However, i feel that the book of mormon can not only withstand the challenge, but the issue can actually be used to illuminate the nature of isaiah and shed light on why this is. The bible connects the book with a prophetic figure. In the book of mormon, there are many chapters of isaiah directly incorporated from the king james version kjv of the bible, complete with translation errors that were obviously not possible to have been recorded on the gold plates since the kjv was not available until thousands of years. They date the last third of the book of isaiah to the 6th century bc nearly 200 years after isaiahs death and after lehis family left jerusalem with the brass platesthat is the isaiah problem, as it is called, in the book of mormon. Most christians believe that the book of isaiah was written by one person, the prophet isaiah who lived in jerusalem in the eighth century b. The isaiah problem in the book of mormon chap 11 shields. The book of mormon as a witness of the old testament. Because it was a revelation from god to joseph smith. Then he uses those same tools on the book of mormon.
Nibley and others had noted that the book of mormon does not quote isaiah 1, nor 3rd isaiah. Is deuteroisaiah the death nail to book of mormon truth claims self. I had not yet read barkers essay on the original setting of the fourth servant song which gathers evidence that isaiah 53 was written by isaiah of jerusalem, based on hezekiahs bout with the plague during the seige of jerusalem. First, people believe that isaiah wrote the whole book because the book bears his name. The traditional problem here is that deuteroisaiah. Deutero isaiah archives mormon discussions podcasts. The book of mormon not only quotes extensively from those chapters 4055 called deuteroisaiah, but also from portions of first isaiah which are regarded by. Specifically this theory claims that there were three individual authors, whose works were later compiled together under the name of the first author, the real isaiah known as protoisaiah by adherents to the theory. In other words, the most important evidence jackson can produce to counter the scholarly consensus concerning deuteroisaiah is the book of mormon itself. I will share a couple of brief notes below that i think are worthy of note to take into consideration to what extent the nt influenced the bm. Book of mormon prophets and the resurrected lord jesus christ refer to the prophet isaiah many times. In 2007, 70 percent of those raised in the lds church were still in it as adults, but in 2014, only 64 percent wereand among millennials, it was down to 62. For deuteroisaiah in the book of mormon and a host of other issues, we can think of the problem like a light switch. Deuteroisaiahs role in composition and redaction oxford.
Deuteroisaiah in book of mormon general discussions. His essay, isaiah in the book of mormon appears in the new 2016 publication a reason for faith. I am curious as to how mormons deal with fact that the book of mormon contains chapters of deuteroisaiah e. Nearly all academics, even some in the church, doubt that book of isaiah comes from one prophet and maybe not even from god.
Deuteroisaiah verses in the book of mormon overview of the deuteroisaiah problem in the book of mormon. A case for the book of mormon audio cd march 4, 2019. Deuteroisaiah in the book of mormon lds discussions. The book of mormon that is, ensconced helaman thus resolves, with deft plainness, a weighty and longstanding difficulty about quotations from what many consider a deuteroisaiah. If youve never heard of the deuteroisaiah hypothesis, its the modern belief isaiah didnt write the book bearing his name actually multiple authors wrote parts and those anonymous authors became compiled much later into one book called isaiah. As you can read here, the deuteroisaiah problem can easily be explained away.
Many nonlds scholars claim that the second half of the book of isaiah was written after the time lehi left jerusalem, yet the book of mormon contains material. But he leaves a myriad of anachronisms unaddressed, for instance the boms deuteroisaiah problem, or the boms reliance on the 1769 version of the king james edition of the bible identified by the 1769 versions errors being included in the bom. Isaiah problem in the book of mormon byu scholarsarchive. Ostler, who has sought to identify anachronisms in the book of mormon the book of mormon as a modern expansion of an ancient source, dialogue. The deuteroisaiah theory is the claim that parts of isaiah were written later than others. The primary isaiah passages found in the book of mormon are illustrated in the following table. Kjv isaiah in the book of mormon why the lds church is. In the book of mormon, there are many chapters of isaiah directly incorporated from the king james version kjv of the bible, complete with translation errors that were obviously not possible to have been recorded on the gold plates since the kjv was not available until thousands of years later.
A brief discussion about how deuteroisaiah verses are in the book of mormon, and why that is a problem for the credbility of joseph smith and why the. The traditional problem here is that deuteroisaiah chapters 4055 are usually considered to be written fairly late usually dated to during the exile in babylon. That the book of mormon quotes from isaiah is not a problem, except that joseph smiths 1830 translation reads nearly verbatim to the 1611 king james translation. The late date of deuteroisaiah is one of those things that have been. Deuteroisaiah and the book of mormon students of the book of mormon bmhave recognized the problem of having explicit and lengthy quotations of isaiah chapters 4055 since at least the days of b.
One can easily object to the influence of isaiah 52, noted above, as source for dustrelated imagery and language in the book of mormon. What about the isaiah problem in the book of mormon. And the book of isaiah was included in the septuagint lxx, the earliest version of the old testament scriptures, translated at least 300 years earlier. Here is a brief overview regarding the authorship of isaiah. Several parts of the book of mormon are highly influenced by the text of deutero isaiah. Chapters 4055 in the book of isaiah are believed to be the work of a prophet who lived with the hebrew exiles during the babylonian captivity. Plagiarism the book of mormon narrative says that the jews who left jerusalem for the new world had with them the scriptures written up until that point 600 b. Several parts of the book of mormon are highly influenced by the text of deuteroisaiah. A scientific analysis of isaiah authorship religious. One thing that makes the isaiah chapters of the book of mormon difficult is that is that the three major blocks of text are all read into the official. In terms of literary style, theme, and vocabulary, the book of isaiah falls into three neat sections. Recent studies of isaiah are turning toward looking at the book as a whole and in terms of the larger and later editorial concerns that have formed it for example, see h. Deuteroisaiah is a problem if you want to use the book of mormon as objective history.
Book of isaiah, one of the major prophetical writings of the old. But to be honest, im not sure how effective this apologetic approach will ultimately prove to people struggling with their faith over issues such as the attestation of deuteroisaiah in. In part 1, after discussing the book of mormons clever use of isaiah 52 in the context of several ancient hebrew motifs, i turn to the deuteroisaiah problem. How did deuteroisaiah respond to the destruction of the 400yearold temple, the capture of the holy vessels, and the end of the davidic monarchy. However, it is thought that deuteroisaiah was an adaptation of. The traditional view is that all 66 chapters of the book of isaiah were written by one man, isaiah, possibly in two periods between 740 bc and c. What do members of the church of jesus christ of latter. But if you simply want to have a spiritual testimony of the book of mormon then classify deuteroisaiah as something that was received through some process of revelation. Is deuteroisaiah the death nail to book of mormon truth. How do we explain material from isaiah in the book of mormon.
Because god flashed it onto joseph smiths magic8ball rockinahat the same way that god flashed the kjv deuteroisaiah onto smiths magic rock. Deuteroisaiah and the book of mormon for thus it is. Most church members see the book of mormon as evidence of unity in. The extensive use of isaiah poses several problems. Overview of the deuteroisaiah problem in the book of mormon. First, deuteroisaiah was indeed written in postexilic times, as most modern scholars agree. Deuteroisaiah, also called second isaiah, section of the old testament book of isaiah chapters 4055 that is later in origin than the preceding chapters, though not as late as the following chapters. The book was put together by laura hales, an lds mom seeking answers for her children. For more information on this, see the forthcoming knowhy from book of mormon central, why are children so prominent in 3 nephi 3 nephi 26. We have some indications from biblical studies that the switch is flipped to off, while we have some other indications from the book of mormon that the switch is flipped to on. Because this prophets real name is unknown and his work has been preserved in the collection of writings that include the prophecies of the earlier isaiah, he is usually designated as deuteroisaiah.
The isaiah passages in the book of mormon a non aligned text the above title and link refers to a 2001 masters thesis. How deuteroisaiah ended up in the book of mormon according to. If he had known it, then surely he would have used it the way abinadi did in the book of mormon. How deuteroisaiah ended up in the book of mormon according to fair. Book of mormon and the king james version support the authenticity and literary. But by far the strongest evidence that proves the unity of the book of isaiah is that the gospel of matthew quotes from both the beginning and the end of the book, attributing all of it to isaiah. As discussed above, the inclusion of deuteroisaiah in the book of mormon is an anachronism as there is no way that these passages could have been included on the gold plates since they were written after the exodus from jerusalem. Bible scholars use tools of textual analysis to identify backdated prophecies. Within the text of the book of isaiah, isaiah himself is referred to as the prophet, but the exact relationship between the book of isaiah and any such historical isaiah is complicated.
The deuteroisaiah verses the book of mormon would probably cause me heartburn if i accepted at face value the consensus of scholars that isaiah had multiple authors, including at least one author who came after nephi obtained the brass plates a. One of the points i made in a previous post was that, besides deuteroisaiah, malachi, and other postexilic judean writings, the new testament nt was also heavily used all throughout the book of mormon bm. Specifically this theory claims that there were three individual authors. Jackson follows those who went before him in discussing the composition of the book of isaiah by pointing out a few of the arguments that scholars have made for the. In terms of literary style, theme, and vocabulary, the. The late nineteenth century saw a division of isaiah into three parts by critics, who. The deutero isaiah chapters in 1st and 2nd nephi are an uncomfortable presence, but not an inexplicable one, for, as hardy affirms, accepting a divine provenance for the book of mormon provides the theological basis to resolve difficult historical issues. The essay, isaiah in the book of mormon, is included in a book that is meant to provide answers for mormons on difficult topics in mormonisms history and teachings. Rfm points out several examples in isaiah, daniel and the new testament. The deuteroisaiah chapters in 1st and 2nd nephi are an uncomfortable presence, but not an inexplicable one, for, as hardy affirms, accepting a divine provenance for the book of mormon provides the theological basis to resolve difficult historical issues.