SRP Paper#15: Part 5

- 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)

- Part Five -

Return to Part Four: Pages 23 - 29

Return to: SRP Paper 15: Introduction

The block of Spaldingish text beginning in Alma and running almost continuously into Helaman begins and ends very near chapter breaks in the book. It starts with the Alma II war record and contains the records of Helaman I, Helaman II, and Shiblon.

The span of this Alma block of Spaldingish text corresponds closely with the life of the Nephite general, Moroni I, who is first introduced into the text for the year 73 BCE and who is recorded as dying in 56 BCE.

If these matches of Spaldingish text with distinct Book of Mormon records and Moroni's life are coincidental, they nevertheless form a highly regular pattern.

Page 31

In the examples shown so far, only biblical and Spalding similarities are marked. There are also numerous Book of Mormon parallels in the writings of Ethan Smith and in other 18th and 19th century English texts.

Once these similarities are precisely located in the Book of Mormon, they too could be charted on plates diagrams. Then we could see just where these parallels occur in the book and how their locations correspond to the textual material we've already looked at.

Textual block charting is only one tool used in Book of Mormon form and source criticism. We should remember it is only a tool and that its results do not "prove" the book's origins.

Page 32

Beginning in 3 Nephi we read the account of an alleged appearance of the risen Jesus Christ to the Nephites of America. Here we see the scene where Jesus descends from heaven, amid terrible death and destruction, shortly after his resurrection in Palestine.

Without going into details here, we can simply note that the Jesus of this story appears to be rather different from the pre-crucifixion teacher of the Christian gospel stories.

When we look at the likely redactional patterns in this section of the Book of Mormon, we can see some possible reasons for this story's strangely different Jesus.

Page 33

In this part of the Book of Mormon Jesus visits the Nephite people and presents them with his teachings. Much of what he says is simply the recounting of altered text copied into Nephite record from KJV NT sources.

A good deal of this textual alteration appears as editorial additions which stress morality and legal matters at the expense of the idea that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Mosaic law.

Indeed, the book primarily quotes from a narrow selection of NT sources which favor the apocalyptic image of Messiahship.

Page 34

If we are going to make a decision about whether or not to trust and follow the teachings of Jesus presented in the Book of Mormon, we should first be certain we are hearing his actual words there.

When we see what look like editorial additions to collected teachings resembling the NT "sermon on the mount," we should investigate to see how and why those additions were made.

The Book of Mormon text differs significantly from similar biblical texts on important religious matters, but that in itself does not disqualify the book from being scriptural.

Page 35

Even if we do not accept the Book of Mormon as containing an historically true account of ancient Americans and the previously unknown words of Jesus, we may still classify it as a certain type of scriptural work.

Seen as a latter-day equivalent to canonical writings such as Deuteronomy, Jonah, Daniel, or the Book of Revelation, the Nephite story can be shown to hold many similarities with accepted scripture.

If we accept the book as scripture on this basis, we should remember that its apocalyptic Christ of the clouds represents only a narrow view of Jesus, not the full range of NT experience.

Page 36

We started this study by seeing it as a story -- the story of Joseph Smith, jr., a young man with a vision and the unquenchable thirst to reestablish Christ's original church.

But it is also a story of a mysterious former clergyman named Solomon Spalding -- a man who composed fictional scriptures in his writings.

And it is the story of people like Sidney Rigdon, who found his dreams realized in the pages of the Book of Mormon. There have been many like him in the past and there will be many more. The story has not ended.

Page 37

If Jesus came in fulfillment of the scriptures, he also labored to set us free from our misunderstandings of many things written in those special writings. He never wrote a book himself. For books alone can never be perfect witnesses to God's revelation of love.

The Book of Mormon has always been a powerful missionary tool; it will likely continue to serve this purpose for many years to come. It also turns our attention to the noble cause of building a latter-day Zion, not only in the hills of Palestine, but around the world. A road map as valuable as this one should not be discarded just because we've noticed that it has some flaws.

Page 38

In the end we each must make up our own minds and hearts about what will prove useful in our journey to find God. Some of us will rely greatly on what others have told us, both in person and through their writings.

Some of us will make the spiritual trek without the weight of so many books in our backpacks.

However we choose to travel, it's important to remember that we are not alone -- and that in helping each other we help ourselves along the way.

Return to: SRP Paper 15: Introduction