I’m a writer, and this statement deserves a long post, based on my recent X thread.
I’m flexible in my view of BoM translation: I’m fine with various theories of translation, and I think every translation reflects some mental building blocks of the translator. Prophets explain sacred history in ways that will maximize the understanding of their audience. But all that said, here are some things I would need to do in order to replicate the feat of writing the Book of Mormon:
First, I would need to develop a story of pre-exilic Israelites that avoids the obvious choices. This is difficult. The obvious approach would be that some Israelites read Isaiah 53 and start to believe in a coming Messiah, then are forced to leave.
But no, in the Book of Mormon the initial family doesn’t even have scripture containing the Book of Isaiah. They don’t even realize they need scripture until later. And they are led by a prophet? How could Lehi not have foreseen that from the outset of their journey?
When we do hear of scripture in the story, shouldn’t it be called torah or the sacred ketuvim (books) or something? Nope- it’s simply called a “record.” Why is it on plates and not scrolls? And why didn’t they just purchase access to the plates, then copy and return them?
The point is, in the story of Lehi, Joseph Smith never does the obvious or predictable thing. When I read the Book of Mormon, over and over again as a writer I can’t help thinking “this is not what would be happening if I or any modern writer were to try to write this.”
If I were to try to replicate Joseph’s feat, I’d need to give my characters unique voices. For example, Nephi summarizes past conversations using a pattern “…after this manner of language did _ say _”.
In all of scripture, this summarizing pattern is unique to Nephi.
| 1 Nephi 1:15 And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him. 1 Nephi 3:21 And it came to pass that after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren, that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God. 1 Nephi 5:3 And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father. 1 Nephi 5:6 And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi, comfort my mother, Sariah, concerning us, 1 Nephi 5:8 And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak. 1 Nephi 10:15 And after this manner of language did my father prophesy and speak unto my brethren, 1 Nephi 17:22 And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us. |
To replicate Joseph Smith’s feat, not only my characters but also narrators would need their unique voices. Here is something that’s really hard to do. Without consulting notes, dictate a large text full of stories that flow and interweave and change setting, and have your narrator recall a unique phrase that was used a great distance ago in the text, a phrase only used in his narration and not those of other narrators.
| Mosiah 2 32 But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit, which was spoken of by my father Mosiah. 33 For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge. | Alma 3 26 And in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world, that they might reap their rewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey, whether it be a good spirit or a bad one. 27 For every man receiveth wages of him whom he listeth to obey, and this according to the words of the spirit of prophecy; therefore let it be according to the truth. And thus endeth the fifth year of the reign of the judges. |
And then again, have that same narrator do something similar with another passage that is found only in his section of the text, not the areas of the other narrators.
| Alma 12 10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. 11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. | 3 Nephi 26 8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken. 9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them. 10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation. |
then at some point, have him repeat that pattern but have your narrator dial up the sophistication, way up, quite a few notches. Do all of these without consulting notes, index cards, a whiteboard- no, it all needs to be extemporaneous dictation.
| Mosiah 17 15 Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy seed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of death by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God. 17 Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts. 18 And in that day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, the pains of death by fire. Mosiah 13 27 And now ye have said that salvation cometh by the law of Moses. I say unto you that it is expedient that ye should keep the law of Moses as yet; but I say unto you, that the time shall come when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of Moses. 28 And moreover, I say unto you, that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses. | Alma 25 11 And now Abinadi was the first that suffered death by fire because of his belief in God; now this is what he meant, that many should suffer death by fire, according as he had suffered. 12 And he said unto the priests of Noah that their seed should cause many to be put to death, in the like manner as he was, and that they should be scattered abroad and slain, even as a sheep having no shepherd is driven and slain by wild beasts; and now behold, these words were verified, for they were driven by the Lamanites, and they were hunted, and they were smitten. 15 Yea, and they did keep the law of Moses; for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses as yet, for it was not all fulfilled. But notwithstanding the law of Moses, they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming, and believing that they must keep those outward performances until the time that he should be revealed unto them. 16 Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come. |
To replicate Joseph Smith’s feat, at several points I would need to break off my narratives and then resume them later, after dictating more storyline in between. Again- I would need to track these breaks and resumptions in my head, with no flowcharts, diagrams, or notes.
| Alma 35:13 And the people of Ammon departed out of the land of Jershon, and came over into the land of Melek, and gave place in the land of Jershon for the armies of the Nephites, that they might contend with the armies of the Lamanites and the armies of the Zoramites; and thus commenced a war betwixt the Lamanites and the Nephites, in the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges; and an account shall be given of their wars hereafter. | Alma 43:3 And now I return to an account of the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites, in the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges. |
To replicate Joseph Smith’s feat, in the middle of dictating some chapters of “sort of King James Isaiah,” I would need to pick up a Greek Septuagint translation of Isaiah and sprinkle a couple of unique concepts into my text. I would do this in only two instances, and then stop after that for some reason. Latter-day Saint scholar Phil Barlow explained it this way:
| “For example, of the 433 verses of Isaiah appearing in the Book of Mormon, 199 are identical to the KJV and 234 have been altered. Many of the changes seem slight, others more significant. In general they remind one of changes made in the KJV by the angel Moroni when he appeared to Joseph Smith in 1823. Sometimes these changes parallel ancient versions to which Smith may not have had access. To cite one instance, in 2 Nephi 12:16 (compare Isa. 2:16) the Book of Mormon text prefixes eight words not found in the Hebrew or in the KJV. The Septuagint (L.XX), however, concurs with the Book of Mormon against the Authorized text in adding the phrase at the beginning of the verse: BM: And upon all the ships of the sea. KJV: LXX: And upon every ship of the sea, BM: And upon all the ships of Tarshish, KJV: And upon all the ships of Tarshish, LXX: BM: and upon all pleasant pictures. KJV: and upon all pleasant pictures. LXX: and upon every display of fine ships. The Book of Mormon text clearly depends on the KJV for its choice of words, but adds a phrase omitted in the KJV yet paralleled in the LXX. This notwithstanding, there is no evidence that Smith had access to a copy of the Septuagint in 1827-1829. Moreover, the very process and speed by which the Book of Mormon was written-most of it was dictated in sixty to ninety days-militate against a theory that envisions Smith engaged in a careful scholarly process comparing the KJV with ancient manuscripts to produce the complex text.” -Philip L. Barlow, Mormons and the Bible |
To replicate Joseph Smith’s feat, I would employ 188 unique names, and many of them would be used in lineages to tell the stories of the civilizations I am describing. If someone in later decades were to attempt to map the names and lineages that come spontaneously from my mind, it would look like this.
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To replicate Joseph Smith’s feat, in my text one of my characters would make a very specific bold spiritual-political decision. That decision would be repeated by exactly one other character in my book, and it would be this individual’s great grandson. The reader would never see this repeated anywhere else in the book.
| Alma 4:18-19 Now Alma did not grant unto him the office of being high priest over the church, but he retained the office of high priest unto himself; but he delivered the judgment-seat unto Nephihah. And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them… | Helaman 5:4 And it came to pass that Nephi had become weary because of their iniquity; and he yielded up the judgment-seat, and took it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days, and his brother Lehi also, all the remainder of his days; |
To replicate Joseph Smith’s feat, in my text I would need to articulate a rich concept of spiritual progression and regression based on souls’ preparedness and receptivity, three times, using two narrators, and the two narrators would use their own unique vocabulary and phrases with no overlap.
| Mormon as narrator | Nephi as narrator | |
| Alma 12:10-11 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. | 3 Ne 26:8-10 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken. And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them. And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation. | 2 Nephi 28:30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. |
To replicate Joseph Smith’s feat, in my text I would need to have one of my characters recall precise words of another character. I would need to dictate an exact sequence of 21 words from memory, on the fly, when weeks have passed since I last dictated the sequence.
| 1 Nephi 1:8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God. | Alma 36:22 Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there. |
I could go on and on. I’m a voracious reader and writer, and I wrote my first fiction book a couple years ago. It’s still not published because I‘m still rewriting it, something Joseph Smith never did. Writing stories is really hard. Which may be one reason why Yale literature professor Harold Bloom said of Joseph Smith:
 | “I do not qualify to pass on the rest of the Mormon creed, but I also do not find it possible to doubt that Joseph Smith was an authentic prophet.” |
I’m a devotional reader of the BoM. I don’t get worked up over questions of geography or other unresolvables. I believe in the book because of a revelatory experience I had when I was 18, and I trust God to reveal the particulars of historicity in His time, in His way.
But speaking just as a writer with half a brain, it would take the utmost mental gymnastics to think this book came from the mind of Joseph Smith, even if he had piles of books and maps and hypnotism and mushrooms and all the other stupid things in the conspiracy theories of his critics.
Some day, a member of the Mormon Studies crowd is going to come back from an ayahuasca trip and announce he has found the real author of the BoM but he can’t remember the guy’s name and anyway, he’s a cajun space ninja. And honest critics of the BoM will realize that’s actually not weirder than the incoherent pile of critical academic slop that has piled up over the years to challenge the book.
Meanwhile, every year I’ll read the Book of Mormon for its devotional value. And yes, sometimes the intellectual firework show in the text is kind of fun too.