Dead Sea Scroll Stylometry Proves The Bible Was Forged and the Book of Mormon is True!

Ward Radio Live Stream: Summary

Key Concepts: Apocryphal texts, Deuteronomy forgery, styometry, Federalist Papers, Book of Mormon authorship, Dead Sea Scrolls dating, Documentary Hypothesis, Deuteronomistic history, Priestly document, Messiah prophecies, Temple Scroll Q11, Essenes.

Deuteronomy Forgery and AI Vindication

Main Point: Jonah Barnes argues that the Book of Deuteronomy was forged, a claim supported by recent AI-driven styometric analyses.
Evidence: Duke University mathematics and other studies using AI have indicated that Deuteronomy's authorship is inconsistent, suggesting forgery.
Connection: This claim is central to Barnes' new book, The Lost Gems of Genesis: How Apocryphal Texts Prove Joseph Smith Fixed the Bible.

Styometry: A Literary Fingerprint

Definition: Styometry is a technique that analyzes writing styles to identify authors based on unique linguistic patterns, similar to fingerprints.
Application: Originally developed to determine the authors of the Federalist Papers, it has been applied to the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament.
Example: Word choices and phrase preferences ("I kid you not" vs. "You're not going to believe this") are analyzed to distinguish authors.
Book of Mormon Application: Styometric analysis of the Book of Mormon suggests 11-13 different authors, supporting its claim as a compilation of records rather than a single forgery.
Visual Representation: Authors' word preferences are plotted on a three-dimensional graph, showing distinct clusters for Mormon, Nephi, and other authors.

Dead Sea Scrolls and Old Testament Analysis

New Research: Recent styometric analyses of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Old Testament support the Documentary Hypothesis, which posits that the Old Testament is a compilation of multiple documents from different authors.
Methodology: AI is used to compare word choices and stylistic preferences across different texts, including Deuteronomy, Deuteronomistic history (Judges to 2 Kings), and the priestly document.
Findings: The analysis identifies three distinct authors, with Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic history being closely related.
Significance: This supports the idea that the Bible is a "Frankensteined" document edited by multiple authors, challenging the Bible inherentist view that God wrote and preserved every word perfectly.

Dating the Dead Sea Scrolls

Traditional Dating: The Dead Sea Scrolls are traditionally carbon-dated to around 100 BC.
AI-Driven Dating: A new study using AI styometry suggests that some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written 200 years earlier, around 300 BC.
Implications: This earlier dating places texts like the Book of Giants within striking distance of the Book of Mormon's timeline, challenging previous dismissals of these texts as later Christian forgeries.

Thomas Romer's Perspective

Quote: Dr. Thomas Romer states, "There are no authors of the Bible in the modern sense. The original versions of the scrolls were continuously reworked and rewritten by redactors who added, altered, and sometimes also omitted parts of the former texts."
Deuteronomy's Origin: Romer notes that the first version of Deuteronomy was written in the 7th century BCE, during Lehi's lifetime.
Core Principle: The core of Deuteronomy stipulated that the God of Israel had chosen only one place for sacrificial cults.

Book of Mormon as a Contingency Plan

Deuteronomistic Influence: Deuteronomy's rise coincides with the events in the Book of Mormon, where Lehi is persecuted for preaching the Messiah.
Brass Plates: The brass plates are evacuated from Jerusalem around 600 BC, preserving the messianic gospel.
First Nephi Contradiction: The Book of Mormon, in First Nephi chapter 2, contradicts Deuteronomy by describing Lehi offering sacrifices outside of Jerusalem, which is forbidden by Deuteronomistic law.
Temple Scroll Q11: Temple Scroll Q11, which discusses the Essenes, may contain exceptions to the law that could explain Lehi's actions.

Conclusion

The live stream highlights the use of AI and styometry to analyze biblical texts, providing evidence for the forgery of Deuteronomy and the Documentary Hypothesis. These findings support the Book of Mormon's narrative and its role in preserving messianic prophecies during a time of Deuteronomistic influence. The discussion also touches on the dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the perspectives of scholars like Thomas Romer, emphasizing the complex and evolving nature of biblical scholarship.