Daniel says it's not the church:
Today, 05:01 PM Post #191
Krispy Kreme King
Group: Pundit
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QUOTE(mormonstories @ Dec 28 2007, 04:58 PM)
there is relatively little reputable scholarship (that isn't on the church payroll) that would stick their necks out for Book of Mormon historicity.
Just for the record, there is essentially no scholarship advocating the Book of Mormon that is paid for by the Church.
here's the link: http://www.mormonapologetics.org/index. ... 168&st=180 (yes, Juliann. I can read MAD. I can also post, but I won't tell you which puppet I'm wearing)
I don't think Daniel answered the question mormonstories asked though. He's trying to sidetrack the discussion about scholarship, with a rabbit trail to a discussion about funding. So I'm asking for clarification:
1. What is "reputable", in conjunction with Book of Mormon historicity?
2. Who, outside of members of the church, owuld stick their neck out for Book of Mormon historicity?
3. the church's payroll includes a lot of people, from the janitors at BYU to the prophet. Is mormonstudies referring to FARMS/Maxwell? or BYU professors in general? Or GA's? Is there a book out there somewhere written by a GA that is actually a scholarly look at Book of Mormon historicity?
4. What exactly is meant by "paid for by the church"? Did they put out a RFP? Fund a research grant? Or does that mean the church doesn't provide space, computers, time, administrative support, or publication support for FARMS' writers? (because that would be considerable support, in my opinion)