Book of Mormon Bibliography
Alphabetical by Title

Tells of viewing the Izapa tree-of-life stone and other places of interest that are identified as the “land Southward” in the Book of Mormon.

Tells of viewing the Izapa tree-of-life stone and other places of interest that are identified as the “land Southward” in the Book of Mormon.

Sightings of flying saucers in specified years are tied in with the advent of the Book of Mormon, the coming judgments, and the establishment of Zion.

A story for children. One of Moroni’s soldiers, during a war with the Lamanites, smote and raised Zerahemnah’s scalp up with his sword, which led to a covenant of peace.

Review of Answering Mormon Scholars: A Response to Criticism Raised by Mormon Defenders (1996), by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Abstract: This paper is composed of three parts connected consecutively because their conclusions build upon each other. The first part investigates the transportation methods used in the Book of Mormon, concluding that horse and river travel contributed little and that foot travel dominated all journeying. The second part uses that conclusion to estimate the overall dimensions of the Promised Land by examining Alma the Elder’s journey from Nephi to Zarahemla. This exercise reaffirms the 200-by-500-mile size promoted by John L. Sorenson decades ago. The third part looks at four ramifications of this 100,000 square-mile Promised Land footprint when stamped upon a map of the Western Hemisphere. (1) It allows for more than one Promised Land (occupied by other God-led immigrants) to exist simultaneously in the Americas. (2) It predicts that no matter where the Book of Mormon Promised Land was originally located, most Native Americans today would have few or no direct ties to the Jaredites-Lehites-Mulekites. (3) It demonstrates that research efforts to identify evidence of the Book of Mormon peoples could be exploring locations thousands of miles away from their original settlements. And (4) If any of the post-400 ce localized population losses in the Americas due to disease, war, or unknown causes involved the original Promised Land location, then the primary locus of organic evidence of the existence of the Jaredite-Lehite-Mulekite populations might have been largely destroyed.

A historical work that discusses Joseph Smith and Mormonism on pages 1-23. The author considers the Book of Mormon to be “crude in style and inane in contents” He accepts the Spaulding Theory regarding its origin.

This colorful, informative book features reports on the multi-pronged effort to determine as far as possible the original English-language translation of the Book of Mormon. Royal Skousen, the editor and principal investigator of the original and printer’s manuscripts of the Book of Mormon, details the project’s history and some of the more significant findings. Robert Espinosa reviews his team’s painstaking work of preserving and identifying remaining fragments of the original manuscript. Ron Romig narrates the investigation into the printer’s manuscript, and Larry Draper explains how the press sheets for the 1830 edition reveal overlooked details of the printing process. In an insightful response, Daniel C. Peterson interpolates evidence from Skousen’s research to show the divine manner in which the Book of Mormon came forth.

A one-page handout that discusses different approaches to studying the Book of Mormon—relate the Book of Mormon to the Bible, study external evidences, consider the theology, and find the “life lessons” in the book.

Early Christianity saw a wide proliferation of theories and practices concerning baptism, and now many Christians, including Mormons, commonly understand it as a means to repent and wash away one’s sins. But the Book of Mormon prophets taught that baptism is a covenant and a witnessing to God that one has already repented and commits to follow Jesus Christ, and that sins are remitted by the Holy Ghost.

Demeaning description of newer religious movements. Joseph Smith rose from a background of change and confusion, claiming to have discovered records that clarified theological arguments of his day and the origin of the American Indian. The authors rely on the opinions of Fawn Brodie and Thomas O’Dea.

Abstract: This paper reviews the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob’s proscription against plural marriage, arguing that the verses in Jacob 24–30 should be interpreted in a Law of Moses context regarding levirate marriage, by which a man was responsible for marrying his dead brother’s wife if that brother died before having an heir. I also review how these verses have been used in arguments for and against plural marriage, and how levirate marriage practices worked in Mosaic tradition.

Abstract: Dictionaries, especially Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, can be useful and informative resources to help us better understand the language of the Book of Mormon. This article compares definitions of words and phrases found in the book of 1 Nephi, using Webster’s 1828 dictionary and the New Oxford American Dictionary as references. By comparing these two dictionaries, we can see how word usage and meanings have changed since the original publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830. We can also gain a greater appreciation of the text of the Book of Mormon in a way that its first readers probably understood it.

The revival of scholarly interest in Abraham in recent decades provides a timely opportunity to explore the contemporary findings of biblical scholars from a Latter-day Saint perspective. This review leads to an in-depth exploration of how the Lord’s covenants with Abraham were understood by the Nephite prophets in the Book of Mormon, how their perspectives compare with contemporary biblical scholarship, and how the Nephite perspective may modify or expand standard Latter-day Saint approaches to understanding the Abrahamic covenant. This article identifies three interrelated streams of covenant discourse in the Book of Mormon—each defined by its respective focus on the (1) Lehite covenant, (2) Abrahamic covenant, or (3) gospel covenant. Though these three streams of covenant discourse are closely related, each is distinct in purpose. Nephite prophets integrated these three in unique ways to develop one larger understanding of God’s use of covenants to bring salvation to the world.

This essay evaluates Grant Hardy’s Understanding the Book of Mormon, particularly assessing Hardy’s claim that narrative theory can allow readers from a variety of perspectives to (at least temporarily) sidestep the Book of Mormon’s controversial history and engage with the text as a literary artifact. The paper argues that Hardy’s approach facilitates a deeper understanding of the book’s complex deployments of narrative voice and temporality but ultimately cannot efface the interpretive differences that stem from such divergent positions as belief and unbelief.

Review of Ross Anderson. Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Quick Christian Guide to the Mormon Holy Book.

Abstract: The Book of Mormon describes a dark mark on the skin that distinguished people who rebelled against God and his laws from those who obeyed God. The Old Testament refers to a mark that fits this description and has nothing to do with natural skin color. The law of Moses prohibited the Lord’s covenant people from cutting sacrilegious marks (ancient tattoos) into their skin. The Bible simply calls these prohibited tattoos “marks” (Leviticus 19:28). This biblical meaning of the word mark, together with biblical meanings of other related words, helps us understand all Book of Mormon passages associated with the Lamanite mark.

This article examines the arrangement entered into by Joseph Smith and Martin Harris to finance the printing of the Book of Mormon. It focuses on Harris’s property rights to the land he pledged in order to insure the printing, as well as his wife’s claim to a portion of that property.

Benefits derived from studying the Book of Mormon depend upon the individuals who read it. For many of its believers, it is still an undiscovered book. Advisable methods of study are to read the book from beginning to end or topical reading.

I remember slipping out of bed to my knees. It was the first time in my life that I had ever prayed intently. There I was, with bandages on my eyes, alone in my bedroom, praying for help.

This article explains why Reverent Spaulding’s testing of the Book of Mormon by examining the authenticity of the book of Abraham as an ancient Egyptian text is unfair. Latter-day Saints do not value the Bible less than the Book of Mormon. The belief of the Church is that both were divinely inspired of God and are placed on the same plane, though it is recognized that the Bible may have copyists’ errors.

Review of Jonathan Neville, A Man That Can Translate: Joseph Smith and the Nephite Interpreters. Salt Lake City: Digital Legends Press, 2020. 385 pages. $22.99 (paperback).
Abstract: This is the first of two papers that explore Jonathan Neville’s two latest books regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon. Neville has long argued that Joseph Smith did not use a seer stone during the translation of the Book of Mormon, and he has more recently expanded his historical revisionism to dismiss the multitude of historical sources that include the use of a seer stone. Neville’s “Demonstration Hypothesis” is explored in A Man That Can Translate, arguing that Joseph recited a memorized text from Isaiah rather than translate Isaiah from the Book of Mormon record. This hypothesis, meant to redefine how Joseph Smith used a seer stone during the translation of the Book of Mormon, however, fails to deal with the historical record seriously or faithfully. Neville, in a purported effort to save Joseph Smith’s character, ironically describes Joseph as a liar, reinvigorating old anti-Latter-day Saint claims that Joseph simply recited a memorized text, even to the point that Neville defends hostile sources while targeting Church-published histories and publications. He further attacks the witnesses of the translation in an effort to discredit their testimonies regarding the seer stone, and repeatedly misrepresents these sources. Coming from a Latter-day Saint, such claims are troubling and demand a response.

This article argues that, while the historical and ethnological information in the Book of Mormon is invaluable, the theological themes are far more important. The theological aspects in the Book of Mormon harmonize with those of the Bible.

Reports on the results of a new reading program and method of reporting pages read.

The most effective way to fulfill our divine potential is to work together, blessed by the power and authority of the priesthood.

Church members are unified in Christ through love and testimony. This dispensation’s pathway to our Savior is through Joseph and the Book of Mormon.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Meetinghouse, at Lehi City, Sunday Afternoon, August 9, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered at Provo, on Sunday Afternoon, June 3, 1877. Reported By: Geo. F. Gibbs.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Meetinghouse, at Nephi, Juab County, Sunday Morning April 19, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

The Book of Mormon records many of the prophecies of Isaiah, which teach that Zion will stand and not the United States of America.

Address quoting Moroni’s title page, testimony of the Three Witnesses, Ezekiel 37:15-20, 1 Nephi 29:8, Nephi’s vision of the latter days, and various prophecies about the Jews. Exhorts listeners to repent and serve God. Shows how the Book of Mormon and other latter-day scriptures complement the Bible and provide the fullness of the gospel.

Wipper’s intent is to glorify God and the unlearned man who brought forth the Book of Mormon.

Literary analysis provides useful tools in the study of sacred texts, including the Book of Mormon. For the author, three transforming events that enhanced her study of the Book of Mormon included reading the book in earnest as a complex and masterful literary text, the entrance of the Spirit into her study of the book, and a prayerful desire to experience the great change of heart described by King Benjamin and Alma. Nephi begins his record with sincerity and honesty and serves notice that he intends to prepare a true record. The opposition between Nephi and his brothers Laman and Lemuel illustrates well Lehi’s teachings on the necessity of opposition in all things. More subtly, the reader notes a contrast between the characters and personalities of Nephi and Jacob. Jacob is portrayed as an empathetic and compassionate person who was tutored by exile and isolation.

During 1921 and 1922 B. H. Roberts wrote three papers that listed parallels between the Book of Mormon and the second edition (1825) of Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews and constructed the possible argument that the Book of Mormon relied upon the latter. Welch responds to that claim by listing over eighty discrepancies between the two works, and Palmer and Knecht rebut Roberts’s theory by using statistics to show that the passages of Isaiah quoted in both works do not lead to conclusions of plagiarism.

Evaluates the Three Witnesses’ lives in respect to Paul’s words on the unpardonable sin (Hebrews 6:4-6). Smith declares that the Three Witnesses did not commit the unpardonable sin as described by Paul. He maintains that “it surely was the purpose of God that they should go the road they had traveled”

This article reads The Book of Mormon as an attack on the incoherence of American nationalism – as, specifically, a book about the inevitability of its own irrelevance. That is, its primary objection is that in order for Joseph Smith to get any attention at all within the unruly public sphere of Jacksonian America, he had to write a book that would get him the wrong kind of attention – attention as a religious fanatic rather than as a critic of the culture that creates religious fanatics. Joseph Smith believed there was something rotten at the heart of America, but, being an uneducated farm boy from western New York, he had no way to express his anger in a manner that would allow him to be taken seriously. He could only be an ‘authority’ with regard to religion, and religious authority, being ubiquitous, was no authority at all. Smith tracks the way the American public sphere forced its marginalized persons to criticize it from a disadvantageous position, and the way those critiques were turned to the establishment’s advantage. For Joseph Smith, freedom of speech in America has always been a tool of the political elites to keep the poor from speaking effectively.

A defense of the Book of Mormon against critics. The author finds that the book is in accord with Old Testament prophecies, it is an additional witness for Jesus Christ, and its claims are sustained by scientific discoveries.

An 8-page tract that claims that the Mormon Church is false because it does not follow the teachings of the Book of Mormon. Encourages readers to pray and find out the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon for themselves.

Alma 13:3 is occasionally cited by LDS commentators as evidence for the doctrine of premortal foreordination—an interpretation that unfortunately overlooks a key feature of the organization and terminology of Alma 13. This brief note begins to sort out this and other interpretive complexities by proposing that Alma 13:3b–9 be read as a clarifying expansion of Alma 13:3a.

Discusses the instructions issued by the copyright division of the U.S. Patent Office for the title page of the Book of Mormon. The words “author and proprietor”

Testifies of the promise to receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon by praying as Moroni 10:2-5 exhorts and encourages the Latter-day Saints to read the Book of Mormon regularly.

Talks about the role of witnesses. God gave the same commission to the Book of Mormon witnesses in the new dispensation as he did to the ancient witnesses.

God the Eternal Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in a vision. The Book of Mormon, a new volume of scripture, was revealed. Three Witnesses testified that an angel showed them the original plates.

Nephi had great visions concerning the life and the mission of Christ. He saw that other books would come forth—the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price—to establish the truth of the record of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb of God.

Joseph Smith had great courage in declaring that many would believe in the Book of Mormon. In the face of loneliness and persecution he dared to translate the Nephite record. The numerical count of those who believe its words is a fulfillment of this prophecy.

Refers to the Book of Mormon as the record of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim that supplies the world with a new witness for Christ and the fullness of the gospel.

Discusses the mission of the United States of America as a promised land, the decrees of God concerning the land of Zion, and predictions of calamities if it fails God as an instrument in the accomplishment of his high purposes. The gentile nation is to be a nursing father and mother to the remnants of Israel.

Answers the question that a little boy asked, “Why are people?” It cannot be answered in the Old or in the New Testament The Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 2:24-25) teaches the purpose of God in the creation.

Discusses the purpose of the Book of Mormon as stated on the title page: “to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.” God brought forth the Book of Mormon, which is being called the American scripture. At the time it came forth, the Christian world believed in the divinity of Christ and did not need such a statement, but there are many in the Christian world who now need a testimony and witness that Jesus Christ is God.

Discusses the messages of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon tells of the visit of the Redeemer to the inhabitants of the western world. It predicts the rise of the great Gentile nation—the United States of America. The Book of Mormon is a new witness for God and Christ and the truth of the gospel.

Moroni warns that anyone who should possess the land of promise must serve God or be swept off (Ether 2:9-12).

Gives examples of truths the world would have lost if the Book of Mormon had not been brought forth (Alma 41:10; 2 Nephi 2:24-25; 1 Nephi 3:7; Ether 12:26-27). The Book of Mormon corrects some errors in the philosophies and religions of men.

The United States of America is a choice land. There are two great prophecies in the Book of Mormon: it is a witness of the divinity of Christ, and it gives prophecies concerning the great gentile nation. If the Gentiles sin against the gospel, it shall be taken from among them. But if they will repent, they shall be numbered among his people.

Visitors to the visitor’s center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, can hear readings of testimonies of the Book of Mormon from the Three Witnesses, Emma Smith, and Lucy Mack Smith.

A story of a man who sought out the Three Witnesses and heard their testimony of the Book of Mormon.

An early description of Stela 5 from Chiapas, Mexico, which depicts a tree of life motif. Compares features on the stone that correspond to similar artistic objects in Mesopotamia. Relates Stela 5 to the tree of life vision in 1 Nephi and concludes that Stela 5 was infiuenced by the Book of Mormon tree of life story.

The mystery of the nature and organization of the Primitive Church has recently been considerably illuminated by the discovery of the so-called Dead Sea Scrolls. There is increasing evidence that these documents were deliberately sealed up to come forth at a later time, thus providing a significant parallel to the Book of Mormon record. The Scrolls have caused considerable dismay and confusion among scholars, since they are full of things generally believed to be uniquely Christian, though they were undoubtedly written by pious Jews before the time of Christ. Some Jewish and Christian investigators have condemned the Scrolls as forgeries and suggest leaving them alone on the grounds that they don’t make sense. Actually they make very good sense, but it is a sense quite contrary to conventional ideas of Judaism and Christianity. The Scrolls echo teachings in many apocryphal writings, both of the Jews and the Christians, while at the same time showing undeniable affinities with the Old and the New Testament teachings.
The very things which made the Scrolls at first so baffling and hard to accept to many scholars are the very things which in the past have been used to discredit the Book of Mormon. Now the Book of Mormon may be read in a wholly new light, which is considered here in lessons 14, 15, 16, and 17.

A series, comprising a defense of the Book of Mormon from an anthropological and archaeological point of view. Quotes extensively from the Book of Mormon as well as from contemporary scholarship.

There are two ways to read a text, through exegesis and through eisegesis. The first means, approximately, “reading out of the text,” while the second means, approximately, “reading into the text.” Both are legitimate ways of approaching a text. Anyone who reads the scriptures will at times engage in both exegesis and eisegesis, whether knowingly or unwittingly. Therefore, the more conscientiously and consciously we engage in rigorous and careful exegesis and eisegesis, the better the chance that our reading of the scriptures will truly enlighten the mind and provide substance for the soul. I will illustrate both approaches using the term familiar spirit found in 2 Nephi 26:12, Isaiah 29:4, and 1 Samuel 28.

Some Latter-day Saint commentators deem a phrase that appears in 2 Nephi 12:16 but not in the parallel passage in Isaiah 2:16—“and upon all ships of the sea”—as evidence that the Book of Mormon preserves a version of this verse from the brass plates that is more complete than the Hebrew or King James readings. One scholar’s conclusions in this regard are reviewed and then critiqued for ignoring the complexities of the ancient Hebrew and Greek versions of the Bible. The authors examine Isaiah 2:16 in its broader literary context, noting that the 2 Nephi reading alters a pattern of synonymous couplets; analyze the Greek and Hebrew texts of the verse; and relate their findings to the Book of Mormon reading. They discuss the inherent limitations of textual criticism in this kind of study and conclude that LDS and non-LDS scholars are open to different interpretive possibilities owing to the role that faith plays in one’s approach to and interpretation of textual evidence.

Abstract: Nephi, in composing his psalm (2 Nephi 4:15–35), incorporates a poetic idiom from Psalm 18:10 (2 Samuel 22:11) and Psalm 104:3 to describe his participation in a form of divine travel. This experience constituted a part of the vision in which he saw “the things which [his] father saw” in the latter’s dream of the tree of life (see 1 Nephi 11:1–3; 14:29–30). Nephi’s use of this idiom becomes readily apparent when the range of meaning for the Hebrew word rûaḥ is considered. Nephi’s experience helps our understanding of other scriptural scenes where similar divine travel is described.

Parry argues that Joseph Smith’s description of the Urim and Thummim coincide with the Bible’s description. Since this and other statements of Joseph Smith coincide with the Bible, Joseph Smith was divinely inspired.

This article gives a definition of the Urim and Thummim and discusses its history using the scriptures as a guide.

Reports a conversation he had with William B. Smith, brother of Joseph Smith, relative to the Urim and Thummim, the breastplate, and the “two rims of a bow” Gives a fairly detailed statement about the instruments.

Prophets of old used the Urim and Thummim. The claims made by Joseph Smith were not illogical. King Saul used the devices as well as Moses and others. Joseph Smith’s account of using them is not out of harmony with these accounts. They are defined as “lights” and “perfections”

This article presents a brief historical sketch of what is known about the Urim and Thummim, from the brother of Jared, Abraham, Moses, Mosiah, and Joseph Smith.

Uses the Bible, Book of Mormon, and historical accounts from the early writers of the Church to show that the Urim and Thummim and other “media” have been used since ancient times to receive communication from God. Joseph Smith also employed such media to translate the scriptures.

“This paper will demonstrate that simple Hebraic-type chiasmus does not exist in the Book of Mormon except in rare instances, but that there is a natural explanation for these occurrences. This paper will also examine longer, more complex chiasms.”

A polemical article attempting to show that the Book of Mormon uses biblical material anachronistically and that the Book of Mormon plagiarizes biblical material. Numerous examples are listed. The writer also suggests that many Book of Mormon events are patterned after events in the Bible.

Two articles reprinted from the Journal of Pastoral Practice

The Book of Mormon incorrectly mingles Old and New Testament teachings and ideas. Walters attempts to show how the Old Testament provided models for the proper names and events of the Book of Mormon. He shows anachronistic uses of Old Testament passages in the Book of Mormon, including Isaiah variants. Joseph Smith incorrectly applied modern eschatological themes, such as those borrowed from Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews, to Book of Mormon peoples living before the time of Christ. This work is reviewed in R.259, and in T.340.

The article describes how DNA was used to discover the probable identity of the parents and family of Hiram Page, a central figure of the early Mormon movement. The primary subjects of the DNA study were a 5th generation descendant of Hiram Page and a 5th generation descendant of Philander Page and the testing was done by Family Tree DNA while the Page DNA surname project was used for comparison together with YSearch, the online Y-DNA database.

Cites Book of Mormon, scientific, and other sources to argue against the theories dealing with organic evolution. Believes that the Book of Mormon is opposed to organic evolution.

Prophets and apostles have counseled us how to use the Book of Mormon. In April 1986, President Ezra Taft Benson pleaded: “I would particularly urge you to read again and again the Book of Mormon and ponder and apply its teachings. . . . [One] who knows and loves the Book of Mormon, who has read it several times, who has an abiding testimony of its truthfulness, and who applies its teachings will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and will be a mighty tool in the hands of the Lord.”

A polemical work against Mormonism. Argues that Solomon Spaulding is responsible for most of the text of the Book of Mormon, through the agency of Sidney Rigdon; the 1834 Anthon denial is cited; the testimonies of the Book of Mormon witnesses are discredited on the grounds that they had disreputable characters; and the author claims that Mormons have departed from the doctrines of the Book of Mormon.

This second of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the authors have learned from Nibley. Nearly every major subject that Dr. Nibley has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the sacrament covenant in Third Nephi, the Lamanite view of Book of Mormon history, external evidences of the Book of Mormon, proper names in the Book of Mormon, the brass plates version of Genesis, the composition of Lehi’s family, ancient burials of metal documents in stone boxes, repentance as rethinking, Mormon history’s encounter with secular modernity, and Judaism in the 20th century.

Bolton explores the origins and societal implications that arise from the Book of Mormon when viewed in an early nineteenth century context. Bolton describes the society in the Book of Mormon as a religious utopia, and explores the positive and negative utopian stories from that society.