Carol,
Thanks for taking the time to help me out. I've always thought of that argument as a little strange. Potentially interesting, but strange. A little clarification helps! You may well be right that the initial source was a Mormon- I do find myself reading the thoughts of people of just about every religion. Since I have not yet found spiritual answers in any given religion that suit me, I tend to keep looking.
I first found the argument odd because of the place name issue. The Americas were not NAMED "the Americas" until many, many generations after Biblical times, and most current names of countries can be traced to relatively recent sources. It would seem as strange to me to find the words "North America" in a text that is supposed to be a couple thousand years old as it would be to find the word "computer". I made the assumption that the person meant that, based upon their interpretation, they were not able to find a reference to a continent that could, possibly, be North America.
By saying that the Bible does not specifically mention North America, or refer to it in a way that we might identify it, one could then feel justified in saying "it was written by mere men, who were at that time unaware of the existence of the continent"; in effect "God had nothing to do with the writing of the Bible, because HE would have known North America existed, even if men did not". However, if few nations are named or identified in any specific way, then the argument falls flat.
Mormonism, being a younger religion and having begun, as far as I know, IN North America, would mention the continent, I suppose! And, if there were someone, of any religion, looking to find a "my religion is better than your religion" argument, they may find even these petty things to be of value.
I really do appreciate your taking the time to respond. I wasn't sure I'd get a response that would be helpful, given that I thought I might offend someone here. It's hard to convince some folks of my sincerity over a message board, and I have been treated to a variety of namecalling in the course of trying to learn something on other boards.
Thanks again!
Anna