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Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon
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Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon
There are a number of anachronistic words and phrases in the Book of Mormon—their existence in the text contradicts known linguistic patterns or archaeological findings. Each of the anachronisms is a word, phrase, artifact, or other concept that did not exist in the Americas during the time period in which Mormonism founder Joseph Smith said the Book of Mormon was originally written.
According to Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon was originally engraved on golden plates, which he received in 1827 from an angel named Moroni, whom Smith identified as a resurrected former inhabitant of the American continent. Smith said he translated the original text of the plates into English, and that a portion of the text was written on the plates in what he termed reformed Egyptian.
The Book of Mormon is attested by many believers in its authenticity to have taken place somewhere in the Americas from c. 2500 BC to 420 AD, thus placing its events within the pre-Columbian era.[citation needed]
Smith stated that "the Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on Earth", a claim repeated in modern introductions to the book. Some modern apologists[who?] argue that "when Joseph Smith referred to the Book of Mormon as the 'most correct book' on earth, he was referring to the principles that it teaches, not the accuracy of its textual structure", and therefore readers should not expect it to be "without any errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity of phrasing, [or] other such ways." Indeed, the original title page of the Book of Mormon claims that "if there are faults [in the book] they are the mistakes of men".
Latter Day Saint scholars and apologists have dealt with these in multiple ways. Depending on the anachronism in question, apologists attempt to: establish parallels to currently known ancient cultures, technologies, plants or animals; reframe the usage of individual words in question; question assumptions that may lead to an apparent anachronism; or point out that it is not known exactly where the Book of Mormon actually took place (and so supporting evidence simply remains to be found - see Limited geography model).
As archaeology became more professionalized and reliable, it became clear that some of the plants, animals, and artifacts mentioned in passing were out of place in pre-Columbian America, including horses, cattle, asses, goats, swine, elephants, wheat, silk, iron, steel, brass, and chariots. More recently, DNA studies have failed to find connections between Native Americans and Near Eastern peoples, and no non-Mormon linguists have recognized any direct contact between New World and Old World languages. [...] There are no authenticated reports of pre-Columbian New World sites that show any evidence of Old World influence in the form of pottery, tools, weapons, inscriptions, or agricultural products.
— Grant Hardy (2023)
Book of Mormon prophets quote chapters 48 through 54 of the Book of Isaiah after having left Jerusalem around 600 BC. Since Isaiah died around 698 BC, under traditional biblical belief, there would be no conflict. However, the evidence indicates that these chapters were not written by Isaiah, but rather by one or more other people during the Babylonian captivity, sometime between 586 and 538 BC (between 14 and 82 years after it could have been known to the Book of Mormon prophets).[pages needed]
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Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon
There are a number of anachronistic words and phrases in the Book of Mormon—their existence in the text contradicts known linguistic patterns or archaeological findings. Each of the anachronisms is a word, phrase, artifact, or other concept that did not exist in the Americas during the time period in which Mormonism founder Joseph Smith said the Book of Mormon was originally written.
According to Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon was originally engraved on golden plates, which he received in 1827 from an angel named Moroni, whom Smith identified as a resurrected former inhabitant of the American continent. Smith said he translated the original text of the plates into English, and that a portion of the text was written on the plates in what he termed reformed Egyptian.
The Book of Mormon is attested by many believers in its authenticity to have taken place somewhere in the Americas from c. 2500 BC to 420 AD, thus placing its events within the pre-Columbian era.[citation needed]
Smith stated that "the Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on Earth", a claim repeated in modern introductions to the book. Some modern apologists[who?] argue that "when Joseph Smith referred to the Book of Mormon as the 'most correct book' on earth, he was referring to the principles that it teaches, not the accuracy of its textual structure", and therefore readers should not expect it to be "without any errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity of phrasing, [or] other such ways." Indeed, the original title page of the Book of Mormon claims that "if there are faults [in the book] they are the mistakes of men".
Latter Day Saint scholars and apologists have dealt with these in multiple ways. Depending on the anachronism in question, apologists attempt to: establish parallels to currently known ancient cultures, technologies, plants or animals; reframe the usage of individual words in question; question assumptions that may lead to an apparent anachronism; or point out that it is not known exactly where the Book of Mormon actually took place (and so supporting evidence simply remains to be found - see Limited geography model).
As archaeology became more professionalized and reliable, it became clear that some of the plants, animals, and artifacts mentioned in passing were out of place in pre-Columbian America, including horses, cattle, asses, goats, swine, elephants, wheat, silk, iron, steel, brass, and chariots. More recently, DNA studies have failed to find connections between Native Americans and Near Eastern peoples, and no non-Mormon linguists have recognized any direct contact between New World and Old World languages. [...] There are no authenticated reports of pre-Columbian New World sites that show any evidence of Old World influence in the form of pottery, tools, weapons, inscriptions, or agricultural products.
— Grant Hardy (2023)
Book of Mormon prophets quote chapters 48 through 54 of the Book of Isaiah after having left Jerusalem around 600 BC. Since Isaiah died around 698 BC, under traditional biblical belief, there would be no conflict. However, the evidence indicates that these chapters were not written by Isaiah, but rather by one or more other people during the Babylonian captivity, sometime between 586 and 538 BC (between 14 and 82 years after it could have been known to the Book of Mormon prophets).[pages needed]
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