Posted in Ancient Near East Arabia Arabian Peninsula Book of Mormon Evidence Hebrew Translation

The Straight and Narrow Path, the Rod, the Spacious Field, and the White Fruit: Further Thoughts on Lehi’s Dream

Not to beat a dead Nephite horse, but I’d like to say a few more things about Lehi’s dream and the lessons learned through exploring hypermodern theories of modern fabrication…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Book of Moses Hebrew literature Scripture

The Chain that Veils: A Word Play in Moses 7:26?

As I’ll explain in more detail in the near future, an important verse in considering possible connections between the ancient brass plates and the Book of Moses is found in…

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Book of Mormon cover
Posted in Book of Mormon chiasmus dust Evidence language poetry

Dusting Off a Famous Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, Alma 36

Executive Summary In exploring Noel Reynolds’ hypothesis that some material in the Book of Moses may have been present on the brass plates that Nephi used, I wondered if Nephi…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Book of Mormon Hebrew language wordplays

Possible Hebrew Wordplay in 2 Nephi 1:23?

(Taken from a post recently published at The Nauvoo Times.) Recently in “The Strength of Moses,” I explored an interesting theory from Noel Reynolds about the relationship between the Book…

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Posted in Book of Mormon language Problems Translation

An Embarrassment . . . of Riches in the Book of Mormon Text–And a Surprise from “Them Days”

When I first opened up my newly purchased blue-bound volume from Royal Skousen containing the details of the surviving original text of the Book of Mormon, I was immediately disappointed….

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Posted in Apologetics Book of Mormon Early Modern English Evidence language Scholarship Translation

Update on Early Modern English in the Book of Mormon: One Potential Test to Identify the Possible Influence of New England Dialect on the Dictated Text

Executive Summary: I remain impressed with the detailed, data-rich work of Carmack and Skousen regarding Early Modern English (EModE) influence in the original text of the Book of Mormon. However,…

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Posted in Apologetics Book of Mormon Evidence language Origins Scholarship Translation

The Increasingly Strange Text of the Book of Mormon

Stanford Carmack’s series of four articles at the Mormon Interpreter provide a large body of detailed data pointing to something strange, increasingly strange, in the Book of Mormon: the grammatical…

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Posted in Book of Mormon language Scholarship Translation

New Podcast with Stanford Carmack on Textual Analysis of the Book of Mormon

Over on the FAIRMormon blog, you can listen to “Syntax and Book of Mormon Authorship – Interview with Stanford Carmack.” This new podcast lets Stanford share more about the strong…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Hebrew language Problems Translation

Joseph Smith’s Hick Language in the Original Book of Mormon Manuscript: Divine Irony?

Executive Summary Skousen’s study of the first Book of Mormon manuscripts found evidence that the awkward grammar often displayed Semitic influence or, in some cases, came from Early Modern English,…

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Posted in Book of Abraham language Prophets Scholarship Scripture Translation

LDS.org Offers “Gospel Topics” Section on the Historicity and Translation of the Book of Abraham

Among the growing body of helpful and carefully researched topics discussed in the “Gospel Topics” section of the LDS.org website, the Church has recently provided a statement that addresses some…

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