The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (softcover missionary edition)

According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Latter Day Saint denominations, the Book of Mormon is a 19th century translation of a historical record of the inhabitants of the American continents, part of which was written in a script which the book refers to as "reformed Egyptian." The introduction to the modern LDS edition of Book of Mormon reads: Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1672x2204, 566 KB) Summary photo by user Ricardo630 The Book of Mormon English Missionary Edition Soft Cover The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Book of Mormon Metadata This... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1672x2204, 566 KB) Summary photo by user Ricardo630 The Book of Mormon English Missionary Edition Soft Cover The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Book of Mormon Metadata This... The Book of Mormon[1] is one of the sacred texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, regarded by Latter Day Saints as divinely revealed, and named after the prophet–historian Mormon who, according to the text, compiled most of the book. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... It has been suggested that Senior Missionaries be merged into this article or section. ... The Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the largest attraction in the citys Temple Square. ... The Latter Day Saint movement (a subset of Restorationism) is a group of religious denominations and adherents who follow at least some of the teachings and revelations of Joseph Smith, Jr. ... The Book of Mormon[1] is one of the sacred texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, regarded by Latter Day Saints as divinely revealed, and named after the prophet–historian Mormon who, according to the text, compiled most of the book. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... According to the Book of Mormon, this scripture of the Latter Day Saint movement was originally written in reformed Egyptian characters[1] on plates of ore[2] by prophets living in the Western Hemisphere between 600 B.C. and A.D. 421. ...

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in ca. 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they were the principal ancestors of the American Indians.^[1]

Both critics and proponents of the Book of Mormon have used linguistic methods to analyze the text. Proponents claim to have discovered stylistic forms that Joseph Smith and contemporaries are unlikely to have known about, as well as similarities to Egyptian and Hebrew. Critics of the Book of Mormon have pointed out places where the language could be anachronistic. Joseph Smith, Jr. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Look up Anachronism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Chiasmus

Chiasmus is a form of rhetorical parallelism wherein key ideas familiar to the reader are inverted, usually to make a point. It is found in the Bible and other ancient Middle Eastern poetry; for example, Genesis 9:6: Chiasmus (latinized form of Greek χιασμός, from χίασμα (chiasm), crossing) is a figure of speech based on inverted parallelism. ...

Whoever sheds the blood of man,

by man shall his blood be shed.

Chiasmus is also prominent in modern poetry and prose in many languages. The first lines of Keats' On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer, for instance, run,

Much have I traveled in the realms of gold,

and many goodly states and kingdoms seen.

Here "realms of gold" and "goodly states and kingdoms" are bookended by the verbs "traveled" and "seen" to form an ABBA pattern.

The Book of Mormon

Main article: Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon

In 1969, LDS law and religion scholar John W. Welch, then a young missionary in Germany, discovered many instances of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon.^[2] The longest and most commonly cited example of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon is the prophet Alma's religious experience, as recorded in Alma 36. Some LDS scholars consider Alma 36 to be “the very best chiasm in the Book of Mormon.”^[3] Welch offers the following caution regarding a tendency of enthusiastic readers to see chiasmus where it is not actually present: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (softcover missionary edition) According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other denominations, the Book of Mormon is a 19th century translation of a historical record of the inhabitants of the American continents, part of which was... The term Latter Day Saint most commonly refers to (but is not limited to) members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which, its members believe, was founded under the direction of Jesus Christ by the prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Some people, of course, have gone overboard with this search, and caution must be employed; otherwise, it is possible to find chiasmus in the telephone book, and the effort becomes meaningless…One must be careful in this quest, however, to avoid the problems of the "hammer syndrome"—to the person holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To the person who knows only chiasmus and no other form of literary composition, everything may start looking like a chiasm.^[4]

With the Bible as the primary religious literary source in Joseph Smith's lifetime, some who believe Joseph Smith authored the Book of Mormon have speculated that the ability to create certain chiastic structures could have carried over into his writing.^[5] According to John Welch and others, it is unlikely that Smith knew about chiasmus at the time of the Book of Mormon's publication.^[6] Joseph Smith most commonly refers to Joseph Smith, Jr. ...

Occurrence in other LDS scriptures

Writings in the form of chiasmus are also found in the Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price, two other works of scripture in the LDS Church.^[7] Some readers of these suggested examples of chiasmus see only sporadic repetition, as opposed to deliberate and complete chiasmus found in Alma 36. Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Doctrine and Covenants The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. ... For other uses of Pearl of Great Price, see the Pearl of Great Price page. ... Many religions and spiritual movements hold certain written texts (or series of spoken legends not traditionally written down) to be sacred. ...

Charles G. Kroupa and Richard C. Shipp published their findings regarding chiasmus found in the Doctrine and Covenants in 1972.^[8] Shipp also produced a masters thesis out of BYU titled "Conceptual Patterns of Repetition in the Doctrine and Covenants and Their Implications" in 1975. This thesis shows evidence that writings found in the Doctrine and Covenants had both the rhythm of chiasmus and similar literary patterns.^[9]

In 2004, a study was published by LDS researchers which used statistical analysis to determine the likelihood that a chiastic structure in LDS works appeared by chance as opposed to being created deliberately. Mathematical formulas were used to calculate a set of probabilities that provided the ability to distinguish between strong and weak chiastic structures.^[10] The authors concluded:

Based on these estimates, we conclude that the likelihood is high that chiastic structure appeared by design in the Pentateuch and in the Book of Mormon. Our estimates do not support such a conclusion for the Doctrine and Covenants, the Book of Abraham… indicating instead that chiasms could have appeared in these works by chance.^[11]

With regard to the Book of Mormon, however, the use of chiasmus to support a claim of authenticity based upon this data must assume that Joseph Smith was unaware of the method of creating text using chiastic structure.^[12]

Other works containing chiasmus

Chiastic patterns have also been found in the Book of the Law of the Lord,^[13] a purported translation of an ancient text by James J. Strang, who is considered by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) to be the true successor to Joseph Smith. This book is not considered authentic by most Latter Day Saints. The Book of the Law of the Lord was translated from metallic plates with the use of Urim and Thummim by James Strang in the late 1840s, and first published in 1851. ... 1856 daguerreotype of James Strang, taken on Beaver Island, Lake Michigan, by J. Atkyn, one of his assassins. ... The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as the Strangite church, is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement. ... A Latter Day Saint (LDS) is a person who identifies with the Latter Day Saint movement and is a follower of Mormonism. ...

Critics point out that the presence of chiasmus in Strang's writing as well as in the literature of other cultures implies that the source could be non-Hebrew. Additionally, they claim that the examination of a post-translation text might make identifying chiasmus in the original language difficult, and that the presence of chiasmus is not necessarily indicative of ancient origins.^[14]

Stylometry (Wordprint Studies)

Statistical analysis

Stylometry is a method of statistical analysis used to determine authorship of various texts. It has been used to analyze disputed works of Shakespeare, contrast books of the Bible, identify the authors of twelve disputed Federalist Papers, and compare styles of various authors such as Jane Austen. In 1980, researchers at Brigham Young University used stylometric techniques they called "wordprint analysis" to examine the possible authors of the Book of Mormon. They reached the conclusion that none of the Book of Mormon selections they studied resembled writings of any of the suggested nineteenth-century authors, including Joseph Smith.^[15] Stylometry is the application of the study of linguistic style, usually to written language. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... An advertisement for The Federalist The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. ... 1873 engraving of Jane Austen, based on a portrait drawn by her sister Cassandra. ... Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah, is the flagship university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church). ...

Jerald and Sandra Tanner challenged their findings on various points, most notably questioning the reliability of the data sources used and the methodology of the "wordprint analysis."^[16] However, in 1987 an analysis was completed which verified the results of the earlier study, showing that it was statistically improbable that Joseph Smith or any other purported modern authors were the source of the writings of Nephi or Alma (who themselves have writing styles distinct from each other).^[17] In this new study, the oldest Book of Mormon manuscripts were used. Jerald D. Tanner (June 1, 1938—October 1, 2006) and Sandra McGee Tanner have been prominent critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). ... In The Book of Mormon, Nephi, the son of Lehi, is a prophet and founder of the Nephite people. ... Alma may refer to: Canada Alma, Ontario, a small village in Ontario, Canada Alma, Quebec, a town in Quebec, Canada Alma, New Brunswick, a fishing village on the Bay of Fundy Crimea Alma (river) and the site of the Battle of Alma (September 20, 1854) Kazakhstan Almaty, until recently the... The Book of Mormon[1] is one of the sacred texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, regarded by Latter Day Saints as divinely revealed, and named after the prophet–historian Mormon who, according to the text, compiled most of the book. ...

Wordprint studies are rarely mentioned among Latter-day saints; church leaders teach that readers should pray to find confirmation of the Book of Mormon's divinity. One prominent Mormon scholar, John Tvedtnes, has rejected the use of wordprint evidence as the foundation for a testimony of the Book of Mormon's validity.^[18]

Parallels

Non-Mormon Thomas Donofrio claims to have found hundreds of parallels between peculiar wordings in the Book of Mormon and the writings of well-known historical and religious figures of the 18th and 19th centuries.^[19] Unlike the earlier studies, Donofrio's research has not been peer-reviewed. Respondents to this study point out that the use of parallels to prove derivation can be used to illogical extremes. As an example, LDS apologist Jeff Lindsay composed a satirical documented essay "proving" the parallels between The Book of Mormon and Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, which was published 25 years after the Book of Mormon.^[20]

LDS scholars, however, say that the Book of Mormon is a translation, not originally written by Smith, but translated into the language with which he was familiar. While wordprint studies (by the same team used to verify the identity of the Unabomber in court) may be compelling, the inclusion of modern phraseology shouldn't surprise anyone. The word book, for example, was not used by the ancient Hebrews. Yet both in the King James Version of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, the word appears anachronistically. Scholars point out that this could well be the logical result of an ancient work translated by a modern man using the wording best suited to convey the ideas to a modern reader.^{[citation needed]} The Book of Mormon[1] is one of the sacred texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, regarded by Latter Day Saints as divinely revealed, and named after the prophet–historian Mormon who, according to the text, compiled most of the book. ... For other uses, see Book (disambiguation). ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... The Book of Mormon[1] is one of the sacred texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, regarded by Latter Day Saints as divinely revealed, and named after the prophet–historian Mormon who, according to the text, compiled most of the book. ...

Proper Names

The Book of Mormon contains over 300 proper names, which provide a potentially valuable line of evidence in attempting to determine the book's origins. Place names are commonly recognized in historical linguistics as some of the strongest preservers of earlier language, and they are often preserved phonetically by speakers of later languages even when the original meanings have been lost. A proper name [is] a word that answers the purpose of showing what thing it is that we are talking about writes John Stuart Mill in A System of Logic (1. ...

Most of the Book of Mormon is purportedly the work of Nephite authors of Israelite ancestry, who wrote in reformed Egyptian and whose spoken language, though not specified in the book, is generally assumed to have been derived from Hebrew, perhaps with Egyptian or Native American influences. The Nephites also had access to portions of the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Ether is a somewhat different case, purportedly being a Nephite translation and abridgment of an originally Jaredite record. The Book of Mormon states that the Jaredites' language was not confounded at the Tower of Babel, so their language would have been descended from or identical to Adamic.^{[citation needed]} None of these languages was familiar to Joseph Smith at the time he wrote or translated the Book of Mormon. However, he had access to numerous Hebrew and Greek proper names through his reading of the Bible. In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites are a people descended from or associated with Nephi, a prophet who, according to the text, left Jerusalem at the urging of God in 600 BC[1] and traveled with his family to the Western Hemisphere, arriving in the Americas circa 589 BC... “The Twelve Tribes” redirects here. ... According to the Book of Mormon, this scripture of the Latter Day Saint movement was originally written in reformed Egyptian characters[1] on plates of ore[2] by prophets living in the Western Hemisphere between 600 B.C. and A.D. 421. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ... 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum Hebrew Bible is a term that refers to the common portions of the Jewish canon and the Christian canons. ... The Book of Ether is one of books that make up the Book of Mormon. ... The Jaredites are a people written of in the Book of Mormon, principally in the Book of Ether. ... Engraving The Confusion of Tongues by Gustave Doré (1865), who based his conception on the Minaret of Samarra According to Genesis Chapter 11 of the Bible, the Tower of Babel (‎ Migdal Bavel) was a tower built to reach the heavens by a united humanity. ... The Adamic language is a term for the hypothetical proto-language believed spoken by Adam and Eve in paradise, either identical with the language used by God to address Adam, or invented by Adam (Genesis 2:19). ...

Hebrew names

Many of the proper names in the Book of Mormon are Hebrew names found in the Bible (e.g. Lehi, Lemuel, Ammon, and Enos). In addition, there are a number of attested Hebrew names found in the Book of Mormon which do not appear in the Bible. Examples of these are Aha, Ammonihah, Chemish, Hagoth, Himni, Isabel, Jarom, Josh, Luram, Mathoni, Mathonihah, Muloki, and Sam.^[21] Richard Abanes, in his book One Nation Under Gods, suggests that "[T]here are various Book of Mormon names such as 'Lemuel,' a wicked character. This may refer to Lemuel Durfee, a neighbor who in 1825 bought the Smith's farm when they could no longer afford it, thus forcing them to live as tenants."^[22] LDS scholars point out, however, that a land agent had deceptively acquired the deed to the family farm, and that "[t]he Smiths were greatly relieved when they found that a Quaker named Lemuel Durfee would purchase their property from their antagonist."^[23] Richard Abanes (b. ... One Nation Under Gods is book written about the Mormon church by author Richard Abanes. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ...

One question that arises is the occasional use of Biblical Hebrew names (e.g. Aaron, Levi, Ephraim) in the Book of Ether. This has been viewed by some as an anachronism, since the people of Ether are supposed to have originated from the time of the Tower of Babel, and no one knows exactly what their language would have been.^{[citation needed]} However, some scholars suggest that Moroni, the Nephite abridger and translator of the Book of Ether, may have simply used a familiar (Nephite) form of the Jaredite names.^{[citation needed]} The Book of Ether is one of books that make up the Book of Mormon. ...

Some scholars have noted that some Jaredite names became a part of later Nephite culture, suggesting that there may have been survivors or refugees of the great Jaredite battle besides Coriantumr. LDS archaeologist Bruce V. Warren cites the names Kib, Kish, Shule, and Com as examples Jaredite names that have been found in ancient Mesoamerica.^[24] The Jaredites are a people written of in the Book of Mormon, principally in the Book of Ether. ...

Many non-biblical names found in the Book of Mormon resemble words from ancient Hebrew (e.g. Alma, Sariah, Aha, Ammonihah, Chemish, Hagoth, Himni, Isabel, Jarom, Josh, Luram, Mathoni, Mathonihah, Mosiah, and Muloki). Some, like Alma, are attested Hebrew names; others are unattested but plausible. These names are often interpreted as evidence in favor of the Book of Mormon, since Joseph Smith's knowledge of Hebrew was limited to names found in the Bible.^[25] Alma may refer to: Canada Alma, Ontario, a small village in Ontario, Canada Alma, Quebec, a town in Quebec, Canada Alma, New Brunswick, a fishing village on the Bay of Fundy Crimea Alma (river) and the site of the Battle of Alma (September 20, 1854) Kazakhstan Almaty, until recently the...

Egyptian names

Some Book of Mormon names appear to be Egyptian. Paanchi and Pahoran are attested Egyptian names.^[26] The name Ammon could as easily be Egyptian as Hebrew. Less obvious Egyptian connections have been proposed for several other names, such as Cumenihah (cf. Egyptian Khamuni-ra) and Gidgiddoni (cf. Egyptian Djed-djhwt-iw-f-ankh).^{[citation needed]} PAANCHI (1). ... In the Book of Mormon, Pahoran was the third chief judge over the people of Nephi, having inherited the judgement-seat from his father Nephihah, at the end of the 24th year of the reign of the judges over the Nephites, or 67 B.C. (See Alma 50:39-40. ...

Greek names

The Book of Mormon also contains some names which appear to be Greek, some of which are Hellenizations of Hebrew names (e.g. Antipas, Archeantus, Esrom, Ezias, Judea and Zenos). Some of these are found in the New Testament and would have been known to Joseph Smith. Others are non-biblical and their presence in the book is puzzling to both believers and skeptics, since neither Smith nor the Nephites spoke Greek. One explanation has been offered by Brian D. Stubbs, who said that though the language of the Mulekites isn't put forward in the Book of Mormon, it could have consisted of Phoenician, Greek, or Arabic.^[27] Hellenization (or Hellenisation) is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something non-Greek becomes Greek (Hellenistic civilization). ... This article is about the Christian scriptures. ...

Word Choice in Translation

The mechanics of the method by which the Book of Mormon was claimed to have been translated have been examined by various scholars in order to determine how words were chosen. Various accounts from witnesses to the translation process exist, including David Whitmer and Martin Harris, two of the Three Witnesses. Statements of the exact methods used in translation vary depending upon the account. A number of these accounts were written many years after the events occurred. A monument to the Three Witnesses at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. ...

Method of translation

Mormon Church authorities do not claim to know the exact method by which translation and word choice was accomplished. In an address given 25 June 1992 at a seminar for new mission presidents at the Missionary Training Center, Mormon Apostle Russell M. Nelson stated that “[t]he details of this miraculous method of translation are still not fully known.” In order to illustrate this, Nelson quoted the words of Book of Mormon witness David Whitmer (who had not served as a Book of Mormon scribe), who wrote regarding the use of a seer stone in the translation process over 50 years after it had occurred, ^[28]

Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.^[29]

Nelson also noted statements made by Joseph's wife, Emma Hale Smith, who gave her account of the translation method in 1856:^[30] Emma Hale Smith Emma Hale Smith (10 July 1804 - 30 April 1879) was the wife of Joseph Smith, Jr. ...

When my husband was translating the Book of Mormon, I wrote a part of it, as he dictated each sentence, word for word, and when he came to proper names he could not pronounce, or long words, he spelled them out, and while I was writing them, if I made any mistake in spelling, he would stop me and correct my spelling although it was impossible for him to see how I was writing them down at the time. Even the word Sarah he could not pronounce at first, but had to spell it, and I would pronounce it for him.^[31]

Emma also claimed that Smith would translate with the plates in front of him, wrapped in a cloth. This suggests that the process of translation involved viewing the Urim and Thummim or the seer stone rather than viewing the actual plates themselves.^{[citation needed]}. In ancient Israelite religion and culture, Urim and Thummim (Hebrew: האורים והתמים, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: الاوريم والتميم al-ŪrÄ«m waʾaṯ-á¹®ummÄ«m) is a phrase from the Hebrew Bible associated with the sacred breastplate, divination in general, and cleromancy in particular. ...

Martin Harris (as quoted by Edward Stevenson in the Deseret News in 1881) described the translation process as follows: Martin Harris (1783–1875) was the first financier of The Book of Mormon. ... Edward Stevenson was a prominent Mormon missionary. ...

By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet... when finished [the Prophet] would say "Written," and if correctly written that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used.^[32]

Word substitution

One challenge in performing a linguistic analysis of the Book of Mormon is that no original text is available for analysis; only handwritten printers' copies transcribed from the original handwritten copies of the original English text, and a few pages of the original translation produced by Joseph Smith are available. As with any translation, the influence of the translator is inextricably part of the translated text in matters of word choice. Some Mormon scholars have theorized that when words are found in the Book of Mormon that seem anachronistic, or that refer to items not known to have existed in the pre-Columbian Americas during the period of time covered by the Book of Mormon (e.g. horse, elephant, chicken, cattle, swine, barley, bull, calf, and hilt), these words could be an approximation in translation to things that did exist in pre-Columbian America.^[33]

Contemporary accounts by Joseph Smith and his principal scribe, Oliver Cowdery, assert that inspiration, study, thought, and effort were required to translate the plates.^[34] Photograph of Oliver Cowdery found in the Library of Congress, taken in the 1840s Oliver Hervy Pliny Cowdery[1] (3 October 1806 – 3 March 1850) was the primary participant with Joseph Smith, Jr. ...

Some believe that if these accounts of the translation process are accurate, then there is very little room for error in the word choices used in the translation of the Book of Mormon (since each word was reportedly divinely approved and could not be written incorrectly). "Steel" must mean steel, "hilt" must mean hilt, "elephant" must mean elephant, and so forth. However, as Whitmer was never directly involved in the translation and Harris was involved for only a brief period of time, LDS scholars consider it unlikely that either of these accounts is as accurate as the accounts of Smith and Cowdery.^[35]

Concepts not believed to have existed during the Book of Mormon timeframe

The Book of Mormon deals with certain concepts for which some scholars believe no evidence exists either in pre-Columbian America or in the Jewish world of Lehi's time.^{[citation needed]}

"Christ" and "Messiah"

The word "Christ" is the English transliteration of the Greek word Χριστός (transliterated precisely as Christós); it is relatively synonymous with the Hebrew word rendered "Messiah." Both words have the meaning of "anointed," and are used in the Bible to refer to "the Anointed One".^[36] In Greek translations of the Old Testament (including the Septuagint), the word "Christ" is used for the Hebrew "Messiah", and in Hebrew translations of the New Testament, the word "Messiah" is used for the Greek "Christ".^[37] If you take any passage in the Bible that uses the word "Christ", you can substitute for it the word "Messiah" or "the Messiah" with no change in meaning (e.g. Matthew 1:1, 16, 18). Christ is the English term for the Greek word (Christós), which literally means The Anointed One. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (Hebrew: , Standard  Tiberian  ; Arabic: ,  ; Aramaic:  ; the Anointed One) at first meant any person who was anointed with oil on rising to a certain position among the ancient Israelites, at first that of High priest, later that of King and also that of a prophet. ... The Septuagint: A column of uncial text from 1 Esdras in the Codex Vaticanus, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brentons Greek edition and English translation. ...

The Book of Mormon uses both terms throughout the book. In the vast majority of cases, it uses the terms in an identical manner as the Bible, where it doesn't matter which word is used:

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is (Christ/the Messiah), the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall" (Helaman 5:12).

"And after he had baptized (Christ/the Messiah) with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world." (1 Nephi 10:10).

Apologists state that the original Reformed Egyptian text certainly used Hebrew forms of names and titles exclusively, but when translating Joseph Smith simply used whichever form of the name ("Christ" or "Messiah") was more appropriate in English.^[38]

The Book of Mormon occasionally uses the word "Christ" in a way that is not interchangeable with "Messiah". For example in 2 Nephi 10:3, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob says an angel informed him that the name of the Messiah would be Christ: For other senses of this word, see Prophet (disambiguation). ... Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Gustave Doré, 1855 Jacob or Yaakov, (Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: يعقوب, ; holds the heel), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: اسرائيل, ; Struggled with God), is the third Biblical patriarch. ...

"Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ--for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name--should come among the Jews" (2 Nephi 10:3)

The word "Messiah" was used frequently before this point, but here Jacob says the term "Christ" is a new term, and from this point on the word "Christ" is used almost exclusively in the Book of Mormon.

"Church" and "Synagogue"

The word "church" first occurs in 1 Nephi 4:26, where a prophet named Nephi disguises himself as Laban, a prominent man in Jerusalem whom Nephi had slain: It has been suggested that Ecclesia (Church) be merged into this article or section. ...

"And he [Laban's servant], supposing that I spake of the brethren of the church, and that I was truly that Laban whom I had slain, wherefore he did follow me" (1 Nephi 4:26).

According to the Book of Mormon, this exchange happened in Jerusalem, around 600 B.C. The meaning of the word "church" in the Book of Mormon is more comparable to usage in the Bible than Modern English. The concept of a church, meaning a convocation of believers, existed among the House of Israel prior to Christianity. For instance, Psalms 89:5 speaks of praising the Lord "in the congregation of the saints"; the Septuagint contains the Greek word ecclesia for "congregation," which is also translated as "church" in the New Testament. The Book of Mormon using the word "church" in the same "style" as the Bible is seen by some apologists as support for the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon[1] is one of the sacred texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, regarded by Latter Day Saints as divinely revealed, and named after the prophet–historian Mormon who, according to the text, compiled most of the book. ... It has been suggested that Ecclesia (Church) be merged into this article or section. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... History of Jews in Ghana It is believed that Judaism and Jewish communities had established a presence in Ghana since ancient times. ... Psalms (from the Greek: Psalmoi) (originally meaning songs sung to a harp, from psallein play on a stringed instrument, Ψαλμοί; Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים) is a book of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh or Old Testament. ... This article is about the Christian scriptures. ...

A similar question regards the word "synagogue," found in Alma 16:13: A synagogue (from ancient Greek: , transliterated synagogē, assembly; Hebrew: beit knesset, house of assembly; Yiddish: , shul; Ladino: , esnoga) is a Jewish house of worship. ...

"And Alma and Amulek went forth preaching repentance to the people in their temples, and in their sanctuaries, and also in their synagogues, which were built after the manner of the Jews" (Alma 16:13).

Scholars have said that synagogues did not exist in their modern form before the destruction of the temple and the Babylonian captivity.^{[citation needed]} The usage in the Book of Mormon, instead, is comparable to that of the KJV. Psalms 74:8 reads "the synagogues of God in the land." Similar to the use of the word "church," the word "synagogue" in the Bible generally refers to a place of assembly for religious worship. Babylonian captivity also refers to the permanence of the Avignon Papacy. ...

The King James Bible

Main article: The Book of Mormon and the King James Bible

The Book of Mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the King James Bible. In some cases, entire passages of scripture are duplicated in the Book of Mormon. Sometimes the source is acknowledged, as in the book of 2 Nephi, where 18 chapters of Isaiah are quoted. There exist 478 verses in the Book of Mormon which are quoted in some form or other from the book of Isaiah. Of these verses, one Mormon scholar notes that 201 of them match the King James version of the quote and another 207 show variations. In addition, 58 quotes from Isaiah found in the Book of Mormon are paraphrased versions of those found in the King James Bible.^[50] The Book of Mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the King James Bible. ... Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOVD Articles that have been linked to this page are the subject of an NPOV dispute (NPOV stands for Neutral Point Of View; see below). ... This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ...

Other significant connections between the two books include Book of Mormon words and phrases that only appear in their KJV usage, perpetuation of Bible passages considered by some scholars to have been mistranslated in the King James Version, and the possible presence of English homophones. One LDS scholar has made the observation that the Book of Mormon uses an archaic vocabulary that seems to reflect 16th- and 17th-century usage rather than the 19th-century usage one would expect if it had been authored by Joseph Smith ^[51]

Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon

Hebrew idioms that are frequently found in the Book of Mormon are the repetitive use of the words yea, and, behold and the phrase it came to pass.^[39] LDS scholar Royal Skousen offers the following caution when attempting to compare languages in order to determine if they are related: Royal Skousen (born August 5, 1945), a professor of linguistics and English at Brigham Young University, is mainly known as the editor of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project and as the founder of the Analogical Modeling approach to language modeling. ...

Just because two languages have similar syntactic constructions does not demonstrate that they are related languages. For instance, both Hebrew and Russian as well as pidgin English omit the present tense form of the be verb (thus producing sentences like "he the man" and "she good"). But this is not evidence that Russian is derived from Hebrew—or that Hebrew is derived from Hawaiian pidgin. There are some close syntactic connections between Hebrew and the original language of the Book of Mormon, but some of these may be due to independent historical development rather than linguistic relationship.^[40]

"And it came to pass"

In the present edition of the Book of Mormon, the phrase "it came to pass" occurs 1297 times. This phrase occurs 457 times in the KJV of the Old Testament. There, it is the English translation of the single Hebrew word, hâyâh.^{[citation needed]} Jacob Weingreen, in his book Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, suggests that the phrase means "now it happened."^[41] Strong's Hebrew dictionary suggests "to exist" or "to become" as possible translations of hâyâh.^{[citation needed]} Royal Skousen suggests that in a number of cases the phrase "and it came to pass" is used as a "discourse marker facilitating narrative cohesion."^[42] The Hebrew Old Testament has 1114 occurrences of the word hâyâh. Most of these have either been ignored or reduced to simply "and".^{[citation needed]}

Prepositions in the place of adverbs

The Book of Mormon often uses a prepositional phrase in place of an adverb, which is consistent with the Hebrew language. Several examples of this construct as found in the Book of Mormon are:^[43]

"with harshness" instead of "harshly"

"with joy" instead of "joyfully"

"with gladness" instead of "gladly"

"with patience" instead of "patiently"

"with diligence" instead of "diligently"

John Tvedtnes states: "At least one adjective (harebeh, 'many, exceeding') is used adverbially, but more often a prepositional phrase is used. The Book of Mormon is replete with adverbial usage of the adjective 'exceeding' (as in 'exceeding great joy'--instead of 'exceedingly'--in 1 Nephi 8:12)."^[44]

The cognate accusative construct

LDS scholars claim that the "cognate accusative" is a Semitic language construct which consists of a verb immediately followed by a noun that is derived from the same root.^{[citation needed]} For example, the phrase found in Genesis 37:5 "Joseph dreamed a dream" instead of the usual English method of phrasing "Joseph had a dream."^[45]

The Book of Mormon contains many examples of the "cognate accusative" construct:^[46]

Jacob 3:3: "they are cursed with a sore cursing" is used instead of "they are sorely cursed."

Mosiah 11:10: "work all manner of fine work" instead of "do fine work."

Mosiah 29:43: "and he did judge righteous judgments" instead of "he judged righteously."

1 Nephi 8:2: "Behold I have dreamed a dream" instead of "I had a dream."

Mosiah 7:15: "taxed with a tax" Instead of "taxed."

No Erasers

Mormon was writing on golden plates. Once you engraved a word, it wasn't easy to erase. So if you're working on the phrase "weapons of war, for peace" and make the error, "weapons of peace," without an eraser you might just have to continue writing to add the correction, using "or" to introduce it. A few LDS writers have pointed to a variety of passages that are consistent with this "no eraser" theory.^[47]

Examples

"And thus we see that they buried the weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war for peace." Alma 24:19

"And they stood before the king, and were permitted, or rather commanded that they should answer the questions which he should ask them." Mosiah 7:8

"Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him. . ." Alma 30:9

"Now behold, the people who were in the land Bountiful, or rather Moroni, feared that they would hearken to the words of Morianturn . . ." Alma 50:32

Importance to Latter-day Saints

Although some have spent significant time searching for historical evidence concerning the Book of Mormon, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discounts the utility of such in determining the book's legitimacy. Dallin H. Oaks, one of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, stated: Dallin Harris Oaks (b. ...

Our individual, personal testimonies are based on the witness of the Spirit, not on any combination or accumulation of historical facts. If we are so grounded, no alteration of historical facts can shake our testimonies.^[48]

Book of Mormon linguistic and textual issues are not discussed in missionary lessons or in Sunday School, but are typically addressed in LDS institute classes and religion classes at BYU, as well as in books and magazine articles published by the Church.^[49]

Notes

References

• Abanes, Richard (July 2003), One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church, Thunder Mouth Press, ISBN 1568582838
• Ashment, Edward H (March-April 1980), "The Book of Mormon — A Literal Translation", Sunstone 5(2): 10-14
• Barney, Kevin L (Spring 2000), "Reflections on the Documentary Hypothesis", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 33(1) [link accessed 2007-03-02]
• Bitton, Davis (1994), "(Review of) New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology", FARMS Review of Books 6(1): 1-7 [link accessed 2007-04-26]
• Edwards, Boyd F. & W. Farrell Edwards (2004), "Does Chiasmus Appear in the Book of Mormon by Chance?", Book of Mormon Studies 43(2) [link accessed 2007-03-03]
• Hilton, John L (1997), in Noel B. Reynolds, "On Verifying Wordprint Studies: Book of Mormon Authorship", Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins: 225-253, ISBN 0-934893-25-X
• Kroupa, Charles G & Richard C Shipp (1972), From the Mind of God, Salt Lake City: Shipp Bros. Printing
• Lancaster, James E. Lancaster (November 15, 1962), "By the Gift and Power of God", Saints Herald 109(22): 14-18, 22, 33
• Larsen, Wayne A; Alvin C Rencher & Tim Layton (spring 1980), "Who Wrote the Book of Mormon? An Analysis of Wordprints", BYU Studies 20: 225–51
• Nelson, Russell M (July 1993), "A Treasured Testament", Ensign: 61 [link accessed 2007-04-17]
• Ostler, Blake T (Spring 1987), "The Book of Mormon as a Modern Expansion of an Ancient Source", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 20(1): 66-123 [link accessed 2007-03-02]
• Palmer, Grant H (2002), An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, ISBN 1560851570
• Parry, Donald W (November 2002), in Parry, Donald W; Daniel C Peterson & John W Welch, "Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities in the Book of Mormon", Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, ISBN 0934893721 [link accessed 2007-04-17]
• Quinn, D. Michael (1987; revised, expanded 1998), Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, ISBN 1560850892
• Ricks, Stephen (1986), "Joseph Smith's Translation of the Book of Mormon", Featured Papers [link accessed 2007-04-26]
• Ricks, Stephen (1994), The Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon, Foundation for Ancient Research & Mormon Studies, official F.A.R.M.S. transcript of video lecture [link accessed 2007-03-02]
• Shipp, Richard C. Shipp (1975), Conceptual Patterns of Repetition in the Doctrine and Covenants and Their Implications, master’s thesis, Brigham Young University
• Skousen, Royal (1994), "The Original Language of the Book of Mormon: Upstate New York Dialect, King James English, or Hebrew?", Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 3(1): 28-38 [link accessed 2007-04-26]
• Skousen, Royal (2005), "The Archaic Vocabulary of the Book of Mormon", FARMS Insights 25(5) [link accessed 2007-03-02]
• Sorenson, John L (1985), An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book and FARMS, ISBN 0-87747-608-X
• Stubbs, Brian D (Spring 1996), "Looking Over vs. Overlooking Native American Languages: Let's Void the Void", Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5(1): 1-49 [link accessed 2007-03-02]
• Tanner, Jerald & Sandra Tanner (July 1989), "A Black Hole in the Book of Mormon", Salt Lake City Messenger 72
• Tanner, Jerald & Sandra Tanner (April 1993), "The Godmakers II: Under Fire From Within and Without", Salt Lake City Messenger 84
• Tvedtnes, John A (Autumn 1970), "Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon: A preliminary survey", BYU Studies [link accessed 2007-04-20]
• Tvedtnes, John A; John Gee & Matthew Roper (2000), "Book of Mormon Names Attested in Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions", Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9(1): 40-51 [link accessed 2007-04-05]
• Van Wagoner, Richard S & Steven C Walker (Summer 1982), "Joseph Smith: The Gift of Seeing", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 15(2): 48-68 [link accessed 2007-03-02]
• Welch, John W (1969), "Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon", BYU Studies 10(1): 69–84
• Welch, John W (1997), in Noel B. Reynolds, "What Does Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon Prove?", Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins, ISBN 0-934893--25-X
• Welch, John W (2002), in Parry, Donald W & Daniel C Peterson, "A Steady Stream of Significant Recognitions", Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, ISBN 0934893721 [link accessed 2007-04-03]
• Weingreen, Jacob (December 31, 1959), A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198154224
• Welch, John W (2003), "How Much Was Known about Chiasmus in 1829 When the Book of Mormon Was Translated?", FARMS Review 15(1) [link accessed 2003-03-02]

Richard Abanes (b. ... Sunstone, a feldspar exhibiting in certain directions a brilliant spangled appearance, which has led to its use as an ornamental stone. ... Grant H. Palmer (M.A., American history, Brigham Young University) is a three-time director of LDS Institutes of Religion in California and Utah, a former instructor at the Church College of New Zealand, and an LDS seminary teacher at two Utah locations. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Jerald D. Tanner (June 1, 1938—October 1, 2006) and Sandra McGee Tanner have been prominent critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). ... Jerald D. Tanner (June 1, 1938—October 1, 2006) and Sandra McGee Tanner have been prominent critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). ...

External links

• Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon A number of examples of chiastic structures in the Book of Mormon are illustrated.
• Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, A Remarkable Literary Art
• Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon
• King Benjamin's Speech

See also

Book of Mormon Portal

• Book of Mormon
• Reformed Egyptian
• Linguistics