Understanding the Book of Mormon by Grant Hardy

A thoughtful book that examines the Book of Mormon as literature.

That being said, close examination of the manuscripts and various printed editions of the Book of Mormon help readers appreciate the true integrity of its text. This kind of scholarly examination of a text is called a “critical text” analysis(Rs)

Examples:

the first two-thirds of the book of Alma according to a series of parallels" (304). Alma 4-16 includes three sermons delivered to three different cities. Alma 36-42 includes Alma's three charges to three different sons (Alma 36-42). The sermons and charges overlap in theme, respective length, order, and source (primary documents are utilized in each case). This city/son parallel is even more interesting considering Alma preached in five cities but only three accounts are included in the narrative. Altogether, this indicates remarkable coincidence or deliberate construction: Zarahemla/Helaman (morally ambiguous), Gideon/Shiblon (clearly righteous, shortest), Ammonihah/Corianton (clearly wicked, longest)

In speaking of geographical details provided in the BOM (there are upwards of 1000 passages of potential geographic significance.[5]) Hardy finds"Amidst this dizzying array of details, the text’s demonstrable geographic consistency shines forth as a powerful witness to the sophistication and complexity of the Book of Mormon.[14] Upon careful inspection, Grant Hardy, a professor of history, has found, “It requires considerable patience to work out all the details of chronology, geography, genealogy, and source records, but the Book of Mormon is remarkably consistent on all of this.”[15] 

Royal Skousen in a recent  essay observed that: The Book of Mormon’s title page, translated by Joseph Smith,[i] ends with a rather intriguing disclaimer for a book of scripture: “And now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men. Wherefore condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of Christ.”[ii]

By its own admission, the Book of Mormon is not a perfect text, something the book’s authors and compilers themselves frequently insisted (1 Nephi 19:6; Mormon 8:12, 16–17; Mormon 9:31; Ether 12:23–25).

Many have wondered how this could be if there were possible mistakes made in the book’s textual history. Latter-day Saint scholar Hugh Nibley answered this question by distinguishing between the message of the Book of Mormon and the “mechanical details” of its printing:

Joseph Smith . . . proclaimed [the Book of Mormon] the most correct book on earth. Most correct in what sense? . . . What is a “correct” book? One with properly cut margins, appropriate binding, a useful index, accurately numbered pages? Not at all; these are mere mechanical details, as are also punctuation, spelling, and even grammar—those matters about which the critics of the Book of Mormon have made such a to-do.[iv]

Scholarly study of the Book of Mormon and discovered Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon don't give me fear.  They give me further cause to study, pray and ponder. To seek out through the Spirit what I need to learn and live by. It seems clear that the Book of Mormon is the “most correct book on earth” because by living and applying its teachings one can come closer to God than by any other book. If you want food for thought - it's a good and meaningful read; if you are intellectually lazy or of faint heart - skip it.