Writing of the
Liahona, also called a ball or director, Finley notes that "elsewhere this
device was called a 'compass' (1 Nephi 18:12). The principle behind the compass
apparently was first discovered in the twelfth century" (p. 362). We were surprised
Finley adopted this old canard long used by critics of the Book of Mormon. The
objection raised here fails to note that Nephi at no time suggests that this
was a magnetic compass!
This instrument, used by European mariners only since the twelfth or thirteenth
century, derives its name from an English word meaning "round,"
because of its circular designation of 360 degrees of arc. (The compass we use
for drawing circles is certainly not magnetic.) The Liahona was, indeed, a
round object (see 1 Nephi 16:10); hence the name compass is perfectly
acceptable. That a magnetic compass was not intended is easily demonstrable by
Nephi's statement that "the pointers which were in the ball . . . did work
according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them"
(1 Nephi 16:28; see also v. 29).
John A. Tvedtnes and Matthew P. Roper, “One Small Step" (review of The New Mormon Challenge) p. 188
