Mormon Studies Commons^™

Revisiting The Seven Lineages Of The Book Of Mormon And The Seven Tribes Of Mesoamerica, Diane E. Wirth

BYU Studies

The number seven was significant to the pre-Columbian communities of Mesoamerica, as it was in the Book of Mormon. A pan-Mesoamerica legend tells of a core people descended from seven tribes, which may coincide with the seven lineages mentioned three times in the Book of Mormon. While no verifiable evidence ties these two accounts together, a closer look at the Mesoamerican legend is warranted. This article examines numerous depictions of the seven tribes in Mesoamerican art contained in their lienzos (pieces of fabric with historical drawings or maps), illustrated books called codices, and post-Conquest documents that were shown to and …

Likening In The Book Of Mormon: A Look At Joseph M. Spencer's An Other Testament: On Typology, Alan Goff

BYU Studies

Doctrine and Covenants section 84 places Latter-day Saints under condemnation "until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon" (D&C 84:55-57). From the beginning of the Restoration, neglect of the Book of Mormon has been a hallmark of both those who accept and reject it. Before the 1980s, Latter-day Saint readings were often characterized by summary, with little or no exegetical analysis. Readings by Book of Mormon critics were similarly superficial, dismissing the book as not worthy of their attention. The value of capable and close readings of the scripture became more apparent with the work …

Parallels Between Psalms 25-31 And The Psalm Of Nephi, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D., D. Bryce Baker

Faculty Publications

Chapter 18 of the 2013 BYU Sperry Symposium volume, "Parallels between Psalms 25-31 and the Psalm of Nephi," by Kenneth L. Alford and D. Bryce Baker, highlights numerous similarities in the structure and language of 2 Nephi 4 (also known as the Psalm of Nephi) to wording found in Psalms 25 to 31 -- opening the possibility that Nephi may have consulted those psalms on the brass plates prior to composing his psalm.

Game Theory, The Prisoner's Dilemma, And The Book Of Mormon, Robert F. Schwartz

BYU Studies

Game theory has been applied to a number of disciplines, including economics, law, politics, sociology, and Bible studies, but this article is the first serious attempt to apply it to the Book of Mormon narrative. One particularly important model in game theory is known as the Prisoner's Dilemma, which emphasizes the possibility and benefits of cooperation in the face of conflict. The Book of Mormon account is an almost constant narrative based on conflict, first within the family of Lehi and then between two warring factions that arise from a split in that original Book of Mormon family. These conflicts …

The Book Of Mormon: A Biography, Paul C. Gutjahr, Tod R. Harris

BYU Studies

There is something of a paradox prevalent in academic religious studies: in order to consider a community and its traditions objectively, one should not be a member of that community; yet the only way to understand fully and appreciate and therefore faithfully report about the community is to be a member. Many times this contradiction leads to the unfortunate situation where "outsiders" do not report their findings objectively or accurately and thus disappoint those hoping for fair and informative treatment, and where the work of members attempting serious scholarly analysis of their own community is viewed with suspicion and distrust …

This Is The Way, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

The limited objective of this paper is to clarify some of the key terminology used by Book of Mormon writers. In particular, I will show that they used such terms as gospel, doctrine, way, and word interchangeably, but that the plan of salvation should be distinguished from these. It is probably inevitable that Latter-day Saint scholars will bring assumptions from their academic studies of the Bible and Christian theology to their study of the Book of Mormon. While the Book of Mormon obviously has a great deal in common with the Bible, I am increasingly convinced that Book of Mormon …

Some Textual Changes For A Scholarly Study Of The Book Of Mormon, Royal Skousen

BYU Studies

Royal Skousen has been working on the critical text project of the Book of Mormon since 1988. He has concluded that there are three important findings resulting from the critical text project of the Book of Mormon. The first is that Joseph Smith received an English-language text word for word, which he read off to his scribe. The second is that the original English-language text itself was very precisely constructed; where textual error has occurred in its transmission, the earliest reading is usually the superior reading. The third is the identification of 256 changes in the text that make a …

When Pages Collide: Dissecting The Words Of Mormon, Jack M. Lyon, Kent R. Minson

BYU Studies

Careful readers of the Book of Mormon have probably found verses 12-18 of the Words of Mormon to be a bit of a puzzle. For stylistic and other reasons, they do not really fit with verses 1-11, so commentators have tried to explain their presence as a sort of "bridge" or "transition" that Mormon wrote to connect the record of the small plates with his abridgment from the large plates. This paper proposes a different explanation: Rather than being a bridge into the book of Mosiah, these verses were originally part of the book of Mosiah and should be included …

Why Things Move: A New Look At Helaman 12:15, David A. Grandy

BYU Studies

A verse from the Book of Mormon says, "And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun" (Helaman 12:15). The verse has been commonly understood to mean that its author, Mormon, had a heliocentric view of the cosmos. David Grandy explores why that may not be the best way to read the passage and we need not place the words in the context of modern physics. Grandy explains that Mormon is …

Textual Similarities In The Words Of Abinadi And Alma's Counsel To Corianton, John Hilton Iii

BYU Studies

John Hilton examines textual similarities between two texts found in the Book of Mormon: the words of Abinadi in Mosiah 12–17 and the words of Alma the Younger in Alma 39–42. Hilton used both human-based and computer-based techniques to search for textual matches.

A History Of Nahom, Warren P. Aston

BYU Studies

Around 700 BC, a wealthy man in southern Arabia donated three limestone altars to a temple dedicated to Ilmaqah, the moon god. Inscribed on each altar was a text identifying him as the grandson of Naw'um of the Nihm tribe. The three altars were unearthed in 1988 by German archaeologists amid the ruins of the Bar'an temple near Marib, in modern Yemen. They provide the earliest known reference to the Nihm, who today, nearly three millennia later, retain the name and are one of Yemen's largest tribes.

Understanding Christian Baptism Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

BYU Studies

Early Christianity saw a wide proliferation of theories and practices concerning baptism, and now many Christians, including Mormons, commonly understand it as a means to repent and wash away one's sins. But the Book of Mormon prophets taught that baptism is a covenant and a witnessing to God that one has already repented and commits to follow Jesus Christ, and that sins are remitted by the Holy Ghost.

"There Arose A Mist Of Darkness": The Narrative Of Lehi's Dream In Christ's Theophany, Dan Belnap, Daniel Belnap

Faculty Publications

The events surrounding Christ’s theophany as recounted in 3 Nephi describe the creation of a new world, both physically and socially. In particular, chapters 8–18 depict a series of events that are reminiscent of the creation of the earth as described in Genesis and elsewhere. From the all-pervasive darkness experienced during the cataclysmic destruction to the glorious, light-filled arrival of Christ and the institution of new laws and ordinances delivered during his first day among the people, the Book of Mormon text reflects this biblical narrative. Yet the manner in which it is presented echoes a creation narrative unique to …

3 Nephi 9:19–20: The Offering Of A Broken Heart, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

As recorded in the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 8), the atoning death of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem brought prophesied destruction and darkness in the Americas. Following approximately three hours of terrible devastation (8:19), a “thick darkness” engulfed the land for three days (8:20, 23; 10:9). During this period of darkness the voice of Jesus was “heard among all the inhabitants of the earth, upon all the face of this land” (9:1).

Who Uses The Word "Resurrection" In The Book Of Mormon And How Is It Used?, John Hilton Iii, Jana Johnson

Faculty Publications

While there are only a handful of primary speakers in the Book of Mormon, many voices are heard within its pages. The fact that multiple people speak in the text provides the opportunity to investigate whether these people have varying patterns of speech. The purpose of this study is to report on the word resurrection, which has unusual usage patterns by individual speakers in the Book of Mormon. For example, there are curious patterns in terms of who in the Book of Mormon employs (or does not employ) resurrection, how individuals in the Book of Mormon use this word, and …

"Delivered By The Power Of God": Nephi's Vision Of America's Birth, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Chapter 14 of the 2011 BYU Sperry Symposium volume, "'Delivered by the Power of God:' Nephi's Vision of America's Birth" by Dr. Kenneth L. Alford discusses evidence of God's hand andintervention in the American Revolutionary War. This essay specifically looks at 1 Nephi 13, Washington and the founding fathers, wartime weather, and the West Point chain.

Understanding The Book Of Mormon: A Reader's Guide, Steven C. Walker, Grant Hardy

BYU Studies

Understanding the Book of Mormon may be the book for a lot of us. As often as we Latter-day Saints have read the Book of Mormon, we may yet read it better, read it with more understanding, if we were to read it with the benefit of the perceptive perspective that Hardy opens up for us with this volume. For all our Book of Mormon enthusiasms and even our critically careful analyses, we may have sometimes shortchanged ourselves in our readings in the same way Oliver Cowdery did in his translating: "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that …

The Book Of Mormon: The Earliest Text, Robert L. Maxwell, Royal Skousen

BYU Studies

The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text begins with a twenty-two-page introduction by Grant Hardy about the nature and coming forth of the Book of Mormon, together with an inviting call for the further study of that book within LDS, American, and world contexts; and also with a seventeen-page editor's preface by Skousen, describing the nature of the Book of Mormon text and the goals and typographical conventions of this "Yale Edition." The bulk of the book (1-738) consists of a presentation of the complete text of the Book of Mormon itself, a stemma showing the genealogy of the various …

"Securing" The Prophet's Copyright In The Book Of Mormon: Historical And Legal Context For The So-Called Canadian Copyright Revelation, Stephen K. Ehat

BYU Studies

The 2009 publication of the Manuscript Revelation Books as part of the Joseph Smith Papers makes available, for the first time, the text of a revelation received in 1829 or 1830 by the Prophet Joseph Smith on securing the copyright of the Book of Mormon in all the world and selling a copyright for its publication in the four then-existing provinces of Canada. This revelation, commonly referred to as the Canadian copyright revelation, designated four of Joseph's associates to travel to Kingston, Upper Canada, to sell a copyright of the Book of Mormon. A group did travel to Kingston, but …

"Entered At Stationers' Hall": The British Copyright Registrations For The Book Of Mormon In 1841 And The Doctrine And Covenants In 1845, Edward L. Carter

BYU Studies

On April 16, 1840, eight members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met in Preston, England. One of the topics they discussed was the need to secure copyright protection for the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants in England. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recognized the key to gaining copyright protection for Latter-day Saint scriptures in Great Britain would be registration at Stationers' Hall in London in accordance with the requirements of the Statute of Anne, Britain's copyright law since 1710. This article explains the legal process …

"The Testimony Of Men": William E. Mclellin And The Book Of Mormon Witnesses, Mitchell K. Schaefer

BYU Studies

William E. McLellin (1806-1883) was an early Mormon apostle who later left the church. In his later years he questioned the authority of founder Joseph Smith, but he always said he believed that the Book of Mormon was truly the word of God. In 1871 he wrote a notebook in which he recorded his contacts with men who had filled special roles as Book of Mormon witnesses in 1829. McLellin described his 1833 interview of Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, his circa-1850 visit with Martin Harris, his 1869 visit with John Whitmer, and a report of an 1833 event involving …

Lehi Dreamed A Dream: The Report Of Lehi’S Dream In Its Biblical Context, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

“Behold, I have dreamed a dream,” Lehi announced to his family one morning in the valley of Lemuel in northwestern Arabia (1 Nephi 8:2; see also 9:1; 10:16). This dream and its subsequent interpretation (given in vision to Nephi) provide a powerful Christ-centered foundation for the whole Book of Mormon.1 Of course, Lehi’s dream of his family, a tree, and its fruit was not the first revelatory dream he had received. Nephi indicates that his father, Lehi, had written an account of his own prophetic ministry that included “many things which he saw in visions and in dreams” (1 Nephi …

Reading Nephi Reading Isaiah Reading 2 Nephi 26–27, Joseph M. Spencer, Jenny Webb

Faculty Publications

This series of books is based on a novel idea: that Mormons do theology. Doing theology is different from weighing history, deciding doctrine, or inspiring devotion. Theology speculates. It experiments with questions and advances hypotheses. It tests new angles and pulls loose threads. It reads old texts in careful and creative ways.

The Bible, The Book Of Mormon, And The Concept Of Scripture, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

For nonbelievers, the relationship Latter-day Saints have with the Bible can be difficult to discern, especially when one considers the crucial role the Book of Mormon plays in LDS worship. This paper explores three questions a sincere critic may have concerning the relationship between the Bible and the Book of Mormon: (1) the presence of direct biblical passages and King James Version (KJV) terminology in the Book of Mormon, (2) what the Book of Mormon has to say about the Bible, and (3) the Book of Mormon’s understanding of the concept of scripture.

When Are Chiasms Admissible As Evidence?, W. Farrell Edwards, Boyd F. Edwards

BYU Studies

*This article is being offered free as a courtesy to lds.org as it was footnoted in an expanded Gospel Topic on their site.

Since John Welch's discovery of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon in 1967, many critics have attempted to show how chiasmus appears in just about every type of literature, from Dr. Seuss to Strangite scripture. This article discusses the authors' statistical admissibility tests to verify whether a chiasmus in a work shows strong evidence of intentionality by the original author. Their results indicate that certain passages in the Old Testament and in the Book of Mormon show …

Christ's Interpretation Of Isaiah's 52'S "My Servant" In 3 Nephi, Gaye Strathearn, Jacob Moody

Faculty Publications

When the Savior appeared to the “more righteous” of the Nephites and Lamanites, he used many teachings that modern readers readily recognize from the Old and New Testaments. Some critics have suggested that Joseph Smith merely lifted these teachings from his copy of the Bible.1 While some of these quotations are very similar to the accounts in the King James Bible, there are some significant differences that strongly suggest that the process was more complex and nuanced than these critics allow.

"A Picturesque And Dramatic History": George Reynolds's Story Of The Book Of Mormon, Noel A. Carmack

BYU Studies

If asked about art featuring the Book of Mormon, few Latter-day Saints of today would fail to bring to mind Arnold Friberg’s large, heroic characters and epic scenes. Others have a growing affection for the color- ful Book of Mormon paintings by Minerva Teichert.1 These two artists produced some of the most recognizable images to illustrate the Book of Mormon in the last century. In the second half of the twentieth century, Latter-day Saints saw a significant rise in the use of the Book of Mormon as a proselyting tool and principal selling point, contributing to the Church’s rapid worldwide …

Copyright Laws And The 1830 Book Of Mormon, Nathanial Hinckley Wadsworth

BYU Studies

In the summer of 1829, Joseph Smith completed his translation of the Book of Mormon. One year removed from the harrowing loss of the initial 116 pages of the translation in the summer of 1828, he was determined to not lose this work again, in any sense. On June 11, 1829, Joseph deposited, with the clerk of the Northern District Court of New York, a single printed page that resembled what would become the title page of the 1830 Book of Mormon, in order to secure a copyright in the work. The court clerk, Richard Ray Lansing, generated the official …

Insights Available As We Approach The Original Text, Kerry M. Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

What excites me most about Royal Skousen's Analysis of Textual Variants,Part One: 1 Nephi 1 2 Nephi 10 (hereafter Analysis) is what it says about Latter-day Saints' commitment to the scriptures in general and to the Book of Mormon specifically. This volume, like others in the series published to date, bespeaks our desire to know, as accurately as possible, what the text actually says. We understand that even those with the best intentions sometimes introduce mistakes into the most sacred and important texts. Skousen demonstrates that he and others value the Book of Mormon so much that meticulous and intense …

Behold, Ye Shall Have Joy With Me’: A Study On The Lord, The Servant And The Allegory Of The Olive Tree, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

In chapter 5 of the book of Jacob, we find a unique text commonly referred to as the allegory of the olive tree. President Joseph Fielding Smith once said that “the parable of Zenos . . . is one of the greatest parables ever recorded.”1 Composed of seventy-seven verses, this allegory is thought to follow the progression of a particular olive tree and its offspring in the Lord’s vineyard. Many readers have commented on the special nature of the allegory, with studies ranging from theological meaning, to linguistic comparisons, to actual viticultural practices. Though these studies differ in content, they …