Book of Mormon Bibliography
Alphabetical by Title

Beginning in the 1960s, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) has modified its understanding of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s prophetic charisms. Where the RLDS were earlier permitted to do this, they are now encouraged by their leaders to read the Book of Mormon as nineteenth-century fiction, though they are still permitted to find in it, if they wish, some inspiring passages. These changes have been resisted by a conservative minority that has lost the battle for control of the Reorganization and now tends to worship outside RLDS congregations. A few Latter-day Saints have also begun to read the Book of Mormon as fiction. Their efforts to turn the Book of Mormon into nineteenth-century fiction have been opposed by competent Latter-day Saint scholarship, though not without resistance from those who control “independent” and “liberal” publishing ventures.

Provides day-by-day descriptions of a voyage conducted by the author and three others from San Pedro harbor, California, to Hawaii. The voyage comprised a 69-day trip on an 18 X 24 foot raft. The purpose for the excursion was to demonstrate that Lehi’s transoceanic crossing was possible.

This volume explores events and teachings of the early years of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Featuring scholars from Brigham Young University, the Church History Department, and the Joseph Smith Papers, the collection of prominent materials previously produced by the BYU Religious Studies Center is designed as a companion to personal and family study of the Doctrine and Covenants and Church history. Chapters explore Joseph Smith’s accounts of his First Vision, the translation of the Book of Mormon, and the restoration of priesthood power. Doctrinal teachings about consecration, Zion, the kingdoms of glory, and work for the dead are also investigated, as are harrowing experiences in Liberty and Carthage Jails and the exodus to the West. ISBN 978-1-9503-0401-1

The Hill Cumorah was recently purchased by the Church. Mormon hid all the records he had (Mormon 6:6), except the abridgment that he gave to his son Moroni. Some say that Moroni wandered from the Hill Ramah-Cumorah before depositing the records.

Review of A Most Convincing Witness: Reasons Why the Book of Mormon Is the True Word of God (1990), by Randall K. Mehew.

Review of Terryl L Given. By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture That Launched a New World Religion.

First published as The Redeemed Hebrew, 1926. A message to all Jews that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, and that a new witness to these truths has been brought forth. The Book of Mormon brings knowledge of Christ in the New World as it discusses the signs of his birth and death. The divinity of Christ is proclaimed in the Book of Mormon. The testimony of the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses is given to prove that Joseph Smith had the ancient American record.

A testimony of the Book of Mormon. Truth has sprung out of the earth as Psalms 85:11 prophecies. The lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 25:24) are the Nephites and Lamanites or the “voice out of the dust” (Isaiah 29:4-19). Professor Anthon fulfilled Isaiah 29:11 by saying he could not read a sealed book. The Book of Mormon is the stick of Joseph spoken of in Ezekiel 37:15-22.

Admonishment by President Benson at a regional conference to “read, ponder, and teach” from the Book of Mormon, especially since “it was written for us”

Applauds David Whitmer, who loved and defended the Book of Mormon, but eschewed other forms of “Latter-day Saintism”

An account of Clyde B. Crandall and his reasons for trying to read the Book of Mormon in one day: to understand the story in sequence, to prove that reading the Book of Mormon is not a tedious task, and to meet the challenge and accomplish it.

Exhortation to read “the most unusual book produced in our day,” the Book of Mormon. Provides reasons to read the Book of Mormon.

The author writes concerning the value of reading the Book of Mormon. He adds his testimony to those of the Three Witnesses, Joseph Smith, and the book itself.

This article states that the Book of Mormon must be read slowly, personally, and purposefully. The author believes that leading the Book of Mormon will reveal the gospel of Jesus Christ to the reader.

A collection of testimonies by prophets of God (from Moroni to Ezra Taft Benson) for children concerning the value of reading the Book of Mormon.

A missionary tract encouraging people to read the Book of Mormon. The tract briefly explains a number of doctrines including belief in God, the Fall of Adam, and the Atonement of Christ.

A tract encouraging people to study the Book of Mormon. Gives a brief overview of the book’s contents and supplies direct quotations on several different themes.

Abstract: The Maxwell Institute Study Edition of the Book of Mormon is an important tool for personal and class study of the Book of Mormon. Not only does it provide a better reading experience, it has important features that enhance study.
Review of Grant Hardy, ed. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Maxwell Institute Study Edition (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University / Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018). 648 pp. $35.00 (paperback).

The key to conversion and gaining a testimony of the mission and glory of Jesus Christ and the restoration of his gospel is found in the Book of Mormon.

Suggests that Lehi’s ancestors may have defected from the Northern Kingdom (2 Chronicles 11:16) and were assimilated into the tribes of the Southern Kingdom as an explanation to Book of Mormon critics that all Israelites knew their lineage and Lehi found his only by reading the brass plates.

A booklet that presents a book-by-book summary of the contents of the Book of Mormon from 1 Nephi—Moroni. Suggests that young people may be wise to devote their attention to the lives of Book of Mormon prophets and leave the words of Isaiah until they have more background to aid their understanding.

This author requests help in compiling a list of useful reference books that readers can use when studying the Book of Mormon. Such a list would include dictionaries, encyclopedias, and atlases.

Martin Raish suggests that although there are only two dictionaries of Mesoamerican archaeology and culture, both are quite good and can be augmented with some excellent travel guides and wall maps. Together they help readers better understand the terminology of art history and archaeology, become more conversant with the names of sites and cultures, and feel more confident about the general outlines of history in likely Book of Mormon lands. The author specifically recommends two dictionaries, a volume on Mesoamerican religions, an atlas, some traveler’s guides, and some National Geographic Society maps.

This article lists and discusses multiple texts that comment on the Book of Mormon and recommends them as supplements to Book of Mormon study.

Two critics evaluate the book By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture That Launched a New World Religion. Raish opines that Givens’s book effectively explains why a person might accept the Book of Mormon and facilitates a reader’s desire to better understand the Book of Mormon. Bennett adds that Givens approaches his discussion of the Book of Mormon as a scholar, resulting in a more accepting readership. Givens also studies the Book of Mormon with respect to its role in promoting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a worldwide religion.

Both Hansen and Lawrence review Grant Hardy’s The Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Edition. Not meant to replace the 1981 edition published by the church, this edition appears in a reader-friendly format and provides additional notes and appendices.

Both Norton and Taylor review the volume Book of Mormon Reference Companion, edited by Dennis L. Largey and published by Deseret Book.

Bell reviews the following books about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon: Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr.’s edited volume Joseph Smith: The Prophet, the Man; Scot Facer Proctor and Maurine Jensen Proctor’s edition of The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith by His Mother; John W. Welch and Stephen D. Ricks’s edited volume King Benjamin’s Speech: “That Ye May Learn Wisdom”; and Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch’s edited volume Isaiah in the Book of Mormon.

Abstract: Nephi is the prototypical wise son of the Wisdom tradition. As Proverbs advocates that a wise man cherishes the word of God, so Nephi cherishes the words of the wise. Nephi’s record begins with a declaration of his upbringing in the Wisdom tradition and his authenticity and reliability as a wise son and scribe (1 Nephi 1:1–3). His is a record of the learning of the Jews — a record of wisdom. If the Wisdom tradition is a foundation for Nephi’s scribal capabilities and outlook, perhaps the principles and literary skills represented by the scribal Wisdom tradition constitute the “learning of the Jews” that Nephi references so early in his account. Thus, if Nephi’s is a record of the learning of the Jews — a record of wisdom — we would be wise to read it with Wisdom — that is, through the lens of ancient Israelite and Middle Eastern Wisdom traditions.
“Wisdom cries out [from the dust]”
(Proverbs 1:20).

Review of John Christopher Thomas, A Pentecostal Reads the Book of Mormon: A Literary and Theological Introduction, Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2016. 448 pp. + bibliography. $24.95.

In the Old World Jesus taught, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6), yet in the New World he says, “Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost” (3 Nephi 12:6). Attention, understandably, has been given to the differences, large and small, between the Sermon on the Mount as recounted in the New Testament and the similar sermon given in the New World. At times, we note slight shifts in emphasis (here in the New World, for example, Jesus makes this promise to “all”), more complete understandings (we are filled specifically with the influence of the Holy Ghost), and so on. And these differences raise compelling questions about the possibility that plain and precious truths were lost in translation in the Bible but are restored again in the Book of Mormon. The differences might also suggest the importance of a shifting context that moves Jesus to vary his speech. One wonders if one version is more authoritative than the other. But there is an additional question the two accounts of Christ’s sermon raise. What do readers make of the fact that in most cases the wording is exactly coincident? What might that signify?

Review of S. Kent Brown. Voices from the Dust: Book of Mormon Insights.

By dividing the reading of the Book of Mormon into twelve one-week periods, that book can be completely read in three months. Each major portion of the Book of Mormon is outlined, providing a preview for the reader. Also contains a doctrinal guide that references major doctrinal themes.

A reading guide and study aid that asks questions of the Book of Mormon chapter by chapter. Answers are given in the back. This work is reviewed in G.133.

Nephi’s adoration of the words of Isaiah has puzzled many readers of the Book of Mormon. What does Nephi’s reading and repurposing of the biblical prophet suggest about the nature of prophecy and scripture study? Six scholars of the Mormon Theology Seminar address these and other questions in Reading Nephi Reading Isaiah. By shedding new light on this particular scriptural text, these essays provide exemplary models for improved scripture study.

This book makes public the results of a project sponsored by the Mormon Theology Seminar. The question driving the papers collected in this volume is the following: How does the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi read, rework, and repurpose the writings of the biblical prophet Isaiah? Each essay in this volume addresses an aspect of the complex relationship between Nephi and Isaiah, ranging from the question of what is at stake when one prophet retools the work of another to the question of how Nephi uses the words of Isaiah to outline the significance of the sealed gold plates to which he contributed. Opening the question concerning the relationship between the Bible and the Book of Mormon, this volume extends an invitation to each reader to continue the conversation. [Publisher]

Brant Gardner illuminates Mormon’s purposes in compiling the Boom of Mormon.

Different approaches to reading The Book of Mormon have influenced the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ teachings from 1830 to the present day. Scholars have long recognized that the definition of “Lamanites,” one of the primary groups described in the book, has shaped missionary work, Church policy, and public outreach. Indeed, in the Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph Smith received a revelation sending four missionaries to preach “among the Lamanites,” perhaps the first justification for preaching among Indigenous peoples. Recent teachings have expanded the definition of Lamanite to include Native and Indigenous peoples on both American continents as well as Polynesians

The Prophet Joseph Smith described the Restoration as a bringing forth of treasures of “things new and old,”1 and indeed modern revelation has shed great light on ancient truths. From Oliver Cowdery’s commentary on Zephaniah published in The Evening and the Morning Star in 1833 to the present outpouring of publications in preparation for the Sunday School course of study on the Old Testament in 1998, Latter-day Saints have generated a wealth of writings on the Old Testament which examine anew this ancient book of scripture in light of the Restoration. Through the spectacles of the Restoration we are able to remember the patriarchs Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and the great things the Lord has done for our fathers. We are able to understand the covenants the Lord has made in past dispensations and in the latter days. We are also able to better comprehend the writings of ancient prophets such as Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel and to discern from them the timeless message of repentance, the themes of scattering and gathering, and the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah—first in the flesh to atone for the sins of the world and again at the end of time. Just as the Old Testament provides a foundation for reading the rest of the scriptures, the light of the Restoration can reveal hidden treasures in the Old Testament. This bibliography is an attempt to guide readers to this treasury of “things new and old.” Criteria for Inclusion. This bibliography is meant to be a comprehensive listing of books and articles written by Latter-day Saints to Latter-day Saints about the Old Testament from 1830 through 1997. To be included, a book or an article must be primarily on an Old Testament topic. Consequently we have not included New Testament, Book of Mormon, or Pearl of Great Price topics unless they are specifically related to the Old Testament.2 Nor have we included writings on apocryphal or pseudepigraphical books unless they are relevant to the Old Testament. We have included general conference addresses published in the Ensign (1971–), but we have not included conference talks before this time. We have included a few articles by non-Latter-day Saints aimed at an LDS audience, but have not included biblical studies presented by LDS scholars in non-LDS settings. The Old Testament has been the course of study in Sunday School from September 1972 to August 1974 and September 1980 to August 1982, and from January to December in 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998. Numerous Old Testament items have been published in those years. The articles that appear weekly in the Church News and coordinate with Sunday School lessons have not been included in this bibliography. The following periodical or recurring sources were surveyed for this bibliography: BYU Studies (1959–); Church Educational System symposia and manuals; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints manuals; Contributor (1879–1896); Dialogue (1966–); Encyclopedia of Mormonism; Ensign (1971–); The Evening and the Morning Star (1832–34); Improvement Era (1897–1970); Millennial Star (1840–1970); New Era (1971–); Sperry Symposia; Sunstone (1981–); theses and dissertations at BYU; and Young Woman’s Journal (1889–1929). Three Lists. The entries are organized in three overlapping lists. First, all entries are listed by author’s names with complete bibliographic information and a very short abstract in cases where the contents of the publications are not adequately described by their titles. This is followed by a list of the entries organized by canonical books of the Old Testament. A third listing is divided into subject categories. All the entries are found in the author list and are found again listed either in the canonical or the subject categories. Many entries are found both in the canonical listing as well as in one or more subject listings. Gaining Access. Most, if not all, of the entries in this bibliography are available at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU. Many of them are readily available on the shelves, but some are kept in Special Collections. The bibliography itself can be accessed electronically at http://humanities.byu.edu/BYU Studies/homepage.htm. Acknowledgments. This bibliography began with a work by Dane Robertson entitled Index of Mormon Literature on the Old Testament, compiled for the History and Religion Library at BYU, which included entries up through 1981. Originally we intended to simply update that index, but in the course of our work we adopted somewhat different criteria for collecting and organizing the entries, and we ended up surveying the corpus of LDS writings again. We remain indebted to this earlier work. Many have worked in various capacities on the bibliography over the last several years: Eryn Johnson Gibson, Brian Jones, Jennifer Hammond Merrill, Becky Schulthies, and Luke Todd have worked through Religious Education on compiling, typing, abstracting, and checking the entries. Daniel B. McKinlay helped with the compilation. Jennifer Hurlbut, David Allred, and the interns and staff at BYU Studies rechecked and formatted the entries. We invite corrections and additions. A master list is kept in electronic form and can readily be expanded and reorganized. Hopefully, a supplement can someday be issued including future publications and additions to this bibliography. This work is one of collection and description. We have not attempted to evaluate the entries in terms of scholarly accuracy or doctrinal correctness.

An abridgment of the Book of Mormon for the purpose of introduction or review.

A response to various anti-Mormon criticisms, written by a non-Mormon under the pseudonym of Robert C. Webb. Discusses the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the numerous theories of Book of Mormon origins raised by unbelievers.

A story for children about gaining a real testimony of the Book of Mormon by reading it.

A Reason for Faith was written to do just as the title implies: provide reasons for faith by offering faithful answers to sincere questions. Before the Internet, historical and doctrinal questions not addressed in LDS Church curriculum were mostly found in the scholarly articles of academic journals. This is no longer the case. These topics are now widely debated and discussed online and in other forums. And when members of the LDS Church come across information that is unfamiliar, they may feel surprise, fear, betrayal, or even anger. Respected LDS scholars have teamed with Laura Harris Hales to offer help in A Reason for Faith: Navigating LDS Doctrine and Church History. Together these authors have spent an average of 25 years researching these topics. Their depth of knowledge and faith enables them to share reliable details, perspective, and context to both LDS doctrine and Church history. The information in these essays can begin an exciting process of discovery for readers as they learn from a source they can trust. Each chapter is engaging and thought-provoking, providing an invaluable resource for both the merely curious and the seriously concerned. ISBN 978-1-9443-9401-1

Cites reasons why one should not accept Mormonism; reprints the Smithsonian statement regarding the Book of Mormon, compares Quetzalcoatl or Viracocha and Jesus Christ, and concludes that they are different characters; sees Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews as the source of the Book of Mormon.

A polemical work, Budvarson writes in response to Sidney B. Sperry’s book The Problems of the Book of Mormon, in which Sperry criticizes Budvarson’s booklet The Book of Mormon—True or False. This work is basically an extension of Budvarson’s arguments set forth in his earlier work, The Book of Mormon—True of False?

Learning how to receive is an antidote to pride. King Benjamin asked, “Are we not all beggars?” The answer is yes. He continued, “Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have?” Again the answer is yes.

My friends, wherever you find yourself spiritually, I say to you in love and humility: I know that God lives and will answer your sincere prayers.

According to some Book of Mormon scholars, Belize is the most likely location of the Jaredite civilization. Archaeologists have found evidence to validate Book of Mormon historical references there.

Many theories exist concerning New World origins. Transpacific currents in conjunction with archaeological excavations may solve the puzzle. Excavations in the area of Ecuador show that cultural traits were borrowed from the Old World.

When a group of LDS scholars collaborated in 1994 under the auspices of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies to publish a book on the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5, few substantial works on olive production in the ancient world existed. Now, two new archaeological books add a wealth of information to our understanding of the importance of the olive in ancient life. The first mention of the olive in the Book of Mormon is found in Lehi’s prediction of the Babylonian captivity and the coming of the Lamb of God. Lehi compared the house of Israel to an olive tree whose branches would be broken off and scattered upon all the face of the earth (1 Ne. 10:12). After being scattered,the house of Israel would be gathered and the natural branches of the olive tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, would be grafted in, or come to a knowledge of the true Messiah (1 Ne. 10:14). In this passage, Lehi probably drew upon Zenos’s allegory, found on the plates of brass. In incredible horticultural detail, that allegory compares the house of Israel to an olive tree. Yet that Old World information was apparently lost among Lehi’s descendants in the New World. After the fifth chapter of Jacob, the olive is not mentioned again in the Book of Mormon.

Inspired by a study of archaeological remains in Panama that lead one archaeologist from New York to call it “the Pompeii of Ancient America,” Melville believes Panama finds corroboration with the Book of Mormon in such issues as location and size, commerce, industries, cloth, tools, and elephants.

This article discusses the evolvement of Book of Mormon apologetics. Although Book of Mormon scholarship was originally intended for an exclusively Latter-day Saint audience, it has since broadened to address a more scholarly and secular audience.

Rejects as unfounded the claim of Professor Samuel S. Partello that he had located the Spaulding manuscript, recounting the story of the manuscript’s discovery in Honolulu. Holds, nevertheless, that the question of Book of Mormon authorship is irrelevant.

Scholars of Mormonism have seen a deluge of race literature on the Book of Mormon flow over the past five years. Compared to the robust scholarship on the use of biblical literature in constructing race, Mormonism strikes one as the particularly colorful character who showed up late to the party. For a faith system that has started to imagine itself in global terms, the implications of this recent increase are profound and invite commentary from a variety of disciplines ranging from literary criticism to forensic anthropology. This review essay holds humble aspirations for itself: to trace the basic contours of racialization and deracialization in the Book of Mormon’s historiographical record, illustrating how the contestedness of the racial narrative reflects a variety of needs for Mormon reception of the Book of Mormon text. To close, I will speak to the Book of Mormon’s relevance as a point of entry for undermining Anglo-Saxon knowledge control.

Abstract. A chapter of Adam Miller’s Future Mormon concerns Jacob’s encounter with Sherem in Jacob 7. While novel, Miller’s treatment of Jacob and Sherem appears inadequate. He overlooks features of the text that seem to subvert his unconventional conclusions about them. This essay identifies a number of such matters, falling in four major categories, and shares thoughts on the need for perspective when discussing Jacob’s conduct — or the conduct of any prophet, for that matter. It also highlights the jeopardy we face of being the second group to fall for Sherem’s lies.

As we learn to better recognize and respond to the promptings of the Spirit, we will find answers to our prayers and have increased capacity to know how and whether those promptings are from the Holy Ghost.

Metals technology was present in Mesoamerica during Book of Mormon times, contrary to received opinion.

A series of brief comments in which the author presents archaeological findings, architectural notes, and myths and legends that deal indirectly with the Book of Mormon. Dibble discusses the wheel, ancient irrigation methods, metals, Mexican and Mayan codices, Quetzalcoatl, ancient buildings, and numerous other related items The twelfth part covers ruins in Mexico.

Review of M. Grald Bradford and Alison V. P. Coutts, eds. Uncovering the Original Text of the Book of Mormon: History and Findings of the Critical Text Project.

“Given its unique claims, the following become relevant questions for investigation: Is the Book of Mormon a translation of ancient records written in Egyptian and “reformed” Egyptian language or characters? Are there “wordprints” of the various orators and authors which the book introduces? Can traces of the original language(s) be found in the “literal” English translation: “Hebraisms” and “Egyptianisms”? Answers to such questions are crucial in the face of increasingly numerous [p.331] apologetic claims about how the Book of Mormon was produced and the historicity of its contents. This essay examines evidence of ancient Egyptian or Hebrew in the Book of Mormon, discussing first the claims made in the book itself, then those made by Joseph Smith and his associates, and finally those made by modern apologists.” [ From Auhtor]

Abstract: In 1 Nephi 1:16–17, Nephi tells us he is abridging “the record of my father.” The specific words Nephi uses in his writings form several basic but important patterns and features used repeatedly by Nephi and also by other Book of Mormon writers. These patterns and features provide context that appears to indicate that Nephi’s abridgment of Lehi’s record is the third-person account found in 1 Nephi 1:4 through 2:15 and that Nephi’s first-person account of his own ministry begins in 1 Nephi 2:16.

This article claims that “external evidence of the historical credibility and truth of the Book of Mormon” is found in the reconstruction of ruins in Mexico and Central America. Two pyramids found in Mexico and the ruins of a great city that existed three to four thousand years ago bear witness of a great civilization.

An account of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the receiving of the gold plates by Joseph Smith.

A 16-page tract inviting readers to accept the Palmyra edition of the Book of Mormon. Current editions of the Book of Mormon contain, alleges the author, corruptions made “by carnal man to match the traditions of man”

Homemade brochure that contains several scriptural texts, and accepts the teachings of the Book of Mormon but despises the doctrines of the LDS church.

A rebuttal to an earlier article (James H. Anderson, 20 February 1932) concerning the meaning of the term stick in Ezekiel 37:15-17. Sperry argues that the stick of Ephraim is the Book of Mormon and the stick of Judah is the Bible.

An excerpt from the pamphlet “Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon” that claims that the stick of Judah refers to the Bible and the stick of Ephraim refers to the Book of Mormon.

Summarizes the Book of Mormon story concerning the Hebrew origin of the American Indians.

14. Scriptural passages in the Book of Mormon refer to “other records” that have been lost or withheld that will be given at a later time. It is pointed out that the Book of Mormon must be received, embraced, and cherished before the promised records will be given.

Bradford introduces reviews of Royal Skousen’s work on the critical text project.

Repetition appears purposefully within Book of Mormon narratives as a principle of reinforcement and confirmation. It seems that every important action, event, or character is repeated in the Book of Mormon. These repetitions emphasize the law of witnesses at work within the book (e.g., “in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established”; Ether 5:4). Further, they underscore the relevance of one character or action to people living in a different time, and they link narratives together with what Robert Alter calls “type-scenes.” Analyzed in detail as particularly striking are threefold repetitions in Nephi’s task to retrieve the brass plates and repetition of the word “power” in the missionary endeavor of the sons of Mosiah. Larger repeated narratives treat escape and travel to a promised land; repentance; and the nature, rise, and effect of secret combinations.

Finds the Bible to be the main source for the Book of Mormon. Argues that the Mormon religion is visionary, similar to Islam in that it is based upon the visions of one prophet. “Mormonism differs from Christianity but is in accord with Red Indian religion” Theories of plagiarism concerning Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews and Spaulding’s manuscript are investigated, but found false.

Third Nephi 22 (quoting Isaiah 54) addresses a desolate woman who will be redeemed in the latter days. The desolate woman represents Zion, which itself signifies the city of Enoch in ancient times, the hill where the temple was built in Jerusalem, the celestial city of God, the kingdom of God on earth, and a covenant community of temple-worthy Saints. The Lord promises to relieve the desolation of Zion felt through barrenness, lack of a permanent home, and being forsaken and persecuted. The destiny of Zion parallels the pattern of Noah—both remain faithful to their covenants and witness a cleansing of the earth. The Savior serves as Zion’s husband. The servants of the Lord are equated with Zion—the Lord will not allow oppressors to be successful against Zion. The Lord promises to redeem Zion as he sings a song of redeeming love.

A brief article explaining some of the persecutions as well as progress that the Native Americans have experienced. When Melvin J. Ballard visited Ft. Peck and Blackfoot reservations the Indians knew him and were waiting for the “Book” because they had seen him in dreams. Ballard, Holdaway writes, believed the Three Nephites had labored among those Indians for years.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Twentieth Ward Meetinghouse, on the Evening of Sunday, February 7, 1875. Reported By: David W. Evans.

New discoveries about the Book of Mormon made by LDS scholars. The essays show meaningful and complex patterns in the Book of Mormon—patterns of style, ideas, history, and actions. They also provide considerable evidence for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. This work is reviewed in C.331 and in S.137.

What the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has done to spark re-examination of basic Christianity, Meldrum’s analysis of DNA research promises to do for the re-examination---and probable replacement---of Mesoamerica as the accepted locus of Book of Mormon chronology.

This book shares the exciting results of scholarly research on the Book of Mormon undertaken during the 1980s. As an ancient religious text and cultural artifact, the Book of Mormon rewards close analysis along many lines of inquiry. Twenty-three essays by prominent LDS scholars cover such topics as warfare, repentance, Exodus motifs, Hebraisms, kingship, politics, Isaiah, Mormon as editor, chiasmus, covenant renewal, and poetry.
These studies aim to demonstrate that the Book of Mormon contains complex patterns not previously recognized—that is, subtle patterns of style, ideas, history, and actions that, once made visible, shed much light on the power and beauty of the book and stimulate greater appreciation and respect for it.

Cf. “Unrolling the Scrolls: Some Forgotten Witnesses,” in Old Testament and Related Studies, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 1. 115–70.
Hugh Nibley draws parallels between language and traditions found in the Apocrypha to the culture of the people in the Book of Mormon. In the second half of his lecture, Hugh Nibley compares the linguistics and culture of the Book of Mormon to that found in the Apocrypha. The imagery and practices found in the Book of Mormon are compared with certain phrases and material concerns found in Jewish and Christian apocryphal writings.

In Temple and Cosmos, Brother Nibley explains the relationship of the House of the Lord to the cosmos. In Temple, the first part of the volume, he focuses on the nature, meaning, and history of the temple, discussing such topics as sacred vestments, the circle and the square, and the symbolism of the temple and its ordinances. In the second part, Cosmos, he discusses the cosmic context of the temple-the expanding gospel, apocryphal writings, religion and history, the genesis of the written word, cultural diversity in the universal church, and the terrible questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? and Where are we going?
Hugh Nibley draws parallels between language and traditions found in the Apocrypha to the culture of the people in the Book of Mormon. In the second half of his lecture, Hugh Nibley compares the linguistics and culture of the Book of Mormon to that found in the Apocrypha. The imagery and practices found in the Book of Mormon are compared with certain phrases and material concerns found in Jewish and Christian apocryphal writings.

Later published in Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present.
In the second half of his lecture, Hugh Nibley compares the linguistics and culture of the Book of Mormon to that found in the Apocrypha.

The Book of Mormon invites exploration and reexploration. After more than 150 years of careful reading, we are still learning to appreciate its fullness, understand its origins, and comprehend its messages. Reexploring the Book of Mormon yields a wealth of new insights. More than ever before, patient and skillful research during the past decade has led from one discovery to another. Since 1981, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (F.A.R.M.S.) has issued articles and updates—brief, readable reports on current discoveries about the origins and contents of the Book of Mormon. Eighty-five of these findings published through 1991 have been collected in this volume. This type of research does more than gather circumstantial evidence for the Book of Mormon. It explores many avenues of the record’s internal complexity. It helps define the rich literary, anthropological, historical, and spiritual settings in which this scripture was written and translated.

The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of the printed version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made. ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation (or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Book of Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book of Mormon to the end of Moroni.

The earliest known reference guide to the Book of Mormon. Items listed are in order of pagination. The references refer to the chapters of the Book of Mormon and describe the contents of the chapter.

Royal Skousen’s endeavor to recover the original text of the Book of Mormon is more complicated than it seems because it involves more than simply reproducing the original manuscript. Rather, what Skousen means by “original text” is the very language that appeared on the Urim and Thummim. Every subsequent step, such as Joseph’s reading, his scribes’ understanding and transcribing of that utterance, and Oliver Cowdery’s copying of the manuscript for the printer, exposed the text to the possibility of human subjectivity and error. This paper explains the nature and scope of Skousen’s monumental undertaking and presents some of the methods and reasoning he employs to resolve disputed textual variants in search the Book of Mormon’s original text.

The theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic Abu ?amid Mu?ammad b. Mu?ammad al-Ghazali (d. AD 1111 in his Persian hometown of Tus, after spending much of his career in Baghdad) has sometimes been characterized as the single most influential Muslim besides the Prophet Mu?ammad himself. The Andalusian philosopher and jurist Abu al-Walid Mu?ammad b. A?mad b. Rushd (d. AD 1198 in Marrakesh, modern-day Morocco, but ultimately buried in his family tomb in Córdoba, Spain) is generally considered to be the greatest medieval commentator—whether Jewish, Christian, or Muslim—on the works of Aristotle. Often known as Averroës, a corruption of his Arabic name, Ibn Rushd was respected even by medieval Christians. For example, Dante Alighieri, in his immortal Inferno, placed him only on the rim of Hell—in the relatively benign Limbo of unbaptized infants—and not among the torturous punishments of Hell’s lower levels.

Abstract: Loss, pain, and suffering are too often, it seems, co-sojourners through our lives. To one degree or another, we all become familiar with these elements of a life lived in an imperfect world. It is inevitable — and virtually universal — that such companions foster questions about the meaning of life and whether there is a God who is the author, director, and finisher of that meaning. For those who conclude that God is real and has part in our lives, suffering can have or acquire eternal significance, enhanced by the personal realization that God, too, suffers and has suffered. In the Christian paradigm, God shares our suffering and we, in turn, share in His. In the depths of our sorrow we have, literally, a “co-sufferer” sharing our journey. As Christians, we are called upon to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. This act not only gives us a new name, but may require us to bear loss, pain, and suffering as did Christ — to acquire the “marks of Jesus” in our own lives. Indeed, for some, such bearing may be a key part of becoming what God plans for us to become.For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
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Abstract: In the early editions of the Book of Mormon, Alma refers to the Nephite interpreters as directors. Because director(s) elsewhere refers to the brass ball that guided Lehi’s family through the wilderness, Alma’s use of the term was apparently considered a mistake, and directors was changed to interpreters for the 1920 edition of the Book of Mormon. There are reasons, however, to believe that Alma’s use of directors was intentional. I present contextual evidence that Alma was actually using the Hebrew word urim, which was later translated into English as directors (for the interpreters) and director (for the brass ball), and biblical evidence that those translations are appropriate. Alma may have called the instruments urim to emphasize their sacred importance. As English prose, Alma’s discussion of these sacred instruments is wordy and at times confusing. As Hebrew poetry built around the word urim, it makes more sense. Alma’s apparent sophisticated use of this word suggests that he had a thorough understanding of the ancient connotations of urim and remarkable talent as a classical Hebrew poet.

A testimony of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon exposes false doctrine and guides men in the proper course of their lives. Consistent with God’s divine justice and mercy, God had guided his peoples on both the eastern and western continents. The Book of Mormon is not a history of a people, for that would not have changed human affairs, but it is a book of doctrine.

Mormon scriptures are unusual, unique from any other. They claim the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, the translation of which was done through the Urim and Thummim. The book purports to be the records of pre-Columbian Americans. In reality, it is a fraud or forgery. Mormons have a large amount of written material in their canon that has become as important as the biblical writings.

Reprinted in Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 13. 278–97.

Just in time for the study of the Book of Mormon in the 2008 churchwide Sunday School courses, the Maxwell Institute recently released an updated and expanded edition of Donald W. Parry’s Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon: The Complete Text.

In this article William Hamblin responds to critics of the Book of Mormon who claim that there is no language known as reformed Egyptian, a term found in Mormon 9:32. Hamblin reminds readers that reformed Egyptian is a modern term for an ancient language and lists examples of other ancient records written in languages that could also be considered reformed Egyptian.

This article discusses the term reformed Egyptian as used in the Book of Mormon. Many critics claim that reformed Egyptian does not exist; however, languages and writing systems inevitably change over time, making the Nephites’ language a reformed version of Egyptian.