Item Detail
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7651
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0
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0
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English
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B. H. Roberts Book Stirs Controversy
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Sunstone
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December 1985
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10
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Salt Lake City, UT
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Sunstone Education Foundation
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36-37
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This brief, newspaper style article details the controversy surrounding the publication of B.H. Roberts's manuscript 'Book of Mormon Difficulties: A Study.' The recent publication, entitled 'Studies of the Book of Mormon' was edited by Brigham D. Madsen, with a biographical essay on Roberts by Sterling M. McMurrin. The book is controversial because in it Roberts purportedly challenges the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. In examining the evidence, Roberts concluded the scripture was most likely a creation of Joseph Smith. Two BYU professors, John W. Welch and Truman Madsen publicly denounced the book on the grounds that Madsen and McMurrin 'overstated the importance of the studies and the depth of Roberts's reservations because they themselves had weak or nonexistent testimonies and had slanted the material to fit thier own 'hidden agendas.'' The nature of the attack by the BYU professors led Madsen and McMurrin to defend their work before a meeting of the B.H. Roberts Society. Brigham Madsen, in particular, argued that the record clearly shows that Roberts believed the Book of Mormon to be a creation of Joseph Smith, and that 'Professor Welch has ducked [the issue] by the diversion of attempting to discredit the editor of the Roberts manuscripts.'