Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins

by Noel B. Reynolds, Charles D. Tate Jr.

Book by

Genres: Religion, Lds, Nonfiction, Church

244 pages

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Noel B. Reynolds is a professor emeritus of political science of Brigham Young University. He grew up in Cody, Wyoming, and served as a missionary for the LDS Church in Uruguay and Argentina from 1961 to 1964. Reynolds received his MA and PhD from Harvard University. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Edinburgh University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Reynolds was one of the editors of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published in 1992 by Macmillan. Reynolds has published books and articles in several fields, including legal and political philosophy, American founding, authorship studies, ancient studies and Dead Sea Scrolls, and Mormon studies. Among other callings in the LDS Church, Reynolds has served as president of the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple and as a bishop and stake president. From 2005 to 2008, Reynolds was the president of the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission. Reynolds is married to the former Sydney Sharon Smith. They are the parents of eleven children.

from https://rsc.byu.edu/authors/reynolds-...
and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_B....

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection of pre-1980s scholarship on the subject. Useful for a historical perspective from the scholarly apologist, but many sections would likely not stand up to modern scrutiny as they are written, and some are laced with conjecture. That is not to say that the results are invalidated, but that methodologies have improved, and the bias of the authors needs to be accounted for in some of the presented studies.

[Natalie Tate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth a read, especially for Richard Bushman's essay, "The Book of Mormon and the American Revolution."

[Ryder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great eye opener for the skeptic and the believer. It calls one to challenge or reaffirm their belief in the Book of Mormon being an authentic ancient record and not one written by Joseph Smith's hand in the 19th Century.

It plays devil's advocate with itself, not sparing itself one iota of potential arguments one might use to discredit the Book of Mormon's authenticity. Then it moves on disprove each soundly and truthfully with Church and secular sources.

It explores long forgotten Hebraic Literary styles such as Chiasmus; which exist in the Book of Mormon but were only rediscovered in America 10 years after the martyrdom of Joseph Smith; further raising doubt in doubter's claims that the book was a creation of Smith.

It also speaks to other doubts such as the Spaulding theory, Ethan Smith's writings, Horses, silk and Cimeters in America, among others.

If one has questions or doubts as to historical inaccuracies, anachronisms, or simply wants to deepen their understanding of the record, this is a very rewarding read.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essays.