Alleged Anachronisms

Anderson lists a number of alleged anachronisms in the Book of Mormon without mentioning Latter-day Saint responses. For example, he dredges up the antiquated claim that metallurgy was not practiced in Mesoamerica until AD 900 (p. 69), notwithstanding linguistic evidence and other indications to the contrary that significantly predate that time period. He notes the improbability of steel swords in Book of Mormon times (p. 69), notwithstanding the fact that the record does not explicitly mention steel swords in general use but instead implies the use

of wooden swords with edges studded with obsidian after the manner of the Mesoamerican macanas. Anderson seems to be unaware of the concept of “loanshifting” (naming something by analogy to something similar) by both ancients and moderns in claiming that the Book of Mormon’s mention of certain animals and synagogues is anachronistic (p. 70). Because the other criticisms have been repeatedly addressed by Latter-day Saint researchers, I will focus on Anderson’s claim that, in reference to Alma 16:13, “synagogues had not been developed by the Jews until four hundred years after Lehi left Jerusalem. How could the writer have known how the Jews built their synagogues?” (p. 70).

Synagogues in the Book of Mormon

It has been a long-standing criticism of the Book of Mormon that its mention of “synagogues” represents an impossibility in the text. But Webster’s 1828 dictionary defined the term in a rather generic manner as a place of assembly for Jews, so its appearance in the Book of Mormon as an English translation is not problematic.

The original scholarly consensus was that synagogues did not exist until after the destruction of the second temple in AD 70, notwithstanding the mention of synagogues in the Gospels. With the discovery of synagogues in Egypt dating to the first and second centuries bc, the date was extended to the postexilic era. And further evidence indicates an even earlier date for the origin of the synagogue.

In 621 bc, with the discovery of the Book of the Law (probably Deuteronomy), the Deuteronomic reformation occurred with Josiah at its head (see 2 Kings 22–24). At this time blood sacrifices and temple worship were centralized in Jerusalem, resulting in local congregations of Israelites who met for worship, prayer, and instruction. According to some scholars, such gatherings that took place in the chambers of city gates were the original synagogues. Furthermore, the use of certain terms such as bet haʿam (Jeremiah 39:8), miqdash-me ʿat (Ezekiel 11:16), and moʿade ʾel (Psalm 74:8) have been invoked to substantiate a preexilic date for synagogue origins.