Category: Evidence
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…
The New Hauglid and Jensen Podcast from the Maxwell Institute: A Window into the Personal Views of the Editors of the JSP Volume on the Book of Abraham
The Maxwell Institute recently revamped their website after roughly a week of downtime, introducing dramatic changes (and some painful losses). The new website currently gives pride of place to a…
Moses Stuart or Joshua Seixas? Exploring the Influence of Hebrew Study on the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language
Update, June 16, 2019: After searching in many places (Hebrew texts, Masonic literature, and sources on ciphers and scripts) for alternate sources for the archaic Hebrew letter beth that W.W….
Sights from a Trip to Israel and Jordan
One of the advantages of working in China is having long national holidays like the Chinese New Year, making it easier to take interesting trips to other lands. There’s a…
John 8 and the Woman Taken in Adultery: A Faith Promoting Fabrication?
For years I’ve had a question mark in my mind over John 8:1-11 with its beautiful and inspiring story of Christ’s merciful treatment of the woman taken in adultery. The…
The Smoking Gun for Joseph’s Translation of the Book of Abraham, or Copied Manuscripts from an Existing Translation?
Thanks to the Joseph Smith Papers website and its section on the Book of Abraham, we can explore in detail the surviving manuscripts related to production and translation of the…
Do the Kirtland Egyptian Papers Prove the Book of Abraham Was Translated from a Handful of Characters? See for Yourself!
In a small but highly valuable and colorful book on the Book of Abraham, John Gee’s A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and…
The Elephantine in the Room
Location of Elephantine on the Upper Nile, courtesy of Wikipedia’s article, “Elephantine.” Over 2,400 years ago there was an active community of Jewish immigrants living on the island of Elephantine…
Friendly Fire from BYU: Opening Old Book of Abraham Wounds Without the First Aid
Note: Since the Maxwell Institute launched another revision of their website, it appears that most links to their past material are broken, including the link to their own video of…
A Surprising Non-LDS Witness of the Plates: Lucy Harris
We commonly think of Lucy Harris as a hostile critic who opposed the Church and the Book of Mormon and may have been the cause for the disappearance of the…
