Horses
Horses are mentioned eleven times in the Book of Mormon in the context of its New World setting. There is no evidence that horses existed on the American continent during the 2500-3000 year history of the Book of Mormon (2500 BC - 400 AD) The only evidence of horses on the American continent dates to pre-historic times, (between 12,500 and 10,000 BC.). It is widely accepted that horses were extinct in the Western Hemisphere over 10,000 years ago and did not reappear there until the Spaniards brought them from Europe. Horses were re-introduced to the Americas (Caribbean) by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and to the American continent by Cortés in 1519.
See also: Quaternary extinction eventMormon apologists argue the following to deal with this supposed anachronism:
- Mormon apologist John L. Sorenson at FARMS claims that there is fossil evidence that some New World horses may have survived the Pleistocene–Holocene transition, though these findings are disputed by mainstream archaeologists.
- Mormon apologist Robert R. Bennett suggests that the word "horse" in the Book of Mormon may have referred to a different animal, such as a tapir.
Read more about this topic: Archaeology And The Book Of Mormon, Anachronisms and Archaeological Findings, Old World Species
Famous quotes containing the word horses:
“Thou didst drink
The stale of horses and the gilded puddle
That beasts would cough at.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The poet alone knows astronomy, chemistry, vegetation, and animation, for he does not stop at these facts, but employs them as signs. He knows why the plain, or meadow of space, was strewn with these flowers we call suns, and moons, and stars; why the great deep is adorned with animals, with men, and gods; for, in every word he speaks he rides on them as the horses of thought.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The Volga flows into the Caspian Sea.... Horses eat oats and hay....”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)