More Covino Comments Answered-Part VI-Kings Were in the Land of Promise

Peter Covino in his True Book of Mormon Geography website, writes:

 “And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles. (2 Nephi 10:11).” As can be seen from these prophecies, there is a special blessing upon the land, and there is an expectation from God that those who possess it honor Him and fulfill it. This is a stewardship which has been fulfilled through the Constitution of the United States of America. Those who try and associate The Book of Mormon with any other land are denying this reality.”

Covino seems to misunderstand what he is quoting. Let’s take a look at Nephi’s writing and Covino’s summation.

1. There were kings in the Land Northward, and in the Land Southward. The Jaredites had kings, the Nephites had kings, and the Lamanites had kings. However, the title and position of king was eliminated from the Land of Promise around 91 B.C., when Mosiah taught his people they should no longer have kings (Mosiah 29:24), and the people cast votes for judges to rule over them (Mosiah 29:38-39).

2. As to no kings—Nephi said: “And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles” (2 Nephi 10:11). Note two things. 1) there shall be no Gentile kings in the Land of Promise, and 2) there shall be no kings upon the land. Of all the kingdoms and countries of the 19^th century, only one area was free of kings “upon the land,” and that was North, Central and South America. Nor has there ever been a king “upon the land” in the Western Hemisphere from its “Gentile Discovery” until now.

3. Indeed, there is a special blessing on this land—all of the Americas. It was first given to Lehi, and later to the Gentiles who occupy the land.

4. The entire Americas have enjoyed liberty once they threw off European controls. This began with the United States in 1776; Haiti 1804; Paraguay 1811; Argentina 1816; Chile 1818; Colombia 1820; Venezuela 1821; Peru 1821; Mexico 1821; Ecuador 1822; Central America 1823; Brazil 1823; Bolivia 1824; Uruguay 1828; and the Dominican Republic 1844. In the course of approximately 70 years, the entire Western Hemisphere went from being controlled by distant Europe to gaining independence and liberty. It took longer for Puerto Rico, 1897, and Cuba, 1898. Canada is the only country that is not exactly independent, though it has complete autonomy and liberty with its own government separate from England (Britain)--with no king (or queen) upon the land.

5. Stewardship fulfilled by the Constitution of the United States. This is not directly true. While it was the influence of the United States defeating Britain and gaining independence that encouraged the seeking of liberty throughout the Western Hemisphere, the Constitution of the United States is more of a guarantee to that liberty than its cause.

The Monroe Doctrine was implemented in 1823 to free the newly independent colonies of Latin America from European intervention and control that would make the New World a battleground for the Old. The doctrine put forward that the New World and the Old World were to remain distinctly separate spheres of influence, for they were composed of entirely separate and independent nations. But mostly it was the power of the United States militarily that kept the Monroe Doctrine, or the lasting liberty of independence for the Latin countries of Central and South America.

Covino’s last statement, “Those who try and associate The Book of Mormon with any other land are denying this reality,” is correct when associated with the Americas, or the American Continent, however, that is not what he meant by stating it. He believes the Land of Promise was in western New York, in a very small area, and nowhere else.

In addition, Covino also states: “She - America, the current inhabiter of ancient Book of Mormon lands, would bless all other nations,” and quotes Nephi again, “And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, yea, even upon the face of this land; and by them shall our seed be scattered. And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders. And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel, unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. (1 Nephi 22:7-9)” Then he concludes: “America feels this stewardship and has been fulfilling this prophecy for many years. She has been sending billions to nations all over the world - even to our staunch enemies; there has been no other nation doing this.”

The only problem Covino has is in interpreting “the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, yea, even upon the face of this land” (1 Nephi 22:7).

The obvious and correct interpretation is that after the house of Israel (the remaining Lamanites) had been scattered and confounded (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries), the Lord God raised up a mighty nation among the Gentiles (13 Colonies which became the United States), on the face of this land (upon the Americas, the American Continent, the Western Hemisphere, as opposed to the land of the Gentiles [Europe]), and by them shall our seed be scattered (the United States, in carving out this nation, displaced numerous Indian [Lamanite] tribes), and then began to “do a  marvelous work among the Gentiles (the creation of liberty upon this land, the establishment of the Constitution, the most marvelous document man has ever created, and the establishment within this liberty of the restored Church and missionary work).

The Americas--North, Central and South America--is still a land of liberty. From time to time some of these individual countries or nations are threatened with dictatorial power that hinders liberty of its citizens, but the fact is, more liberty is found in this entire Western Hemisphere than in the eastern half of the world. It is a blessed land--all of it!

(See the next post, “More Covino Comments Answered-Part VII, for more of Covino’s so-called “errors,” which, in fact, are errors he makes in the defense of his model)