Ralph Austin Olsen argues for the Malay Peninsula as the setting for the Book of Mormon.

Date
2006
Type
Book
Source
Ralph A. Olsen
LDS
Hearsay
Direct
Reference

Ralph Austin Olsen, A More Promising Land of Promise (Logan, UT: Vivid Volumes, 2006), 25–28, 116–119

Scribe/Publisher
Vivid Volumes
People
Ralph A. Olsen
Audience
Reading Public
PDF
Transcription

According to Mala, three small groups of people migrated from the Middle East to the Malay Peninsula (in Southeast Asia). The many events recorded in the Book of Mormon occurred there in their Malay Land of Promise. But, owing to much dissension and frightful warfare, many small groups 'hived off' the peninsula and migrated elsewhere. Some went to isles of the Pacific Ocean (the uninhabited 'Quarter')* and some eventually reached the western shores of the Americas (40). Thus the Malay Hypothesis proposes that there are many lands of promise including some in the Americas. Jews were to be established in ALL THEIR LANDS OF PROMISE (2Ne 9:2). But the principal setting for most Book of Mormon events was on the Malay Peninsula.

. . .

When I read the Book of Mormon with the Malay Peninsula in mind, I feel far more confident in its authenticity than I did when church leaders assured me that the Land of Promise was somewhere on a land shaped like an hour-glass and we shouldn't be concerned with its location. I hope and pray that the Malay Hypothesis will be thoughtfully considered by unbiased individuals and that more tangible proofs of the Book of Mormon will be found. Eternal truths remain to be convincingly found. Inquiries are encouraged from people throughout the world.

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