Book of mormon writing styles

Stylometry can assess the similarity of writing styles among authors, but it cannot prove personal. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 15788. This first article explains what stylometry is and gives readers a short history of stylometric studies performed on the book of mormon. The purpose of this page is to show the amazing complexity of the book of mormon. These groups were led by prophets who recorded their religious and secular histories on metal plates. May 03, 2008 if that were the case, you would see a similarity in writing style between the book of mormon and the book of abraham and this writing style would differ from the bible. Book of mormon wordprint or word pattern studies parent page. The style of the book of mormon has been criticized by some as being verbose and redundant, but in most cases these repetitions are orderly and effective.

Refer to the writing an effective scholarship essay guide for. The book of mormon touted as fourth most influential work in american literature. Jerald and sandra tanner of utah lighthouse ministry, an evangelical group known for its intense opposition to and criticism of the lds church, performed their own brief computer study. There are differing views on the origin of the book of mormon. Kjv isaiah in the book of mormon why the lds church is true. For example, parallelisms, which abound in the book of mormon, serve many functions. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. Multiple styles have been found in the book of mormon and this doesnt include the old testament verses found in the book of mormon that nephi copied onto the golden plates.

Therefore, book of mormon scholars look for evidence of the book of mormon s ancient hebrew origins by identifying phrases or expressions which are not typical for an english speaker of joseph smiths day which may reflect a direct translation of the underlying semiticstyle language of the book of mormon. Variations of this theory only include that the text is a divinely inspired narrative, regardless of its. Journal of the book of mormon and other restoration scripture. Perhaps the most practical method of looking at book manuscripts is with a subjective system that places style. If the book of mormon isnt true, how do you explain how the. Critics believe this supports their claim that smith knew about chiasmus, and that it may have been a characteristic of his personal writing style. Other religious texts, such as the words of current religious leaders, are cited according to media type. Moreover, previous stylometric studies have demonstrated that none of the 19th century writers usually suspected of authoring the book of mormon have writing samples that match any of its distinct styles. I believe that the existing of in the book provides strong evidence that this book was not just a fabrication of the illeducated twenty five year old joseph smith jr. Two tests which deal with writing styles have produced some largely ignored results which our critics cannot explain. Two tests which deal with writing styles have produced some largely ignored results which our. Theres plenty of inconsistencies that have been edited out over the years, for instance forgetting who is talkingwriting in the original text switching from mormon to moroni for example. Ive read both sides many times over, and i can argue the promormon side just as easily as the nomormon side, with the prime diference being that the.

The book of mormon is often dismissed as gibberish by those who have never taken the trouble to read it. The book of mormon touted as fourth most influential work in. Perhaps the most practical method of looking at book manuscripts is with a. There are many ways at looking at book writing styles. Some observers might view style as dependent on country of origin, while others could link the writing to a literary giant such as hemingway or twain. If joseph smith wrote the book of mormon, we should be able to see his literary style across the entire book. Today style metric studies in the book of mormon have repeatedly demonstrated that it has multiple distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself for example, the colored clouds in this graph show how the writings of major book of mormon authors form distinct clusters based on their vocabulary and on how frequently they use. Although part of the book of mormon purports to have been written in. It also recalls intriguing hints in the book of mormon such as this in mosiah.

They add emphasis to twicerepeated concepts and give definition to sharply drawn contrasts. An analysis of wordprints, in book of mormon authorship. To date, the combined data from several valid stylometric studies on the book of mormon have demonstrated that it has multiple, distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself. In the classroom the teacher sometimes is not able to focus on the individual matters of each student. But why does the phrase and it came to pass appear in the book of mormon so much more often, page for page, than it does in the old testament. Yet numerous phrases from the new testament appear in sections of the book of mormon ostensibly dating to hundreds of years before the birth of jesus.

The more familiar we became with the bible, the more questions we had concerning the book of mormon. So, the presence of multiple writing styles cannot be asserted as indicating multiple people as authors of a text. For example, the book of mormons principal focus is to testify of jesus christ and his doctrine. Also, unlike the book of mormon which had one translator joseph smith who had one scribe oliver cowdery, the bible has gone through innumerable hands over the last 2000 years. If he copied from someone, we should see that authors writing style likewise. If joseph smith wrote it then it would have just one writing style seeing how everyone has a certain writing style. The annotated book of mormon and book of jasher its about. Is it possible that a single author wrote the book of mormon. Further, writing style is not singularly specific to a person.

That book shows four major authors or abridgers, who among them go on include many more writing styles from other book of mormon contributors. Stylometry defined stylometry examines the styles of writing in a text by identifying. They were taking the word of their pastor, or mom, or friend and writing off the book for good. The translation of the book of mormon did not really take place in less than three months.

As it turned out, we began to encounter problems in the book of mormon which made it increasingly difficult to continue in the course we had planned. And furthermore, with a little luck, the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon just might. I have read the book of mormon several times as i have the bible and to me they do not use the exact same vernacular as you indicate. Why is the phrase and it came to pass so prevalent in the.

It might be the funniest thing in the world to me when someone tells me with absolute certainty that the book of mormon isnt true after having admitted never actually reading the book themselves. You probably know that custom writing uk is a thriving niche with lots of companies that simply do business. I actually dealt with this topic in another answer how could joseph smith write the book of mormon. There are at least 21 categories of internal evidence that establish, to a certainty, that the book of mormon is not an early nineteenth century work of fiction. Jan 16, 2018 to date, the combined data from several valid stylometric studies on the book of mormon have demonstrated that it has multiple, distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself. This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists.

Wordprint studies of the book of mormon fairmormon. They intrigued the audience with a new study of book of mormon authorship using stylometry showing a wide variety of authors in the book. Why is it impossible for joseph smith to have been the author. Accordingly, the historical setting is not the focus. Linguistically based assertions are frequently cited and discussed in the context of the subject of. A hebraism is a way of speaking or writing that uses the grammatical or rhetorical styles of hebrew for example, if originally written in english, the book of mormon would speak about brass plates instead of plates of brass. Ive tried to pick up a thread of his research by looking at how different book of mormon authors use certain key words. What it can reliably demonstrate, and what valid data from the above studies collectively argue, is that 1 the book of mormon was written in multiple, distinct authorship styles, 2 these distinct styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself, and 3 none of the proposed 19th century authorsincluding joseph smith himselfhave writing styles that are similar to those found in the book of mormon. That book shows four major authors or abridgers, who between them go on include many more writing styles from other book of mormon.

For details, see my page on book of mormon evidences. The book of mormon records the visit of jesus christ to people in the americas following his resurrection. Jun 26, 2012 i have read the book of mormon several times as i have the bible and to me they do not use the exact same vernacular as you indicate. Is stylometry the ultimate proof that joseph smith did not. In the appendix of the annotated edition of the book of jasher, comparisons of hebrew writing styles are made to the book of mormon, demonstrating that the book of mormon has a hebrew origin. The golden plates, now the book of mormon, has multiple authors. Jan 03, 2011 you cant get an opinion if you dont read it. However, after a fair and candid examination of the evidence, many thousands of honest mormons have discovered that this claim simply is not true. An informal analysis by jerald and sandra tanner of joseph smiths writing style.

Miraculous origins theories generally accept joseph smiths own account, that he translated an ancient record compiled and abridged by mormon, a precolumbian resident of the western hemisphere. A book of mistakes, error, and fraud by jon gary williams introduction the mormon church promotes the book of mormon as an inspired writing. This article will summarize ten literary and linguistic evidences for the book of mormon that strike me as compelling. Unique literary styles in the book of mormon, further. Dec 08, 2016 the book of mormon touted as fourth most influential work in american literature. A number of scientific tests have been devised to examine the authenticity of the book of mormon. Writing the book of mormon 46 literary dependence on the bible the twentyseven books of the new testament were originally written between about 50100 c. Bible and the book of mormon, the guidelines provided apply generally to religious works e. Stylometrists analyze literature using statistics, math formulas and artificial intelligence to determine the style of an authors writing. Is stylometry the ultimate proof that joseph smith did not write the. It is where i attended school, where i met my wonderful wife, and. First, the book of mormon contains much more narrative, chapter for chapter, than the bible.

The writing style of the book of mormon is different than the bible. If you love the book of mormon, consider donating to book of mormon central and becoming part of this exciting movement. Having read tens of thousands of pages of material, pro and con, here in a nutshell is my current best guess, included with a preface that i dont care what anyone has to refute my position. In fact, its very existence poses a serious puzzle if it is not what it claims to be an ancient record. Refer to the writing an effective scholarship essay guide for additional help. Using only the text of the book of mormon as the narration, get a. Utilizing a computer to identify wordprints or word use patterns that scientifically differentiate between individual writing styles, researchers have uncovered what they claim is conclusive evidence that the book of mormon is the work of many authors. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a 19thcentury translation of a record of ancient inhabitants of the american continent, which was written in a script which the book refers to as reformed egyptian.

Includes ancient hebrew literary writing styles such as idioms and chiasmus. This hints at a richer world and recalls the limits of historical writing and archaeological writing. The book of mormon has been scientifically studied and multiple styles of writing have been found in it. Many ancient authors contributed to the book of mormon, each with his own style.

Somebody on quora asks how did joseph smith write the book. Book of mormon central teamed up with artist katie payne to create a beautiful and engaging video called the plates of mormon. The annotated edition of the book of jasher parallels the style and formatting of the annotated edition of the book of mormon. Apr 14, 2017 i actually dealt with this topic in another answer how could joseph smith write the book of mormon. Writing style of the old testament i am not a linguist or an expert by any stretch of the imagination on literary writing styles. Book of mormon literature the encyclopedia of mormonism. In my opinion, the writing style of the book of mormon is very dissimilar from that of the bible. For example, mormon as a writer contributed about 36% of the words in the book of mormon with a. The book of mormon is a religious record of three groups of people who migrated from the old world to the american continents. The annotated book of mormon and book of jasher its about time. Jun 16, 2010 the book of mormon has been scientifically studied and multiple styles of writing have been found in it.

We are a nonprofit organization supported by people like you. There are all sorts lists of things that critics of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints seem to think its members ought to know. Library of congress washington event notes the importance of the book to millions of mormons and its historical impact. That said, unique literary styles in the book of mormon is not meant to satisfy all technical demands of academic scholarship. This study of this is called analyzing word patterns, wordprinting or stylometry. Besides the extensive list of parallels between the bible and the book of mormon, this book examines many other possible sources used to create the text, i. One way to analyze whether the book of mormon is authentic is to do an academic study of its authorship. When examining all the evidence, our overall conclusion is that the book of mormon displays multiple writing styles throughout the text consistent with the books claim of multiple authors and that the evidence does not show the writing styles of alleged nineteenthcentury authors to be similar to those in the book of mormon. The book of mormon is the keystone of our religion.

Top 10 literary and linguistic evidences for the book of mormon. Apr 10, 2018 at a book of mormon conference in provo last saturday, matt roper and paul fields set out to do just that. Book of mormon and stylometry why the lds church is true. The different writing styles disappear when you account for progressive voice i. My intended readers are those who may have little appetite for endless footnotes from obscure sources, and are not bedazzled by credentials behind a name. Can you explain the multiple writing styles in the book of. Book of mormon evidences, part one discusses some of the many factors supporting the plausibility of the book of mormon as an ancient document. I like the mention of items that are famous to him but have no record in history. A stylometric analysis of mormon scripture and related texts d. Joseph smiths plagiarism of the bible in the book of mormon. Ive read both sides many times over, and i can argue the pro mormon side just as easily as the no mormon side, with the prime diference being that the. They showed how these authors did not come close to the 119 characters developed in the book of mormon. Even within the bible there are different writing styles because there were different authors.

The logic tree of life, or, why i cant manage to disbelieve daniel c. When a person writes something, they leave behind patterns that are unique to that persons style. The basic idea is that the book of mormon was authored by different prophets and so we would expect their writing styles to be different from each other. My grandfather did several wordprint studies on the book of mormon. Because the study of hebrew writing forms in the book of mormon can strengthen testimony and be quite exciting, a number of researchers and laypersons have become overly enthusiastic, much to the detriment of the subject and integrity of their studies. But what are the things the devil does not want anyone to know about the book of mormon, the keystone of our religion.

Therefore, book of mormon scholars look for evidence of the book of mormons ancient hebrew origins by identifying phrases or expressions which are not typical for an english speaker of joseph smiths day which may reflect a direct translation of the underlying semiticstyle language of the book of mormon. Even though mormon is a narrator, the actual books are written in 1st person. Oct 12, 2017 in an article begun in may, 2017, i summarized the ten archaeological evidences for the book of mormon i find most convincing. This knowhy is the first in a series which discusses stylometry and its relevance to questions of book of mormon authorship. Anyway, its been proven the book of mormon has multiple writing styles, not one. Apr 29, 2016 the logic tree of life, or, why i cant manage to disbelieve daniel c. If that were the case, you would see a similarity in writing style between the book of mormon and the book of abraham and this writing style would differ from the bible. These writers include sidney rigdon, solomon spalding, w. Larsen and his associates concluded that the book of mormon was written in distinct authorship styles and that none of the 19th century. If the book of mormon was written by ancient authors, we should be able to see distinct writing styles among each different author. Suffice it to say, these two books have totally different objectives and writing styles. It is part of a collection that includes book of mormon evidences, part two, book of mormon evidences, part three, and book of mormon nuggets.