Book Recommendation - By The Hand of Mormon

I'd like to recommend a great book about the Book of Mormon.  This book is By The Hand of Mormon by Dr. Terryl L. Givens. 

Dr. Givens has written an outstanding book that gives you and overview of the Book of Mormon.  Chapters include...

• A discussion about Joseph Smith and how he obtained the golden plates, translated the Book of Mormon, and published the Book  of Mormon.
• The Book of Mormon as Ancient History
• Cultural Product or Sacred Fiction?
• The Book of Mormon as New Theology
• The Book of Mormon as Cultural Touchstone.

Dr. Givens spends time reviewing modern day LDS scholarship about the Book of Mormon.  (Dr. Givens is a member of the LDS Church.)  He discusses the work of John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon.  Dr. Sorenson spent many years studying the Book of Mormon, recording locations, geographical descriptions, settings, etc.  Based on his years of work, he proposes that the Book of Mormon land is located in southern Mexico near the Yucatan peninsula.  

He goes into detail about where possible locations for places like Zarahemla would fit in based on Book of Mormon descriptions.  He proposed a river that could be the River Sidon mentioned in the Book of Mormon.  Based on the description, he proposes that the Sidon is the Grijalva River.  You can see the Grijalva in the map above.  It is near the "O" in Mexico and empties into the Gulf of Mexico.  (A side note - Lawrence Poulsen did a 3-D study of rivers in the Americas.  The Grijalva was the only river that met the requirements as outlined in the Book of Mormon.  For more information, click here.)  Sorenson's work provides a very realistic and possible setting for the Book of Mormon.

He also pays tribute to Hugh Nibley and his work on the Book of Mormon.  In many ways, Dr. Nibley was the first true scholar of the Book of Mormon.  One of the best books I've read about the Book of Mormon is Nibley's An Approach to the Book of Mormon.  One observation Nibley made in the book has stayed with me.  He said that when people ask if the Book of Mormon could have been a product of the 19th Century, he replied, "Absolutely!"  But he went on to say that that was the wrong question.  The question that should be asked is "Is it possible that the Book of Mormon is what we claim it is - an ancient record of Jews who left Jerusalem circa 600 B.C.?" (Note - wordings are paraphrased by me.)  He goes on to establish that it most certainly is possible that the Book of Mormon could have been written by Jews circa 600 B.C.

Givens spends time discussing a current debate about the Book of Mormon - Is the Book of Mormon what Joseph Smith claims (a translation of a set of plates written by an ancient civilization in the Americas & the plates were revealed to him by the angel Moroni) or is it "divine" fiction, i.e., written by Joseph Smith under the inspiration of G-d.  I feel he does a good job presenting both sides of the argument.  He eventually points out that if the Book of Mormon is "divine" fiction, then the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been shaken.  You can't have it both ways - a "divine" fiction and a restored Gospel.

It's a great book.  I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about the Book of Mormon, what it is, and what it contains.