View source for Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Script

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|A=The Interactive Bible
|<=[[../Book of Mormon Geography|Book of Mormon Geography]]
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==Quick Navigation==
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Script#Response to claim: "Why are Greek names such as Lachoneus, Timothy, Jonas, and Alpha & Omega in a book that should have absolutely no Greek influence?"|Response to claim: "Why are Greek names such as Lachoneus, Timothy, Jonas, and Alpha & Omega in a book that should have absolutely no Greek influence?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Script#Response to claim: "Why aren't there other examples of "Reformed Egyptian" in Ancient America?"|Response to claim: "Why aren't there other examples of "Reformed Egyptian" in Ancient America?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Script#Response to claim: "Why doesn't a linguistical relationship exist between any native American language and ancient Egyptian or Hebrew?"|Response to claim: "Why doesn't a linguistical relationship exist between any native American language and ancient Egyptian or Hebrew?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Script#Response to claim: "How did the Book of Mormon language evolve so rapidly into non-related Indian languages?"|Response to claim: "How did the Book of Mormon language evolve so rapidly into non-related Indian languages?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Script#Response to claim: "Why are only four main types of Mesoamerican writing systems known (and none in pre-Columbus North America): (Aztec, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Maya)?"|Response to claim: "Why are only four main types of Mesoamerican writing systems known (and none in pre-Columbus North America): (Aztec, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Maya)?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Script#Response to claim: "Why can't the Anthon transcript (which contains copies of the supposed Reformed Egyptian characters) be identified with any forms of Egyptian?"|Response to claim: "Why can't the Anthon transcript (which contains copies of the supposed Reformed Egyptian characters) be identified with any forms of Egyptian?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Script#Response to claim: "If the Book of Mormon took place outside of Mesoamerica (like in New York where the Hill Cumorah supposedly is), why are written languages of ancient America only found in Mesoamerica?"|Response to claim: "If the Book of Mormon took place outside of Mesoamerica (like in New York where the Hill Cumorah supposedly is), why are written languages of ancient America only found in Mesoamerica?"]]
*[[Countercult ministries/The Interactive Bible/Difficult Questions for Mormons/Book of Mormon Script#Response to claim: "Why haven't any of the Book of Mormon proper names such as Nephi, Laman, Zarahemla, etc. been found in all of the many writings that have been found in Mesoamerica?"|Response to claim: "Why haven't any of the Book of Mormon proper names such as Nephi, Laman, Zarahemla, etc. been found in all of the many writings that have been found in Mesoamerica?"]]


==Response to claim: "Why are Greek names such as Lachoneus, Timothy, Jonas, and Alpha & Omega in a book that should have absolutely no Greek influence?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why are Greek names such as Lachoneus, Timothy, Jonas, and Alpha & Omega in a book that should have absolutely no Greek influence?"
}}
{{misinformation|The Book of Mormon is a ''translation''. Joseph Smith translated it into words that he was familiar with. The words "alpha" and "omega" and "Timothy" did not appear on the plates. Joseph ''translated'' whatever was there into these words.}}
{{:Question: Is the Book of Mormon not an ancient work because it contains "Greek words" such as "alpha and omega" or "Christ"?}}
{{:Source:Nibley:CW06:Ch22:8:Greek Names}}

==Response to claim: "Why aren't there other examples of "Reformed Egyptian" in Ancient America?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why aren't there other examples of "Reformed Egyptian" in Ancient America?"
}}
{{misinformation|The term "reformed Egyptian" is not the name of a language. There is no language called "Reformed Egyptian." Moroni used the term "reformed Egyptian" to describe the modified Egyptian style characters he was using to write his record.}}
{{:Question: What is "reformed Egyptian"?}}

==Response to claim: "Why doesn't a linguistical relationship exist between any native American language and ancient Egyptian or Hebrew?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why doesn't a linguistical relationship exist between any native American language and ancient Egyptian or Hebrew?"
}}
{{misinformation|Actually, some relationships may indeed exist. However, attempting to find such links may be unrealistic.}}
{{:Question: Have any relationships been found between New World languages and Hebrew?}}

==Response to claim: "How did the Book of Mormon language evolve so rapidly into non-related Indian languages?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "How did the Book of Mormon language evolve so rapidly into non-related Indian languages? Indo-European is much older than the Book of Mormon time period, yet vestiges of Indo-European exist through all of Europe and parts of Asia."
}}
{{information|The Lehite's original language likely ''did'' disappear quickly after they arrived in the New World as they integrated with those that were already there.}}
{{:Question: Is finding links between Hebrew and ancient American languages realistic?}}

==Response to claim: "Why are only four main types of Mesoamerican writing systems known (and none in pre-Columbus North America): (Aztec, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Maya)?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why are only four main types of Mesoamerican writing systems known (and none in pre-Columbus North America): (Aztec, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Maya)?"
}}
{{information|Because these are, to date, the only four writing systems that have been discovered. However, this really doesn't have any implications with regard to the Book of Mormon.}}

==Response to claim: "Why can't the Anthon transcript (which contains copies of the supposed Reformed Egyptian characters) be identified with any forms of Egyptian?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why can't the Anthon transcript (which contains copies of the supposed Reformed Egyptian characters) be identified with any forms of Egyptian? The only three Egyptologists that have looked at it say it does not contain any Egyptian (Ferguson Collection, BYU)"
}}
{{misinformation|The gold plates, and the Anthon transcript, do not contain Egyptian. Moroni said that they had "reformed" the Egyptian - it was no longer Egyptian. Therefore, Egyptologists would most definitively state that is "does not contain any Egyptian."}}

==Response to claim: "If the Book of Mormon took place outside of Mesoamerica (like in New York where the Hill Cumorah supposedly is), why are written languages of ancient America only found in Mesoamerica?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "If the Book of Mormon took place outside of Mesoamerica (like in New York where the Hill Cumorah supposedly is), why are written languages of ancient America only found in Mesoamerica?"
}}
{{information|This is one of the reasons why Mesoamerica is a leading candidate for the location of the Book of Mormon.}}

==Response to claim: "Why haven't any of the Book of Mormon proper names such as Nephi, Laman, Zarahemla, etc. been found in all of the many writings that have been found in Mesoamerica?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Difficult Questions for Mormons
|claim=Response to claim: "Why haven't any of the Book of Mormon proper names such as Nephi, Laman, Zarahemla, etc. been found in all of the many writings that have been found in Mesoamerica?"
}}
{{propaganda|Because there are very, very rare texts from Book of Mormon times, and only one from a place that might have been directly related to the Book of Mormon (and that is only a date). 

Plus, there are some interesting aspects of the naming in the Book of Mormon that the names had narrative purposes, and didn't actually reflect personal names in many cases. Finally, different languages and phonetics render things differently. Mark Wright and Kerry Hull played around with a Maya representation of a purported "Greek" name in the Book of Mormon and found that in Maya it might be "flaming mosquito"--which doesn't sound like it should be a thing--except there are artistic representations of flaming mosquitoes.}}


{{endnotes sources}}