This is a followup to my article, joseph smith and the american renaissance, published in dialogue. The book of mormon is the keystone of our religion. The theory that sidney rigdon was the true author of the book of mormon first appeared in print in a february 15, 1831 article. I was amazed to read that brother washburn had a similar idea that somehow the specific words of the book of mormon were evidence of its truthfulness. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. Wordiness joseph smith claimed that the book of mormon was his translation of an ancient book written upon gold plates. This knowhy is the first in a series which discusses stylometry and its relevance to questions of book of mormon authorship. It is where i attended school, where i met my wonderful wife, and where all six of our children have attended. This analysis leads to some important conclusions in relation to book of mormon authorship. This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists. The article claims that there is no resemblance between the authors of the book of mormon and the nineteenth century authors sampled, but the case rests on usage of words such as unto, behold, yea, forth, verily, lest and nay which would all naturally be prominent in an archaic biblicaltype style, but could hardly be expected to occur with the same frequency elsewhere, even in the early nineteenth century.
Including the mormon churches conflicting results of computer analyses of the book of mormon. Holley, book of mormon authorship norwood 81 use of seer stones, and. Are the word patterns of joseph smith, oliver cowdery, or solomon spaulding measurable in the. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesautomatic writing fairmormon. I also summarized 24 pieces of evidence, pointing to sidney rigdon as a key contributor and likely mastermind for the 1830 version of the book of mormon. The first onefourth of spauldings manuscript story pp. In a coauthored article my colleagues and i employed both delta and nearest shrunken centroid nsc classification in an authorship analysis of the book of mormon jockers et al. Vernal holleys book of mormon authorship annotated. Since the book of mormon s publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship.
Book of mormonauthorship theoriesautomatic writing article 10 1989 vernal holley, book of mormon authorship. The work is immediately declared to be written in the language of my father. A closer look, nearly sixteen years ago, his ideas in regard to book of mormon structure, content, and authorship have received widespread notice both within and without the latter day saint community. Clark had circumstances permitted a marked grave for the slain prophet, a fitting headstone could have read, by joseph smith, junior, author and proprietor. When i published joseph smith and the american renaissance in dialogue in 2002, i was aware of how much. Roberts took the position of examining the book of mormon from a critical perspective in order to alert the general authorities to possible future avenues of attack by critics. Oct 27, 2019 this video discusses all of the main theories critics try and point to for alternative ways the book of mormon could be produced and how these arguments fall apart when the details are explored. Yet it is sophisticated and principled, evincing early modern english linguistic competence. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. Review of books on the book of mormon 19892011 by an authorized editor of byu scholarsarchive. View more articles from the american journal of psychology. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 75102. At least three computer analyses have been completed to date in an effort to determine who wrote the book of mormon, and whether it was a single individual or a group. Is it possible that a single author wrote the book of mormon.
Joseph smith, the book of mormon, and the american. Multiple authorship of the book of mormon because critics are determined to find any source for the book of mormon other than the one presented by believers, they generally claim that joseph either wrote the book himself or that he plagiarized the text from some other nineteenth century author. 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. Quotes joseph used a peep stone and a hat to translate most of the book of mormon. We use both methods to determine, on a chapterbychapter basis, the probability that each of seven potential authors wrote or contributed to the. Conflicting results of computer analyses of the book of mormon. Questions like these and more are addressed inmormons. Mormon writer helen hinckley jones, commenting on the authorship of the book of mormon, said. At best, one might hope to conclude from such an analysis that the chosen selections are not by the same author, but the methodology used does not exclude the possibility of multiple nineteenth century authors. It was also a journal entry from joseph smith sr wife, referring to the story told by her husband 19 years prior to the publishing of the book of mormon. This first article explains what stylometry is and gives readers a short history of stylometric studies performed on the book of mormon. Book of mormon central have done various blog posts and videos that promoted what they saw as very impressive results of this study. This video discusses all of the main theories critics try and point to for alternative ways the book of mormon could be produced and how these arguments fall apart when the details are explored. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of the.
Wilfred griggs, the book of mormon as an ancient book, in book of mormon authorship. The critical position is based on an entirely different set of assumptions than most believers are accustomed to bring. What typing the entire book of mormon taught me about its. The book of mormon does not discuss the layout of cities, the types of buildings that people lived in, or their manner of construction. Pratt as key players in the authorship of the book of. From cancer to the book of mormon and back byu magazine. It can be responsibly concluded that the book of mormons internal claims.
The book of mormon refers several times to horses and chariots, but most of the people seem to travel on foot. Terryl givens joseph smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light. From the day the book of mormon rolled off the press in 1830, those who gave it credence asserted that it obviously read like a hebrew text. Book of mormon 5,000 changes despite the claim that joseph smiths translation was by the gift and power of god, several thousand changes have been made to the book of mormon since its original printing. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. The variety of command syntax found in the book of mormon is very different from what is seen in the king james bible. Evidence for solomon spaulding authorship of the book of. Having exhausted the more bizarre and byzantine explanations of the coming forth of the book of mormon written by joseph smith, plagiarized from solomon spaulding or ethan smith, written by oliver cowdery or sidney rigdon, dictated under the spell of epileptic seizures, etc. The tree of life vision of the book of mormon is an important piece in mormon culture and the book of mormon. Hiltons methodology thus did not address a key aspect of the book of mormon authorship question. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. Byu scholarsarchive citation roper, matthew and fields, paul j. Since the appearance of holleys first edition of book of mormon authorship.
The authors of this book of mormon authorship article are three stanford university professors. The book of mormons central narrative begins with the story of lehis family fleeing jerusalem in 600 bc and emphasizes the important records they carried with them. Interestingly, the syntactic match between the 1829 text and a prominent text from the late 15th century is surprisingly good. Washburnthe contents, structure and authorship of the book of mormonwas published in 1954. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a 19thcentury translation of a record of ancient inhabitants of the american continent, which was written in a script which the book refers to as reformed egyptian. The book of mormon contains a version of the sermon on the mount, which some authors have claimed to be the achilles heel of the book of mormon.
The book of mormon contains many religious themes, most notably those of faith and doubt. Testing authorship in the personal writings of joseph. Authorship of the book of mormon is an article from the american journal of psychology, volume 30. Lets see, special revelations from god, the murder of its founder, regional expulsion and opposition by various groups, polygamy, and. Mormonism was organized as a religion after joseph smith, the movements founder, published the book of mormon in upstate new york in 1830. Welch, chiasmus in the book of mormon, in book of mormon authorship. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and.
Could joseph smith have written the book of mormon under the influence of an epileptic fit. Linguistically based assertions are frequently cited and discussed in the context of the subject of. Who they are, what they believe as a religious group, mormons are no strangers to controversy. This paper considers the systematic use of the verb command when it governs another verb, in both the 1829 book of mormon and the 1611 king james bible excluding the apocrypha.
Although the musical satirizes organized religion and the literal credibility of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, the mormons in the book of mormon are portrayed as. In a paper that they hope to publish in a major theological journal, they pointed out that certain evangelical beliefs about mormons are nothing. For latterday saints, the critical scholarly consensus that most of the book of isaiah was not authored by isaiah often presents a problem, particularly since many isaiah passages in the book of mormon are assigned postexilic dating by critical scholars. Our results suggested that several men involved in the early formation of the mormon church might have been contributors to the book of mormon. We build enduring faith in jesus christ by making the book of. Many book of mormon research projects have implications for the continuing issues surrounding the authorship of the book of mormon. Does the book of mormon exhibit evidence of divineancient origins or humanmodern origins.
What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. The book of mormon as an ancient book religious studies. The book of mormon as an ancient book religious studies center. Evidence for solomon spaulding authorship of the book of mormon. The various sets of plates mentioned contained the history of their people, and would have. This paper considers the systematic use of the verb command when it governs another verb, in both the 1829 book of mormon and the 1611. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesautomatic writing. Book of mormonthe book of mormon is a foundational sacred text for the church of jesus christ of latterday saints whose members are commonly called mormons, after the book itself. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 3352. Bad book of mormon apologetics lds church is true blog.
Testing authorship in the personal writings of joseph smith. The authors conclude that their results all strongly support multiple authorship of the book of mormon yet their whole case rests on the assumption that the frequency of occurrence of noncontextual function words is a stylistic discriminator. The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed. Matt roper and paul fields did a study on book of mormon wordprint patterns, ie computer statistical analysis of word pattern to determine authorship and other attributes of the book. The book of mormon and the king james bible wikipedia. Every writer has a style of writing just as he has his own fingerprints improvement era, nov. Archaeological trends and the book of mormon origins byu. I didnt think the conclusion they reached was justified at all, says schaalje. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. Actually, all that became obvious was the failure of both believers and unbelievers to cite much specific evidence. What command syntax tells us about book of mormon authorship.
The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed, published in 1834 by e. Pdf reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. The complicated production of the book of mormon, from its original writing by nephi, mormon, moroni, and others to its most recent editings and printings, is a human process that has been well described. Review of books on the book of mormon 19892011 volume 1number 1 article 10 1989 vernal holley, book of mormon authorship. In order to help shed light on this issue, several studies have relied upon a type of analysis called stylometry.
Some critics of the book of mormon have claimed that joseph smith wrote the book while under the influence of an epileptic fit, thus perpetuating a fraud without knowing it. Despite the book of mormon being published in 1830, its narrative attempts to employ the antiquated english style of the early modern era, as though to make it read more like the king james version of the bible published in 1611. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of. Most latterday saints are aware of a minor industry in certain religious circles in the united states devoted to refuting mormonism and to criticizing the book of mormon. Psychological tests for the authorship of the book of mormon is an article from the american journal of psychology, volume 28. The spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship is the theory that the book of mormon was plagiarized in part from an unpublished manuscript written by solomon spalding. The biostatistician didnt start out in book of mormon apologetics, but when a stanfordproduced article used a statisticalclassification method to conclude that sidney rigdon wrote the book of mormon, schaalje was irked. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesview of the hebrews. Jul 15, 2018 the tree of life vision of the book of mormon is an important piece in mormon culture and the book of mormon. The book of mormon was not started and completed in a single sitting. We build enduring faith in jesus christ by making the book of mormon accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world. Since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship.
But what makes this group distinctive and how does it differ from other christian churches. One author makes the point that certain portions of the greek manuscripts of matthew 57 do not agree with the kjv of the text, and concludes that the book of mormon version of the sermon should not contain text similar to the kjv. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship wikipedia. Archaeological trends and the book of mormon origins author john e. The book of mormons use of isaiah begins with nephis reprinting of isaiah 48, a prophetic salvo asserting the reality and purpose of predictive prophecy in isaiahs ministry. Hilton iii the need for rigorous, legitimate wordprint measurements is obvious in attempting to settle some of the most prominent controversies surrounding the book of mormon. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Royal skousen is professor of english at brigham young university and since 1988 has served as the editor of the book of mormon critical text project. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 600 bc to ad 421. Chapter viii of the manuscript story introduces the semimythical figure of lobaska. In the first essay i discussed why authorship of the book of mormon is important, how bias affects the analysis, and i critiqued some of the major authorship theories. In this article i discuss what the original manuscript of. This first article explains what stylometry is and gives readers a short history of stylometric. This field of research uses various statistical methods to detect linguistic patterns.
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