Story and photo by mike foley, originally published to the byuhawaii electronic newsroom, april 17, 2007 elder gale bryce, a volunteer service missionary at the polynesian cultural center, explained in the heavily attended april 17 school of computing inform meeting how two former colleagues used wordprint statistical analyses to authenticate book of mormon authorship. Modern computers have given birth to a new science of analyzing word patterns in documents whose authorship is disputed. Here is what will probably be the first of several book of mormon wordprint analysis posts, based on a database i put together and curiosity ive had for many years about voices in the book of mormon. Elder bryce story and photo by mike foley, originally published to the byuhawaii electronic newsroom, april 17, 2007 elder gale bryce, a volunteer service missionary at the polynesian cultural center, explained in the heavily attended april 17 school of computing. Using wordprint analysis, a method of determining idiosyncratic subconscious patterns in the writings of any author, they conclude that 1 the book of mormon was written by many authors, and that 2 no book of mormon passages resemble the writing of any of the. The spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship is the theory that the book of mormon was plagiarized in part from an unpublished manuscript written by solomon spalding. Such maps can be a useful introduction for those who are new to the book of mormon. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. Does wordprint prove the book of mormon is the real deal. Deseret books collection of large print books makes it easy for you to read. In 1980, researchers at brigham young university used stylometric techniques they called wordprint analysis to examine the possible authors of the book of mormon. An introduction to the relevance of and a methodology for a study of the proper names of the book of mormon. It has been accepted for inclusion in byu studies quarterly by an authorized editor of byu.
Wordprint studies of the book of mormon fairmormon. Book of mormon wordprints reexamined a look at the byu. Following these rules, the thesis provides an analysis of specific themes particular to the book of mormon and suggests how. So read the title page in the june 1829 application, the printers manuscript, and the 1830 edition of the book of mormon. I print these off, trim the edges, and paste them into my chapters journal, like this. Learn how to collect a simple random sample from a population by using randbetween or intrand. The original book of mormon transcript the book of. The last of the plates of mormon was the title page.
Word print analysis can evidently be slanted pro or con, but no ones testimony of the books truthfulness ever came from such an analysis, and never will. Readers are cautioned that the results of wordprint analysis of the book of mormon are only as reliable as they would be for other written works, and that the jury. Widtsoe, council of the twelve apostles, in search of truth. Book of mormon wordprints reexamined a look at the byu study. These results yield strong statistical evidence that the wordprints of joseph smith, oliver cowdery, and solomon spaulding are not measurable in the book of mormon. Wordprint analysis and the book of mormon deseret news. Among those evidences was a reference to wordprints. Diagrams, doodles, and insights this book of mormon study guide will deepen your love for the scriptures. The wordprint analysis by wayne larson and alvin rencher questions once again the theory that sidney rigdon or solomon spaulding authored the book of mormon pp.
By wordprint analysis, it is now possible with a high degree of certainty to tell which suspected authors did not write a given work. When mormon compiled the book of mormon, there are a few places where he is telling different stories that overlap each other in time. Make studying fun and effective with diagrams, doodles, and insights. Book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. Wordprints and the book of mormon book of mormon central.
See more ideas about book of mormon, scripture study and lds scriptures. Using wordprint analysis, a method of determining idiosyncratic subconscious patterns in the writings of any author, they conclude that 1 the book of mormon was written by many authors, and that 2 no book of mormon passages resemble the writing of any of the commonly suggested nineteenthcentury authors. The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed, published in 1834 by e. The book of mormon is a religious text which, like the bible, may be subjected to various methods of analysis. God commanded these prophets to keep a record of their teachings, prophecies, missionary labors, and wars so that we could know concerning the doings of the lord in other lands, among people of old 1 nephi 19. What is the original language of the book of mormon. The publication history of the book of mormon bruce satterfield department of religious education, brigham young university idaho this article appeared in the church news, jan. Bruce schaalje, matthew roper, and paul fields, journal of the book of mormon and other restoration scripture, vol. An outline of the textual structure of the book of mormon. Feb, 2010 i have wordread the book of mormon, and find plenty of variety among its different authors. Like the bible, the book of mormon is a collection of sacred writings by ancient prophets, except these prophets lived upon the american continent. One of the issues that swirls around discussions of book of mormon geography is the rightful place the editorials in the 1842 times and seasons must.
Rencher, and tim layton published the first complete analysis of the book of mormon using the then adolescent tool of computerized stylometry, or wordprinting. The term wordprint was coined by the larsen group to represent patterns of word usage which authors unconsciously repeat in their writings or speeches sentence length or frequency of. This readers edition of the book of mormon has some valuable footnotes that are not included in the scripture edition, but its chief strength is in the introduction and the appendices, which collect in one place the testimonies of joseph smith and other witnesses, a chronology of the translation, explanation of the lost 116 pages that were. The book of mormons old testament portion bmot quotes heavily from the new testament of the bible. Since then the book of mormon has been translated into 110 languages, and more than 170 million copies have been printed. An outline of the textual structure of the book of mormon by j. Theres no way that you can emulate the wordprint of another individual.
As john hilton put the matter, if wordprinting is a valid technique, then this analysis suggests that it is statistically indefensible to claim that joseph, oliver, or solomon spaulding wrote the 30,000 words in the book of mormon attributed to nephi and alma. The book of mormon is a record of the ancient people of the americas that had the gospel of jesus christ just as the ancient israelites that accepted jehovah in the old testament and jesus in the new testament. The first edition book of mormon is composed in a narrative, paragraph format, uninterrupted by verses and chapters, which many readers will find easier to digest. Analysis of textual variants of the book of mormon. In this he shows that the book of mormon likely had multiple authors, and authorship seemed to correspond with the characters in the book. Here is a visual summary of the entire book of mormon generated by applying computational sentiment analysis to every verse and then graphing a moving average of the results. In 2014, a computer analysis compared the book of mormon to over 100,000 books from the pre1830s era.
Howe, holds that sidney rigdon concocted the book of mormon by plagiarizing a novel written by one solomon spaulding, then used joseph. Book of mormon central archive wordprints and the book of mormon. Book of mormon study map alma 127 the red headed hostess. The abundance of skeptical theories about who wrote the book of mormon has led many scholars to seek scientific data to discover the answer. A uk journal then published a stylometric analysis of mormon scripture and related texts which compares the book of abraham with the book of mormon and finds authorship to be statistically similar. It attempted to prove that natives had descended from the ancient israelites. Book of mormon study map alma 127 i wanted to repost this because this is where many of you are in sunday school. Here is a chart covering mosiah and alma the first translated books of the bom.
Wordprint analysis and joseph smiths role as editor of the times and seasons this article first appeared in insights magazine, a publication of the maxwell institute, vol. I split up the book of mormon verse by verse s voice vs n voice. For those interested in experiencing the original book of mormon, this high quality reprint will make a wonderful addition to your library. So read the title page in the june 1829 application, the printers manuscript, and the 1830 edition of. Some of the technologies we use are necessary for critical functions like security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and to make the. But for the latest on wordprint analysis, see stylometric analyses of the book of mormon. At least three computer analyses have been completed to date in an effort to determine who wrote the book of mormon, and whether it was a single individual or a group. For those interested in experiencing the original book of mormon, this high quality reprint will make a. This analysis discovered a book named the late war between the united states and britain contains many phrases and ideas that are also found in the book of mormon. By wordprint analysis, it is now possible with a high degree of certainty to tell which suspected authors. An american, james adair, wrote a book a history of the american indians in 1775. The book of mormon is a record of the ancient people of the americas that had the gospel of jesus christ just as the ancient israelites that accepted jehovah in the.
As to the \wordprint analysis\ issue, that would be explained by so many authors having \irons in the fire. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a 19thcentury translation of a record of ancient inhabitants of the american continent, which was written in a script which the book refers to as reformed egyptian. It is a record of gods dealings with ancient inhabitants of the americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. Book of mormon computer studies are fascinating to me, and i believe in the future they will be key to understanding book of mormon origins. The original book of mormon transcript the book of mormon. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship wikipedia. They reached the conclusion that none of the book of mormon selections they studied resembled writings of any of the suggested nineteenthcentury authors, including joseph smith.
It is the science of identifying authorship by measuring the words and phrases a person unconsciously uses. Book of mormon wordprint studies have been used by both critics and apologists to provide valuable insights into the text of the bom. Conflicting results of computer analyses of the book of mormon. Ive been working on it for a few months when i have had spare time. New approaches to the book of mormon signature books. There are at least185 quotations and 2,500 unique vocabulary words from the new testame. New approaches to the book of mormon explorations in critical methodology edited by brent lee metcalfe. A 1980 study done by mormon john hilton with nonmormon colleagues at berkeley concluded that the probability of spalding having been the sole author of the first book of. Ive seen tbms reference this study, numerous times, to argue that joseph smith couldnt have written the book of mormon. For many of you, the initial reaction to this image is probably something like cool.
Mormons believe that the bible and the book of mormon are complementary books of. The rise, progress, and present state of mormons with an analysis of the book of mormon. May 29, 2012 book of mormon study map alma 127 i wanted to repost this because this is where many of you are in sunday school. The theory is that a spalding manuscript was stolen by sidney rigdon, who used it in collusion with joseph smith. Jun 18, 2015 in 2014, a computer analysis compared the book of mormon to over 100,000 books from the pre1830s era. The book of mormon also contains work written by more than one author. A primary takeaway seems to be that wordprint analysis is an imprecise tool for determining authorship of the book of mormon.
Senior missionary explains book of mormon wordprint analysis. In another post, there was a challenge to explain away a number of evidences of the book of mormon. If the book of mormon was written by ancient authors, we should be able to see distinct writing styles among each different author. I have wordread the book of mormon, and find plenty of variety among its different authors. Having first been developed in the 1850s, stylometry seeks to find the wordprint of a text. Close scrutiny of the methodology of the byu authorship study reveals several areas which seem vulnerable to criticism. The book of mormon text contains logical impossibilities. This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists. This thesis discusses whether literary methods of analysis are applicable to a sacred text, and suggests rules which should govern such a method of analysis. Here is what will probably be the first of several book of mormon wordprint analysis posts, based on a database i put together and curiosity ive. Topic tab instant download printable book of mormon. Ff wordprinting is a valid technique, then this analysis suggests that it is statistically indefensible to claim that joseph, oliver, or solomon spaulding wrote the 30,000 words in the book of mormon attributed to nephi and alma.
Wordprint analysis and joseph smiths role as editor of the. Analysis of textual variants of the book of mormon, the fourth volume in professor royal skousen s ongoing book of mormon critical text project, represents the central task of the project. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. One of my favorite passages is in 3 nephi chapters 1119, where the resurrected lord appears to the people and teaches his gospel. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the all journals at byu scholarsarchive. Dont struggle with small print books when all you need is a book with large print. The first was whether the wordprints of authors within the book of mormon differ. The fact that so many whitmers were \group\ bom \witnesses,\ and that all of them had left mormonism by 1842, is suspicious. The old testament, new testament and book of mormon is a library of gods dealings with holy prophets that believed in him and wrote their testimonies about him to help others.
Stylometry is a method of statistical analysis used to. However, does anyone have additional thoughts on the 1982 byu study. Join us this year for book of mormon day 2017 book of mormon day commemorates the day that the first edition of the book of mormon was published in english on march 26, 1830. The initial book of mormon wordprint studies were carried out by larsen, rencher, and layton. It asks readers to understand that if there be fault in the book of mormon it be the mistake of men. Fdmat 108 mathematical tools for the real world book of mormon analysis 6d statistical inference deadline. Sentiment analysis of the book of mormon here is a visual summary of the entire book of mormon generated by applying computational sentiment analysis to every verse and then graphing a moving average of the results. They compared twentyfour book of mormon authors each having at least 1,000 words to each other, and concluded on the basis of three separate statistical tests that these authors were distinct from each other and oliver cowdery, joseph smith, jr. The first trend i notice in the book of mormon is the distinctiveness between mormon s narrative voice and the sermons taught by king benjamin, alma, etc. Wordprint analysis and joseph smiths role as editor of. To latterday saints there can be no objection to the careful and critical study of the scriptures, ancient or modern, provided only that it be an honest studya search for truth. Book of mormon wordprint analysis lds church is true blog. The problem of book of mormon authorship has challenged historians and theologians since the book was published in 1830. This study of this is called analyzing word patterns, wordprinting or stylometry.
No single individual, modern or ancient, could have written the book of mormon. The book of mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the bible. In every set comparing the book of mormon texts against these three writers, at least seven and often many more rejections were measured. Help us create the kind of literary community youve always dreamed of. Ive read a number of the wordprint studies, so i responded to it. Volume 4 considers every significant textual change that has occurred in the. I still think there is a serious problem of imprinting a particular geographyeven an abstract onebut if the people involved accept the scripture on faith alone, they may never care about the realworld geography, so a mental abstract map is no problem. Book of mormon wordprint analysis three voice hypothesis. Mormon did not paraphrase, he quoted directly from the records he had in his possession. Joseph smiths translation of the book of mormon was a literal translation.
904 94 932 1109 1060 1540 1580 1443 1252 1232 807 1141 1358 1073 448 14 1315 1224 532 1069 792 190 311 1318 572 566 703 667 1047 1161 105 1115 114 498