Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011 Volume 19 Number 1 Article 24 2007 Vol. 19 Num. 1 The FARMS Review FARMS Review Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Review, FARMS (2007) "Vol. 19 Num. 1 The FARMS Review," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011: Vol. 19 : No. 1 , Article 24. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr/vol19/iss1/24 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011 by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The FARMS Review The FARMS Review Editor Daniel C. Peterson Associate Editors Louis C. Midgley George L. Mitton Production Editor Shirley S. Ricks Cover Design Andrew D. Livingston Layout Jacob D. Rawlins The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship Executive Director Andrew C. Skinner Associate Executive Director M. Gerald Bradford Assistant Executive Director Alison V. P. Coutts Director, FARMS S. Kent Brown Director, METI Daniel C. Peterson Director, CPART Kristian Heal The FARMS Review Volume 19 • Number 1 • 2007 ! The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship Brigham Young University © 2007 Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship Brigham Young University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISSN 1550-3194 To Our Readers The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship encour- ages and supports research on the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham, the Bible, other ancient scripture, and related subjects. The Maxwell Institute publishes and distributes titles in these areas for the benefit of scholars and interested Latter-day Saint readers. 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We hope, thereby, to encour- age reliable scholarship with regard to such subjects. Most reviews and articles are solicited or assigned. Any person in- terested in writing a specific article or review should send a proposal to the editor. If the proposal is accepted, the Review style guidelines will be sent with the acceptance. The opinions expressed in these reviews and articles are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the opinions of the vi • FARMS Review of Books 19/1 (2007) Maxwell Institute, its editors, Brigham Young University, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the authors’ employers. No por- tion of the reviews or articles may be used in advertising or for any other commercial purpose without the express written permission of the Maxwell Institute. The FARMS Review is published semiannually. See the Web site at maxwellinstitute.byu.edu for reviews and articles appearing in the FARMS Review. Contents Editor’s Introduction, “Reflections on the Reactions to Rough Stone Rolling and Related Matters” by Daniel C. Peterson ........................................................................ xi Tributes to Davis Bitton (1930–2007) James B. Allen, “Davis Bitton: His Scholarship and Faith” .......... 1 John L. Sorenson, “Valuing Davis Bitton” ....................................... 9 Book of Mormon Calderwood, David G. Voices from the Dust: New Insights into Ancient America (Brant A. Gardner, “A New Chronicler in the Old Style”) .......... 13 Dunn, Scott C. “Automaticity and the Dictation of the Book of Mormon.” In American Apocrypha (Richard N. Williams, “The Book of Mormon as Automatic Writing: Beware the Virtus Dormitiva”) ....................................... 23 Articles William J. Hamblin. “Reformed Egyptian” ......................................... 31 William J. Hamblin. “Sacred Writing on Metal Plates in the Ancient Mediterranean” ............................................................ 37 viii • The FARMS Review 19/1 (2007) Mormon Studies Bushman, Richard Lyman, with the assistance of Jed Woodworth. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (Louis Midgley, “Two Stories—One Faith”) ................................. 55 Dever, William G. Did God Have a Wife? Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel (Alyson Skabelund Von Feldt, “Does God Have a Wife?”) ......... 81 Articles M. Gerald Bradford. “The Study of Mormonism: A Growing Interest in Academia” ................................................ 119 James E. Faulconer. “Rethinking Theology: The Shadow of the Apocalypse” .................................................... 175 Terryl L. Givens. “New Religious Movements and Orthodoxy: The Challenge to the Religious Mainstream” ............................. 201 Scholarly Exchange Michael S. Heiser. “You’ve Seen One Elohim, You’ve Seen Them All? A Critique of Mormonism’s Use of Psalm 82” ......... 221 David E. Bokovoy. “ ‘Ye Really Are Gods’: A Response to Michael Heiser concerning the LDS Use of Psalm 82 and the Gospel of John” ................................................................. 267 Michael S. Heiser. “Israel’s Divine Council, Mormonism, and Evangelicalism: Clarifying the Issues and Directions for Future Study” ............................................................................. 315 Contents • ix Christian History and Scripture Callister, Tad R. The Inevitable Apostasy and the Promised Restoration Morrison, Alexander B. Turning from Truth: A New Look at the Great Apostasy (Jacob D. Rawlins, “Turning Away”) ........................................... 325 Reynolds, Noel B., ed. Early Christians in Disarray: Contemporary LDS Perspectives on the Christian Apostasy Petersen, Scott R. Where Have All the Prophets Gone? (Alison V. P. Coutts, “Disarray Revisited”) ................................. 333 Mahler, Gustav, ed. and trans. The Sealed Book of Daniel Opened and Translated: The Linear Bible Code— Reading the Book Backward (Stephen D. Ricks, “Forward or Drawrof?”) ............................... 343 Book of Abraham Fletcher, Allen J. A Study Guide to the Facsimiles of the Book of Abraham (John Gee, “A Method for Studying the Facsimiles”) ................ 347 Social Criticism Sommerville, C. John. The Decline of the Secular University (Ralph C. Hancock, “A Sinking Ship?”) ....................................... 355 Book Notes Baggini, Julian. Atheism: A Very Short Introduction ........................361 Balmer, Randall. Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism ..............................362 Barker, Margaret. The Hidden Tradition of the Kingdom of God .......................................................................363 x • The FARMS Review 19/1 (2007) Jacobs, Alan. The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis ................................................................................... 364 MacMullen, Ramsay. Voting about God in Early Church Councils .................................................................... 365 McEnhill, Peter, and George Newlands. Fifty Key Christian Thinkers .........................................................................366 Mouw, Richard L. Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport: Making Connections in Today’s World ........................................366 Olson, Roger E. Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities ................368 Peterson, Daniel C. Muhammad: Prophet of God .............................369 Sheler, Jeffery L. Believers: A Journey into Evangelical America ......................................................................370 Smith, Christian, with Melinda Lundquist Denton. Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers ..................................................................371 About the Contributors ......................................................................... 373 Editor’s Introduction Reflections on the Reactions to Rough Stone Rolling and Related Matters Daniel C. Peterson good personal friend and an enthusiastic friend of the FARMS AReview died on Friday, 13 April 2007, after a relatively brief ill- ness. The obituary that appeared in the Deseret Morning News on the following day, prepared by Davis Bitton himself (with some obvious later modifications by others) roughly a decade before his passing, captured much about the man: R. Davis Bitton 1930–2007. I, Ronald Davis Bitton, have moved on to the next stage of existence. As you read this, I am having a ball rejoining my parents and grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and dear friends and associates I knew on earth. I am wide awake, no longer struggling with the narcolepsy that handicapped but did not defeat me, and cheerfully taking in the new state of affairs and accepting