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Guide Home > Scripture and Influential Writings > Book of Mormon > Textual Issues
Additional TopicsThe following are additional topic areas related to Textual Issues. If there is a bracket number after the topic, that number indicates how many actual articles there are related to that subject. If the link for the topic is not live, it simply means the topic is a 'planned area' for future growth.
FAIR ResourcesThese links are either to Web pages hosted on the FAIR Website, or to FAIR Papers. FAIR Papers are short articles about specific topics or questions, written by members of FAIR. These articles can be downloaded and read in PDF format and are intended to be distributed by e-mail or print for the general use of our patrons. (To read FAIR Papers you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader. It can be downloaded free from the Adobe Web site.) Click on a title below to visit a FAIR Web page or to read the latest version of a FAIR Paper. ""Adieu" in the Book of Mormon," FAIR Wiki (City Unknown: FAIR) This FAIR Wiki article responds to the claim that the French word "adieu" is anachronistic in the Book of Mormon. Cooper Johnson, "King Benjamin or Mosiah: A Look at Mosiah 21:28," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, April 2002) A look at Ara Norwood's presentation concerning Mosiah 21:28 at the 2001 FAIR Conference. Benjamin McGuire, "Nephi and Goliath: A Reappraisal of the Use of the Old Testament in First Nephi," (2001 FAIR Conference presentation.) L. Ara Norwood, "Benjamin or Mosiah? Resolving an Anomaly in Mosiah 21:28," (2001 FAIR Conference presentation.) The 1830 Book of Mormon reads "Benjamin" in Mosiah 21:28. Subsequent editions changed this to read "Mosiah." Was there a mistake? If so, why? If not, why was it changed? Juliann Reynolds, "Lamanites, the Seed of Cain, and Polygamy," Mormonism 201 (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, July 2002) Mormonism 101 attempts to portray Latter-day Saints and LDS theology as racist. Reynolds notes the double-standards employed by these Evangelical writers and explains that nearly all nineteenth-century Americans had racist attitudes. John A. Tvedtnes, "Hebrew Names in the Book of Mormon," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, 14 January 2002) Discussion of the Hebrew root of some names used in the Book of Mormon. This paper was presented in Jerusalem, August 2001, at the Thirteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies. Encyclopedia of MormonismThe resources listed below are articles available in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. These links are to information not located on the FAIR Web site. Paul Y. Hoskisson, "Book of Mormon Names," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 186-187 Brian D. Stubbs, "Book of Mormon Language," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 179-181 Ensign ArticlesThese articles cited below provide information on the topic of this page. The Ensign is one of the official publications of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When you click on one of the article links below, you are whisked to the article found in the archives of the Church's Web site. Edward J. Brandt, "Why are the words adieu, bible, and baptize in the Book of Mormon? These words weren't known in Book of Mormon times.," Ensign, October 1985. Donald B. Doty, "Why is the Book of Mormon the 'most correct of any book on earth'?," Ensign, August 1988. Monte Nyman, "The Most Correct Book," Ensign, June 1984, 21. What did Joseph Smith mean when he said the Book of Mormon is the most correct book? Monte S. Nyman, "Why is the Book of Mormon the 'most correct book,' and how does it contain the fullness of the gospel?," Ensign, September 1976. Donald W. Parry, "Why is the phrase 'and it came to pass' so prevalent in the Book of Mormon?," Ensign, December 1992. Stephen D. Ricks, "How do we explain the mention of 'satyrs,' commonly regarded as mythical creatures, in 2 Nephi 23:21 and Isaiah 13:21 and 34:14?," Ensign, February 1996. Stephen D. Ricks, "The name of one of the Lord's disciples listed in 3 Nephi 19:4-Timothy--seems to be Greek in origin. Is there an explanation for the appearance of a Greek name in the Book of Mormon?," Ensign, October 1992, 53. John A. Tvedtnes, "Since the Book of Mormon is largely the record of a Hebrew people, is the writing characteristic of the Hebrew language?," Ensign, October 1986, 64. Other ResourcesThe resources listed below are related items available on the Web that should be of interest. These links are to information not located on the FAIR Web site. "The Book of Mormon and the Problem of the Pentateuch," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1995), 119-28 Many critics deny that the first five books of the Old Testament were written by Moses and consider them to be childish myths. However, when Nephi and Lehi examined the brass plates, they found them to contain "the five books of Moses." And in the Book of Mormon, the Savior himself confirms their authorship. The book of Ether also offers confirmation of the Tower of Babel story. "The Book of Mormon and the Problem of the Pentateuch," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1995), 119-28 Many critics deny that the first five books of the Old Testament were written by Moses and consider them to be childish myths. However, when Nephi and Lehi examined the brass plates, they found them to contain "the five books of Moses." And in the Book of Mormon, the Savior himself confirms their authorship. The book of Ether also offers confirmation of the Tower of Babel story. "Women in the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 2002), 66-79 Why aren't women mentioned very often in the Book of Mormon? Philip A. Allred, "Alma's Use of State in the Book of Mormon: Evidence of Multiple Authorship," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1996), 140-146 All but two of the eleven writers who used state did so infrequently and sporadically. In contrast, the recorded writings of Alma, and in one case, Lehi, contain passages that display unusual concentrations of the word state. Allred looks at how this non-contextual word suggest multiple authorship for the Book of Mormon. Russel Anderson, Hebrew Writing Styles and Idioms. A short collection of Hebrew Idioms that appear in the Book of Mormon Michael R. Ash, Plagiarism of the Bible. RoseAnn Benson and Stephen D. Ricks, "Treaties and Covenants: Ancient Near Eastern Legal Terminology in the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2005), 48-61 Benson and Ricks demonstrate that the Book of Mormon follows authenticly ancient Old World customs regarding treaties and covenants as well as what these covenants mean to the people of God. S. Kent Brown, "The Exodus Pattern and the Book of Mormon," BYU Studies (Provo, UT: BYU) The memory of Israel’s exodus from Egypt runs so deeply and clearly in the Book of Mormon that it has naturally drawn the attention of modern students. A major focus of recent studies has fallen on the departure of Lehi’s family from Jerusalem as a replication, almost a mirror image—even in small details—of the flight of the Hebrews. Such interest is reasonable because Nephite teachers themselves drew comparisons between Lehi’s colony and their Israelite forebears. For instance, in an important speech, King Limhi referred to Israel’s escape from Egypt and immediately drew a parallel to Lehi’s departure from Jerusalem (Mosiah 7:19–20). Alma, in remarks addressed to his son Helaman, also consciously linked the Exodus from Egypt with Lehi’s journey (Alma 36:28–29). More than once a prophet or teacher who wanted to prove to others that divine assistance could be relied on appealed to God’s acts on behalf of the enslaved Israelites. This replication was the technique used by Nephi, for example, in his attempt to convince his recalcitrant brothers that God was leading their father, Lehi (1 Ne. 17:23–35). Furthermore, it was teachers in the Book of Mormon who first saw that the Exodus—the most wondrous of all God’s acts on behalf of any people—was to be transcended by the grandeur of the Atonement. In what follows, I propose to sketch out some of the primary colors of the wonderfully variegated vista of the Exodus that is portrayed in the Book of Mormon. S. Kent Brown, "The Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon," BYU Studies (City Unknown: BYU, 1990), 1-17 Dr. Brown argues that Nephi intentionally drew parallels to his family's flight from Jerusalem and the Exodus so that others could recognize the hand of God in this pattern of delivering His people. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, "Sariah in the Elephantine Papyri," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1993), 196-200 Is "Sariah" an authentic ancient name? James T. Duke, "Word Pairs in the Book of Mormon," JBMS (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2003), 32-41 James Duke makes it apparent that the Book of Mormon contains distinctive word-pair combinations in true ancient Semitic fashion. FARMS, "Uncovering the Original Text of the Book of Mormon: History and Findings of the Critical Text Project," Eds. M. Gerald Bradford and Alison V.P. Coutts (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2002) This 62 page book contains short articles by several LDS researchers. It explores some of the highlights that have been discovered from the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project -- a project that examines how the original Book of Mormon text was produced and the changes that were made in subsequent editions. Camille Fronk, "Deseret Epiphany: Sariah and the Women in 1 Nephi," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 2000), 4-15 True to ancient customs, women are mentioned only infrquently in the Book of Mormon. Fronk examins how Sariah and other Lehite women might have experienced their flight into the wilderness. Stephen R. Gibson, "Does the Book of Mormon Quote Shakespeare?," One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers) Didn't Joseph Smith quote from William Shakespeare in 2 Nephi 1:14? Stephen R. Gibson, "Why is Christ Only "A" Son of God?," One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers) How can Latter-day Saints be Christians when the Book of Mormon states that Christ is just "a" son of God, not "the" son of God (Alma 36:17)? Stephen R. Gibson, "Why Is the French Word Adieu Used?," One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers) How could Book of Mormon writer, Jacob, who lived about 500 BC, use the French word "adieu "(Jacob 7:27) when the French language wasn't even developed until 1500 AD? Cynthia L. Hallen, "What's In a Word? Etymology!," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 2003), 105-7 Understanding the roots of words may help us gain insights into the English translation of the Book of Mormon. Jeff Lindsay, Does the Book of Mormon Plagiarize Shakespeare?. Jeff Lindsay, Does the Book of Mormon Plagiarize the Bible?. Jeff Lindsay, How Could Jews -- Enemies of the Egyptians -- Write Sacred Text in Egyptian Script as Claimed by the Book of Mormon?. Jeff Lindsay, Names in the Book of Mormon . The Book of Mormon introduces roughly 200 new names not found in the Bible. Many of these have been found to have genuine Semitic parallels in ancient times. Jeff Lindsay, Why is the French "adieu" in the Book of Mormon?. Louis C. Midgley, "A Maori View of the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1999), 4-11 People tend to read their own environment and assumptions into historical records -- such as the Book of Mormon. Midgley notes this problem and gives the example of the Maori, of New Zealand, and how their culture and assumptions alter the way they understand Book of Mormon passages differently than 21st century Americans. Robert A. Rees, "Irony in the Book of Mormon," JBMS (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2003), 20-31 Robert Rees demonstrates that the Book of Mormon contains examples sophisticated irony. It seems unlikely that some of Joseph's meager education would have included such examples in the Book of Mormon. George Reynolds, How Could Shiz Struggle After Being Decapitated?. In Ether 15:31 we read that Coriantumr cut off the head of Shiz. After the decaptitation Shiz continued to struggle. Doesn't this simply reflect Joseph's own experience with the cutting of heads off of chickens rather than a supposedly erroneous view of human decaptitation? Noel B. Reynolds, "The Authorship of the Book of Mormon," BYU Speeches (27 May 1997) Noel Reynolds reviews some of the ongoing studies, by LDS scholars, that relate to the question of Book of Mormon authorship. Gerald Smith, And It Came To Pass in Maya and Book of Mormon. Brian D. Stubbs, "A Short Addition to Length: Some Relative Frequencies of Circumstantial Structures," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1997), 39-46 In previous articles I have discussed the nature and prominence of certain linguistic structures in the Book of Mormon that are typical of hal-clauses translated from Hebrew or Egyptian. This article compares the frequencies of those structures in three works produced through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, only the first of which is a translation from an ancient Near Eastern language. The results of this preliminary investigation into styles and these linguistic structures as found in these three works are worth noting. Brian D. Stubbs, "Looking Over vs. Overlooking: Native American Languages: Let's Void the Void," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1996), 1-49 The time-depth of the Romance language family (ca. 2,000 years) yields an abundance of similarities among languages descended from Latin: Spanish, French, Italian, and so forth. The time-depth of Lehi is not much greater (2,600 years), yet no similar abundance of accepted linguistic evidence for Lehi's presence in the Americas has emerged. Is this because of a lack of evidence or a lack of looking? We cannot know until we look. The relative absence of effort in Native American languages relevant to Book of Mormon research is a huge void in Latter-day Saint scholarly endeavor. This paper discusses the value of and need to void this existing void, and presents from one Native American language family an example of the possibilities. Terrence L. Szink, "New Light: Further Evidence for a Semitic Alma," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1997), 70 Some critics have claimed that Joseph flubbed when he included the obviously-female name, "Alma," in the Book of Mormon. New research shows, however, that "Alma" was an authentic ancient Semitic name. Leslie A. Taylor, "The Word of God," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 2003), 52-63 Taylor examines some ways that Book of Mormon reveals the word of God. John A. Tvedtnes, John Gee and Matthew Roper; "Book of Mormon Names Attested in Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2000), 42-51 A detailed and documented analysis of names in the Book of Mormon, demonstrating authenticity for the names and for the Book of Mormon. John A. Tvedtnes and Stephen D. Ricks, "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1996), 156-163 Many critics claim that Lehi -- a Jew -- would not have written anything sacred with Egyptian characters. Tvedtnes and Ricks show that this was not an uncommon practice among ancient Israelites. W. John Walsh, Was the Book of Mormon Written After the Time of Christ?. 1 Nephi 10:17 says "the Son of God WAS the Messiah who should come." This verse would have been written before Christ would have appeared yet Joseph used the past-tense verb "was." Why? W. John Walsh, Why Don't Indians Become "White" When Converting to Mormonism?. Thomas A. Wayment, "The Hebrew Text of Alma 7:11," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2005), 98-103 Wayment examines how Alma 7:11 may be a key in understanding the original language of the Brass Plates which Lehi brought from Jerusalem.
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