80 Day Reading the Book of Mormon

The origins, authenticity, and historicity of the Volume of Mormon have been subject to considerable criticism from scholars and skeptics since it was kickoff published in 1830. The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2200 BC to Advertisement 421.[ane] [2] It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Volume of Mormon: An Account Written by the Manus of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi, who said that information technology had been written in otherwise unknown characters referred to as "reformed Egyptian" engraved on golden plates that he personally transcribed.[3] [4] Contemporary followers of the Latter Day Saint motility typically regard the text primarily every bit scripture, only also as a historical record of God'southward dealings with the aboriginal inhabitants of the Americas.[5]

Mainstream scholarship does not conclude the Book of Mormon is of an ancient origin and consider the volume a creation by Smith and possibly ane or more others, drawing on material and ideas from the contemporary 19th-century surroundings rather than translating an ancient tape. They contend that no evidence of a reformed Egyptian linguistic communication has ever been discovered.[6] [7] [8] The content institute inside the book has also been questioned. Scholars accept pointed out a number of anachronisms within the text, and general archaeological or genetic prove has not supported the book'southward statements about the indigenous peoples of the Americas.[9] [10] The text has also undergone many revisions with some meaning changes, which critics contend have notably altered its meaning, and come across as a rebuttal of its divine origins.[7] [xi] [12]

Despite the many scholarly challenges to its authenticity, adherents and many Latter Solar day Saint scholars have repeatedly defended the book. The oldest, and most significant, defence force of Smith's account of its origins comes from the testimonies of the 3 Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses, which are published in every copy of the book.[thirteen] [fourteen] More gimmicky adherents have also sought to rebut critical viewpoints. For case, identification of reformed Egyptian with a known ancient Egyptian dialect has been proposed.[15] A few Latter Mean solar day Saint scholars have also proposed archaeological findings requite credence to the book, although mainstream scholars disagree.[16] [10]

Aboriginal origin [edit]

The evidence indicates that the Book of Mormon is in fact an amalgamation of ideas that were inspired past Joseph'southward own environment (new) and themes from the Bible (old).

—Grant H. Palmer[17]

Mainstream scholars reject Joseph Smith's caption of the origin of the Book of Mormon. Smith said that the text contained inside the Book of Mormon was derived from an ancient Native American record written on gilt plates, and that God gave him and a few others the ability to interpret it into English.[18] Critics note that in that location has never been any physical proof of the existence of the gilt plates; Smith said that the angel Moroni, who appeared to him and instructed him on how to recover the plates from where they were buried, reclaimed the plates in one case Smith had completed the translation. To provide support towards the being of the plates, Smith included two statements in the Volume of Mormon saying that several witnesses had been shown the plates, and their testimony is typically published at the beginning of the Book of Mormon. While none of these men ever retracted their statements, critics nevertheless discount these testimonies for varying reasons, one of which is because virtually of these men were closely interrelated. In later years Martin Harris, i of the witnesses, is recorded to have confessed that he saw the plates with a "spiritual eye" or "eye of faith."[xix] [xx]

Most linguists, archaeologists, and historians do not regard the Book of Mormon to be of ancient origin. In 1834, a publication by Eber D. Howe claimed that Smith had plagiarized an unpublished manuscript written past Solomon Spalding.[21] [22] [23] Scholars today take varying theories about the truthful authorship of the Book of Mormon, but almost conclude that Smith composed the volume himself, possibly with the assist of Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon, drawing from information and publications available in his time, including the King James Bible,[24] [25] The Wonders of Nature,[26] [27] and View of the Hebrews.[7] [11] [28]

Existence of golden plates [edit]

Two separate sets of witnesses, a set of iii and a fix of eight, testified as having seen the gilded plates, the tape from which the Book of Mormon was translated. Additionally, each of the 3 Witnesses (Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer) left the church building during Joseph Smith'south lifetime and considered Smith to accept been a fallen prophet. Harris[29] and Cowdery[xxx] afterwards returned to the church. The Institute for Religious Enquiry disputes the sincerity of their conversion and return.[31]

Apologists annotation that the witnesses in most cases affirmed their testimonies until their death. In 1881, Whitmer, the i witness who never returned to the church, issued an affidavit reaffirming his testimony of the experience.[32]

Text and language [edit]

Joseph Smith provided a sample of "reformed Egyptian" characters. Egyptologists take described this language equally Smith'south invention.

Joseph Smith said he translated the Book of Mormon from a language called reformed Egyptian. Archaeologists and Egyptologists take institute no evidence that this linguistic communication ever existed.[viii] Hugh Nibley, a Mormon apologist, argues that reformed Egyptian is actually Meroitic Egyptian.[fifteen]

Furthermore, official LDS Church commentary on the Volume of Mormon says that at least some ancestors of Native Americans came from the Jerusalem expanse; still, Native American linguistic specialists have non found any Native American language that appears to be related to languages of the aboriginal Near East.[33]

Supporters point out the interesting elements of the cosmos drama that plough up in temple, tomb, or coffin texts from ancient Egypt that is described in detail in the Book of Mormon every bit the coronation of King Mosiah long before these ancient texts were understood past Egyptologists.[34]

Supporters of the Book of Mormon say it uses chiasmus—a effigy of speech utilizing inverted parallelism—and point to it as prove supporting the volume'southward ancient origin.[35] Critics such every bit Jerald and Sandra Tanner argue that chiasmus in the Book of Mormon is a characteristic of Joseph Smith'due south oral communication blueprint and non prove of antiquity. They cite the use of chiasmus in the Doctrine and Covenants, which was not translated from an ancient text, as testify.[36]

Smith was known as a treasure-hunter long earlier he said he found the golden plates. Grant H. Palmer suggested that Smith borrowed the name "Cumorah" through his written report of the treasure-hunting stories of Captain William Kidd, based on the similarity of the names from Smith's business relationship—Moroni and Cumorah—to the location Moroni, Comoros, related to Kidd's hunt for treasure.[37]

Translation [edit]

Smith sitting on a wooden chair with his face in a hat

A delineation of Joseph Smith dictating the Book of Mormon by peering at a seer stone in a hat.

The only statement Joseph Smith ever made well-nigh the translation procedure was "through the medium of the urim and thummim I translated the record, by the gift and power of God."[38] Martin Harris, Smith's 2d scribe, and David Whitmer, who witnessed Smith dictating the translation of the plates to Oliver Cowdery, both describe the process as an exact word-for-word translation.[39]

Modern LDS scholars tend to fall into two schools regarding the nature of the translation process: tight control and loose control. Those who believe in the tight control estimation argue that Smith had very piffling elbowroom in the words used in dictating the Book of Mormon, simply was not restricted to an verbal word-for-discussion translation. Those who believe in the loose command estimation fence that "'ideas were revealed to Joseph Smith' and he put them 'into his ain language.'"[xl]

Biblical linguistic communication [edit]

The Book of Mormon claims to be the original writings of Nephite leaders in aboriginal America, yet it contains some paraphrastic quotations of the 17th-century edition of the Male monarch James Bible (KJV) and the deuterocanonical books, which Joseph Smith's bible had equally well. Furthermore, the language of the Book of Mormon closely mimics the Elizabethan English used in the KJV, with 19th-century English mixed into it.[41]

The Book of Mormon quotes 25,000 words from the KJV Quondam Testament and over 2,000 words from the KJV New Testament.[42]

There are numerous cases where the Nephite writers mimic wording from the New Testament, a document to which they would have had no admission. Below are five examples out of a list of 400 examples created past Jerald and Sandra Tanner:[43]

Book of Mormon Text KJV Text
"the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world (ii Nephi ix:18) "the kingdom prepared for you lot from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34)
"he judgeth, and his judgment is simply" (Mosiah 3:18) "I judge: and my judgment is just" (John five:thirty)
"he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness" (Alma vii:21) "he which is filthy, let him exist filthy still" (Revelation 22:11)
"that i man should perish than that a nation should ... perish in unbelief (1 Nephi 4:xiii) "that one homo should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not" (John 11:50)
"the dog to his vomit, or like the sow to her wallowing in the mire" (3 Nephi vii:viii) "the dog is turned to his own vomit over again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire (two Peter 2:22)

Here are some parallels with the Deuterocanonical Books and the Book of Mormon. In item, 2 Maccabees includes the name "Nephi".[44] [45] Examples of purported parallels include:[26] [45]

Deuterocanonical Book of Mormon (1830)
"We will analysis to abbreviate in one volume ... labouring to follow the rules of an abridgment ... But to use brevity ... is to be granted to him that will make an abridgement." (ii Maccabees 2:25-31) "I make an abridgement of the record ... after I have abridged the record ... I had made an abridgement from the plates of Nephi ... I write a small abridgement." (1 Nephi 1:17, Words of Mormon 3, 5:ix)
"They commanded that this writing should be put in tables of brass, and that they should exist gear up ... in a conspicuous place; As well that the copies thereof should be laid upward in the treasury" (one Maccabees 14:48-49) "And I commanded him ... that he should get with me into the treasury ... I also spake unto him that I should conduct the engravings, which were upon the plates of brass" (i Nephi 4:20,24)
"Then the king, in closing the place, made it holy ... many men call it Nephi". (two Maccabees ane:34,36) "And my people would that we should call the proper noun of the place Nephi; wherefore we did call it Nephi". (2 Nephi five:8)
"And information technology came to pass ... I dreamed a dream by night" (2 Esdras 13:ane) "And it came to pass ... Behold, I have dreamed a dream" (1 Nephi viii:ii)

Names [edit]

Critics believe Joseph Smith came upwardly with all the names in the Book of Mormon, noting that Joseph owned a King James Bible with a table listing all the names used in the Bible.[46] [47] Many Book of Mormon names are either biblical, formed from a rhyming pattern, changed by a prefix or suffix, Hebrew, Egyptian, Sumerian, or Greek in etymology.[48] [49] [50] Furthermore, Jaredites and Nephites shared names despite the Jaradites beingness of a different place and linguistic communication than the Nephites. Lastly, some people would occasionally name their sons after their fathers, something non practiced in antiquity.[51]

Views toward women [edit]

The Volume of Mormon has been criticized for its lack of significant female characters in the narrative.[52] In the Onetime Testament, male person pronouns "he" and "his" are mentioned 6.5 times more than female pronouns "she" and "her", but in the Book of Mormon, the ratio is 31 times more than often, and in the small plates of Nephi, it is 46 times more oftentimes.[53] Merely half dozen female characters are explicitly named in the Book of Mormon (Sariah the wife of Lehi, Abish a Lamanitish woman, Isabel the harlot, Eve, Sarah, and Mary), compared to 188 in the Bible.[53] No adult female, except perhaps the wife of King Lamoni, in the Volume of Mormon is portrayed as having her own independent connection with heaven.[54] [55]

Historical accuracy [edit]

Near, but not all, Mormons hold the book'due south connection to aboriginal American history every bit an article of their religion. However, this view finds petty credence outside of Mormonism because "scholars realize that accepting the Book of Mormon's antiquity also ways coming to terms with LDS behavior about Joseph Smith's admission to supernatural powers."[ix] The theory that the Book of Mormon is an ancient American history is thus considered to fall outside academic credibility.[9] Mormon apologetics have proposed multiple theories tying Book of Mormon places to modern locations.

Anachronisms [edit]

There are a number of words and phrases in the Volume of Mormon that are anachronistic—their existence in the text of the Book of Mormon is at odds with known linguistic patterns, archaeological findings, or known historical events.

Each of the anachronisms is a word, phrase, artifact, or other concept that critics, historians, archaeologists, or linguists believe did non exist in the Americas during the time menstruum in which the Book of Mormon was said to take been written.

Apologists offer varying responses and views at Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon.

Subject Reference Verse Problem Date
Cimeter (interpreted every bit Scimitar) Mosiah nine:16 And it came to pass that I did arm them with bows, and with arrows, with swords, and with cimeters, and with clubs, and with slings, and with all manner of weapons which we could invent, and I and my people did go forth against the Lamanites to battle. (Meet as well Enos 1:xx; Mosiah 10:8; Alma 2:12; 27:29; 43:18, 20, 37; 44:eight; lx:2; Heaman 1:14) Scimitars (curved swords) did not exist until the 500s.[56] 200-187 B.C.
Elephants Ether 9:nineteen And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more peculiarly the elephants and cureloms and cumoms. Elephants did not exist in America at the time of Ether.[57] [58] Near 2700-2400 B.C.
Horses 1 Nephi 18:25 And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as nosotros journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wildlife, which were for the apply of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper. (Horses see 2 Nephi 12:vii; 2 Nephi 15:28; Enos 1:21; Alma 18:9, 10,12; xx:half dozen; 3 Nephi three:22; 4:iv; six:i; 21:14; Ether 9:19; ) Horses on the American continent died out in the Pleistocene and were not reintroduced until the 16th century.[59] [60] 590-589 B.C
Steel one Nephi iv:nine And I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the bract thereof was of the most precious steel. (See too 1 Neph xvi:eighteen; 2 Nephi 5:fifteen; Jarom 1:8; Ether seven:9) While steel (carburized atomic number 26) was known in Israel as early as the time of king Josiah[61] there is no archaeological evidence of steel production in pre-Columbian America.

Apologists counter that the word "steel" may refer to another hardened metal such as the copper alloy that is translated "steel" in the KJV.[62]

600-592 B.C.
Silk Alma four:6 And information technology came to pass in the eighth year of the reign of the judges, that the people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gilded and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their industry; and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to vesture very costly wearing apparel. There is footling archaeological testify of silk in pre-Columbian America. 86-83 B.C.
Wheat & Barley Mosiah nine:9 And we began to till the ground, yea, even with all way of seeds: with seeds of corn and of wheat and of barley ... Wheat and barley were brought to America by Europeans. About 200–187 B.C.
Sheep Ether 9:xviii and also all way of cattle, of oxen and cows, and of sheep and of swine and of goats ... Europeans brought sheep to America. Almost 2200-600 B.C.
Goats 1 Ne. eighteen:25 both the cow and the ox and the ass and the horse and the goat and the wild goat ... Europeans introduced the commencement domesticated goats to America.
Cattle and Cows Ether 9:xviii and too all mode of cattle, of oxen and cows, and of sheep and of swine and of goats ... There is no evidence that Erstwhile Earth cattle (members of the genus Bos) inhabited the New World prior to European contact in the 17th century AD.
Swine Ether nine:xviii and besides all style of cattle, of oxen and cows, and of sheep and of swine and of goats ... Europeans brought the first swine to America.
Jeremiah in Prison 1 Ne. 7:14 ... and Jeremiah have they cast into prison house ... The 1920 editors of the Book of Mormon indicate that Jeremiah was imprisoned sometime before the 8th year of the reign of Zedekiah.[63] Still, the Bible does non mention Jeremiah existence imprisoned before the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah.[64]
Quoting of 2nd Isaiah two Ne. seven:i Yea, for thus saith the Lord: Accept I put thee away or have I bandage thee off forever ... In full general, modern scholars believe Isaiah chapters 40-66 were written during the Babylonian Captivity between 586 BC and 538 BC.[65] Lehi would not have had admission to these chapters since he left for the New World around 600 B.C.
Apparent Quoting of the New Attestation one Nephi 22:17 shall be saved, fifty-fifty if it so be as by burn down (cf. i Corinthians 3:15) Paul did non write this epistle for another 600 years after Nephi'south expiry.
Discrepancy in fourth dimension between Zedekiah and Jesus' birth 1 Nephi 1:4, ten:4, 19:8; 2 Nephi 25:19, iii Nephi one:1 "in the commencement of the start yr of the reign of Zedekiah, male monarch of Judah"(1 Nephi i:iv)
"Now information technology came to pass that the ninety and first yr had passed abroad and information technology was half dozen hundred years from the fourth dimension that Lehi left Jerusalem;" (3 Nephi i:1)
The first year of Zedekiah occurred in 597BC, and Jesus was built-in during the reign of Male monarch Herod, who died no later than the year 4BC, not adding up to the full 600 years accounted for in the Book of Mormon.[66]

Archaeology [edit]

Map showing the possible lands and sites of the Volume of Mormon in Mesoamerica (speculative)

Since the publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830, both Mormon and non-Mormon archaeologists have attempted to find archaeological evidence to support or criticize it. Members of The Church building of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church building) and other denominations of the Latter Solar day Saint motility generally believe that the Book of Mormon describes ancient historical events in the Americas, but mainstream historians and archaeologists do not regard it as a work of ancient American history.

Some early 20th century researchers presented various archaeological findings such as identify names, and ruins of the Inca, Maya, Olmec, and other aboriginal American and Old World civilizations as giving credence to the Book of Mormon record.[16] Others disagree with these conclusions, arguing that the Book of Mormon mentions several animals, plants, and technologies that are not substantiated by the archaeological tape betwixt 3100 BC to 400 Advertising in America.[ten] [67] [68] [69]

Native American genetics [edit]

Since the late 1990s pioneering work of Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza and others, scientists have developed techniques that endeavour to apply genetic markers to indicate the ethnic background and history of individual people. The data developed by these mainstream scientists tell us that the Native Americans accept very distinctive Dna markers, and that some of them are most similar, among sometime earth populations, to the DNA of people anciently associated with the Altay Mountains expanse of central Asia. This conclusion from a genetic perspective supports a big amount of archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic evidence that Native American peoples' ancestors migrated from Asia at the latest xvi,500–xiii,000 years agone. (See Settlement of the Americas and Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas).

The mainstream scientific consensus most the origin of the ancient Americans and peoples is apparently at odds with the claims put forth in the Book of Mormon, although Mormon apologists accept fabricated efforts to reconcile these apparent contradictions.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints released an essay on their website titled "Book of Mormon and Dna Studies". The determination states, "Much as critics and defenders of the Book of Mormon would similar to use DNA studies to support their views, the show is simply inconclusive."[70]

Population size and the Volume of Mormon [edit]

Critics challenge the viability of the population size and growth of the Book of Mormon people using the parameter that there was no incorporation of existing populations. M. T. Lamb may have been the very showtime critic to suggest that the Volume of Mormon has an unrealistic population growth rate.[71] Modernistic studies on population size and growth have been done by John Kunich[72] and FARMS writer James Smith.[73] Kunich's analysis agrees with Lamb's that the Volume of Mormon presents an unrealistic growth rate for the population,[74] but Smith disagrees, and says that the growth charge per unit is realistic.[75]

Textual revisions [edit]

Critics also challenge the divine origin of the Book of Mormon past noting the numerous revisions that accept been made to the text.[seven] [11] [76] [77] [78] [79] Though most changes are small spelling and grammar corrections,[80] critics claim that fifty-fifty these are significant in low-cal of Smith's claims of divine inspiration. Smith claimed that the Book of Mormon was "the most right of whatever book on earth," and Martin Harris said that the words which appeared on the seer rock would not disappear until they were correctly written;[81] Critics assert that some of these changes were systematic attempts to hibernate the book'due south flaws.[82] [83]

Relation to the Volume of Abraham [edit]

Egyptologists' translations of these fragments of the Joseph Smith Papyri do not coincide with Smith's translation.

Critics betoken out that Joseph Smith as well translated the Book of Abraham. Unlike the Volume of Mormon, fragments of the documents from which Smith translated the Book of Abraham are available for inspection; Egyptologists find no resemblance between the original text and Smith'southward translation.[84]

Supporters point out that the Church has never claimed that the fragments of papyri which include facsimile 1, 2, and 3 are where Joseph Smith obtained his material for the Book of Abraham. These fragments are from the Egyptian Book of the Expressionless which was just i of the scrolls from Egypt that Joseph Smith had in his possession. When these fragments were discovered in the Metropolitan Museum many years ago, Hugh Nibley wrote a book called The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, An Aboriginal Egyptian Endowment showing how the fragments that had been discovered had aught to practise with the Book of Abraham but everything to practice with Egyptian funeral texts from the Book of the Dead.

The translation of the papyri by both Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists does non match the text of the Book of Abraham equally purportedly translated by Joseph Smith.[85] Indeed, the transliterated text from the recovered papyri and facsimiles published in the Volume of Abraham contain no direct references, either historical or textual, to Abraham,[86] [87] [88] and Abraham'south name does non announced anywhere in the papyri or the facsimiles. Edward Ashment notes, "The sign that Smith identified with Abraham ... is nothing more than the hieratic version of ... a 'west' in Egyptian. It has no phonetic or semantic human relationship to [Smith'due south] 'Ah-broam.'"[87] University of Chicago Egyptologist Robert Thou. Ritner concluded in 2014 that the source of the Book of Abraham "is the 'Animate Permit of Hôr,' misunderstood and mistranslated past Joseph Smith",[89] and that the other papyri are common Egyptian funerary documents like the Book of the Dead.[90]

Original manuscripts of the Book of Abraham, microfilmed in 1966 by Jerald Tanner, evidence portions of the Joseph Smith Papyri and their purported translations into the Book of Abraham. Ritner concludes, contrary to the LDS position, due to the microfilms existence published prior to the rediscovery of the Joseph Smith Papyri, that "it is not true that 'no bystander account of the translation survives'", that the Book of Abraham is "confirmed every bit a perhaps well-significant, but erroneous invention by Joseph Smith", and "despite its inauthenticity as a genuine historical narrative, the Book of Abraham remains a valuable witness to early American religious history and to the recourse to ancient texts as sources of mod religious organized religion and speculation".[89]

See also [edit]

  • Criticism of Mormon sacred texts
  • Criticism of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ Gordon B. Hinckley, "Praise to the Human" Archived 2012-06-08 at the Wayback Auto, 1979-eleven-04.
  2. ^ Church Educational System (1996, rev. ed.). Volume of Mormon Pupil Manual (Table salt Lake Urban center, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), ch. 6.
  3. ^ Smith (1830, championship page).
  4. ^ Mormon 9:32
  5. ^ "Introduction".
  6. ^ Tanner 1987, p. 91.
  7. ^ a b c d Brody, Fawn (1971), No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (2nd ed.), New York: Alfred A. Knopf, p.[ folio needed ]
  8. ^ a b Standard language references such every bit Peter T. Daniels and William Bright, eds., The World'south Writing Systems (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996) (990 pages); David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (Cambridge University Press, 1997); and Roger D. Woodard, ed., The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Aboriginal Languages (Cambridge University Press, 2004) (1162 pages) incorporate no reference to "reformed Egyptian." "Reformed Egyptian" is also ignored in Andrew Robinson, Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World'south Undeciphered Scripts (New York: McGraw Loma, 2002), although it is mentioned in Stephen Williams, Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Printing, 1991).
  9. ^ a b c Duffy 2004, p. 37
  10. ^ a b c Abanes 2003, pp. 74–77
  11. ^ a b c Krakauer, Jon (2003), Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Tearing Faith, New York: Doubleday, p.[ folio needed ]
  12. ^ Skousen, R. (2010). "The Book of Mormon: The primeval text" Appendix:Significant Textual Changes. New Haven: Yale University Press. folio 739
  13. ^ Testimony of the 3 Witnesses
  14. ^ Testimony of the Eight Witnesses
  15. ^ a b Nibley, Hugh. Teachings of the Book of Mormon. p. 13. ISBN9781621081050. And at the very same fourth dimension, the priests who used to be in the sometime royal court at Napata fled farther to Meroe. There they produced a new type of Egyptian at this time which was Meroitic (I've got a picture of information technology hither). When y'all compare the Anthon transcripts with Meroitic, it'due south very impressive. In fact, Blood brother Bushman back at Brown University (which is one of the four universities in the country where Egyptian has always been a big thing), showed them the Anthon transcript, and Parker immediately recognized them every bit Meroitic. He said, "They're the closest thing y'all can get to Meroitic." ... This is the new Egyptian which was invented way up the Nile, way up in Meroe, which is fifty-fifty south of Napata. That'southward the Nubian kingdom. It'south very interesting that so many Book of Mormon names come from way up there.
  16. ^ a b Priddis 1975; see RLDS D&C 110:xx, were advanced by RLDS members: Hills 1917; Hills 1918 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFHills1918 (assistance); Hills 1924 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFHills1924 (help), and Gunsolley 1922 harvnb mistake: no target: CITEREFGunsolley1922 (aid)
  17. ^ Palmer, Grant H. (2002). An insider'due south view of Mormon origins ([Nachdr.] ed.). Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN1560851570. The evidence indicates that the Book of Mormon is in fact an amalgamation of ideas that were inspired by Joseph's own environment (new) and themes from the Bible (old).
  18. ^ "Gospel Topics: Book of Mormon Translation", LDS.org, LDS Church building
  19. ^ Brodie, Fawn M. (1995). No man knows my history: the life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet (ii. ed., rev.and enl., ane. Vintage books ed.). New York: Vintage Books. p. 78. ISBN0679730540.
  20. ^ Wunderli, Earl M. (2013). An imperfect book : what the Book of Mormon tells us about itself. pp. 27–28. ISBN9781560852308.
  21. ^ Howe, Eber D (1834), Mormonism Unvailed, Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press, p.[ page needed ]
  22. ^ Spaulding, Solomon (1996), Reeve, Rex C (ed.), Manuscript Found: The Complete Original "Spaulding" Manuscript, Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Immature University, p.[ page needed ], ISBN1570082979, OCLC 37469063
  23. ^ Roper, Matthew (2005), "The Mythical "Manuscript Found"", FARMS Review, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Constitute, BYU, 17 (2): 7–140, archived from the original on 2014-01-15, retrieved 2014-01-xiii
  24. ^ Abanes 2003, p. 72
  25. ^ Tanner 1987, pp. 73–80
  26. ^ a b Abanes 2003, p. 68
  27. ^ Tanner 1987, pp. 84–85
  28. ^ Roberts, Brigham H. (1992) [1985], Madsen, Brigham D. (ed.), Studies of the Book of Mormon (2d ed.), Salt Lake City: Signature Books, pp. 323–344, ISBN1-56085-027-ii, OCLC 26216024
  29. ^ Millennial Star, 6 February. 1882, p. 87
  30. ^ The Return of Oliver Cowdery - Maxwell Institute Papers Archived 2007-10-13 at the Wayback Automobile
  31. ^ "Facts On The Volume Of Mormon Witnesses — Part 1". world wide web.irr.org. 2011-07-08.
  32. ^ "An Address," 27, in EMD, 5: 194.
  33. ^ Roberts, Brigham H. (1992). Madsen, Brigham (ed.). Studies of the Book of Mormon (2nd ed.). Common salt Lake City: Signature Books. pp. 63–94. ISBN1560850272.
  34. ^ Nibley, Hugh; Rhodes, Michael D; Lyon, Michael P (2009), One Eternal Round, Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, pp. 112–113, ISBN9781606412374, OCLC 465330437
  35. ^ Edwards, Boyd F.; Edwards, W. Farrell (2004). "Does Chiasmus Appear in the Book of Mormon by Take a chance?". BYU Studies. 43:2: 103–130.
  36. ^ Edwards, Boyd F.; Edwards, W. Farrell (2004). "Does Chiasmus Appear in the Book of Mormon by Take a chance?". Brigham Young Academy Studies. 43 (2): 103–130. ISSN 0007-0106. JSTOR 43044379.
  37. ^ Palmer, Grant H. (2014). "Joseph Smith, Helm Kidd, Cumorah, and Moroni" (PDF). John Whitmer Historical Association Journal. 34 (ane): 50–57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  38. ^ Wunderli, Earl M. (2013). An imperfect volume : what the Volume of Mormon tells the states about itself. Signature Books. p. 23. ISBN9781560852308.
  39. ^ Wunderli, Earl M. (2013). An imperfect book : what the Book of Mormon tells us about itself. pp. 34–35. ISBN9781560852308. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a chapeau, and put his face up in the hat, drawing it closely effectually his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. Ane character at a fourth dimension would appear, and nether it was the interpretation in English. Blood brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written downwardly and repeated to Blood brother Joseph to run across if information technology was correct, then it would disappear, and some other character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated past the gift and ability of God, and non by any power of man.
  40. ^ Wunderli, Earl M. (2013). An imperfect book : what the Book of Mormon tells us about itself. p. 37. ISBN9781560852308.
  41. ^ Walters, Wesley (1990). The Use of the Old Testament in the Book of Mormon. Utah Lighthouse Ministry.
  42. ^ Brodie, Fawn M. (1995). No man knows my history : the life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet (2. ed., rev.and enl., one. Vintage books ed.). New York: Vintage Books. p. 58. ISBN0679730540.
  43. ^ Tanner, Jerald; Tanner, Sandra. The Case Confronting Mormonism. Utah Lighthouse Ministry. pp. 87–102. [ full citation needed ]
  44. ^ Abanes 2003, p. 71
  45. ^ a b Tanner 1987, pp. 72–73
  46. ^ Tanner 1987, pp. 95"It is interesting to note that when Joseph Smith purchased a Bible in the tardily 1820s, he picked one that contained "An alphabetical table of all the names of the Old and New Testaments with their significations"
  47. ^ Walters, Wesley. The Utilise of the Old Attestation in the Book of Mormon. Utah Lighthouse Ministry. p. 18.
  48. ^ "Book of Mormon Onomasticon". Brigham Young University - The Laura F. Willes Centre for Volume of Mormon Studies. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  49. ^ Gee, John; Tvedtnes, John A.; Roper, Matthew (2000). "Book of Mormon Names Attested in Aboriginal Hebrew Inscriptions". Periodical of Book of Mormon Studies. 9 (1, Article 11.). Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  50. ^ Gee, John (1992). "A Notation on the Name Nephi". Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. 1 (1, Article 12). Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  51. ^ Wunderli, Earl Chiliad. (2013). An imperfect book : what the Volume of Mormon tells us about itself. p. 158. ISBN9781560852308.
  52. ^ Rees, Robert A. "The Midrashic Imagination and the Volume of Mormon." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 44, no. 3, 2011, pp. 44–66. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/ten.5406/dialjmormthou.44.3.0044. Accessed nineteen Apr. 2020.
  53. ^ a b Pearson, Carol Lynn Could Feminism Have Saved the Nephites Sunstone Magazine, March 1996 pp 32-forty
  54. ^ Luffman, D. E. (2013). The Book of Mormons witness to its commencement readers. Independence, MO: Community of Christ Seminary Press. due east-volume location 3863 of 4274.
  55. ^ For a view that the wife of King Lamoni had an independent connection with sky, encounter Christensen, Kevin and Christensen, Shauna (1998) "Nephite Feminism Revisited: Thoughts on Carol Lynn Pearson's View of Women in the Book of Mormon," Review of Books on the Volume of Mormon 1989–2011: Vol. ten : No. ii , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr/vol10/iss2/5
  56. ^ B.H. Roberts noted: "The word [cimiter] is of oriental and uncertain origin and appears in various forms. How it came to be introduced into the speech and writings of the Nephites, and how not used in the other Hebrew literature at an earlier date, is so far equally I know, unaccountable. The earliest use of the word I take found is in Gibbon, where referring to the alleged incident of finding the sword of Mars for Attila, he there calls that sword of Mars "cimiter"; but that was most 450 A.D." - from Roberts, B.H.; Studies of the Book of Mormon; Signature Books; Salt Lake City; Second Edition; 1992; folio 112.
  57. ^ Diamond 1999 harvnb fault: no target: CITEREFDiamond1999 (assist)
  58. ^ Sharon Levy, "Mammoth Mystery, Did Climate Changes Wipe Out North America's Giant Mammals, Or Did Our Stone Age Ancestors Hunt Them To Extinction?, Onearth, winter 2006, pp15-nineteen
  59. ^ "The Surprising History of America'due south Wild Horses".
  60. ^ R. Dale Guthrie, New carbon dates link climatic change with human colonization and Pleistocene extinctions, Nature 441 (11 May 2006), 207-209.
  61. ^ Shanks, Hershall (July–August 1986). "Antiquities manager confronts problems and controversies". Biblical Archeology Review. 12 (4): 33, 35.
  62. ^ "Steel in the Volume of Mormon - FairMormon". FairMormon . Retrieved 2017-08-09 .
  63. ^ Larson, Stan (September 1977). "Chronological dates are recorded at the lesser of the pages in the Book of Mormon. How reliable are these dates? Are there any that need to be corrected?". Ensign . Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  64. ^ Jeremiah 32:ane-2
  65. ^ Bergsma notes: "Ever since the publication of Duhm's influential Isaiah commentary, Isaiah twoscore-55 has generally been ascribed to an exilic Second Isaiah, while chapters 56-66 have been attributed to a mail-exilic 3rd Isaiah. Nonetheless, there has not been complete unanimity. Some conservative scholars have connected to defend the 8th-century prophet's authorship of the entire book." from - Bergsma, John Sietze (2007). The Jubilee from Leviticus to Qumran: A History of Estimation (Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, Book 115 ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Brill Leiden. p. 191. ISBN978-90-04-15299-one.
  66. ^ Hardy, 1000. (2010). Understanding the Volume of Mormon a readers guide. New York: Oxford University Press. Footnote 15 on folio 103
  67. ^ Wolverton 2004, pp. 84–85 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFWolverton2004 (help)
  68. ^ Persuitte 2000, p. 102 harvnb mistake: no target: CITEREFPersuitte2000 (aid)
  69. ^ "Does Archaeology Support The Volume Of Mormon?". Mormons in Transition web site. Plant for Religious Research. Retrieved February x, 2010.
  70. ^ Saints, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Mean solar day. "Book of Mormon and DNA Studies". ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
  71. ^ Metcalfe, Brent Lee, ed. (1993). New approaches to the Book of Mormon : explorations in critical methodology. Table salt Lake City: Signature Books. p. 251. ISBN1560850175.
  72. ^ Metcalfe, Brent (1993). New approaches to the Book of Mormon : explorations in critical methodology. Table salt Lake City: Signature Books. pp. 231–267. ISBN1560850175.
  73. ^ Reynolds, Noel B., ed. (1997). Book of Mormon authorship revisited : the show for ancient origins. Provo, Utah: Foundation for Aboriginal Research and Mormon Studies. pp. 255–293. ISBN093489325X.
  74. ^ Metcalfe, Brent Lee, ed. (1993). New approaches to the Book of Mormon : explorations in critical methodology. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. p. 259. ISBN1560850175.
  75. ^ Reynolds, Noel B., ed. (1997). Volume of Mormon authorship revisited : the evidence for ancient origins. Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. p. 287. ISBN093489325X.
  76. ^ Abanes 2003, p. 73
  77. ^ Beckwith, Francis (2002), The New Mormon Challenge, Zondervan, pp. 367–396, ISBN0-310-23194-9
  78. ^ Cowan, Marvin (1997), Mormon Claims Answered (second ed.), M.W. Cowan, ASIN B0006E7Z2G
  79. ^ In that location have been numerous changes to the text of the Book of Mormon between the 1830 edition and modern LDS editions, nearly four thousand changes according to one count by Jerald and Sandra Tanner; meet: Tanner 1996, Introduction.
  80. ^ The majority of these changes are spelling and grammer corrections; meet: "All Virtually Mormons: Changes to the Book of Mormon", LightPlanet.com, Russell Anderson .
  81. ^ encounter: Tanner 1980, p. 132.
  82. ^ Some critics claim that some revisions are systematic attempts to remove evidence that Joseph Smith made the Volume of Mormon, and other revisions were fabricated to hibernate embarrassing aspects of the church's by; meet: Abanes 2003, pp. 59–80.
  83. ^ Tanner 1987, pp. l–96
  84. ^ Larson, Charles Thousand. (1992). By his ain hand upon papyrus : a new look at the joseph smith papyri (Rev. ed., 2. print ed.). [S.l.]: Inst For Religious. ISBN0962096326.
  85. ^ Larson 1992, p. 61.
  86. ^ Reeve & Parshall 2010, p. 269 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFReeveParshall2010 (help).
  87. ^ a b Ashment 2000, p. 126 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFAshment2000 (help).
  88. ^ Ritner 2013, p. 66 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFRitner2013 (help).
  89. ^ a b Ritner, Robert Thousand., A Response to 'Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham' , Signature Books, archived from the original on October 22, 2016, retrieved January 19, 2016
  90. ^ Ritner 2013, p. 65 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFRitner2013 (help).

References [edit]

  • Abanes, Richard (2003), One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church, Thunder's Mouth Press, ISBN1-56858-283-8
  • Duffy, John-Charles (2004), "Defending the Kingdom, Rethinking the Organized religion: How Apologetics is Reshaping Mormon Orthodoxy" (PDF), Sunstone, 132 (May): 37 .
  • Cowdrey, Wayne L; Davis, Howard A; Vanik, Arthur (2005). Who Actually Wrote the Book of Mormon? The Spalding Enigma. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. ISBN0-7586-0527-7. .
  • Hills, Louis Edward (1917). Geography of Mexico and Fundamental America from 2234 BC to 421 Advert. Independence, Missouri.
  • Priddis, Venice (1975). The Book and the Map. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, Inc.
  • Smith, Andrew F. (1971), The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, p. 141, ISBN978-0-252-02282-1 .
  • Smith, Joseph, Jr. (March 26, 1830). The Volume of Mormon: An Account Written by the Mitt of Mormon, Upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Palmyra, New York: E. B. Grandin.
  • Tanner, Jerald and Sandra (1980), The Changing World of Mormonism, Moody Press, ISBN0-8024-1234-3, OCLC 5239408 . Annotation that this work is a condensed revision of Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?.
  • Tanner, Jerald and Sandra (1987) [1964], Mormonism - Shadow or Reality? (self published) (5th ed.), Utah Lighthouse Ministry, ISBN9993074438, OCLC 17243674 .
  • Tanner, Jerald and Sandra (1996), "Introduction", 3913 Changes in the Book of Mormon (self published), Utah Lighthouse Ministry, OCLC 3906389 .
  • Wymetal, Wilhelm Ritter von (1886), Joseph Smith, the Prophet, His Family, and His Friends: A Study Based on Facts and Documents, Salt Lake Metropolis, UT: Tribune Printing and Publishing Company, pp. lx–61 .

Further reading [edit]

  • Palmer, Grant H. (2002), An Insider's View of Mormon Origins
  • Tvedtnes, John A. (2010), "Was Joseph Smith Guilty of Plagiarism?", FARMS Review, Maxwell Found, 22 (1), archived from the original on 2014-05-09, retrieved 2014-05-08
  • Twain, Marking (1872), "Affiliate XVI: The Mormon Bible—Proofs of its Divinity—Plagiarism of its Authors—Story of Nephi—Wonderful Battle—Kilkenny Cats Outdone", Roughing It

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_Book_of_Mormon

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