Come, follow me book of mormon lesson 11 the interpreter. Joseph smith is often accused of creating the book of mormon by plagiarizing various contemporary sources such as the spalding manuscript or ethan smiths view of the hebrews. For example, the opening now says the spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship is the story that the book of mormon was plagiarized. Wilfred griggs, the book of mormon as an ancient book, in book of mormon authorship. Authorship of the book of isaiah in light of the book of mormon. Come, follow me recommended study aids book of mormon the. The book of mormon has been criticized for its lack of significant female characters in the narrative. There are differing views on the origin of the book of mormon. He quotes an article, which appeared in the cleveland plain dealer 24 april 1887. Joseph smiths actual and verifiable words as a supreme. Mar 30, 2015 he currently researches book of mormon syntax as it relates to early modern english and contributes, by means of textual analysis, to volume 3 of royal skousens book of mormon critical text project. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies deseret book. Members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints believe the book of mormon to be the word of god and a companion testament to the holy bible. Welch, chiasmus in the book of mormon, in book of mormon authorship.
The more than 500 knowhy articles at book of mormon central. This analysis leads to some important conclusions in relation to book of mormon authorship. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. This knowhy is the first in a series which discusses stylometry and its relevance to questions of book of mormon authorship.
Vernal holleys book of mormon authorship annotated. This paper considers the systematic use of the verb command when it governs another verb, in both the 1829 book of mormon and the 1611 king james bible excluding the apocrypha. After years of rereading and teaching this book, i began to collect insights that developed into research interests and eventually published articles. Episodes of mormon miscellaneous, a talk show on mormon history, scripture, doctrine and many controversial topics, by lds host, van hale, now in its 38th year. What command syntax tells us about book of mormon authorship. Lund has done a great job in presenting the facts and studies about joseph smiths statements on the book of mormon. The implications of pasttense syntax in the book of mormon. Articles of the church of christ, june 1829, page 0. One reason may be that the moment latterday saints cite the book of mormon as evidence of their christian faith, animosity arises against the possibility that there could be any canon of scripture beyond the holy bible.
Examining the book of mormon a christian view probe. Book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. This volume features articles on hebraisms and chiasmus in the book of mormon, as well as articles discussing emendation of the text, naturalistic assumptions, wordprint analyses, variations between copies of the first edition, and more.
Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 3352. The book of mormon is actually a collection of histories passed down from one writer to another. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship wikipedia. Archaeological trends and the book of mormon origins author john e. The book of mormon is divided into smaller books, titled after the individuals named as primary authors and, in most versions, divided into chapters and verses. Many book of mormon research projects have implications for the continuing issues surrounding the authorship of the book of mormon. The way this article reads after somebody replaced most of the occurrences of theory with story is just stupid. This first article explains what stylometry is and gives readers a short history of stylometric studies performed on the book of mormon. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 75102. Scribe, elder, witness 2006 translating the book of mormon. Evidence from the original manuscript in book of mormon authorship revisited 1997 journal articles. The 15 essays in book of mormon authorship revisited present the latest research by lds scholars on the question in an effort to demonstrate that the weight of scholarly evidence is on the side of authenticity.
There are several theories as to the origin of the book of mormon. Mormons recognize it as divinely inspired and equal in authority to the bible, but others have reason to doubt its claims. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1998. Stylometry defined stylometry examines the styles of writing in a text by identifying.
I was amazed to read that brother washburn had a similar idea that somehow the specific words of the book of mormon were evidence of its truthfulness. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification. Joseph smith, the book of mormon, and the american. The tests of authenticity they employ rely on analytical techniques borrowed from such diverse disciplines as history, literature, statistics, and ancient near eastern studies. Multiple authorship of the book of mormon because critics are determined to find any source for the book of mormon other than the one presented by believers, they generally claim that joseph either wrote the book himself or that he plagiarized the text from some other nineteenth century author. Enthused by this involvement and by the research of numerous other scholars, i accepted an invitation from the religious studies center at byu to edit a volume of papers by different scholars that would address the question of book of mormon authorship. Translating and printing the book of mormon in oliver cowdery. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and. Joseph smiths actual and verifiable words as a supreme source for book of mormon geography the contents of all bmaf publications are the sole responsibility of the individual authors and therefore do not necessarily represent the views of bmaf or the church of jesus christ of latterday saints.
While the results of the oldest book of mormon stylometry study overstate the evidence for multiple authorship not intentionallythe field has progressed a lot since 1980, it too found multiple authorship and a lack of 19 th century authorship. The evidence for ancient origins, edited by noel b. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Jockers, witten, and criddle, reassessing authorship of the book of mormon, 472. It is written in english very similar to the early modern english linguistic style of the king james version of the bible, and has since been fully or partially translated into 111. Review of books on the book of mormon 19892011 by an authorized editor of byu scholarsarchive. He is the author of several articles on literary structure in the book of mormon. Wordiness joseph smith claimed that the book of mormon was his translation of an ancient book written upon gold plates. Latterday saints are accustomed to speaking of joseph smith as the inspired translator of the book of mormon.
Despite the book of mormon being published in 1830, its narrative attempts to employ the antiquated english style of the early modern era, as though to make it read more like the king james version of the bible published in 1611. Authorship of the book of mormon is an article from the american journal of psychology, volume 30. Since punctuation in these passages does not match punctuation found in the 1830 edition of the book of mormon, this document was likely written sometime after the circa february 1830 completion of the printers manuscript but before april 1830, when cowdery could have easily copied from the. The first author was the prophet nephi, who left jerusalem with his family in about 600 bc and sailed to the americas. New light on ancient origins, published in 1982 by byus religious studies center and also edited by noel reynolds. First and second books of nephi, jacob, enos, jarom, omni, words of mormon, and mosiah. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421.
Is stylometry the ultimate proof that joseph smith did not. What typing the entire book of mormon taught me about its. Byu scholarsarchive citation roper, matthew and fields, paul j. The theory that sidney rigdon was the true author of the book of mormon first appeared in print in a february 15, 1831 article. Most latterday saints are aware of a minor industry in certain religious circles in the united states devoted to refuting mormonism and. Archaeological trends and the book of mormon origins byu. Most latterday saints are aware of a minor industry in certain religious circles in the united states devoted to refuting mormonism and to criticizing the book of mormon.
We believe in god, the eternal father, and in his son, jesus christ, and in the holy ghost. Is the bible a book given by god to man, or is it a book produced by manand merely by manabout god. Book of mormon authorship religious studies center. Perhaps my findings will stimulate others to seriously pursue the authorship of the book of mormon by renewing investigation of the spaulding theory. The issue then quickly descends into whether or not the book of mormon could possibly be an authentic ancient record. Washburnthe contents, structure and authorship of the book of mormonwas published in 1954. Authorship of the book of isaiah in light of the book of. Uncle dales selection of old mormon newspaper article transcripts primarily covering the 18301860 period in latter day saint history the spalding studies web site. Miraculous origins theories generally accept joseph smiths own account, that he translated an ancient record compiled and abridged by mormon, a precolumbian resident of the western hemisphere. In this volume, nine latterday saint scholars each address the question of book of mormon authorship from a different approach. In the old testament, male pronouns he and his are mentioned 6.
The book of mormon properly titled the book of mormon. A probability can be absolute only if it includes all possible outcomes. Is the book of mormon like other ancient metal documents. Grant hardy, who wrote understanding the book of mormon. Pdf reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta.
Of particular interest are those articles published while the prophet held the title of official editor march 15, to november 15, 1842. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of the. Mormon prophet joseph smith 180544 claimed that more than twodozen ancient individuals nephi, mormon, alma, etc. However, the title page of the first edition of the book of mormon published in 1830 identifies the prophet as the author and proprietor of the book, not the translator. The book of mormons use of isaiah begins with nephis reprinting of isaiah 48, a prophetic salvo asserting the reality and purpose of predictive prophecy in isaiahs ministry.
Nephi passed the record to his younger brother jacob, who gave it to his son enos. They intrigued the audience with a new study of book of mormon authorship using stylometry showing a wide variety of authors in the book. Book of mormon critical text project archives fairmormon. An approach to the book of mormon, hugh nibley 1957. Book of mormon stylometry in pictures and tables rational.
President of the foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, he has contributed to byu studies and is coauthor and general editor of the recently published book, chiasmus in antiquity. In light of the growing body of significant insights into the antiquity of the book of mormon, this volume refreshes, updates, and extends the. The book of mormon passages in the rider copy, however, match the text of the printers manuscript. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates. A closer look, nearly sixteen years ago, his ideas in regard to book of mormon structure, content, and authorship have received widespread notice both within and without the latter day saint community. Mormon apostle orson pratt wrote in 1851, the book of mormon claims to be a divinely inspired record. Knowing why, book of mormon central 2017 knowing why.
Come, follow me recommended study aids book of mormon. He currently researches book of mormon syntax as it relates to early modern english and contributes, by means of textual analysis, to volume 3 of royal skousens book of mormon critical text project. Another testament of jesus christ is a sacred book of scripture that testifies of jesus christ and explains the lords dealings with his people in the ancient americas. Terryl givens joseph smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light. At the risk of being categorized as yet another student of the subject with a new variant of the theory, i offer the results of my study. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. Part 1 contains essays dealing with accounts of how the book was produced in 1829 and 1830, with emphasis on the translation process. Apr 10, 2018 at a book of mormon conference in provo last saturday, matt roper and paul fields set out to do just that. Book of mormon authorship revisited is a sequel to book of mormon authorship. Jockers, witten, and criddle, reassessing authorship of the book of mormon, 473, table 1. Some people believe the book of mormon is a new revelation from god given to joseph smith. The book of mormon as an ancient book religious studies center. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1997. Journal of the book of mormon and other restoration scripture.
The authorship of this and other articles related to book of mormon geography which appeared in the times and seasons during joseph smiths tenure as editor has been a point of dispute in recent years. Like other attempts to discredit the book of mormon, the theory of the spaulding manuscript is based on the belief that an unlearned man such as joseph smith could not have created a book as detailed and rich as the book of mormon and that he, therefore, must have obtained the content from some other source. T he times and seasons featured many articles relating to the topic of book of mormon lands. Joseph smith and the geography of the book of mormon. The question of the authority of the bible and its divine inspiration can be stated very simply. I find it hard to believe that anyone could come to any other conclusion other than, joseph smith wrote the articles in the times and seasons. Book of mormon authorship the encyclopedia of mormonism. Many studies have investigated book of mormon authorship because. In separate papers from 1991 and 1992, holmes investigated book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. Like other attempts to discredit the book of mormon, the theory of the spaulding manuscript is based on the belief that an unlearned man such as joseph smith could not have created a book as detailed and rich as the book of mormon and that he, therefore, must. View more articles from the american journal of psychology. Do you know how to show a mormon person the difference in reliability between the bible and the book of mormon.