Exploring the Complexities in the English Language of the Book of Mormon

Exploring the Complexities in the English Language of the Book of Mormon

I was unable to attend this conference as we were cutting down a 75 foot cottonwood tree in our front yard.  The proceedings of this conference are now available HERE.  

Go watch some videos and listen to some great scholars share their findings.

 On Saturday, March 14, a conference was held at BYU to report and discuss the latest investigations into a wide range of linguistic elements in the Book of Mormon, including expressions that do not appear to have been in use in the nineteenth century. As a result of twenty-seven years of investigations by Royal Skousen into the original English-language text of the Book of Mormon, these curiously archaic expressions have raised fascinating questions and discussions regarding the origins of this wondrous scripture.

 

 This conference was sponsored by BYU Studies and the Interpreter Foundation

Schedule:

 9 a.m. welcome by Daniel C. Peterson, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, BYU; and President of the Interpreter Foundation

 9:15 a.m.

Stanford Carmack, JD, Stanford University; PhD, University of California at Santa Barbara (historical syntax); independent scholar
Exploding the Myth of Unruly Book of Mormon Grammar: A Look at the Excellent Match with Early Modern English

 The grammar of the Book of Mormon has been naively criticized since its publication in 1830. The supposedly bad grammar is a match with language found in the Early Modern English textual record. Syntactic usage, especially past tense with did and thecommand construction, points only to that era. Book of Mormon language exhibits well-formed variation typical of the 16th and 17th centuries.

 10 a.m.

 Jan J. Martin, Assistant Visiting Professor of Ancient Scripture, BYU

 Charity, Priest, and Church versus Love, Elder, and Congregation: The Book of Mormon’s connection to the debate between William Tyndale and Thomas More

 Thomas More and William Tyndale were staunch opponents but they did agree on two things: (1) that language and theology were inseparable, and (2) that errors of language could lead to serious errors in theology. These two commonalities fueled their famous debate about Tyndale’s translation of the Greek words presbuteros, ekklēsia, and agapē into English as elder, congregation, andlove. Though three centuries separate the Book of Mormon from More and Tyndale, that gap will be closed as the Book of Mormon’s use of charity/love, priest/elder, and congregation/church are analyzed within a sixteenth-century context.

 

10:45 a.m. 15-minute break 

11:00 a.m.

 Nick Frederick, Assistant Professor of Ancient Scripture, BYU

 “Full of grace, mercy, and truth”: Exploring the Complexities of the Presence of the New Testament within the Book of Mormon

 While it has often been observed that the language of the New Testament plays a key role in the English text of the Book of Mormon, how the New Testament appears in the Book of Mormon has not been thoroughly explored. This presentation will offer some preliminary suggestions on how we can adequately identify New Testament passages within the Book of Mormon, as well as examining the variety of ways the New Testament text is woven throughout the pages of the Book of Mormon.

 11:45 a.m.

 Royal Skousen, Professor of Linguistics and English Language, BYU; and editor of the Book of Mormon critical text project, 1988 – present

 “A theory! A theory! We have already got a theory, and there cannot be any more theories!”

 Three common views regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon, still held by some, can be summarized as follows: (1) as Joseph Smith translated, ideas came to his mind and he expressed those ideas in his own language and phraseology; (2) as a result, the original English language of the Book of Mormon is based on Joseph’s upstate New York dialect, intermixed with his own style of biblical English; and (3) the Book of Mormon deals with the religious and political issues of Joseph’s own time. In this paper I will draw upon the work of the Book of Mormon critical text project to argue that all of these views are essentially misguided and are based on a firm determination to hold to preconceived notions, no matter what the evidence.

 12:45 concluding remarks by John W. Welch, Robert K. Thomas University Professor of Law, BYU; and Editor in Chief, BYU Studies

http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/events/2015-exploring-the-complexities-in-the-english-language-of-the-book-of-mormon/conference-videos/