Return and Report-TBM and word frequency encounter

[_kairos]

Thanx again to all who provided input/insights on the topic of word frequency analysis in the Book of Mormon etc.
My TBM friend had done the following analysis- probably took him a couple of days:
He took the Old Testament,New Testament,Book of Mormon, D &C and POGP and then went through the Book of Mormon and selected words that resonated with him from the Book of Mormon. Then he counted the times each word appeared in each "scripture". For example he took the word "plan' and it occurred 0 in Old Testament, 0 in the New Testament, 52 in Book of Mormon, 3 in the D&C and 2 in the POGP. In all he selected 75 words. Other words/phrases included infinite, course of one eternal round.,restoration,plain and precious, arms of mercy, master, spotless, pure in heart, and even words like inasmuch, expedient,thus we see, speak some what, save it be true- you get the picture. Since those 75 words resonated with him and are from the Book of Mormon, he logically thought comparable counts would be in Old Testament and New Testament. Since Book of Mormon occurrences out numbered the Bible by sometimes 52 to 0(plan) and 66 to 9(word:state), he tried to make a case that the Book of Mormon had a special significance as another Testament of Jesus.
I then told him he had been a Mormon 30 years and his Book of Mormon was filled with notes, quotes and underlines because that was his primary scripture, that naturally he would be biased having read and heard those words from the pulpit and in Ensign etc. Consequently I respectfully told him what he did was no meaningful indicator of the Book of Mormon being "special" . He also left out two key words -love and believe that appear 50 or so times just in the gospel of John. So he struck out as far as i was concerned.

[_Fence Sitter]

I am surprised he didn't choose "and it came to pass".

[_Sethbag]

I'm confused as to what the friend's point was. The Star Wars novels contain "light sabre" more often than the New Testament does, too. So what? The Book of Mormon was a work of early 19th Century American authorship, with clearly plagiarized portions lifted from the Old Testament and the New Testament. That there are words or phrases that occur uniquely, or with vastly greater frequency than in the Old Testament and New Testament means exactly what?

I'd bet there are things one could take from the Old Testament that wouldn't appear as often in the New Testament and Book of Mormon, and things in the New Testament that wouldn't appear as frequently in the Old Testament and Book of Mormon. Again, so what?

[_Always Changing]

Sandra Tanner did the same thing, chapter five of Black Hole, making the point that the Mormon god is not concerned about the family. There is a problem with her analysis, in that the Bible contains substantially more words that the Book of Mormon, and fewer of them are deadwood.

[_Equality]

It would be fun to see how many times the word "plan" appears in the sermons of circuit-riding preachers in frontier New York in the 1820s. Or better yet, tell your friend this: Solomon Spalding used the word "plan" 25 times in this manuscript. Perhaps your friend would conclude that the Book of Mormon author has more in common with Solomon Spalding than with the authors of the New Testament.

[_Fence Sitter]

I'm confused as to what the friend's point was. The Star Wars novels contain "light sabre" more often than the New Testament does, too. So what? The Book of Mormon was a work of early 19th Century American authorship, with clearly plagiarized portions lifted from the Old Testament and the New Testament. That there are words or phrases that occur uniquely, or with vastly greater frequency than in the Old Testament and New Testament means exactly what?

I'd bet there are things one could take from the Old Testament that wouldn't appear as often in the New Testament and Book of Mormon, and things in the New Testament that wouldn't appear as frequently in the Old Testament and Book of Mormon. Again, so what?

His point seemed to be that certain words give him a burning in the bosom. He is just taking Moroni's challenge to the extreme. He doesn't realize not all people judge things by feelings.

Feelings, nothing more than feelings, trying to forget my feelings. . .

[_cafe crema]

Feelings, nothing more than feelings, trying to forget my feelings. . .

Oh great now it won't stop , thanks a lot.