The Daily DeseretIn the Eyes of the Ancients: New RSC Book Studies the Book of Mormon in Its Ancient Context
This page is our own summary. The original belongs to BYU Religious Studies Center; please read it there.
A 2026 collection of sixteen studies applies literary, ethnographic, linguistic and archaeological methods to the Book of Mormon, arguing for its ancient character.
In the Eyes of the Ancients: Historical Perspectives on the Book of Mormon is a 2026 volume from BYU's Religious Studies Center, edited by Ryan H. Sharp and Kerry M. Hull. The RSC page lists a table of contents and a description, and says the book has not been released for online reading. This summary therefore rests on that page, not on the chapters themselves.
What the book sets out to do
The RSC describes the project as faith-informed scholarship that also meets academic expectations. Sixteen scholars place the Book of Mormon in its ancient cultural and historical settings, and the publisher says their work supports the book's truth claims and prophetic message. That is the publisher's framing, and readers who do not share those starting assumptions will want to weigh the arguments themselves.
How it is organized
The table of contents groups the essays into four sections.
- Textual and literary studies. Titles include a look at Mulekite perspectives in Amaleki's short record, a cultural history of the Lamanites by Daniel L. Belnap, and a literary analysis of Samuel the Lamanite's discourse in Helaman 13 to 15 by Kerry Hull.
- Ethnographic studies. Topics include ancient Near Eastern scribal culture, the way numbers are used to mark sacred time, Nephi's defense of his kingship, Josephite identity and the meaning of gestures such as the "arms of his love."
- Linguistic studies. Essays examine Amulon's imposed labor, inscriptions at Al-'Ula in North Arabia, a reconsideration of Korihor's atheism and a proposed Book of Mormon language family.
- Archaeological studies. These include Nahom and Ishmael in ancient inscriptions, tablets of the covenant, and Indian copper-plate grants compared with the Book of Mormon's plates.
Who might want it
Teachers, students and general readers interested in scholarly approaches to the Book of Mormon will find a wide survey of current Latter-day Saint research here. The listed price is $29.99. As with any collection, individual essays will vary in method and in how persuasive other scholars find them, and some topics, especially linguistic and archaeological claims, are debated in the wider academic world.
Please see the RSC page linked above for the official description and table of contents.
How we wrote this: we read the source page linked above and summarized it in our own words, quoting at most a short line with attribution. We have not added facts from outside that source. If anything here differs from the original, the original is correct.