Schon lange gab es Vermutungen und auffällige Parallelen zwischen Buch Mormon und anderen verfügbaren Büchern, die daraufhin deuteten, dass das Buch Mormon in vielen Teilen ein Plagiat ist.
Nun wurde dies auch statistisch nachgewiesen:
http://askreality.com/hidden-in-plain-sight/#more-56
Die textlichen Übereinstimmungen zu 'The History of the Late War between the United States and Great Britain' sind schon verblüffend.
Hier findet man das Buch:
http://archive.org/stream/latewarbetweenun00inhunt#page/n13/mode/2up
Eine detaillierte Betrachtung der Parallelen findet sich hier:
http://www.rickgrunder.com/parallels/mp193.pdf
Und wer noch mehr Inspirationsquellen Jospeh Smiths für das Buch Mormon sucht:
https://byustudies.byu.edu/PDFLibrary/ArchiveRestorationCulture.pdf
Ein Beispiel aus 'Late War':
11 Now the land of Columbia is a most plentiful land, yielding gold and silver, and brass and iron abundantly.
12 Likewise, all manner of creatures which are used for food, and herbs and fruits of the earth:
13 From the red cherry, and the rosy peach of the north, to the lemon, and the golden orange of the south.
14
And from the small insect, that cheateth the microscopic eye, to the
huge mammoth that once moved on the borders of the river Hudson-; on the
great river Ohio; and even down to the country of Patagonia in the
south.
15 Now the heighth of a mammoth is about seven cubits and a
half, and the length thereof fourteen cubits; and the bones thereof
being weighed are more than thirty thousand shekels; and the length of
the tusks is more than six cubits.
16 It is more wonderful than the elephant; and the history thereof, is it not recorded in the book of Jefferson, the scribe ?
2. Nephi 5:15 And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance.
Ether 9:17 Having all manner of fruit, and of grain, and of silks, and of fine linen, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things;
18 And also all manner of cattle, of oxen, and cows, and of sheep, and of swine, and of goats, and also many other kinds of animals which were useful for the food of man.
19 And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms.
Adieu Altertümlichkeit vom Buch Mormon! Abschreiber Joseph erwischt: Note 6!
