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Book Of Mormon In Non Lds Scholarship


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Posted

Are there any positive non LDS Scholarship statements in the academia regarding the Book of Mormon that have been presented ?.

In His Debt/Grace

Anakin7

LDS JEDI KNIGHT

Posted

Regarding the Book of Mormon? Not really, but check out Reflections on Mormonism, which is a collection of essays by non-Mormon scholars on "Judeo-Christian parallels." There's a review of it here.

Posted

Are there any positive non LDS Scholarship statements in the academia regarding the Book of Mormon that have been presented ?.

In His Debt/Grace

Anakin7

LDS JEDI KNIGHT

Check http://ponderit.lavalane.org/2006/09/book-of-mormon-tidbits-from-margaret.html this out, regarding Margaret Barker.

Posted (edited)

Margaret Barker's full essay is here:

http://byustudies.by...aspx?title=7141

The BYU Studies version has a few more paragraphs than the transcript of the talk.

And Reflections on Mormonism is a very good book. Krister Stendahl's essay on 3 Nephi is interesting, appreciative, but not the last word. Charlesworth's essay was the most appreciative outside view until Margaret's 2005 talk in Washington DC. Harold Bloom wrote a little about the Book of Mormon in The American Religion, but only to dismiss it as not worth close study, and to also demonstrate clearly that he had not bothered to read it and had no real basis for such a judgement. A few years ago Marvin Sweeny spoke on the Book of Mormon at a Claremont conference, but I haven't heard details of the paper or any publication. Terryl Givens reported that it was "respectful."

William Albright had a "well-marked" copy, and was impressed by some of the names, though other than that, dropped the topic "like a hot potato."

Kevin Christensen

Pittsburgh, PA

Edited by Kevin Christensen
Posted

Are there any positive non LDS Scholarship statements in the academia regarding the Book of Mormon that have been presented ?.

In His Debt/Grace

Anakin7

LDS JEDI KNIGHT

There is a good paper called "Scholarship in Mormonism and Mormonism in Scholarship" by John Tvedtnes that summarizes Mormon scholarship among non mormon journals and venues and work about mormon topics by those who aren't members of the church.

http://www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Conferences/2001_Scholarship_in_Mormonism_and_Mormonism_in_Scholarship.html

Posted

There is a good paper called "Scholarship in Mormonism and Mormonism in Scholarship" by John Tvedtnes that summarizes Mormon scholarship among non mormon journals and venues and work about mormon topics by those who aren't members of the church.

http://www.fairlds.o...cholarship.html

Thanks, I forgot about that one !.

In His Debt/Grace

Anakin7

LDS JEDI KNIGHT.

Posted

On looking at LDS belief in the Book of Mormon being a true history I have one question.

Where is the Book of Mormon museum?

I visited Salt Lake City and visited the Church History Museum but could not find a Book of Mormon museum. I was told there is not one and that it is not needed because you could read the book and pray about it. That does not make sense.

If it is real there are or should be many artifacts to be found, more than enough to make a museum of them. All through the world old cultures are the subject of museums. Why not the Book of Mormon?

I can only conclude it is because there are no artifacts and that the book if fiction. There are even artifacts and information on small Norse settlements of around a hundred people on this continent. Surely there are evidences and residue of a population the Book of Mormon says numbered in the millions? That many people should leave thousands of sites with well defined evidence of their civilization.

I would ask this in a separate topic but just recently came on this site and am new here. If someone wants to post this as a separate question, that would be fine. I will be interested in the answers.

Posted

I can only conclude it is because there are no artifacts and that the book if fiction.

No artifacts? Are you trolling?

I confess that we don't have artifacts for everything claimed in the BoM but to say there are no artifacts is misleading.

And to get to your other point, the church has always maintained that it is the Spirit that converts. Why would there ever be a museum? Even if they had conclusive proof I do not see the church putting up a museum.

Posted (edited)

On looking at LDS belief in the Book of Mormon being a true history I have one question.

Where is the Book of Mormon museum?

I visited Salt Lake City and visited the Church History Museum but could not find a Book of Mormon museum. I was told there is not one and that it is not needed because you could read the book and pray about it. That does not make sense.

If it is real there are or should be many artifacts to be found, more than enough to make a museum of them. All through the world old cultures are the subject of museums. Why not the Book of Mormon?

What would you expect those artifacts to look like?

I can only conclude it is because there are no artifacts and that the book if fiction. There are even artifacts and information on small Norse settlements of around a hundred people on this continent. Surely there are evidences and residue of a population the Book of Mormon says numbered in the millions? That many people should leave thousands of sites with well defined evidence of their civilization.

I would ask this in a separate topic but just recently came on this site and am new here. If someone wants to post this as a separate question, that would be fine. I will be interested in the answers.

Your conclusion would be incorrect. The small Norse settlements were not incorporated into a more numerous surrounding culture.

That many people probably did evidences but we recognize them and call them something other than Nephite or Lamanite.

Edited by ERayR
Posted

If it is real there are or should be many artifacts to be found, more than enough to make a museum of them. All through the world old cultures are the subject of museums. Why not the Book of Mormon?

I can only conclude it is because there are no artifacts and that the book if fiction.

The management of a museum does not make something true.

http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/11/19/124013/86/travel/A+Huge+Harry+Potter+Museum+is+Coming+to+London+in+2012

http://creationmuseum.org/

http://creationsd.org/

Likewise, the lack of a museum does not imply a lack of historical evidence.

Posted

Are there any positive non LDS Scholarship statements in the academia regarding the Book of Mormon that have been presented ?.

In His Debt/Grace

Anakin7

LDS JEDI KNIGHT

If you're referring to any non-LDS scholarship that positively views the stories in the Book of Mormon as having anything to do with the history of the ancient americas, the answer is no.

Posted (edited)

... Harold Bloom wrote a little about the Book of Mormon in The American Religion, but only to dismiss it as not worth close study, and to also demonstrate clearly that he had not bothered to read it and had no real basis for such a judgement.

Kevin Christensen

Pittsburgh, PA

Bloom is truly America's greatest literary critic and scholar and a big fan of Joseph Smith. He's also a fantastic Biblical Scholar with his books The Book of J about the Yahwist source of the documentary hypothesis, Jesus and Yahweh (in which he offers praise to the BOA), and most recently The Shadow of a Great Rock: A Literary Appreciation of the King James Bible. I've read many of Bloom's writings concerning the BOM and from the fact that he's offered very detailed criticism of the book, along with occasional praise, it's pretty clear that yes in fact he has read it many times and quite closely. If you've seen the news on the Book of Mormon Musical this year you may have noticed that Robert Lopez's fascination with Mormons began at Yale when Harold Bloom recommended to him that he read the BOM.

Inferring his ignorance on the text because he disagrees with you seems quite duplicitous.

Phaedrus

Take a suspension and figure out how to have a conversation without maligning anyone's honesty.

Edited by Minos
Posted (edited)

On looking at LDS belief in the Book of Mormon being a true history I have one question.

Where is the Book of Mormon museum?

I visited Salt Lake City and visited the Church History Museum but could not find a Book of Mormon museum. I was told there is not one and that it is not needed because you could read the book and pray about it. That does not make sense.

If it is real there are or should be many artifacts to be found, more than enough to make a museum of them. All through the world old cultures are the subject of museums. Why not the Book of Mormon?

I can only conclude it is because there are no artifacts and that the book if fiction. There are even artifacts and information on small Norse settlements of around a hundred people on this continent. Surely there are evidences and residue of a population the Book of Mormon says numbered in the millions? That many people should leave thousands of sites with well defined evidence of their civilization.

I would ask this in a separate topic but just recently came on this site and am new here. If someone wants to post this as a separate question, that would be fine. I will be interested in the answers.

It's on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, but we call it the Temple Square Visitors' Center. :)

There is also one in San Diego, but we call it the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. :)

There is also one in Nauvoo, but we call it the Nauvoo Visitors' Center. :)

IOW, there are lots of "museums" around the country dedicated to the legacy of the Book of Mormon. Hope you can find the time to visit one or more of them.

Edited by Mark Beesley
Posted

I've read many of Bloom's writings concerning the BOM and from the fact that he's offered very detailed criticism of the book, along with occasional praise, it's pretty clear that yes in fact he has read it many times and quite closely.

I'm curious to know where I can find these writings where Bloom offers "very detailed criticism" of the Book of Mormon.

Posted (edited)

Bloom is truly America's greatest literary critic and scholar and a big fan of Joseph Smith. He's also a fantastic Biblical Scholar with his books The Book of J about the Yahwist source of the documentary hypothesis, Jesus and Yahweh (in which he offers praise to the BOA), and most recently The Shadow of a Great Rock: A Literary Appreciation of the King James Bible. I've read many of Bloom's writings concerning the BOM and from the fact that he's offered very detailed criticism of the book, along with occasional praise, it's pretty clear that yes in fact he has read it many times and quite closely. If you've seen the news on the Book of Mormon Musical this year you may have noticed that Robert Lopez's fascination with Mormons began at Yale when Harold Bloom recommended to him that he read the BOM.

Inferring his ignorance on the text because he disagrees with you seems quite duplicitous.

Phaedrus

My views on Bloom's understanding of the Book of Mormon come from Bloom, The American Religion, page 86.

I cannot recommend that the book be read either fully or closely, because it scarcely sustains such reading. Summaries of it are easily available, and I will not add another here. Instead I want to notes only those aspects of the book that survive the more spiritual speculations of Joseph Smith....the genesis of the Book of Mormon is not my concern (though I assume that magical trance-states were involved, so we can dismiss the literalism both of the golden plates and of conscious charlatanry). Like many another American of his generation, Smith had drowned in the Bible, and come from it in a state of near identification with the ancient Hebrews. And like many other Americans, Smith found the descent of the American Indians from the lost tribes of ISrael to be a plausible identity rather than a fantastic fiction.

The Book of Mormon clearly states that the Lost 10 Tribes are lost. Anyone who had read the Book of Mormon closely enough to determine whether it sustains a close reading should know this. Most of the points in the surface skimming that continues for another quarter page have been contested by close, contextual readers of the Book of Mormon.

Perhaps it is duplicitous on my part to have noticed that he gets the crucial and obvious things wrong. And John Welch's work on the Sermon on the Mount and the Temple, combined with Margaret Barker's views of First Temple theology, I think, contradict the thesis that Nauvoo theology is a departure from the Book of Mormon.

Kevin Christensen

Bethel Park, PA

Edited by Kevin Christensen
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