Eborn Books Author Presentation

One of Jeff's presentations has been bumped up to early August, so update your calendars:

Eborn Books Author Presentation

Title: "What Did Joseph Smith Know about the LDS Temple Endowment by 1836?"
Date: 8 August 2014, 7:00 PM
Place: 254 S. Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 (map)

BYU Education Week and more!

Jeff will be back next month for BYU's Education Week! Be sure to register now to take advantage of the early registration prices. "The Creation, the Fall, and the Lives of Adam and Eve"

Date: 19-22 August 2014, 12:30 PM-1:25 PM Place: 206 Martin Building (MARB) (map) Advance Registration Required

Tuesday: The Vision of Moses as a Heavenly Ascent

Wednesday: Creation and Eden as Models of Temple Architecture

Thursday: The Fall: God's Wisdom Prevails Over Satan's Deception

Friday: Adam, Eve, and the New and Everlasting Covenant

For more information on BYU Campus Education Week, visit the official page by clicking here. The full event schedule can be found here.


Also, note the following dates on your calendar:

Eborn Books Author Presentation

Title: "What Did Joseph Smith Know about the LDS Temple Endowment by 1836?"
Date: TBD
Place: 254 S. Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 (map)

Temple Symposium

Title: "Was the LDS Temple Endowment a Late Development of the Nauvoo Period?"
Date: 25 October 2014
Place: BYU (details forthcoming)

New editions!

Jeff Bradshaw has released updated editions of three of his books:

• In God's Image and Likeness 1 (2014 edition)

  The 2014 edition contains corrections and updates throughout. The black and white figures in the pdf version have been replaced by color. The four-volume 8x10 inch softcover edition has been replaced by a two-volume full-size 8 1/2 x 11 softcover edition.

• Temple Themes in the Book of Moses (2014 edition)

  The 2014 edition has been expanded from 198 to 220 pages, with corrections and updates throughout and the addition of two appendices: 1) Paul on Women's Veiling of the Face in Prayer, and 2) Covenants vs. Contracts.

• Temple Themes in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood (2014 edition)

  The 2014 edition has been expanded from 380 to 423 pages, with corrections and updates throughout. The appendix "Questions about Genesis and the Book of Moses" has additional material relating to questions about the documentary hypothesis, the historicity of the Old Testament, whether or not the Book of Moses can be appropriately characterized as "inspired pseudepigrapha," and whether or not it can be safely concluded that Moses chapters 1, 6, and 7 have no basis in antiquity.

Those that purchased the PDFs of previous editions are eligible to download the updated PDF(s); just download using the link you received at the time of the original purchase, or contact Jeff directly if you can't find it or have any troubles downloading. Clarification: For those wondering, both the print editions and PDFs of the above books have been updated.

Book Signings Next Week!

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and David J. Larsen, co-authors of In God's Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel, will be doing book signings in Provo (4 April) and Salt Lake (5 and 7 April)! Below are the locations and times:

April 4 - 1PM-3PM - BYU Bookstore

Wilkinson Student Center (WSC)
Brigham Young University
University Hill,
Provo, Utah 84602
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and David J. Larsen will be available.

April 5 - 4PM-5PM - Eborn Books

254 S. Main Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
801-359-0460
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and David J. Larsen will be available.

April 7 - Noon-1PM - Benchmark Books

3269 S. Main Street
Suite 250
Salt Lake City, Utah 84115
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw will be available.

Both Jeff and David would love to see you and discuss their insights with you, as well as sign your books.

In God's Image and Likeness 1: Creation, Fall, and the Story of Adam and Eve

A new two-volume softcover printing of IGIL 1 is now available on Amazon, with a slightly different title: In God's Image and Likeness 1: Creation, Fall, and the Story of Adam and Eve. This edition can be purchased here. The content has been updated in several places and the formatting has been refined, while keeping the page numbers consistent with the hardcover edition. Unlike the previous four-volume softcover edition, the page numbering is continuous from vol. 1 to vol. 2. It is also full size (8.5" x 11") rather than reduced size (8" x 10"). The retail price for the two-volume set is $59.95.

While the softcover editions are black and white only due to publishing constraints, the IGIL 1 PDF has been updated to the latest content, along with a full color interior. Those that purchased the previous edition are eligible for this updated PDF; just download using the link you received at the time of the original purchase, or contact Jeff directly if you can't find it or have any troubles downloading.

In God's Image and Likeness 2 Now Available!

The first edition of Jeff Bradshaw and David Larsen's book, In God's Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel, is now available! The beautiful hardcover book wraps up the final chapters and stories of the Book of Moses and continues through the end of Genesis 11. Read more about the book here, or head straight over to the excerpts page to see a chapter on the Tower of Babel and more.

Visit either of the following stores to order your copy now:

• FairMormon (currently discounted 15%)
• Amazon

A digital version of the book in PDF, for use on computers and tablets, is also available for those that have purchased the hardcover book. It is formatted identically to the paper version of the book and includes bookmarks and live hyperlink cross-references throughout. The PDF can be purchased here using PayPal (please include the date and purchase of your hardcover book in the Special Instructions section).

Tower of Babel: What did it really mean to “Confound Their Language”?

The figure above is by the famous Dutch engraver, M. C. Escher. “Although Escher dismissed his works before 1935 as of little or no value as they were ‘for the most part merely practice exercises,’ some of them, including the Tower of Babel, chart the development of his interest in perspective and unusual viewpoints that would become the hallmarks of his later, more famous, work. In contrast to many other depictions of the biblical story, … Escher depicts the tower as a geometrical structure and places the viewpoint above the tower. This allows him to exercise his skill with perspective, but he also chose to center the picture around the top of the tower as the focus for the climax of the action.” Escher later commented on the drawing as follows: “Some of the builders are white and others black. The work is at a standstill … Seeing as the climax of the drama takes place at the summit of the tower which is under construction, the building has been shown from above as though from a bird’s eye view.”

This article will discuss four questions relating to the Lord’s statement of intention for the Babylonian builders: “Let us … confound their language”:

• Does the Jaredite Record Give Us Independent Confirmation for the Babel Story?
• Does Historical Linguistics Support the Splitting of an Original Language at Babel?
• Was God More Concerned about the Confounding of Language or the Confounding of Peoples?
• Could There Have Been a “Confounding” of Language at Babel?

Does the Jaredite Record Give Us Independent Confirmation for the Babel Story?

The answer to this question is “no.”

The first chapter of the book of Ether describes the origins of the Jaredites at the time of “the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered.” This and related references have encouraged LDS scholars seeking independent evidence from the Book of Mormon for the biblical story. However, in his lucid commentary on the Book of Mormon, Brant Gardner cautions that things are not so simple as they seem.

He reminds us that Mosiah only summarized, but did not actually translate the “first part” of the record of the Jaredites that spoke of “the creation of the world, and also of Adam, and an account from that time even to the great tower.” Thus, it is unlikely that the passing references to that early history we have in the Book of Mormon are based on the Jaredite record. Rather, it is more probable that they have been carried over by Moroni into the book of Ether from what he had learned previously in his study of the brass plates. Specifically, he argues that “the material being translated and Mosiah’s understanding of the [biblical story of the Tower of Babel] had enough resemblances that Mosiah shaped the Jaredites’ original story to match the brass plates’ story at a crucial point” — namely the description of how the language of the builders was confounded. Continuing, he explains:

...

Full text