Podcasts about royal skousen

Watch the SNEAK PEEK of Revelation or Imagination: Part 4, where Nehemia learns from Book of Mormon expert Royal Skousen about scribal errors on the golden plates, the need for scholars to correct corrupted texts, and what this can teach … Continue reading → The post Support Team Study SNEAK PEEK! Revelation or Imagination: Part 4 appeared first on Nehemia's Wall.

In this episode of Hebrew Voices #206, Revelation or Imagination: Part 3, Nehemia learns from Royal Skousen how the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon was changed to match printing errors despite the belief of some Mormons that angels … Continue reading → The post Hebrew Voices #206 – Revelation or imagination: Part 3 appeared first on Nehemia's Wall.

Watch the SNEAK PEEK of Revelation or Imagination: Part 2, where Nehemia learns from Royal Skousen how Joseph Smith misread the seer stones, the role of editors and copyists in the transmission of the Book of Mormon, and why he … Continue reading → The post Support Team Study SNEAK PEEK! Revelation or Imagination: Part 2 appeared first on Nehemia's Wall.

Here is one from the archives. We released this episode with Jonathan Neville back on April 8, 2022. Jonathan Neville is a big-tent proponent when it comes to Book of Mormon beliefs.  Part of that likely stems from Heartland being shut out of groups like Book of Mormon Central. But Jonathan is also wants to keep the tent open for people who believe in a non-historical Book of Mormon. https://youtu.be/yfbOflp3OD4 Non-Historical Book of Mormon? Jonathan: But it all comes back to this Mesoamerican thing, because I think once the scholars convince people that Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith were wrong about the Hill Cumorah, that was like a chink in the armor. They could be wrong about anything else. They said, "If they were wrong about something they said was a fact, then they could be wrong about anything else." So, they can be wrong about the translation. I don't know if you know, Skousen recently published a thing in The Interpreter about how now he's saying that Oliver Cowdery deliberately misled everybody about the translation. GT 2:56:48 Royal Skousen. Jonathan 2:56:48 Royal Skousen. And I couldn't disagree more, but I understand why he says that because the Mesoamerican thing opened the door to questioning everything Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery taught, and you end up with, what's left? Everybody just kind of says, "Well, as long as you believe in Christ, that's all the matters." But, come on. I mean, when it gets down to it, the only evidence that we have of the restoration of the priesthood is from Oliver Cowdery. Joseph Smith talked about it, but he didn't talk about the event. Yet, they're saying Oliver Cowdery was wrong about the Hill Cumorah? So, what I advocate is not anybody agree with anything that I say. I advocate, let's get all the facts out, and then let's look at the different interpretations of the facts. You go all the way from Dan Vogel and Tom Murphy, through Jack Welch, John Sorenson and Dan Peterson. Then, over here we have Rod Meldrum, and Wayne May on the geography issue, or me on the translation or whatever. Let's just put all of them out and let's get rid of this citation cartel that censors things they don't like. The Interpreter, to me, is an appalling journal. It shouldn't even be considered an academic journal. GT 2:57:20 Yet, you read it. Jonathan 2:58:06 Well, I have a blog called The Interpreter Peer Reviewed, where once in a while someone will send me an article, "You've got to deal with this." I read it, okay. Then, what I would do is a peer review. I understand it's more of a peer approval process that it goes through with those guys, because everybody on their peer review process already drinks the Kool Aid. I mean, they don't consider an outside perspective, and I know, because I've talked with them. I know how they are, and you can read it in their journals. They get upset that I even talk about it. Dan Peterson freaks out. In Dan Peterson's own blog that he does on his Patheos, whatever, he's referred to me several times and wants everybody read this critical web page. There's a page that's critical of me all the time. At first, I thought, "Well, I should respond to that." But then I read it. It's so ludicrous. I feel like if people can't discern fact from sophistry, then that's on them. I'm not going to spend all my time tamping down all the sophistry going around. Jonathan 2:59:12 I just feel like people need to present the facts. If The Interpreter--the name Interpreter kind of tells it all, because they feel like they are the credentialed class. They are the ones that have been hired by the prophets to guide the rest of us, that kind of stuff which they've said. And the name Interpreter, alone, is a non-starter, because they're trying to interpret the scriptures for us. I think the scriptures are given to ordinary people that we can understand and interpret for ourselves. We don't need some scholars interpreting it for us.

Joseph Smith famously said that the Book of Mormon is "the most correct book” on Earth.  But what does this really mean? Was he referring to the perfection of the grammar and English in his translation? Or was something else meant? In this episode, Professor Nick Frederick, a Book of Mormon scholar himself, examines the textual variants in the Book of Mormon, highlighting the vital work done by Royal Skousen in the Critical Text Project—and how the book can be spiritually "the most correct" despite variations in its translation over the years.

Today we are so excited to release our exclusive interview with Latter-day Saints scholar, Royal Skousen! Royal has been researching Book of Mormon text for decades and decades. He knows A LOT about the Book of Mormon and has a lot of powerful information to share! Did Joseph Smith make up the Book of Mormon text? Was he inspired? Why were there so many mistakes in the Book of Mormon? Royal speaks to all of this and more! What did you learn from Royal? Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/saintsunscripted

Episode Twenty One: Printing the Book of Mormon Part 2: It was August 1829 when Hyrum Smith, with Peter Whitmer Jr. acting as bodyguard, delivered 24 pages of the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon to the printing establishment of Egbert B. Grandin. And the work of printing the Book of Mormon began. It would take about seven months to print, but before it could be printed it had to be punctuated and paragraphed. This episode of History of the Saints is the story of the details in printing the Book of Mormon. Scholars: Robin Jensen, Royal Skousen, Gerrit Dirkmaat, William Hartley

Episode Twenty: Printing the Book of Mormon: From the very beginning it had been Joseph Smith's intent to publish the Book of Mormon to the world. There would be 5000 copies of a book with more than 500 pages, bound in leather, and on frontier America that was a daunting and expensive undertaking. Who could they get to print it? This episode of History of the Saints tells that story. Scholars: Robin Jensen, Gerritt Dirkmaat, Larry Porter, Royal Skousen

Episode Eighteen: The Book of Mormon, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder: Joseph Smith completed the translation of the present Book of Mormon text between April 7, 1829 and July 1, 1829. When all things of its origins are considered, the Book of Mormon is a marvelous work and a wonder—indeed—a miracle. That is this episode of History of the Saints. Scholars: Robin Jensen, William Hartley, Mark Staker, Andrew Hedges, Royal Skousen, Larry Porter, Steven Harper, Michael MacKay

Episode Sixteen: Translating the Book of Mormon: It was Tuesday April 7, 1829, in Harmony, Pennsylvania when 23 year-old Joseph Smith and 22 year-old Oliver Cowdery began translating the gold plates delivered by the angel Moroni. By July 1st, a span 85 days, they would produce the 588 pages of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon. That is the story of the episode of History of the Saints. Scholars: Alexander Baugh, Royal Skousen, Steven Harper, Andrew Hedges, Robin Jensen

Episode Thirteen: Martin Harris and the Three Wise Men of the East: By February 1828, Joseph and Emma Smith were living in Harmony Pennsylvania on the Isaac Hale farm. Joseph had copied some of the characters from the gold plates and by means of the Urim and Thummim had translated a few. This episode tells the story of Martin Harris coming to Harmony and taking a copy of some of the characters, with the translation thereof, and going to New York City to present them to the learned men. Scholars: Richard Bennett, Royal Skousen, Steven Harper, Mark Staker

The use of the word "ceremony" in Mosiah 19:24 is puzzling, since nothing ceremonial seems to be occurring in this passage. Royal Skousen has suggested it is a scribal error, while others are argued that there is a ceremonial context for this passage. Whatever the case may be, exploring the different possibilities can yield a variety of interesting insights into this portion of the Book of Mormon. Read at bit.ly/knowhy561

In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Stephen Smoot interviews Grant Hardy, editor of the newly released Maxwell Institute Study Edition of the Book of Mormon. They discuss the history of publishing the Book of Mormon, and in particular the key features and motivations behind Grant’s earlier Reader’s Edition. While the Study Edition shares many of the features that made that earlier edition so useful—including paragraphs, quotations marks, poetic stanzas, and section headings—it also includes changes that reflect Book of Mormon research over the last fifteen years. The paragraphing, poetic formatting and section headings have all been revised. Bolded text in the lengthy quotations from Isaiah and Matthew indicate where there are differences between the Book of Mormon and the King James Version, making it easier to see how the Nephite record can function as a commentary on the Bible. The original chapters are more clearly marked. And there are many more footnotes pointing out literary features, narrative connections, and helpful observations about events and people. Grant shares some of his favorite new insights that have been incorporated into the volume, along with why he believes Emma Smith’s testimony deserves equal billing with those of the Three and Eight Witnesses. The Study Edition has several hundred footnotes drawn from Royal Skousen’s Critical Text Project identifying superior readings from the original and printer’s manuscripts that were lost in the process of copying, typesetting, and printing various editions of the Book of Mormon. There are also numerous footnotes suggesting alternative punctuation that clarify the meaning of particular verses. And, of course, at the end of the volume are helpful maps, charts, indexes, brief essays, and excerpts from primary sources about Joseph Smith and the translation. Together, the general formatting of the Study Edition makes the Book of Mormon easier to read, while the footnotes help focus attention on exact words and historical details. It is significant as well that while the Reader’s Edition used the 1920 edition of the Book of Mormon for its base text, the Maxwell Institute received permission from the Church to reproduce the official 2013 version of the text in the Study Edition, so the words are exactly the same. This means that not only can this new edition be used as a study aid for college students, teachers, missionaries, and in personal study but also it can be read as canonized scripture. The conversation concludes with comments about the striking full-page woodcuts that were commissioned especially for this volume from the noted LDS artist Brian Kershisnik, and how this Study Edition can help teach members of the Church how to better read and understand the Book of Mormon. About Our Guest:  Grant Hardy is Professor of History and Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has a B.A. in Ancient Greek from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature from Yale. He has authored books on diverse topics from Chinese history to Mormon scripture. He is the author/editor of two previous books on the Book of Mormon. Grant and his wife Heather have two children. Extra Resources: Episode 101 Transcript Maxwell Institute Study Edition of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast Episode 101: Reading the Book of Mormon with Grant Hardy This is not a verbatim transcript. Some wording has been modified for clarity, and timestamps are approximate. Stephen O. Smoot: 00:43 Welcome to another episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast. I am your host for this episode, Stephen Smoot, filling in for Laura Hales, and I am very excited to be sitting down with the one and only Grant Hardy for this episode. We’re grateful to have you here, Grant. Grant Hardy: 00:58 It’s a pleasure to be here. Thanks for inviting me. Stephen O.

The Interview: In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Stephen Smoot interviews Grant Hardy, editor of the newly released Maxwell Institute Study Edition of the Book of Mormon. They discuss the history of publishing the Book of Mormon, and in particular the key features and motivations behind Grant’s earlier Reader’s Edition. While the Study Edition shares many of the features that made that earlier edition so useful—including paragraphs, quotations marks, poetic stanzas, and section headings—it also includes changes that reflect Book of Mormon research over the last fifteen years. The paragraphing, poetic formatting, and section headings have all been revised. Bolded text in the lengthy quotations from Isaiah and Matthew indicate where there are differences between the Book of Mormon and the King James Version, making it easier to see how the Nephite record can function as a commentary on the Bible. The original chapters are more clearly marked. And there are many more footnotes pointing out literary features, narrative connections, and helpful observations about events and people. Grant shares some of his favorite new insights that have been incorporated into the volume, along with why he believes Emma Smith’s testimony deserves equal billing with those of the Three and Eight Witnesses. The Study Edition has several hundred footnotes drawn from Royal Skousen’s Critical Text Project identifying superior readings from the original and printer’s manuscripts that were lost in the process of copying, typesetting, and printing various editions of the Book of Mormon. There are also numerous footnotes suggesting alternative punctuation that clarify the meaning of particular verses. And, of course, at the end of the volume are helpful maps, charts, indexes, brief essays, and excerpts from primary sources about Joseph Smith and the translation. Together, the general formatting of the Study Edition makes the Book of Mormon easier to read, while the footnotes help focus attention on exact words and historical details. It is significant as well that while the Reader’s Edition used the 1920 edition of the Book of Mormon for its base text, the Maxwell Institute received permission from the Church to reproduce the official 2013 version of the text in the Study Edition, so the words are exactly the same. This means that not only can this new edition be used as a study aid for college students, teachers, missionaries, and in personal study but also it can be read as canonized scripture. The conversation concludes with comments about the striking full-page woodcuts that were commissioned especially for this volume from the noted LDS artist Brian Kershisnik, and how this Study Edition can help teach members of the Church how to better read and understand the Book of Mormon. About Our Guest:  Grant Hardy is Professor of History and Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has a B.A. in Ancient Greek from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature from Yale. He has authored books on diverse topics from Chinese history to Mormon scripture. He is the author/editor of two previous books on the Book of Mormon. Grant and his wife Heather have two children. The Transcript:  Download a PDF copy. Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast Episode 101: Reading the Book of Mormon with Grant Hardy   This is not a verbatim transcript. Some wording has been modified for clarity, and timestamps are approximate.   Stephen O. Smoot: 00:43 Welcome to another episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast. I am your host for this episode, Stephen Smoot, filling in for Laura Hales, and I am very excited to be sitting down with the one and only Grant Hardy for this episode. We’re grateful to have you here, Grant. Grant Hardy: 00:58 It’s a pleasure to be here. Thanks for inviting me. Stephen O. Smoot: 01:01 Before we jump into what our discussion is today,

The Interview:  Tune in as Laura Harris Hales interviews Sharalyn D. Howcroft on Foundational Texts of Mormonism: Examining Major Early Sources, a new book that carefully analyzes essential texts that are repeatedly used by historians as they reconstruct Mormonism’s founding era. Scholars have frequently mined early Mormon historical sources for the information that they contain, though with little attention to source criticism. A noteworthy exception is the work of Dean C. Jessee. Jessee’s examination of The History of the Church showed that unlike the subtitle of its first six volumes—Period I: History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, by Himself—the history was written by a dozen different scribes and clerks, not Smith. Although Smith started the history, his office staff quickly assumed most of the burden of production, barely half of it was completed at the time of Smith’s death in 1844, and it took many more years before it was finished. Jessee’s scholarship showed the necessity of understanding authorship, textual origins, and record production. Foundational Texts of Mormonism was conceived as a compilation of essays honoring Dean C. Jessee. Taking a page from Jessee’s playbook, this volume scrutinizes documents as products of history rather than sources of historical information. When records are examined as artifacts of the culture from which they originate, it reveals things about historical sources beyond the content of the records themselves. Chapters in the book provide original and notable contributions on early Mormon history sources using methodologies advocated by Jessee. Richard Lyman Bushman’s “The Gold Plates as Foundational Text” focuses on the Book of Mormon’s account of its creation, viewing the gold plates as a document in the Book of Mormon narrative. Its disparate texts reflect both divinely inspired and human elements. Grant Hardy’s “Textual Criticism and the Book of Mormon” assesses Royal Skousen’s Book of Mormon Critical Text Project and what it divulges about the process of dictation and textual transmission, including Joseph Smith’s views on scriptural text. Thomas A. Wayment, in “Intertextuality and the Purpose of Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible” studies Joseph Smith’s motivation for revising the Bible and how it steered Smith to re-envision the Bible. Grant Underwood, in “The Dictations, Compilation, and Canonization of Joseph Smith’s Revelations” traces the unfolding of Smith’s revelations from their initial dictation to canonization. In “Joseph Smith’s Missouri Prison Letters and the Mormon Textual Community,” David W. Grua examines Smith’s epistles given to the Latter-day Saint community during his incarceration, and how they connected the suffering of the Saints with revelation. Jennifer Reeder in “The Textual Culture of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society Leadership and Minute Book” studies the undercurrent of polygamous relationships evident in the society’s minute book, based on what was and was not recorded. William V. Smith’s chapter on “Joseph Smith’s Sermons and the Early Mormon Documentary Record,” examines how a more extensive documentary record of Smith’s sermons was the direct result of the increased importance place upon Smith’s preaching. In “Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo Journals,” Alex D. Smith and Andrew H. Hedges analyze Smith’s journals kept during the last two and a half years of his life and their contribution to our understanding of Smith’s last few years and the Nauvoo community at that time. The prolific writings of Wilford Woodruff are reviewed in Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s “The Early Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, 1835–1839.” Woodruff’s painstaking care when recording his diary indirectly chronicles his lived experience through earthly and heavenly bonds, his faith, and missionary work. In “An Archival and Textual Reexamination of Lucy Mack Smith’s History,” Sharalyn D. Howcroft reconstructs the original order of the history,

Tune in as Laura Harris Hales interviews Sharalyn D. Howcroft on Foundational Texts of Mormonism: Examining Major Early Sources, a new book that carefully analyzes essential texts that are repeatedly used by historians as they reconstruct Mormonism’s founding era. Scholars have frequently mined early Mormon historical sources for the information that they contain, though with little attention to source criticism. A noteworthy exception is the work of Dean C. Jessee. Jessee’s examination of The History of the Church showed that unlike the subtitle of its first six volumes—Period I: History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, by Himself—the history was written by a dozen different scribes and clerks, not Smith. Although Smith started the history, his office staff quickly assumed most of the burden of production, barely half of it was completed at the time of Smith’s death in 1844, and it took many more years before it was finished. Jessee’s scholarship showed the necessity of understanding authorship, textual origins, and record production. Foundational Texts of Mormonism was conceived as a compilation of essays honoring Dean C. Jessee. Taking a page from Jessee’s playbook, this volume scrutinizes documents as products of history rather than sources of historical information. When records are examined as artifacts of the culture from which they originate, it reveals things about historical sources beyond the content of the records themselves. Chapters in the book provide original and notable contributions on early Mormon history sources using methodologies advocated by Jessee. Richard Lyman Bushman’s “The Gold Plates as Foundational Text” focuses on the Book of Mormon’s account of its creation, viewing the gold plates as a document in the Book of Mormon narrative. Its disparate texts reflect both divinely inspired and human elements. Grant Hardy’s “Textual Criticism and the Book of Mormon” assesses Royal Skousen’s Book of Mormon Critical Text Project and what it divulges about the process of dictation and textual transmission, including Joseph Smith’s views on scriptural text. Thomas A. Wayment, in “Intertextuality and the Purpose of Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible” studies Joseph Smith’s motivation for revising the Bible and how it steered Smith to re-envision the Bible. Grant Underwood, in “The Dictations, Compilation, and Canonization of Joseph Smith’s Revelations” traces the unfolding of Smith’s revelations from their initial dictation to canonization. In “Joseph Smith’s Missouri Prison Letters and the Mormon Textual Community,” David W. Grua examines Smith’s epistles given to the Latter-day Saint community during his incarceration, and how they connected the suffering of the Saints with revelation. Jennifer Reeder in “The Textual Culture of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society Leadership and Minute Book” studies the undercurrent of polygamous relationships evident in the society’s minute book, based on what was and was not recorded. William V. Smith’s chapter on “Joseph Smith’s Sermons and the Early Mormon Documentary Record,” examines how a more extensive documentary record of Smith’s sermons was the direct result of the increased importance place upon Smith’s preaching. In “Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo Journals,” Alex D. Smith and Andrew H. Hedges analyze Smith’s journals kept during the last two and a half years of his life and their contribution to our understanding of Smith’s last few years and the Nauvoo community at that time. The prolific writings of Wilford Woodruff are reviewed in Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s “The Early Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, 1835–1839.” Woodruff’s painstaking care when recording his diary indirectly chronicles his lived experience through earthly and heavenly bonds, his faith, and missionary work. In “An Archival and Textual Reexamination of Lucy Mack Smith’s History,” Sharalyn D. Howcroft reconstructs the original order of the history, studies its composition methodology,

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith by Michael R. Ash Dr. Daniel Peterson and Dr. Royal Skousen recently discovered that the Book of Mormon contains odd sentence structures utilizing the conditions if and and. In the original Book of Mormon manuscript, as dictated by Joseph Smith to […] The post Faith and Reason 13: If/And Conditional Sentences appeared first on FairMormon.

Royal Skousen is a professor of linguistics and English at Brigham Young University. He is considered to be a leading expert on the textual history of the Book of Mormon. Royal Skousen talks about his 25+ year effort on the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, his findings about the language of the Book of […] The post Articles of Faith 2: Royal Skousen on Book of Mormon Critical Text Project and Mary Whitmer Witness to the Gold Plates appeared first on FairMormon.

Royal Skousen is a professor of linguistics and English at Brigham Young University. He is considered to be a leading expert on the textual history of the Book of Mormon. Royal Skousen talks about his 25+ year effort on the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, his findings about the language of the Book of […] The post Articles of Faith 2: Royal Skousen on Book of Mormon Critical Text Project and Mary Whitmer Witness to the Gold Plates appeared first on FairMormon.

Hay al menos tres publicaciones con los cambios en el Libro de Mormón. Una es el libro 3913 cambios en el Libro de Mormón, editado y publicado por los Tanner en el 96; el segundo es The Book of Mormon, the Earliest Text, de Royal Skousen, publicado por la Universidad de Yale en el 2010; y finalmente Significant Textual Changes in the Book of Mormon (Cambios textuales significativos en el Libro de Mormón), editado por John S. Dinger y publicado en el 2013. Ambos libros fueron publicados por miembros fieles de la iglesia. En el museo de la iglesia, al frente del templo de Salt Lake, se puede comprar un facsímil de la primera edición del Libro de Mormón, el cual es publicado por la Comunidad de Cristo (antes, “Iglesia reformada de Jesucristo de los santos de los últimos días). Por lo que los cambios en el Libro de Mormón están extensamente analizados, publicados, etc. Lea el ensayo completo en formato PDF cliqueando aquí.

In this 2-part discussion, KC Kern (BookofMormonOnline.Net) speaks with Dr. Grant Hardy and his wife Heather Hardy. Grant Hardy is Professor of History and Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has a B.A. in Ancient Greek from Brigham Young University and Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature from Yale. He has authored Worlds of Bronze and Bamboo: Sima Qian’s Conquest of History; The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China; and Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, as well as the Introduction for Royal Skousen’s recent Yale edition of the Book of Mormon. He has also edited The Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Edition; Enduring Ties: Poems of Family Relationships; and the Oxford History of Historical Writing. Vol. 1. His 36-lecture DVD/CD course for The Teaching Company entitled “Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition” will be released this summer. Heather Hardy has a BS and an MBA from Brigham Young University (she says the latter seemed like a good idea when Grant was studying Greek; someone was going to have to support the family someday). She worked in university finances at Yale and then as the scholarship coordinator at BYU for a couple of years. She has published articles in Dialogue and the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, but is mostly a full-time reader masquerading as a stay-at-home mother. Grant and Heather have been married for 28 years and have been talking to each other non-stop the whole time. This interview is broken in two parts: Part 1: Introductions, early personal, academic, and scholarly experiences, and approaching the Book of Mormon as world scripture and literature. Part 2: Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, thoughts on narrative structures, phraseology, historicity, evidences, anachronisms, Book of Mormon usage in the LDS Church, and on balancing faith and reason.

In this 2-part discussion, KC Kern (BookofMormonOnline.Net) speaks with Dr. Grant Hardy and his wife Heather Hardy. Grant Hardy is Professor of History and Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has a B.A. in Ancient Greek from Brigham Young University and Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature from Yale. He has authored Worlds of Bronze and Bamboo: Sima Qian’s Conquest of History; The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China; and Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, as well as the Introduction for Royal Skousen’s recent Yale edition of the Book of Mormon. He has also edited The Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Edition; Enduring Ties: Poems of Family Relationships; and the Oxford History of Historical Writing. Vol. 1. His 36-lecture DVD/CD course for The Teaching Company entitled “Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition” will be released this summer. Heather Hardy has a BS and an MBA from Brigham Young University (she says the latter seemed like a good idea when Grant was studying Greek; someone was going to have to support the family someday). She worked in university finances at Yale and then as the scholarship coordinator at BYU for a couple of years. She has published articles in Dialogue and the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, but is mostly a full-time reader masquerading as a stay-at-home mother. Grant and Heather have been married for 28 years and have been talking to each other non-stop the whole time. This interview is broken in two parts: Part 1: Introductions, early personal, academic, and scholarly experiences, and approaching the Book of Mormon as world scripture and literature. Part 2: Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, thoughts on narrative structures, phraseology, historicity, evidences, anachronisms, Book of Mormon usage in the LDS Church, and on balancing faith and reason.