Plagiarism in the Book of Mormon
From MormonWiki.org
Contents |
[edit] Quotes
- "It is my purpose... to offer a theory of the Book of Mormon as Joseph Smith's expansion of an ancient work by building on the work of earlier prophets to answer the nagging problems of his day. In so doing, he provided unrestricted and authoritative commentary, interpretation, explanation, clarifications based on insights from the ancient Book of Mormon text and the King James Bible (KJV). The result is a modern world view and theological understanding superimposed on the Book of Mormon text from the plates...
At least one modern source was indisputably used in the Book of Mormon--the King James Version of the Bible... the Book of Mormon adapts many phrases, particularly from the New Testament, to a new context... Joseph Smith freely adopted KJV phraseology and concepts to present his 'translation.' ... What, then, may we conclude from the Book of Mormon's use of modern sources? Only that... Joseph Smith... was influenced by nineteenth-century American culture in rendering its message...
It is likely that Joseph Smith expanded the Book of Mormon... Some doctrines in the book's pre-Christian sections are simply too developed and too characteristic of the nineteenth century...
The expansion theory of the Book of Mormon has far-reaching implications... The model of revelation I propose here is that of creative co-participation... What we have therefore is neither an ancient document nor a translation... Joseph Smith imposed an interpretation on the text which was foreign to that ancient text...
The Book of Mormon refelects the influence of Joseph Smith's earliest belief structure... largely derived from... nineteenth-century Protestantism... Later revelations, however, necessitated so much revision... that the assumptions... reflected in the Book of Mormon were largely abandoned..." (Blake T. Ostler [LDS], Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Spring 1987, page 66-67)
[edit] External links
[edit] Non-Mormon
- Mormonism and Plagiarism, by Jerald and Sandra Tanner
- Plagiarism in the Book of Mormon (The Skeptic's Annotated Book of Mormon)
- Isaiah in the Book of Mormon... and Joseph Smith in Isaiah, by David P. Wright
[edit] Mormon
- The "Isaiah Problem" in the Book of Mormon (SHIELDS)
- Deutero-Isaiah in the Book of Mormon?, by Marc Schindler
- Isaiah Variants in the Book of Mormon, by John A. Tvedtnes
