Posted in Ancient Near East Arabia Asia Book of Mormon Books Evidence Hebrew history Judaism Scripture Stories

The Jewish Copper Plates of Cochin, India and a Hint of an Ancient Jewish Tradition of Writing on Metal Plates

A recent post here critiqued an attempt to explain the origins of the book of Ether based on inspiration from a rare book, A Key to the Chronology of the…

Continue Reading...
Posted in Book of Mormon Book of Moses Evidence language Media Origins Scholarship Scripture Videos

Video of My Presentation with Noel Reynolds, “’Strong Like Unto Moses’: The Case for Ancient Roots in the Book of Moses”

On Sept. 18 and 19, 2020 in Provo, Utah, the Interpreter Foundation sponsored a virtual conference, “Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses.” Dr. Noel Reynolds and I collaborated…

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

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

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

Continue Reading...
Posted in Bible Book of Mormon Critics language Origins Scholarship Scripture

Turning Gems into Dirt: The Case for Adam Clarke as a Source for the “Inspired Translation” of the Bible

John Dehlin with his podcasts and videos criticizing the Church has recently stirred up a lot of interest in the “amazing” and “historic” case of “plagiarism” against Joseph Smith based…

Continue Reading...
Posted in Book of Abraham Book of Mormon Evidence Scholarship Scripture

Growing Evidence for the Scriptures: Now a Centralized Source to Consider

If you’ve been following the steady stream of interesting findings and insights regarding the LDS scriptures at Book of Mormon Central (BookofMormonCentral.com) and Pearl of Great Price Central (PearlofGreatPriceCentral.org/), you…

Continue Reading...
Posted in Book of Abraham Egyptian Evidence language Origins Scripture Translation

Some Sources for the Kirtland Egyptian Paper’s Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language, Part Two

In Part 1 of this topic posted earlier this week, I reviewed several pages of entries in the first part of the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language, one…

Continue Reading...
Posted in Ancient Near East Book of Abraham Critics Egyptian Evidence language Origins Scholarship Scripture Translation

Some Sources for the Kirtland Egyptian Paper’s Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language, Part One

One of the vital issues in Book of Abraham debates is the role of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, including the large and mysterious work, the Grammar and Alphabet of the…

Continue Reading...
Posted in Book of Abraham Books Doctrine Evidence history Prophets Scholarship Scripture Translation

Is the Book of Abraham Translation Dependent on the Kirtland Egyptian Papers? Revisiting The Pearl of Greatest Price

A potentially troublesome flaw in the discussion of the Book of Abraham in the generally good book by Terryl Givens (with Brian Hauglid), The Pearl of Greatest Price, is its…

Continue Reading...
Posted in Book of Mormon Books Evidence history Origins Scholarship Scripture

A Breakthrough in Understanding the Book of Mormon: Don Bradley’s Brilliant Sleuthing on the Lost 116 Pages (or Lost 400 Pages!)

Don Bradley’s new book, The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon’s Missing Stories (Draper, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 2019), is something I’ve been looking forward to for many…

Continue Reading...
Posted in Antiquity Book of Abraham Critics Egyptian Evidence history Origins Scholarship Scripture Translation

More on the Meaning of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers: Recent Explorations Based on Comments at Interpreter

One of the best things about finally having a reply from the Joseph Smith Papers Project on the issue of alleged flaws in scholarship in their volume on the Book…

Continue Reading...