Possible Modern Source for the Book of Mormon

[_Kishkumen]

Just checked the King James Version and cannot find those words together. "Curious workmanship" Nearest is in Exodus.

Is it really a smoking gun if all Smith harvested was the narrative Style and the combo word Curious Workmanship?

Of course, we would expect people fooling around on a discussion board to produce publishable material in every post.

[_AlmaBound]

Ch L, 7

Now these steamboats were cunningly contrived, and had abundance of curious workmanship therein, such as surpassed all the comprehension of all the wise men of the east, from the beginning to this day.

Howbeit, they were fashioned like unto the first vessel that floated upon the waters, which was the ark of Noah, the ninth descendent from Adam.

ETA: I missed your earlier post, Bond! The comparison to Noah's ark in Ether is notable, to me.

Indeed it is!

This find sews up the "War Chapters" in my mind, with some bleedover (pun intended) to the battles within Ether.

[_Craig Paxton]

For me, the smoking gun would have to be the freemen or the stripling warriors. As far as I know, you're not going to find those anywhere else but in the Book of Mormon and The Great War.

"Curious workmanship" is interesting, but taken together with everything else in The Great War, I think it's pretty compelling.

A Smoking gun for me would be the use of words such as Zarahemla, Nehpi or Lamanite

[_RockSlider]

Quoted from page 215 of BYU Studies website.

Thank you Nevo, for putting this issue to rest … as you can see it has already been addressed by smart people and all is well.

“Place of Publication:
Hartford, CT
Publisher:
B & J Russell
Date of Publication:
1816
Library Location:
Microfiche 080 Sh64a no. 37806
Nature of Source:
The author makes an examination of the religious systems of
different denominations in orde
r to discover what is truth an
d what is error in each of
them. Hart accuses most Churches of being co
rrupt and claims that great errors are found
within each of them. He further laments
the fact that competi
ng sects destroyed the
harmony and peace of Churches.
Comment:
This book gives the reader insight into
the competing and corrupt Churches
during Joseph's time. Hart claims that the
revivals of religion taking place at that time
were no more than shows, which encouraged fanaticism and filled one's mind with
delusion and self-deception. These writings he
lp one to better understand the state of
confusion Joseph found himself in over the
question of which Church was right and
which one he should join.
Researcher:
Sara Cranford
Excerpt (pages):
"The author for some time been
seriously impressed with a sense of
the unhappy differences existing between the di
fferent denominations of Christians, and
supposing that material errors are imbibed
by the leaders of every denomination, which
tend to pervert that union and harmony n
ecessary to peace..."(advertisement). “
"Supposed revivals of religion soon subside, the goodness of the most zealous is
as the morning cloud, and they retu
rn to a state of far greater
stupidity than before. They
forsake one mode of sinning, and adopt anothe
r less conspicuous and more agreeable.
The Churches are in this way augmented and co
rrupted, so that it is
to be feared that
Churches in this way become more corrupt
than some other parts of community"(20).
Length of Relevant Material:
10
Hard Copy:
Date when Photocopying was Completed:

[_Mary]

Mr. P. informs us, that, " in digging a foundation for a house of correction, on the spot where the old abbey stood, a vault was discovered, the only one there, and which was of curious workmanship; that in the vault was a leaden coffin aimost devoured by time; that a perfect skeleton was contained therein, which undoubtedly was the king's, from the distinguished appearance of the coffin, and the vault in which it was interred, and more particularly from several fragments of rotten leather found in the coffin, the body of that king being said to have been wrapped in tanned oxhides." If it should be proved that these assertions of Mr. P. arc Well-founded, and that it really was the body of the king, no one, I trust, will hesitate to join with him in condemning the sacrilege he mentions; but if, on the contrary, it should appear that there is every reason to believe them groundless, there will be little need for those lamentations which Mr. P. has, so liberally poured fourth.A leaden coffin was indeed dug up about ....

A selection of curious articles from the Gentleman's magazine [compiled by J. Walker]. 

J Walker...didn't someone mention him earlier in the thread..

[Guest]

Topics: Book of Mormon, Translation
Author: Gilbert J. Hunt
Title of Book: The Late War, Between the United States and Great Britain
Title of Article:
Title of Periodical:
Place of Publication: New York
Publisher: Daniel D. Smith
Date of Publication: 1819
Library Location: Microfiche Z 1201.S32 Unit 179, 17184-18187
Nature of Source: Grunder describes this as an "essentially naïve, jingoistic, but extremely popular panoply of American virtues in the face of British wickedness in the war of 1812." However, he justifies putting it on the list because Hunt writes his book in biblical style, which, according to Grunder, illustrates "the ease with which works that sounded like the Bible could be written and marketed in the early United States."
Comment: The author admittedly tries to imitate Biblical style in his writings. He divides his book into chapters and verses and uses similar wording as the Bible. His work does not include books (like Matthew, Mark, etc.) but instead just has chapter and verse numbers. To the untrained eye, the book clearly does resemble Biblical style. However, a trained scholar in ancient texts would easily be able to pick out obvious differences. Furthermore, there is clearly a major difference in content between Hunt's book and the Book of Mormon. Joseph did not try to merely write a familiar historical event in Biblical fashion. His book was of a content never before heard, an entirely new history, and one that he claimed to be directly from God.
Researcher: Sara Cranford
Excerpt (pages): "17 Now it was on the eighteenth day of the fifth month, in the same year, in the afterpart of the day..."(310).
"24 Now these things happened nigh unto a place called Carthagene, on the borders of Spain, and when the Spaniards beheld the skill and prowess of the people of Columbia, they were amazed"(311).
"2 But lo! When his fleet arrived there..."(315).
"39 Now it came to pass, when Jackson heard that Pensacola, the capital of west Florida, had become a resting place for the enemies of Columbia..."(263).
Length of Relevant Material: 317 pps.

Is there anything else?

I am going to have to go with "doesn't count." I don't see much in the way of analysis here. Furthermore, the only strong Book of Mormon resonance it does note is "Now it came to pass..."

What I see in Hunt goes way beyond that. I can't believe the reader failed to see anything more than this.

[Anonymous]

Despite not seeing a silver bullet in this discussion, the similarity in style between History of the Great War and the Book of Mormon remains huge in my book. I still maintain that Smith was probably influenced by this book, at the very least.

If you're looking for stylistic similarities between the Book of Mormon and other pseudo-biblical writings in Joseph Smith's cultural milieu you shouldn't confine yourself to Hunt's book. Take a look also at Richard Snowden's The American Revolution; Written in the Style of Ancient History, as well as the following shorter works: "Paraphrase of the First Book of Samuel, Chap. VIII," New York Journal, Jan. 13, 1791; "First Chapter of Chronicles," Oriental Trumpet, Oct 18, 1798; "Ancient Chronicles, Chap. XX," Windham Herald, Oct. 9, 1800; "The First Book of the Kings," Alexandria Expositor, Feb. 21, 1803; and "The 1st Book of the Chronicles of John," South Carolina Investigator, Oct. 30, 1812. (All of these examples come from the Eran Shalev article cited in Mormon Interpreter.)

[_Kishkumen]

Before others get overly carried away with my use of the term "smoking gun," I should state that for me this would probably turn out to be a smoking gun in the category of contemporary influences on Joseph Smith as author of the Book of Mormon.

I don't, by any means, contend that this explains the book as a whole.

[_Kishkumen]

If you're looking for stylistic similarities between the Book of Mormon and other pseudo-biblical writings in Joseph Smith's cultural milieu you shouldn't confine yourself to Hunt's book. Take a look also at Richard Snowden's The American Revolution; Written in the Style of Ancient History, as well as the following shorter works: "Paraphrase of the First Book of Samuel, Chap. VIII," New York Journal, Jan. 13, 1791; "First Chapter of Chronicles," Oriental Trumpet, Oct 18, 1798; "Ancient Chronicles, Chap. XX," Windham Herald, Oct. 9, 1800; "The First Book of the Kings," Alexandria Expositor, Feb. 21, 1803; and "The 1st Book of the Chronicles of John," South Carolina Investigator, Oct. 30, 1812. (All of these examples all come from the Eran Shalev article cited in Mormon Interpreter.)

Sure. What makes Hunt's book especially interesting, however, is the fact that he is a New Yorker who wrote this particular book for school children.

[_AlmaBound]

Would be interesting to see Hunt included in a wordprint study.