Critics often ask Latter-day Saints to present a non-LDS scholar who accepts the Book of Mormon, or at least takes it seriously. However, whenever we do, they tend to dismiss them as liberal and/or ignorant of the issues (e.g., Margaret Barker). Consider the following article by Jack E. Jarrand, "Old, New World Similarities Told," Deseret News, Church News Section, October 17, 1970, concerning Cyrus H. Gordon’s positive attitude towards the Book of Mormon:
In archaeology, if two points of
mutual interest tie in from different parts of the world, then that's a fact
establishing the relationship of the two areas or periods.
That's what Dr. Cyrus H. Gordon,
chairman, Department of Mediterranean Studies at Brandeis University, Waltham,
Mass., told the 20th annual symposium on the Archaeology of the Scriptures at
Brigham Young University Oct. 10.
Dr. Gordon was emphasizing that if
it takes only one point of contact to make a fact, then the Book of Mormon has
a thousand points in its favor.
"I am speaking academically
and am not qualified to speak on the Book of Mormon itself. If I were to do
that I would study it for three years before commenting. But there are many
points in archaeology in its favor," he said.
. . .
Dr. Gordon has long been
recognized in his field for his expertise in early languages and the Middle
East.
In his discussion, Dr. Gordon said
there was two-way traffic from the Old to the New World long before the dawn of
the Christian era.
"For example there are
engravings depicting the Philistines with feather headdresses. They were
prominent in the Western Hemisphere. The headdresses appeared on the sea people
suddenly and they were carried by these people from west to east.
"Smoking to the early Indian,
as we know them, wasn't a habit, but a religious rite. In the Columbus, Ga.,
museum I saw a peace pipe with a hand carved on the bottom of the bowl.
"This same thing is found in
the Middle East. They were used like an incense burner and when they got here
the people found they didn't have frankincense so they used tobacco.
. . .
"We are not dealing in
theories, but in facts. We have evidence of many types of people coming into
what is now North and South America, No one doubts that people came across the
Bering Straits. But they were early stone-age people who were hunters.
"It is an academic myth that
all people came over these straits. We are learning from day to day and if we
do learn we have to have an open mind. I have no firm convictions on things
established today," he said.
The Tanners' response? Just
dismiss a leading scholar in his relevant fields:
We
feel that if Dr. Gordon really believed that the Book of Mormon might be true
he would immediately begin a serious study of it. If the Book of Mormon were
true, it would be the very key to understanding the ancient ruins in the New World—the
very ruins Dr. Gordon is so interested in. (Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism:
Shadow or Reality? [5th ed.; Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse
Ministry, 1987, 2008], 110)
This only shows that critics are not being intellectually honest when they request LDS to present non-LDS scholars in support of the Book of Mormon.
