{"id":45170,"date":"2023-07-14T13:55:32","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T20:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.timesandseasons.org\/?p=45170"},"modified":"2023-07-14T13:55:57","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T20:55:57","slug":"asking-questions-about-the-book-of-mormon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2023\/07\/asking-questions-about-the-book-of-mormon\/","title":{"rendered":"Asking Questions About the Book of Mormon"},"content":{"rendered":"

A central question about the Book of Mormon that has been asked over and over again is whether it is an ancient document or a modern one. Despite being asked and answered by so many people, that question is still being argued and fought over and probably will be indefinitely. But what other questions are being asked about the Book of Mormon? In a recent interview at the Latter-day Saint blog From the Desk, Joe Spencer and Nick Frederick talked about some of those questions in a discussion about the field of Book of Mormon studies<\/a>. What follows here is a copost to the full interview (a shorter post with excerpts and some discussion.<\/p>\n

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In the interview, Joe Spencer and Nick Frederick talked about why it may prove to be more productive to look at other questions about the Book of Mormon.<\/p>\n

For the longest time Book of Mormon studies was largely dedicated to either proving or disproving the historicity of the text. Those on the side of historicity focused on cultural or linguistic elements that would point toward an ancient origin of the book. Those on the side of disproving historicity worked to identify themes or ideas from the 19th century that would point to Joseph Smith as the primary source.<\/p>\n

Beginning in early years of the 21st century scholars both inside and outside the Latter-day Saint tradition began to study the book as a book, focusing more on what the Book of Mormon has to say to its audience than on the question of whether or not its historicity can be proven or disproven.<\/p>\n

Obviously for many believers the issue of the Book of Mormon\u2019s divine origins is a significant one, and we should strive to reinforce that principle in our own study of text, but we can also be open to bringing different lenses to bear in our reading of the Book of Mormon as well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They listed a few of those different lenses:<\/p>\n