Item Detail
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27326
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2
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22
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English
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The Great and Spacious Book of Mormon Arcade Game : More Curious Works from Book of Mormon Critics
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Interpreter : A Journal of Mormon Scripture
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23
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Orem, UT
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The Interpreter Foundation
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161-235
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A novel theory for the origins of Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life has been offered by Rick Grunder, who argues that the story was inspired by a June 1829 visit to Rochester where Joseph could have seen a "great and spacious building," a river, an iron railing, and even fruit trees. The purported source for the great and spacious building, the Reynolds Arcade, has even been suggested by one critic as a place where Joseph might have found "rare maps," such as a map of Arabia that could have guided his fabrication of Lehi's trail. As beautiful as such theories may be to their champions, they utterly fail to account for Nephi's text.
Among the shortcomings of Grunder's theory and creative extensions of it, the timing is problematic, for Joseph's visit to Rochester likely occurred well after 1 Nephi was dictated. The proposed parallels offer little explanatory power for Book of Mormon creation. (For comparison, two online appendices for this article have been provided to illustrate how interesting random parallels can be found that may be more compelling than those Grunder offers.1) Further, any inspiration from a visit to Rochester as the plates of Nephi were being translated fails to account for the influence of Lehi's vision and Nephi's text on other portions of the Book of Mormon that were translated long before Joseph's trip to Rochester. Finally, Nephi's account of the vision of the Tree of Life and surrounding text cannot be reasonably explained by Grunder's theory of last-minute fabrication inspired by Rochester or by any other theory of modern fabrication, as it is far too rooted in the ancient world and far too artfully crafted to have come from Joseph Smith and his environment. -
A Look at Some 'Nonstandard' Book of Mormon Grammar
Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon
A Pathway to Prophethood : Joseph Smith Junior as Rodsman, Village Seer, and Judeo-Christian Prophet
From Darkness unto Light : Joseph Smith's Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon
How Long Did It Take Joseph Smith to Translate the Book of Mormon?
"Idle and Slothful Strange Stories" : Book of Mormon Origins and the Historical Record
Joseph Smith and the Manchester (New York) Library
Joseph Smith and the Preexilic Israelite Religion
Jospeh Smith's Negotiations to Publish the Book of Mormon
Mormon Parallels : A Bibliographic Source
New Light from Arabia on Lehi's Trail
On Lehi's Trail : Nahom, Ishmael's Burial Place
Origin, Rise and Progress of Mormonism
Straight (Not Strait) and Narrow
The Joseph Smith Papers : Documents, Volume 3 : February 1833-March 1834
The Miraculous Translation of the Book of Mormon
The Worlds of Joseph Smith : A Bicentennial Conference at the Library of Congress
Traditions of the Fathers : The Book of Mormon as History
Understanding the Book of Mormon : A Reader's Guide
Was Joseph Smith Smarter Than the Average Fourth Year Hebrew Student? Finding a Restoration-Significant Hebraism in Book of Mormon Isaiah
What Command Syntax Tells Us About Book of Mormon Authorship
What's in a Name? Alma as a Hebrew Name