Testing 1, 2, 3, testing 1, 2, 3, this is Radio Free Mormon on the air broadcasting

behind enemy lines.

Tonight's episode, how do you solve a problem like translation?

Now in most of the world, outside of Mormon studies, the word translation really is not

a problem at all.

In fact, translation means pretty much what it has always meant.

It means translating the words from one language into another.

Whether it's English into Spanish or Japanese into English, the idea is to convey the meaning

in one text in one language into another text in another language.

It's pretty simple, it's pretty straightforward, that's what translation means.

And in fact, that is what the word translation has meant in Mormonism, at least for the

first 150 years or so of its history.

But recently in Mormon studies, the word translation has undergone a revolution in its meaning.

No longer does translation mean simply translating from one language into another.

It actually means anything and everything other than the simple traditional straightforward

meaning of the word.

And the reason for this revolution is simple.

The reason is that it is becoming more and more clear as scholarship and research on Mormonism

advances, even within the realm of faithful LDS scholarship.

That Joseph Smith's translation projects appear to be anything other than simply translating

from one language into another.

Whether it is the Book of Abraham or the Book of Mormon or even the Joseph Smith translation

...