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Great post Hawkgrrrl. My biggest issue with the Malaysia model is this:
The fact that there is more evidence for a Book of Mormon setting on the other side of the world than on the actual continent Joseph (and the text of the book) claims it is actually on (the Americas) is a good reminder of how poor the evidence for an American setting really is.
I agree with your issues around Joseph as author. I don’t want to get too sidetracked by the Gold plates (and it’s a shame the thread on them got locked so quickly), but they remain the tangible ‘door stop’ to being able to simply say that Joseph was riffing from his (inspired) imagination. If the Book of Mormon came solely from Joseph’s head (inspired or not) then we have to explain what the plates were. They are too tangible to just brush under the carpet.
Anyway, perhaps we can restart/resurrect a Gold Plates thread.
For now I’m trying to bring out the Sorenson geography.
Yes, the Malay theory does make it difficult because the BOM seems to refer to the American continent. You’d have to radically reinterpret Malaysia (which too has had its political colonization issues). As to the argument (elsewhere cited) that there’s no way for the plates to get from Malaysia to upstate New York, I will only say I can’t see that as more fantastical than accepting the Angel Moroni’s visit. Also Malaysia would have to become a “great nation”. Malaysia’s doing well these days, but isn’t up to US standards of wealth and power.
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