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

Possible Benefits of the Broad Early Modern English Elements in the Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon as dictated by Joseph Smith contains a wide spectrum of Early Modern English (EModE) elements that distinguish it from the language of the King James Bible…

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Posted in Arabian Peninsula Book of Mormon Evidence Race Scripture

Recent Discoveries and Advances Published by Interpreter, Part 1

If you aren’t following the journal Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, you may have missed some discoveries and advances in understanding our scriptures that could be…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Antiquity Book of Mormon Evidence Hebrew language Scholarship Scripture Translation

An Update in the Scholarship Regarding the Archaic Language in the Book of Mormon

One of the most interesting puzzles about the Book of Mormon is the recent discovery that much of the language is archaic in ways not easily explained by imitating the…

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Posted in Doctrine Doctrine and Covenants Revelation Scholarship Scripture Translation

It Depends on What the Meaning of “It” Is: Reconsidering the “Burning in the Bosom” and “Studying It Out” in Doctrine & Covenants 9

For years many of us have read about the “burning in the bosom” in Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-9 and interpreted it to mean that Oliver Cowdery, in a failed attempt…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Evidence Translation

Another Surprise in the Dictated Language of the Book of Mormon

For those of you following the surprising findings regarding the language of the Book of Mormon as originally dictated by Joseph Smith, there’s a new set of data to consider…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Evidence language Scholarship Translation

The FAIRMormon Conference: Dealing with Data on the Language of the Book of Mormon

FAIRMormon had its annual conference recently. Transcripts of some of the talks will be available soon, but I recommend watching the presentations by paying for video access. I got up…

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Posted in Uncategorized

Another Test: The 1835 Doctrine and Covenants Use of Command Syntax and What It Tells Us About the Language in the Book of Mormon

In a recent post examining the language of the Doctrine and Covenants, I found that the Early Modern English style of using “did” for past tense, such a common feature…

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Posted in Uncategorized

An Old Story Gets a New Face: The Seer Stone and the Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon

Photo of the long-discussed seer stone used by Joseph Smith. What’s interesting news for many Latter-day Saints is, for some of our critics, simply earth-shattering and hopely faith-shattering for benighted…

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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 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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