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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Last Nephite Scribes, Noel B. Reynolds
The Last Nephite Scribes, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This paper leverages the insights of modern scholars on the scribal schools of the ancient near east to identify and track the Nephite scribal school across the ten centuries of the Nephite dispensation. Mormon tells us his abridgment only includes a hundredth part of the Nephite history available to him on the Large Plates of Nephi. That being the case, it is especially impressive that his abridgment tracks the responsibility for maintaining and preserving the Nephite record and other sacred objects—the responsibility of the scribes—across that millennium without gaps. Mormon and his son Moroni were themselves trained scribes who could …
A Brief History Of Writing From The Perspective Of Restoration Scripture, Noel B. Reynolds
A Brief History Of Writing From The Perspective Of Restoration Scripture, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This paper brings together selected insights of modern epigraphers who study the languages and texts of the ancient near east to illuminate how we should understand the composition and history of central texts in the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
Lehi And Nephi As Trained Manassite Scribes, Noel B. Reynolds
Lehi And Nephi As Trained Manassite Scribes, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This paper brings contemporary ANE scholarship in several fields together to construct an updated starting point for interpretation of the teachings of the Book of Mormon. It assembles findings from studies of ancient scribal culture, historical linguistics and epigraphy, Hebrew rhetoric, and the history and archaeology of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant, together with the traditions of ancient Israel to construct a contextualized perspective for understanding Lehi, Nephi, and their scribal training as they would have been understood by their contemporaries. Lehi and Nephi are shown to be the beneficiaries of the most advanced scribal training available in 7th century …
The Brass Plates In Context: A Book Of Mormon Backstory, Noel B. Reynolds
The Brass Plates In Context: A Book Of Mormon Backstory, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This paper brings contemporary ANE scholarship in several fields together with the ancient scriptures restored through Joseph Smith to construct an updated starting point for interpretation of the teachings of the Book of Mormon. It assembles findings from studies of ancient scribal culture, historical linguistics and epigraphy, and the history and archaeology of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant, together with the traditions of ancient Israel and the ancient scriptures restored to Joseph Smith, to construct a contextualized perspective for understanding Lehi, Nephi, and the Brass Plates as they would have been understood by their contemporaries—as prominent bearers of the Josephite …
The Goodness Of God And His Children As A Fundamental Theological Concept In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
The Goodness Of God And His Children As A Fundamental Theological Concept In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
The phrase goodness of God does occur occasionally in the Hebrew Bible, but has not been considered by Old Testament scholars. to be a key piece of Israelite theology. Rather, it has been interpreted as just another way of talking about God’s acts of hesed or loving kindness for his covenant people and is usually interpreted in the context of the covenants Israel received through Abraham and Moses. The Book of Mormon, on the other hand, presents an explicit divine plan that existed before Abraham—even before the creation of the earth—which had as its purpose making eternal life possible for …
The Goodness Of God And His Children As A Fundamental Theological Concept In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
The Goodness Of God And His Children As A Fundamental Theological Concept In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
The phrase goodness of God does occur occasionally in the Hebrew Bible, but has not been considered by Old Testament scholars to be an independent principle in Israelite theology. Rather, it has been interpreted as just another way of talking about God’s acts of hesed or loving kindness for his covenant people and is usually interpreted in the context of the covenants Israel received through Abraham and Moses. The Book of Mormon clearly echoes that Old Testament pattern, but also presents two additional conceptual frameworks that are explained in terms of the goodness of God. It advances an explicit …