Reddit Reddit reviews Studies of the Book of Mormon

We found 11 Reddit comments about Studies of the Book of Mormon. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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11 Reddit comments about Studies of the Book of Mormon:

u/SpaceYeti · 93 pointsr/exmormon

Bias breakdown, in my opinion:

  • At least seven are written from a pro-LDS perspective.
  • Five are mostly critical of the church (I'm combining CES Letter and Letter for my Wife as one; they are largely redundant).
  • Four are remarkably neutral; a balance of supportive and critical LDS narratives.
  • Three are about Christian theology and don't even mention Mormonism once.

    ***
    EDIT: Damn, I knew I'd forget some. Add these to the list above:

  • Studies of the Book of Mormon (B.H. Roberts) - proLDS
  • Educated: A Memoir (Tara Westover) - neutral
u/jdovew · 14 pointsr/exmormon

Yup, it was B.H. Roberts. The book he eventually wrote and published is called "Studies of the Book of Mormon."

Interestingly, the book was published by the University of Illinois, not the Church.

Choice quotes:

>In the early 1920s, Roberts was asked by the First Presidency of the LDS Church to develop an apologetic to explain difficulties in the Book of Mormon.

The book was published in 1985, which shows how long and hard he worked on it.

>Roberts was "torn by an internal struggle between his faith and a desire to be honest with himself.

A problem many at FAIR don't seem to struggle with....

>Roberts concluded that the "evidence I sorrowfully submit" pointed to Joseph Smith as the Book of Mormon's creator.

>Although Roberts's manuscripts were intended for perusal by the general authorities of the LDS Church, the authorities proved uninterested in examining them.

Funny how the very people who gave him the task weren't interested. They really aren't scholars.

>He also warned that the problems described would haunt the church "both now and also in the future" and, unless answered, they would undermine "the faith of the Youth of the Church."

Good read for under $20

It was what ultimately made my shelf fall. I held up everything on the fact that the BoM existed and no explanation made sense except for the Church's accepted history.

Learning that a prophet tasked with that specific task came to the conclusion that Joseph probably wrote the book was earth-shattering.

u/Jithrop · 8 pointsr/exmormon

Do you know much about Elder B. H. Roberts? He's the church historian I respect the most. Leonard J. Arrington, who was a church historian and is often called the "Father of Mormon History", called B. H. Roberts "The intellectual leader of the Mormon people in the era of Mormonism’s finest intellectual attainment."

Well, Elder Roberts had this to say about the Book of Mormon: “There were other Anti-Christs among the Nephites, but they were more military leaders than religious innovators… they are all of one breed and brand; so nearly alike that one mind is the author of them, and that a young and underdeveloped, but piously inclined mind. The evidence I sorrowfully submit, points to Joseph Smith as their creator. It is difficult to believe that they are a product of history, that they came upon the scene separated by long periods of time, and among a race which was the ancestral race of the red man of America.”

“If from all that has gone before in Part 1, the view be taken that the Book of Mormon is merely of human origin… if it be assumed that he is the author of it, then it could be said there is much internal evidence in the book itself to sustain such a view. In the first place there is a certain lack of perspective in the things the book relates as history that points quite clearly to an underdeveloped mind as their origin. The narrative proceeds in characteristic disregard of conditions necessary to its reasonableness, as if it were a tale told by a child, with utter disregard for consistency.”

“One other subject remains to be considered in this division… viz. – was Joseph Smith possessed of a sufficiently vivid and creative imagination as to produce such a work as the Book of Mormon from such materials as have been indicated in the proceeding chapters… That such power of imagination would have to be of a high order is conceded; that Joseph Smith possessed such a gift of mind there can be no question….In light of this evidence, there can be no doubt as to the possession of a vividly strong, creative imagination by Joseph Smith, the Prophet, an imagination, it could with reason be urged, which, given the suggestions that are found in the ‘common knowledge’ of accepted American antiquities of the times, supplemented by such a work as Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews [published in Palmyra in 1825], it would make it possible for him to create a book such as the Book of Mormon is.”

That's directly from A Study of the Book of Mormon by Elder B. H. Roberts. Buy it here.

u/Zadok_The_Priest · 7 pointsr/exmormon

B.H. Roberts in Studies of the Book of Mormon documents how Joseph would entertain family and friends with long tales of the early inhabitants of the Americas. And don't forget, he didn't do it in a few months, he had four years from the first visit of the angle until he was allowed to get the plates. Thinking about the story, maybe even writing notes. It wasn't magic, like the church would have you believe.

u/Wreckmaninoff · 7 pointsr/exmormon

I've read A View of the Hebrews. I recommend reading B.H. Roberts' Studies of the Book of Mormon first as a primer. There are significant historical knowledge gaps between the time View was published and our own and I found Roberts' work helpful in bridging those gaps. Roberts set out to answer a few simple historical questions about the BoM that a member had written in to a GA...

Reading View will get you:

  • a firsthand read at what was probably the source of a lot of major thematic points of the Book of Mormon, rebutting FAIRs claims of no connection; and,

  • firsthand read of numerous and very specific pseudoscientific linguistic and cultural theories that were considered credible at the time the BoM was written, which have since been discredited, and which were incorporated into the BoM by the author(s) of that work.

    Reading Roberts work provides:

  • firsthand knowledge that when FAIR characterizes Roberts' work as a piece of "devils advocacy" they are lying;

  • a well-articulated summary of early concerns with BoM anachronisms (linguistic, anthropological, metalurgical, and agricultural/animal husbandry);

  • strong evidence to the theory that Joseph Smith incorporated material from his life/social milieu into the Book of Mormon;

  • examples of overt and thinly disguised plagarism from the Bible;

  • analysis of simplistic and superficial stories/teachings of the BoM;

  • Roberts' retelling of how his findings went over with the 12 and FP when he shared them with that body; and,

  • all of this written from a perspective of faith from a President of the 70 who died in full fellowship, was church historian, who literally wrote The History of the Church and was formerly a strident defender of the Book of Mormon.

    Your husband might read Roberts work with you or on his own, given that he probably has a copy of Roberts six volume History of the Church and doesn't consider that anti-Mormon (in fact it's quoted extensively in official church publications.)

    Best of luck.
u/elder94 · 4 pointsr/exmormon

Ummm I'd suggest just reading the actual book

That's how you're going to get the best answer. I read it and it was a huge factor in breaking my shelf because I think it's obvious he knew the BOM was bullshit (or at least that it wasn't literally/historically true).

u/addictedtothetruth · 3 pointsr/exmormon

You can go to the Marriott library Special Collections dept on the 4th floor...just ask them about the BH Roberts stuff, they will be glad to bring you tons of stuff...that I am sure that the church doesn't like people to know about. You can also buy his writings now. The book is called Studies of the Book of Mormon...here is the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1560850272/qid=1091914132/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-3960798-7723963?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

u/Mithryn · 3 pointsr/exmormon

You can buy his history here:

http://www.amazon.com/History-Church-Volume-Joseph-Smith/dp/B002Q7IP48

His article mentioned is in this book (I think): http://www.amazon.com/Studies-Book-Mormon-Brigham-Madsen/dp/1560850272

But the mention that the Book of Mormon being written by Smith is best quoted here:

http://www.mormonthink.com/josephweb.htm#bh



u/ClayChristensen · 3 pointsr/exmormon
u/infamousjoe2 · 2 pointsr/exmormon

Joseph made edits to the manuscript while it was at the printer. And from the time Joseph received the plates (1827) to the time the manuscript was completed (late 1829) was more than two years. That's plenty of time for Joseph to have the story completely laid out in his head. Read an original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon and you'll see how different it is from today's version. And I'm not talking about punctuation, chapter headings, or verse separations.

Stephen King wrote Running Man in a week. Brilliant and creative people can write stories in a flash. BH Roberts, a former General Authority in the 1920's and 1930's, did a study on the Book of Mormon and Joseph's history. He concluded that Joseph had the necessary faculties and intellect to produce the Book of Mormon on his own. Read this.

The Book of Mormon is nothing more than Bible fan fiction.