Book of mormon isaiah problem

In part 1, after discussing the book of mormon s clever use of isaiah 52 in the context of several ancient hebrew motifs, i turn to the deutero isaiah problem. Many members of the latter day saint movement claim historical authenticity of the book of mormon. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out. 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. A computer analysis of the isaiah authorship problem. Students of the book of mormon bm have recognized the problem of having explicit and lengthy quotations of isaiah chapters 4055 since at least the days of b.

A philological isaiah problem in the book of mormon. Revelation from god to prophets isnt bound by mortal time or space. In the lds curriculum, we are now plodding through the isaiah chapters in second nephi. The book of mormon and the problem of the pentateuch. This book is mostly an attempt to harmonize isaiah and the book of mormon, but if the author is going to ignore every modern scholarship on the subject of the history and production of the book im talking about isaiah even at least to acknowledge that the common consensus is that isaiah is considered to have at least.

This book is really, really helpful in studying isaiah. Why has 3 nephi been called the focal point, the supreme moment in the book of mormon. Sperry, the isaiah problem in the book of mormon 1 33 hatchet, until the book has been chopped into hopeless chunks. In isaiah in the book of mormon, edited by donald w. The book of mormon quotes twentyone complete chapters of isaiah and parts of others. As discussed above, the inclusion of deutero isaiah in the book of mormon is an anachronism as there is no way that these passages could have been included on the gold plates since they were written after the exodus from jerusalem. Ham, a textual comparison of the isaiah passages in the book of mormon with the same passages in the st. The idea of god in the book of mormon closely resembles the traditional christian doctrine of the trinity. This concept of god cannot be found in the first edition of the book of mormon, however. Isaiah variants in the book of mormon religious studies. Deuteroisaiah in the book of mormon lds discussions.

What about the isaiah problem in the book of mormon. I am surprised that this book completely ignored the proto isaiah issue. Literary problems in the book of mormon involving 1 corinthians 12, and other new testament books. Internal evidences of the unity of the book include imagery, repetition, expressions peculiar to isaiah, and song. Those discussed here are grouped into 3 categories. Were the isaiah passages in the book of mormon simply. Mormon founder joseph smith is said to have unsealed the book of mormon document when he was given the ancient plates by the angel moroni in order to translate and print the scripture in 1830.

Sperry, sidney b 1995b, the isaiah problem in the book of mormon. 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. Critics of the book of mormon often point to apparent problems with plants and animals as evidence of fraud from joseph smith. They date the last third of the book of isaiah to the 6th century bc nearly 200 years after isaiah s death and after lehis family left jerusalem with the brass platesthat is the isaiah problem, as it is called, in the book of mormon. Multiple isaiah theory and stylometry search isaiah. When it comes to the book of mormon translation, there is what is called a tight translation and there is. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. A new translation with interpretive keys from the book of mormon at. A brief discussion about how deuteroisaiah verses are in the book of mormon, and why that is a problem for the credbility of joseph smith and why the. Authorship of the book of isaiah in light of the book of mormon. I recall being introduced to the isaiah problem by hugh nibley in since cumorah in a section on the isaiah question. Next to the book of mormon references in this chart are corresponding references in the book of isaiah. Many nonlds scholars claim that the second half of the book of isaiah was written after the time lehi left jerusalem.

Among the anachronisms you will see while reading the book of mormon are. Joseph smith said that the book of mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to god by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book history of the church, vol. The challenge to the book of mormon is that nephi quotes several chapters from second. Sometimes the quotation is explicit, as in the second book of nephi, which contains 18 quoted chapters of the book of isaiah. What creates the problem for you is that most biblical scholars claim that the book of isaiah is a compilation of the work of several authors who lived over an. However, many people call the words of isaiah too difficult to understand or even boring. Tvedtnes, isaiah variants in the book of mormon, in isaiah and the prophets.

Im going to focus on 2 nephi 9, which follows chapters 7 and 8 isaiah 50 and 51, more or less and presents itself as a commentary on those two chapters. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Besides its obvious plagiarisms, other serious problems plague the book of mormon. The second problem with the story is that we now have a very good text of the book of isaiah from the dead sea scrolls that goes back to the first century bc, well before the supposedly plain material was removed from the book, according to the book of mormon claim. But if you simply want to have a spiritual testimony of the book of mormon then classify deutero isaiah as something that was received through some process of revelation. 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. Overviews, the first of four parts in the volume, presents four essays. Renowned hebrew scholar and literary analyst avraham gileadi presents an informed and enlightening interpretation of the most important prophecy in the bible. Isaiah in the book of mormon religious studies center. This chart lists book of mormon passages that quote or paraphrase the words of isaiah, which held great meaning for the nephites and also apply to us today. What are 1769 kjv edition errors doing in book of mormon.

This is remarkable, because parts of the book of mormon were sealed, not to be revealed until a much later time, and because the existing book of mormonwas abridged by mormon, with certain scriptures left for later. The isaiah problem in the book of mormon by sidney b. One thing that makes the isaiah chapters of the book of mormon difficult is that is that the three major blocks of text are all read into the official. Deutero isaiah is a problem if you want to use the book of mormon as objective history. Because the text of the book of mormon illustrates nephite blindness so well, perhaps nephi does not spend as much time with this mist. The problem for the author of the book of mormon is that isaiah and paul used slightly different metaphors isaiah that of a vineyard, and paul an olive tree.

Marks isaiah scroll of the dead sea community ma thesis, brigham young university, 1961. Book of mormonanachronismsbiblicaldeuteroisaiah fairmormon. Sperrys unpublished study, the text of isaiah in the book of mormon, ma thesis, university of chicago, divinity school, 1926. The isaiah passages in the book of mormon a non aligned text the above title and link refers to a 2001 masters thesis. Joseph smith claimed that the book of mormon was the most correct book. Christ and the apostles themselves attribute the book to isaiah.

The book of mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the king james bible kjv. In some cases, entire passages are duplicated in the book of mormon. Later, in 1998, john welch included a section on authorship of isaiah in light of the book of mormon in the big farms volume on isaiah in the book of mormon. Isaiah variants in the book of mormon religious studies center. The book of mormon quotes isaiah more than any other prophet. 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 such a profound book. But latterday saints, with their testimony of prophecy and with the many evidences given in the scriptures, have long affirmed that isaiah, son of amoz, wrote the entire book of isaiah. The book of mormon attributes two of these three sections to isaiah by quotation. Kjv isaiah in the book of mormon why the lds church is true.

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. Most church members see the book of mormon as evidence of unity in isaiah, for them the discussion is mute. Lds church members are taught that the book of mormon bom is scripture, as well as a true record of the inhabitants of the americas from about 2200 bc to 420 ad. Making sense or not of isaiah in the book of mormon.

How do we explain material from isaiah in the book of mormon. In the book of mormon, jacob, nephi, abinadi, and jesus all quote from different parts of isaiah, and each identifies the prophet by name. A second major question is sometimes raised about the isaiah material in the book of mormon. It seems reasonable to assume that if smith was a prophet of god and was translating the book of mormon under divine inspiration, he would have known about the errors found in the king james version, and would have corrected them for when passages from the. Some 58 are paraphrased and 11 others are variants and or paraphrases. The problem is a reliance by the king james translaters on jeromes latin version from the 4th century a. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. We read later in the book of mormon that the nephites set their hearts upon riches, rejecting christ and giving themselves up to the sin of pride helaman. The name lucifer appears in mormon scripture at 2 nephi 24. The book of mormon and the king james bible wikipedia. Jun 21, 2008 discussing the socalled isaiah problem in the book of mormon. Nearly all academics, even some in the church, doubt that book of isaiah comes from one prophet and maybe not even from god. This book is remarkable in that, as part of its analysis, it demonstrates clearly that the selection of isaiah passages in the book of mormon is one done at random but that there is a unifying theme and purpose that drives nephis use of isaiah. May 21, 2016 students of the book of mormon bm have recognized the problem of having explicit and lengthy quotations of isaiah chapters 4055 since at least the days of b.

Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1984, 16578. Discussing the socalled isaiah problem in the book of mormon. The book of mormon and the problem of the pentateuch sidney b. Academics believe the last third of isaiah was written after his death and after lehis family left jerusalem making this a problem in the book of. Apocalyptic commentary of the book of isaiah avraham gileadi on. Apr 23, 2018 the second problem after the multiple isaiah theory problem in the book of mormon isaiah chapters is that even before the book of mormon was published skeptics proposed theories about who had written it saying that much of it had been plagiarised from the king james bible. Many critics deny that the first five books of the old testament were written by moses and consider them to be childish myths. For example, critics of mormonism have shown convincing proof that the book of mormon is a synthesis of earlier works written by other men, of the vivid imaginings of joseph smith, and of plagiarisms from the king james bible.

An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi, who claimed that it had been. The problem for mormons is that these exact same errors show up in the book of mormon. It is thus quite significant that halfway through the parable, zenos appears to forget that he is using an olive tree as his metaphor, and begins to use the whole vineyard as his focus. Sometimes the quotation is explicit, as in the second book of nephi, which contains 18 quoted chapters of the book of isaiah other significant connections between the two books include book of mormon words and phrases that only appear in. The book of mormon concerns the branch that is broken off. Some scholars believe that some of the chapters of the current book of isaiah were not written by that prophet but by one or more different authors long after isaiahs timein fact, after the time that lehi and his family left jerusalem. Isaiah prophecies in book of mormon are relevant to the.

Most of those that i am aware of are to do with translation idioms. Kjv isaiah in the book of mormon why the lds church is. The book of mormon and the problem of the sermon on the mount. How do we explain multiple isaiahs and the book of mormon. It is to the variants that we will give our attention here. This ones actually a softball, believe it or not, but i still dont expect most people to buy the logic, since it presupposes a belief in things few o. The isaiah problem in the book of mormon chap 11 shields. But those same church members may not immediately see the isaiah problem, as it is called. As with the bible, there are some complex issues that require some exploration. This view finds no acceptance outside of mormonism. Mar 06, 2017 several parts of the book of mormon are highly influenced by the text of deuteroisaiah. And significantly the book of mormon nephi record a marvelous work and wonder will glorify the lord. The problem this presents for lds is one of authorship dating. Were the isaiah passages in the book of mormon simply plagiarized from the king james bible.

May 22, 2018 the book of mormon quotes isaiah more than any other prophet. The isaiah problem in the book of mormon book of mormon central. Deutero isaiah verses in the book of mormon overview of the deutero isaiah problem in the book of mormon. Deuteroisaiah and the book of mormon for thus it is. Mormon chose to keep about one third of isaiah s writings. However, the passage in isaiah has nothing to do with mormonism or the book of mormon. Most, but not all, mormons hold the book s connection to ancient american history as an article of their faith. 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. So here is another installment on the book of mormon previous post on 1 nephi 1. How art thou fallen from heaven, o lucifer, son of the morning. 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. And though members of the church may not question the authorship of isaiah, enemies of the church do. How is it possible that nephi, in the book of mormon.

Despite joseph smiths declaration that the book of mormon is the most correct book, the book of mormon actually apologizes for being poorly written, yet practically in the same sentence, brazenly condemns all who refuse to believe it. The only bible that joseph smith relied on was the king james version. Mormons believe that isaiah prophesied the coming forth of the book of mormon isaiah 29. They date the last third of the book of isaiah to the 6th century bc nearly 200 years after isaiahs death and after lehis family left jerusalem with the brass platesthat is the isaiah problem, as it is called, in the book of mormon. Joseph used a rock in a hat for the book of mormon dictation but may have also used the 1769 kjv edition bible and possibly other sources in aiding in producing the book of mormon. In the book of mormon, there are many chapters of isaiah directly incorporated from the king james version kjv of the bible, complete with translation errors that were obviously not possible to have been recorded on the gold plates since the kjv was not available until thousands of years. Why did book of mormon prophets speak of future events as if they had already happened. The usual problems about second isaiah are well known, as are some of the kjv mistakes. 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. Yet the book of mormon contains material from both halves. One can easily object to the influence of isaiah 52, noted above, as source for dustrelated imagery and language in the book of mormon. The traditional problem here is that deuteroisaiah chapters 4055 are usually considered to be written fa.

The late nineteenth century saw a division of isaiah into three parts by critics, who categorized only 262 of the 1292 verses as the genuine product of isaiah. The extensive use of isaiah poses several problems. 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 problem in the book of mormon byu scholarsarchive. The main nephite prophets who quoted isaiah were nephi, jacob, and abinadi.