Posted in Ancient Near East Antiquity Book of Mormon Egyptian Evidence Hebrew language Mesoamerica Scholarship

Guest Post from Brian Stubbs: A Response to Chris Rogers’ “A Review of the Afro-Asiatic: Uto-Aztecan Proposal” in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

I’m pleased to offer an important guest post from Brian Stubbs, one of the world’s leading experts in Uto-Aztecan languages and a scholar whom I deeply respect for his insights…

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Is There Direct Evidence that the Early Saints Had Heard of Champollion?

In previous posts (here and here) on the Book of Abraham and in my article for The Interpreter, I have noted that newspapers and other sources in the United States…

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John Gee’s Troubling Review of the Joseph Smith Papers Volume on the Book of Abraham

Update, Aug. 29, 2019: There has been an important and welcome update to John Gee’s recent article, “The Joseph Smith Papers Project Stumbles,” at The Interpreter that clarifies and to…

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There May Be Far More Earthlike Planets Than We Imagined

A Hubble photo of interacting galaxies from NASA.gov. As one looks at the endless fog of stars dotting our galaxy and countless other galaxies, it’s easy to believe that there…

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The Making of a Myth: A Possible Explanation for the Mysterious Ignorance of Champollion (Among Scholars)

I’ve been puzzled several times by the mysterious ignorance of Champollion in the early nineteenth century — not among ordinary Americans of that day, but among modern scholars writing about…

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Posted in Book of Abraham Egyptian language Origins Scholarship Translation

Royal Skousen’s Interesting Theory on the Book of Abraham and Its Relationship to the Papyri

A reader raised an interesting question after reading Dr. Royal Skousen’s C.V. at BYU, where he mentions a theory he is exploring that has not yet been published. Under the…

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Ignoring Christian Refugees from Iraq

While many people seem to think that the US has liberated Iraq, first from Saddam Hussein and then from the Islamic State, for the Assyrian Christian community in Iraq, one…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Evidence Hebrew Origins Scholarship Translation

Ifs, Ands, or Buts: A Reminder on the Origins of the Book of Mormon

In a past Maxwell Institute publication, Daniel Peterson made a great point about the nature of the language in the Book of Mormon that seems to defy theories of Joseph…

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Posted in Book of Abraham Critics Scripture

A Few Reasons Why Hugh Nibley Is Still Relevant for Book of Abraham Scholarship

I’m grateful to the Interpreter Foundation for publishing my lengthy, controversial, and painful (at least to me) article reviewing the Joseph Smith Papers’ volume on the Book of Abraham, a…

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BOA Facs. 1
Posted in Book of Abraham history Scripture

The Twin BOA Manuscripts: A Window into Creation of the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language?

While I believe there is significant evidence showing that the twin manuscripts (Manuscript A and Manuscript B) of the Book of Abraham do not represent live dictation from Joseph Smith…

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