The great German literary demigod Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once remarked: “There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” My reading of Bethany Blankley’s recent Huffington Post article has confirmed Goethe’s fear as being my own. In the doleful cacophony that sounds forth from the ranks of fundamentalist Evangelical critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ms. Blankley is more than suitable at playing first-chair violin. She is an adept Konzertmeisterin who plays with a zealous gusto that is by no means forced into a decrescendo by facts or evidence.

The accusation that Latter-day Saints are not Christians is not new, and it is not it likely to go away anytime soon. So long as fundamentalist Evangelicals dominate the religious landscape of modern America, the benighted Mormons can anticipate this Hydra to rear its ugly heads incessantly. All of the efforts of the Latter-day Saints to quell this tired assertion will almost certainly be in vain, as misinformation, misrepresentation and outright calumny continue to capture the imagination of an ignorant public with scandalous tales of the moral and theological debauchery and baseness of the Mormons.

Ms. Blankley, thankfully, withholds from her readers lurid and fanciful tales of polygamy and blood atonement and instead refuses to call members of the Church of Jesus Christ “Christians” on theological grounds, viz.:

1. The Ministry of Jesus: “According to the first four gospels of the Bible, Jesus Christ lived and ministered in the region of modern-day Israel. He never appeared in the Americas.”
2. The Virgin Birth: “The Mormon Church teaches that Mary, the mother of Jesus, conceived Jesus through sexual relations with God the father.”
3. The Spirit World: “Mormons believe that God, angels and humans are the same.”
4. Jesus and Satan: “The Mormon church explicitly teaches…that Jesus Christ and Satan are both sons of God and are not only spirit brothers to each other but are spirit brothers to humans and angels as well.”

This broadcast is posted here by permission of KSL Radio.

This week FAIR has released a new DVD exploring the issues surrounding the Book of Abraham. “A Most Remarkable Book: Evidence for the Divine Authenticity of the Book of Abraham” puts forth answers to various criticisms directed against the Book of Abraham, as well as provides evidence favorable to the Book of Abraham’s ancient authenticity.

Footage of this new video was viewed at the FAIR Conference in August 2011, and many of the viewers afterwords came up and spoke to myself and Tyler Livingston concerning some of the things mentioned in the video. What is this talk of a “Jewish Redactor”? How old are the Joseph Smith Papyri? What is the “Egyptian Endowment” mentioned in the video? What about the notion of a council of gods? For those interested in the subjects touched upon by the DVD, or who may have similar questions, the following supplementary reading may prove useful. The following bibliography is a collection of resources for those interested in further delving into the Book of Abraham controversy.

Also note that this DVD is not meant to be an exhaustive rebuttal to every anti-Mormon criticism against the Book of Abraham. Nor is it meant to be an exhaustive analysis of all the relevant evidence for the Book of Abraham. (For instance, due to time constraints and other factors, as badly as we wanted to we were unable to include a discussion of the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar in the video.) Rather, it is a general overview of the Book of Abraham controversy from a faithful, apologetic perspective. The critics have had their day in court to present their case against the Book of Abraham (a case, incidentally, which has substantially remained the same for the last thirty some-odd years). This DVD is the case of the defense. As such, it is overtly apologetic. It is readily conceded that the controversy surrounding the Book of Abraham is still very active, and many questions remained unanswered. Thus, this DVD is not an attempt to end the discussion or declare conclusive victory. Rather, it is meant to give viewers a resource that brings together the faithful, scholarly LDS response to the critics’ allegations.

Furthermore, it is acknowledged that over time aspects of this DVD will become outdated. The scholarly investigation surrounding the Book of Abraham continues unabated to this day. Both LDS and non-LDS scholars are producing fascinating research on the textual history of the Book of Abraham and the doctrines contained therein, the Book of Abraham’s historicity as a ancient text, the Joseph Smith Papyri, the so-called “Kirtland Egyptian Papers”, the facsimiles, and 19th century eyewitness accounts of those involved with the handling of the JSP and the production of the Book of Abraham. Thus, the information presented in this DVD, while current, must not be taken as the final word on the matter. New discoveries and insights await to be made as eager investigators of truth feast upon the Book of Abraham, which is truly a most remarkable book.*

Bibliography:

Hugh Nibley, Abraham in Egypt, 2nd ed. (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000), online here.

Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, 2nd ed. (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2005).

Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Abraham (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2009).

Hugh Nibley and Michael D. Rhodes, One Eternal Round (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2010).

Michael D. Rhodes, “The Joseph Smith Hypocephalus…. Twenty Years Later”, online here.

Michael D. Rhodes, “The Book of Abraham: Dealing with the Critics”, online here.

Michael D. Rhodes, “The Book of Abraham: Divinely Inspired Scripture”, FARMS Review 4/1 (1992), 120-126, online here.

Michael D. Rhodes, “Teaching the Book of Abraham Facsimiles”, Religious Educator 4/2 (2003), 115-123, online here.

Michael D. Rhodes, The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2002).

Michael D. Rhodes, Books of the Dead Belonging to Tshemmin and Neferirnub: A Translation and Commentary (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2011).

John Gee, “A Tragedy of Errors”, FARMS Review 4/1 (1992), 93-119, online here.

John Gee, “Some Puzzles from the Joseph Smith Papyri”, FARMS Review 20/1 (2008), 113-137, online here.

John Gee, “Abracadabra, Isaac, and Jacob”, FARMS Review 7/1 (1995), 19-84, online here.

John Gee, “A Method for Studying the Facsimiles”, FARMS Review 19/1 (2007), 347-53, online here.

John Gee, “New Light on the Joseph Smith Papyri”, FARMS Review 19/2 (2007), 245-260, online here.

John Gee, A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000), online here. (Note: Because this is a photo-rich text, the published version is recommended.)

John Gee and Stephen D. Ricks, “Historical Plausibility: The Historicity of the Book of Abraham as a Case Study,” in Historicity and the Latter-day Saint Scriptures, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2001), 63–98, online here.

John Gee, “Eyewitness, Hearsay and Physical Evidence of the Joseph Smith Papyri,” in Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew W. Hedges, eds., The Disciple as Witness: Essays on Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000), 175-217, online here.

John Gee and Brian Hauglid, eds., Astronomy, Papyrus, and Covenant (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2005), online here.

Kerry Muhlestein, “Egyptian Papyri and the Book of Abraham: Some Questions and Answers,” Religious Educator 11/1 (2010), 91–108, online here.

Kerry Muhlestein, “Encircling Astronomy and the Egyptians: An Approach to Abraham 3,” in Religious Educator 10/1 (2009), 33-50, online here.

Kerry Muhlestein, “The Book of Breathings in its Place”, FARMS Review 17/2 (2005), 471-486, online here.

Kerry Muhlestein, “Approaching Understandings in the Book of Abraham”, FARMS Review 18/2 (2006), 229-246, online here.

Kerry Muhlestein, “Prelude to the Pearl: Sweeping Events Leading To The Discovery of the Book of Abraham,” in Prelude to the Restoration: From Apostasy to the Restored Church (Provo, UT and Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University and Deseret Book, 2004), 130–141, online here.

Michael Ash and Kevin Barney, “The ABCs of the Book of Abraham”, online here.

Michael Ash, “Joseph Smith, Abraham, and Modern Egyptology”, in Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening Oneʼs Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt (Redding, CA: Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, 2008), 113-128.

Michael Ash, “Book of Abraham 201″, online here.

Larry E. Morris, “The Book of Abraham: Ask the Right Questions and Keep on Looking”, FARMS Review 16/2 (2004), 355-380, online here.

Daniel C. Peterson, “News From Antiquity”, Ensign (January 1994), 16-21, online here.

Daniel C. Peterson, “Mormonism as a Restoration”, FARMS Review 18/1 (2006), 406-409, online here.

Matthew Porter Wilcox, “The Coming Forth of the Book of Abraham,” in BYU Religious Education 2009 Student Symposium (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009), 105–121, online here.

Brian M. Hauglid, A Textual History of the Book of Abraham: Manuscripts and Editions (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2010).

Brian M. Hauglid, “Investigating the Kirtland Egyptian Papers”, online here.

John A. Tvedtnes, Brian M. Hauglid, and John Gee, eds., Traditions About the Early Life of Abraham (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2001).

John A. Tvedtnes, “Authentic Ancient Names and Words in the Book of Abraham and Related Kirtland Egyptian Papers”, online here.

Paul Y. Hoskisson, “Where Was Ur of the Chaldees?” in The Pearl of Great Price: Revelations from God, ed. H. Donl Peterson and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1989), 119–36, online here.

David E. Bokovoy, “Ye Really Are Gods”: A Response to Michael Heiser concerning the LDS Use of Psalm 82 and the Gospel of John”, FARMS Review 19/1 (2007), 267-313, online here.

David E. Bokovoy, “Joseph Smith and the Biblical Council of Gods”, online here.

William Schryver, “The Meaning and Purpose of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers”, online here, text here.

Other helpful resources include:

FAIR Wiki, “Book of Abraham”, online here.

Kerry Shirts “Backyard Professor” webpage on the Book of Abraham, online here, and his blog here.

Val Sederholm’s blog, online here.

Jeff Lindsay’s Book of Abraham webpage, online here.

The Book of Abraham Project, online here.

Edwin Goble, The Nail of Heaven: LDS Cosmology, Metaphysics, and Science (CreateSpace, 2011).

* For those who may have been wondering, the title of this DVD is indeed a deliberate play off the Institute for Religious Research’s 2002 video The Lost Book of Abraham: Investigating a Remarkable Mormon Claim.

The full text of this address can be found at FAIR LDS.

Matthew Roper (MS from Brigham Young University), is a resident scholar at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.

The papyri Joseph Smith used when he translated the BoA went missing for decades, but were reacquired by the LDS Church in 1967. The papyri were quickly swept up in a tornado of research. In this episode Professor Hauglid talks about criticisms and controversies surrounding the Book of Abraham. Hauglid also describes how the BoA became part of the LDS canon. In addition to some of Hauglid’s favorite devotional bits of the text, he discusses a few interesting ancient parallels.

Cosmology, astronomy, ancient parallels, parallelomania, and Doritos. All these things and more in this episode of the FAIR Podcast.

Incidentally, the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship currently provides the chapters from Hauglid’s Astronomy, Papyrus, and Covenant online for free. Check them out here. Folks interested in learning more about the Book of Abraham might be interested to start there. A review of Hauglid’s new book is available here.

Hauglid received a BA in Near Eastern Studies from Brigham Young University and an MA and PhD from the University of Utah in Arabic and Islamic Studies. He is currently an associate professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU. Along with John Gee, Hauglid is both principal investigator and general editor of the Studies in the Book of Abraham Series.

Questions or comments about this episode can be sent to podcast@fairlds.org. Or, join the conversation in the comments here at fairblog.org.

Runtime:

55:53

Download:

To download, right click this link and select “Save link as…” or download it in iTunes here.

Support FAIR:

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Throughout The Book of Mormon, we begin to see hints of what “exceedingly numerous” actually means. Throughout this sacred text we see repeated mentioning of thousands 2, and tens of thousands 3 of Lehites in regard to lives lost in war, conversions, or armies. In the last battles between the Nephites and the Lamanites around 400 b.c., these numbers increase to hundreds of thousands people 4. James E. Smith, one of the creators of the Cambridge model for estimating historical populations noted that “With a moderately positive population growth rate of .1 percent per year, a population of 300,000 in Zarahemla in 87 B.C. would produce 450,000 in Mormon’s day.” 5

Any candidate for consideration to be Book of Mormon people must have a large civilization with tens and hundreds of thousands of people. If the population was not there to match these numbers, then they could not be Nephites and Lamanites.

Some groups who promote a Great Lakes setting (or Heartland Model) for The Book of Mormon, claim that the ancient Hopewell culture centered in Ohio and Illinois is the civilization explained in The Book of Mormon. I would like to examine this claim using a few requirements that any civilization must possess to be Book of Mormon populace. It is important to examine the Hopewell *during* the period of time when the majority of The Book of Mormon took place (600 BC-400 AD). Some advocates of a Great Lakes setting for The Book of Mormon use structures, events, war, etc… of later cultures that existed centuries, sometime millennia after The Book of Mormon ended, as evidence for their claim. This is nothing short of dishonest on their part. Much of the evidence they provide does not remotely come close to the time periods when they should have happened. I will be pulling evidence from the Middle Woodland period (between 1 and 500 AD), which is the same time period of the Nephites when they are most advanced, and have the largest population. This would be the best time period to find the evidences we are looking for, if the Hopewell qualify as a candidate to be the Nephites and Lamanites.

The first requirement The Book of Mormon people should have is a very large population. Do the Hopewell meet this requirement with thousands, tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands of people? The answer is a resounding, no.

The Hopewell lived from “around 100 BC and lasting to AD 500.” 6 (compared to the Lehites who lived between 600 BC and 400 AD), and centered in the river valleys of Ohio and Illinois. 7 They were an advanced civilization that is known for building large and elaborate mounds, and their long-distance trade. It has been said that they were the most advanced ancient North American society. As advanced as they were, no Hopewell group increased a population enough to fill a small village, which had no more than a few hundred people residing in it during Book of Mormon times. This is even the case in the communities in the heart, and origin of the Hopewell culture.

Timothy R Pauketat, a North-Eastern archaeologist and expert on the Hopewell states:
“Middle Woodland populations were not large by modern standards. For example, estimates based on human remains and settlements in the lower Illinois River valley are in the range of 1,290 to 4,500 individuals for a 140-mile stretch of river (and a region of 2,800 square miles), a population density of between .46 and 1.6 persons per square mile. A similar estimate has been derived for Southern Ohio (Pacheco and Dancey n.d.)….population density was probably the highest along the major waterways and the overland trails that probably crisscrossed to the east.” 8

Additional research gives a similar population density:
“the maximum density range of 0.22 to 0.33 persons per square kilometer was reasonable (Asch, 1976:59)..it is interesting to note that this estimate for the Illinois Valley population density during the interval from 150 B.C. to A.D 400 is comparable to levels reported in the Southeast during historical times.” 9

In the nucleus of the Hopewell culture, we find that the Hopewell not only lack the population to match the numbers throughout The Book of Mormon, but they did not even have enough people to have fought one major battle mentioned in The Book of Mormon.

Cities-

The Book of Mormon speaks of many cities throughout the text, and rarely mentions what could be considered smaller villages. These cities are very large, and hold thousands and tens of thousands of people. Did the Hopewell build permanent large cities that hold many thousands of people? Again, the answer is no.

During The Book of Mormon period, the Ohio “Hopewell settlements were small villages or hamlets of a few rectangular homes made of posts with wattle and daub walls and thatched roofs” 10

These small villages were generally made up of immediate and extended families that would either be sedentary, or be a seasonal camp, always moving to a new location. 11

While some of these ancient Indians would congregate into a small village, there were many households that were “dispersed over the landscape rather than concentrated within villages.” 12

“Overall, the Ohio Hopewell appear to be compiled of small groups most likely extended families, who practiced early horticulture and lived in small dispersed communities.” 13

In the Illinois Valley, which many scholars believe to be the origin of the Hopewell, we find a similar situation. Their “villages could not have held more than a hundred people.” And their living quarters were “rectangular or oval shaped;” and “were built of wooden posts and were probably covered with mats or with sheets of bark, like the wigwams of contact period Indians.” 14

They also lived in “small, sedentary, one to three-household hamlets, rather than large villages” just as in Ohio and elsewhere. 15

Therefore, what are we to think of the great earthen works that this culture built? Wouldn’t there have to be a city of people to work on these massive mounds? Scholars had originally thought that the “Ohio Hopewell resided in large complex villages adjacent to, or within, the monumental earthwork/mound centers. After extensive site survey and limited excavation in the central Scioto Valley, Prufer rejected the existence of such villages. Instead, he characterized the Ohio Hopewell settlement pattern as an example of what he termed the Vacant Ceremonial Center-Dispersed Agricultural Hamlet pattern. By this he meant that the earthwork/mound complexes were isolated ceremonial centers surrounded by interacting networks of small farming settlements. The members of these dispersed ‘earthwork societies’ interacted at the centers but did not live there on a permanent basis.” 16

In other words, some of these small villages and hamlets “During the summer months when food sources were at their highest, the Ohio Hopewell would gather at the ceremonial areas to work on the mounds.” 17

This is verified in an area with the biggest and most elaborate groups of mounds called Mound City, located in Chillicothe, Ohio, was excavated and archaeologists expected to find evidence of a large permanent city nearby. Instead, they “found low-density clusters of Hopewellian artifacts but no nucleated village debris…Similarly, a survey of the Hopewell site and environs by Seeman (1981) produced no evidence of nucleated sedentary village debris.” These archaeologists also stated that the lack of sites found was not due to “modern land use”, but only that they simply did not exist. This was also the case in several other mound sites.” 18

WAR-

War is a common theme in The Book of Mormon. Commencing soon after the arrival of the Lehites into the New World until it caused the destruction of the entire Nephite population. Book of Mormon wars lasted for years, sometimes decades at a time, with casualties that reached over a quarter-million people. If you are looking for Book of Mormon people in a certain group of ancient inhabitants of the Americas, extensive war is something that you should find.

The Hopewell do not match this Book of Mormon description. As mentioned earlier, they did not have the population that The Book of Mormon requires for battles or civilizations, but they also did not have wars. They were generally a peaceful people, and since they lived in such small groups, no large wars or battles are even recorded during Book of Mormon times.

In Ohio, it may be that there were no battles because “Most [clans] were roughly similar in size and wealth, and had fairly equal access to the social roles of importance of one kind or another… because there is no evidence of interpersonal or intercommunity violence, which social competition might produce.” 19

If your neighbor did not have something you wanted, and you were equal with them pertaining to goods, then what would be the reason to go to war against him which you would lose some of the very few, valuable men in your small village?

Proponents of the Heartland geography theory that centers around the Great Lakes area claim that enclosure mounds among the Hopewell were used as military fortification against raiding Lamanites. While The Book of Mormon does speak about the Nephites casting up dirt walls to protect a city 20 , this rudimentary look at the Hopewell mounds does not align with the evidence that trained archaeologists have found. They are learning that many of these Hopewell mounds were not built in a hurry to thwart off invading enemies, but were slowly built over several centuries, and used for worship purposes. Archaeologists have come to the conclusion that “it is unlikely than any of them would have been effective militarily.” 21 especially since these enclosures were not complete, but had several large gaps in them, which would expose the defenders to the enemy. 22

In relation to war, the Nephites and Lamanites used the bow and arrow as a major weapon in their battles. One should be able to find evidence of this common weapon, in the right time period, among Book of Mormon peoples. But again, the Hopewell do not pass this test. While the bow and arrow were used by later civilizations, the Hopewell did not have a knowledge of the weapon until after Book of Mormon time period. 23

Scholars have noted that “The invention of the bow and arrow was too late in time to be relevant to the end of the Scioto Hopewellian lifeways. Moreover, signs of violence and death by bow and arrow are missing from the Scioto Hopewell record.” 24

This major weapon of war that is mentioned throughout The Book of Mormon, wasn’t adopted by Great Lake cultures until after the disappearance of the Hopewell Indians.

Finally, the end of the Nephite civilization came because of years of bloodshed and war, ending the Nephite civilization desolate abruptly within a few years. What we find among the Hopewell is a very different story. “The great Hopewell culture thrived for 600 years. Then, around 500 AD., the culture disappeared with no signs of violence.” 25 and seems to have “dissolved” rather “than collapsed.” 26

The Hopewell have been shown to fail the test as a qualifying society for The Book of Mormon by lack of population, lack of cities, no large wars, destruction not coming from war, mounds not used for military functions, and no knowledge of weapons of war mentioned in The Book of Mormon. The list could go on, but just one of these points disqualifies the Hopewell culture.

The question must be asked, if the Hopewell do not line up with the description of The Book of Mormon civilization, then who does? If we take this same list of qualifiers and apply them to the Mayan people, who most LDS scholars believe to be, or at least be part of, Book of Mormon people, we find that they parallel each other in many ways.
Mesoamerican cities during Book of Mormon times were large enough to hold hundreds of thousands of people. “The region politically controlled by Teotihuacan extended beyond the Basin of Mexico, but it’s core area was probably only 25,000 to 50,000 square kilometers, with a population perhaps around one-half million to one million…there is strong Teotihuacan presence in the Tula region, and a major center at Chingu. Control may have been strong in the Valley of Toluca, but it probably did not extend much farther north or west.” 27

Contrasted with the .22-.33 people per square kilometer among the Hopewell, Mayan cities like El Mirador had “548-570 persons per square kilometers.” 28 These kinds of numbers would are consistent with the numbers mentioned in The Book of Mormon.

Many of the Maya lived in these large cities which sometimes spanned up to 8-square miles, but controlled smaller cities hundreds of miles away. War among the Maya seems to have been a constant problem for them. There were wars for power, goods, trade, and sometimes just to get captives to use as sacrifice. To prevent invading armies from overtaking their city, some Mayan cities would cast up a dirt wall around their city and would even place a timber palisade on top of the mound. 29 “Southern lowland sites with defensive walls include Tikal, Calakmul, Becan, El Mirador, Dos Pilas, Aguateca, and Punta de Chimino, among others. Dahlin describes a defensive wall around Chunchucmil in relation to walls around nine other sites in the northern Maya lowlands.” 30

Erecting defensive fortifications of dirt is exactly what Moroni was doing while preparing for war. He caused that the Nephites “should commence in digging up heaps of earth round about all the cities…And upon the top of these ridges of earth he caused that there should be timbers, yea, works of timbers built up to the height of a man, round about the cities.” (Alma 50:1-2)

Some of these defensive mounds completed the task of warding off the arrows that were shot by the Lamanites (Alma 49:2). So, candidate civilization must have a knowledge of the bow and arrow during the right time periods. This is exactly what we find . “Paul Tolstoy, claims that there is evidence for “the limited use of the bow and arrow in central Mexico” during Book of Mormon times. In fact recent archaeological findings confirm that the bow was used in parts of Mesoamerica as early as the time of Christ.” 31

In summary, the Hopewell were a well advanced culture in North America, but cannot be Book of Mormon peoples for many reasons, a few of which have been shown here. While we do not know exactly what ancient groups were the Nephites and Lamanites or where they lived, we can look for parallels between The Book of Mormon and ancient cultures. Thus far, the evidence seems to be in favor of the Mayan civilization.

———————————————

1. The logistics of this kind of population growth will not be dealt with here, http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=6&num=1&id=141. However, it wasn’t uncommon to find large population growths in Mesoamerica. “A considerable population increase (350%) is suggested from the Middle to Late Preclassic periods in northern Belize…”Ancient Mesoamerica: a comparison of change in three regions By Richard E. Blanton pg 170

2. Words of Mormon 1:14, Mos. 9:18, Alma 4:5, Alma 23:5, Alma 24:22, Alma 26:13, Alma 28:10-11, Alma 37:9, Alma 37:19, Alma 49:23, Alma 50:22, Alma 51:11,19, 56:27, 57:6, 57:14, 60:7, 62:5,12, 17, 63:4, Hel. 3:24, 5:19, 11:6, 3 Nephi 4:27, 17:25, Mormon 2:9, 4:9

3. Alma 2:19, Alma 3:26, Alma 28:2, 60:22, Hel. 3:26, 3 Nephi 3:24, 4:21, Mormon 1:11, 2:25

4. Mormon 6:11-14, 220,000

5. Nephi’s Descendants? Historical Demography and the Book of Mormon, James E. Smith, FARMS Review vol. 6.1 pg 255-296

6. Encyclopedic dictionary of archaeology By Barbara Ann Kipfer Springer; 1 edition (April 1, 2000), pg 242

7. Societies, Networks, and Transitions: A Global History, Volume I: To 1500, Craig A. Lockard, Wadsworth Publishing; 1 edition (January 10, 2007)pg 245

8. North American archaeology, Timothy R Pauketat, Diana DiPaolo Loren, Wiley-Blackwell (January 4, 2005) pg 113 emphasis mine

9. Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States, ed. Herbert Edgar Wright, Prentice Hall Press (June 1984) 2:258, emphasis mine

10. http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/hopewell/who_were_hopewell.html

11. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the Ohio Hopewell of the Hopewell Mound Group. PhD Dissertation by Lisa A. Mills, Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, 2003. Pg 13

12. The Scioto Hopewell and their neighbors: bioarchaeological documentation and Cultural Understanding (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology)
By D. Troy Case, Christopher Carr, Springer; 1st Edition. edition (July 24, 2008) pg 8

13. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the Ohio Hopewell of the Hopewell Mound Group. PhD Dissertation by Lisa A. Mills, Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, 2003. Pg 30

14. Prehistory of the Americas By Stuart J. Fiedel, Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (May 29, 1992) pg 242

15. Hamlets “are characteristic of Middle Woodland/Hopewell settlement systems in Ohio, the lower Illinois river valley, the American Bottom of the Mississippi river valley, and the Duck river valley of central Tennessee.” Gathering Hopewell: Society, Ritual and Ritual Interaction (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology), Community Organizations in the Scioto, Mann, and Havana Hopewellian Regions, by Bret J. Ruby, Christopher Carr, and Douglas K. Charles. Edited by Christopher Carr and D. Troy Case, pg 132

16. Ohio Hopewell Community Organization, William S. Dancey, Paul J. Pacheco, Kent State University Press (January 1997) pg 42

17. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the Ohio Hopewell of the Hopewell Mound Group. PhD Dissertation by Lisa A. Mills, Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, 2003. Pg 13

18. Ohio Hopewell Community Organization, William S. Dancey, Paul J. Pacheco, Kent State University Press (January 1997) pg 16

19. The Scioto Hopewell and their neighbors: bioarchaeological documentation and Cultural Understanding (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology) By D. Troy Case, Christopher Carr, Springer; 1st Edition. edition (July 24, 2008) pg 25

20. Alma 49:2, 53:4

21. North American archaeology, Timothy R. Pauketat, Diana DiPaolo Loren Wiley-Blackwell (January 4, 2005) pg 123

22. ibid

23. “In most of eastern North America, a shift from notched or stemmed to triangular bifaces occurred between 1500 and 1200 B.P. This shift is commonly linked to the introduction of the bow and arrow to the region (Blitz 1988:131; Christenson 1986a; Griffin 1978:254; Hall 1980; Justice 1987: 224-229; Kelly et al. 1984; Morse and Morse 1990; Muller 1986). That is, small triangular bifaces are considered prima facie evidence for the adoption of the bow and arrow. This adoption is believed to involve a corresponding abandonment of, or at least a drastic reduction in the use of, earlier device.”
Spears, darts, and arrows: late woodland hunting techniques in the upper Ohio Valley. Article from: American Antiquity | July 1, 1993 | Shott, Michael J

24. The Scioto Hopewell and Their Neighbors: Bioarchaeological Documentation and Cultural Understanding (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, by Daniel Troy Case, Christopher Carr, C.A. Johnston, and B. Goldstein Springer; 1st Edition. edition (July 24, 2008), pg 319

25. Archaeological Society of Ohio By Archaeological Society of Ohio, Ohio Archaeological Society, Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society, Volumes 44-45, pg 17

26. North American archaeology, Timothy R. Pauketat, Diana DiPaolo Loren Wiley-Blackwell (January 4, 2005) pg 131

27. Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia , by Susan Toby Evans, Routledge; annotated edition edition (November 27, 2000), pg 729. While Teotihuacan spanned over a half of a century in Book of Mormon times, it should be noted that the end of its society post-date The Book of Mormon. The population would no doubt be very large, but may not be as high as the figures stated.

28. Past and Present in the Americas: A Compendium of Recent Studies, edited by John Lynch, Manchester University Press (September 1984), pg 132

29. “Bruce Owen discusses such fortifications at Becan in central Yucatan (5 meter deep moat, a 12 meter high earth embankment, with a timber palisade on top), and at other settlements” http://bruceowen.com/worldprehist/3250s18.htm Ross Hassig, War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica (1992), 219 n. 34

30. The Ancient Maya: new perspectives, By Heather Irene McKillop, ABC-CLIO (August 19, 2004), pg 189

31. Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, Pt. 1, 282-283, quoted in William J. Hamblin, “The Bow and Arrow in the Book of Mormon,” Warfare in the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company and FARMS, 1990), 379.

Viewers who use closed captioning will be happy to learn that it’s been employed for Season 2 (although it’s a little rough in places). And I’m very happy to see that the list of episodes also says which disc they’re on this time. (Both of these things were missing for Season 1.)

There are 2 episodes about the manual containing the teachings of Joseph Smith that was used recently in priesthood and Relief Society. It begins by recounting a history of publications of his teachings, and then spends the rest of the time talking about the preparation of the new manual. It was intended not to be a comprehensive source of known teachings, but rather to be selected teachings that apply to our day. They were very careful in what was included, and the standards for determining such, which depended on the sources, were explained.

The Word of Wisdom episode was particularly interesting to me, since this topic can often be a stumbling block for people who assume that it has always been followed and enforced the way it is today. It is pointed out that the first 3 verses of D&C Section 89 were not actually part of the revelation, but were originally a preface. It is explained what the restrictions on hot drinks, alcohol, and meat meant at the time it was given. A history of the Word of Wisdom from moderation to abstinence is recounted. Unfortunately, here I feel the episode falls short. The groundwork is laid to mention that not just church members but also church leaders had difficulty with it at first, but then it doesn’t quite go that far. It can be confusing for someone that was taught that Joseph refused alcohol for his leg operation to learn that he did not always abstain (see, for instance, History of the Church, vol. 7, page 101), and I thought this episode could have done a little better towards inoculating against that.

Another interesting episode is about D&C section 76, which outlines the different degrees of glory available after this life. It was referred to originally as “The Vision,” since it was the first vision to be published (accounts of the “First Vision” were not published until later). It was one of just a few visions that had a witness – Sidney Rigdon participated in it along with Joseph Smith. Until then, the understanding of the afterlife was black and white. Those who didn’t like it considered it to be universalist. It was written down immediately by Smith and Rigdon, and because they were commanded to write it down, copies were allowed to be made freely. Joseph was probably tarred and feathered for it.

This DVD series should be of interest to anyone that enjoys church history or is interested in learning about it. There is some that is glossed over – such is the nature of the medium – but this is the most in-depth and accurate treatment of Joseph Smith and the early history of the church that has been made available for viewing, and it could even lead those that don’t particularly like non-fiction reading to do further research.

There are numerous statements from Church leaders, unknown to many, that expound on this seeming paradox. Comments on my recent paper for FAIR are welcome!

William Schryver’s presentation on the Kirtland Egyptian Papers received some press before the conference, and did not disappoint. You can view it here. (A browser plug-in may be required.)

There have been articles about many of the presentations published in Mormon Times, Deseret News, and LDS Church News:

• FAIR conference: Same-sex marriage and the role of religion
• FAIR conference: Secret Mormon codes and Egyptian papers
• FAIR conference: LDS doctrine clear on divinity of one God
• FAIR conference: ‘Gender equality is the brick of Zion,’ speaker says
• FAIR conference: What if the U.S. president were a Mormon?
• FAIR conference: Joseph Smith’s discovery of ancient patterns
• FAIR Conference: Roper’s take on Book of Mormon geography
• Mormons need to work to increase favor
• FAIR conference: Defend the Book of Mormon by studying names, origins
• Nibley editor says scholar was bolstered by research
• ‘Be Ready’ to Defend Faith

Transcripts will be posted at http://www.fairlds.org when they are ready. MP3s and DVDs will be made available for purchase at the FAIR bookstore.

Blacks and the Priesthood

Mormonism and racial issues/Blacks and the priesthood

The Place of Mormon Women: Perceptions, Prozac, Polygamy, Priesthood, Patriarchy, and Peace

Christians don’t need a mediating priesthood

Priesthood/Non-transferable

Is there a “Priesthood of All Believers”?

Priesthood/Restoration

Hebrews 7 and the Aaronic priesthood

Date of the restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood

Priesthood/What does the Bible teach?

People outside of Utah, upon hearing about it, immediately began wondering when (or even if) they would have a chance to see the series. It was quickly ascertained that KJZZ would not be providing it for viewing on their web site as some hoped, but eventually BYUTV picked it up. Today, season 1 can be watched on BYUTV and Utah viewers can see season 2 (now in reruns) on KJZZ. And now (as of 2009), season 1 is available on a 7 disc DVD set from Deseret Book.

The set contains 52 episodes, numbered from 0 to 51, which are about one half hour each, except for number 0 which was the longer pilot that was aired ahead of time. A booklet is included that gives a brief summary of each episode and lists the contributing scholars, along with an index. Unfortunately, it does not state which DVDs contain which episodes, so I ended up noting that myself in my copy. Each DVD contains a message at the beginning apologizing that the sound and video quality are not always perfect, but the one big drawback of this set is a total lack of closed captions. Anyone that can’t hear will not be able to watch it, and even for those of us who are able to hear, it would have been nice to be able to read what is being said at times, particularly when trying to take notes.

Season 1 is filmed at historic sites as well as in a studio, using visual aids ranging from photographs, to paintings, to the actual writings of Joseph Smith and others. It includes interviews with scholars such as Ronald Barney, Richard Bushman, Steven Harper, Richard Turley, Richard Anderson, Larry Porter, Milton Backman, Robin Jensen, Jeffrey Walker, Jill Derr, Royal Skousen, Mark Staker, Dean Jessee, Carol Madsen, and many others.

In the pilot episode, Ronald Esplin (managing editor of The Joseph Smith Papers) said, “I think in today’s world, every Latter-day Saint will encounter things about Joseph Smith they didn’t know before. We have an informational overload – informational access – that has never been available before, and to the degree that Latter-day Saints are left only with what they learn at Pioneer Day, they are going to be vulnerable, because there is so much more to learn. And I think it’s very important that we come to a true understanding of our history, and of our people, that involves dealing with all the issues, and dealing with all the personalities, and doing it broadly so that we understand our own heritage, and then we will not be overturned by some new little fact that we didn’t have room for in our scheme, because we prepared ourselves to look at the whole picture.”

Many of the other episodes in the series are spent giving us this understanding, beginning with familiarizing us with early 19th century America and Joseph Smith’s heritage and local environment, and then going through many of the events in Joseph’s life and the history of the church, and then his death and the aftermath. A good job was done in many areas where the church has been accused by critics of hiding information. For example, the different versions of the First Vision are discussed, and there is a very good history and explanation given of the Book of Abraham and associated papyri.

However, one weakness that stuck out to me was that the discussion of plural marriage was not as thorough as it might have been. The host, Glenn Rawson, was kind enough to answer my question about that: “Our discussion of Plural marriage was limited of necessity. We could only say what we could prove by reliable documentation and only a small portion of that. It was the first in-depth broadcast statement on the subject of plural marriage that had been done under Church auspices. We tried to be careful and circumspect.” Indeed, it is significant that plural marriage was discussed to the depth that it was.

There are a couple of episodes devoted to a roundtable discussion featuring members of the Papers staff explaining what the project is all about, and the significance for members and nonmembers alike. There is an episode about the medical aspects of Joseph’s leg operation. Separate episodes are devoted to the revelations and sermons of Joseph Smith, respectively. There are also episodes covering Joseph’s encounters with the law.

To give an example of some interesting points covered in a typical episode, in episode 7 (“The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon”) we are told that in the early 20th century, a farmer filled in the depression on the hill where the plates had been stored, because he was tired of people coming on his land to see it. It is pointed out that those who knew Joseph best believed him the most. And we are told that Joseph said he could see anything through seer stones.

There is much to learn about the history of the Church up through the 1840s, and this DVD set does a good job of helping to provide a foundation for more in-depth learning, and “to look at the whole picture.” It also helps the viewer have a better understanding of some of what is being published as part of the Joseph Smith Papers. This set would be excellent for use in Family Home Evening, as well as for personal study. Season 2 will also be out on DVD shortly, which Rawson told me covers some of the potentially troubling issues more thoroughly, and he also mentioned that season 3, entitled “History of the Saints: Gathering to the West” will begin airing on KSL and KIDK (Idaho Falls) TV the weekend of General Conference in October.

Gerald N. Lund wrote an article for the Ensign in 1990 that explains in detail why the atonement was necessary and how it works, calling the Fall of Adam “one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted doctrines in all of Christianity”: Gerald N. Lund, “The Fall of Man and His Redemption,” Ensign, Jan. 1990, 22.

Most Christians (not just Latter-day Saints) believe that everyone will be resurrected. However, there are some critics that claim such beliefs are unbiblical, and that only those who are saved will be resurrected. While the Book of Mormon speaks plainly of the resurrection being universal (see, for example, Alma 11:40–45 and Mormon 9:12–14), the Bible also speaks of it. Here are some examples:

• 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 – “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
• John 5:28-29 – “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
• Acts 24:15 – “And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”

This doctrine was also clearly taught in the early Christian church:

• “If only a just judgment were the cause of the resurrection, it would of course follow that those who had done neither evil nor good, namely, very young children, would not rise again. However, we see that all persons are to rise again, including those who have died in infancy” (Athenagoras, 175 AD.)
• “By mentioning both the judgment seat and the distinction between good and bad works, he sets before us a judge who is to award both sentences. He has thereby affirmed that all will have to be present at the tribunal in their bodies.” (Tertullian, 207 AD.)
• “Since the entire man consists of the union of the two natures [body and soul], he must therefore appear in both natures. For it is right that a man should be judged in his entirety…Therefore, as he lived, he must also be judged.” (Tertullian, 210 AD.)

It is unfortunate but telling that our most important doctrines receive so much criticism from those who would have the world believe that we worship “a different Jesus.” Indeed, if our Jesus is different, it is because we believe in the uncorrupted concept of Jesus Christ found in the scriptures, and not in the creeds of man.

The Life of Christ Was Predicted Long before His Birth
Book of Mormon/Textual changes/”the Son of”
Alma 7:10 – Jerusalem vs Bethlehem

He Was the Only Begotten of the Father
The “Mormon” vs. the “Christian” Jesus
Worship different Jesus
Jesus Christ/Brother of Satan
Jesus Christ/Conception

He Led a Perfect Life
Gordon B. Hinckley states that Latter-day Saints don’t believe in the “traditional” Christ
Baptism essential

He Organized the Only True Church
Apostasy

He Redeemed Us from Our Sins and Saved Us from Death
Jesus Christ/Atonement
Jesus Christ/Crucified on a cross
Sweat and skin pores

His Sacrifice Showed His Love for His Father and for Us
Grace and works

As a reminder, “If you have been called to teach a quorum or class using [the Gospel Principles] book, do not substitute outside materials, however interesting they may be. Stay true to the scriptures and the words in the book. As appropriate, use personal experiences and articles from Church magazines to supplement the lessons.” (“Introduction,” Gospel Principles, (2009), pg. 3.) The resources provided here are not meant to replace or supplement the prescribed lesson material, but are for use in personal study and to help provide background knowledge for answering any issues that may arise in class.

The Scriptures Are Available to Us Today
Open canon vs. closed canon
Supposed contradictions in the scriptures
The Mistakes of Men: Can the Scriptures be Error-Free?

The Bible
The Corruption of Scripture in the Second Century
As Far as it is Translated Correctly: The Problem of Tampering with the Word of God in the Transmission and Translation of the New Testament
FAIR wiki
FAIR Topical Guide

The Book of Mormon
Joseph the Seer—or Why Did He Translate With a Rock in His Hat?
Science and the Book of Mormon
Mormon’s Editorial Method and Meta-Message
A Real People, Time, and Place: Contextualizing the Book of Mormon
A Social History of the Early Nephites
The Gadianton Robbers in Mormon’s Theological History: Their Structural Role and Plausible Identification
Changes in the Book of Mormon
Nephi’s Neighbors: Book of Mormon Peoples and Pre-Columbian Populations
The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon
DNA and the Book of Mormon
Monotheism, Messiah, and Mormon’s Book
The Case for Historicity: Discerning the Book of Mormon’s Production Culture
Explaining Away the Book of Mormon Witnesses
Debating the Foundations of Mormonism: The Book of Mormon and Archaeology
The Protean Joseph Smith
Arabia and the Book of Mormon
FAIR wiki
FAIR Topical Guide

The Doctrine and Covenants
I Don’t Have a Testimony of the History of the Church
Dispelling the Black Myth
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Plural Marriage* (*but were afraid to ask)
The Reliability of Mormon History Produced by the LDS Church
FAIR Topical Guide – Blacks and the Priesthood
FAIR wiki – Blacks and the Priesthood
FAIR wiki – Polygamy
FAIR Topical Guide – Polygamy
FAIR wiki – Doctrine and Covenants
FAIR Topical Guide – Doctrine and Covenants

The Pearl of Great Price
Revised or Unaltered? Joseph Smith’s Foundational Stories
Book of Abraham 201: Papyri, Revelation, and Modern Egyptology
The Larger Issue
The Message of the Joseph Smith Translation: A Walk in the Garden
Adam in Ancient Texts and the Restoration
FAIR wiki – First Vision
FAIR Topical Guide – First Vision
FAIR wiki – Pearl of Great Price
FAIR Topical Guide – Pearl of Great Price

Words of Our Living Prophets
Statements by Church leaders
Revelation after Joseph Smith
Journal of Discourses
FAIR Topical Guide

Studying the Scriptures
The Impact of Mormon Critics on LDS Scholarship
The Fallacy of Fundamentalist Assumptions
“Uh oh!” to “Ah ha!” in Apologetics: 20/20 Foresight for a Faithful Future in Defending the Church
Spiritual Experiences as the Basis for Belief and Commitment
“Believest thou…?”: Faith, Cognitive Dissonance, and the Psychology of Religious Experience
What I Learned about Life, the Church, and the Cosmos from Hugh Nibley

Beth T. Spackman, “In 3 Nephi 19, we read that some Nephites prayed to Jesus. Is it proper to pray to him?,” Ensign, June 1988.

Are we allowed to pray to our “Heavenly Mother?”

Praise in Prayer and Song

Moroni’s promise

Gaylen Hinton, “I need help in praying for and receiving guidance and personal revelation.,” Ensign, October 1993, 60.

Burning in the bosom

Blake T. Ostler, “Spiritual Experiences as the Basis for Belief and Commitment,” 2007 FAIR Conference.

Chapter 7: The Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost Came to Adam and Eve

Depending on how far you get into Moses 5 (the entire chapter is listed under “Additional Scriptures”), several different issues could come up:

Procreation Before the Fall
Original Sin
Wayward Family Members
Sons of Perdition
The “curse of Cain” and “curse of Ham”

Attributes of the Holy Ghost

Who is the Holy Ghost? Has he or will he receive a physical body?
Divinity without a body
Joseph Smith/Office of the Holy Ghost

The Mission of the Holy Ghost

Testimony and doubt reconciliation
Burning in the bosom
Prayer as a means for determining truth

Please feel free to comment about any other potential issues I may have missed.

In 2006, Deseret Book published Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament to widespread approval.[2] Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament (or WOT), a sequel of sorts, has appeared recently, a few fortuitous months before the Gospel Doctrine calendar changes over to the Old Testament as the course of study. WOT is clearly meant to parallel World of the New Testament, from the title to the layout and organization. However, the Old Testament is not the New, and the three authors of WOT faced a much tougher assignment.

Roughly speaking, the New Testament involves less than 100 years of history, two cultures (Greco-Roman and Israelite/Judaic), and a few languages (Greek, and to a lesser extent, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin). By contrast, the Old Testament covers more than 1000 years of history (not counting the deutero-canonical Apocrypha written in the 400 years between the two testaments), multiple cultural influences and languages (Egyptian, Assyrian/Babylonian, Hittite, “Canaanite”, Persian, and Greek) and nearly 3.5 times the amount of text as the New Testament.[3] A similar treatment of the Old Testament from a scholarly Evangelical perspective easily stretched to five volumes, nearly 7.5 times as many pages, and four times the cost of the WOT.[4] The authors of WOT, well aware of the multiple constraints upon them,[5] have nevertheless given the LDS market one of the best Old Testament volumes in years, which I hope finds its way into the hands of every Gospel Doctrine teacher in January.

WOT begins with a 14-page introduction to the world of the Old Testament, with notes on culture, the scripts,[6] relevant languages and Bible translations (besides the KJV, the authors sometimes cite the NRSV, NIV, and NJPS translations, or translate ancient texts themselves), a glossary of relevant terms (such as stela, Masoretic text, and ostracon), and a chronology. They pointedly remind us that Old Testament religion and culture would be quite foreign to us today and that the Israelites were not simply proto-Mormons in the ancient Near East. For example, an introductory section on the names of God in the Old Testament points out something unknown to many LDS, that the usage of Elohim[7] to indicate the Father and Jehovah the Son or Jesus is one based on “Restoration insight, [and] not the Hebrew Bible as it has come down to us.”[8]

From there, WOT begins with Genesis and goes to the end of the Hebrew Bible, but following the historical instead of canonical order. That is, the books in our Old Testament are not arranged in order of events they depict, or chronological order. If one reads the Old Testament straight through, one jumps around in history. Many of the Old Testament books, separated from each other in the current arrangement, actually depict the same time period, and this is how our authors arrange WOT.  The final scriptural chapters treat Ezra and Nehemiah, with sidebars on Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Large color pictures, illustrations (some commissioned for this volume), maps, sidebars, charts and clay tablets or papyri of ancient texts liberally sprinkle nearly every page. This has several effects. First, such variety easily holds the interest of the average reader, who might not otherwise read a purely textual book about the Old Testament, typically (but wrongly) held to be a dry subject. Second, such visual aids make the text come alive and help readers understand that the Old Testament is more than words on paper or a theological sourcebook. Third, the often striking foreignness of these visuals help readers understand that the Old Testament existed within a cultural and historical context that is not our own, and that to fully understand it, we need to read it within that context. Brigham Young expressed this principle in a way. “Do you read the scriptures, my brethren and sisters, as though you were writing them a thousand, two thousand, or five thousand years ago? Do you read them as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them?”[9]

For example, the creation accounts of Genesis were written within a particular cultural context, including other Israelite and non-Israelite creation stories; stripped of that context and read as if they were modern texts, they are easily misunderstood. As our authors state,

“the power and significance of these stories [of creation in Genesis] can be best appreciated when they are compared with the ancient creation stories that were known in cultures surrounding ancient Israel. In the last 150 years, archaeologists working in the Near East have uncovered hundreds of thousands of records from the ancient world.  Scholars have identified in these records many examples of creation stories from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan that give us insight and understanding of the ancient worldviews about creation.”[10]

Holzapfel, Pike, and Seely are far from alone in making these kinds of basic interpretive statements about the Old Testament. Peter Enns, an Evangelical Old Testament scholar trained at Harvard, similarly writes that “both Genesis and Enuma Elish [a Babylonian creation story] ‘breathe the same air.’ Whether the author of Genesis was familiar with the text known to us as Enuma Elish, he was certainly working within a similar conceptual world…. The Genesis account must be understood in its ancient context, and stories like Enuma Elish help us glimpse what that context looked like.”[11]

I once had a conversation with a distant relative who was extremely surprised to learn that the texts of the Hebrew Bible were not the only surviving records from the ancient Near East. Indeed, to counteract just this kind of misconception, our authors introduce the reader to non-Israelite texts such as the Enuma Elish mentioned above, the Sumerian King List, Enki and Ninhursag, the Gilgamesh epic, the Amarna texts, and Ugaritic texts for their contextualizing and explanatory power. Non-biblical Israelite texts that shed light on the Old Testament are included as well, such as the Lachish letters, Gezer calendar and Mesad Hashavyahu inscription. When the authors do not translate these records themselves, the scholarly standard translations are quoted, both Pritchard’s Ancient Near Eastern Texts (or ANET) and the more recent 3-volume Context of Scripture (or COS).[12]

In between chapters on particular sections of scripture are chapters focused on particular themes instead of passages, on such topics the Abrahamic covenant, the social and physical world of the ancient Near East, and the five books of Moses, with half a page on the Documentary Hypothesis. Another chapter entitled “What Kind of History?” explains that ancient conceptions of the genre of “history” were not like our own today, and introduces the Deuteronomistic History. Scholars have noted that Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings sound very much like Deuteronomy in both vocabulary and motifs, and theorized that whoever was responsible for the final form of Joshua-Kings was steeped in or involved with Deuteronomy.

The volume concludes with several thematic chapters. The first treats the story of the text of the Old Testament, how it was preserved, translated, and the process of canonization, etc. The second, “Rediscovering the World of the Old Testament” briefly summarizes the history of the last 200 years of scholarship. The “rediscovery” of the ancient Near East began with Napoleon invading Egypt in 1798, leading to the discovery and eventual decipherment of the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian language, only the first in a flood of discoveries. The final chapter discusses the influence of Old Testament doctrine, concepts, and phrases upon Joseph Smith and the restoration of the Gospel. A page listing sources and an index conclude WOT.

One issue constantly just below the surface throughout this book is the interaction of different sources of knowledge, namely, modern-day revelation and scripture, and our understanding of the Old Testament achieved through scholarly means. This topic alone could easily fill a lengthy book of its own, and LDS scholars will continue to discuss (and disagree over) this complex topic in its various applications. For some readers, this may be the elephant in the room. Some may wonder why the Joseph Smith Translation or prophetic commentary is not cited more often,[13] whereas others may have the same question about source theory, a dominant and widely accepted theory found in undergraduate textbooks and introductions to the Old Testament.[14] Regardless of one’s views of such theories, it is gratifying to see an introduction, however brief, in a mainstream “popular” LDS book. Prior treatments have not received broad circulation.[15] This topic is but one example of our authors introducing mainstream scholarly theories[16] into the broader LDS consciousness, but in a non-dogmatic way and within a context of faith.

Our authors have struck a fine balance between critical scholarship, revealed LDS doctrine, and the strong strain of LDS tradition. Often, they approach a topic by presenting multiple viewpoints, with sensitivity to all three sources, alternately informing, challenging, and supporting the lay LDS audience. This is perhaps less dogmatic than many readers have come to expect, but proves to be a strength.  In following this approach, Holzapfel, Pike, and Seely exemplify the instructions given to BYU Religion professors.

“Where answers have not been clearly revealed, forthright acknowledgment of that fact should attend, and teachers should not present their own interpretations of such matters as the positions of the Church. Students should see exemplified in their instructors an open, appropriately tentative, tolerant approach to “gray” areas of the gospel. At the same time they should see in their instructors certitude and unwavering commitment to those things that have been clearly revealed and do represent the position of the Church. Teachers should be models of the fact that one can be well trained in a discipline, intellectually vigorous, honest, critical, and articulate, and at the same time be knowledgeable and fully committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, His Church and Kingdom, and His appointed servants.”[17]

[2] See the reviews by Julie Smith at http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2006/10/book-review-jesus-christ-and-the-world-of-the-new-testament/ and Kevin Barney at http://mi.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=19&num=2&id=667&cat_id=149. Many others have commented to me in person.

[3] The KJV NT contains 180,565 words, in comparison to 610,303 in the KJV OT. Numbers generated using Bibleworks 8.

[4] John H. Walton, ed., Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament, 5 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009). This series contains 2,928 pages (vs WOT’s 397) and retails for $250 (street price from Amazon 157.47, in comparison with WOT’s retail of $45.95 and street price of $41.36 from Deseret Book.)

[5] Deseret Book and the LDS market were unlikely to support a footnoted, lengthy and expensive popular treatment of the Old Testament, particularly one that included mainstream but critical scholarly conclusions.

[6] Language is independent of script. Bereshīt bara’ ’elohīm would be an example of Hebrew language, but Roman (English) script.

[7] Or as sometimes spelled by Joseph Smith or his contemporaries to more accurately capture the final long i, eloheem.

[8] Holzapfel, Pike, and Seely, Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament, 17-18. This LDS convention, while it has roots in LDS scripture and liturgy, should probably not be read back either into the Hebrew Bible or Joseph Smith’s day, which may account for the otherwise confusing usage of Jehovah in D&C 109. Note also that Joseph Smith typically used Elohim as a plural.

[9] Brigham Young and John A Widtsoe, Discourses of Brigham Young (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1925), 197-98.

[10] Holzapfel, Pike, and Seely, Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament, 22-23.

[11] Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation- Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005). For those interested in further reading on this topic, I highly recommend Enns, as many of the common Evangelical assumptions and problems he addresses among Evangelicals apply equally to Mormons.

[12] James Bennett Pritchard, ed., Ancient near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3d ed. (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1969). William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, eds., The Context of Scripture, 3 vols. (Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill, 1997).

[13] According to the index, the JST receives only the briefest of mention on two pages (p. 6 and 378), though reference to the Book of Moses appears repeatedly.

[14] John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004), 47-65. Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament- a Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures (New York: Oxford, 2006), 21-30.

[15] S. Kent Brown, “Approaches to the Pentateuch,” in Studies in Scripture Vol. 3: Genesis to 2 Samuel, ed. Kent P. Jackson and Robert L. Millet (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985), 13-23. Kevin L. Barney, “Reflections on the Documentary Hypothesis,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 33, no. 1 (2000): 57-99.

[16] The nature of historical research inevitably requires that even broadly accepted conclusions about the past based on multiple kinds of evidence will remain “theories.” LDS religious education does a disservice to LDS in not preparing them to deal with these theories. Where and how to do so appropriately remains a question.

[17] http://reled.byu.edu/policies.php

If you don’t agree with me on Cumorah being our best strating point, I would be very open to hearing what you consider to be the best piece of evidence or the best witness to call upon as the most solid to date.

To which I responded:

In my opinion, it is a huge problem to start with ANY physical location. You’re already making assumptions, no matter how hard we try.

First, you need an internal map and geography. Only when you can say that you’ve got the Book of Mormon text figured out, can we start looking for physical locations.

So, I would say–pick a theoretical geography, and start from there. You can build your own, but since Sorenson has done the most work, I don’t understand why people don’t cheat and start with his. Explain what he gets wrong, and why. Then modify his map. Repeat.

Once that’s done, then one can start to think about placing that map with real-world correlates.

The article in question is here, and here and here should be read too.

Heck, just go ahead and read everything Clark has written, because he’s given more serious thought to the issues (even if you don’t agree with him) than most people who’ve written on the topic. See here.  His are the sorts of issue any competent theory will have to address.

There’s lots of geography refs at the FAIR wiki here, including a long list of statements from various Church leaders and publications. It is by no means complete–it has been basically done in a “Hey, I stumbled onto a quote, I’m gonna note it” sort of a way.  I recently noted that even some well-known statements were missing, as I worked with this data a little more. They’ve been added, but I have more in hard copy to add when I get time.

So if you can post sources with as much bibliographic info as possible, I’ll add them as I see new stuff show up and can confirm it. (This is called getting others to do my work for me!)

Since long threads get unwieldy with two many separate threads of conversation, I’ve started this thread for those interested in discussing geographic issues in a general, theoretical sense (which does not, of course, preclude real-world hypotheses).

With any luck, some experts in the field will show up.

Dr. Gee is confident that the source of the Book of Abraham is not among the surviving manuscripts. In this presentation he established that creating a list of eye witness accounts which included scrolls no longer extant. Dr. Gee spoke about this at greater length in last year’s FAIR conference, which he mentioned, after today’s lecture, would be published soon.

Next, Dr. Gee established the genealogy of one of the original owners of a papyrus in the JSP collection, named Horos. Horos and his kin dated within a century or two before Christ. Horos was a prophet for three different entities. Part of his job was to make ritual, mock sacrifices of enemies of the entities he served. So it would make sense that he would treasure an Abraham text that describes such a sacrifice. There were some other neat correlations between Horos’s role and the things happening in the Book of Abraham, but I don’t think I could recount them with any kind of accuracy. Dr. Gee showed us some illustrations done by members of Horos’s family that get the gender wrong, something that appears to happen in a facsimile in our Book of Abraham. Dr. Gee also showed at least several lion couch scenes with inscriptions that indicate human sacrifice was happening and not an embalming as has been the conjectured in the past for such depictions. These inscriptions were missed because they are difficult for most Egyptologists to read.

Then Dr. Gee flashed back to describe the Egyptian empire in the time of Abraham. Abraham had to travel to get away when the empire expanded to included Ebla and moved back when that expansion collapsed. Abraham initially got in trouble for not submitting to the conquering culture’s gods. When Abraham instructs the Egyptians on astronomy, it was a clever metaphor to teach them about the supremacy of God, if I understood Dr. Gee right. In the ancient paradigm, to be able to move around or encircle an object was to be able to control or govern it. So in a geocentric viewpoint the moon has a wider orbit than the rotating-in-place earth, but it is superseded by the sun/god which controls an even larger circle. Abraham’s point about Kolob was that it was ultimate governing, encircling entity nearest to God. Then Abraham created a parallel analogy about successively greater beings as measured by intelligence, the greatest of which is God, who lives near the greatest astronomical entity.

Dr. Gee also showed a list of passages in the Book of Abraham passages that deal with the theme of obedience. He speculated that if the rest of the Book of Abraham had been translated, it would climax with Abraham’s obedience in sacrificing Isaac.