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FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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====Have An Equally Plausible Manner in Which Something Can Emerge==== | ====Have An Equally Plausible Manner in Which Something Can Emerge==== | ||
The other way to address a criticism is to have an ''equally plausible'' way for something to emerge. There can be claims of plagiarism that we ''neutralize'' rather than ''refute''. Neutralization is an acceptable result of apologetic investigation. There are a couple of ways that we can accomplish neutralization. | The other way to address a criticism is to have an ''equally plausible'' way for something to emerge. There can be claims of plagiarism that we ''neutralize'' rather than ''refute''. Neutralization is an acceptable result of apologetic investigation. There are a couple of ways that we can accomplish neutralization. | ||
− | #'''Have the alleged influence make sense within the historical setting in which the passages of scripture emerged''': For instance, take FAIR's rebuttal to the claim that the [[Question: Is the Book of Mormon's anti-universalism derived merely from Joseph Smith's contemporary religious culture?|Book of Mormon's anti-universalism comes merely from Joseph Smith's religious environment]]. A big part of FAIR's rebuttal was to show that there are many scriptures that would have been on the brass plates that Lehi and co brought from Jerusalem to the New World. Therefore, the surge of universalism in the Book of Mormon and Alma's rebuttals to that universalism make sense within the Book of Mormon's claimed historical narrative. This is especially relevant to ancient scripture and addressing claims of mere conceptual resemblance. Readers will want to familiarize themselves with the ancient context of the various volumes of Restoration scripture in order to address these types of claims.<ref>For just a few resources on the ancient context of scripture, visit these sources. For the Book of Mormon, see Brant A. Gardner, ''Traditions of the Fathers: The Book of Mormon as History'' (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2015); Brant A. Gardner, ''Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon,'' 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007); John L. Sorenson, ''Mormon’s Codex'' (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2013). For the Book of Abraham, see John Gee, ''An Introduction to the Book of Abraham'' (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2018). For the Book of Moses see Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, ''In God's Image and Likeness'' (Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2009); Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and David Larson, ''In God's Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel'' (Provo, UT: Interpreter Foundation, 2014). For the Joseph Smith Translation, see Robert J. Matthews, ''"A Plainer Translation": Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible'' (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1985).</ref> If a more ''generalized'' ancient context does not explain a passage, perhaps a more ''individual'' one will explain it. For example, some critics have attempted to draw similarities between the names of the disciples that Jesus chooses as his 12 in the Book of Mormon and the names of the original 12 apostles in the New Testament, suggesting that Joseph Smith cribbed from the latter for the former. Setting aside the more contrived similarities, something else that could explain that is Jesus' own personal desire to have 12 men around him that reminded him of his beloved 12 in the Old World. | + | #'''Have the alleged influence make sense within the historical setting in which the passages of scripture emerged''': For instance, take FAIR's rebuttal to the claim that the [[Question: Is the Book of Mormon's anti-universalism derived merely from Joseph Smith's contemporary religious culture?|Book of Mormon's anti-universalism comes merely from Joseph Smith's religious environment]]. A big part of FAIR's rebuttal was to show that there are many scriptures that would have been on the brass plates that Lehi and co brought from Jerusalem to the New World. Therefore, the surge of universalism in the Book of Mormon and Alma's rebuttals to that universalism make sense within the Book of Mormon's claimed historical narrative. This is especially relevant to ancient scripture and addressing claims of mere conceptual resemblance. Readers will want to familiarize themselves with the ancient context of the various volumes of Restoration scripture in order to address these types of claims.<ref>For just a few resources on the ancient context of scripture, visit these sources. For the Book of Mormon, see Brant A. Gardner, ''Traditions of the Fathers: The Book of Mormon as History'' (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2015); Brant A. Gardner, ''Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon,'' 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007); John L. Sorenson, ''Mormon’s Codex'' (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2013). For the Book of Abraham, see John Gee, ''An Introduction to the Book of Abraham'' (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2018). For the Book of Moses see Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, ''In God's Image and Likeness'' (Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2009); Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and David Larson, ''In God's Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel'' (Provo, UT: Interpreter Foundation, 2014). For the Joseph Smith Translation, see Robert J. Matthews, ''"A Plainer Translation": Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible'' (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1985).</ref> If a more ''generalized'' ancient context does not explain a passage, perhaps a more ''individual'' one will explain it. For example, some critics have attempted to draw similarities between the names of the disciples that Jesus chooses as his 12 in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi and the names of the original 12 apostles in the New Testament, suggesting that Joseph Smith cribbed from the latter for the former. Setting aside the more contrived similarities, something else that could explain that is Jesus' own personal desire to have 12 men around him that reminded him of his beloved 12 in the Old World. |
#'''Consider the possibility that scriptural authors used the type-scene as a rhetorical device''': As explained by Book of Mormon Central in [[Question: Did Joseph Smith use characters from the Bible as templates for characters in the Book of Mormon?|another article on the FAIR website]], "[a] type-scene is an ancient storytelling technique where certain kinds of stories are told in certain ways. The ancient audience expected that when a main character got engaged, for example, he would journey to a foreign land, encounter a woman at a well, and draw water from the well. Then the woman would rush home to tell the family, and the man and the woman would be betrothed. However, each time the storyteller applied this type-scene to a new character, they would change the story slightly. This allowed the type-scene to fit each character’s historical circumstances, but also gave insights into the personalities of each character in the story." Rather than seeing parallels between the stories of the Bible and other books of scripture as evidence of plagiarism on the part of Joseph Smith, readers of the Book of Mormon can see this as the ancient authors of scripture using the type-scene as a rhetorical device for telling a story. This is especially relevant to ancient scripture. | #'''Consider the possibility that scriptural authors used the type-scene as a rhetorical device''': As explained by Book of Mormon Central in [[Question: Did Joseph Smith use characters from the Bible as templates for characters in the Book of Mormon?|another article on the FAIR website]], "[a] type-scene is an ancient storytelling technique where certain kinds of stories are told in certain ways. The ancient audience expected that when a main character got engaged, for example, he would journey to a foreign land, encounter a woman at a well, and draw water from the well. Then the woman would rush home to tell the family, and the man and the woman would be betrothed. However, each time the storyteller applied this type-scene to a new character, they would change the story slightly. This allowed the type-scene to fit each character’s historical circumstances, but also gave insights into the personalities of each character in the story." Rather than seeing parallels between the stories of the Bible and other books of scripture as evidence of plagiarism on the part of Joseph Smith, readers of the Book of Mormon can see this as the ancient authors of scripture using the type-scene as a rhetorical device for telling a story. This is especially relevant to ancient scripture. | ||
#'''Remember that Joseph Smith's model of revelation is one in which god speaks "in [the prophet's and humanity's] weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding" ([https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/1.24?lang=eng&clang=eng#p24 Doctrine and Covenants 1:24])''': We know that Joseph Smith's cultural environment was steeped in biblical language. In the early 19th century, it was used in all kinds of literature and even in common parlance among citizens of English-speaking countries. Critics have pointed to the existence of Old Testament and New Testament language in the Book of Mormon, Book of Moses, and Book of Abraham as evidence of Joseph Smith copying this language from the Bible. Rather than seeing it as evidence of plagiarism, believers can point to this scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants as evidence that Joseph Smith had a model of revelation that would accommodate this language so that the readers of scripture could come to understanding of God's will and nature. They can use this as evidence that God is the "same yesterday, today, and forever[.]"<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/10.18?lang=eng&clang=eng#p18 1 Nephi 10:18]</ref> They can use it as evidence that God exalts our fallen humanity and uses it to help us become like him: our ultimate destiny.<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132.19-20?lang=eng Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20]</ref> | #'''Remember that Joseph Smith's model of revelation is one in which god speaks "in [the prophet's and humanity's] weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding" ([https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/1.24?lang=eng&clang=eng#p24 Doctrine and Covenants 1:24])''': We know that Joseph Smith's cultural environment was steeped in biblical language. In the early 19th century, it was used in all kinds of literature and even in common parlance among citizens of English-speaking countries. Critics have pointed to the existence of Old Testament and New Testament language in the Book of Mormon, Book of Moses, and Book of Abraham as evidence of Joseph Smith copying this language from the Bible. Rather than seeing it as evidence of plagiarism, believers can point to this scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants as evidence that Joseph Smith had a model of revelation that would accommodate this language so that the readers of scripture could come to understanding of God's will and nature. They can use this as evidence that God is the "same yesterday, today, and forever[.]"<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/10.18?lang=eng&clang=eng#p18 1 Nephi 10:18]</ref> They can use it as evidence that God exalts our fallen humanity and uses it to help us become like him: our ultimate destiny.<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132.19-20?lang=eng Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20]</ref> |
One of the primary methods of attack for critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been to accuse Joseph Smith (and other prophets who have revelations canonized) of plagiarizing different parts of his translations/revelations that have become part of the scriptural canon of the Church. There are different kinds of influence that critics allege outside sources had on Joseph Smith’s scriptural productions. Some point out mere conceptual resemblance. Others claim direct borrowing (like copy/pasting from other sources). Some believe that certain characters in the Bible provide a narrative structure for those in the Book of Mormon.
This article seeks to identify principles and procedures that Latter-day Saint defenders can keep in mind in order to address each of these accusations.
We should first lay out some general principles:
There are two very general ways that one can address plagiarism accusations. The first of these is to have a superior option for where something came from and the other is to have an equally plausible option for where something came from. We explain more below.
Everyone recognizes that the words and ideas in the scriptures had to come from somewhere. Latter-day Saints believe that they came from revelation given to prophets both ancient and modern. Critics believe they came from the mind of Joseph Smith and/or one or more of his associates. The first way to address accusations from a faithful perspective is to show that the Latter-day Saint perspective is the superior one given the historical data we currently possess. For instance, one can:
The other way to address a criticism is to have an equally plausible way for something to emerge. There can be claims of plagiarism that we neutralize rather than refute. Neutralization is an acceptable result of apologetic investigation. There are a couple of ways that we can accomplish neutralization.
It is the author's hope that this article will help all who are interested in providing a reason for the hope that is within every Latter-day Saint's heart of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the integrity of its founding prophet, Joseph Smith.
FAIR has collected responses to various claims of plagiarism over the years that readers can find by following the links below.
Notes
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