Posted in Book of Mormon Evidence Problems Scholarship Science

An Update, Barely, on Barley

A Dec. 23, 2019 news release from Washington University in St. Louis reports new research results about the “lost crops” of North America that could have been more productive than…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Bible Book of Mormon Evidence Temple

A Christmas Surprise: An Ancient Jewish Temple at the Same Time as Solomon’s Temple

The Dec. 23 newsletter from the Biblical Archaeology Society surprised me with a report about  another ancient Jewish temple outside of Jerusalem. See “A Rival to Solomon’s Temple” by Marek…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Books Evidence history Origins Scholarship Scripture

A Breakthrough in Understanding the Book of Mormon: Don Bradley’s Brilliant Sleuthing on the Lost 116 Pages (or Lost 400 Pages!)

Don Bradley’s new book, The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon’s Missing Stories (Draper, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 2019), is something I’ve been looking forward to for many…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Books freedom Social Issues Society

Review of Dr. David Charles Gore’s The Voice of the People: A Valuable Approach to Dealing with Political Divides

David Charles Gore, The Voice of the People: Political Rhetoric in the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2019). 227 pages. As one interested but perpetually disappointed…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Book of Mormon Evidence language Origins Problems

Romancing the Rio Wreck: Evidence for Ancient Transoceanic Contact in the Americas vs. a Romantic Notion of Peer Review

As a Ph.D. linguist providing his peer-review of Brian Stubbs’ work on linguistic evidence of ancient Old World contact with the Americas as evidence by the Uto-Aztecan language family, Dr….

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

John S. Robertson Offers Strong Support for Brian Stubbs

Recently Brian Stubbs, a leading and widely respected expert on the Uto-Aztecan language family, provided a guest post with his detailed response to a harshly critical review of his work…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Problems Translation

Feeling Blue About the Red Sea in the Book of Mormon?

Criticism about the Book of Mormon’s references to the Red Sea came up in some recent comments, so I thought I’d share a couple of perspectives that might be helpful…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Bible Book of Mormon Evidence Origins Scholarship Scripture

The Book of Mormon’s Ties to the Northern Kingdom of Israel: New Research from Dr. Richley Crapo

One of the more novel arguments I’ve seen against the Book of Mormon was the graduate work of Kyle Beshears, “Davidic References in the Book of Mormon as Evidence Against…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Critics General Leadership Scripture Social Issues The Church

Rethinking Enemies

One of the challenges for me as I gradually prepare to return to the United States, after my eight years in China, is the animosity here. Too many people treat…

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Posted in Bible Book of Mormon Restoration Resurrection Scholarship

The Book of Mormon’s Interesting Uses of Isaiah 25:8, “Death Swallowed Up”

There’s no question that the Book of Mormon has great intertextuality with the Bible, frequently drawing upon its language to convey its stories and concepts in familiar sacred language. The…

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