Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Reformed Egyptian

Chapter 3, From Profit to Prophet: Reformed Egyptian

The Quote

One Nation under Gods, page 55

[R]eputable scholars have for decades declared that there is no such language as "Reformed Egyptian."60

The References

Endnote 60, page 508 (hardback)

John A. Wilson, letter to Marvin Cowan, March 16, 1966. Quoted in Tanner and Tanner, The Changing World [of Mormonism], 144. . . . University of Chicago Egyptologist Klaus Baer has gone so far as to refer to Smith's Book of Mormon characters as senseless "doodlings" (Sunstone, May-June 1980, 30. Quoted in Tanner and Tanner, The Changing World [of Mormonism], 144. . . .

Endnote 60, page 506 (paperback)

[Expanded citations from those provided in the hardback edition]

The Problems

Neither the statements in the main text or its accompanying footnote are accurate. For a discussion on the reality of 'reformed Egyptian' scripts see:

• William J. Hamblin, "Reformed Egyptian," criticism paper (Provo, Utah: The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1995), 8 pp. (http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?a=transcripts/00036.inc or http://lightplanet.com/mormons/response/bom/Reformed_Egyptian.htm
• John Gee, "La Trahison des Clercs: On the Language and Translation of the Book of Mormon," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, vol. 6, no. 1, 1994, 79-83, 94-99.
• John Gee, "Two Notes on Egyptian Script," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, Spring 1996, 161-76.
• John A. Tvedtnes and Stephen D. Ricks, "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, Fall 1996, 156-63.

For parallels between Joseph Smith's "Anthon Transcript" characters and Egyptian writing see:

• Ariel Crowley, "The Anthon Transcript," Improvement Era, vol. 45, no. 1, January 1842; ibid., vol. 45, no. 2, February 1942; ibid., vol. 45, no. 3, March 1942. http://www.shields-research.org/Scriptures/BoM/Anthon_Transcript-Crowley/Anthon_Transcript-Crowley.htm

For parallels between Joseph Smith's "Anthon Transcript" characters and Mesoamerican writing see:

• Carl H. Jones, "The 'Anthon Transcript' and Two Mesoamerican Cylinder Seals," Newsletter and Proceedings of the Society for Early Historical Archaeology, no. 122, September 1970, 1-8.
• John L. Sorenson, "Digging into the Book of Mormon: Part 2," Ensign, October 1984, 17