Unlike previous studies which introduced the concept of handtabulated word measurements to the book of mormon, 10 the 1980 wordprint study published by larsen, rencher, and layton was widely recognized as important both within and without the church. Senior missionary explains book of mormon wordprint analysis. Along with personal communication it is being used by. They show that it is statistically indefensible to propose a single author of the manuscript of the book of mormon. They show that it is statistically indefensible to propose. 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. How have critics responded to the stylometry study done at byu that concluded the book of mormon selections they did not resemble any suggested 19th century authors, including joseph smith. The spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship is the theory that the book of. Close scrutiny of the methodology of the byu authorship study reveals several areas which seem vulnerable to criticism. The hilton wordprint study of the book of mormon mormanity. Ive seen tbms reference this study, numerous times, to argue that joseph smith couldnt have written the book of mormon. Ive read a number of the wordprint studies, so i responded to it.
Complexity, consistency, ignorance, and probabilities melvin j. However, does anyone have additional thoughts on the 1982 byu study. Literary and historical studies of the book of mormon provo, ut. Mosiah priority is a theory about the creation of the book of mormon arguing that the original manuscript began not with 1 nephi found at the beginning of the book of mormon, but midway through, starting with mosiah. This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by non latter day saint historians and scientists. Book of mormon wordprint or word pattern studies parent page. It was exciting to see the non contextual word methods explained and to see the graphs going up showing that joseph smith, oliver cowdery, sidney rigdon, and others had different stylistic signatures. Pdf authorship verification of online messages for. This study used a generalized discriminant analysis which is an extension of the linear discriminant analysis used in. One may naturally wonder, though, if the book of mormons diversity of style is in any way unique or impressive. Wordprint studies of the book of mormon fairmormon. Book of mormon wordprints reexamined a look at the byu study.
Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification. Remember also, that the book of mormon, unlike the bible, was supposedly written on golden plates. Tests with nondisputed texts showed that two texts by the same author never scored. Byu studies quarterly volume 30issue 3 article 15 711990 on verifying wordprint studies. Book of mormon authorship in book of mormon authorship. To date, the combined data from several valid stylometric studies on the book of mormon have demonstrated that it has multiple, distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself. By wordprint analysis, it is now possible with a high degree of certainty to tell which suspected authors. See hilton, on verifying wordprint studies, in book of mormon authorship revisited, 236. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. Thus, while valid and objective wordprinting is no substitute. If he copied from someone, we should see that authors writing style likewise. If joseph smith wrote the book of mormon, we should be able to see his literary style across the entire book. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. 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.
Quotes joseph used a peep stone and a hat to translate most of the book of mormon. The most significant structural studies of the book of mormon derive from john w. Structural studies have identified an artistic literary form, chiasmus that appears in rich diversity in both the bible and the book of mormon see literature, book of mormon as. Among those evidences was a reference to wordprints. Roberts 18571933, a general authority of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church, which examine the validity of the book of mormon as a translation of an ancient american source.
Two methods, one based on rates of use of noncontextual words and one based on wordpattern ratios, measure patterns consistent with multiple authorship in the book of mormon. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies deseret book. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the all journals at byu scholarsarchive. The evidence and conclusions they put forward are just as persuasive today as when they were first published. The problem of book of mormon authorship has challenged historians and theologians since the book was published in 1830. Kent brown, the exodus pattern in the book of mormon, in from jerusalem to zarahemla. In every set comparing the book of mormon texts against these three writers, at least seven and often many more rejections were measured.
For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming. The understanding that the book of mormon has a divine origin is. I was pleased to find a copy of john hiltons article, on verifying wordprint studies. Does joseph smiths role as translator obfuscate patterns unique to ancient authors. See especially the cited sources at the end of the page. Hilton, on verifying wordprint studies, in book of mormon authorship revisited, 241. This page is a continuation of book of mormon evidences, part one and part two. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship wikipedia. Although first published in 1982, these nine essays have not been outdated or refuted by subsequent studies.
According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a. Terryl givens joseph smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light. Book of mormon authorship farms reprint paperback january 1, 1982. A third source is a book recently published by farms entitled book of mormon authorship revisited. I saw a video that came from the book of mormon central team that showed a chart from the fields roper book of mormon wordprint study project. Perhaps the wordprint analysis tells us more about computers than about the book of mormon. 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. Croft criticized the first version of the wordprint study printed in byu studies by asserting that a wordprint could not survive translation. It fails, however, to respond to scholarly criticism in. Fortunately the book of mormon is a nearideal document for such objective wordprint studies, provided the measurement is made correctly.
Comparative power of three authorattribution techniques. Is it possible that a single author wrote the book of mormon. Including the mormon churches conflicting results of computer analyses of the book of mormon. This study used a generalized discriminant analysis which is an extension of the linear discriminant analysis used in the larsen study. That there is no connection between the american languages and the language of any. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1997. The understanding that the book of mormon has a divine origin is obtainable only by developing faith. From reading this paragraph, one would think wordprint studies are. Among the few studies available on authorship verification. Chiasmus and the book of mormon utah lighthouse ministry. Jan 16, 2018 to date, the combined data from several valid stylometric studies on the book of mormon have demonstrated that it has multiple, distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself. The evidence for ancient origins, edited by noel b.
An introduction to the relevance of and a methodology for a study of the proper names of the book of mormon. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1998, 7598. Reynolds, lehi as moses, journal of book of mormon studies 9, no. November 27, 2017 what can stylometry tell us about book of. Does wordprint prove the book of mormon is the real deal. Book of mormon authorship has made a prima facie case for the ancient origins of the book of mormon. Book of mormon authorship on the web, as printed in byu studies, 30 summer 1990.
Comparative power of three authorattribution techniques for. This first article explains what stylometry is and gives readers a short history of stylometric studies performed on the book of mormon. Opponents of the book have claimed that joseph smith wrote it himself, or that an accomplice such as solomon spaulding or sidney rigdon penned it and somehow transferred it to joseph smith. I guess the study is not published yet, but they are presenting on this in a few months. The authors of this book of mormon authorship article are three.
This criticism is answered in the book of mormon authorship version. A primary takeaway seems to be that wordprint analysis is an imprecise tool for determining authorship of the book of mormon. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1997, chapter 9. 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. Over the subsequent 15 years many new studies have been completed, and earlier ones have been signi. Hilton describes the young science of wordprinting, which is used to prove or disprove authorship, presenting its history, purposes, and development. From reading this paragraph, one would think wordprint studies are solidly in favor of mormons. Wordprint studies are one tool used in author attribution research, but do authors use specific. About 15 years ago john hilton spoke to my senior religion seminar for science majors about his statistical analysis of book of mormon authorship. Pdf online messaging provides a convenient and effective means of fast communication. The book of mormon does not discuss the layout of cities, the types of buildings that people lived in, or their manner of construction. 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. The book of mormon refers several times to horses and chariots, but most of the people seem to travel on foot. As a result, a second volume of studies on book of.
Though the oberlin manuscript, manuscript story conneaut creek, is not the same story as manuscript found, vernon. What do wordprint studies say about the book of mormon. According to mosiah priority, after the text of mosiah through the end of the book of mormon was transcribed, joseph smith returned to the beginning and transcribed 1 nephi. In another post, there was a challenge to explain away a number of evidences of the book of mormon. The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed, published in 1834 by e.
Robertss study which was published posthumously in 1985 as studies of the book of mormon. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. While i do not follow all of skousens end conclusions, i believe his analysis. Book of mormon evidences, part 3 presents further evidence supporting the book of mormon as an ancient document. Even given this criticism, however, the results of the wordprint study must be explained. However, in dec 2008, oxford journals published a new study called reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification. Studies of the book of mormon is a collection of essays written at the beginning of the 20th century though not published until 1985 by b.
Can wordprinting show that different sections of the book of mormon were written by different authors. Modern computers have given birth to a new science of analyzing word patterns in documents whose authorship is disputed. This volume features articles on hebraisms and chiasmus in the book of mormon, as well as articles discussing emendation of the text, naturalistic assumptions, wordprint analyses, variations between copies of the first edition, and more. Contrary to the claims of our critics, there are impressive findings that make it difficult to explain away the book of mormon as a nineteenthcentury fraud from joseph smith. Comparing book of mormon names with those found in j. Items do not represent the official views of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints or. Since its on a byu site, im assuming that its there with permission. However, the need for scientists and statisticians is unnecessary when making such comparisons with the book of ether. The initial book of mormon wordprint studies were carried out by larsen, rencher, and layton. Book of mormon authorship, in book of mormon authorship revisited. Wordprints of twelve german novellas translated by a single translator.
Pdf authorship verification of online messages for forensic. The works of tolkien and the book of mormon have been compared in a variety of ways by multiple authors and researchers, but none have looked specifically at the unusual names found within both. Pdf reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. 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. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. Book of mormon wordprints reexamined a look at the byu. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing.
Wordprint studies on the book of mormon book of mormon. This knowhy is the first in a series which discusses stylometry and its relevance to questions of book of mormon authorship. Fields roper book of mormon wordprint study general. The understanding that the book of mormon has a divine origin is obtainable only by byu studies 30, no. Oct 08, 2005 i was pleased to find a copy of john hiltons article, on verifying wordprint studies. Pdf authorship verification of email and tweet messages.
448 278 1197 51 195 1199 1469 86 102 1303 1450 1072 1505 18 1361 169 425 1481 1197 1289 929 469 1005 1332 123 623 57 872 263 1125 239 460 365