1. Covino: “If you travel south from Lake
Ontario (Sea North) along the Genesse Gorge (East Sea), there is one
very prominent hill where Ether could have safely watched undetected - Highland
Park in Rochester. It is located on the eastern side of the Genesee
River. Being
on the east side of the East Sea, the hill was not used by troops, but
was a perfect place for Ether to hide, observe, and to store records.
Actually, there are two hills, but only one is prominent--Mt. Cobb. Top: An elevation of two hills next to the Genesee River in the Highland Park area of Rochester; Bottom Left: Cobb Hill, about 1.5 miles east of the River, stands at 632-feet; Bottom Right: Nearby is Mt. Hope, which stands at 628 feet, and is closer to the river, but has less of a view of the surrounding area. Both are along Highland Ave
In an earlier statement (see earlier blog) Covino ridiculed
my writing about a Sea South to the south of the Land of Nephi, in which he
said: “DowDell effectively shifted the Sea
South to south of the Land of
Nephi where no body of water is ever
referenced - neither directly or indirectly.” Yet, Covino here
references a land to the east of the Sea East where no land of any kind is ever referenced in the
scriptural record—nor is it even implied!
Evidently, it is wrong for someone to claim something
existed in the Land of Promise in an area not directly mentioned (even if
suggested by the LOP being an island, thus creating a sea to the South of the
Land of Nephi—and also described by Mormon when he wrote that the Land of Nephi
and the Land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water except for a narrow
neck of land between the Land Southward and the Land Northward). But it is all
right for Covino to create a land to the east of the Sea East, a Hill named
Ramah there, and for Mormon to have hid all the other records not entrusted to him, and where Moroni found plates
to continue his record upon—none of which is in any way implied, suggested,
inferred or intimated in the record in any way!
Wow! I guess when you are making up things, you can make
them up any way you want to serve your own purposes.
2. Covino: “Contrast that [Hill
Ramah] with the Hill Cumorah
which was used strategically
in the Nephite battle; the Hill Ramah
was not used strategically
in the Jaredite battle!”
There
is no suggestion in the scriptural record that the Hill Cumorah was used
strategically in the final battle of the Nephites. Mormon was obviously in the
valley around the hill where he and his men were overrun by the Lamanite
advance. We do not know where Moroni was, but it is likely he, too, was in the
valley, for his 10,000 soldiers were all killed there. And the same is true with
the other 21 leaders of their companies of 10,000 each. It would appear that
Mormon, Moroni, and the other 22 survivors of the battle escaped onto the high
ground of the Hill Cumorah after the battle to spend the night, and in the
morning looked out around them at the total destruction of the Nephite
nation. Whether the final battle that
saw Mormon and 22 of the survivors of the first day’s battle was fought atop
the Hill Cumorah, or whether Mormon and the others went down into the valley
below to make their last stand is not recorded. Either way, though, there is no
suggestion that the hill was used in any strategic manner.
As
the scriptural record tells us: Mormon gathered all his people to the Land of
Cumorah (Mormon 6:6). His people, while in the Land of Cumorah, trembled as the
Lamanites marched toward them (Mormon 6:7). The battle commenced in the Land of
Cumorah (Mormon 6:8-9). Mormon’s company of 10,000 warriors were all killed,
and Mormon, wounded, was passed over (Mormon 6:10) as the Lamanites continued
with their slaughter of the Nephites (Mormon 10-11). Mormon, Moroni, and
twenty-two other Nephites retreated to “the top of the hill Cumorah” where they
observed the 230,000 Nephite dead (Mormon 6:11-15). No more is mentioned about
this last battle in which all the Nephihtes but Moroni were killed (Mormon
8:1-3). Since all the Captains fell with their men (Mormon 6:13:15), it cannot
be said that any Nephite leaders were using the hill for strategic purposes.
3. Covino: “It [Hill Ramah] was also the place where
Mormon stored records, and the place where Moroni later found additional plates
to write on.”
As has been said several times (see the last post),
Mormon hid the records entrusted to him in the Hill Cumorah (Mormon 6:6), which
was called Ramah by the Jaredites
(Ether 15:11). As for Moroni later finding additional plates to write upon in
this other Hill Ramah, that is strictly Covino’s over-active imagination.
4. Covino: “Therefore, the final Jaredite battle
occurred around Rochester [Hill Ramah] not Palmyra [Hill Cumorah].”
Again,
this is all Covino’s imagination. There is simply nothing in the scriptural
record to validate or even support in the minutes manner, his concepts outlined
here and elsewhere in this blog.
(See
the next post, “Direct Criticisms Answered-Part XIV,” for more errors in his
thinking, judgment and understanding of the scriptural record)
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