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Mormons Codex

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cursor Mentor

cursor

Posted
Posted

I sincerely hope that the ebook version is more responsibly formatted than the ebook version of An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon. I'll probably purchase a digital copy just for evaluation purposes.

cursor Mentor

cursor

Posted
Posted

I sincerely hope that the ebook version is more responsibly formatted than the ebook version of An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon. I'll probably purchase a digital copy just for evaluation purposes.

 

I too noticed that DB offers this option for a number of their books/ebooks. Both in-print and ebook versions have been available for An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, yet they have never been offered as a bundle. I can't imagine why that might be.

nealr Community Regular

nealr

Posted
Posted

I too noticed that DB offers this option for a number of their books/ebooks. Both in-print and ebook versions have been available for An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, yet they have never been offered as a bundle. I can't imagine why that might be.

 

One thing is for sure. Already having the hard copy, I won't be paying another $30 for the ebook version, at least not until I know it is of good quality (and my experience with Deseret Book ebooks doesn't instill confidence in that regard). 

nealr Community Regular

nealr

Posted
Posted

Yeah. Disappointed with the quality of the BYU New testament commentary volume on DB ebook.

 

I STILL can't read the Greek on mine, and I have done what they said to do like 20 times...

cursor Mentor

cursor

Posted
Posted

One thing is for sure. Already having the hard copy, I won't be paying another $30 for the ebook version, at least not until I know it is of good quality (and my experience with Deseret Book ebooks doesn't instill confidence in that regard). 

 

I'll be getting a digital copy within the next couple of days, and will report on its format and quality.

2
cursor Mentor

cursor

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Posted

Just got my pre-ordered copy in the mail today! Already I see a couple of slight graphical errors in my maps. Drat! But I won't tell anyone (excepting my dad) where they are. :)

1
nealr Community Regular

nealr

Posted
Posted

Just got my pre-ordered copy in the mail today! Already I see a couple of slight graphical errors in my maps. Drat! But I won't tell anyone (excepting my dad) where they are. :)

 

You know, I was just looking closely at two of the maps today and saw a couple of things that looked like they might be errors.

GingerRed Collaborator

GingerRed

Posted
Posted

I am really interested in getting this book and reading it!

 

I know several people who are stanch 'great lakes' theory believers. They have tried to tell me that theory makes the most sense. I have not delved into it to know much about it. But for some reason, I have always believed in the mesoamerican theory. I once attended a LDS single adult fireside several years ago, where the speaker, can't recall who, spoke about the mesoamerican theory. He brought slides of his personal research of the area, some showing artifacts of small figurines of males with a beard. ( he spoke of legends from the area of a white man visiting ( Christ) them)  Anyway, it was fascinating and from then on I was convinced of thats where the Book Of Mormon history came from.

 

Cursor....so what does your dad say to people who are into the great lakes theories? 

 

Also are you or your dad familiar with the Book Of Mormon Tours with a guy named Blake Allen?  I used to get his monthly email newsletters. How I would LOVE to go on one of those tours to South America!!

 

 

Red

nealr Community Regular

nealr

Posted
Posted

I am really interested in getting this book and reading it!

 

I know several people who are stanch 'great lakes' theory believers. They have tried to tell me that theory makes the most sense. I have not delved into it to know much about it. But for some reason, I have always believed in the mesoamerican theory. I once attended a LDS single adult fireside several years ago, where the speaker, can't recall who, spoke about the mesoamerican theory. He brought slides of his personal research of the area, some showing artifacts of small figurines of males with a beard. ( he spoke of legends from the area of a white man visiting ( Christ) them)  Anyway, it was fascinating and from then on I was convinced of thats where the Book Of Mormon history came from.

 

Cursor....so what does your dad say to people who are into the great lakes theories? 

 

Also are you or your dad familiar with the Book Of Mormon Tours with a guy named Blake Allen?  I used to get his monthly email newsletters. How I would LOVE to go on one of those tours to South America!!

 

 

Red

 

Blake Allen is the son of Joseph L. Allen, who wrote the book Exploring Book of Mormon Lands, first published in 1989, a few years after Sorenson's book, and republished with Blake added as a co-author in 2008, and then again (a "revised edition") in 2011. The Allen's place the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica, but have a different geographical configuration than Sorenson. In my opinion, Sorenson's makes more sense and the Allen's geography is problematic. Allen's model also has not been as well received by LDS scholars in general.

David T Veteran

David T

Posted
Posted

My copy arrived today. Beautiful color plates. Makes me wish for someday to have an official copy of the Book of Mormon with maps and photos like this attached like it is for the LDS editions of the Bible and Church History/D&C.

1
MormonMason Mentor

MormonMason

Posted
Posted

My copy arrived today. Beautiful color plates. Makes me wish for someday to have an official copy of the Book of Mormon with maps and photos like this attached like it is for the LDS editions of the Bible and Church History/D&C.

A couple of solid archaeological identifications in specific locations, and it likely would happen.  Got to reach consensus on where to dig first, though.

GingerRed Collaborator

GingerRed

Posted
Posted

Blake Allen is the son of Joseph L. Allen, who wrote the book Exploring Book of Mormon Lands, first published in 1989, a few years after Sorenson's book, and republished with Blake added as a co-author in 2008, and then again (a "revised edition") in 2011. The Allen's place the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica, but have a different geographical configuration than Sorenson. In my opinion, Sorenson's makes more sense and the Allen's geography is problematic. Allen's model also has not been as well received by LDS scholars in general.

 

 

 

Thanks nealr!  I was wondering about the differences. I haven't read Allen's interpretation, but it sounds like Sorenson's research is more sound. Again, looking forward to reading The Mormon Codex!  :-)

cursor Mentor

cursor

Posted
Posted (edited)

Does anyone have a link to the Table of Contents? I've been trying to find the ToC online but without success...

 

Please note that to date nothing has been offered online. You can purchase the printed, hardcover book from Amazon.com, BN.com or from http://bookstore.fai...id_product=1516 (20% discount). The scholarly text is 826 pages of unprecedented material.

 

I will, however, offer the table of Contents. :)

 

Contents

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

List of Maps [all of which I authored, BTW =] ]

List of Tables

List of Figures

Foreword

Preface

 

Part 1 – Orientation

 

01 Introduction

02 Getting Ready for the Comparisons

03 The Book of Mormon in Culture History Terms

04 The Early Culture Histor of Mesoamerica

05 The Nature of History in the Book of Mormon

06 About Correspondences

 

Part 2 – Correspondences by Topics

 

07 Geographical Correspondences

08 Two Traditions of Civilization

09 Transoceanic Voyages

10 Language

11 Records and Writing Systems

12 Human Biology

13 Political Economy

14 Society

15 Population and Its Distribution

16 Material Culture

17 Government and Political Process

18. Warfare

19. Knowledge Systems

20. Ideology and Religion

 

Part 3 – Correspondences from Archaeology and History

 

21. Archaeology and History before 600 BC

22. Archaeology and History between 600 and 1 BC, Part 1

23. Archaeology and History between 600 and 1 BC, Part 2

24. Archaeology and History between AD 1 and 200

25. Archaeology and History between AD 200 and 400

26. Conclusions

 

Appendix: A New View of Jaredite Geography

Bibliography

Illustration Credits

Index

Edited by cursor
erdoch Contributor

erdoch

Posted
Posted

Thanks for giving us the Table of Contents! I've got the book on my Christmas wish list (if my wife doesn't get it for me I'll probably order it early next year). I'm reading through "Mormon's Map" (online) right now and am thinking about buying "An Ancient American Setting" before reading Mormon's Codex. Though I assume that Mormon's Codex can be fully read/understood/appreciated by the new reader without reference to John L. Sorensen's prior works?

Calm Grand Master

Calm

Posted
Posted (edited)

There is also his FairMormon presentation (though technically he gave it when we were still FAIR) that gave a much shorter version of what is in the book:

 

http://www.fairlds.org/fair-conferences/2012-fair-conference/2012-reading-mormons-codex

 

This likely overlaps with the summary, I have not compared to each other and read them far enough apart I cannot remember...they may even be identical in their correspondences lists.

 

cursor will know how they are

 

PS to cursor:  I am grateful and happy you could not stay away as planned, sorry if this means your life is more difficult though.

Edited by calmoriah
Kenngo1969 Grand Master

Kenngo1969

Posted
Posted

Just got my pre-ordered copy in the mail today! Already I see a couple of slight graphical errors in my maps. Drat! But I won't tell anyone (excepting my dad) where they are. :)

 

Well, even given my limited resources, I was considering purchasing the book, but now I doubt I will.  I mean, I'm sure your so-called "slight ... errors" virtually ruin the whole thing! ;):D

1
cursor Mentor

cursor

Posted
Posted

Thanks for giving us the Table of Contents! I've got the book on my Christmas wish list (if my wife doesn't get it for me I'll probably order it early next year). I'm reading through "Mormon's Map" (online) right now and am thinking about buying "An Ancient American Setting" before reading Mormon's Codex. Though I assume that Mormon's Codex can be fully read/understood/appreciated by the new reader without reference to John L. Sorensen's prior works?

 

MDDB user 'nealr' briefly touches on those texts here.

 

An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon (1985)

 

"Where did the Book of Mormon events take place?" Ever since the publication of the Book of Mormon, its readers have asked this question. And the book itself provides some intriguing clues. But only recently has enough information come to light to make it possible to place the book in a plausible geographical, historical, and cultural setting.
 
In An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, Dr. John L. Sorenson, chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Brigham Young University, presents a credible model for an ancient American background for the Book of Mormon. This model takes notice of extensive details given in the Book of Mormon descriptions of the land southward and of the land northward, of battle movements, of cities built and abandoned, of population and demographic data. Hundreds of geographical, historical, and cultural facts fall into place as his model is carried to its logical conclusions.
 
How does Dr. Sorenson proceed? In a word, he asks more questions than he answers. His words are probing and carefully weighed. The results are great surprises and rewarding insights on every page. He asks questions like "Who were these people?" "What might they have looked like?" "Who were their neighbors?" "How many of them were there?" "How did they live, eat, speak, work, or fight?" He finds plausible answers to these questions by matching specific data from reliable archaeological and anthropological studies of Mesoamerica with the entire spectrum of cultural and historical information from the Book of Mormon.
 
An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon is a thorough work of scholarship, a book that must be read by every serious student of the Book of Mormon.
 
Mormon's Map (2000)
 
As Mormon edited the Book of Mormon, he must have had a map in his mind of the places and physical features that were setting the events described in that book. John L. Sorenson attempts to reconstruct that mental map — "Mormon's Map" — using information in the text.
 
Mormon's Map answers such general questions as, "What is the overall shape of the Book of Mormon lands?" And "What can we learn about distances and directions?" It also answers more specific questions like, "How was geography central to the defeat of the robbers of Giddianhi?"
 
Mormon's Map gives a model that we can apply to stories from the record, shedding a new light on the influence of geography on Nephite history, increasing our understanding of that book and its characters, and making events and places more concrete in our minds.

 

Mormon's Codex (2013)

 

Leading scholar and author John L. Sorenson brilliantly synthesizes in this volume his work from 60 years of academic study of ancient Mesoamerica and its relationship to the Book of Mormon.
 
Here Sorenson reveals that the Book of Mormon exhibits what one would expect of a historical document produced in the context of ancient Mesoamerican civilization. He also shows that scholars’ discoveries about Mesoamerica and the contents of the Nephite record are clearly related. Indeed, Sorenson lists more than 400 points where the Book of Mormon text corresponds to characteristic Mesoamerican situations, statements, allusions, and history.
 
Are we to simply suppose that mere coincidence can account for similarities of this magnitude? The parallels are too striking and too sweeping to answer in the affirmative. Even the greatest savant of the early 19th century—let alone a marginally literate frontier farm boy—could not possibly have produced a volume as rich in Mesoamericana as the Book of Mormon.
 
The only format in which a record such as the Book of Mormon could have been preserved is that of a native Mesoamerican book, referred to by scholars as a codex. According to the record itself, the text was compiled by a man named Mormon, who lived in the Mesoamerican isthmus area in the late fourth century. Mormon passed the record to his son Moroni, who survived him by more than 35 years and made modest additions to the text.
 
A significant contribution to the fields of Book of Mormon studies and Mesoamerican studies, Mormon’s Codex is John Sorenson’s magnum opus. It contains copious explanatory material, extensive footnotes, over 1,300 bibliographical references, illustrations, an appendix, and detailed maps. This long-awaited volume will appeal to informed general readers, archaeologists, and scholars alike
 
Mormon’s Codex is the culmination of a lifetime’s labor by Mormonism’s preeminent Mesoamerican specialist. Since 1949 John Sorenson has been collecting archaeological and anthropological evidence to show that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from a native Mesoamerican codex, or book. Now, having assembled a mountain of evidence, he boldly challenges scholars to take the Book of Mormon seriously as a priceless source of information about Mesoamerican history and culture. —Richard Lyman Bushman
 
Mormon’s Codex will immediately serve as the high-water mark of scholarship on the Book of Mormon. —Terryl L. Givens
 
For decades, John Sorenson has been among the foremost students of the Book of Mormon, and the principal advocate for a limited Mesoamerican geography. I vividly remember the excitement of reading An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon back in 1985. Now, in Mormon’s Codex, we have the rich results of nearly 30 years of additional study. I have eagerly anticipated this book. —Daniel C. Peterson
1
cursor Mentor

cursor

Posted
Posted

I'm reading through "Mormon's Map" (online) right now ...

 

I suspect that you're reading Mormon's Map at this link. If so, note that none of the 17 are published there. Crazy, eh?  :crazy:

You can purchase a "used – like new" copy at Amazon here for $5.75. The flow of graphic development through the book is significantly helpful.

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