Book of mormon authorship, in book of mormon authorship revisited. How have critics responded to the stylometry study done at byu that concluded the book of mormon selections they did not resemble any suggested 19th century authors, including joseph smith. Wordprint studies on the book of mormon book of mormon. Our findings support the hypothesis that rigdon was the main architect of the book of mormon and are consistent with historical evidence suggesting that he fabricated the book. The theory of mosiah priority argues that after the loss of the original 116page manuscript, transcription continued in narrative order, beginning with mosiah and continuing to moroni. This video discusses many of the details surrounding the miraculous translation of the book of mormon and why no one has ever been able to match it. Organized in 1830, the church had recently issued february 2000 the one hundred millionth copy of the book of mormon, the volume that has been central to. Book of mormon wordprint or word pattern studies parent page. The need for rigorous, legitimate wordprint measurements is obvious in attempting to settle some of the most prominent controversies surrounding the book of mormon.
These two studies, aka book of mormon difficulties, were written in the 1920s when roberts decided to dive deep into the criticisms of the book of mormon and see if he could address some of the big issues plaguing the book. Does joseph smiths role as translator obfuscate patterns unique to ancient authors. An introduction to the relevance of and a methodology for a study of the proper names of the book of mormon. Has anybody done a word print study to see of the jesus speaking 3. Each product is designed to assist you in your responsibilities and to highlight the teachings of the book of mormon. These 10 book of mormon scripture lines verses are labeled so you know where they go are designed to be placed in the borders of your standard scriptures, wide margin book of mormon, or scripture journals.
Lee library of brigham young university under the citation hilton, j. Word print analysis can evidently be slanted pro or con, but no ones testimony of the book s truthfulness ever came from such an analysis, and never will. Since the larsen study of the book of mormon authors used common words as. However, there are over 250 places where that occurs in the 1830 edition but not in the present edition. Part of the research includes a wordprint study that attempts to show which chapters in the book of mormon were likely written by rigdon, cowdery, spalding, or parley p.
I saw a video that came from the book of mormon central team that showed a chart from the fields roper book of mormon wordprint study project. Jun 18, 2015 when i first started investigating how the book of mormon was written, i thought this theory was compelling. They come in three different versions, watercolored banner, clear banner, and no banner only words. It occurs 5717 times 20 and was used in most of the tests and results reported in the larsen study. The hilton wordprint study of the book of mormon i was pleased to find a copy of john hiltons article, on verifying wordprint studies. Mar 06, 2010 it would seem to me that your argument regarding the thickness of the plates and compressed characters is an argument against the validity of wordprint studies surrounding the book of mormon and i actually think you do have a valid point on the plates dimensions though i would leave a little room for error, ie, how much compression would.
Sep 01, 1985 it was really great to end this year on a strong note with b. I decided to just print one page at a time as needed at home for each of my children and myself. Fields roper book of mormon wordprint study general. The various books within the book of mormon differ from each other in historical.
The more familiar we became with the bible, the more questions we had concerning the book of mormon. They show that it is statistically indefensible to propose a single author of the manuscript of the book of mormon. If he copied from someone, we should see that authors writing style likewise. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies. The research is interesting, but it looks like theres a. Evidence of the truthfulness of the book of mormon lds. Many studies have investigated book of mormon authorship because the book presents itself as a composite work of many ancient authors. Statisticians at brigham young university completed a computer analysis of the book of mormon. Use of social media like facebook and twitter is increasing day by day because of digitization. A stylometric analysis of mormon scripture and related texts d. The book of mormon does not discuss the layout of cities, the types of buildings that people lived in, or their manner of construction.
If joseph smith wrote the book of mormon, we should be able to see his literary style across the entire book. I guess the study is not published yet, but they are presenting on this in a few months. The authors of this book of mormon authorship article are three stanford. Since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship. One may naturally wonder, though, if the book of mormon s diversity of style is in any way unique or impressive.
So, a word print match to ethan smith as a possible contributor would. Serious study of the book of mormon by latterday saints is flourishing today as never before. Roberts 18571933, a general authority of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church, which examine the validity of the book of mormon as a translation of an ancient american source. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a. Does wordprint prove the book of mormon is the real deal. By the end of the study it is clear that he no longer. The problem of book of mormon authorship has challenged. Call your local store to arrange free curbside pickup. If this is true, then the book of mormon should be full of errors. There are two possible explanations for the origin of the book of mormon. The hilton wordprint study of the book of mormon mormanity. For instance, the word that was listed by the larsen group as the fourth most commonly used word in the book of mormon. The spaldingrigdon theory of book o f mormon authorship is the theory that the book of mormon was plagiarized in part from an unpublished manuscript written by solomon spalding.
Of course, it could also be that josephs plagiarism lifting content from multiple authors, each with their differing writing style fingerprint, would also show differing wordprints in byus analysis. Close scrutiny of the methodology of the byu authorship study reveals several. Are the word patterns of joseph smith, oliver cowdery, or solomon spaulding measurable in the book of mormon. The book of mormon is a book of holy scripture that as you read, you will be able to feel the influence of gods holy spirit testifying of its truthfulness. The most significant structural studies of the book of mormon derive from john w. This volume features articles on hebraisms and chiasmus in the book of mormon, as well as articles discussing emendation of the text, naturalistic assumptions, wordprint analyses, variations between copies of the first edition, and more. In order to help shed light on this issue, several studies have relied upon a type of analysis called stylometry. This field of research uses various statistical methods to detect linguistic patterns.
Reynolds, editor, book of mormon authorship revisited provo. Part 3 presents textual studies that demonstrate the plausibility of the book of mormon as an ancient book, and part 4 updates scholars attempts to understand the ancient cultural and. Rencher, and tim layton published the first complete analysis of the book of mormon using the then adolescent tool of computerized stylometry, or wordprinting. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. Along with personal communication it is being used by.
Hilton is adjunct professor of statistics at brigham young university. 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. Robertss study which was published posthumously in 1985 as studies of the book of mormon. Book of mormon authorship, in book of mormon authorship. Willes center for book of mormon studies sponsored three lectures by royal skousen called 25 years of research. Ive taken a bit on an interest in wordprint studies. What do wordprint studies say about the book of mormon. Studies of the book of mormon is a collection of essays written at the beginning of the 20th century though not published until 1985 by b. Fields, a statistical analyst who holds a phd from penn state. Are the word patterns of joseph smith, oliver cowdery, or solomon spaulding measurable in the.
Those who reject joseph smiths claim that he translated the book through divine power assume that he or one of his contemporaries wrote the book. We have included many valuable products in this 2020 primary book of mormon bundle kit. Pdf online messaging provides a convenient and effective means of fast communication. We build enduring faith in jesus christ by making the book of mormon accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world. Jump up hilton, byu studies, on verifying word print studies, 101. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies kindle. The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed sic, published in 1834 by e.
Mormon apologists will immediately recognize this as the counterpart to the socalled book of mormon challenge. His team used the earliest available book of mormon manuscripts, rather than the current edited version. Much of the new evidence offered as authentication of the book of mormon as a genuinely ancient document hebraisms, poetry, antithetical parallelism, chiasmus, wordprints can be valid only if the book of mormon is a literal translation which faithfully preserves the literary forms and word patterns of the original authors. Book of mormon free lds clipart lds clipart, book of mormon. If you read the book you can clearly see that this is not the case. Linguistic anachronisms in the book of mormon are words that represent concepts. Latterday saints have from their beginning believed that a series of miracles led to the coming forth of the book of mormon. In this article i discuss what the original manuscript of. How many nephites the book of mormon at the bar of demography. John gilberts 1892 account of the 1830 printing of the book. Wordprint studies of the book of mormon fairmormon. Since the book of mormon s publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship. 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. Oct 30, 2015 february 26, 20 in early 20, our laura f.
The narrative of zosimus history of the rechabites and the book of mormon. Roberts was struggling and searching for ways to justify the inconsistencies found in the book of mormon. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies kindle edition by various authors. Is it possible that a single author wrote the book of mormon. Are the word patterns of joseph smith, oliver cowdery. Were miracles required to print the first edition of the book of mormon. Fortunately the book of mormon is a nearideal document for such objective wordprint studies, provided the measurement is made correctly. Book of mormon wordprints reexamined a look at the byu study. In essence, the challenge states that the critic should produce a text of like character to the book of mormon, before he assumes that smith could have been the sole author.
Mormon word print measurements using wraparound block counting. Authorship verification is a task of verifying whether an unknown text is written by a suspect or not. Brigham d madsen available for the first time fifty years after the authors death, studies of the book of mormon presents this respected church leaders investigation into mormonisms founding scripture. Ive read a number of the wordprint studies, so i responded to it. 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. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. Among those evidences was a reference to wordprints.
Mormon apologists claim that this book was written so the brethren would know the weaknesses of the book of mormon. Mar 01, 2012 can you tell me when this book was published year and place. If you are sensitive to the holy spirit, he can tell you the truth of all things through honest and sincere study and prayer. Can wordprinting show that different sections of the book of mormon were written by different authors.
While wordprint studies help us recognize that different authors did indeed write the various strands within the book of mormon, they tell us little about what the various authors unique subjects may have been as found in their recorded words. Mormon heretic march 6, 2010 antimormon, apologetics, book of mormon, historicity, mormon 79 comments. Book of mormon authorship reynolds 1997, hilton claims that he has overcome most of crofts objections to the larsenrencher study. As it turned out, we began to encounter problems in the book of mormon which made it increasingly difficult to continue in the course we had planned. Since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of. John gilberts 1892 account of the 1830 printing of the book of mormon. Essays on latterday saint history and doctrine in honor of richard lloyd anderson. Pdf reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. Pdf authorship verification of email and tweet messages. If the book of mormon was written by ancient authors, we should be able to see distinct writing styles among each different author. He had served as a professor at the university of california at berkeley. Pdf authorship verification of online messages for. Then, someone moved into our ward who owns a print shop.
Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies deseret book. Hilton describes the young science of wordprinting, which is used to prove or disprove authorship, presenting its history, purposes, and development. This study of this is called analyzing word patterns, wordprinting or stylometry. This chapter is reprinted by permission, with slight alteration for clarification. The internal complexity of the book of mormon is often cited as a strong indication of multiple authorship. You could start here a click away from the bom wordprint studies mentioned on. Im not a statistician or an expert in word print studies, so my studies will need to be validated by an expert. It is the science of identifying authorship by measuring the words and phrases a person unconsciously uses. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Book of mormon authorship the encyclopedia of mormonism. Book of mormon authorship on the web, as printed in byu studies, 30 summer 1990.
The many writings reportedly abridged by mormon are intricately interwoven and often expressly identified see plates and records in the book of mormon. He and i didnt hit it off he was intent on pushing a spauldingrigdon hypothesis for book of mormon authorship, however tenuous the data may be, and i am totally confident in the, at least primarily, ancient origins of the book of mormon, but i was able to listen a little and get a little better perspective on the work he was involved with. In another post, there was a challenge to explain away a number of evidences of the book of mormon. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. Evidence that the book of mormon, while good to have, is not the essential thing that will convert mankind to its truthfulness, or to the person the book of mormon is bearing witness of. All the wordprint studies, understanding of olive culture, or reading of chiasmus will not convert anyone to a life of.
We use cookies we use cookies to give you the best possible experience. A pdf of the printer s manuscript of the book of mormon. About a year ago, i put together a database, splitting up the book of mormon electronic text, and spent some time doing computer wordprint analysis. Could joseph smith have written the book of mormon. Farms, the foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, was recently renamed the maxwell institute for religious scholarship and. Byu studies quarterly volume 30issue 3 article 15 711990 on verifying wordprint studies. Many book of mormon research projects have implications for the continuing issues surrounding the authorship of the book of mormon. Go behind the printing of the first edition of the book of mormon. The initial book of mormon wordprint studies were carried out by larsen, rencher, and layton. However, as i will discuss in the companion essay, studies prior to 2008 were not designed in a way that would enable a fair assessment of the spaldingrigdon theory.
It is either of divine or human origin, and if it is of human origin that means that joseph smith concocted the book. Structural studies have identified an artistic literary form, chiasmus, that appears in rich diversity in both the bible and the book of mormon see book of mormon literature. The evidence for ancient origins, edited by noel b. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1997, chapter 9. The original and printers manuscript book of mormon lecture. The book of mormon refers several times to horses and chariots, but most of the people seem to travel on foot. 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. A printing history of the book of mormon 101 the year 2000 marked an important event in the publishing history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. We have taken this into consideration in our study by in.
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