New Maxwell Institute Book from Jack Welch

[_Daniel Peterson]

FYI.

I just received my copy of John W. Welch, The Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon, which has been many years in the works and weighs in at very nearly five hundred pages.

On the back, it receives praise not only from David Seely, a specialist on the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls who teaches at BYU, and from Terryl Givens, at the University of Richmond, but from the non-Mormons Raymond Westbrook, of Johns Hopkins University, and F. Rachel Magdalene, of Augustana College.

Jack Welch is a professor of law at BYU who also studied ancient history and languages at BYU, Oxford, and Duke, and has, among other things, served on the executive committee of the Biblical Law Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.

I would imagine that it will be a a couple of weeks, at least, before the book hits the bookstores.

I know many here will be uncontrollably eager to read it, and I expect that there will be even more who will want to review it.


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[_Trevor]

the non-Mormons Raymond Westbrook, of Johns Hopkins University, and F. Rachel Magdalene, of Augustana College.

Those notorious crypto-Mormon hacks? How much did Maxwell Institute pay them? "Millions," I'd expect.

I know many here will be uncontrollably eager to read it, and I expect that there will be even more who will want to review it.

I know I have my review in hand just waiting to enlighten us all. I can tell you right now that your reading of the book means nothing next to my supposition that Jack Welch is a Mopologist Morgbot with a hidden agenda to hide his Mo-inspired cattle mutilation craze with amazingly deceptive sophistry. Little do you know that this is the basis of the entire text, and it really has absolutely nothing to do with law cases in the Book of Mormon at all.

[_skippy the dead]

That actually sounds very interesting. I wonder if the good law professor would consider comping a BYU law alum with a copy?

[_Tom]

The book is available for sale at BYU bookstore and Confetti Books.

[_Chap]

FYI.

I just received my copy of John W. Welch, The Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon, which has been many years in the works and weighs in at very nearly five hundred pages.

On the back, it receives praise not only from David Seely, a specialist on the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls who teaches at BYU, and from Terryl Givens, at the University of Richmond, but from the non-Mormons Raymond Westbrook, of Johns Hopkins University, and F. Rachel Magdalene, of Augustana College.

For a moment ( I kid you not) I thought this was a book about an aspect of the Book of Mormon by "the non-Mormons Raymond Westbrook, of Johns Hopkins University, and F. Rachel Magdalene, of Augustana College". But no: disappointment ...

I wonder why non-LDS don't write about the Book of Mormon as a work of literature, without any judgement as to its truth-value? After all, I am sure that every year several PhDs get written on 'Wills and Trusts in the novels of Jane Austen", "Property tenure in Dickens" and so on.

Is the Book of Mormon just not interesting unless you think it is genuinely an ancient text? Or is it that LDS have been brought up to think it is a fascinating and 'deep' text, whereas those without that built-in reverence simply experience a reading of it as did Mark Twain - i.e. as mental chloroform?

I wonder what the Old and New Testaments look like as works of literature (leaving aside any historical value) to people from outside the Judeo-Christian traditions? Do these texts seen to them as dull as did the Book of Mormon to Twain? Or is there really a difference of quality there?

[_Yoda]

I know I have my review in hand just waiting to enlighten us all. I can tell you right now that your reading of the book means nothing next to my supposition that Jack Welch is a Mopologist Morgbot with a hidden agenda to hide his Mo-inspired cattle mutilation craze with amazingly deceptive sophistry. Little do you know that this is the basis of the entire text, and it really has absolutely nothing to do with law cases in the Book of Mormon at all.

Uh, Trev? You seem a little testy. Do you have a caffeine deficiency? ;)

All Dr. Peterson did was tell us about a book that is going to be in circulation soon that might be interesting to some. The comment seems a little overkill.

Dr. Peterson, is the book available to order online? Do you think you could arrange a discount for BYU law school alumni (Skippy) and an educational discount for those of us who teach in the state college system(yours truly)? ;)

[_Dr. Shades]

The Book of Mormon has legal cases in it?

[_SUAS]

Um Yeah..well not legal but political cases as they say....Who has the most power..is basically what it comes down to..Right

[_Joey]

Should we expect a similar level of interest in this book from the legal academic community as the works of Clark and Sorenson, on Book of Mormon historicity, have generated from the archaeology and history academic communities???

[_Joey]

I mean, surely a passing mention in the next issue of "Provo Law Review"?!?!