The Book of Mormon as history

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Evidence of the historicity of the Book of Mormon

Jump to details:

• The Nephite calendar
• Warfare in the Book of Mormon

The Nephite calendar

Jump to details:

• Question: Was the "week" unknown in ancient America?

Warfare in the Book of Mormon

Jump to details:

• Warfare in the Book of Mormon: Defense
• Warfare in the Book of Mormon: Oaths taken by warriors
• Warfare in the Book of Mormon: Seasonality of Warfare
• Warfare in the Book of Mormon: Tactics
• Warfare in the Book of Mormon: Secret combinations
• Warfare in the Book of Mormon: Weapons

Olive horticulture

Summary: Does the Book of Mormon's account of olive culture in Jacob 5 match what we know about this subject? The Book of Mormon provides a remarkably accurate portrait of olive horticulture. There are two points at which the allegory/parable deviates from the known principles of growing olives; in both cases, the allegory's characters draw the reader's attention to these deviations with some amazement. Thus, these 'mistakes' play a dramatic role in demonstrating the allegory/parable's meaning.

Book of Mormon geography in the Old World

Summary: A discussion of the Arabian, or Old World, geography of the Book of Mormon enjoys many advantages over discussion of New World matters. Chief among these is the fact that we know we certainty where the story begins—in Old World Jerusalem. The details of Lehi's desert travels had been extracted from the text by the 1970s. It is important to note how early these models were developed; current-day critics sometimes charge that LDS scholars have "retrofitted" their models to accommodate chance discoveries like "Nahom," but this is false.

Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon

Summary: The Book of Mormon does indeed have authentic Semitic constructions in it, but LDS need to tread cautiously in establishing them. Each must be evaluated on its own merits. Hebraisms that could have been known to Joseph Smith may still be authentic, and may still enhance our appreciation of the text, but they are weak evidence for Book of Mormon antiquity.

If-and conditionals

Summary: The first edition of the Book of Mormon contained several examples of a grammatical structure not known in English, but common in Hebrew: the so-called if/and conditional.

Names: authentic Old World names in the Book of Mormon

Chiasmus

Summary: A literary structure known as "chiasmus" exists in the Book of Mormon. It is claimed that the presence of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon is either coincidental, an artifact of the observer, or not impressive since examples of chiastic patterns have been found in the Doctrine and Covenants or other 19th century writing.

Names: authentic Old World names in the Book of Mormon

Ancient motifs in the Book of Mormon

Summary: Some aspects of the Book of Mormon record make little sense if it is read as a 19th century creation. If its underlying source is an ancient text, however, then these elements enrich our understanding of the volume and its message.