WOSF Episode 39

I can't make a comprehensive list right now, but look up the Joseph Smith Foundation and the TV series "Hidden In The Heartland", folks like Jonathan Neville, Wayne May, and Hannah Stoddard. The timelines and archaeology of the Hopewell and Adena cultures of the Eastern United States line up perfectly with the Jaredite and Lehite peoples in the Book of Mormon. Lots of connections in the Norse and Native American folklore, too.

You won't get a straight answer out of a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, though, because they are literally forbidden on pain of excommunication from taking a formal position on geography. You definitely won't get one out of anyone associated with BYU because they want to keep selling package holidays to Mexico and definitely don't want to have to redo their entire museum. All of this is because some of the earlier Prophet/President figures did make definitive statements about geography that were later proven to be false, and they are supposed to be considered infallible. So at this point it's a big coverup and philosophical disaster that has resulted in a majority of Mormons not even actually believing in the Book of Mormon so it's no use trying to convince them it's fake. Meanwhile the thinking Mormons know it's not fake but are left with the inevitable problem that if the book is true then the post Smith prophets and their church are fake.

My official position on it is that as a historic chronicle it's true, but contains theological errors that disqualify it from being canonized as Scripture. It's worthy of study as an apocryphal scripture and history book, which is no more or less biased than any other history book.