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. Byu scholarsarchive citation roper, matthew and fields, paul j. We build enduring faith in jesus christ by making the book of. Wordiness joseph smith claimed that the book of mormon was his translation of an ancient book written upon gold plates. Including the mormon churches conflicting results of computer analyses of the book of mormon. Welch, chiasmus in the book of mormon, in book of mormon authorship.
Testing authorship in the personal writings of joseph. This analysis leads to some important conclusions in relation to book of mormon authorship. The various sets of plates mentioned contained the history of their people, and would have. The authors conclude that their results all strongly support multiple authorship of the book of mormon yet their whole case rests on the assumption that the frequency of occurrence of noncontextual function words is a stylistic discriminator. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesautomatic writing article 10 1989 vernal holley, book of mormon authorship. From cancer to the book of mormon and back byu magazine. The first onefourth of spauldings manuscript story pp. Book of mormonthe book of mormon is a foundational sacred text for the church of jesus christ of latterday saints whose members are commonly called mormons, after the book itself. 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. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesview of the hebrews. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 3352. This field of research uses various statistical methods to detect linguistic patterns. Since the book of mormon s publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship.
The book of mormon as an ancient book religious studies. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. Evidence for solomon spaulding authorship of the book of mormon. The book of mormons central narrative begins with the story of lehis family fleeing jerusalem in 600 bc and emphasizes the important records they carried with them. Does the book of mormon exhibit evidence of divineancient origins or humanmodern origins. The book of mormon contains a version of the sermon on the mount, which some authors have claimed to be the achilles heel 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. Chapter viii of the manuscript story introduces the semimythical figure of lobaska. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Is it possible that a single author wrote the book of mormon. Actually, all that became obvious was the failure of both believers and unbelievers to cite much specific evidence. The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed.
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 ad 421. In order to help shed light on this issue, several studies have relied upon a type of analysis called stylometry. Our results suggested that several men involved in the early formation of the mormon church might have been contributors to the book of mormon. 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. Joseph smith, the book of mormon, and the american. Many book of mormon research projects have implications for the continuing issues surrounding the authorship of the book of mormon. The critical position is based on an entirely different set of assumptions than most believers are accustomed to bring. I didnt think the conclusion they reached was justified at all, says schaalje. But what makes this group distinctive and how does it differ from other christian churches. Royal skousen is professor of english at brigham young university and since 1988 has served as the editor of the book of mormon critical text project. Jul 15, 2018 the tree of life vision of the book of mormon is an important piece in mormon culture and the book of mormon. The complicated production of the book of mormon, from its original writing by nephi, mormon, moroni, and others to its most recent editings and printings, is a human process that has been well described. Review of books on the book of mormon 19892011 volume 1number 1 article 10 1989 vernal holley, book of mormon authorship. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of.
View more articles from the american journal of psychology. Book of mormon central have done various blog posts and videos that promoted what they saw as very impressive results of this study. Lets see, special revelations from god, the murder of its founder, regional expulsion and opposition by various groups, polygamy, and. The book of mormon is the keystone of our religion.
Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification. The tree of life vision of the book of mormon is an important piece in mormon culture and the book of mormon. The book of mormon and the king james bible wikipedia. The work is immediately declared to be written in the language of my father. Evidence for solomon spaulding authorship of the book of. 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. Roberts took the position of examining the book of mormon from a critical perspective in order to alert the general authorities to possible future avenues of attack by critics. This first article explains what stylometry is and gives readers a short history of stylometric. 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. This knowhy is the first in a series which discusses stylometry and its relevance to questions of book of mormon authorship. 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 600 bc to ad 421. Who they are, what they believe as a religious group, mormons are no strangers to controversy. Psychological tests for the authorship of the book of mormon is an article from the american journal of psychology, volume 28.
Bad book of mormon apologetics lds church is true blog. Archaeological trends and the book of mormon origins author john e. Mormonism was organized as a religion after joseph smith, the movements founder, published the book of mormon in upstate new york in 1830. In a paper that they hope to publish in a major theological journal, they pointed out that certain evangelical beliefs about mormons are nothing. The book of mormon refers several times to horses and chariots, but most of the people seem to travel on foot.
What command syntax tells us about book of mormon authorship. Psychological tests for the authorship of the book of mormon. This video discusses all of the main theories critics try and point to for alternative ways the book of mormon could be produced and how these arguments fall apart when the details are explored. Linguistically based assertions are frequently cited and discussed in the context of the subject of. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and.
In the first essay i discussed why authorship of the book of mormon is important, how bias affects the analysis, and i critiqued some of the major authorship theories. This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists. 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. Holley, book of mormon authorship norwood 81 use of seer stones, and. The authors of this book of mormon authorship article are three stanford university professors. Every writer has a style of writing just as he has his own fingerprints improvement era, nov. Pdf reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. This is a followup to my article, joseph smith and the american renaissance, published in dialogue. From the day the book of mormon rolled off the press in 1830, those who gave it credence asserted that it obviously read like a hebrew text. Oct 27, 2019 this video discusses all of the main theories critics try and point to for alternative ways the book of mormon could be produced and how these arguments fall apart when the details are explored. Vernal holleys book of mormon authorship annotated. Those who were not so convinced insisted that it obviously read like anything but a hebrew text.
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. Review of books on the book of mormon 19892011 by an authorized editor of byu scholarsarchive. 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. The article claims that there is no resemblance between the authors of the book of mormon and the nineteenth century authors sampled, but the case rests on usage of words such as unto, behold, yea, forth, verily, lest and nay which would all naturally be prominent in an archaic biblicaltype style, but could hardly be expected to occur with the same frequency elsewhere, even in the early nineteenth century. Could joseph smith have written the book of mormon under the influence of an epileptic fit. One author makes the point that certain portions of the greek manuscripts of matthew 57 do not agree with the kjv of the text, and concludes that the book of mormon version of the sermon should not contain text similar to the kjv. This first article explains what stylometry is and gives readers a short history of stylometric studies performed on the book of mormon. In a coauthored article my colleagues and i employed both delta and nearest shrunken centroid nsc classification in an authorship analysis of the book of mormon jockers et al. What typing the entire book of mormon taught me about its. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesautomatic writing.
Washburnthe contents, structure and authorship of the book of mormonwas published in 1954. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. Since the appearance of holleys first edition of book of mormon authorship. We build enduring faith in jesus christ by making the book of mormon accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. The variety of command syntax found in the book of mormon is very different from what is seen in the king james bible. They claim that our findings support the hypothesis that rigdon was the main architect of the book of mormon and are consistent.
Quotes joseph used a peep stone and a hat to translate most of the book of mormon. Hiltons methodology thus did not address a key aspect of the book of mormon authorship question. At best, one might hope to conclude from such an analysis that the chosen selections are not by the same author, but the methodology used does not exclude the possibility of multiple nineteenth century authors. 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. Testing authorship in the personal writings of joseph smith. 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. 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. Wilfred griggs, the book of mormon as an ancient book, in book of mormon authorship. Interestingly, the syntactic match between the 1829 text and a prominent text from the late 15th century is surprisingly good. It can be responsibly concluded that the book of mormons internal claims. Having exhausted the more bizarre and byzantine explanations of the coming forth of the book of mormon written by joseph smith, plagiarized from solomon spaulding or ethan smith, written by oliver cowdery or sidney rigdon, dictated under the spell of epileptic seizures, etc.
Clark had circumstances permitted a marked grave for the slain prophet, a fitting headstone could have read, by joseph smith, junior, author and proprietor. Since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship. In this article i discuss what the original manuscript of. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a 19thcentury translation of a record of ancient inhabitants of the american continent, which was written in a script which the book refers to as reformed egyptian. The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed, published in 1834 by e. Conflicting results of computer analyses of the book of mormon. The book of mormon does not discuss the layout of cities, the types of buildings that people lived in, or their manner of construction. Although the musical satirizes organized religion and the literal credibility of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, the mormons in the book of mormon are portrayed as. The book of mormon as an ancient book religious studies center.
Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. It is where i attended school, where i met my wonderful wife, and where all six of our children have attended. 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. We use both methods to determine, on a chapterbychapter basis, the probability that each of seven potential authors wrote or contributed to the. The theory that sidney rigdon was the true author of the book of mormon first appeared in print in a february 15, 1831 article. Hilton iii the need for rigorous, legitimate wordprint measurements is obvious in attempting to settle some of the most prominent controversies surrounding the book of mormon. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesautomatic writing fairmormon. Archaeological trends and the book of mormon origins byu.
When i published joseph smith and the american renaissance in dialogue in 2002, i was aware of how much. Mormon writer helen hinckley jones, commenting on the authorship of the book of mormon, said. Yet it is sophisticated and principled, evincing early modern english linguistic competence. I also summarized 24 pieces of evidence, pointing to sidney rigdon as a key contributor and likely mastermind for the 1830 version of the book of mormon. Are the word patterns of joseph smith, oliver cowdery, or solomon spaulding measurable in the. 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. Pratt as key players in the authorship of the book of. Some critics of the book of mormon have claimed that joseph smith wrote the book while under the influence of an epileptic fit, thus perpetuating a fraud without knowing it. The most interesting literary controversy of the time, and the only one which has important practical bearing, is raging around the book of mormon, sometimes but incorrectly called the mormon bible. The biostatistician didnt start out in book of mormon apologetics, but when a stanfordproduced article used a statisticalclassification method to conclude that sidney rigdon wrote the book of mormon, schaalje was irked. The book of mormon contains many religious themes, most notably those of faith and doubt.
Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of the. The book of mormon was not started and completed in a single sitting. The view of the hebrews theory was examined in detail by b. Authorship of the book of mormon is an article from the american journal of psychology, volume 30.
Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 75102. Notwithstanding much more on the topics discussed in this text have been published since this book, including book of mormon authorship revisited by reynolds from 1997 that build up on many of these issues, this book would make a very good addition to ones lds library. Questions like these and more are addressed inmormons. 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. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship wikipedia.
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