A question of book of mormon scholarship is whether the several chapters or passages of isaiah cited or paraphrased in the book derive from an ancient text or whether they have been copied with some revision from the king james version. In the light of modern biblical criticism these quotations raise problems that have a serious bearing on the integrity of the nephite record as a whole. Why has 3 nephi been called the focal point, the supreme moment in the book of mormon. However, i feel that the book of mormon can not only withstand the challenge, but the issue can actually be used to illuminate the nature of isaiah and shed light on why this is. For my comparisons i use the king james version of the bible provided by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Studying the bible and book of mormon together helps us. In the opinion of many textcritical scholars, the disputed chapters mainly chapters 4066 were written or edited. He asserts that this is clearly an inadequate and inaccurate response to a significant body of. I also use the most recent version 1981 of the book of. The king james quotations in the book of mormon kjq, 2019 royal skousen, with the collaboration of stanford carmack. A word or phrase from the law, which was known by most hebrews, brought to their minds much more than was on the written page. Each essay in this volume addresses an aspect of the complex. The book of mormon attributes two of these three sections to isaiah by quotation. The context of isaiah prophecies placed in book of mormon will provide the reader a better understanding of isaiah and additional belief in book of mormon.
Isaiah in the book of mormon, don parry and jack welch, editors. I have my the book of isaiah a new translation with interpretive keys from the book of mormon by avraham gileadi open this book contains a new translation by a wellknown scholar that stays as closely as possible to the hebrew text of isaiah. Watch our overview video on the first 39 chapters of the book of isaiah, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. This book is really, really helpful in studying isaiah. Isaiah spends some time on the book that is sealed. The late nineteenth century saw a division of isaiah into three parts by critics, who.
From 2 nephi 27 we learn that this has reference to the book of mormon. Isaiah prophecies in book of mormon are relevant to the. In his book, understanding the book of mormon, grant hardy faces this issue head on, critiquing the positions of latterday saints who dismiss the deuteroisaiah problem as simply the work of academics who do not believe in prophecy. Isaiah in the book of mormon what im thinking about. Specifically this theory claims that there were three individual authors, whose works were later compiled together under the name of the first author, the real isaiah known as protoisaiah by adherents to the theory. The isaiah problem in the book of mormon chap 11 shields. These statistical results provide striking support for the book of mormons own claims about its authorship. And significantly the book of mormon nephi record a marvelous work and wonder will glorify the lord. If you want to know more about why i made this site you can read about it here. Most adherents to the latter day saint movement view the book as a work of inspired scripture. Brother douglas bassett, however, has made these great words easier to understand by compiling thousands of statements made by prophets, general authorities, and scriptural scholars to clearly explain the oftenformidable words of one of the greatest prophets. The book of mormon quotes isaiah more than any other prophet.
But for many, the isaiah sections of the book of mormon can seem daunting. The isaiah text in the book of mormon is an inspired rendering of text taken originally from the brass plates of laban and which consequently predates our current isaiah texts by several centuries. It contained the five books of moses, a record of the jews from the beginning, and the prophecies of the holy prophets down to his own time. In compare isaiah understanding biblical scriptures in the book of mormon, discover how the words of isaiah influenced nephi, abinadi, mormon, and others. The book of mormon concerns the branch that is broken off. Tvedtnes of the 478 verses in the book of mormon quoted from the book of isaiah, 201 agree with the king james reading while 207 show variations. The main nephite prophets who quoted isaiah were nephi, jacob, and abinadi. Prophets of old prophesied about this sacred books advent in our day.
The coming forth of the book of mormon began long before joseph smith received the gold plates from the hands of the angel moroni. Welch, isaiah in the book of mormon, 1998over the years, biblical scholars have raised questions about the authorship of the book of isaiah, often viewing it as a compilation os scripture written by more than one author. How does the book of mormon prophet nephi read, rework, and repurpose the writings of the biblical prophet isaiah. Smith claimed the angel moroni, a prophet in the book of mormon, directed him in the 1820s to a. The most common belief of adherents is that promoted by joseph smith, who said he translated ancient golden plates inscribed by prophets. The commenter made the assertion that joseph smith had just used place names from around where he lived in new york in order to write the book of mormon. Christ and the apostles themselves attribute the book to isaiah.
In this part 5 of volume 3 of the critical text, we identify one more use of early modern english in fact, a very specific one in the original text of the book of mormon, namely, quotations from the king james bible. The contributing scholars draw on the book of mormon prophets as knowledgeable guides, examining how and why those ancient writers used and interpreted isaiah s prophetic teachings. Repeat this process for the rest of the isaiah block chapters in 2 nephi, and print out the result and keep it in your scriptures or post a pdf. Typographical facsimile of the extent text, the book of mormon critical text project, volume 1 provo, ut. A careful study of these parallels indicates that the rod of iron and sword of justice are cognate symbols that both represent. The idea for the other project started a few years ago when i came across a comment left under a story on. As students of the bible are aware, isaiah is not always an easy book to understand, and those portions of it that appear in the book of mormon can be equally difficult to interpret. By teaching the words of isaiah in concert with nephis inspired commentary, isaiah will have a greater impact on the lives of latterday saint youth. Isaiah variants in the book of mormon religious studies. Wrights article is essentially a critique of my rather lengthy study isaiah variants in the book of mormon. There are several theories as to the origin of the book of mormon. The extensive use of isaiah poses several problems. The lord covenanted with enos to bring forth the book of mormon to the lamanites, enos 1. Civilizations of their magnitude and duration would be expected to leave extensive archaeological records.
The book of mormon is an excellent key that can be used to unlock the bible. However, modern biblical scholars assert that these chapters were not written by isaiah, but rather by one or more other people during the babylonian captivity, sometime between 586. Commentaries on isaiah in the book of mormon deseret book. The 17 essays in isaiah in the book of mormon take a variety of approaches in seeking to help readers make the most of isaiah s teachings. See more ideas about book of mormon, mormon, scripture study. The 21st international book of mormon evidence conference believes the book of mormon took place in north america the heartland theory, while the book of mormon central 2018 conference believes the book of mormon all took place in central america the mesoamerican theory. They emphasized this point by quoting extensively from isaiah in their own sermons and writings. However, by applying various interpretive tools, the authors of the nineteen articles in isaiah in the book of mormon offer readers a clearer understanding of the function and message of isaiah as presented by the book of mormon authors. Kjv isaiah in the book of mormon why the lds church is. Isaiah 29 a book that is sealed lds scripture teachings. Mormon chose to keep about one third of isaiahs writings. A project to share with the world what is the book of mormon. This book makes public the results of a project sponsored by the mormon theology seminar. Book of mormon evidence vs book of mormon central pop isaiah april 9, 2019 it was a year ago this week, i spent three days at two book of mormon conferences on the same weekend.
It contains all the chapters of isaiah from the bible and the book of mormon, and the author clarifies the symbolism used, the pronouns whatwho each of them refer to, the historical information, etc. The isaiah passages in the book of mormon a non aligned text the above title and link refers to a 2001 masters thesis. Now i, nephi, do speak somewhat concerning the words which i have written, which have been spoken by the mouth of isaiah. However, many people call the words of isaiah too difficult to understand or even boring. Internal evidences of the unity of the book include imagery, repetition, expressions peculiar to isaiah, and song. Prophets in the book of mormon, including the lord himself, repeatedly declared the importance of reading isaiahs prophecies. While the history related to us from martin harris lends us to make the application to his experience with charles anthon, it would be useful to make a more personal application. The deuteroisaiah theory is the claim that parts of isaiah were written later than others. Isaiah in the book of mormon religious studies center. The book of mormon quotes twentyone complete chapters of isaiah and parts of others.
Joseph smiths means and methods of translating the book of mormon. After lehis departure from jerusalem with the writings of isaiah on the brass plates, some changes apparently occurred in the isaiah manuscripts from which our current bibles have been translated. Examine why they were included in the book of mormon. The book of mormon was written for the intent that we may believe the bible, morm. The blog is about helping to understand isaiah scripture by looking at why nephi included the verses he did on his gold plates. Plagiarism the book of mormon narrative says that the jews who left jerusalem for the new world had with them the scriptures written up until that point 600 b.
Isaiah in 2 nephi fhe project by common consent, a. A contemporary mormon view is that these civilizations rose and fell in mesoamerica. Learn why the savior quotes malachi and teaches the sermon on the mount to the nephites. It was a year ago this week, i spent three days at two book of mormon conferences on the same weekend. Next to the book of mormon references in this chart are corresponding references in the book of isaiah. Several parts of the book of mormon are highly influenced by the text of deutero isaiah. However, by applying various interpretive tools, the authors of the nineteen articles in isaiah in the book of mormon offer readers a clearer understanding of the. The lords words will hiss forth unto the ends of the earth, 2 ne. So i decided to make my own and start with the isaiah passages in the book of mormon. The question driving the papers collected in this volume is the following.
Maxwell institute for religious scholarship november 1, 1997 hardcover amazon paperback amazon, barnes and noble. Isaiah passages listed by book of mormon reference book. The book of mormon and the bible will grow together, 2 ne. The isaiah chapters are difficult for most readers of the book of mormon, however this work helps the reader better understand whats going on, and conveniently has a chapter on each isaiah chapter in the book of mormon so they become more easily organized and manageable. Unlocking isaiah in the book of mormon by victor l. That the book of mormon quotes from isaiah is not a problem, except that joseph smiths 1830 translation reads nearly verbatim to the 1611 king james translation. Since isaiah died around 698 bc, under traditional biblical belief, there would be no conflict. In order to fabricate the book of mormon, joseph smith would have needed the ability to create distinct fictional voices, and a talent beyond some of the greatest novelists of his time charles dickens, jane austen, mark twain, and james fenimore cooper.