Several explanations for the seemingly sudden appearance of The Book of Mormon in 1829 (first published in 1830) have been put forth by both historians and apologists alike. Each holds some value to its advocates while displaying obvious inconsistencies and unexplained features. However, significant new evidence necessitates the revision of all such authorship theories, including and especially the sole-authorship hypothesis-that Joseph Smith, Jr. (between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-three) single-handedly composed all the sentences in The Book of Mormon through creative writing, automatic writing, or inspired dictation. Neoteric observations reveal deliberately hidden details in Mormonism’s keystone scripture that could not have been put there by Smith. What is the real story behind how the two bookending characters (Nephi and Mormon) got their names? Where did the idea of Nephi being guided through the wilderness by a spiritually magnetic compass-a curious ball having pointers, spindles, and writing on its sides-truly come from? In this book, such details are called ’Kircherisms, ’ a new class of anachronisms in The Book of Mormon. These Kircherisms have revealed a fresh set of influences, an undiscovered source text, and a wellspring of intriguing evidence that has never been published anywhere else. With an infusion of new data, this book presents a novel and distinctive exegesis as well as a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive framework for organizing and evaluating the merits of all prior authorship theories. One mechanism, in particular, has emerged as the most comprehensive, evidence-based, and satisfying explanation for how The Book of Mormon came to pass.
Innehållsförteckning
Chapter 1 The Hierophant’s Tale
Chapter 2 Prolegomenon
Chapter 3 The Trunkless Legs of Ozymandias
Chapter 4 Parallelomania
Chapter 5 Put Away for a Season, Now Restored
Chapter 6 John the Linguist
Chapter 7 The Maze of Thorns
Chapter 8 The Ancient-Authorship Theory (AK0)
Chapter 9 The One-Man Show (AK1 and K1)
Chapter 10 All in the Family (K2 and K3)
Chapter 11 Old Come to Pass
Chapter 12 Homer erectus157
Chapter 13 The Case for K4 (and K5)
Chapter 14 The First Chiasm & the Second Republic of Letters
Chapter 15 A Prophet for All Seasons
Chapter 16 The Straight Path (K5Pv1.0)
Chapter 17 A Crisis of Magic
Chapter 18 Religiopithecus rigdonensis
Chapter 19 Wherefore is therefore wherefore?
Chapter 20 The Quantification of Faith
Chapter 21 Magic and Misdirection
Epilegomenon
Afterword
Acknowledgments (The Book of Thoth)
Index
Om författaren
Lars Pauling Nielsen is an independent researcher of Mormon history and a first-time author. He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2007 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2009. He currently resides in Minnetonka, MN with his three daughters. He resigned from the Mormon church in 2010.