{"id":35741,"date":"2016-08-09T12:59:11","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T18:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=35741"},"modified":"2016-08-09T14:32:30","modified_gmt":"2016-08-09T20:32:30","slug":"ghost-writers-in-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html","title":{"rendered":"Ghost Writers in the Sky?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>
This is serious scholarship, and it deserves a serious response. \u00a0(Photo from Amazon.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In connection with the\u00a0challenge to certain\u00a0critics<\/a> that I offered\u00a0yesterday, my friend Royal Skousen has just sent me the following note:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, Dan, early on I did mention the possibility of a committee. I have never speculated on who might be on the committee, not even jokingly that it included William Tyndale (in fact, his English is too early). \u00a0I definitely do NOT recall the conversation you put on your blog. But this is what I have written in ATV [Analysis of Textual Variants<\/em>] on page 1052 (under Jacob 6:13, referring to \u201cthe pleading bar\u201d):<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And the actual translator of the Book of Mormon \u2013 the Lord himself or his translation committee \u2013 seems to have been familiar with the term!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have removed this offending sentence from the second edition of ATV. I no longer refer to a translation committee, although I have said we do not know \u201chow the Lord did it or had it done\u201d. That is as far as I will go because it does no good to argue about this issue. Instead, let\u2019s study the text.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best wishes, Royal<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Professor Skousen is claiming the hundred dollar reward that I offered.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sorry, though. \u00a0Even this doesn\u2019t qualify according to the standards that I outlined yesterday. \u00a0I required a \u201cpassage in any published writing by either Dr. Skousen or Dr. Carmack in which either of them seriously advocates the proposition\u00a0that the Book of Mormon was rendered into English by a mysterious spirit-world committee of translators.\u201d \u00a0A mere passing mention in a disjunction (\u201cthe Lord himself or his translation committee\u201d) \u2014 and, with the concluding exclamation mark, plainly a rather lighthearted<\/em> mention \u2014 doesn\u2019t count as \u201cserious advocacy,\u201d by which I mean the assertion of a proposition on the basis of marshaled evidence and analysis.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, I expect, that\u2019s about as good as it\u2019s going to get.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no serious advocacy even here<\/em> of a spirit world translation committee, no \u201ctheory,\u201d no academic argument for such a thing. \u00a0And that\u2019s the most germane passage out of literally thousands of pages of published material.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Drs. Skousen and Carmack have been publishing serous historical-linguistic analysis pointing to hundreds of examples of a quite puzzling presence of Early Modern English in the Book of Mormon.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

My point in issuing yesterday\u2019s challenge was to call out certain critics who have been alleging\u00a0(for years, though with ever diminishing\u00a0excuse) that the existence of a \u201cghost-translation committee\u201d in the spirit world is the very core of the Skousen\/Carmack position. \u00a0It\u2019s not. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t really even rise to the level of peripheral.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fact is that Drs. Skousen and Carmack have identified unexpected linguistic phenomena in the Book of Mormon that they weren\u2019t originally\u00a0looking for, didn\u2019t expect to find, and can\u2019t really explain \u2014 but\u00a0that, though such linguistic features are\u00a0not essential to a case for the historical authenticity and divine inspiration of the Book of Mormon, are extraordinarily interesting. \u00a0(For one thing, in my judgment, they represent a potentially enormous problem for\u00a0secularist critics.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

My challenge was intended to call out\u00a0certain of those critics for their dismissive and sneering reactions to the work of Professors Carmack and Skousen, reactions that plainly demonstrate either of two things: a) They haven\u2019t read any of it, because they consistently treat as its principal thesis a proposition that is never really advocated in any of the articles or massive books that Drs. Carmack and Skousen have published, or b) they\u2019re shamelessly disingenuous.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

P.S. \u00a0I do<\/em> remember that conversation with Professor Skousen. \u00a0It probably occurred around 2006 or so, and I distinctly recall both the mention of William Tyndale and that the conversation occurred after dark in the main hallway, near one of the stairwells, on the ground floor of BYU\u2019s Jesse Knight Building. \u00a0It\u2019s possible that I<\/em> was the one who mentioned Tyndale\u2019s name \u2014 this was a brief exchange that occurred a decade ago, after all \u2014 but I don\u2019t remember the conversation that way.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 In connection with the\u00a0challenge to certain\u00a0critics that I offered\u00a0yesterday, my friend Royal Skousen has just sent me the following note: \u00a0 Well, Dan, early on I did mention the possibility of a committee. I have never speculated on who might be on the committee, not even jokingly that it included William Tyndale (in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGhost Writers in the Sky?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    In connection with the\u00a0challenge to certain\u00a0critics that I offered\u00a0yesterday, my friend Royal Skousen has just sent me the following\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ghost Writers in the Sky?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    In connection with the\u00a0challenge to certain\u00a0critics that I offered\u00a0yesterday, my friend Royal Skousen has just sent me the following\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-09T18:59:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-09T20:32:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/08\/51teq8eUDzL.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html\",\"name\":\"Ghost Writers in the Sky?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-09T18:59:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-09T20:32:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    In connection with the\u00a0challenge to certain\u00a0critics that I offered\u00a0yesterday, my friend Royal Skousen has just sent me the following\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ghost Writers in the Sky?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ghost Writers in the Sky?","description":"    In connection with the\u00a0challenge to certain\u00a0critics that I offered\u00a0yesterday, my friend Royal Skousen has just sent me the following","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ghost Writers in the Sky?","og_description":"    In connection with the\u00a0challenge to certain\u00a0critics that I offered\u00a0yesterday, my friend Royal Skousen has just sent me the following","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2016-08-09T18:59:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-09T20:32:30+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/08\/51teq8eUDzL.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html","name":"Ghost Writers in the Sky?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-09T18:59:11+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-09T20:32:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    In connection with the\u00a0challenge to certain\u00a0critics that I offered\u00a0yesterday, my friend Royal Skousen has just sent me the following","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/08\/ghost-writers-in-the-sky.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ghost Writers in the Sky?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35741\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}