Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Studies of the Book of Mormon/A Book of Mormon Study/View of the Hebrews as ground plan

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Response to "View of the Hebrews as ground plan"

Ethan Smith’s Book, View of the Hebrews, as structural Material for the Book of Mormon; Unity of the American Race; American Language from One Source—The Hebrew

A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books, a work by author: B.H. Roberts, edited by Brigham D. Madsen

Response to "View of the Hebrews as ground plan"

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• Response to hypothesis: 170 - The first chapter of View of the Hebrews talks of the destruction of Jerusalem and scattering of Israel
• Response to hypothesis: 173 - Both View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon extensively quote Isaiah
• Response to hypothesis: 73 - Many of the Isaiah chapters quoted in View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon are the same

Response to hypothesis: 170 - The first chapter of View of the Hebrews talks of the destruction of Jerusalem and scattering of Israel

The author(s) of A Book of Mormon Study present(s) the following hypothesis:

The first chapter of View of the Hebrews talks of the destruction of Jerusalem and scattering of Israel. The first chapter of the Book of Mormon also discusses the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of Israel.

Question: Could Joseph Smith have used Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews as a guideline for creating the Book of Mormon?

Book of Mormon Central, KnoWhy #502: Is the Book of Mormon Like Any Other Nineteenth Century Book? (Video)

Criticisms related to View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon

• It is claimed that a 19th century work by Ethan Smith, View of the Hebrews, provided source material for Joseph Smith's construction of the Book of Mormon.
• Some also postulate a link between Ethan Smith and Oliver Cowdery, since both men lived in Poultney, Vermont while Smith served as the pastor of the church that Oliver Cowdery's family attended at the time that View of the Hebrews was being written.

Many of the criticisms proposed are based upon B. H. Roberts' list of parallels, which only had validity if one applied a hemispheric geography model to the Book of Mormon

The View of the Hebrews theory is yet another attempt to fit a secular origin to the Book of Mormon. Many of the criticisms proposed are based upon B. H. Roberts' list of parallels, which only had validity if one applied a hemispheric geography model to the Book of Mormon. There are a significant number of differences between the two books, which are easily discovered upon reading Ethan Smith's work. Many points that Ethan Smith thought were important are not mentioned at all in the Book of Mormon, and many of the "parallels" are no longer valid based upon current scholarship.

Advocates of the Ethan Smith theory must also explain why Joseph, the ostensible forger, had the chutzpah to point out the source of his forgery. They must also explain why, if Joseph found this evidence so compelling, he did not exploit it for use in the Book of Mormon text itself, since the Book of Mormon contains no reference to the many "unparallels" that Ethan assured his readers virtually guaranteed a Hebrew connection to the Amerindians.

Response to hypothesis: 173 - Both View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon extensively quote Isaiah

The author(s) of A Book of Mormon Study present(s) the following hypothesis:

Both View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon extensively quote Isaiah. The Book of Mormon quotes 21 chapters of Isaiah, and View of the Hebrews quotes from twenty chapters of Isaiah.

Question: What did B.H. Roberts say about View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon?

B.H. Roberts was playing "devil's advocate" when he examined View of the Hebrews, and showing what a critic might do

The View of the Hebrews theory was examined in detail by B. H. Roberts in 1921 and 1922. Roberts took the position of examining the Book of Mormon from a critical perspective in order to alert the General Authorities to possible future avenues of attack by critics. The resulting manuscripts were titled Book of Mormon Difficulties and A Parallel. Roberts, who believed in a hemispheric geography for the Book of Mormon, highlighted a number of parallels between View of the Hebrews and The Book of Mormon. Roberts stated,

[C]ould the people of Mulek and of Lehi...part of the time numbering and occupying the land at least from Yucatan to Cumorah...live and move and have their being in the land of America and not come in contact with other races and tribes of men, if such existed in the New World within Book of Mormon times? To make this seem possible the area occupied by the Nephites and Lamanites would have to be extremely limited, much more limited, I fear, than the Book of Mormon would admit our assuming.

Roberts concluded that, if one assumed that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon himself, that View of the Hebrews could have provided him with a foundation for creating the book. In fact, many of the issues highlighted by Roberts vanish when a limited geography theory is considered. The acceptance of the View of the Hebrews theory is therefore contingent upon the acceptance of a hemispheric geography model for the Book of Mormon. In order to promote View of the Hebrews as a source, critics necessarily reject any limited geography theory proposal for the Book of Mormon.

Roberts rejected the idea that the Book of Mormon was not divine

In 1985, Roberts' manuscripts were published under the title Studies of the Book of Mormon. This book is used by critics to support their claim that B. H. Roberts lost his testimony after performing the study. Roberts, however, clearly continued to publicly support the Book of Mormon until his death, and reaffirmed his testimony both publicly and in print.

Response to hypothesis: 73 - Many of the Isaiah chapters quoted in View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon are the same

The author(s) of A Book of Mormon Study Many of the Isaiah chapters quoted in View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon are the same. present(s) the following hypothesis:

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FairMormon Response

Question: What are the similarities and differences between View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon?