American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormons (Essays on Mormonism Series)

Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: My grandmother once taught me: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

Rating:
Summary: The Book of Mormon--Revisited
Review: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days (Mormons) teaches its members that if they want to know whether the Book of Mormon is true or not they should pray about the matter. If they receive a "burning in their bosom" they will know that the book and the accounts depicted inside are accurate. For faithful members of the church this is the only way to discover the "truth" of the Book of Mormon.

Brent Metcalfe and Dan Vogel take a different approach. They present a number of articles from scholars who have attempted to get at "the truth" of the Book of Mormon in a totally different manner. They apply the tools of the scientific method, historical research, and logical analysis to formulate hypotheses and draw conclusions. As a result, people who use logic and science to resolve issues are likely to be impressed by this book. On the other hand, those who believe in a religion purely because of faith and answers they have received in prayer are not likely to be impressed by this work, or to want to read it for that matter.

The articles are quite interesting. My favorite three included the one on "automatic writing", Tom Murphy's article on DNA and the Lamanites (which he came close to being excommunicated for writing), and the article on former "Seventy" B.H. Roberts and what he really believed about the Book of Mormon.

What comes through to the educated person is that many things that have long been presented "as facts" by the church are not. The truth is far more complicated. One can read the Book of Mormon and conclude that Nephites and Lamanites were supposedly the only groups present in the Americas between 600 BC and 400 AD. However, DNA testing shows this is simply impossible. The vast, vast bulk of Native Americans are related to groups in Asia that crossed the Bering Straits into this continent 10,000 to 50,000 years ago. In fact, its virtually impossible to find any connection between Native Americans and either Jews or Egyptians as claimed in the Book of Mormon.

The article on automatic writing challenges the allegation that it would be impossible for one uneducated person to "invent" or "write" the Book of Mormon by himself. In fact, such things have been documented to have been done several times in the past and perhaps on a more impressive scale.

This is a good book for a scholarly person who has questions about Mormon doctrine and seeks an answer that is not "faith-based". Whether all the writers have arrived at the correct conclusions or not, it does stimulate alot of powerful thinking.

Rating:
Summary: Still Waiting . . .
Review: This book provides an interesting, if not always cutting-edge approach to the Book of Mormon generally from the perspective of people who do not subscribe to the belief in the book's divine origins. While it is gratifying to note that the book is finally getting more attention from scholars (see Wright's and Price's chapters), the Book of Mormon warrants a great deal more criticism (in the scholarly sense) and close exegesis as it is quickly becoming one of the more influential books in the world. Thus for me the book is kind of a mixed bag. Too much of it seems devoted to the issue of the claims of the LDS Church. I would have preferred to see a volume dedicated to scholarly issues alone. Surely the book, like any other text of great cultural interest, would repay close scrutiny by talented scholars whose primary interest is not in whether the book is true or not in a spiritual sense, but who are interested in understanding it if only in the confines of American cultural history and the history of Christianity.

Some LDS believers and LDS apologistis will not like my suggestion any more than former LDS people and opponents of Mormonism. I fear that it is partly because the abovementioned parties are so consumed with proving or disproving Joseph Smith's claims that more Americanists and scholars of Christianity have not taken advantage of the goldmine of cultural history to be explored within this text. Furthermore, it is because the editors of this book chose to remain within this divisive debate that reviewer/BYU employee Mr. Tvedtnes can arguably classify the book as "anti-Mormon". In the end, all are losers, including the Book of Mormon itself, because the vast majority of people are not concerned with the claims of the LDS Church and are unlikely to be attracted to discussion of the book that is framed in the terms of this struggle over faith claims. When more serious scholarship that is both well executed and free of this partisan rancour sees the light of day, the Book of Mormon will benefit from the attention, so will scholars of American History and culture, and students of Christianity. The LDS Church may also benefit from growing scholarly interest in the Book of Mormon, because greater respect within the scholarly community may translate to greater respectability for one of this nation's most vibrant religious traditions.