Reddit reviews The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text

Not liking their message doesn't make them wrong. Here's an LDS apologist who shows the same conclusion.

> Is the book of Mormon peer reviewed?

Start with By the Hand of Mormon by Terryl L. Givens, Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide by Grant Hardy and The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text by Royal Skousen.

These are three independent works, all published by reputable academic presses (Oxford and Yale) by scholars whose scholarly credentials have landed them academic positions at accredited institutions of higher education.

If you want the real deal, start here and learn and see academic scholarship at it's finest painting a majestic picture of this incredible text.

Here is my Top 10 list:

1. The Original Manuscript of The Book of Mormon
   
   
2. The Printer's Manuscript of The Book of Mormon
   
   
3. The First Edition of The Book of Mormon (E.B. Grandin version)
   
   
4. The Book of Mormon: A Reader's Edition (Grant Hardy version)
   
   
5. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (1981 Version)
   
   
6. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (2013 Official online version)
   
   
7. The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text (Royal Skousen version)
   
   
8. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (1920 Version)
   
   
9. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (1994 Official MP3 version)
   
   
10. The Book of Mormon (Penguin Classic version)
    
    Honorable mentions: Le Livre de Mormon; The Book of Mormon (Moroni's gold plated version); Book of Mormon Stories (children's edition)
    
    

Recycled my church-published ones. Hung on to this one for reference for a few months, before realizing I really didn't give a shit about Mormonism anymore, and offered it up for sale on Amazon.

That depends on what you think of academic works. I think it's super fascinating! But I'm into that kind of thing. Check out the reviews here! I use it as more of a reference than a straight through read. Most of the text is the Book of Mormon itself as well as textual comparisons of the extant original manuscript, printers manuscripts, and 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon.

The best examination of this is Royal Skousen’s “The Book of Mormon: the Earliest Text.”

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Mormon-Earliest-Text/dp/0300142188

All great suggestions here! I just wanted to add that Royal Skousen's Earliest Text edition of the Book of Mormon is also a great option. No pictures or footnotes, but it flows really well and there is lots of space in the margins. The verses are broken down into what he calls "sense lines" and it makes it super easy to follow. I felt like I was breezing through it.

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Mormon-Earliest-Text/dp/0300142188

This bookby Royal Skousen put the biggest crack in my shelf. It costs money, but is an easy way to show people that a Mormon "scholar" knows all about this shit.

This is just not true. Members of the Church (most notably Royal Skousen) have worked hard to try to make early versions available.