Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), Sandy, Utah, 5 August 2004 (see www.fair-lds.org). Used by permission. Also published in Meridian Magazine Online (see www.ldsmag.com). Used by permission. Copyright 2004 Davis Bitton.

Review of Ronald V. Huggins. “From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism.” Dialogue 36/4 (2003): 17–42.

At the time Jacob gave his speech in 2 Nephi 6–10, the Nephites had already been driven from two lands of inheritance and felt an ongoing concern of being cut off from God’s promises. Belnap illustrates that Jacob’s speech answers these concerns through emphasizing and expounding on the covenantal relationship made possible by God acting as the Divine Warrior. Jacob quotes Isaiah passages in his discourse and in some instances makes his own additions to emphasize important aspects. He illustrates how the Divine Warrior provides the hardships, knowledge, and power for an individual to become a divine warrior, and he discusses the Divine Warrior’s defeat over the monster of Death. The promises made by the Divine Warrior can provide hope and assurance to all.

Scholars have presented and defended different viewpoints concerning the Lehite journey and the location of Nephi’s Bountiful. Aston explains that some of these arguments contain factual errors, such as claims regarding fertility and timber for Nephi’s ship and a lack of accounting for all possibilities. Discrepancies in theories and differences in opinion do not lessen the worth of all that has been found in Arabia and the supported theories, but acknowledging the sometimes contrary data will aid the search for the best candidate for Nephi’s Bountiful.

Review of Richard Dawkins. The God Delusion.

Review of Letters to a Mormon Elder (1990), by James R. White

In the year 1850, Elder Lorenzo Snow of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles arrived in Italy as a missionary. He and his companions spent much of their time with a Waldensian community. Elder Snow soon began sending missionaries to Switzerland to preach the gospel to French speakers there and began publishing church materials into French. The new materials caused a lot of opposition from Swiss Protestants and Italian Catholics. Elder Snow then went to England, where he solicited the help of an anonymous translator, and together they completed the translation of the Book of Mormon into Italian. Elder Snow returned to Italy soon after, bringing copies of Il Libro di Mormon with him, but he and the other missionaries did not find much success. Because of the influence of the Catholic Church on the government, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not given much freedom in their preaching. Il Libro di Mormon similarly did not significantly help the missionary work. Almost all the Italian converts to the church were French-speaking Waldensians. Because of the lack of progress, the Italian mission was closed in 1867 and not reopened until a century later, in 1966.

The Iliad features some battle clothing, battle tactics, reasons for fighting, and smiting off arms of enemies similar to those in the Book of Mormon, thus strengthening the links to an Old World culture.

Understanding the Sermon on the Mount (meaning both texts in their shared, collective meaning) as a temple text reveals that it has far more power and unity than a mere collection of miscellaneous sayings of Jesus. John W. Welch examines the teachings and commandments of the Sermon on the Mount in its Book of Mormon setting—at the Nephite temple, in connection with sacred ordinances of covenant making. This context opens new insights into the meaning and significance of the Sermon whereby readers never again see the Sermon the same.
Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple & Sermon on the Mount adapts and expands Welch’s earlier work to offer a thorough Latter-day Saint interpretation of the Savior’s greatest sermon, drawing on insights from Jesus’s Sermon at the Temple in 3 Nephi to shed light on his Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. This edition includes substantial additions based on insights gleaned throughout a decade of continuing research.

The image of the hand of God in both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon stands for the Lord’s power to intervene in the affairs of men and the events of history. Comparison between the ways this image is used in the two scriptures supports what the Book of Mormon claims about its own origin.

Review of Sam Harris. The Ends of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason.

Ernst Benz originally presented this paper at the Eranos conference held in Ascona, Switzerland, in 1969. (See the publisher’s Web site at www.daimon.ch for more information about these annual Eranos conferences and for listings of Eranos yearbooks.) Ernst Benz’s collected Eranos lectures are found in his book Urbild und Abbild: Der Mensch und die mythische Welt (Leiden: Brill, 1974). This essay is on pages 475–508. The astute reader will pick up some of Benz’s misconceptions about Latter-day Saint beliefs.

Recent genetic studies indicate that Polynesians were connected to ancient America. Careful reading of native sources led European scholar Michel Graulich to conclude that pre-Columbian Americans held beliefs that may arise out of the Christian tradition. Whether he or those he opposes are correct, the caution to allow more than one interpretative stance remains appropriate. Interpretations of scriptural history are possibly “contingent upon the theoretical inclinations” of the investigators. The historical process of the Anufo people of the Ivory Coast territory suggests how “robbers” or “secret societies” could have grown to be players on the sociopolitical scene in Mesoamerica.

In memory of John L. Hilton and his contribution to Book of Mormon word-print studies.

Frank William (Bill) Gay, in whose name two Maxwell Institute research funds were endowed, passed away May 21, 2007, in Kingwood, Texas. His wife Mary Elizabeth, five children, 17 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren survive him. The William (Bill) Gay Research chair at the Maxwell Institute was created and endowed in his honor. John Gee is the William (Bill) Gay Associate Research Professor. This endowment supports all of the projects and publications done by Gee and others on the Book of Abraham and related studies.

Thirty years after publishing In Search of Lehi’s Trail, Lynn M. Hilton looks back at the progress of research on the journey of Lehi and his family from Jerusalem to Bountiful. Hilton starts by briefly reviewing the known aspects of the party’s travel, such as the location of Jerusalem and their initial “south-southeast direction.” Following their trail, he gives an overview of the discoveries that have helped identify and describe potential sites for several key locales mentioned in Nephi’s narrative of the journey: the Valley of Lemuel, Nahom, and Bountiful. In the past thirty years, many important discoveries have expanded our understanding of the real-life setting of Lehi’s travel through the Arabian Peninsula.

Review of Philip Jenkins. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity.

Review of Richard Bauckham. Jesus and the Eyewitensses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony.

Cannon’s examination of news articles and stories concerning the publication of the Book of Mormon helps provide a greater understanding of its initial reception. Most news coverage first appeared in Palmyra and the surrounding areas, but articles on the Book of Mormon appeared as far west as Missouri and Arkansas and from Maine to Georgia. Even with this seemingly wide range of coverage, the overall quantity of news articles on the topic reveals how few people knew about the book and the early LDS Church as a whole. Although the majority of the news articles concerning the Book of Mormon were negative, some assumed a neutral stance and a relatively small number were positive about the book and its publication.

Lehi, though unable to convince his older sons to follow the Lord, was very successful with both Nephi and Jacob. The speeches and writings of Jacob clearly show that he remembered the admonitions given to him by his dying father and that he shared Lehi’s teachings—including some of his verbiage—with other members of the family. Jacob’s life and his teachings found in the Book of Mormon stand as a memorial to his father’s faith and parental love.

An inscribed gold plate 2.2 centimeters in length has been uncovered in a third-century ad Jewish burial. The burial, that of a young child, is located in a Roman cemetery in Halbturn, Austria. The news was released by archaeologists at the University of Vienna’s Institute of Prehistory and Early History.

In his effort to correct and preserve the original text of the Book of the Mormon, Royal Skousen has also increased our understanding of and appreciation for this volume of sacred scripture. Skousen’s close examination of the use of words and phrases throughout the book highlights its intertextuality and demonstrates that Book of Mormon authors were aware of and influenced by the words of previous authors. Moreover, restoring the original text helps clarify some vague constructions and should also caution us against putting too much emphasis on the exact wording of the present Book of Mormon. Skousen’s analysis of how such changes occurred during a relatively modern transmission process can also further the understanding of more ancient textual transmission. Finally, Skousen’s work reveals that the original Book of Mormon may have been even more strikingly Semitic than the present text and that some characteristically Hebrew constructions have been edited out over the years, though many still remain.

Since the late 1960s RLDS “liberals” have argued that the Book of Mormon should not be read as an authentic ancient history. This novel reading of the Book of Mormon has been part of a sustained effort by the RLDS hierarchy to make the Reorganization conform more closely with Protestant liberal approaches to the Bible. I demonstrate that the RLDS hierarchy has encouraged changes in the way the Book of Mormon is read by RLDS intellectuals. I then examine the arguments of Roger Launius, currently the foremost RLDS historian, who has recently insisted that the Book of Mormon ought to be read as “inspiring” frontier fiction. I also describe and criticize his claim that any concern with the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon is not serious historical scholarship, which he wants focused on issues currently fashionable among secularized historians.

On 19 March 2004, at the invitation of Brigham Young University president Cecil O. Samuelson, Institute executive director Noel B. Reynolds led some 200 members of the President’s Leadership Council and university deans and directors through an overview of the work of FARMS and the Institute. Th e purpose of the two-hour presentation was to reprise the Institute’s activities that are having a positive impact on the international academic scene and on other fronts in ways that add luster to the university.

“Beholding Salvation: Images of Christ,” a new exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art, displays 170 works depicting the ministry of Jesus Christ. The paintings, sculptures, icons, and illuminated manuscripts represent half a millennium of religious art. Not part of the exhibit but prepared especially for it is a book authored by FARMS director S. Kent Brown in collaboration with Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Dawn C. Pheysey.

The Institute appreciates opportunities to facilitate meaningful scholarly discussion of Mormon studies. One recent instance was its cosponsorship of a conference titled “God, Humanity, and Revelation: Perspectives from Mormon Philosophy and History,” held at the Yale University Divinity School on 27–29 March. The event featured more than two dozen scholars and authors, including several Latter-day Saints. A report of the conference will appear in the next issue of Insights.

Noel B. Reynolds has been appointed director of the Institute. A professor of political science and a past president of FARMS, he recently completed a five-year term as associate academic vice president for undergraduate studies at BYU. Further coverage on this change in leadership will appear in a future issue of Insights.

Three Institute researchers were among the speakers at the fifth annual FAIR conference, held August 7–8 at Utah Valley State College, in Orem, Utah. Founded in 1997, the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to providing sound information and research that support the doctrine, beliefs, and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, particularly on matters that are challenged by unbelievers.

The Maxwell Institute continues to encourage and support the work of graduate and undergraduate students through two funds. Each year at this time we remind graduate students about the Nibley Fellowship Program and its application deadline. Named in honor of the late eminent Latter-day Saint scholar Hugh Nibley, this pro-gram provides financial aid to students enrolled in accredited PhD programs in areas of study directly related to the work and mission of the Maxwell Institute, particularly work done under the auspices of one department of the Institute, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, such as studies of the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham, the Old and New Testaments, early Christianity, ancient temples, and related subjects. Applicants cannot be employed at the Institute or be related to an Institute employee.

The Maxwell Institute continues to encourage and support the work of graduate and undergraduate students through two funds.

On June 18, 2007, a group of six librarians from various international institutions visited the Maxwell Institute’s Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART) to learn more about the digital preservation of ancient texts at BYU. This visit was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State to further the professional development of these specialists. Visitors included Ioana Damian of the IAŞI (Romania), Billy Leung Tak Hoi of the University of Macau, Larisa Kislova of the Republic Library for Youth and Children (Kyrgyzstan), Tutu Mukherjee of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (India), D. B. Vuwa Phiri of the University of Malawi, and Gulnar Tussupbayeva of the National Academic Library of Kazakhstan. Their local hosts were Susan Neff of the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy and Elder Ben B. Banks, emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.

The Book of Mormon chronicles the wars and other relations between the two major nations of Ancient America. This paper identifies certain principles evident in the relations between these nations and compares the principles found in the Book of Mormon with international practice of Ancient Israel in the old world. This paper is not want to be a study of the law of nations of the ancient Near East; rather, our purpose is to identify, if possible, principles of the law of nations in the Book of Mormon. Ccmparisons to the culture of the ancient Near East are not meant to function as proof (or disproof) of the old-world origin of the Book of Mormon culture. They should be taken as interesting illuminations of the principles of international relations which appear in the history of the ancient American nations.

Review of John L. Sorenson. Mormon's Map.

Daniel H. Ludlow, formerly the director of Correlation Review for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, answers questions about his understanding and testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Editors of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies interview renowned Book of Mormon scholar John L. Sorenson to discuss his experience in doing Book of Mormon research for more than fifty years. Sorensen tells of becoming interested in the Book of Mormon and in Mesoamerican anthropology and archaeology. He also articulates how to be a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while conducting objective and scholarly research on the Book of Mormon. Sorenson explains how this approach has helped people throughout the world better understand the Book of Mormon and how it will continue to help.

The Book of Mormon culture is found to be strikingly similar to that of the Middle East. An Arab Latter-day Saint tells his experience with the Book of Mormon and how he is able to relate to the stories within its pages because of his cultural origins. Among the congruities discussed are the structure of the family, the concept of taking oaths, the behavior of women, and the danger of the desert. Together, these points demonstrate the worth of the Book of Mormon and show how each reader is able to draw from his or her own cultural background in order to infer different messages.

This is a very rough transcript of Nibley’s contributions to a panel discussion about ancient writing, scientific methodology, and testing of the Book of Mormon.

Review of The Dead Sea Scrolls: Questions and Responses for Latter-day Saints (2000), by Donald W. Parry and Stephen D. Ricks

President Ezra Taft Benson\'s call to emphasize the Book of Mormon is reflected in the effort of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies to promote the study of this book of scripture. The Review is founded on the deeply held belief that the Book of Mormon has immense value to both the Church and the world. The reviewers look at publications, both positive and negative, that deal with the Book of Mormon.

Introduction to the book.

In the summer of 2016, the editors of Studies in the Bible and Antiquity (Brian Hauglid, Matthew Grey, and Cory Crawford) organized a one-day workshop sponsored by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship to consider the relationship between modern biblical studies and various faith communities who view the Bible as sacred scripture. This workshop, which was held on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, included essays presented by six outstanding scholars who approached the topic from Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and Latter-day Saint perspectives, and we are pleased to publish the revised versions of these essays in this roundtable forum.

This second of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the authors have learned from Nibley. Nearly every major subject that Dr. Nibley has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the sacrament covenant in Third Nephi, the Lamanite view of Book of Mormon history, external evidences of the Book of Mormon, proper names in the Book of Mormon, the brass plates version of Genesis, the composition of Lehi’s family, ancient burials of metal documents in stone boxes, repentance as rethinking, Mormon history’s encounter with secular modernity, and Judaism in the 20th century.
A discussion about proper names for the Book of Mormon and the relevance of name studies to studying the Book of Mormon.

Many scattered and disconnected statements (mostly proffered etymologies) have been made about the proper names in the Book of Mormon. Because of the mixed quality of these statements this paper proposes an apposite methodology. First a few words need to be said about the relevance of name studies to our understanding.

A recent article in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies reported that ice cores taken from Greenland and Antarctica yield evidence broadly consistent with the 3 Nephi 8 account of cataclysmic New World events—presumably including a violent volcanic eruption—at the time of Christ’s death (Benjamin R. Jordan, “Volcanic Destruction in the Book of Mormon: Possible Evidence from Ice Cores,” JBMS 12/1 [2003]: 78–87). What other methods might yield corroborating evidence of such an eruption? Two possibilities are the analysis of tree rings and sea and lake sediments.

This article explores the ancient Near Eastern rituals that endowed kings with this power, specifically the rites suggested by the Investiture Panel at the palace of Mari, with specific focus on the motifs of creation, sacred garden, and divine kingship. Because contemporary evidence at Mari relating to an interpretation of the panel and the functions of various rooms of the palace is limited, it will be necessary to rely in part on a careful comparative analysis of religious texts, images, and architecture throughout the ancient Near East, including the Old Testament. Comparative analysis not only has the benefit of increasing our understanding of ancient Mesopotamian religion but also can enrich our understanding of the Bible.

The Book of Mormon appears replete with examples of verbal and dramatic irony, something unlikely to have been produced intentionally by Joseph Smith with his level of rhetorical and expressive skills. Dramatic irony occurs when an exceeding young Nephi, who is large in stature, admires the exquisite sword of Laban and then grapples with the distasteful command to kill Laban with that sword. Having passed the test, Nephi has matured into a man large in stature. Dramatic irony also occurs in Abinadi’s experience with King Noah and in the similar experiences of Alma and Korihor with the power of speech and silence. Verbal irony is apparent in Lehi’s expectations for Laman to be like a river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness, and for Lemuel to be like a valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord. Nephi also refutes his older brothers’ false knowledge by reminding them of what they already know.

Thanks to the work of scholars of the Hebrew Bible over the last two centuries or so, we now know a great deal about how and when various biblical texts were composed and assembled; in fact, this has been the focus of much of modern biblical scholarship. One thing has become clear as a result. Our biblical texts are actually the product of multiple acts of rewriting. All our canonical books have been found to be, in some degree, the result of editorial expansion, rearrangement, and redaction introduced by various anonymous ancient scholars.

A dictionary will tell you that history is a systematic written account of a man or a nation. Monte Nyman suggests that we are able to understand more of what the Book of Mormon has to say if we consider it to be a spiritual history. The book contains a light touch of history, but the majority of the pages contain sacred preaching, great revelation, or prophecy. Readers of the Book of Mormon should read it to see how its teachings can be applied in their lives.

Review of “Anti-Universalist Rhetoric in the Book of Mormon” (1993) by Dan Vogel.

The use of the Bible and especially Isaiah by ministers at the time of Joseph Smith

Review of David P. Wright. “Isaiah in the Book of Mormon: Or Joseph Smith in Isaiah.” In American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon

Donald Parry notes that nearly one-third of Isaiah is quoted in the Book of Mormon, and he lists twelve reasons given in the Book of Mormon for studying Isaiah. The Isaiah texts in the Book of Mormon are valuable for purposes of textual criticism because they come from the plates of brass, our oldest manuscript. Parry makes a few textual comparisons of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon and the Bible, demonstrating the greater clarity of the Book of Mormon Isaiah. Nephi’s people had difficulty understanding Isaiah because they did not understand the manner of prophesying among the Jews. Parry discusses individual symbols from Isaiah and from Erwin Goodenough’s model of vertical and horizontal Judaism.

The essays in this book, written by some of the finest LDS scholars, take a variety of approaches to help readers make the most of the Isaiah passages in the Book of Mormon. These scholars use the prophets of the Book of Mormon as knowledgeable guides, examining how and why those ancient writers used and interpreted Isaiah in order to clarify for modern readers what the Isaiah sections in the Book of Mormon are all about.

Review of Donald W. Parry. Harmonizing Isaiah: Combining Ancient Sources.

Doubts as to the literary unity of the book of Isaiah are fairly recent. The late nineteenth century saw a division of Isaiah into three parts by critics, who categorized only 262 of the 1292 verses as the genuine product of Isaiah. These critics deny the prediction element of prophecy and highlight different literary forms and theological ideas. The Book of Mormon attributes two of these three sections to Isaiah by quotation; ancient scriptures as well give no hint of a division. Christ and the apostles themselves attribute the book to Isaiah. Internal evidences of the unity of the book include imagery, repetition, expressions peculiar to Isaiah, and song. Changes in style can be attributed to mood. The differences between the Book of Mormon and the King James Version support the authenticity and literary unity of Isaiah.

Nephi quotes from the book of Isaiah because of its relevance to his people and to all men. He highlights the message of Christ’s appearance and atonement. The latter-day prophecies, both those which have been fulfilled and those that are yet to be fulfilled, are cited and explained. Israel will be restored in the latter days, but warnings accompany this glorious prophecy. The enemies of Zion will be confounded.

The Book of Mormon offers four keys essential for understanding Isaiah: (1) the spirit of prophecy or the Holy Ghost; (2) the letter of prophecy or the manner of the Jews; (3) diligent searching of Isaiah’s words; and (4) types, or the idea that events in Israel’s past foreshadow events in the latter days. When we apply these four keys to Isaiah’s writings, a message unfolds there that is immediately applicable and recognizable to Latter-day Saints. The developing spiritual and political shape of the world in which we live parallels precisely the prophetic scenario Isaiah drew up millennia ago.

Brigham Young University’s Board of Trustees recently approved the renaming of BYU’s Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (ISPART) to the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.

Heiser responds to Bokovoy’s critique of his argument against the traditional interpretation of Elohim as developed from Psalm 82.

No abstract available.

In our search for understanding, it is often instructive to determine what something does not mean. This is the case with the ending on some Book of Mormon names, -(i)hah. Because one of the most common names ending with -(i)hah is Moronihah, the son of Moroni, it might be tempting to understand these names as patronymic; however, of eleven names with the suffix -(i)hah, Moronihah is the only occurrence in which the father is known. The case of the brothers Mathoni and Mathonihah also casts doubt on this interpretation. The suffix -(i)hah can also be interpreted as a shortened form of Jehovah, yhwh. For this to occur, however, -i(j)ah would have to switch to -(i)hah through metathesis, which is extremely rare in Semitic languages. Among other arguments against this understanding are that there are no instances in the corpus in which -(i)hah is used as a shortened form of Jehovah and, with one possible exception, no geographical name compounds with yhwh, as -(i)hah does in the Book of Mormon. Although this leaves the question currently unresolved, the use of sound methodology has helped to settle what -(i)hah is not, which will ultimately aid in determining what it is.

The writings of Jacob and his descendants form part of the small plates, a section of the Book of Mormon that Mormon included intact, presumably without editing. Only on the small plates may Joseph Smith have found someone’s “handwriting” other than that of Mormon or Moroni. Speaking in the first person, Jacob and his descendants seem more individual, even in translation, than other writers whose words were more obviously edited by Mormon and Moroni. From Jacob through Omni, the record displays the complex variety one expects of a text written by many hands. The stylistic diversity of Jacob and his descendants is a powerful witness that we are dealing with material written by several ancient authors rather than by one person in early nineteenth-century New York.

Joseph McConkie offers a profile of the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob and discusses two themes taught by Jacob—the scattering and gathering of Israel and his testimony of the mission of Christ. The current gathering in Israel is temporal, not spiritual. From the Book of Mormon perspective, the gentiles are those who come from the gentile nations, even if they are of Ephraim, and are not Jewish nationals.

In a previous report I showed how the Book of Mormon’s portrayal of Nephi, son of Lehi, compares favorably to a preexilic Hebrew wisdom tradition reconstructed by biblical scholar Margaret Barker.1 This report highlights further connections between the Book of Mormon and traditions from ancient Israel that Barker asserts “have been lost but for the accidents of archaeological discovery and the evidence of pre-Christian texts preserved and transmitted only by Christian hands.”

While Jacob records 15,000 words in the Book of Mormon, he is often underappreciated, perhaps living in the shadow of his older brother Nephi. This study illustrates how Nephi, King Benjamin, and Moroni used Jacob’s words and expanded the influence of his literary legacy.

Review of Southwestern American Indian Rock Art and the Book of Mormon (1991), by James R. Harris Sr.

Review of Working toward Zion: Principles of the United Order for the Modern World (1996), by James W. Lucas and Warner P. Woodworth

Review of Working toward Zion: Principles of the United Order for the Modern World (1996), by James W. Lucas and Warner P. Woodworth.

The application of some techniques of literary analysis to the Jaredite exodus narrative in Ether 1–3 and 6 reveals that it is more than just a historical account. The author or editor of the narrative uses imagery and dialogue to help the reader look beyond the historical facts and see elements of the creation, Christ, and temples, among other things.

Review of Answering Mormon Scholars: A Response to Criticism of the Book “Coving Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon” (1994), by Jerald and Sandra Tanner.

Review of Archaeology and the Book of Mormon (1972), by Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner

Review of Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon (1990), by Jerald and Sandra Tanner.

Review of Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon (1990), by Jerald and Sandra Tanner.

Review of Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon (1990), by Jerald and Sandra Tanner.

Review of Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? (1987), by Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner

Ancient authors loved to play with their composi­tions much more than we do today. In fact, it was much easier to manipulate words and structure in some ancient languages than it is in Modern English. Ancient writers even played games with the readers of their work. One such ancient Hebrew game is called atbash, and Jeremiah used it quite effectively.

Review of John W. Welch, David Rolph Seely, and Jo Ann H. Seely, eds. Glimpses of Lehi’s Jerusalem.

The title page of the Book of Mormon states that the first purpose of the book is “to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever.” This means that the Book of Mormon is intended, in part, to teach Lehi’s descendants about the covenants that the Lord has made with them. The key covenant they will learn about is that they would be a blessing for all nations—a consecrated people of God. Beyond teaching about the covenants, the Book of Mormon also prophesies key signs and events that will demonstrate when the promised covenant is being fulfilled in the latter days.

An Egyptian script was possibly used to write Hebrew text on the Nephite record. Documents from the correct location and time period have texts and languages in varying scripts that lend credence to this scribal phenomenon.

The reading schedule of the Law and the Prophets in the Jewish synagogue at the time of the Feast of Dedication relates Old Testament prophesies in Ezekiel 37 to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

Review of The Children of Noah: Jewish Seafaring in Ancient Times (1998), by Raphael Patai

Nephite record keepers were very meticulous in monitoring the passage of time. Lehi’s departure from Jerusalem in the reign of Zedekiah marks the beginning of one formal reckoning of time. The prophesied 600-year window to the birth of Christ could well have been measured in lunar years. Lehi must have drawn on familiar Israelite calendrical practices to establish his calendar. Lehi’s descendants likely used twelve lunar months for their calendar without adding an occasional thirteenth month to adjust for the length of a solar year, which would solve the chronological problem of dating Lehi’s departure 600 years before the birth of Christ.

Israeli scholar Raphael Jospe encourages greater understanding and dialogue between Jews and Latter-day Saints. He points out issues that divide the two groups and issues for which there may be common ground. He specifically addresses the often fruitful tension that exists between universalism and particularism in the two faiths, both historically and today.

Review of Written by the Finger of God (1993), by Joe Sampson.

Review of Rediscovering the Book of Mormon (1991), edited by John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne.

Review of The Geography of the Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book (1990), by John L. Sorenson.

Review of Images of Ancient America: Visualizing Book of Mormon Life (1998), by John L. Sorenson

Review of By Study and Also by Faith, vol. 2 (1990), edited by John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks.

Review of Mormonism: Changes, Contradictions, and Errors (1995), by John R. Farkas and David A. Reed

Review of The Book of Mormon Paintings of Minerva Teichert (1997), by John W. Welch and Doris R. Dant