mormon—because Joseph could not have had access to the necessary background information to enable him to write, on his own, the account of massive volcanic eruptions as found in 3 Nephi 8.

Two additional dimensions of the 3 Nephi 8 eyewitness account concern the date the events began and the duration of the events. Either Joseph made lucky guesses about the date for the beginning of the events and the duration of the events as their author or he translated the account with its accurate information.

The account begins with a pinpointing of its time of beginning: “And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm” (3 Nephi 8:5). This New World event is described as occurring at the same time as the crucifixion of Christ in the Old World.

In recent years, the correlation between the beginning of the New World catastrophic events and the Old World crucifixion of Christ has been documented.[38] Bruce Warren does a masterful job of documenting this correlation by using New World Mesoamerican calendering procedures in conjunction with references to New World accounts of the event.[39]

In 1829 when he translated the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith may or may not have had opinions about the date of Christ’s crucifixion. However, whether he did or didn’t, if he were the author rather than the translator of 3 Nephi 8:5, he certainly stuck his neck out by stipulating “the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month” as the date for Christ’s crucifixion. According to Warren’s correlation, that Mesoamerican calendar date coincides with the calendar date of Friday, April 1, AD 33. Anyone who thinks Joseph Smith is the author, not the translator, of the Book of Mormon will be hard pressed to explain how Joseph in 1829 could pinpoint so precisely the date of Christ’s crucifixion based on Mesoamerican calendaring procedures—because “the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month” has to coincide with a calendar system other than the Gregorian calendar.

The duration of the thunderings, lightnings, storm, tempest, and quakings of the earth was about three hours in length (3 Nephi 8:19). That length of time is very reasonable in connection with massive volcanic eruptions. Bart Kowallis notes that the approximate three-hour time period was “too long a time period for the shock from a single large earthquake and too short for the period during which aftershocks following a major earthquake usually takes place. However, it is a very reasonable amount of time for the initial stages of a volcanic eruption. We might call this the ‘throat-clearing stage’ of the eruption, which occurs as the mounting pressure cleans the volcano’s vent of the rock and debris that have plugged it up. During this time, frequent explosions and earthquakes occur. Once the vent is cleared, the volcano may continue to erupt for several hours or days without additional significant earthquakes.”[40]

Any reader of the Book of Mormon should naturally question how Joseph Smith came up with the three-hour time period for this “throat-clearing stage” of the massive volcanic eruptions. The answer is simple if the reader accepts Joseph’s account of translating Mormon’s record. The answer suggests a stupor of thought if the reader insists that Joseph wrote the material himself rather than translated it.

Previous comments mention the uniqueness of the three days of darkness. Once again, however, any reader of the Book of Mormon should question how Joseph came up with the idea of three days of darkness. The answer is simple if the reader accepts Joseph’s account of translating the material rather than writing it himself. To ascribe the idea of three days of darkness to Joseph alone is ludicrous. He had to have access to knowledge beyond what he had or what was available to him of an encyclopedic or eyewitness nature in 1829. Since the publication of the Book of Mormon, several accounts of volcanic eruptions that have resulted in comparable periods of darkness, such as the Vicente Romero account given earlier, have been reported.

The Book of Mormon’s words about the date for the beginning of the catastrophic events of 3 Nephi 8 in conjunction with Christ’s crucifixion, the three-hour time period for the “throat-clearing stage” of the volcanic eruptions, and the three-day period of darkness associated with massive volcanic eruptions all give singular validity to the historicity of the Book of Mormon by supporting Joseph Smith’s account that he translated the Book of Mormon rather than authored it himself.

Summary

Since its initial publication, millions of readers of the Book of Mormon have stood forth boldly in support of the historicity of the Book of Mormon. That means they believe Joseph Smith translated an ancient record by the gift and power of God. Their belief in the historicity of the Book of Mormon has many facets, including those contained in this article.

The fundamental approach that many, many Book of Mormon readers have followed in connection with Book of Mormon issues has been the following: Questions—yes; doubts—no! In the process, they have taken the stance that questions about the Book of Mormon are legitimate and are always answerable—if not immediately, then at some time in the future.

Such has indeed been the case beginning in 1829 with questions about the darkness in 3 Nephi 8, as reflected in the Book of Mormon literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The major historicity premise about darkness in the Book of Mormon is the primary point of this article—that 3 Nephi 8 was written as an eyewitness account of the events that occur in connection with massive volcanic eruptions. Simply put, Joseph Smith was in no position to write this account as an outcome of his personal experiences; and all evidence points to the fact that he did not have access to someone else’s eyewitness account as a basis for the content of 3 Nephi 8. Therefore, Joseph translated Mormon’s account of these catastrophic events; and Mormon wrote his account based on the eyewitness report of Nephi and his associates who lived in Mesoamerica at the time of Christ’s crucifixion.

Logic and reasoning provide ample credible evidence for Book of Mormon readers to accept the historicity of the Book of Mormon based on the evidence that 3 Nephi 8 is based on an eyewitness account of massive volcanic eruptions and that nobody in upstate New York in 1829, including Joseph Smith, had access to a suitable eyewitness account of such catastrophes as a basis for 3 Nephi 8. Obviously, support for such logic and reasoning must come from the exercise of appropriate faith.

Readers are invited to examine critically all the details of 3 Nephi 8 as a reflection of an eyewitness account of massive volcanic eruptions and then ask the following question: Where could Joseph Smith have acquired the necessary experiential knowledge to write a detailed account of massive volcanic eruptions that is geologically and geographically accurate?

The word darkness in 3 Nephi 8 can function as an initial impetus for readers to search for further understanding about New World catastrophic events at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. An understanding of the nature and cause of that darkness will lead readers to conclude that the events in 3 Nephi 8 had to be based on eyewitness accounts of massive volcanic eruptions. Without personal experiences associated with volcanic eruptions or eyewitness accounts to rely on, typical readers of the Book of Mormon are undeniably incapable of writing such descriptive, creative content as found in 3 Nephi 8.

Therefore, in understanding the level of Joseph Smith’s education and experiences, readers will recognize the impossibility of Joseph’s authoring, on his own, the 3 Nephi 8 content of the Book of Mormon. Such reasoning by logic will provide one instance of overwhelming evidence that the Book of Mormon is historical—that it was translated by Joseph Smith. Obviously, the “system” is such that the testimony of the Spirit will confirm logical reasoning and give even more substantive evidence that the Book of Mormon is historical rather than ahistorical—it is a real account about real people.

Notes