Download or read book Second Witness Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon written by Brant A. Gardner and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2007-09-01 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stop looking for the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica and start looking for Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon! Second Witness, a new six-volume series from Greg Kofford Books, takes a detailed, verse-by-verse look at the Book of Mormon. It marshals the best of modern scholarship and new insights into a consistent picture of the Book of Mormon as a historical document. Taking a faithful but scholarly approach to the text and reading it through the insights of linguistics, anthropology, and ethnohistory, the commentary approaches the text from a variety of perspectives: how it was created, how it relates to history and culture, and what religious insights it provides. The commentary accepts the best modern scholarship, which focuses on a particular region of Mesoamerica as the most plausible location for the Book of Mormon’s setting. For the first time, that location—its peoples, cultures, and historical trends—are used as the backdrop for reading the text. The historical background is not presented as proof, but rather as an explanatory context. The commentary does not forget Mormon’s purpose in writing. It discusses the doctrinal and theological aspects of the text and highlights the way in which Mormon created it to meet his goal of “convincing . . . the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”
Download or read book Second Witness Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon written by Brant A. Gardner and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2007-09-01 with total page 630 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stop looking for the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica and start looking for Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon! Second Witness, a new six-volume series from Greg Kofford Books, takes a detailed, verse-by-verse look at the Book of Mormon. It marshals the best of modern scholarship and new insights into a consistent picture of the Book of Mormon as a historical document. Taking a faithful but scholarly approach to the text and reading it through the insights of linguistics, anthropology, and ethnohistory, the commentary approaches the text from a variety of perspectives: how it was created, how it relates to history and culture, and what religious insights it provides. The commentary accepts the best modern scholarship, which focuses on a particular region of Mesoamerica as the most plausible location for the Book of Mormon’s setting. For the first time, that location—its peoples, cultures, and historical trends—are used as the backdrop for reading the text. The historical background is not presented as proof, but rather as an explanatory context. The commentary does not forget Mormon’s purpose in writing. It discusses the doctrinal and theological aspects of the text and highlights the way in which Mormon created it to meet his goal of “convincing . . . the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”
Download or read book Second Witness Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon written by Brant A. Gardner and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2007-09-01 with total page 848 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stop looking for the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica and start looking for Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon! Second Witness, a new six-volume series from Greg Kofford Books, takes a detailed, verse-by-verse look at the Book of Mormon. It marshals the best of modern scholarship and new insights into a consistent picture of the Book of Mormon as a historical document. Taking a faithful but scholarly approach to the text and reading it through the insights of linguistics, anthropology, and ethnohistory, the commentary approaches the text from a variety of perspectives: how it was created, how it relates to history and culture, and what religious insights it provides. The commentary accepts the best modern scholarship, which focuses on a particular region of Mesoamerica as the most plausible location for the Book of Mormon’s setting. For the first time, that location—its peoples, cultures, and historical trends—are used as the backdrop for reading the text. The historical background is not presented as proof, but rather as an explanatory context. The commentary does not forget Mormon’s purpose in writing. It discusses the doctrinal and theological aspects of the text and highlights the way in which Mormon created it to meet his goal of “convincing . . . the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”
Download or read book Second Witness Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon written by Brant A. Gardner and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2007-09-01 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stop looking for the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica and start looking for Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon! Second Witness, a new six-volume series from Greg Kofford Books, takes a detailed, verse-by-verse look at the Book of Mormon. It marshals the best of modern scholarship and new insights into a consistent picture of the Book of Mormon as a historical document. Taking a faithful but scholarly approach to the text and reading it through the insights of linguistics, anthropology, and ethnohistory, the commentary approaches the text from a variety of perspectives: how it was created, how it relates to history and culture, and what religious insights it provides. The commentary accepts the best modern scholarship, which focuses on a particular region of Mesoamerica as the most plausible location for the Book of Mormon’s setting. For the first time, that location—its peoples, cultures, and historical trends—are used as the backdrop for reading the text. The historical background is not presented as proof, but rather as an explanatory context. The commentary does not forget Mormon’s purpose in writing. It discusses the doctrinal and theological aspects of the text and highlights the way in which Mormon created it to meet his goal of “convincing . . . the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”
Download or read book Second Witness Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon written by Brant A. Gardner and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2007-09-01 with total page 701 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stop looking for the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica and start looking for Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon! Second Witness, a new six-volume series from Greg Kofford Books, takes a detailed, verse-by-verse look at the Book of Mormon. It marshals the best of modern scholarship and new insights into a consistent picture of the Book of Mormon as a historical document. Taking a faithful but scholarly approach to the text and reading it through the insights of linguistics, anthropology, and ethnohistory, the commentary approaches the text from a variety of perspectives: how it was created, how it relates to history and culture, and what religious insights it provides. The commentary accepts the best modern scholarship, which focuses on a particular region of Mesoamerica as the most plausible location for the Book of Mormon’s setting. For the first time, that location—its peoples, cultures, and historical trends—are used as the backdrop for reading the text. The historical background is not presented as proof, but rather as an explanatory context. The commentary does not forget Mormon’s purpose in writing. It discusses the doctrinal and theological aspects of the text and highlights the way in which Mormon created it to meet his goal of “convincing . . . the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”
Download or read book Second Witness Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon written by Brant A. Gardner and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2007-09-01 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stop looking for the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica and start looking for Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon! Second Witness, a new six-volume series from Greg Kofford Books, takes a detailed, verse-by-verse look at the Book of Mormon. It marshals the best of modern scholarship and new insights into a consistent picture of the Book of Mormon as a historical document. Taking a faithful but scholarly approach to the text and reading it through the insights of linguistics, anthropology, and ethnohistory, the commentary approaches the text from a variety of perspectives: how it was created, how it relates to history and culture, and what religious insights it provides. The commentary accepts the best modern scholarship, which focuses on a particular region of Mesoamerica as the most plausible location for the Book of Mormon’s setting. For the first time, that location—its peoples, cultures, and historical trends—are used as the backdrop for reading the text. The historical background is not presented as proof, but rather as an explanatory context. The commentary does not forget Mormon’s purpose in writing. It discusses the doctrinal and theological aspects of the text and highlights the way in which Mormon created it to meet his goal of “convincing . . . the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”
Download or read book The Gift and Power written by Brant Gardner and published by Greg Kofford Books, Incorporated. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book length treatment of the wide spectrum of questions about the Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon. Includes discussion about the role of folk magic, how the English text replicates the original plate text, and the use of seer stones.
Download or read book Engraven Upon Plates Printed Upon Paper written by Brant A. Gardner and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2023-11-14 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Engraven Upon Plates, Printed Upon Paper: Textual and Narrative Structures of the Book of Mormon, author Brant A Gardner delves into the intriguing layers of composition and historical context of the Book of Mormon. While taking seriously the implications for what it means for this book of scripture to be a translation of an ancient record written by historical persons, Gardner explores the translation process of the Book of Mormon, analyzing three compositional layers: the nineteenth-century text, the Nephite Book of Mormon, and the Nephite writers and their sources. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of the origins and compositional history of the Book of Mormon, without aiming to serve as an apologetic defense. Praise for Engraven Upon Plates, Printed Upon Paper: “Brant Gardner has long been at the head of Book of Mormon studies. With his new book, Engraven Upon Plates, Printed Upon Paper, he adds to his lengthy resume by deconstructing one of the more vexing issues in Book of Mormon studies, namely how to understand the complicated relationship between the Nephite Gold Plates and the nineteenth-century English Book of Mormon. Gardner provides careful analysis of by what means Joseph Smith may have translated the plates, how the Nephite authors may have conceived their project, and in what way those Nephite authors may have integrated their own sources into their record. Any reader seeking a deeper insight into construction and realization of the Book of Mormon text will find much to admire in this project.” — Nicholas J. Frederick, Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University, and author of The Bible, Mormon Scripture, and the “Rhetoric of Allusivity” “Written as a companion to The Plates of Mormon: A Book of Mormon Study Edition Based on Textual and Narrative Structures in the English Translation, this volume bristles with insights gained through a detailed reading of the text. It represents one of the most thorough and substantive treatments of the nature of the translation, transmission, and organizational design of the Book of Mormon text to-date. This expansive study immediately rises to top of must-read resources relative to the Book of Mormon.” — Kerry Hull, co-editor, A Hundredth Part: Exploring the History and Teachings of the Book of Mormon
Download or read book Understanding the Book of Mormon written by Ross Anderson and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2009-08-30 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mormons, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, form a growing population in both numbers and influence. Yet few people have more than a passing knowledge of the document that defines and drives this important movement—the Book of Mormon. A former Mormon and an adult convert to Christianity, author Ross Anderson provides a clear summary of the Book of Mormon including its history, teachings, and unique features. Stories from the author and other ex-Mormons illustrate the use of Mormon scripture in the Latter-day Saint church. Anderson gives special attention to how the Book of Mormon relates to Christian beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible. With discussion questions to facilitate group use and a focus on providing an accurate portrayal of Mormons beliefs, Understanding the Book of Mormon is an indispensable guide for anyone wishing to become more familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its most formative scripture.
Download or read book Who Are the Children of Lehi written by D. Jeffrey Meldrum and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does the Book of Mormon, keystone of the LDS faith, stand up to data about DNA sequencing that puts the ancestors of modern Native Americans in northeast Asia instead of Palestine? In Who Are the Children of Lehi? Meldrum and Stephens examine the merits and the fallacies of DNA-based interpretations that challenge the Book of Mormon’s historicity. They provide clear guides to the science, summarize the studies, illuminate technical points with easy-to-grasp examples, and spell out the data’s implications. The results? There is no straight-line conclusion between DNA evidence and “Lamanites.” The Book of Mormon’s validity lies beyond the purview of scientific empiricism—as it always has. And finally, inspiringly, they affirm Lehi’s kinship as one of covenant, not genes.
Download or read book The Plates of Mormon written by Brant A. Gardner and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2023-11-14 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book Description: For nearly two centuries, Latter-day Saints have been reading the Book of Mormon through multiple changes in its punctuation, formatting, and versification. The Plates of Mormon: A Book of Mormon Study Edition Based on Textual and Narrative Structures in the English Translation offers a new perspective on this book of scripture by seeking to align its English translation with the inaccessible golden plates from which that translation was made. Originally punctuated and formatted by the 1830 first edition’s compositor, John H. Gilbert, who had to add punctuation and paragraphs to the text to make it more reader-friendly, this study edition meticulously returns to this issue by reexamining punctuation and paragraphs to enhance readability while maintaining faithfulness to the source material. Utilizing insights explored in his companion volume, Engraven Upon Plates, Printed Upon Paper: Textual and Narrative Structures of the Book of Mormon, editor Brant A. Gardner also addresses issues of spelling, grammar, alterations, deletions, and paratextual information, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the Book of Mormon's composition and the principles guiding this edition's editorial decisions. Additionally, this edition examines narrative and literary structures in its translation to best represent how Mormon’s ancient writings were recorded on his golden plates. It does so not only by removing modern summaries and versification formatting, but also by returning the text to its original chapters and relocating the small plates section outside of Mormon’s intended record. It also highlights the logic behind punctuation, paragraphing, chapters, and headers, helping readers gain a more profound appreciation for the text's nuances. If you're interested in the Book of Mormon's origins, textual structure, and the thoughtful decisions made in presenting it, this edition provides valuable insights and a fresh perspective on this sacred text. It is a must-read for those seeking to explore the Book of Mormon anew. Praise for The Plates of Mormon: "Brant Gardner’s The Plates of Mormon: A Book of Mormon Study Edition is highly recommended to any and all readers who want to more deeply engage the text of the Book of Mormon. In this book, Gardner takes readers back to the early stages of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. He expertly works through the book’s transmission, bringing to life the words of Mormon, Nephi, and others. Gardner skillfully integrates the earliest manuscripts of the Book of Mormon while also highlighting the hundreds of places where the Book of Mormon interacts with the Bible. A remarkable achievement." — Nicholas J. Frederick, Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University, and author of The Bible, Mormon Scripture, and the “Rhetoric of Allusivity” "This volume is a welcome addition to other recent study editions of the Book of Mormon. Relying upon the Printer’s Manuscript, Gardner succeeds in making the text more intelligible and accessible to readers through a careful restructuring of punctuation, sentences, paragraphs, and narrative blocks, as well as by beginning with the large plates followed by the small. Readers will engage anew with the text of the Book of Mormon in this logically and creatively reformatted presentation, supported by highly insightful footnotes. There is much to be gained from this innovative contribution to Book of Mormon studies." — Kerry Hull, co-editor, A Hundredth Part: Exploring the History and Teachings of the Book of Mormon "Brant Gardner’s The Plates of Mormon: A Book of Mormon Study Edition is an excellent addition to the small but growing number of scholarly editions of the Nephite record. Working from the Printer’s Manuscript, Gardner has undertaken the labor of its first compositor, John H. Gilbert, by punctuating and paragraphing the Book of Mormon text afresh and providing a new and enjoyable experience, one which rewards its readers with new insights as the familiar chapter-and-verse structure is shaken up. Most notable is the re-arrangement by order of translation, allowing readers to experience the Book of Mormon as its original authors intended. Footnotes throughout provide interesting history and insights from the Original and Printers’ Manuscripts, as well as noting quotations, allusions, and echoes to the language of the King James Bible, enriching the reader’s experience. Having published and presented on the Book of Mormon in academic settings for over two decades, Brant Gardner has here produced a study edition of the Book of Mormon worthy of inclusion on the shelves of every serious student of the keystone scripture." — Jared Riddick, librarian and archivist at Scripture Central
Download or read book Fire and Sword written by Leland H. Gentry and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2009-10-01 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many Mormon dreams flourished in Missouri. So did many Mormon nightmares. The Missouri period--especially from the summer of 1838 when Joseph took over vigorous, personal direction of this new Zion until the spring of 1839 when he escaped after five months of imprisonment--represents a moment of intense crisis in Mormon history. Representing the greatest extremes of devotion and violence, commitment and intolerance, physical suffering and terror--mobbings, battles, massacres, and political “knockdowns”--it shadowed the Mormon psyche for a century. Leland Gentry was the first to step beyond this disturbing period as a one-sided symbol of religious persecution and move toward understanding it with careful documentation and evenhanded analysis. In Fire and Sword, Todd Compton collaborates with Gentry to update this foundational work with four decades of new scholarship, more insightful critical theory, and the wealth of resources that have become electronically available in the last few years. Compton gives full credit to Leland Gentry's extraordinary achievement, particularly in documenting the existence of Danites and in attempting to tell the Missourians’ side of the story; but he also goes far beyond it, gracefully drawing into the dialogue signal interpretations written since Gentry and introducing the raw urgency of personal writings, eyewitness journalists, and bemused politicians seesawing between human compassion and partisan harshness. In the lush Missouri landscape of the Mormon imagination where Adam and Eve had walked out of the garden and where Adam would return to preside over his posterity, the towering religious creativity of Joseph Smith and clash of religious stereotypes created a swift and traumatic frontier drama that changed the Church.
Download or read book The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology Volume Two written by Joseph M. Spencer and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few scholars of the Book of Mormon have read this volume of scripture as closely and rigorously as Joseph M. Spencer. And of those, none have devoted as much time and effort as he to a theological reading of that sacred text—that is, as Spencer writes, “how it might shape responsible thinking about questions pertaining to the life of religious commitment” (p. 1:173.) The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology divides into two volumes exploring and thinking about these pertinent questions. Whereas the first volume principally contains essays that deal with relatively traditional theological questions and concerns, the essays in this volume ask about what new worlds might be discovered in doing theological work on the Book of Mormon, focusing on what Spencer calls “microscopic” and “macroscopic” theological readings of the text. Essays in the first set examine no more than a verse of the Book of Mormon—more often just a single phrase or two—to see what theological implications lie within the details of the text. The second set of essays ask questions about the shape and intentions of the whole of the Book of Mormon, as this can be discerned through the ways it deploys biblical texts—and especially the writings of Isaiah. A third set of essays follows the two on microscopic and macroscopic styles of theology and are invitations to blur the boundaries that separate different styles of Book of Mormon scholarship. These final essays call on Book of Mormon scholars to move closer to theology and calls on theologians to move closer to the Book of Mormon.
Download or read book Understanding the Book of Mormon written by Grant Hardy and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-04-07 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mark Twain once derided the Book of Mormon as "chloroform in print." Long and complicated, written in the language of the King James version of the Bible, it boggles the minds of many. Yet it is unquestionably one of the most influential books ever written. With over 140 million copies in print, it is a central text of one of the largest and fastest-growing faiths in the world. And, Grant Hardy shows, it's far from the coma-inducing doorstop caricatured by Twain. In Understanding the Book of Mormon, Hardy offers the first comprehensive analysis of the work's narrative structure in its 180 year history. Unlike virtually all other recent world scriptures, the Book of Mormon presents itself as an integrated narrative rather than a series of doctrinal expositions, moral injunctions, or devotional hymns. Hardy takes readers through its characters, events, and ideas, as he explores the story and its messages. He identifies the book's literary techniques, such as characterization, embedded documents, allusions, and parallel narratives. Whether Joseph Smith is regarded as author or translator, it's noteworthy that he never speaks in his own voice; rather, he mediates nearly everything through the narrators Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni. Hardy shows how each has a distinctive voice, and all are woven into an integral whole. As with any scripture, the contending views of the Book of Mormon can seem irreconcilable. For believers, it is an actual historical document, transmitted from ancient America. For nonbelievers, it is the work of a nineteenth-century farmer from upstate New York. Hardy transcends this intractable conflict by offering a literary approach, one appropriate to both history and fiction. Regardless of whether readers are interested in American history, literature, comparative religion, or even salvation, he writes, the book can best be read if we examine the text on its own terms.
Download or read book Americanist Approaches to The Book of Mormon written by Elizabeth Fenton and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-07-18 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the sacred text of a modern religious movement of global reach, The Book of Mormon has undeniable historical significance. That significance, this volume shows, is inextricable from the intricacy of its literary form and the audacity of its historical vision. This landmark collection brings together a diverse range of scholars in American literary studies and related fields to definitively establish The Book of Mormon as an indispensable object of Americanist inquiry not least because it is, among other things, a form of Americanist inquiry in its own right--a creative, critical reading of "America." Drawing on formalist criticism, literary and cultural theory, book history, religious studies, and even anthropological field work, Americanist Approaches to The Book of Mormon captures as never before the full dimensions and resonances of this "American Bible."
Download or read book The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology Volume One written by Joseph M. Spencer and published by Greg Kofford Books. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few scholars of the Book of Mormon have read this volume of scripture as closely and rigorously as Joseph M. Spencer. And of those, none have devoted as much time and effort as he to a theological reading of that sacred text—that is, as Spencer writes, “how it might shape responsible thinking about questions pertaining to the life of religious commitment” (p. 1:173.) The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology divides into two volumes exploring and thinking about these pertinent questions. Each concerns a different part of the defense of the claim that theology is and ought to be particularly important for Book of Mormon studies. In this first volume, Spencer gathers early essays in which he gestures toward theological interpretation without knowing how to defend it; essays about why theology is important to Book of Mormon scholarship and how to ensure that it does not overstep its boundaries; and essays that do theological work on the Book of Mormon in relatively obvious ways or with relatively traditional topics. The last category of essays divides into two subcategories: essays specifically on the central theological question of Jesus Christ’s atonement, as the Book of Mormon understands it; and essays on a variety of traditional theological topics, again as the Book of Mormon understands them.
Download or read book Interpreter A Journal of Latter day Saint Faith and Scholarship Volume 35 2020 written by Brant A. Gardner and published by The Interpreter Foundation. This book was released on 2020-06-24 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is volume 35 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship published by The Interpreter Foundation. It contains the complete text of Labor Dilgently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture by Brant A. Gardner.
