From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #920 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Wednesday, December 11 2002 Volume 01 : Number 920 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 15:50:03 -0800 From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Gratitude > I haven't participated in this thread because I don't get it. As far as > I can figure out, a bunch of Mormons have found yet another way to feel > guilty: it's now evil to be thankful for one's blessings. > D. Michael Martindale Haha! I've been thinking the exact same thing. Sure, it makes me feel a little bad when every testimony in fast meeting begins with "I'm so grateful to have been born into a righteous family with pioneer ancestors," because my family is such a mess and most of them are really far away from joining the church in this life, but really, why should that matter? We're commanded to be thankful in all things, not just the easy ones, anyway. Susan M - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2002 21:52:07 -0500 From: "robert lauer" Subject: Re: [AML] Titanic After praising Clint Eastwood's excellent film, "Unforgiven," JIM WILSON wrote: >As for _Titanic_, it is a detestable movie that doesn't make any point, so >there's no point in defending it. That's certainly a matter of opinion...and one with which I would have to disagree. Yes, the story was trite, and there were so many anachronisms that I found myself laughing out loud. (For instance Rose reads Freud over a decade before he was published in English--with no indication that she could read German. And then there was that silliness of her having bought some paintings by famous modernists before they became famous.) Still, the story moved, and the acting choices were interesting and well executed. Judging just from the script alone, if the director had wanted to go with stereotypes, he would have cast someone tall, dark, handsome and much more masculine and adult as Jack. DiCaprio's Jack struck me as very much an innocent child, by far too much of a little boy for Rose--who struck me as very womanly. And yet, despite her outward maturity, she became something of a Wendy to Jack's Peter Pan. SHE seemed more self-assured sexually speaking than did he. There was a moment after the (in LDS circles) infamous "love scene" when Jack--and not Rose--seemed overwhlemed by the act; as if he was nervous and insecure over what had just taken place. I don't think this was an accident, but a deliberate acting/directing choice, and it rescued the love story for me. Of course, even without the shipwreck, this youthful passion was doomed to fade; the romance of the affair was kept alive only by the tragedy of the shipwreck itself. And though I detested the Marxist/class-war politics implied by the silly subplot and minor characters, I thought that overall the film depicted (in something of a parable-form) the West's collapse into the Dionysian emotionalism during the whole of the 20th century. Technically, the film was a marvel to behold--a true epic--and therefore something of a melodrama. In some respects the overblown sexual romance was just as much a style element as statement of a particular moral philosophy. Nevertheless, as a Latter-day Saint I applauded much of the film's message: that the individual must live her life according to her own values and not in blind accordance with the dead traditions of her fathers. I thought the film gave a romantic idealized vision of human beings that, while contrary to orthodox Christianity with its morbid doctrine of Original Sin, was perfectly in line with the Mormon doctrine of humans having been born innocent with free agency to live according to the values they choose. To our cynical moderns, what could be more sappy and laughable than the idea of romantic/sexual love enudirng beyond the grave and into eternity? That's the stuff of silly romance novels! Yet, the last time I looked in my scriptures or performed Temple work, I had the distinct impression that "eternal romantic/sexual love" was a central (some would say THE contral) doctrine of our Latter-day Saint faith. All that being said, I thought the best film released that year ('97-'98) was LA CONFIDENTAL. It was R rated, loaded with graphic violence, filled to the brim with profanity and contained full nudity. It was also, in my opinion, one of the most MORAL films of the past thrity-five years. In fact the moral integrity of the individual against the immorality of the collective was not only the theme of the film, but also at the heart of every aspect of the plot and the characters. In fact, now that I think of it some of the films of the past three decades that I would choose as the most moral (ORDINARY PEOPLE, BRAVEHEART, LA CONFIDENTIAL) are shunned by many Saints because of their R ratings. I think that's sad. ROB. LAUER _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2002 22:34:37 -0500 From: Richard Johnson Subject: [AML] Screen Writing Convention? I have somehow been blessed with mail from a group publicizing a "Megahit Screen Writing Convention. It will be in Orlando and seems to have a lot going on. I am not interested but among the events and guests are: VerdanaPitch your scripts to Hollywood Producers and Agents.Verdana The first 50 writers to register are guaranteed a pitch session. No waiting in lines the day of the event. Pitch sessions will be scheduled online! Pitch Sessions -- 15 minutes each -- 9:00-3:00pm Confirmed Industry Guest List: Shelly Mellott, Script Magazine (www.scriptmag.com) Lesley Bracker, Writers Channel (www.writerschannel.com) Ken Rock, British Society of Comedy Writers (www.bscw.co.uk) Alex Ross, Manager (www.writemovies.com www.productionconsulting.com) Michael Herst, Las Vegas Screenwriters Conference (www.vegasscript.com) Channing Dungey, President of Material (Warner Bros. Pictures) SHOWTIME, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, RED PLANET, THE BIG BOUNCE (Owen Wilson's new movie) Invitations have been sent to many other Hollywood Agents and Producers. Once confirmed, their names will be added to the above list. If any of you haven't received this announcement and might be interested (Several have talked about a Mormon session like this) contact me individually and I will forward the stuff to you. Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 05:25:13 GMT From: dhunt_aml@juno.com Subject: Re:[AML] Titanic >Unfortunately, the real tragedy of Titanic the movie was that the REAL >tragedy of that story was overshadowed by a sappy love story. Here we >have a tale about the undoing of hubris, of a civilization that >thought they had built the unsinkable boat and the horrible >consequences of their assuming they were right, and it all gets boiled >down to steamy windows. That's what offended me about the film. >--Boyd Petersen I must disagree. There have been many, many films about the sinking of the Titanic. Why did this one stand out? I would dare say that it was probably so popular because the movie WASN'T about the sinking of the Titanic. The movie was about great loss, not about the sinking of a great ship. The sinking of the Titanic is what got in the way of the plot. The sinking was "that thing" that prevented the heroes from getting what they wanted and which they had to overcome (which we see they did in the last feel-good scene when the lovers were reunited). Everybody on that ship no doubt had dreams. Many had one-way tickets to America. The point of this movie was that all of those plots where abruptly interrupted. By the sinking of a ship, but it could have been anything else. Imagine how boring the movie would have been if the two lovers had both survived. When Leo died, we think, "Oh what a terrible loss! These two had a whole life to live together. And now it's all gone!" That's what made it so powerful. The movie emphasizes what was lost, not the sinking of a ship. Emotion due to loss is always more powerful than mere disaster, even a great disaster. And what better way to show emotional loss than a love story? It makes perfect sense to use a love story in telling the story of the Titanic. Think back to the made-for-tv version with Tim Curry and Marilu Henner, maybe a year or two before Cameron. That version was about the sinking of the ship. And it was boring. (And I'm a BIG Tim Curry fan.) _Titanic_ was a great example of good story telling. The story was about two people who loved and lost, with the carrier wave of the sinking of the Titanic. All good stories have a carrier wave in which the story is not really about, but around which the story is woven. If the carrier wave and the main story are the same, the story is boring. Of course, this is just my opinion. (And what do I know?) Darvell Hunt ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 22:56:50 -0700 From: "Gae Lyn Henderson" Subject: RE: [AML] Adultery and Consequences Margaret Young wrote: I know of > several cases--many close to home--where I WISH one of the spouses could > or would get out of the marriage, but I would never condone them using > that particular path. Some women are so emotionally weak from marriage to an abuser that unless they find someone to help them get out they will never leave. Yes the problems of guilt and the taint of disloyalty are there. But still it might be the best option. Only God and the parties involved would know. > So, as one who has written books which DB would not carry, I'm feeling > real good about this turnaround. This is what I'm really angry about. Here is Margaret Young one of Mormondom's finest writers whom Deseret Book refuses to carry. That is terrible. That is something we should sign a petition about and write an AML protest over. The problem with the censoring mindset is that it may overlook a substantive message about life and morality because it is too busy looking at details that seem to offend. Evaluating the merit of a text takes time, thought, study, prayer. Many times one doesn't know whether a book was worth reading until some digestion time has passed. Any kind of measuring stick (even if it is whether or not evil gets clearly punished) is extremely limited in scope and so I argue--just plain absurd. The Richard Paul Evans incident got publicity. But what about the other great writers who are banned? That is wrong and sends the wrong message to the LDS community. Deseret Book should not do this. Does evil always get punished in the real world? Does God come down and immediately give a consequence? No--it many times does not happen! Sometimes justice doesn't take place until the next life. How can we deal with injustice in real life if in the books we read everything has an immediate result. Such simplistic texts just don't have any of the rich complexity that can help us understand our world. (That is my measuring stick for what I want to read.) They won't help us grow as human beings. Let me give you an example (although I believe I posted this once before on the list--forgive me). One night I had a call from a former student of mine. She had been in my Intro to Lit Interpretation and Criticism course. Her current class was reading Silko's _Ceremony_. She was crying and upset because the details in the book offended her and she couldn't understand why she had to read such a bad book in a BYU course. I told her that if she felt that way then she could certainly talk to her professor and request another book to read. However, I also said that I personally found _Ceremony_ a very spiritually uplifting book, in spite of the violence, sex, language and offensive behavior. I suggested that she read the book and try to understand exactly what the author was trying to say. Silko shows cultural sickness and she also shows us what to do about it. A beautiful story. There are consequences to evil but they are often subtle. The student reported to me later that not only did she find the reading valuable, she decided to write her term paper about the book. She gave it a chance and it passed the test. This is the kind of thing that the censoring mentality will prohibit and it teaches those in our culture to mindlessly reject what they haven't read, haven't studied, haven't prayed about and to shut off people and parts of the world we live in without giving them any kind of Christlike consideration. Christ didn't interact with human beings in this way and if we interact with human beings or with texts in this way, then we are not following his example. >Gae Lyn Henderson > - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 01:00:25 -0500 From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: Re: [AML] Filling Our Minds - ----- Original Message ----- > >Any story with a pedophile ought to end with a > >beheading. Any story with rape ought to end with a hanging. If they > >don't then the perpetrators ought not to be treated to sympathetically, >but > >even if they are they ought never to be celebrated. And such things >are > >celebrated in some books. > I couldn't disagree more. While I would not like to see these crimes become glorified, I am all for books that explore the people who end up in a position in their lives that they are willing to do such things. And if those explorations bring me to pity and consideration rather than quick condemnation, then all the better. I'm all for books that cause society, or individuals in that society, to take a hard look at the many factors that effect a person and perhaps see things that need to change. I am not the most widely read person on this list, but I have run into very few books--only one comes to mind-- that fit your blanket description of contemporary. Tracie Laulusa - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2002 00:24:04 -0600 From: "Rose Green" Subject: Re: [AML] Film-Adapted Mormon Authors >Below are LDS/Mormon authors I am aware of whose works have already been >adapted to film. (Books/stories and film titles are shown compiled at: >http://www.ldsfilm.com/lds_aut.html). Is anybody missing? > Blaine and Brenton Yorgason had a film adaptation (TV, I think) of their book Chester, I Love You (possibly The Thanksgiving Promise?) in the 1980s. Rose Green _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2002 23:01:38 -0800 From: Kathy and Jerry Tyner Subject: Re: [AML] Film-Adapted Mormon Authors Was that the one adapted from the Yorgason brothers story, "Chester I Love You" ? Had Beau, Lloyd and Beau's son Jordan in it and a Canadian Goose. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2002 08:21:52 -0700 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Film-Adapted Mormon Authors Kim Madsen wrote: > I could have sworn I saw a movie version of _Lost Boys_...or am I completely > insane? My memory is very fuzzy here... There was a film made called _Lost Boys_, but it had absolutely nothing to do with Card's book. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 11:09:42 -0700 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Filling Our Minds Amelia Parkin says: > Perhaps >we should be >less hesitant to condemn and seek more diligently to find the >beautiful in >our own world instead of looking down on it from our lofty moral high >ground. Indeed, I think we are commanded to in the 13th Article of Faith. "If there is anything of good report...we SEEK after these things." I interpret that to mean "anything," i.e., a good turn of phrase, one scene of redemption amid a book of depravity, a seemingly morally bankrupt book that nevertheless has some redeeming qualities. Charles Metten, formerly of BYU Theatre, used to say that Midnight Cowboy was essentially a moral movie despite its subject matter because the ending justifies all the slop we have to walk through on the way there. I think if there is ANYTHING of good report, then that piece of art is worth a thining LDS person's time. Thom - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2002 12:25:13 -0700 (MST) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: RE: [AML] Film-Adapted Mormon Authors > >One interesting fact is that one of the best known contemporary Latter-day > Saint authors -- Orson Scott Card -- has never had one of this books or > stories adapted to film. > > I could have sworn I saw a movie version of _Lost Boys_...or am I completely > insane? My memory is very fuzzy here... There is amovie called Lost Boys - a halfway entertaining vampire flick that plays with several of the conventions in an enjoyable way. (Tag line: Sleep all day. Party all night. Live forever, never die. It's fun to be a vampire.) It has nothing to do with OSC's book Lost Boys - which is very vampire free. - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 17:42:08 -0700 From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: RE: [AML] Filling Our Minds (was: New DB Policy) I for one am getting tired of hearing the justification for writing certain things based on the argument that they're in the scriptures that way. I'm sorry, but who among us is going to pick up a novel and read it in the same mind set and with the same purpose that they would the scriptures? Didn't think so. Until that happens, you can't make the comparison between Lot's daughters, David, or any other scripture story and what fiction writers can "safely" use in their writing. And let's hope that *doesn't* happen. I wouldn't want someone reading my work and considering it scripture. The only One who wants or deserves that kind of resonsibility IS the author of the scriptures. Enough of that argument already. Annette Lyon - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2002 02:26:10 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] RODGERS, _Joseph and Mary: A Love Story_ (Deseret News) Desret News Saturday, December 7, 2002 'Joseph, Mary' is all about Christmas By Ivan M. Lincoln Deseret News theater editor JOSEPH AND MARY: A LOVE STORY, Bountiful Performing Arts Center, 745 S. Main, Bountiful; closes Dec. 23; box office: 294-7469. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (one intermission). BOUNTIFUL =97 It's been a few years since this gentle, insightful approach to the Christmas story has been staged, but Wasatch Front families - I sincerely hope - will appreciate that it's being revived by the Bountiful Performing Arts Center. It is directed by Addie J. Gibson-Holman. More than any other seasonal show, "Joseph and Mary" encapsulates what Christmas is really all about. Written by the late Ralph G. Rodgers Jr., with some musical assistance by composer K. Newell Dayley, the play imparts a realistic, human dimension to the biblical tale that is central to Christianity worldwide. It's the story of a young couple in the ancient Holy Land who, not unlike young people 2,000 years later, have their own circle of friends. They experience sibling adventures and go through the ups and downs of the same basic challenges we have today - with one well-known exception. When tongues in the village start wagging about Mary being "with child," only her closest confidants, her parents and Joseph are aware of the unique circumstances surrounding this world-changing pregnancy. Hannah Gibson and Chad Coleman capture the angst and anxiousness of young Mary and Joseph. Aneladee Milne is nicely cast as Hannah, Mary's loving mother. Their intimate talks give insight into the young girl who is not sure how she will go about raising not just a child, but the long-prophesied Son of God. Mike Bennet is a commanding presence as Heli, Mary's father, but his delivery is so loud that he appears to be yelling at everyone, in stark contrast to the compassionate nature he's supposed to be conveying. His duets with Hannah were also lopsided - his booming baritone versus her much softer voice. The Bountiful Performing Arts Center isn't as grandiose as it sounds; it's a makeshift, temporary space in the basement of the Bountiful Arts Center, just south of the downtown library. The stage is miniscule and the seats are hand-me-downs from a defunct movie theater - but the intimate setting lends a close-up feeling to= =20 this heartfelt Christmas story. Rodgers and composers Dayley and John Morgan wrote five songs for the original production, first staged several years ago. Shaun Wright, who is musical director for this version, added two new pieces. A couple more, and this could be a full- fledged musical - which would not necessarily be a good thing. I personally feel that the music - lovely as it is - interferes with the flow and pacing of the story. When the central characters break into song, it's like they're putting everything on "hold" for a few minutes while the music takes over. This production is double-cast. Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE*=20 http://join.msn.com/?page=3Dfeatures/virus - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2002 02:31:09 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Women of Signature Books Event "Women of Signature Books" event at Sam Weller's Saturday Dec. 14, Sam Weller's Zion Books, 254 S. Main, SLC PEGGY FLETCHER STACK and KATHLEEN PETERSON, authors of "A World of Faith"; MAXINE HANKS, editor of "Women and Authority"; and LAVINA FIELDING ANDERSON, editor of "Lucy's Book," a critical edition of Lucy Mack Smith's family memoir, will sign copies of their books at 2 p.m. LINDA HOFFMAN KIMBALL, author of "The Marketing of Sister B," and MARGARET BLAIR YOUNG, author of "Heresies of Nature," will sign copies of their books at 3 p.m. LAURIE MECHAM JOHNSON, author of "Special Living Lessons for Relief Society Sisters by Sister Fonda AlaMode," and MARTHA S. BRADLEY, co-author of "Four Zinas," will sign copies of their books at 4 p.m. _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2002 13:52:49 -0800 From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: [AML] PARRY et al., _Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon_ (Review) Review ====== Title: Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon Author: Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, John W. Welch, eds. Publisher: FARMS Year Published: 2002 Number of Pages: 506 Binding: Paperback ISBN: 0-934893-72-1 Price: $14.95 Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle "Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon" (hereafter "Echoes") is a fine collection of essays, some of which are original to this volume, aimed at the general LDS reading audience, intended to encourage an interest in the study of Book of Mormon evidences. Always a tricky enterprise, given the current state of Book of Mormon scholarship, "Echoes" attempts to walk the fine line that separates solid scholarship from empty speculation. FARMS, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, has evolved over the years, from a small but energetic group of scholars and researchers, to a credible, but still controversial, organization, affiliated with BYU, and staffed with the best and the brightest of the current crop of Book of Mormon scholars. It's been a long time since we've seen a 500+ page book selling for $14.95. FARMS tells me that they purposely priced the book to make it widely available and affordable. I think this is a very good idea. But price alone does not make a book "available" - -- books on the Book of Mormon may sell well, but they are not always read. People are sometimes afraid of venturing into the area of apologetics. "We leave that to the scholars," they say. But why should this be so? Why should the fundamentals of evidentiary research be out of reach to the general membership? Why should these works be convoluted and difficult to understand? "Echoes" strives to reach that wider audience that would not ordinarily engage in such reading. We will explore how well they succeed. (FARMS is to be commended in the extraordinary effort they made to avoid duplication in the text. Put so many fine scholars to work producing essays, and there is bound to be repetition. But this volume demonstrates a commitment to collaborative effort that is much appreciated by this reviewer.) The book opens with a general introduction by the three editors. It is here that we learn the overall philosophy of this collection. It has been said to me that a working title for the book was "Joseph Smith's Greatest Hits," a fond nod to Hugh Nibley: ...Nibley likened Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon to shooting arrows and being right on target, scoring "hits" or "bulls-eyes." For Nibley, such dead aim in the Book of Mormon occurs whenever a certain detail has significant and astonishing parallels to the ancient world, especially when those parallels were unknown to the world at the time of Joseph Smith. (p. x-xi) The editors acknowledge that not all "hits" are of equal value, and that some are of lesser value than others. To aid in locating these "hits," the publisher placed a graphic in the margin opposite each "hit," along with a few words describing the "hit." It is to be noted here that the "hits" are not rated in the graphics. That is, despite the acknowledgement that some are of greater value than others, this distinction is not made in the design of the graphic. It is left to the reader to make his or her own judgment as to the value of each "hit." The opening essay is an article reprinted from the Ensign, titled "By the Gift and Power of God," by Elder Neal A. Maxwell. As welcome as these words may be, they do not present any evidence at all. Instead, it is a record of Elder Maxwell's testimony of the Book of Mormon. There are several "hits" in this article, but I ranked them all as of lesser importance, since they sidestepped the kind of evidence mentioned by Nibley, and were not intended to convince. It is a good essay, but it really constitutes an exercise in presuppositional apologetics, good for building faith and testimony, but not of great value when gathering evidence that points to objective truth. Next comes a complex, but thoroughly engaging, study titled "The Power of Evidence in the Nurturing of Faith" by John W. Welch. This article is adapted from an earlier work, "Nurturing Faith Through the Book of Mormon: The Twenty-Fourth Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium." The casual reader may find this chapter a bit difficult. Some may wish to have a dictionary at hand, as Welch tosses about legal and philosophical terms that may be unfamiliar to some. But Welch, in my opinion, nails the whole issue of evidence and faith, and how they interact. He speaks of being "brought to know" things by the presentation of evidence, even with the evidence has been less than compelling (p. 22). In this remarkable statement, Welch (along with other writers in this collection) acknowledges that absolute proof for the historicity of the Book of Mormon is not available. Of course, we cannot "prove" that the Book of Mormon or any other ultimate tenet of religious faith is true. Hugh Nibley has said, "The evidence that will prove or disprove the Book of Mormon does not exist." Our desire is not to become some grand inquisitor, wanting to put other people over a barrel by producing undeniable reasons for belief that will convince the whole world and compel everyone to believe. (p. 29) He sees a melding of the available evidence, with the power of faith, bringing people to a testimony of the Book of Mormon. But, by acknowledging the lack of absolute proof, does he then say that the evidence is all circumstantial? Even if it is, he argues, cases are often decided on circumstantial evidence. The real question -- is such evidence sufficiently compelling to bring the reader to a place of belief. Welch provides us with a survey of the rules of evidence in the legal process, thus giving us a view of role of evidence in reaching conclusions. I was glad for this information, and learned much about the legal process from this discussion. The next chapter brings us a study titled "New Light from Arabia on Lehi's Trail" by S. Kent Brown. This is the first of the chapters original to this volume, although the information will be familiar to anyone who has spent any time studying the subject. Here Brown surveys our current knowledge of the Middle East, specifically the path which Lehi and his family likely followed in their journey through the wilderness. He focuses on those matters which may be common knowledge today, but which could not have been known by Joseph Smith at the time of the translation of the Book of Mormon. The number of "hits" is massive, although some seem to be of lesser value than others. And in at least one case, I was frankly baffled by the point Brown is trying to make. Here is the point in question: The chief question concerning Lehi's sacrifices in the wilderness is how Joseph Smith knew the proper sacrifices that travellers were to offer according to the Mosaic law. The answer is that he did not. But Lehi did. And he offered sacrifices suitable for the occasions noted in Nephi's narrative, including burnt offerings for atonement. (p. 62) Brown then cites Leviticus and the Psalms as sources for this knowledge. Perhaps I missed something, but if it was impossible for Joseph Smith to know these things, how then did *Lehi* know them? If the rules are spelled out in Leviticus, which is where Lehi presumably learned the rules, why couldn't Joseph Smith have learned them the same way? This is a rather uncharacteristic use of positive statements in this book. Most of the writers were very careful to present their evidences in a way that leaves some wiggle room for the reader in the decision-making process. But how does Brown justify his statement that Joseph Smith "did not" know the rules of sacrifice, when these rules were readily available in the Bible that Joseph read so faithfully? If I missed some point here, I will welcome correction. The balance of Brown's essay contains items that will be of interest to the reader. Brown opens up the text in a rather surgical way, taking a slice here and there, and wondering how such details might have been known to Joseph Smith. Is any one point compelling? This is not the expectation. But, once again, the point of this collection is not to compel any person to belief on the basis of evidence alone, but to supply such evidence as a tool toward belief. Noel B. Reynolds contributes the next chapter. Titled "By Objective Measures: Old Wine into Old Bottles," and unique to this volume, the text comforts the reader by actually being less convoluted than the title of the chapter. In fact, it is an abbreviated potpourri of evidences of Book of Mormon antiquity, using as a guide what Reynolds calls: intuitively plausible arguments that were levelled against Joseph Smith's account of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon. Whereas the critics explain the Book of Mormon in terms of nineteenth-century origins, I assemble below eleven examples in which the application of careful and scientifically current scholarly research reverses those intuitions and argues strongly for ancient origins. (p. 127) And, to his credit, he does a good job of surveying those elements of the Book of Mormon that just "seemed" wrong in light of current knowledge, and shows how new research can be effective in turning these intuitions around. Some of the information in this chapter was new to me. I try to keep up with Book of Mormon research, and it may be that some of what I read escapes my memory as time goes by. But I cannot recall ever reading about the "Narrative of Zosimus," an early Christian document unknown to Joseph Smith, whose storyline closely approximates that of the Book of Mormon. I'd like to find a copy some day and read it for myself. And then there are the "hits" that seem at odds with other contributors to this volume. On page 41, John Welch cautions against lending too much weight to the idea of "wordprinting" -- analyzing text by counting word frequencies, etc. Reynolds includes "wordprinting" as one of his hits (p. 132-135), and includes a chart of characteristics studied in "wordprinting." He evidently gives more weight to the procedure than does Welch. I was glad to see this -- it demonstrated that, among acknowledged Book of Mormon scholars, there was yet some diversity in thinking in areas other than Book of Mormon geography. I would have been disappointed had this book been a mere homogenization of the scholarship. This chapter offers the reader a nice opportunity to dabble in evidences without having to wade through a lot of discussion and technical explanations. It is thus not the last word on these subjects, but the first word. And if it leads believing Mormons to further study, then it has succeeded in its goal. This is a very good chapter, well worth studying and pursuing. Donald W. Parry weighs in next, with a discussion of "Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities in the Book of Mormon," and is original to this volume. Here Parry explores, at length and in some depth, clues in the text of the Book of Mormon that suggest an Hebraic linguistic context. If you're not a grammarian, you'll get bogged down in this chapter. But it's worth the effort. And some of the entries give new light to the text of the Bible. I was surprised at some of the insights Parry offers into the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. I learned for the first time about "plural amplification," the use of plural nouns in the Old Testament text which are translated as singular in the English translation (p. 173). But how extensively can such relationships can be attributed to ancient origins? If a person were to cite directly from the King James Version of the Bible, that person's writing would, of course, reflect these patterns. Parry takes us beyond the portions of the Book of Mormon that echo the King James Version of the Bible, and shows how they, too, reflect Hebraic grammatical forms and rules. If I were just a little less polite, I would point out the grammatical errors in this chapter on grammar. (Okay, there's one on page 177 -- "...although literal representations of this form is generally not used in translation.") Daniel C. Peterson gives us the next entry, titled "Not Joseph's, and Not Modern," and is original to this volume. It is in this essay that we find clear challenges to the kind of thinking reflected in alternative publications, such as the recently published, and reviewed by me, "American Apocrypha" (Vogel and Metcalfe, eds., "American Apocrypha -- Essays on the Book of Mormon", 2002, Salt Lake City, Signature Books), among others. I was fascinated by Peterson's approach, not the least by how two streams of thought can take the same facts and come to completely opposite conclusions. Beginning on page 192, Peterson explores "The Exodus Motif" of the early Book of Mormon narrative. Peterson sees these parallels -- between Lehi's journey through the wilderness and Moses' leading the children of Israel out of Egypt -- as evidence that the account is authentic. You may consult my review of "American Apocrypha" to see how others view such evidence in quite another way, as pointing to Joseph's invention of the story. But Peterson insists: Such sophisticated and authentic usage of the Israelite exodus narrative strongly suggests that the author of 1 Nephi in particular, like the authors of the Book of Mormon in general, was someone thoroughly steeped in the Hebrew Bible. Of course, that description seems appropriate to Nephi, the privileged and well-educated son of a wealthy Hebrew father. But it doesn't fit young Joseph Smith, who appears to have been anything but a systematic, regular student of the Bible. Even by the age of eighteen, according to his mother -- that is, in roughly 1823, when he received the first visitation from Moroni -- he "had never read the Bible through in his life." Later in the 1820's, when the Book of Mormon was translated, his knowledge of the Bible does not appear to have been dramatically better. (p. 196-7) Later (p. 214), Peterson presents a "hit" that he calls "Nephi and His Asherah," and in this brief section demonstrates how a little digging into the Scriptures can make Scripture study lively and interesting. There is so much to be learned, so much depth to be plumbed, and Peterson offers a fine example of why such digging is worth the effort. John A. Tvedtnes' original article, "Ancient Texts in Support of the Book of Mormon," comes next. Tvedtnes has written widely about this subject, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the evidence. In this chapter, he samples some of the documents that have come to light in recent years that provide interesting parallels to the Book of Mormon. As with other chapters, this constitutes just a beginning study for interested students, and contains many good starting-points for greater exploration. Next is John L. Sorenson's interesting original article, "How Could Joseph Smith Write So Accurately About Ancient American Civilizations?" The chapter title clearly explains its content. His fundamental claim: Some statements in the Book of Mormon about ancient Near Eastern lands, concepts, and activities might have been incorporated into the Nephite text because a nineteenth- century writer, such as Joseph Smith, Jr. or Sidney Rigdon, knew about ancient lifeways through reading the Bible or secular sources available before 1830. But once the Book of Mormon story claims to be taking place in an American setting, such as argument makes no sense, for nobody knew enough by 1830 to get so many facts right. (p. 260) Sorenson, widely known for his research into Book of Mormon geography, naturally covers this area of interest, and extends his comments into matters of material culture and warfare. His findings are clearly stated and present some challenging thoughts to students of the Book of Mormon. John Gee contributes a chapter titled "The Wrong Type of Book." In this chapter he challenges what has become known as the "environmental view" of the authorship of the Book of Mormon. Briefly, this view: ...attempt[s] to explain the Book of Mormon as a product of the cultural milieu of early-nineteenth-century America, a backdrop that presumably explains all the features of the book. (p. 307) Gee, using extant materials from the period, examines what would have been considered reasonable expectations of the work produced in that period, including contemporary views of Native Americans, then-current writing styles and selection of content. Gee makes the case that the Book of Mormon does not fit the kind of book that would arise out of the expectations promoted by the "environmentalists." John W. Welch's second entry in this book is titled "A Steady Stream of Significant Recognitions." As with his previous contribution, Welch writes in depth, with conviction, and with an eye for detail. What is a "significant recognition"? Welch defines it as: [t]he search for significant archaic details embedded in this record that were in all probability unknown and most likely even unknowable to Joseph Smith or anyone else in the early nineteenth century... (p. 332) His examples follow no discernible pattern, other than that they occurred to him while studying the Book of Mormon, and not while particularly looking for these "significant recognitions." Included are: the absence of "without a cause" from 3 Nephi 12:22; the farewell sermon of King Benjamin as reflective of ancient farewell addresses; ancient parallels to the Mosiah's system of weights and measures; and, of course, chiasmus. Of special interest is a discussion of the words "law," "statutes," "judgments," "ordinances," and "commandments," as used in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon. Stephen D. Ricks is next, with "Converging Paths: Language and Cultural Notes on the Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Book of Mormon." In this chapter, Ricks, as does Welch above, seems to hedge his bets a bit: In the past half generation, Book of Mormon study has come into its own. The accumulated efforts of scholars in examining the results of major finds, in reassessing reports of other discoveries, and in rethinking the geography of Book of Mormon events have all combined to place the historical plausibility of the Book of Mormon on a very sure footing. In what follows I review nine aspects of Book of Mormon language, history, and culture that were unknown or unexamined at the time of the publication of the Book of Mormon but have since entered the forefront of scholarly discussion. (p. 389) The phrase "unknown or unexamined" jumped out at me. It seems more moderate than some other statements in the book, and fully justified by Ricks' first example, a study of treaty and covenant in King Benjamin's Address. He admits that the component parts of the study can be found in the Old Testament. He therefore cannot make the claim that the information was "unknown" to people in Joseph's time. But was this information "unexamined" Do we really have any way of knowing? Ricks continues with studies of Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon (a topic covered in an entire earlier chapter), but in keeping with the mission of the book, repeats none of the earlier studies. The topics he covers in this chapter are disparate and non-connected -- from Old World parallels to the "garment of Joseph" to the eyewitness of the translation of the Book of Mormon to "The Place That Was Called Nahom." The next chapter is a bit of a jolt -- a personal testimony from Alison V.P. Coutts, titled, "From A Convert's Viewpoint." Her background consists of a Jewish mother, an Anglican father, a childhood being raised in the faith of the Church of England. Her Jewish heritage was not known to her until late in life, and this set her off on a quest to better understand her Jewish roots, a quest that led her ultimately to joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I became immersed in her major theme, that of "asylum." She presents an excellent study of the concept of "cities of refuge" in the Old Testament, places of asylum for those fleeing their enemies. She then examines her own sense of confusion and doubt as her family's religious traditions failed to answer her deepest questions -- who are we, where did we come from, where are we going. When she discovered that the Book of Mormon answered those questions, she saw it, and the Plan of Salvation, as a place of refuge, of asylum, to which she could flee for comfort and for answers. Her contribution to the book adds little to the scholarly content, but its intent is clearly to pull together the evidences and hypotheses strewed throughout the pages of this book into a personal, deeply felt statement about why all this matters. It serves well as it brings us back to the real world. The book closes with an Appendix, "Echoes and Evidences from the Writings of Hugh Nibley." Here are found bring excerpts from Nibley's voluminous writings, and make for fascinating reading. Conclusion ========== So, did I like this book? Yes, I liked it very much. I had no expectation that I would agree with every point made. My expectations were based on how the volume was described to me -- a collaborated work that pulls together, and explains, some of the remarkable "hits" that Hugh Nibley wrote about, the odd coincidences between the Book of Mormon and ideas that were likely not known to Joseph Smith. There is no shortage of opposition to the content of this book. One will have no trouble finding folks who disagree with the theme itself, and will have no use for this book. But "Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon" fills a vital gap in the literature production of the Mormon community. Thousands of pages of research have come forth from FARMS, and from other organizations. The everyday student can find it overwhelming. This book pulls much of this together, presents it all in a readable and approachable manner, packages it conveniently and affordably, and now awaits wide reception among Latter-day Saints. The apostle Paul, looking out over the vast creation, proclaimed that all people were "without excuse" with regard to belief in God. The evidence was there; they simply had to look for it. Latter-day Saints are now, likewise, "without excuse." Those whose testimony of the Book of Mormon is based entirely on faith, claiming the evidentiary work is too complicated, too difficult for them, may no longer use this as an excuse. It's all been laid out, ready for your consideration. Teachers should have this book as a resource in their service to the Church. Church leaders should have this book as they build their own testimonies of the Book of Mormon. And having purchased this book, each person should decide, individually, how much weight each of the "hits" bears in his or her own quest. I highly recommend you get this book. - ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com or jeffneedle@tns.net - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #920 ******************************