Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. Most modern editions of the book have been divided into chapters and verses. The book of mormon is a literate product of a literate culture. Most adherents to the latter day saint movement view the book as a work of inspired scripture. Yet even a cursory analysis of the book of mormon reveals explicit use of nineteenthcentury language, ideas, and writing style, as well as dependence upon the king james bible. Most notably, we have about ten new articles, all written within the last year or so, that address the claim that the language and style of the book of mormon reveals its ancient israelite. Is it possible that a single author wrote the book of mormon. A biblical scholar looks at the book of mormon mormons in. If one other person wrote a part of the book of mormon, then joseph smith wrote none of it. A number of scientific tests have been devised to examine the authenticity of the book of mormon. We do not know exactly what language was used on the original plates of the book of mormon. You must claim that your smooth narrative is not fiction with moral value, but true. According to hugh nibley, the father of contemporary mormon scriptural and theological scholarship, the book of mormon can and should be tested. Make sure you spell out the names of all books in both the bible and the book of mormon.
Abinadi interprets isaiah, journal of book of mormon and other restoration scripture 10, no. This study of this is called analyzing word patterns, wordprinting or stylometry. The initial book of mormon wordprint studies were carried out by larsen, rencher, and layton. A comprehensive arrington bibliography published by. Chiasms may appear anywhere in the book of mormon, although they primarily typify the style of only three of the numerous authorsnephi, benjamin, and alma the younger. They compared twentyfour book of mormon authors each having at least 1,000 words to each other, and concluded on the basis of three separate statistical tests that these authors were distinct from each other and oliver cowdery, joseph smith, jr. Ethan smith\s ideas that indians were displaced hebrews, and his wide use of isaiah, which bh roberts covered well. Without a doubt, the lost book of mormon will soon have you buying more books. Literacy and orality in the book of mormon interpreter. The instances of text creation and most instances of reading texts suggest that documents were written by a. Reuben clark law school at byu, first identified this particular writing style in the book of mormon while he was a missionary serving in regensburg, germany, in 1967.
Essayleaks allows you to buy essays that are personalized to fit your writing style and requirements. This paper identifies four distinct writers, and when you know what to look for, a casual reading of the book of mormon will illustrate the point. In the bible and the book of mormon springville, ut. Is it possible that a creative writer could have produced its variety of distinct styles. The ap stylebook has a few different guidelines when referring to people with religious distinctions. A secret pattern in the writing of the book of mormon. The rest of the book except for mormon, ether, and moroni was written by several men but abridged by mormon and thus the writing style of the original writers is intertwined with mormons writing style when he summarizes events or makes his own comments in the abridgment. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon.
Although part of the book of mormon purports to have been written in. Wordprint studies of the book of mormon fairmormon. Burgon brigham young university provo follow this and additional works at. See again the list at the beginning of the article. T he book of mormon is a wholly american scripture.
Smith is often cited as the author unless the person writing the. Not because the spirit tells me so or because the book. For the first time, studies of the book of mormons literary qualities were. Its the calling card for thousands of missionaries, and part of the inspiration for a tony awardwinning broadway musical. The remainder of the book of mormon is written in thirdperson historical narrative, said to be compiled and abridged by mormon with moroni abridging the book of ether and writing the latter part of mormon and the book of moroni. Jerald and sandra tanner of utah lighthouse ministry, an evangelical group known for its intense opposition to and criticism of the lds church, performed their own brief computer study.
It is written in english very similar to the early modern english linguistic style of the king james version of the bible, and has since been fully or partially translated into 111. Several critics have pointed to grammatical errors in the early modern english style of the book of mormon and made the argument that because the original ms, the printers ms, and the first edition of the book of mormon appear to have contained hundreds of grammatical errors, the book was therefore fabricated by smith and not divinely inspired. In response to repeated encouragement to study the book of mormon, many have found compelling ways to examine the text more closely than in more casual readings, and in the process have found that even without access to academic resources and formal training, an open mind can be guided to eyeopening discoveries which reward the extra effort with faithstrengthening perspectives. Is anyone able to explain the writing style chiasmus which is a known hebraic style of writing which is supposedly used throughout the book of mormon. Jul 08, 2019 a number of scientific tests have been devised to examine the authenticity of the book of mormon. Why is it impossible for joseph smith to have been the.
The instances of text creation and most instances of reading texts suggest that documents were written by and for an elite class who were able to read and write. Book of mormon wordprint or word pattern studies parent page. Many of these repetitions have to do with poetic structures called parallelisms. Is the writing in the book of mormon characteristic of the. The methodological errors in thinking book of mormon locations ought to be identified today are thoroughly and insightfully addressed in a 1993 article by william hamblin, entitled basic methodological problems with the antimormon approach to the geography and archaeology of the book of mormon journal of book of mormon studies 21 spring. Generally in the first reference to a clergyman or clergywoman, you should include a capitalized title before that individuals name. The book of mormon gets the literary treatment religion. To date, the combined data from several valid stylometric studies on the book of mormon have demonstrated that it has multiple, distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself. May 23, 2017 t he book of mormon is a wholly american scripture. An informal analysis by jerald and sandra tanner of joseph smiths writing style. These writers use chiasms in practically every possible context, from passages of straight narration or argumentation to others of beautiful poetic eloquence.
Biblical scholars investigate such questions as the manuscript history. Members argue that theres no possible way joseph smith could have know or mastered such an intricate way of writing and must be a translation. Two tests which deal with writing styles have produced some largely ignored results which our critics cannot explain. This suggests that the book of mormon was translated. Nyman, great are the words of isaiah springville, ut. Therefore, the english translation of the book of mormon not surprisingly contains characteristics of hebrew.
The term chiasmus is never used, but this book clearly shows that hebrew poetic styles were recognized and studied even before joseph smiths time. Ap changes its style on the church of jesus christ of. It is the sacred text for the 15 millionstrong church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Many ancient authors contributed to the book of mormon, each with his own style.
A biblical scholar looks at the book of mormon mormons. The writing style of the book of mormon is different than the bible. There are several theories as to the origin of the book of mormon. If writing a microsoft word document, scriptural citations should be in footnotes, not included as parenthetical remarks in the text. If he copied from someone, we should see that authors writing style likewise. Jun 09, 2011 writing the book of mormon dan charness. The authors who used this device seem to have clearly understood that. The title page states that the book of mormon was written primarily to the lamanites so that they would know they are not cast off forever. The hebrew background of the book of mormon book of mormon. However, one particular type of repetition is likely a feature of the book of mormon s editing process, rather than its poetry. The golden plates, now the book of mormon, has multiple authors. Spalding\s romantic style, repeated \and it came to pass\, and \wonder tales\.
Feb 05, 2018 the methodological errors in thinking book of mormon locations ought to be identified today are thoroughly and insightfully addressed in a 1993 article by william hamblin, entitled basic methodological problems with the anti mormon approach to the geography and archaeology of the book of mormon journal of book of mormon studies 21 spring. Is anyone able to explain the writing style chiasmus which is. Although the book of mormon is composed of such literary elements as stories, poetry, symbolism, letters, archetypes, typology, and allegories, it is not just. Why is it impossible for joseph smith to have been the author. Finding doctrine and meaning in book of mormon isaiah. The hebrew background of the book of mormon book of. An analysis of style variations in the book of mormon. Can you explain the multiple writing styles in the book of. The church in 2018 began moving away from the widely recognized terms mormon church and lds church, and now prefers. Joseph could neither have written nor directly translated the. An analysis of style variations in the book of mormon glade l. Writing style of the book of mormon the writing style of the book of mormon is different than the bible. Larsen and his associates concluded that the book of mormon was written in distinct authorship styles and that none of the 19th century. Is anyone able to explain the writing style chiasmus which.
Joseph could neither have written nor directly translated. Unique literary styles in the book of mormon, further. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. Nephi described the writing system of his people as a combination of the learning of the jews and the language of the egyptians.
Stylometry can assess the similarity of writing styles among authors, but it cannot prove personal. The book of mormon is full of repeated words and phrases. Nephi described the writing system as a combination of the learning of the jews and the language of the egyptians 1 nephi 1. Part of themormon studies commons, and thereligious thought, theology and philosophy of religion commons. It is either a true record and joseph is a prophet who was called to translate it. If joseph smith wrote it then it would have just one writing style seeing how everyone has a certain writing style. No credible person can claim that joseph smith wrote the book of mormon, and it does not require a phd or a computer to prove it. There are only two options when it comes to the book of mormon. And yet it also states it was written to jew and gentile to convince them that jesus is the christ, the eternal god, manifesting himself unto all nations. Kent jackson has noted that the book of mormon is a thoroughly selfconscious book that is replete with references to it own writing see joseph smith and the historicity of the book of mormon, in historicity and the latterday saint scriptures, ed. Duke, the literary masterpiece called the book of mormon springville, ut. Weave into your history the religion of jesus christ and the pattern of christian living. Jan 03, 2011 you cant get an opinion if you dont read it. Anyway, its been proven the book of mormon has multiple writing styles, not one.
The author, john turner, quotes eran shalev as suggesting that the unique combination of the biblical form and style that the book of mormon shares with the pseudobiblical texts, as well as their distinctly american content, provide a case for seeing smiths book as meaningfully affiliated to that page 185 american mode of writing. The book of mormon pokes fun at the confidence anyone might harbor in a literal interpretation of a genesis story in this instance the tale of. If the book of mormon was written by ancient authors, we should be able to see distinct writing styles among each different. Further, writing style is not singularly specific to a person. The book of mormon lexicon or vocabulary and complexity of writing style is that of an elizabethan era scholar of the early 17th century 200 years before joseph smith. Dec 12, 2017 since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship. Leonard arrington and the writing of mormon history byu. The book of mormon is divided into smaller books, titled after the individuals named as primary authors and, in most versions, divided into chapters and verses. The most common belief of adherents is that promoted by joseph smith, who said he translated ancient golden plates inscribed by prophets. Jan 16, 2018 to date, the combined data from several valid stylometric studies on the book of mormon have demonstrated that it has multiple, distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself.
How do you reference the book of mormon in apa style answers. Smith claimed the angel moroni, a prophet in the book of mormon, directed him in the 1820s to a. I actually dealt with this topic in another answer how could joseph smith write the book of mormon. Jun 26, 2012 the rest of the book except for mormon, ether, and moroni was written by several men but abridged by mormon and thus the writing style of the original writers is intertwined with mormons writing style when he summarizes events or makes his own comments in the abridgment. The literary power of the book of mormon religious studies center.
These writers include sidney rigdon, solomon spalding, w. To argue that the book of mormon is the perfect pattern for writing sacred history in the modern day, however, would not fairly account for the serious differences between the circumstances of the book of mormon record keepers and the circumstances of modern latterday saint historians. Oct 25, 2016 our website also features a number of new articles responding to mormon arguments that claim to show positive evidences in support of the book of mormon. Moreover, previous stylometric studies have demonstrated that none of the 19th century writers usually suspected of authoring the book of mormon have writing samples that match any of its distinct styles. It is the science of identifying authorship by measuring the words and phrases a person unconsciously uses. Trey parker, matt stone and robert lopez, writers of the.
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. The king james quotations in the book of mormon, the history of the text of the book of mormon. Religious studies center, brigham young university. Since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship. Tvedtnes, specialist in near eastern studies and instructor at the brigham young universitysalt lake center. Ap changes its style on the church of jesus christ of latter. Leonard arrington and the writing of mormon history byu studies. In some countries, education is not really important. I was going through my notes when i found this paper that my trainer from my mission gave me. In 1980,8 wayne larsen, alvin rencher, and tim layton relied on three different statistical methods9 which used noncontextual words10 to distinguish writing styles among the book of mormon s internally designated authors, including nephi, alma, mormon, and moroni, as well as several 19th century candidates, including joseph smith, sidney. Here is a summary on how to treat individuals with religious titles in your text. A thousand years later, moroni recorded that his people still spoke hebrew but that the plates were being written in a script. With its approachable writing style and wealth of usable information, teachings and commentaries on the book of mormon is an invaluable resource for personal study, family instruction, speaking assignments, lesson preparation, missionary work, and more.
Previous studies have shown that the book of mormon contains multiple distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the. Elder holland speaks at book of mormon chiasmus conference. Steinberg could write about what he did yesterday and it would be glorious. James duke, for instance, has argued that repetitive resumption in the book of mormon is not just an accidental repetition that is caused by poor writing. May 03, 2008 writing style of the book of mormon the writing style of the book of mormon is different than the bible. Critics believe this supports their claim that smith knew about chiasmus, and that it may have been a characteristic of his personal writing style. These facts are not in dispute by most modern scholars of mormonism, whether they are believers or skeptics of its claim of antiquity. No book is going to teach a student how to craft a compelling, clever and concise essay. Partridge who commented on joseph smiths style of writing. Nevertheless, behind the obvious literacy, there are clues to a primary orality in nephite culture. And furthermore, with a little luck, the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon just might. This volume will change the way you read and study the book of mormon. If joseph smith wrote the book of mormon, we should be able to see his literary style across the entire book.
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