The Electronic Journal of Jaredite Studies

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_Kishkumen
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The Electronic Journal of Jaredite Studies

Post by _Kishkumen »

Editor's Foreword

Welcome to the Electronic Journal of Jaredite Studies, a web publication devoted to the promotion of Jaredite Studies. As an electronic publication, EJJS has numerous advantages over paper publications, in that the costs of production are minimal and new articles can be posted as they are made ready for publication. We at EJJS are committed to providing the Jaredite Studies community a quality resource for the discussion of all things Jaredite, including, but not limited to, the following: archaeology, art history, linguistics, onomastics, toponymics, numismatics, archaeo-astronomy, political science, philosophy, literary studies, law, religion, ethnic studies, paleo-anthropology, paleo-botany, ancient urban studies, history, and Nephite reception of Jaredite culture.

As the leading Jaredite scholar of our age, I have offered my invaluable services as the editor of EJJS in response to the widespread demand of those who have been utterly convinced by my conclusive findings in the field of Jaredite Studies. I humbly thank them for acknowledging a self-evident reality, and promise to bring the rest of them up to speed in a timely fashion.

The Electronic Journal of Jaredite Studies welcomes quality submissions from all qualified contributors. These papers must be submitted in Microsoft Word .doc, .txt, or Apple .rtf format. The paper must not contain the author's name, and it must be double spaced. All citations and bibliography must follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. Papers will be read by a board of three peers, headed by the editor, whose knowledge, expertise, brilliance, and spiritual depth surpass all others in the field. After the editor's two readers have submitted their reports, the editor will make the final determination concerning publication in the journal and notify the author within ten business days.

Do not be discouraged if your paper is rejected, because most are. Good luck, and welcome to EJJS. In addition to publishing quality articles, the majority of which will undoubtedly be written by the editor himself, the editor will also provide regular essays on the sad state Book of Mormon scholarship excepting his own work, which is invariably top notch and game-changing.


For the purposes of preserving the history of Jaredite Studies for future generations, the editor has generously provided the original OP below, which was published under the title, The Definitive Electronic Jaredite Bibliography:

In order to get everyone up to speed on the fundamentals, and not-so-fundamentals, of Jaredite research, I have decided to compile the world's first exhaustive electronic bibliography on the Jaredites. If any of you have additions to make, or comments on the articles, please feel free to share. I believe that a community effort can help advance Jaredite Studies far more quickly than Nephite Studies, which is only right, since much of actual Nephite culture is derivative of the Jaredite.

I look forward to working together to roll forth the great stone of Jaredite Studies.
Last edited by Guest on Fri Oct 15, 2010 5:34 pm, edited 7 times in total.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
_Emeritus
Posts: 21373
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:00 pm

Re: The Definitive Electronic Jaredite Bibliography

Post by _Kishkumen »

One of the most important issues for reversing the damage done by wholesale Nephite theft and twisting of Jaredite history is the recognition that the "others" the Nephites encountered in America were actually Jaredites, whom they represent by the lone figure of Coriantumr--surely one of the greatest historical distortions of antiquity! The truth of the matter is that most of the peoples of America when the Nephites arrived were Jaredites, a people who had crossed over from Asia.

Here are some online articles arguing hypotheses roughly in line with my work on the topic:

1. Deepshadow, "Were the Mulekites actually Jaredites," Religious Forums (7-31-2005: 11:34pm)

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/general-religious-debates/17628-were-mulekites-actually-jaredite-descendants.html

A teaser:

Deepshadow wrote:Speaking of Mulekites, and reminding ourselves to avoid oversimplification, why are we taking their bizarre account of a second journey from Jerusalem at face value? Orson Scott Card** suggests that the entire origin story of Mulek being a son of Zedekiah is a total fabrication. Card points out that ancient mesoamerican politicking included games of one-upmanship in which nobles would declare their descent from a god or at least a king. Imagining the original meeting between King Zarahemla and King Mosiah, Card suggests that at some point Mosiah bears his testimony about his ancestor Lehi, the great prophet, and Zarahemla mistakes it for a play at right to rule. To counter, Zarahemla asks if Lehi was a king as well as a prophet, and Mosiah says he wasn't. Zarahemla then declares that his great ancestor, Mulek, was the son of Lehi's king in his old world, thereby giving him a right to rule over the Nephites. Mosiah points out that if that's the case, their language has been corrupted, and he produces plates that Zarahemla can't read. For this and other reasons, Zarahemla steps down in favor of Mosiah, but the story he spun remains because it allows the two nations to unite as brothers instead of as oppressor and oppressed. That a reference to this fiction made it into the Book of Mormon only means that Mormon believed the story.


2. Warr, James, "Neo-Jaredites," in J. Warr (ed.), A New Model for Book of Mormon Geography (2001)

http://www.mormongeography.com/Neojared.html

A teaser:

James Warr wrote:One of the problems facing Book of Mormon archaeology is the fact that the civilizations of the Maya, Aztec and other pre-Columbian cultures were at their zenith many years after the extermination of the Nephites. If we are focusing on the archaeological ruins of these civilizations, they don't seem to fit Book of Mormon history. But I contend that they were not related to the Nephite history, nor were they the work of true Lamanites. It is my opinion that the early Formative Period or Olmec Era ruins were built by the Jaredite peoples of the Book of Ether, but the later ruins (Maya, etc.) were built by Jaredite remnants (see section on Jaredite remnants below) and others, who followed the Jaredite tradition. I will called these people neo-Jaredites.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Simon Belmont

Re: The Definitive Electronic Jaredite Bibliography

Post by _Simon Belmont »

I call upon the moderators to "sticky" this.
_Kishkumen
_Emeritus
Posts: 21373
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:00 pm

Re: The Definitive Electronic Jaredite Bibliography

Post by _Kishkumen »

Simon Belmont wrote:I call upon the moderators to "sticky" this.


I appreciate your support, Simon.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
_Emeritus
Posts: 21373
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:00 pm

Re: The Definitive Electronic Jaredite Bibliography

Post by _Kishkumen »

Dr. Einar C. Erickson

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Although his work is somewhat dated, Dr. Erickson is one of the "grand old men" in the field of Jaredite Studies, before it was properly known as such. All students of the Jaredites must necessarily familiarize themselves with his work. Here is a sample from his online biography that covers the crucial period in which he turned his attention to antiquity:

In 1951, while studying Archaeology under Dr. W. Jackson at BYU, he attended a Symposium on the Near East, where he heard a presentation by Dr. Bruce Warren, recently dean of Anthropology at BYU, referring to the very first publication, The Manual of Discipline, by Dr. Brownlee of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was immediately evident that there were parallels to important Mormon Doctrine in that first available text. Einar joined the American Schools of Oriental Research, and several other Near Eastern Societies acquiring the publications that began to come out on the Dead Sea Scrolls. By 1954, there was sufficient data to permit presentations on the Dead Sea Scrolls and popular requests kept him busy presenting two or more Dead Sea Scroll talks each month. About the same time the first of the Nag Hammadi publications began to be available. Einar became interested in all of the ancient discoveries that were being made that provided evidence of the restoration. Slowly he accrued publications on more than 110 different ancient document discoveries, many of them from visits he made to such places as Russia, China, and Armenia. His 24,000 volume personal library permits him to do all his research without having to go to any other source. Now many of his sources are out of print and his library has become of singular importance.


For a sample of his important work, visit his website at http://www.einarerickson.com/content/view/13/30/.

Not only has Dr. Erickson's work been vital to sustaining Jaredite Studies through periods of relative neglect, but he has buoyed up Latter-day Saint testimonies:

Rob Dingess wrote:As a newly baptized member of the church in 1978, I was hungry to learn more about the church and church doctrine. My grandparents had been given copies of lectures that Brother Erickson had given on the Dead Sea Scrolls. I used to listen to them often. I was recently listening to one of the tapes and decided to look up Brother Erickson's name on the internet. Please pass on my sincere gratitude to him for having stimulated my lifelong study of the scriptures and these ancient texts.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
_Emeritus
Posts: 21373
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:00 pm

"The" Grand Old Man of Jaredite Studies

Post by _Kishkumen »

Dr. Hugh Winder Nibley

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Of course, no consideration of the the crucial subject of Jaredite Studies can be initiated without thoroughly familiarizing one's self with the grand old man of scholarship on Jaredites, the godfather of the discipline, if you will, Hugh Nibley. Dr. Nibley earned his PhD in Ancient History at the University of California at Berkeley in 1938. LDS apostle John A. Widstoe managed to draw him to BYU in 1946, where he taught and engaged in far-ranging scholarly endeavors well past his official retirement in 1975.

Dr. Nibley's contributions to Jaredite Studies are foundational:

Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites; ISBN 0-87579-132-8 (Hardcover, 1988)

Nibley, H. W., "Some Test Cases from the Book of Ether," and "Strange Ships and Shining Stones," in J. W. Welch (ed.), An Approach to the Book of Mormon, Third Edition (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Company, 1988), 329-358

In spite of his pivotal role in inspiring generations of Mopologists through his witty but sometimes unfair and inaccurate put-downs, Dr. Nibley's work on Jaredites is invaluable and must be consulted, much in the way that a Roman historian must consult Mommsen, or a Greek Religion scholar must consult Wilamowitz-Moellendorff.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
_Emeritus
Posts: 21373
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:00 pm

The Nephite Chronology for Jaredite History

Post by _Kishkumen »

The Nephite Chronology for Jaredite History

As we have been discussing, this author has conclusively proven in his dissertation that the Nephites wrested Jaredite History and falsified Jaredite chronology. At present, this is the minority opinion, but legions of Jaredite scholars, both professionals and interested amateurs, have been completely won over by my work.

Some of the Old Guard of Mormon apologetics, who are deeply invested in the longtime orthodox view, which was dominated by Nephite propaganda, and by which they have been unfortunately bamboozled, are more resistant. Careers have risen to prominence on the illusory strength of Nephite propaganda. Many books have been published and sold. Nevertheless, the weakness of the Nephite hypothesis is obvious in its abject failure to convince sufficiently to set Book of Mormon scholarship on a respectable footing.

In spite of its obvious weaknesses in accounting for so many aspects of the Book of Mormon, most glaringly the Anthon Transcript and Book of Mormon geography, it is important for the rising generation of Jaredite scholars to learn the views and arguments, such that they are, of the Old Guard. So, for a truly pertinent starting place, I offer a link to John L. Sorenson's outdated article on Jaredite chronology:

Sorenson, J. L., "The Years of the Jaredites," BYU Today (September, 1968), 18-24

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/transcripts/?id=28

Here Sorenson basically elucidates the Nephite version of the Jaredite chronology, which is increasingly inaccurate and incomplete as it reaches further back into the past. Entire dynasties are represented by a single name. Other names are switched around as numerological gags that are little more than insulting slams. Almost the entire thing is a disaster, which has given rise to innumerable errors in Book of Mormon scholarship that has of course been completely blown out of the water by me. But we should forgive past generations of scholars who, believing the Nephites were genuine and "nice," did not consider the possibility that the Nephites were playing devilish tricks to smear the Jaredites. Live and learn.
Last edited by Guest on Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_monty fletcher
_Emeritus
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Re: The Electronic Journal of Jaredite Studies

Post by _monty fletcher »

It is threads like this that keep me coming back to this forum.

A pox on you, Kish.
_Kishkumen
_Emeritus
Posts: 21373
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:00 pm

Re: The Electronic Journal of Jaredite Studies

Post by _Kishkumen »

monty fletcher wrote:It is threads like this that keep me coming back to this forum.

A pox on you, Kish.


Sorry to be the bane of your existence, even if it is only in a limited way. I wish I could offer you some respite from the quality scholarship of EJJS, but I have a duty to the Jaredite Studies community. At the risk of robbing your employer of all of your productivity, let me invite you to return to the journal regularly to keep abreast of all of the latest earth-shaking, cosmos-shifting, game-changing, watershed landmarks (sorry to mix my metaphors, but I cannot undersell these in good conscience) of Jaredite research. After I have returned from Cairo, Geneva, London, Bogata, New York, and Toronto, the latest series of inspirational, mind-blowing lectures that provide secure evidence for the truth of Jaredite History, I will be sure to get back to you on your submission.

Ever your inspiration,

Reverend Severus M. Kishkumen, Ph.D., D.D., M.M.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_truth dancer
_Emeritus
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Re: The Electronic Journal of Jaredite Studies

Post by _truth dancer »

Hi Reverend Kishkumen,

I am deeply interested in your work and am wondering if there will be a website dedicated to Jaredite Studies?

Thanks,

~td~
"The search for reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings for it destroys the world in which you live." Nisargadatta Maharaj
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