Re: CHAT: Must Needs?

At 1:08 PM -0500 03/18/02, John Cowan wrote:
>Dirk Elzinga scripsit:
>
>>  While we as Mormons believe the _Book of Mormon_ to be ancient
>>  scripture, there is no denying that many of its linguistic patterns
>>  are rooted in the speech of early 19th century New England.
>
>Scarcely surprising even in purely Mormon terms, no?  After all, the *English*
>words of the scripture didn't appear on the plates -- they had to be
>devised by someone of that time and place, who perhaps had read too
>deeply in the KJV to be quite good for his literary style.
Just so. But this point is not appreciated by members and is often
willfully misconstrued by many anti-Mormon polemicists. Both sides
seem to think that the fact that 19th century American speech
patterns (as well as KJV patterns) appear in the _Book of Mormon_ in
some way calls into question the legitimacy of Joseph Smith's claims
about its origin.

>The use of "wherefore" seems particularly odd.
I suppose. Having grown up with the passage constantly being quoted,
it doesn't strike me as odd anymore.

Dirk
--
Dirk Elzinga                  Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu

Man deth swa he byth thonne he mot swa he wile.
'A man does as he is when he can do what he wants.'

- Old English Proverb