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.
Difference between revisions of "Book of Mormon/Language/Reformed Egyptian/Egyptian too bulky"
< Book of Mormon | Language | Reformed Egyptian
m (Created page with '{{draft}} {{BoMPortal}} ==Criticism== Critics claim that Egyptian would be too lengthy and bulky on the plates to account for the Book of Mormon: :[Egyptian would take] "perhaps…') |
m |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
Critics claim that Egyptian would be too lengthy and bulky on the plates to account for the Book of Mormon: | Critics claim that Egyptian would be too lengthy and bulky on the plates to account for the Book of Mormon: | ||
| − | :[Egyptian would take] "perhaps four times, or even more than four times, as much room as the English, and it is quite certain that, as the Book of Mormon is 600 pages thick, it would take at least a thousand plates to hold in the Egyptian language, what is there written."{{ref|critic.1}} | + | :[Egyptian would take] "perhaps four times, or even more than four times, as much room as the English, and it is quite certain that, as the Book of Mormon is 600 pages thick, it would take at least a ''thousand'' plates to hold in the Egyptian language, what is there written." {{io}}{{ref|critic.1}} |
{{CriticalSources}} | {{CriticalSources}} | ||
Revision as of 17:30, 20 April 2010
This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
| Answers portal |
| Book of Mormon |
|
 RESOURCES
|
|---|
|
General information: Book of Mormon & Bible: Criticisms: |
 PERSPECTIVES
|
 MEDIA
|
| OTHER PORTALS
|
Contents
Criticism
Critics claim that Egyptian would be too lengthy and bulky on the plates to account for the Book of Mormon:
- [Egyptian would take] "perhaps four times, or even more than four times, as much room as the English, and it is quite certain that, as the Book of Mormon is 600 pages thick, it would take at least a thousand plates to hold in the Egyptian language, what is there written." (italics in original)[1]
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here
Response
Unfortunately for the critics, knowledge of Egyptian was in its infancy. Critics of the era knew little about Egyptian, because no one knew very much. The critics were probably thinking of Egyptian hieroglyphics. However, the Book of Mormon makes it clear that reformed Egyptian had been adapted by them for concise writing. As discussed in the main article, variant Old World forms of Egyptian (such as Demotic) were quite compact, and well-suited for writing with space constraints.
Conclusion
One hears little of this critique today; linguistic "fact" has caught up with the Book of Mormon, the critics have largely abandoned this approach.
Endnotes
- [note] A Little Talk, Between John Robinson and his Master about Mormonism, Shewing its Origin, Absurdity, and Impiety (Bedford: W. White, 1840), 1–8. off-site
Best articles to read next
The best article(s) to read next on this topic is/are:
- William J. Hamblin, "Reformed Egyptian," FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 31–35. off-site wiki
- William J. Hamblin, "Review of Archaeology and the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner," FARMS Review of Books 5/1 (1993): 250–272. off-site
- Stephen D. Ricks and John A. Tvedtnes, "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5/2 (1996). [156–163] link
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
Book of Mormon/Language/Reformed Egyptian/Egyptian too bulky
FAIR web site
- FairMormon Topical Guide: Reformed Egyptian FairMormon link
External links
Printed material
- Carl H. Jones, "The 'Anthon Transcript' and Two Mesoamerican Cylinder Seals," Newsletter and Proceedings of the Society for Early Historical Archaeology 122 (September 1970): 1–8.
- Hugh W. Nibley, Since Cumorah, 2nd edition, (Vol. 7 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by John W. Welch, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1988), 149. ISBN 0875791395.GL direct link