Does the book of mormon exhibit evidence of divineancient origins or humanmodern origins. Quotes joseph used a peep stone and a hat to translate most of the book of mormon. Pdf reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. The book of mormon three voice hypothesis is that the book of mormon has three distinct voices. Jan 16, 2018 an analysis of wordprints, in book of mormon authorship. Most of the geographical speculation on the book of mormon has focused on the effort to identify book of mormon lands in the new world, which would also pinpoint a cultural group at that point in history. Since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship.
The book of mormon narrative is full of absurdities that demonstrate its a work of fiction. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. 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. 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.
Most latterday saints are aware of a minor industry in certain religious circles in the united states devoted to refuting mormonism and. Unfortunate news just reported in the salt lake tribune indicates that plans for a shanghai temple may have hit a bump in the road. Reynolds editor, book of mormon authorship revisited 1997, 199224. This blog post is long 3000 words, 28 images, and it is a quick, poor, and short summary of stylometry relevant to the book of mormon. Book of mormon central have done various blog posts and videos that promoted what they saw as very impressive results of this study. Tips for lds bloggers from the ultimate blog the book of mormon. As a further witness of the reality of these figures, we have accounts of the prophet having seen many of them personally. Bokovoy describes the evidence supporting the scholarly consensus that chapters 4066 of the book of isaiah were written after the jewish. Pratt as key players in the authorship of the book of. What typing the entire book of mormon taught me about its. Today, we can almost accidently fall into a research spiral of blogs and. Authors, teachers and speakers brad wilcox, anthony sweat and john hilton iii share ideas on how the book of mormon is like the ultimate.
Members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints view the book of mormon as scripture written by ancient prophets, while critics believe that it is a 19thcentury fraud. Using the principles of textual criticism, restores the. The earliest text, royal skousen, yale university press, 2009 comment. Posted in book of mormon, tagged american continent, book of mormon authorship a closer look, book of mormon geography, false prophecies of joseph smith, lamanites, nephites, vernal holley on 111720 leave a comment. An analysis of wordprints, in book of mormon authorship. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 163. View more articles from the american journal of psychology. The credibility of the book of mormon translators letter vii.
On her personal website blog, she described some of her early writing. Reynolds received his ma and phd from harvard university. A presentation by chris and duane johnson proposed a new statistical model for discussing authorship of the book of mormon. The book of mormon is either a divinely inspired translation of ancient scripture, or it is a work of fiction. Part 1 contains essays dealing with accounts of how the book was produced in 1829 and 1830, with emphasis on the translation process and. There are differing views on the origin of the book of mormon. Ive found the same thing with book of mormon stylometry. Reynolds author of book of mormon authorship revisited. There are at least 21 categories of internal evidence that establish, to a certainty, that the book of mormon is not an early nineteenth century work. This post will define the l voice of the book of mormon three voice hypothesis, based on computer wordprint analysis of bom text. Is it possible that a single author wrote the book of mormon.
The tree of life vision of the book of mormon is an important piece in mormon culture and the book of mormon. Tvedtnes, colophons in the book of mormon, in rediscovering the book of mormon, ed. Authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken. But today we enjoy a relative wealth of information about those times and peoples, providing a background against which the book of mormons claims of ancient origin can be tested. Although the book came out in his 20s, who really knows what he learned or where. Jun 14, 2017 the book of mormon at the bar of demography, in noel b.
The first author was the prophet nephi, who left jerusalem with. Dan vogel theories of book of mormon authorship mormon stories february, 2019 book of mormon, church history, joseph smith 7 comments we are excited to welcome back preeminent joseph smith historian dan vogel to mormon stories podcast. Book of mormon numerology rational faiths mormon blog. Also see welchs article what does chiasmus in the book of mormon prove. King james style 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. The same types of stylometric measurements used to show that books of the bible were not written by single authors are rejected as showing multiple, non19th century authorship of the book of mormon because it is the book of mormon being studied. Jun 05, 2016 the spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship is the theory that the book of mormon was plagiarized in part from an unpublished manuscript written by solomon spalding. This theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed, published in 1834 by e. Jan 18, 2016 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 book of mormon describes peoples, cultures, history, and lands largely unknown to the 19thcentury world. Sorenson, when lehis party arrived in the land, did they find others there. Reynoldss most popular book is book of mormon authorship revisited. Moreover, we have the same witness within the joseph smiths bible translation efforts, the book of mormon, the book of abraham, and several revelations in the doctrine and covenants. The late war against the book of mormon interpreter.
Variations of this theory only include that the text is a divinely inspired narrative, regardless of its. A new wordprint study on the book of mormon breathes new life to a longchallenged theory for book of mormon authorship, the theory that its real author was solomon spalding secretly assisted by sidney rigdon. He grew up in cody, wyoming, and served as a missionary for the lds church in uruguay and argentina from 1961 to 1964. These statistical results provide striking support for the book of mormons own claims about its authorship. Many book of mormon research projects have implications for the continuing issues surrounding the authorship of the book of mormon. The ancient authorship and accuracy of the book of mormon are strongly reinforced by these findings. Book of mormon stylometry in pictures and tables rational. Bad book of mormon apologetics lds church is true blog.
At least three computer analyses have been completed to date in an effort to determine who wrote the book of mormon, and whether it was a single individual or a group. The book of mormon is actually a collection of histories passed down from one writer to another. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. The theory is that a spalding manuscript was stolen by sidney rigdon, who used it in collusion with joseph smith. Come, follow me recommended study aids book of mormon the. Matt roper and paul fields did a study on book of mormon wordprint patterns, ie computer statistical analysis of word pattern to determine authorship and other attributes of the book. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. The book of mormon is true and confirms what the world needs to know today. Nov 21, 2016 this is the fourth in a series of posts looking at stylometry in the book of mormon. Remember also, that the book of mormon, unlike the bible, was supposedly written on golden plates. In the history of the church, joseph smith made an important clarification about the title page of the book of mormon i wish also to mention here, that the title page of the book of mormon is a literal translation, taken from the very last leaf, on the left hand side of the collection or book of plates, which contained the record which has been translated. 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. Hales is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with plural. Others, however, assume that the book must be a fraud.
Isaiah in the book of mormon i am grateful for two recent blog posts here and here by lds biblical scholar david bokovoy about the issue of authorship of the book of isaiah. One way to analyze whether the book of mormon is authentic is to do an academic study of its authorship. The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed, published in 1834 by e. It was also a journal entry from joseph smith sr wife, referring to the story told by her husband 19 years prior to the publishing of the book of mormon. The authorship of isaiah and its bearing on the book of mormon. My name is paul anderson, and i love studying the book of mormon. Jul 15, 2018 book of mormon authorship if joseph smith authored the book of mormon with an eighth grade education it is quite a feat. Jun 28, 2017 the credibility of the book of mormon translators richard lloyd anderson wrote an excellent article titled the credibility of the book of mormon translators that was a chapter in book of mormon authorship. In order to fabricate the book of mormon, joseph smith would have needed the ability to create distinct fictional voices, and a talent beyond some of the greatest novelists of his time charles dickens, jane austen, mark twain, and james fenimore cooper. The credibility of the book of mormon translators richard lloyd anderson wrote an excellent article titled the credibility of the book of mormon translators that was a chapter in book of mormon authorship.
Jan 05, 2020 the book of mormon is either a divinely inspired translation of ancient scripture, or it is a work of fiction. Recently, the exmormon foundation held their annual conference in salt lake city. Story and photo by mike foley, originally published to the byuhawaii electronic newsroom, april 17, 2007 elder gale bryce, a volunteer service missionary at the polynesian cultural center, explained in the heavily attended april 17 school of computing inform meeting how two former colleagues used wordprint statistical analyses to authenticate book of mormon authorship. Book of mormon wordprint studies have been used by both critics and apologists to provide valuable insights into the text of the bom. Peggy fletcher stacks story, plans for an lds temple in shanghai may have hit an obstacle, reflects some decent investigation and a good understanding of how things work in china.
Reynolds is a professor emeritus of political science of brigham young university. May 19, 2016 isaiah in the book of mormon i am grateful for two recent blog posts here and here by lds biblical scholar david bokovoy about the issue of authorship of the book of isaiah. The study attempts to connect the book of mormon to a text published in 1816. Apr 23, 2020 book of mormon wordprint studies have been used by both critics and apologists to provide valuable insights into the text of the bom. Dec 09, 2008 a new wordprint study on the book of mormon breathes new life to a longchallenged theory for book of mormon authorship, the theory that its real author was solomon spalding secretly assisted by sidney rigdon. These statistical results provide striking support for the book of mormons internal claims about its authorship. Authorship of the book of mormon is an article from the american journal of psychology, volume 30. Reynolds has 22 books on goodreads with 287 ratings. The study attempts to connect the book of mormon to. The book of mormon is playing a greatly expanded role in church. The same types of stylometric measurements used to show that books of the bible were not written by single authors are rejected as showing multiple, non19th century authorship of the book of. Senior missionary explains book of mormon wordprint analysis. 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.
Joseph smiths detractors who personally knew him, knew he was too illiterate and uneducated to create the book of mormon. Come, follow me recommended study aids book of mormon. Dec 12, 2017 since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship. Jan 21, 2019 in the history of the church, joseph smith made an important clarification about the title page of the book of mormon i wish also to mention here, that the title page of the book of mormon is a literal translation, taken from the very last leaf, on the left hand side of the collection or book of plates, which contained the record which has been translated. Book of mormon 5,000 changes despite the claim that joseph smiths translation was by the gift and power of god, several thousand changes have been made to the book of mormon since its original printing. In october 2014, i decided to start publishing what i learn from studying the book each day. We cant be sure at this stage if the apparent problem is real. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 237. The spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship is the theory that the book of mormon was plagiarized in part from an unpublished manuscript written by solomon spalding. This is the fourth in a series of posts looking at stylometry in the book of mormon. Washburnthe contents, structure and authorship of the book of mormonwas published in 1954. Jesus christ lives and has power not only to rescue us from death, but to cleanse us from sin and to bring us back into the presence of god and the lamb of god, the son of god who lived and died for us. Since 1830, millions of people have read the book of mormon and become convinced that joseph smiths account of its ancient origins is correct.
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