SRP Paper#15: Part 1

- Dale R. Broadhurst's SPALDING RESEARCH PROJECT -

The Book and the Manuscript

An Introduction to Book of Mormon Source Criticism

by Dale R. Broadhurst

Independent Media Project Class Presentation Report
ED-376 ( Media and Message in Christian Education)

February 27, 1980
(revised April 2, 1980)

Methodist Theological School in Ohio

The Book and the Manuscript

A Slide Presentation

Given by:

Dale R. Broadhurst

University Baptist Church

Columbus, Ohio

April 2, 1980

Page 02

This is a story about a book -- a very strange and wonderous book whose message has touched the lives of millions of people.

And it's a story about an old manuscript -- an unfinished novel that few people have ever even heard of.

But it's also a story about people -- people who were looking for a better way of life in service to their God.

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Note: All comments here are condensed from the original presentation. Click on the page number link to read the full text. Click on the index images to see their enlargements.

Page 03

Young Joseph Smith junior of Sharon Vermont was one of these people.

Joseph was ten years old when his pioneer family moved west to Manchester, New York.

This area was the scene of ongoing religious ferment and change -- an atmosphere quite different from Puritan Vermont.

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Note: This was originally a private presentation. Copyrighted index graphics are not linked to enlargements. They will be replaced by non-copyrighted images in rev. 2 of this document.

Page 04

Joseph became involved in the religious searching common at the time -- and in the Spring of 1820 is said to have experienced a vision of heavenly personages.

The account was told in different ways in later years and it's hard now to know exactly what happened to the young man.

Whatever it was, his life was redirected towards better goals and pursuits than he had previously known.

Page 05

During the next seven years Joseph continued to have wonderous experiences that he related as heavenly visitations. He excitedly told his family details about the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and about a strange historical record he would one day receive.

In the Fall of 1827 Joseph reported that at last he had been entrusted with this special ancient record -- as a temporary gift from an angelic messenger.

Page 06

This gift was an ancient record of a long forgotten people who had once inhabited the Americas.

But the record first had to be "translated" -- so that a proper English version could be given to the people of Joseph's day. The young man and his associates set about this difficult and lengthy rask. Finally, in 1830, they published this "translation" as a book.

Page 07

Joseph's translation of the record was printed under an odd title: "The Book of Mormon."

The book claimed to be an account written mostly by Mormon, upon thick sheets having the appearance of gold. But a large part of Mormon's story was taken from the earlier "plates of Nephi." Nephi was a hitherto unknown prophet among the prehistoric peoples of the Americas.

Go to Part Two: Pages 8 - 15

Return to: SRP Paper 15: Introduction