Book of Mormon Evidences, Part 4 explores evidence that we can find directly in the text of the Book of Mormon, especially the earliest text as dictated by Joseph Smith. Such features include evidence of numerous Old World word plays in the original text, still discernible from the English translation; plausible ancient names not found in the Bible; Hebraic-influenced phraseology (Hebraisms), and archaic Early Modern English elements in the dictated English that cannot be reasonably explained as Joseph's own grammar or merely imitating KJV language. This is some of the most basic, direct and accessible evidence that demands attention and explanation for those who wish to explain away the Book of Mormon as merely a 19th-century fabrication. This page is a continuation of Book of Mormon Evidences, Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. This collection is maintained by Jeff Lindsay, a Book of Mormon aficionado, who takes full responsibility for the statements and opinions offered on this page. This page is neither sponsored nor endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Mormanity is my LDS blog, in operation since 2004. Numerous Book of Mormon issues have been discussed there. Also see Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, Book of Mormon Central, FairMormon.org, etc.
You can order a free Book of Mormon at ComeuntoChrist.org.
Parts of Jeff Lindsay's Book of Mormon Evidences material has been translated into Spanish: see Evidencias del Libro de Mormon by Marco Royo.
Much more to come. More can be found in Part One, including the dramatic evidence from the Arabian Peninsula for Book of Mormon plausibility. Also see Part Two which has evidence from Book of Mormon poetry (chiasmus), cement, olive culture, wars in winter, etc., and Part Three dealing with further evidences such as gardens, towers, temples, markets, and Laban's treasury.
The great challenge for critics of the Book of Mormon is to provide some kind of plausible explanation for how the text was generated. To date, all efforts of this kind fail to account for the details of the text and what we know of its generation.
What is needed to account for the Book of Mormon? One could argue that the witnesses of the gold plates present one of the first great challenges to the critics. But even if we overlook the significant problem of how to convince multiple witnesses of the gold plates to remain true to their witness to the end of their lives, even after parting ways with the Church, and even if we ignore their consistent and persistent testimony and the intricate, plausible details found in their accounts (e.g., the use of D-shaped rings, the size and weight of the plates, etc.), we are still left with the reality of a text that was "translated" in plain sight of multiple witnesses at a remarkable, even miraculous pace with no hint of any visible manuscript to read from, not even a Bible. Thus, we have a second set of witnesses: in addition to the witnesses of the gold plates, we have witnesses of the translation process. Most of these overlap, of course, but there is at least one non-LDS witness who observed the translation taking place. What we learn from the witnesses of the translation must be taken into account, and this presents further significant hurdles for those who want to claim, for example, that Joseph relied on a text written by someone else, or that a committee of experts helped him draft it.
The eye witnesses of the translation reported that Joseph dictated the text of the Book of Mormon by looking at a seerstone or Urim and Thummim, typically placed in a hat to exclude outside light, and that Joseph had no manuscript or book to refer to. In addition to those human witnesses, though, we may also count the original manuscript itself as a witness, for its intricate details of handwriting, spelling, breaks and pauses, and corrected errors tell a plain story that corroborates what the human witnesses said.
Detailed analysis of the original manuscript (what survives of it) shows that the account of the scribes and the witnesses is accurate: the generation of the manuscript was an oral process, with Joseph dictating a few words at a time to scribes who wrote what they heard spoken. Sometimes they heard the words incorrectly and wrote down a similar sounding word, only to scratch it out or otherwise correct it on the manuscript when the context became clear and the mistake was recognized. It is obvious the creation of the text was based on oral dictation, not just typesetting a carefully drafted mystery manuscript written by or copied from a text from someone else.
The original manuscript also has a glaring "defect": no punctuation, apart from indications where major new sections began. This lack of punctuation has long been noted as being consistent with ancient Semitic writing. If translated from a document lacking punctuation, it makes sense that the punctuation needed in the translation would have to be added after the basic translation was completed. This lack of punctuation was one of the first things about the original manuscript that LDS scholars have recognized as intrinsic evidence for plausibility of the Book of Mormon as an ancient text or even a divinely inspired. But there is much more.
Some of the most important evidence for evaluating the divinity or falsity of the Book of Mormon has been right before our eyes ever since it was published. I am not referring to evidence supporting, say, ancient migrations to the New World or geographical details in the Arabian Peninsula that support the Book of Mormon text. I'm referring to evidence much more intrinsic to the translated text as dictated by Joseph Smith. In addition to the evidence from the many witnesses of the plates and the witnesses of the translation process, this evidence found on the pages of the text itself gives us important clues about the nature of translation. This evidence falls into several categories, and reflects gradual discoveries over the decades. This text-based evidence that I'm aware of includes:
Most of this essay will focus on Category D, which is an area of active research and discovery among some LDS scholars at the moment and an area I've been exploring as well, but I'll briefly survey the first 3 categories and provide references for further study.
First, though, let's recall who Joseph Smith was and what his biblical and literary skills likely were when he commenced translation of the Book of Mormon. He was a relatively unschooled and unlearned farm boy without abundant books nor with social circles among the literati of his day. As for his knowledge of the Bible, consider these remarks from Daniel C. Peterson, offered at the "2015 Exploring the Complexities in the English Language of the Book of Mormon" conference sponsored by the Interpreter Foundation. He makes this as concluding remarks on a video following a presentation from Dr. Nick Frederick, starting at about 35:45 into the video:
The dictation process occurred, based on testimony from multiple witnesses, as Joseph looked into a hat and dictated what he saw or sensed someone as he stared at a seer stone. This was done without notes, without a manuscript, and without a Bible to flip through. Yet there is marvelous intertextuality with the Bible through the Book of Mormon, in addition to many chapters of Isaiah that are fully quoted, but often with subtle and sometime highly interesting differences suggestive of ancient origins or a command of Hebrew, and not merely Joseph reciting anything from memory. The fact that so much of the language and the text of the KJV has been incorporated without owning or using a Bible, as far as we can tell, suggests something truly magnificent was happening in this dictation process. That is just the begining of the dazzling issues we have before us as we open our eyes to the miracles in plain sight before us in the Book of Mormon.Joseph Smith's mother Lucy Mack Smith described him at eighteen years of age as "A boy who had never read the Bible through in his life. He seemed much less inclined to perusal of books than any of the rest of our children, but far more given to meditation and deep study." There is certainly nothing in her description of him to suggest the level of master of the King James biblical text required for the intertextual influences sketched by Dr. Frederick.
In an August 1842 interview with David Nye White, the editor of the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, Joseph recalled the circumstances leading up to his first vision. "I opened the testament promiscuously on these words in James," he said, whereupon he cited the familiar passage James 1:5. Promiscuously here is used in its early and original sense of, as the Oxford English Dictionary says, "demonstrating or implying an undiscriminating or unselective approach, indiscriminate or casual." Again, there is nothing to suggest that the young Joseph Smith was steeped in the King James Bible through long and careful study of it.
Alexander Neibaur's journal for 24 May 1844 reports Joseph telling Brother Neibaur that during the spiritual excitement preceding the First Vision, "His mother and brother and sister got religion, he wanted to get religion too, wanted to feel and shout like the rest, but could feel nothing. Opened his Bible and first passage that struck him was James 1:5."
Joseph Smith commenced his dictation of the Book of Mormon on approximately the 7th of April 1829, completing it by or before the 1st of July 1829. He did this in Harmony, Pennsylvania, and Fayette, New York, away from his family and from the family Bible. It was in October 1829 that Joseph and Oliver Cowdery bought a large pulpit-sized edition of the King James Version of the Bible from E. B. Grandin's bookstore in Palmyra. That edition had been published in Cooperstown, New York, in the previous year. Again, the notion that Joseph was a learned master of the King James Bible during the period of dictation for the Book of Mormon lacks support in the historical sources. Yet the English text of the Book of Mormon reveals just such mastery. I freely admit that I couldn't have created such a document myself. Accordingly, unless someone can show me otherwise, I see a major challenge here for those who would dismiss the Book of Mormon as the shallow and hasty creation of a glib frontier con man.
The text of the Book of Mormon shows remarkable internal consistency at many levels. The story lines, sometimes quite complex, fit together intelligently, without contradiction, though the various authors recognize the possibility of human error in their writings. (The one internal difficulty I'm aware of appears to actually be a non-issue: a reference to Mosiah when Benjamin, his son, may have been intended. The text was later changed to "correct" the apparent error, but it appears the original is plausible and need not have been changed.) The geography implicit in the Book of Mormon--"Mormon's map" as John Sorenson has called it--is self-consistent, though it is a matter od debate where that map should be located on the globe. Many locations have been proposed (Baja California, Florida, the entire Western Hemisphere, the Eastern United States and even Malaysia), but most LDS scholars are reaching the consensus that the only plausible location that means basic requirements of the text must be Mesoamerica, and even then as we seek to correlate specific rivers, lakes, valleys, mountains, and archaeological sites with Mormon's map there are two or three candidate models being developed and much more work to be done. The intricate internal consistency of the text in terms of geography has been highlighted by John Sorenson in his Mesoamerican-oriented model, first in his An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon and most recently and completely in Mormon's Codex: An Ancient American Book. Some LDS people advocate a "Heartland Model" based on the United States being the location of the Book of Mormon's New World scenes, but this fails on many counts to fit the requirements of the text (e.g., the text requires a major river, the River Sidon, to flow north, something that cannot fit the Heartland Model's use of the Mississippi River).
In addition to consistency in story line and geography, the actual language of the Book of Mormon demonstrates surprising consistency. This was noted in his chapter "Textual Consistency" in Reexploring the Book of Mormon: A Decade of New Research, ed. John W. Welch (1992).
Even more remarkable are the extensive, intricate consistencies within the Book of Mormon. Passages tie together precisely and accurately though separated from each other by hundreds of pages of text and dictated weeks apart. Here are four striking examples:The impressive thing about these two passages (separated by hundreds of pages) is that they were translated independently by Joseph Smith. It is highly unlikely that Joseph Smith asked Oliver Cowdery to read back to him what he had translated earlier so that he could get the quote exactly the same. If that had happened, Oliver Cowdery would undoubtedly have questioned him and lost faith in the translation.
- In Alma 36, Alma recounts the story of his conversion. In describing the joy he experienced and the desire that his soul then felt to be with God, Alma thought of Lehi's experience: "Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God" (Alma 36:22). These words in Alma 36 are not merely a loose recollection of the scriptural record of Lehi's vision. There are twenty-one words here that are quoted verbatim from 1 Nephi 1, which states that Lehi "thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God" (1 Nephi 1:8). Obviously, Alma is directly quoting from the record of Lehi's vision in which he learned of the impending destruction of Jerusalem. It makes sense that Alma would have known these words, since he had charge of the Small Plates of Nephi (see Alma 37:2), which contained this sentence.
These sacred words identifying the Savior evidently became important in Nephite worship after they were revealed through Benjamin. Samuel the Lamanite would have had the opportunity to learn these words through the ministry of Nephi and Lehi among the Lamanites (see Helaman 5:50), for the words of Benjamin were especially important to Lehi and Nephi. Their father, Helaman, had charged them in particular to "remember, remember, my sons, the words which King Benjamin spake unto his people" (Helaman 5:9). Nephi and Lehi likely used the precise words of King Benjamin in their preaching, just as their father had quoted to them some of the words of Benjamin: "Remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ" (Helaman 5:9; compare Mosiah 3:18; 4:8).
- Another example comes from Helaman 14:12. There Samuel the Lamanite spoke of the coming of Christ, so that the people in the city of Zarahemla "might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning." The twenty-one words in italic appear to be standard Nephite religious terminology derived from the words given to Benjamin by an angel from God: "He shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning" (Mosiah 3:8).
- Another example is found in the account of the destructions in 3 Nephi 8:6-23, fulfilling the prophecy of Zenos preserved in 1 Nephi 19:11-12. The ancient prophet foretold that there would be thunderings and lightnings, tempests, fire and smoke, a vapor of darkness, the earth opening, mountains being carried up, rocks rending, and the earth groaning. The fulfillment of his prophecy is recorded hundreds of years (and pages) later. Third Nephi 8 expressly speaks of the same list: tempests, thunderings and lightnings, fire, earth being carried up to become a mountain, whirlwinds, the earth quaking and breaking up, rocks being rent, a vapor of darkness, and the people groaning. Apparently, one of the reasons that Mormon gave such a full account was to document the complete fulfillment of that prophecy of Zenos.
- Early in Book of Mormon history, King Benjamin set forth a five-part legal series prohibiting (1) murder, (2) plunder, (3) theft, (4) adultery, and (5) any manner of wickedness. This five-part list, which first appears in Mosiah 2:13, uniformly reappears seven other times in the Book of Mormon (see Mosiah 29:36; Alma 23:3; 30:10; Helaman 3:14; 6:23; 7:21; and Ether 8:16). Apparently the Nephites viewed Benjamin's set of laws as setting a formulaic precedent.
One of the most interesting developments in the Book of Mormon has been the application of computerized statistical techniques to compare subtle but measurable details in the writing styles of authors to distinguish one author from another. This statistical technique is normally called "stylometry" but the term "wordprint" has often been used, as if the unique aspects of one's writings can define a stylistic fingerprint of sort. Given the variably in how people write depending on subject matter and other factors, a precise measurable fingerprint is a pipe dream, but statistical analysis can nevertheless help to differentiate authors and test hypotheses, when certain conditions can be met (e.g., large blocks of text available, etc.). The field of stylometry has been somewhat controversial but has become a useful and interesting tool in some cases. However, it can be easily misapplied, so much caution is required and careful defining and testing of assumptions. Sloppy techniques can easily give any desired result.
An excellent introduction to the issue of Book of Mormon "wordprint" analysis is found in Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins, edited by Noel Reynolds (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1997). A chapter on wordprint (stylometry) analysis of the Book of Mormon is "On Verifying Wordprint Studies: Book of Mormon Authorship" by Dr. John L. Hilton. Also see John Hilton, "On Verifying Wordprint Studies: Book of Mormon Authorship," BYU Studies, vol. 30 (Summer 1990): 89-108. Hilton's work has significant merit and deserves a little more attention in the Church, in my opinion. Hilton appears to have been extremely thorough. He concludes:
By using a new wordprint measuring methodology which has been verified, we show that it is statistically indefensible to propose Joseph Smith or Oliver Cowdery or Solomon Spaulding as the author of the 30,000 words from the Book of Mormon manuscript texts attributed to Nephi and Alma. Additionally these two Book of Mormon writers have wordprints unique to themselves and measure statistically independent from each other in the same fashion that other uncontested authors do. Therefore, the Book of Mormon measures multiauthored, with authorship consistent to its own internal claims. These results are obtained even though the writings of Nephi and Alma were "translated" by Joseph Smith. We also described control studies of modern language academic translations where, in practice, a single translator can consistently preserve the unique wordprints of the several original authors he has translated.
Since publication of Hilton's study, there have been efforts to refute his conclusions and show that Joseph Smith or Sidney Rigdon may have been the authors of the Book of Mormon. For details on what these authors did and what serious errors affect their work, and for the latest contribution on wordprint analysis, see "Stylometric Analyses of the Book of Mormon: A Short History" by G. Bruce Schaalje, Matthew Roper, and Paul Fields, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture, vol. 21, no. 1 (2012), pp. 28-45. This article examines the major wordprint studies that have been conducted and explores some of their limitations, while also exposing the gaping flaws in a recent stylometry study that claimed to show evidence that the Book of Mormon was the result of fraud, with Sidney Rigdon as mastermind. There is strong evidence that Joseph Smith was not the author of the Book of Mormon, and neither was Sidney Rigdon nor Oliver Cowdery. Who then, was the author? Why, Somebody Else, of course. Or several somebodies.
Related posts on Mormanity:
See Matthew L. Bowen, "'Swearing by Their Everlasting Maker': Some Notes on Paanchi and Giddianhi," Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 28 (2018): 155-170. Abstract:
This brief article explores Paanchi and Giddianhi as names evidencing the Egyptian onomastic element –anchi/anhi/ʿnḫ(i) and the potential literary significance of these two names in the context of Mormon's narrative detailing the formation of the oath-bound secret combinations sworn with oath-formulae upon one's "life" (cf. Egyptian ʿnḫ, "life"; "live"; "swear an oath [by one's life]"). It also explores the implications for Mormon's telling of Nephite history during his own time.Wordplay involving the place name Shilom and the Hebrew word for peace See Matthew L. Bowen, "'Possess the Land in Peace': Zeniff's Ironic Wordplay on Shilom," Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 28 (2018): 115-120. Abstract:
The toponym Shilom likely derives from the Semitic/Hebrew root š-l-m, whence also the similar-sounding word šālôm, "peace," derives. The first mention of the toponym Shilom in Zeniff's record -- an older account than the surrounding material and an autobiography -- occurs in Mosiah 9:6 in parallel with Zeniff's mention of his intention to "possess the land in peace" (Mosiah 9:5). The language and text structure of Mosiah 9:5-6 thus suggest a deliberate wordplay on Shilom in terms of šālôm. Zeniff uses the name Shilom as a point of irony throughout his brief royal record to emphasize a tenuous and often absent peace between his people and the Lamanites.Wordplay involving the names Melchizedek and Salem In a comment on an article at Interpreter, Matthew Bowen makes this observation:
Alma the Younger, in his preaching at Ammonihah, clearly employs a wordplay on Melchizedek in terms of m-l-k ("king"/"reign," Alma 13:17-18) and z-d-q ("righteousness," vs. wickedness, etc., Alma 13:10, 17) and Salem in terms of š-l-m ("peace," Alma 13:18), without offering interpretive glossing formulas for the names (e.g., "which is by interpretation). A Hebrew-speaking/literate people would not need them. In other words, he is addressing a Nephite audience and clearly assumes that they know the Hebrew meaning of the names Melchizedek and Salem (Shalem). This takes place several generations after Zeniff's time.
*z-d-q = ṣ-d-q
The Power and Puzzle of Mistakes, Or, A Dictated Text that Is Smarter Than Joseph
Some of the most intriguing evidences of authenticity in the Book of Mormon comes from the many mistakes and blunders found in it. Seriously. This comes in part from the historic trend of ridiculous blunders in 1830 later being found to be plausible or even powerful evidences of authenticity. This is true, for example, of the "blunder" of naming the land of Jerusalem rather than Bethlehem itself as the birthplace of Christ in Alma 7:15, or the silly and surely fatal route across the Arabian Peninsula that Lehi and his family take in their journey to the New World.
Ancient texts from Israel now affirm that Bethlehem was known to be part of the "land of Jerusalem," a term not found in the Bible. Extensive data also now supports the plausibility of Lehi's Trail, as described by Nephi.
Let me raise a few points on the "blunder" of Lehi's Trail experienced by Lehi's family. Instead of encountering the endless sand dunes that "everyone knows" are there, they find a surprise river in a deep valley near the Red Sea, then find fertile regions as they travel south-southeast, then find a place called by Nahom where they bury a family member, and where they are able to turn nearly due east and reach the east coast, finding a truly surprising and utterly ridiculous green and abundant place called Bountiful. This whole journey has been harshly criticized by our critics, including those wielding Ph.D.s from illustrious Ivy League schools in articulate attacks in the past few years. Yes, ridiculous is the only word to describe the River Laman (a river in Arabia? what?), the route across the desert, the place Nahom, and especially the place Bountiful -- all entirely ludicrous UNTIL recent field work by some LDS explorers and archaeological work by a non-LDS team confirmed the accuracy of these details. The route has become plausible. Excellent candidates in plausible locations have been found for the River Laman and the Valley Lemuel, the south-southeast trail, the place Nahom (hard archaeological and anthropological evidence!), and the place Bountiful, with the leading candidate meeting all 12 criteria for the place that can be extracted from the text in 1 Nephi. This is a dramatic reversal, in which one of the most glaring weaknesses of the Book of Mormon has become one of its most profound and impressive strengths, a strength that the critics rush to ignore, offering at best deceitful minimization (e.g., "all the Mormons have is three little letters on some altars, NHM, that someone found somewhere in Arabia-- letters that can be found all over the world! Big deal!"). Nahom is much more than that, and the evidences from Lehi's Trail collectively is vastly more than Nahom and would be impressive even if we had nothing in support of Nahom itself.
Many other forms of mistakes in the Book of Mormon support its authenticity. This includes strange mistakes in the text that Joseph felt a need to correct in his role as editor. One of these was the mistake of having Captain Moroni waive the "rent of his garment" in creating the Title of Liberty. A rent, like hole, is not something one can waive in English. This bad English had to be corrected, but it's actually good Hebrew, a language where rents can be waived, as the Book of Mormon text originally stated. It's a "mistake" that points to the Hebraic roots of the text.
The Book of Mormon and Golden "Or"
In addition to apparent errors in the English, there are also apparent errors made by Mormon in the engraving of the text on metal. These errors, when noted, were not erased (gold plates lack a delete key and even modern white-out doesn't work well on gold). Rather, it appears that Mormon made the corrections by interjecting "or" followed by the correction. It's a fascinating subtlety that points to the realities of writing on gold plates, not to the editorial work of someone with paper and pen. Key resources on this topic:
The Miraculous Dictation of the Book of Mormon
One of the fascinating things about the Book of Mormon is its manner of production. Detailed analysis of the original manuscript by Royal Skousen and others shows extensive evidence that the text really was produced by a steady stream of dictation to scribes. And that dictated text, as it fell from Joseph's lips, was "smarter" than Joseph, meaning that it was more Hebraic and more self-consistent than it would be after he reviewed and edited the text. For example, due to errors made by scribes, it appears that the Amlicites of Alma chapter 3 became written as "Amalekites" later in the text, and this error persisted through Joseph's editing. The scribal errors that led to this mistake, arising from the challenges of writing and spelling spoken foreign names, are natural and understandable. Now correcting "Amalekites" back to Amlicites greatly enhances the internal consistency of the Book of Mormon. The foreshadowing in Alma 3 with the Amlicites now makes sense, and the rise of the hardened Amalekites later in the text is not so confusing. It's one of many cases where the dictated text was "smarter" than the men who edited and printed it. See "Alma's Enemies: The Case of the Lamanites, Amlicites, and Mysterious Amalekites" by J. Christopher Conkling. For the detailed scholarship of Royal Skousen, see "Toward a Critical Edition of the Book of Mormon" by Royal Skousen and also "Critical Methodology and the Text of the Book of Mormon."
The Strange Language of Dictation and the Significance of Extensive Early Modern English
Some of the most interesting and puzzling evidence, though, only became generally available to us after one scholar devoted years to reconstructing, as much as possible, the original text as it was dictated by Joseph Smith to his scribes. Thanks to meticulous work of Dr. Cleon Skousen of BYU, we now have a manuscript that restores the many examples of apparently bad grammar and awkward expressions that editors, including the publisher of the 1830 edition and Joseph Smith himself and other Church leaders in later editions. With the definitive Original Text (Yale edition) of the Book of Mormon, we are in a much better position to evaluate details of the language Joseph dictated to his scribes.
Much of the non-standard, awkward grammar in the Book of Mormon as dictated by Joseph turns out to be characteristic of Early Modern English (EModE) several decades before the King James Bible was written. This puzzling discovery was first made by Dr. Royal Skousen, the man whose lifetime of work in pursuing the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project has resulted in the Earliest Text of the Book of Mormon, giving us the arguably best available estimate of what Joseph dictated to his scribes.
EModE can be said to begin around 1470 and to extend to perhaps 1670 or so. The KJV, first published in 1611, fits squarely in this period, yet has some distinct differences from the EModE of earlier decades. Finding EModE elements that pre-date KJV English or that do not occur in the KJV was not driven by an apologetic agenda, but was a completely counterintuitive and controversial find that was simply driven by the data. Apologetic arguments have evolved, but the case for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon in no way depends upon them. If the language of the Book of Mormon as dictated by Joseph Smith was standard Yankee dialect or just Joseph's own bad grammar, as many of us have long assumed, that fits the idea of revelation being given to people in their own tongue and language. It's quite a paradigm shift to consider that the language Joseph was dictating might not just be his own language loosely draped in KJV verbiage but often reflected some kind of tight linguistic control to yield archaic scriptural language that was surprisingly standard or acceptable in an era slightly before the KJV was translated. Why and how is still a matter for speculation and debate. But the data is there and demands to be considered, explored, and tested.
One man taking up that challenge is a linguist, Dr. Stanford Carmack, who has further explored the strange occurrence of archaic EModE from several angles in great detail. Carmack more fully demonstrates that the Book of Mormon provides extensive and accurate EModE usage and grammar in ways that cannot be explained by copying the KJV. Such laughable blunders as "in them days," "I had smote," and "they was yet wroth" turn out to be consistent with EModE patterns. The analysis shows that much of what we thought was bad grammar is quite acceptable EMoDE, sometimes showing a sophisticated mastery of EModE.
The findings are puzzling indeed, but his work is rich with facts and data that again demand attention. The many articles Dr. Carmack has contributed to Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship are worthy of note. I am especially impressed with the broad information and analysis presented in his "A Look at Some 'Nonstandard' Book of Mormon Grammar," which I just re-read today after doing a two-hour seminar in Shanghai last week on the topic of the subjunctive mood in English grammar (the crazy things I get involved with here!). Digging into some of the mysteries of the English subjunctive prepared me to much better appreciate some of the powerful points Carmack makes in that work. His analysis deserves much more attention and contemplation.
Royal Skousen and Carmack Stanford feel strongly that the abundance of EModE elements in the BOM is evidence of divine tight control in text somehow given to Joseph Smith to dictate, and that it is perhaps a fingerprint of divine origins in the text. However, some skeptics have wondered if it can be explained by residual EModE influence in Joseph's dialect of English. Some of the "hick language" found in regional dialects preserves elements of English that have long since become obsolete in modern English, so such a thing could be possible to some degree.
I think Carmack and Skousen would argue that the level of EModE is so strong and often so appropriate to the 1500s that it would be hard for so many elements to survive in the United States. But I feel we need more work to analyze regional dialects that could have influenced Joseph Smith to see if the strange characteristics of the language in the earliest text could be explained as a natural result of Joseph naturally expressing revealed concepts in his own language.
A natural language hypothesis can be consistent with either a fabricated text or a divinely transmitted text based on real ancient writings on golden plates. Indeed, a translation process using Joseph's own language and dialect, complete with bad grammar and other linguistic warts, is what some faithful LDS thinkers have long assumed. But Carmack and Skousen offer a surprisingly different explanation for the flaws in the original text: not bad grammar, but a divinely transmitted English text with heavy dose of reasonably good Early Modern English provided with the consistency, subtlety, variety, sophistication, and naturalness of an native EModE speaker, making the linguistic fingerprint of the Book of Mormon impossible to explain as a derivative of the KJV, though it also draws heavily upon that text. If BOM language is not simply the language of the KJV, could it be in part the language of Joseph's local dialect, or is something more miraculous required?
There She Be: One Possible Test for New England Dialect
To explore the hypothesis that Joseph's own regional dialect simply preserved EModE elements in ways that can account for all or much of the original text of the BOM, some additional tests are needed. While the Book of Mormon was dictated in upstate New York, it's reasonable to assume that New England dialect may have been a strong influence in Joseph's language. He was born in Vermont and lived there until age 8, and continued to be raised by his thoroughly New Englander parents, with a father from New Hampshire and a mother from Vermont.
In searching for information on New England dialect, I found an interesting study that may be useful in framing a test that can differentiate the influence of New England dialect from EModE on some non-standard elements in the original text of the Book of Mormon. The reference is Adrian Pable and Radoslaw Dylewski, "Invariant Be in New England Folk Speech: Colonial and Postcolonial Evidence," American Speech, Vol. 82, No. 2 (2007)151-184 (a full text PDF is available).
Pable and Dylewski explore a widely recognized feature of New England dialect, the tendency to use the finite "be" in indicative cases that would normally require conjugated forms like "is" or "are" in standard modern English. For the third person plural, both New England dialect and EModE sometimes use finite be, as in "they be there." But a distinguishing feature is the use of invariant befor the third person singular indicative, as in "he be here", a pattern which is well known in New England dialect but not characteristic of EModE. New England dialect also shows first and second person singular invariant be in indicative cases, beginning apparently early in the eighteenth century and unattested in the seventeen century, apparently sprouting up in the United States, diverging from Early Modern English and the English of England:
Based on the evidence at our disposal, we feel justified to claim that by the late seventeenth century, be in colonial varieties of English was diffusing to grammatical contexts typical of postcolonial New England folk speech, but atypical of Early Modern British English, namely to the first- and second-person singular context. It may well be that the questions just cited constitute the earliest "American" attestations of nonsubjunctive be with the singular. The historical dictionaries of American English offer no analogous attestations of be dating back to the seventeenth century. The earliest reference work featuring singular indicative be in a declarative clause is the Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles (1938–44), which quotes from Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana, published in 1702: "I been't afraid! I thank God I been't afraid!"
Interestingly, the New Englanders using be as a singular indicative form (i.e., Ann Carr-Putnam, the magistrates John Hathorne/Jonathan Corwin, Cotton Mather) were all American-born, which underpins the "domestic origin" hypothesis of singular indicative be.
Postcolonial and Early-twentieth-century New England. While invariant be in colonial American English has not yet been studied in any systematic way, grammarians and dialectologists devoted some attention to it once it had become recurrent in the speech of the "common people" living in a particular area. In fact, a social and regional connotation inherent in be was noticed by contemporary observers already at the end of the eighteenth century—in Noah Webster's (1789) Dissertations on the English Language, he included be as a typical feature of "the common discourse of the New England yeomanry": "The verb be, in the indicative, present tense, which Lowth observes is almost obsolete in England, is still used after the ancient manner, I be, we be, you be, they be" (385).
Grammarians writing in the first decades of the nineteenth century also commented on the regional concentration of invariant be usage. Thus, John Pickering wrote in his 1816 Vocabulary that finite be "was formerly much used in New England instead of am and are, in phrases of this kind: Be you ready? Be you going? I be, &c" (46). In his English Grammar, Samuel Kirkham (1834, 206), in a chapter dedicated to "provincialisms," cited two examples of be supposedly typical of "New England or New York," with be appearing in independent direct statements ("I be goin"; "the keows be gone"); Kirkham also adduced examples of be as a main verb in direct questions and short answers—as Pickering had done ("Be you from Berkshire?" "I be")—and cited the negative form ("You bain't from the Jarseys, be ye?"). In Kirkham's opinion, the latter three cases represented only "New England" usage.
(pp. 167-168)
The collocation there be/they be for 'there/they is/are' was not recorded as occurring in the speech of any LANE informants [LANE is the Linguistic Atlas of New England]. Notably, map 678 of the Atlas investigates the existential clause on the basis of the construction There are a lot of people who think so. As it turns out, Type I informants [less educated descendants of old local families, whose speech might best preserve old forms from New England's preindustrial era] were reported to have said They's many folks think(s) so and There's many folks think(s) so, not They/there be many folks . . . , probably because contraction between the existential and the copula is always possible (i.e., grammatical), irrespective of whether the context is singular or plural (i.e., they's, they're, and there's). Thus, plural existentials in postcolonial nonstandard varieties of English no longer find themselves in syntactically "strong" contexts. (p. 170)
On the whole, however, be in postcolonial New England folk speech does not seem to have been a form associated with the "old" subjunctive of Early Modern English but was primarily an indicative form (i.e., occurring respectively in direct questions and sentence-finally). (p. 172)
Atwood (1953, 27) confirms that informants using be as part of their sociolect in LANE belonged exclusively to the "Type I" category, that is, those born in the mid-nineteenth century, which suggests that be had become a relic form, no longer actively used by informants born in the first decades of the twentieth century. In fact, some field-workers of LANE noticed that the expressions How be ye? and . . . than I be were associated with "humorous usage" by younger speakers, which seems to indicate that such phrases were sociolinguistically marked in the 1930s and may have served for stereotyping.There is no shortage of humorous grammar, at least for modern ears, in the earliest text of the Book of Mormon, much of which has been cleaned up and standardized. Funny-sounding first- and second-person forms of invariant be might just the thing to look for.
When Sir Gareth saw that torch-light he cried on high: Whether thou be lord or lady, giant or champion, I take no force so that I may have harbour this night; and if it so be that I must needs fight, spare me not to-morn when I have rested me, for both I and mine horse be weary.Here a subjunctive mood in "if it so be" seems to be maintained in "I and mine horse be weary." On the other hand, this could just be an old plural form of the verb and not a subjunctive, so a few further examples will be shown where I think the subjunctive is intended. First, though, note that the spelling has been modernized. The original spelling of this passage, for purposes of comparison, follows:
whan sir Gareth sawe that torche lyghte he cryed on hyhe whether thou be lord or lady gyaunt or champyon I take no force so that I may haue herberowe this nyghte / & yf hit so be that I must nedes fyghte / spare me not to morne when I haue restyd me for bothe I and myn hors ben weryOther examples from Morte Darthur:
Sir knight, said the page, here be within this castle thirty ladies, and all they be widows, for here is a knight that waiteth daily upon this castle, and his name is the brown knight without pity, and he is the most perilous knight that now liveth. [Original spelling here]Here is an example from Chaucer's "The Tale of Melibius" (section 25, p. 213):
And if so be that he be a wedded man, …
By my head, said Sir Gawaine, if it be so, that the good knight be so sore hurt, it is great damage and pity to all this land
Sir, said she, ye must make good cheer, and if ye be such a knight as it is said ye be, I shall tell you more to-morn by prime of the day. [This is also an example of mixing ye and you in the same sentence, as happens in the Book of Mormon.]
…so be it that thou be not he I will lightly accord with thee,…
And eek, if it so be that it be inpossible, or may nat goodly be parfourned or kept.Another comes from his "Complaint to My Lode-Sterre":
Whether it be that I be nigh or ferre, ....This "persistent subjunctive" sense continues to occur in the Book of Mormon, frequently in cases where today we might prefer to use indicative or a modal verb + be in the second phrase, or even lose the subjunctive mood entirely. Examples:
And behold, I prepare you against these things; for how be it, ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea and the winds which have gone forth and the floods which shall come….Note also the switch from you to ye in the same sentence, a characteristic often found in EModE, as Carmack has shown.
Notwithstanding I will assay him better, how be it I am most beholding to him of any earthly man, for he hath had great labour for my love, and passed many a dangerous passage.Le Morte Darthur, Book 7, Chapter 7:
That may be, said the black knight, how be it as ye say that he be no man of worship,…
First, how be it that our saide souveraigne lorde, as a prince enclined to shew his mercy and pite [pity] to his subgettes [subjects], raither then rigure and straitenesse of his lawes, pardonned of late to his saide rebelles all tresons and felones, trespasses and offences committed and doon by theym ayeinst [against] his highenese afore the fest of Cristenraes last past, trusting that therby he shuld have coraged, caused, and induced theym from that tyme furthe to have been of good, kynd, and lovyng demeaning [loving demeanor] ayeinst his highenesse ; yit [yet] they unnaturally and unkyndly, withoute cause or occacion yeven [given] to theym by our saide soveraigne lorde, falsly compassed, conspired, and ymagened [imagined, perhaps meaning plotted] the final destruccion of his most roiall personne, and of his true subgettes taking parte with him in assisting his highnesse, …Is he saying, "How could it be that our prince, after forgiving rebellious subjects and showing them great kindness, was the subject of a conspiracy to overthrow him?" I'm not sure. Be that as it may, I still see the two instances of interrogatory "how be it" in the Book of Mormon as more modern English and not from EModE or even from the KJV.
Further resources to consider:
Supplementary evidences will also be provided as "Book of Mormon Nuggets." Current offerings:
My answers to common questions about Book of Mormon evidence--including archaeological disputes, geography, and a brief mention of DNA studies. It's one of my LDSFAQ pages. Other related LDSFAQ pages include Questions About Alleged Problems in the Text, Questions About Plants and Animals in the Book of Mormon, Questions about Plagiarism (was it based on works of Ethan Smith, Shakespeare, the King James Bible, or perhaps even Tolkien?), Questions About Changes in the Book of Mormon, and Questions About Metals in the Book of Mormon.
My Turn--tough questions I'd like to ask of our critics for a change.
Book of Mormon Nuggets - my compilation of tidbits and gems supporting this page.
What's new at JeffLindsay.com?
Introduction to the Book of Mormon--my page.
2 Nephi 12 and the Septuagint: Evidence for Fraud or Authenticity in the Book of Mormon?--my work from July 2001, including the tentative discovery of paired tricola in the Book of Mormon as another authentic Hebrew poetical form that Joseph would have been unlikely to fabricate--after all, it wasn't recognized yet in his day.
Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon
The Remnant of Joseph--A FARMS publication showing that usage of this phrase provides textual evidence for authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Metal Plates and the Book of Mormon
The Arabian Bountiful Discovered? Evidence for Nephi's Bountiful by Warren P. Aston. This is related to chapter one of the remarkable book, In the Footsteps of Lehi by Warren P. Aston and Michaela K. Aston (Deseret Book Comp., Salt Lake City, UT, 1994). This confirmed ancient location and place name matches the Book of Mormon text remarkably well. The burden is on the critics to explain how Joseph Smith could possibly have fabricated the account about Nahom and the journey in the Arabian peninsula described in First Nephi. Forget your gripes about the word "adieu" or your offense at the use of King James language. Here's a specific place and a confirmed place name that adds irresistible credibility to First Nephi. Critics, the ball is in your court and--oops! You missed. Another ace for Joseph Smith.
Joseph's Prophecy of Moses and Aaron--a short article by John Tvedtnes showing that other ancient texts support the Book of Mormon's citation of a prophecy from the ancient prophet Joseph about the future coming of Moses and Aaron. (See 2 Nephi 3:9-10,17.)
Book of Mormon Resources, a blog by Kirk Magleby explores many cutting-edge topics related to the Book of Mormon. Magleby also provides excellent geographical information, with detailed maps and analysis of satellite images, in support of Mesoamerica as the setting of the Book of Mormon, but challenging the details proposed by Dr. John Sorenson. Relying on related work of Richard Hauck and others, Magleby argues that we do not need to rotate the north-south axis as Sorenson does, and seeks to resolve several other problems. Two major differences of interest: (1) are that Magleby sees the "narrow neck of land" not as an isthmus but as a narrow passable region along the western coast that served as the major pathway connecting the north and south regions of Book of Mormon lands, and (2) Magleby sees the Usamacinta River as the River Sidon, in contrast to the nearby Grijalva River which is Sorenson's choice. These two differences lead to many differences in identifying specific sites, but of course, both are in Mesoamerica.
English in the Book of Mormon by Kirk Magleby. I am not yet ready to call a winner and need to study these issues much more. Further data and investigation from candidate sites will also be helpful.Speaking of Book of Mormon geography, the Poulsen Model is one that may help resolve some of the weaknesses of Sorenson's model while still keeping major features such as the River Grijalva, which has several merits over the Usamacinta River candidate for Sidon.
"Kaqchikel Chronicles" - Kirk Magleby's discussion of numerous interesting parallels to the Book of Mormon found in The Kaqchikel Chronicles: The Definitive Edition, with translation and exegesis by Judith M. Maxwell and Robert M. Hill II (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006). That book is a 771 page compilation of mytho-historical narratives from highland Guatemala. The largest text in the collection, the Xajil Chronicle aka Anales de los Xahil, was written in Kaqchikel, a Mayan dialect, using Latin characters by Francisco Hernandez Arana Xajila in 1571. He was copying from an earlier indigenous and probably pictorial source no longer extant. A Spanish translation of Anales de los Xahil at Google Books is available. One important parallel not mentioned by Magleby occurs on the opening pages at the bottom of page 3 and top of page 4, as mentioned in my next note below.
Warren Aston, "Did the Nephites Remember Bountiful?" in Meridian Magazine, 2011. A somewhat speculative exploration of possible links between Mesoamerican lore and the place Bountiful in the Arabian Peninsula, with a focus on the Mayan name Tulan. For more on the Tulan/Bountiful connection, see "Tulan Means Bountiful" by Edwin W. Wooley. Among other things, these articles refer to a statement from early Mesoamericans encountered by the Spaniards suggesting that they had a tradition of an ancient transoceanic voyage that began "from the Place of Abundance." See pages 3 & 4 of Anales de los Xahil at Google Books (in Spanish).
Kerry A. Shirts' "Mormonism Researched" Pages--archived.
Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum-lots of information on Book of Mormon geography. Excellent resource.
Special report on Royal Skousen's Critical Text Project - an issue of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies in 2002 dedicated to reports on a monumental work of scholarship to help us better understand the original manuscripts of the Book of Mormon translation, from which we can learn a great deal.
Pre-Columbian Transoceanic Contacts: The Present State of the Evidence by Stephen C. Jett, presented at the NEARA ABC Plus Ten conference, Waltham, Massachusetts, 2002, formerly at NEARA.org (New England Antiquities Research Association), now archived.
Too Good To Be True: Questionable Archaeology and the Book of Mormon by Brant Gardner. Good rebuttal of a "faith promoting" stories based on fraudulent artifacts to support particular theories for Book of Mormon geography (e.g., a geography based in North America).
Ancient American--this magazine explores the archaeology of the Americas before Columbus, frequently offering evidence for transoceanic contact from the Old World. One recent issue (Vol. 4, No. 30), for example, has a cover story about a recent find in Illinois showing that Hebrews were on this continent 2000 years ago.
The Tanners' Response (??) to the Arabian Geography in the Book of Mormon --Scott Pierson's valuable page on a topic that's got the critics nervous.
Finding Cumorah of the Final Battles - a Book of Mormon page devoted to understanding the significance of a Mesoamerican site, Cerro Vejia, as a candidate for the Hill Cumorah, for example. Many essays from Jerry Ainsworth.
The Sultanate of Oman: Ministry of Information-- includes a photogallery with some beautiful photos that show some of the remarkable scenes related to candidates for Bountiful. Click on "Gallery" and then "Tourism."
FAIR Wiki: The Book of Mormon and Old World Geography
Response to the Smithsonian Institution's 1996 Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon--Deals with the many sloppy statements made by a department at the normally quite reputable Smithsonian Institution--but made without the benefit of adequate scholarship about either Mesoamerica or the Book of Mormon. The Smithsonian Statement is embarrassingly out of date and needs significant revision. Many issues are covered, including transoceanic voyaging and allegedly missing items such as silk.
The Scholars Archive at BYU, which includes such gems as "Reformed Egyptian" by Bill Hamblin. Includes journals such as Journal of Book of Mormon Studies.
Curse of the Cocaine Mummies--transcript of the 1997 Discovery Channel documentary showing strong evidence of ancient transoceanic trade between the Old and New Worlds.
Where Did Nephi Build the Ship?"--an excellent article by Maurine and Scot Proctor about their journey to Wadi Sayq, a possible location for Bountiful in the Arabian Peninsula. Includes new photographs.
LDSFAQ Index: Answers to Frequent Questions
Arabia and The Book of Mormon--Cooper Johnson's excellent article at FairMormon.org, reviewing a presentation by S. Kent Brown.
Archaeology and the Book of Mormon--a brief article by Michael Ash at the FairMormon.org Website. This compares Biblical and Book of Mormon archaeology, and what we can learn from both.
Latter-day Saints and the Covenant Framework of the Gospel:
An Ancient Perspective Restored--one of my recent pages that gives some insight into the ancient origins of the Book of Mormon.
Lehi in the Desert--further discussion of the remarkable evidences for the Book of Mormon from the Arabian Peninsula, one of several essays at ComeToZarahemla.org.
1 Nephi 18 and Nephi's Ship in Step By Step in the Book of Mormon, which discusses ancient shipbuilding and related topics.
Ancient Scripts--A marvelous collection of information on scripts of the ancient world. Be sure to look at the page on Mesoamerican Scripts. (There were about 15 different scripts in use in Mesoamerica, many known only from a single inscription.) The recently discovered Mesoamerican La Mojarra Script from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is a reminder of how little we know about Mesoamerica and how fast our understanding is changing!
Where Did Nephi Build His Ship? - by Rex Jensen, an article at Latter-day.com, illustrating additional evidence supporting Wadi Sayq as a candidate for the Bountiful site from which Nephi sailed.
Russell Anderson's Book of Mormon Page--includes discussion of a variety of evidences, including computer analysis of writing styles.
John Sorenson's book, Mormon's Codex: An Ancient American Book, contains extensive information on the Mesoamerican setting of the Book of Mormon. See the text from his presentation, "Reading Mormon's Codex" from the FairMormon 2012 Conference.
Elden Watson's Book of Mormon Translation Timeline - a tool for better understanding the translation of the Book of Mormon and its relation to LDS history. This includes a discussion of the reasons for understanding that the small plates of Nephi with the books of 1 Nephi through Omni were translated at the end of the Book of Mormon translation process, not right after the 116 pages were lost. The "Small Plates Last Theory" is useful in understanding several details of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, though it's an advanced topic and probably of no interest to people just beginning to explore the Book of Mormon.
An important contribution relevant to the Book of Mormon is Brian Stubbs' work exploring Hebrew and Egyptian elements in Uto-Aztecan languages. See his 2015 overview, "Excerpts from the 400-page book Exploring the Explanatory Power of Egyptian and Semitic in Uto-Aztecan." Stubbs provides compelling evidence that Semitic influence has occurred. His earlier preliminary work includes "Looking Over vs. Overlooking Native American Languages: Let's Void the Void," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring 1996, pp. 1-49. Also see Videos of Brian Stubbs lecturing on linguistic parallels between ancient Hebrew and the Uto-Aztecan language family in the Americas.
Some Archaeological Outliers (Ohio State)
The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone--another controversial find that may be authentic. See the Wikipedia article as well.
The Newark, Ohio Decalogue Stone and Keystone Interesting but controversial: are these stones with ancient Hebrew writing further evidence of ancient Jewish contact with the New World? The author provides helpful analysis of the finds.
"Book of Mormon Witnesses" by Richard L. Anderson. This talk is also at Archive.org.
"Once More: The Horse" by John L. Sorenson in Reexploring the Book of Mormon. Explores the issue of horses in the Book of Mormon.
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Mormon Scholarship, Apologetics, and Evangelical Neglect: Losing the Battle and Not Knowing It? - the famous 1997 presentation by two evangelicals warning about the strong intellectual position being developed by Mormon apologists. Further analysis based on the paper of Mosser and Owen has been provided by Justin Hart in "Winning the Battle and Not Knowing It" in Meridian Magazine (ldsmag.com), an article with several follow-on parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
An Introduction to the Church - by Jeff Lindsay.
Mounting Evidence for the Book of Mormon--an article in the Ensign by Daniel C. Peterson.
The Golden Era of Mesoamerica--archived article by Steven Jones, showing interesting Mesoamerican parallels with 4th Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
Quetzalcoatl, the Maya Maize God, and Jesus Christ--Diane Wirth's detailed analysis of the possible connections between Quetzalcoatl and Jesus Christ in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2002.
"Viracocha: Christ among the Ancient Peruvians?" - an article from Scott Hoyt in BYU Studies (vol. 54, no. 1, 2015) that explores the possibility that an ancient Peruvian legend could refer to a visit from the Messiah to that people.LDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls, a video program from BYU TV exploring what scholars have to say about the impact of the Book of Mormon on LDS viewpoints. Also see "The Book of Mormon and the Dead Sea Scrolls" by Stephen Ricks. Finally, there is an archived collection of chapters from or related to the book, LDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Book of Mormon Language--useful discussion the languages that may have been used by Book of Mormon writers, including a short discussion of Hebraisms.
On NAHOM/NHM by S. Kent Brown.
Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon--Richard Grant's useful compilation of information on Hebraic language structures that survived the translation process, providing added evidence that the Book of Mormon had ancient Semitic roots that Joseph Smith could not have fabricated.
Hebrew Names in the Book of Mormon--a scholarly paper presented by John Tvedtnes to an international body of scholars in Jerusalem, 2001.
The Book of Mormon Onomasticon - an extensive tool from BYU showing possible ancient language connections for Book of Mormon names.
Simile Curses in the Ancient Near East, Old Testament, and Book of Mormon by Mark J. Morrise.
Arise From the Dust (formerly Mormanity) - my Latter-day Saint blog.
Enallage in the Book of Mormon by Kevin L. Barney - exploring another Hebraic feature of the Book of Mormon text.
A video in Spanish discusses the city Samabaj/Sambaj under Lake Atitlan. Also see "Underwater Archaeology and the Book of Mormon in Sorenson's Mormon's Codex by Matthew Roper (Sept. 2013) and John Sorenson's article on "The Submergence of the City of Jerusalem in the Land of Nephi." A scholarly report on the find is also available in Spanish. Wikipedia's article on Lake Atitlan reports that "Several Mayan archaeological sites have been found at the lake. Sambaj, located approximately 55 feet below the current lake level, appears to be from at least the pre-classic period. There are remains of multiple groups of buildings, including one particular group of large buildings that are believed to be the city center. A second site, Chiutinamit, where the remains of a city were found, was discovered by local fishermen who "noticed what appeared to be a city underwater." During consequent investigations, pottery shards were recovered from the site by divers, which enabled the dating of the site to the late pre-classic period (600 B.C. - 250 A.D.)." Interesting.
Jewish Festivals in the Book of Mormon by Kerry Shirts.
Directions in the Book of Mormon - an approach from Lawrence Poulsen. Also see his discussion of the River Sidon and the Land of Zarahemla. He correlates Sidon with the River Grijalva.
"The Book of Mormon - Artifact or Artifice?" by Orson Scott Card.
AncientAmerica.org - dedicated to exploring relationships between ancient America and the Book of Mormon.
Surviving Jaredite Names in Mesoamerica - an article by Bruce Warren.
"What is the Significance of Zelph in the Study of Book of Mormon Geography?" - an important essay by Ken Godfrey on a story that has caused unjustified confusion over Book of Mormon geography. Understand what we actually know and don't know from this unusual incident.
The Mormon Temple and Free Masonry: Is It Plagiarized?
The Book of Mormon and Mesoamerican Archeology by Jon Daniels, prepared while a student at Standford, 2001. Also available at BookofMormonFacts.com.
Slide presentation: Book of Mormon and Mesoamerica
Evidencias del Libro de Mormon - portions of this page translated to Spanish, on a blog by Marco Royo of Spain.
"Mirador - Lost City of the Mayans" - good reminder of how little we know about Mesoamerica and how much remains unexplored.
About my logo at the top of this page (my amateur design): The stone box is from ancient Mexico. The Mayan codex, the bearded Mesoamerican statue and the Mesoamerican panel were photographed in Mexico City's National Anthropology Museum by Jeff Lindsay, March 2006. The volcano image is the Mexican volcano Popocatepetl and comes from the public images of the US government, from the USGS Cascades Observatory. The section showing Nahom and Bountiful comes from a US satellite image of the Arabian Peninsula that I have recolored, drawn upon, and labeled.
"Was Joseph Smith Guilty of Plagiarism?" by John Tvedtnes.
Brant Gardner's massive and scholarly Multidimensional Commentary of the Book of Mormon (archived) is one of the best resources for digging into the text and better appreciating the power of this book. Also a great resource for preparing lessons. You can also buy the books at Amazon, starting with Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, First Nephi.
"Arabia's Hidden Valley: A Unique Habitat in Dhofar Captures Arabia's Past" by Warren P. Aston in the March 2013 issue of Wildlife Middle East, a secular article offering photos and other information about this leading candidate for ancient Bountiful. The homepage for the newsletter is https://www.wmenews.com/newsletters.php.
Travels in Araboa: The Search for Khor Khofot Wadi - blog post with great photos from a visit to Wadi Sayq.
The Nauvoo Times--Orson Scott Card's online LDS magazine supported by a mix of LDS writers, including yours truly.
Ryan Nilson's page of Book of Mormon Evidences.
Curator: Jeff Lindsay , Contact:
Last Updated: Jan. 21, 2019
URL: "https://www.jefflindsay.com/BMEvidences3.shtml"