Noel B. Reynolds offers a sampling of scholarly evidence to date for the veracity of the Book of Mormon's ancient authorship.

This speech was given on May 27, 1997.

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"I am grateful for the invitation to tell you about a variety of important research projects related to the Book of Mormon. Scholars from many disciplines at BYU and elsewhere are turning their academic expertise to studies of the Book of Mormon that are expanding our appreciation for this great book and the prophetic messages it contains.

Although my primary teaching responsibilities during my 27 years at BYU have revolved around courses in legal and political philosophy, I have frequently enjoyed the opportunity to teach Book of Mormon classes as well. After years of rereading and teaching this book, I began to collect insights that developed into research interests and eventually published articles and books.

Enthused by this involvement and by the research of numerous other scholars, I accepted an invitation from the Religious Studies Center at BYU to edit a volume of papers by different scholars that would address the question of Book of Mormon authorship. That book was first published in 1982, and a new printing was released last year by FARMS (the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies).

Over the subsequent 15 years many new studies have been completed, and earlier ones have been significantly updated. As a result, a second volume of studies on Book of Mormon authorship will be released within a month, providing the occasion for my presentation today. Most of the studies I will describe today are reported in detail in one or the other of these two books.

Since the early 1970s there has been a dramatic increase in general interest in the Book of Mormon, particularly among Latter-day Saints. In less than two weeks there will be a conference on Ancient Scriptures in the Restoration sponsored by FARMS and the Smith Institute for Church History at BYU. At that time I will present a wide variety of evidence to show that the LDS community is reading and writing much more about the Book of Mormon in recent decades than ever before. The Book of Mormon is playing a greatly expanded role in Church education, in Sunday School curricula, in missionary work, and in Church speaking and instruction generally. Even more important, understanding and appreciation for the divine origin and mission of this restored scripture is much clearer and stronger among Church members than ever before.

Many Book of Mormon research projects have implications for the continuing issues surrounding the authorship of the Book of Mormon. Most Latter-day Saints are aware of a minor industry in certain religious circles in the United States devoted to refuting Mormonism and to criticizing the Book of Mormon.

It may be of interest to you to hear what two young evangelical scholars recently told their own colleagues in comparing evangelical criticisms to the research published by faithful LDS scholars in recent years. In a paper that they hope to publish in a major theological journal, they pointed out that certain evangelical beliefs about Mormons are nothing more than myths or wishful thinking. For example, their research categorically refutes the following three myths that evangelicals frequently tell each other about Mormons:

Myth #1: There are no traditional (faithful) Mormon scholars with training in academic disciplines related to biblical studies or religion.

Myth #2: Mormons who seriously study biblical languages, theology, and philosophy abandon belief in the historicity of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s prophethood.

Myth #3: Mormonism is crumbling because liberal Mormons have shaken the foundations of LDS belief.

These same evangelical scholars then went on to draw several conclusions from their study of the debate between Mormons and evangelicals, much of which focuses on the Book of Mormon:

Conclusion #1: There are many qualified Mormon scholars.

Conclusion #2: Mormon scholars and apologists have answered most of the evangelical criticisms.

Conclusion #3: There are no evangelical books that interact responsibly with contemporary LDS scholarly and apologetic writings.

Conclusion #4: At the scholarly level, evangelicals are losing the debate with the Mormons..."