cinepro wrote:Thanks.
Of course, the obvious apologetic response when I've brought this up in the past is to argue that the Book of Mormon severely overstates the situation, and that things weren't nearly as described.
When it gets to that point, what can you do?
Again, that's not the only response.
This has been addressed at some length on mormondialogue.org over the last several years. For further exploration, try a search on that site for Tiro or Tironian, and you'll find extensive discussion how Tironian shorthand may derive from the Nephites, with evidence that suggests a Nephite migration northern Europe during the time of Hagoth eventually fulfilled Book of Mormon prophecy of Lehi's descendants being spread throughout the world, of Joseph Smith's descent from Lehi's son Joseph, and of Lehi's scattered descendants eventually returning to their ancestral homeland.
It is a known fact that Rome was introduced to Tironian shorthand by a former slave now known as Marcus Tullius Tiro. What is worth considering is that this Tiro may have been a Nephite immigrant, and his shorthand may be evidence of Nephite influence on ancient Europe.
It is also worth considering that Tiro was contemporary with Hagoth, and the works which he helped his employer (Cicero) write heavily influenced the Founding Fathers in their shaping of American government.
Back to the Dude's statement:
This, Her Amun, is what we would expect to find. Now is the time for you to fall back on "why hasn't anything survived" with this kind of writing????
If the northward Nephite migration in the 1st century BC found in Alma 63 is a corresponding match for the seafaring immigration into northern Europe in the precise same time frame, then this type of Nephite writing actually has survived...in thousands of European manuscripts.