One of problems of the early Christian Church was geography. Even with the excellent highways built throughout the Roman Empire, early apostles found it difficult to encourage, instruct, and regulate the rapidly growing Church. They traveled as far as Spain and North Africa to the West and India in the East. A careful reading of their epistles will illustrate some of the regulatory problems of the young Church.
A similar thing occurred in the Church in Mesoamerica. The Nephite Empire didn't cover as wide a geographical area, but travel was far more difficult given the terrain. The photo at the right shows a trail through the jungle in the State of Chiapas, MX. Even today, travel by foot is difficult.
This was the challenge faced by Alma as the prophet and high priest of the Church in what is now central Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. He could encourage and regulate the Church in and around Zarahemla, but the Antionum was a great distance from the center of the Church.
One of the criticisms I have heard about the Book of Mormon is that the cities discussed in the book are not there in the same way Jerusalem, Damascus, and Rome are. My response is that they are there in great number; but they are also there in great ruin. The geography and climate of the humid jungles of Mesoamerica are far more conducive to decay than the dry climes of the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe. This site in the picture is from the Yucatan and may well be a candidate for ancient Antionum.
The political climate was also very different. Whatever one may think about the Roman Empire, its political might controlled the known world for over 1,000 years. While the Pax Romana was enforced by a strong military and gained through years of warfare, it still provided a stability necessary for the Christian Church to expand throughout the empire. Without such a unifying force, the Church would have centered around Jerusalem and no farther. It would have been little more than a local Jewish sect. So Rome played a much larger part in the positive growth of the Church than most of us think.
There was no single unifying political force in Mesoamerica. Life was a constant struggle between the Nephites, Lamanites, and other indigenous people of the area. There were vast religious differences as well from Lamanite groups who worshipped the jaguar and committed human sacrifice to the Nephites who worshipped God, looked forward to the coming of Messiah/Christ, and struggled to live the Law of Moses.
This is the setting for Alma's trip to Antionum. The time frame was about one generation away for the birth of Jesus Christ is Bethlehem. It is little wonder that Alma and his companions were stunned by the religious practices of the Zoramites.
Text copyright December 2013, Gebara Education
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