More info. on the ancient Book of Mormon.
Ancient Paradigms: Covenant Making. The Book of Mormon reveals its ancient origins subtly through the pervasive ancient paradigms found in its pages. The way covenants were made, for example, reflects paradigms from the Ancient Near East that were not yet known to bible scholars in Joseph’s day, such as the six-step “covenant formulary” pattern that can be found not only in the restored temple paradigms of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but also in King Benjamin’s speech. See Stephen D. Ricks, “Kingship, Coronation, and Covenant in Mosiah 1–6,” Stephen D. Ricks, “Kingship, Coronation, and Covenant in Mosiah 1–6” in King Benjamin’s Speech, ed. by John Welch and Stephen Ricks (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1998), 233–275 (also discussed on my post on King Benjamin’s speech at Arise From the Dust).
Ancient Paradigms: The Religious Landscape in Jerusalem, 600 B.C. For those who appreciate the work of the Protestant Bible scholar Margaret Barker, a highly impressive complex of evidence involves the way First Nephi corroborates her work. She was amazed and delighted to learn of the details provided by the Book of Mormon about the religious strife in Jerusalem in 600 B.C. and the persecution of prophetic figures clinging to what she sees as the original, old Jewish ways including belief in a council of heaven, prophetic visions, belief in a Messiah as the son of God, etc. She has become an ardent fan of the Book of Mormon based on her scholarship and how the Book of Mormon resonates so clearly with what she has uncovered. For starters, see “Paradigms Regained: A Survey of Margaret Barker’s Scholarship and Its Significance for Mormon Studies” by Kevin Christensen, FARMS Occasional Papers, 2001. Also see Margaret Barker, “What Did Josiah Reform?“
Ancient Paradigms: Hebrew Literary Tools and Scribal Practices. For those who appreciate the significance of ancient rhetoric, poetry, and scribal traditions, the abundant scholarship based on textual analysis of the Book of Mormon may provide the most fascinating complex of evidences, and has become a “go to” topic for many more educated Latter-day Saints. The best known issue in this complex might the abundant and eloquent use of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon (see also the collection of articles on chiasmus at Book of Mormon Central and the impressive 2020 supplemental volume of BYU Studies focused on chiasmus), a topic that has gained respect and interest among some secular scholars. But this complex also includes much more, including a host of rhetorical and poetical techniques, abundant apparent Hebrew wordplays, particularly on names, as evidenced in the extensive works of Matthew Bower and others (search for Bowen at https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/journal/), and the analysis from Noel Reynolds and others on ancient scribal techniques evident in the Book of Mormon. For the latter, I suggest starting with the first three or four most recent articles of Dr. Reynolds listed at Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.https://www.arisefromthedust.com/a-toug ... of-mormon/
