Problems and Answers | Sidney B. Sperry, Answers to Book of Mormon Questions

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Doctor Sidney Sperry has revised somewhat his 1964 book, Problems of the Book of Mormon, and Bookcraft here offers the new version under a new title. The author was probably the first Latter-day Saint to obtain a Ph.D. in a field which bears directly on technical scriptural study. Over the years he has gained a large following among L.D.S. readers by producing a number of volumes interpreting and defending the standard works of the Church. The present book continues that approach. 

The first two-thirds of the book is a series of unconnected essays, each examining a distinct question. Some are questions which “have puzzled the members of the Church” and which have been posed to the author at various times. For example: Did Father Lehi have daughters? Did Nephi talk to the Holy Ghost in person? Others have been presented as challenges to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon: Does the Book of Mormon quote Shakespeare? The final third consists of five chapters written as a systematic reply to a concerted attack in book form by one Arthur Budvarson, a former Mormon. 

One solid virtue of the volume is that it makes available once more for Mor mons Sperry’s treatment of textual parallels between the Bible and the Book of Mormon. The discussion of the “Isaiah problem” in the Book of Mormon (the question of how the many quotations from Isaiah can be reconciled with the view held by most Biblical scholars that at least some of that Old Testament book were written after 600 B.C. when Lehi left Jerusalem) displays Dr. Sperry at his best, addressing comparative textual questions. 

The new comments on more esoteric problems, such as Lehi’s daughters, show that L.D.S. analysis of Mormon scriptures still can point out new information and insights. Both historical and doctrinal contributions are made in these essays, although I must confess disappointment that all the treatments stopped considerably short of where they might have been taken. 

Chapters 17 and 18 (“The Problem of Iron, Steel and Other Metals,” and “The Problems of the Horse and Other Domestic Animals”) show what happens when a scholar steps outside his speciality; they are markedly weaker in evaluating and mustering evidence. 

The scholarship employed is sometimes casual; it fails to follow through on particular issues to the point where one feels sure the author has conclusive control of his material. For example, “ziff,” a metal mentioned in the Book of Mormon, Sperry thinks might well have been zinc (p. 147). He supposed the latter metal to have been known in Old Testament times, and therefore to the Nephites, since “brass” is mentioned a number of times in the Bible account and the metal we know by that name today contains zinc. Actually zinc was likely not known in Palestine when Lehi left there, and “brass” in the Old Testament is thought by almost all commentators to be a mistranslation for either “copper or bronze.” 

Sperry sometimes spoils a good thing by being too anxious to reconcile difficulties without facing up to their implications with the candor he demands of his opponents. He says, to cite an instance, “As for the Jaredites who left Asia about 2000 B.C., it can be said that they could readily have known about the production of wrought iron. But an expert in the history of the use of iron and steel, intent on being critical, might object somewhat if we say they could have known about the production of steel as early as 2000 B.C. And we are going to say it. . .” (p. 152). While the early use of iron can be documented, there is simply no historical evidence of the use of steel anywhere near that early. Undocumented assertion is no adequate substitute for evidence. Other interpretive arguments relevant to the problem (e.g., the variable meanings of the names of metals, or of animals) are completely neglected. 

Despite the negative aspects of this review, I enjoyed the book and learned from it. Anyone who is seriously concerned with the Book of Mormon could similarly benefit. My discomfort develops from a wish that the book had been better—following up loose ends, expanding where hints and unexploited opportunities now leave the reader unsatisfied, and patching some of the holes (for example, the implications of continuing use of Egyptian records in Iron Age Palestine, or the time of the prophets in the chapter on the Brass Plates). But how easy it is to say, “Do a better job!” At least the book is here to be read. While many Dialogue readers no doubt feel no need for the kind of point-by-point apologetic defense of scripture Brother Sperry has provided, clearly other Mormons do. Answers offers them some usable help while they wait to hear from those of us who talk about but never write the perfect book!

Answers to Book of Mormon Questions. By Sidney B. Sperry. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1967. 261 pp., $3.50.