The Gift and Power: Translating the Book of Mormon

by Brant A. Gardner

The Book of Mormon was presented to the world as the translation of an ancient text engraved on golden plates more than 180 years ago. However, the faithful assurance that it is a translation has not had an accompanying understanding of how that translation took place. How could the ill-educated Joseph Smith translate the ancient text on the golden plates into the English Book of Mormon upon which so many base not only their faith, but a willingness to completely change their lives? The Gift and Translating the Book of Mormon examines the various issues surrounding that translation. How does the fact of the translation fit into a magical worldview in which Joseph had a place as a village seer? What might that context mean for our understanding of the text? This work explores the kind of translation the Book of Mormon represents. Did Joseph Smith or the marvelous instruments do the actual work of translation? Is it a tight or loose translation? How closely tied is the English text to the source text from which it was translated? What about Hebraisms in the text? What about the lengthy passages of King James English in it? The volume concludes with the most puzzling and persistent How did the seer stones work? Why didn't Joseph retranslate the Book of Lehi? How did revival language make its appearance in the book? Why couldn't Oliver Cowdery translate? Brant Gardner offers answers to these questions. The result is a faithful description of how God used a human prophet to translate a transcendentally important scriptural text.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Lds, History, Mormonism

379 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2011

Reviews

[Jeff Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insights into the translation of the Book of Mormon.

[Jason Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little too scholarly and scientific for me, but still interesting nonetheless.

[Www.themormonbookreview.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many books dealing with Joseph Smith talk about Smith translating The Book of Mormon from the golden plates. Brant Gardner's Gift and Power: Translating the Book of Mormon goes a step above that, he asks the question, what does it mean to translate? This book does not provide indisputable answers, but it is extremely convincing. Gift and Power provides an excellent starting point for one to start thinking about questions surrounding the translation process. Additionally, unlike many scholars, Gardner writes in a style that is highly readable for a non-academic audience.

Gardner does what few LDS scholars do, he situates Joseph Smith within the larger world of religion and folk magic during the early 19th century. Joseph Smith becomes, on some level, a product of his culture. The highlight of the book comes in chapter 9, "The Event That Changed Everything," where Gardner discusses the impact of the angel Mor oni's visit(s) on the young Smith. Gardner states in chapter 9, " Before Moroni there was a village seer. After Moroni, Joseph the Prophet emerged. Moroni's visit changed everything." Gift and Power tackles most of the major issues dealing with the translation of The Book of Mormon, including the relationship that it has with the King James Biblical text.

If there is a better book on Joseph Smith and what it means to translate, I don't know what it is.

Hear our audio interview with Brant Gardner here:

http://www.themormonbookreview.com/20...

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sussing out how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon is complicated. Although I do not agree with all of Gardner's conclusions in this book, I do think that he is asking all of the right questions surrounding how the Book of Mormon came to be in the English language. There are a lot of variables and he admirably covers all of them before picking and choosing how he comes down. That discussion of the various issues at play I found more valuable than his more personal views on which version of those issues he thinks more likely.

There are, of course, those that think that Joseph Smith was a fraud. This book is not for them. If you think that Joseph was a prophet and the Book of Mormon is a true record of pre-Columbian Christians in America (as I do), then this book will help you at least ponder how we got the text in English through a young man in his early 20s as he transitioned from being a village seer to being a prophet of the Lord.

[Matthew Kern · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great read. If you are interested in the translation process of the Book of Mormon in any way read this book. It covers just about everything relating to the how of the translation process. I found that from a faithful perspective he has put forward the best theory for how it came forth. A few of his ideas did not seem to match my perspective, but the vast majority of the book was very compelling and reasonable.

One part, not directly related to the content, was the way he did references at the bottom of each page. This was extremely convenient. He also added additional commentary in the footnotes as well. I wish more books would follow this pattern, although the effort must be high.

Highly recommended.

[Joshua Sears · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than a history of the translation of the Book of Mormon, this book analyzes the final product and explores what kind of translation this was. It looks at questions such as, Did the translation aim to be literal, functionally equivalent, or both? Why does it use King James verbiage? How do we get the New-Testament influenced passages? Why did Joseph believe interpreters or seer stones were essential?

These explorations are engaging, but I will warn this is not an easy read. You know you're in for some serious thinking when the first 100 pages are spent setting up the background of the "folk-magic worldview" that Joseph grew up with in 19th-century Palmyra. Still, if you are brave enough to push through you will be rewarded with some great insights into Book of Mormon language.

[Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost, I must say that this book is fun to read. Gardner pulls from history, culture, neuroscience, linguistic theory, and numerous other resources to piece together the best viable theory for how the Book of Mormon was translated. While Gardner certainly does this from a believer's perspective, his theory is one that can also be useful in understanding the creative process of the Book of Mormon from a non-believer's perspective.

[Austin Archibald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite researching this topic extensively, this book fascinated and entertained me. The author discussed concepts I never considered and sources I hadn't read. The quality of analysis is exceptionally good though I may disagree with some of his arguments. By looking at the eyewitness accounts and the text itself, the author comes up with very plausible theories and explanations to difficult questions about how Joseph the Seer 'translated' an ancient text by the 'gift and power of God.'

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well done exploration of how Joseph Smith was able to translate the Book of Mormon "by the gift and power of God".

I would recommend reading the author's multi-volume Second Witness commentaries on The Book of Mormon first. This book complements those commentaries.

I appreciated the author's use of footnotes rather than endnotes.

[Garin Hess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and a fair treatment of the subject but it is written in depth for hard core scholars it's challenging for an amateur. Would love to read a well written synopsis, then deep dive into those sections most interesting to me.

[Karl Nehring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent in-depth study that refers to many threads of research. Gardner has done an admirable job of examining the issues related to the origins of this book of scripture.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Challenging

[Zachariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book. I read it too long ago to provide a very useful review, but I found most of the author's theories regarding the translation process of the Book of Mormon compelling.

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read!