Seeking Agreement on the Meaning of Book of Mormon Names

Over two hundred proper names of peoples or places appear in the Book of Mormon text. Although some of those names appear in the Bible, a large majority of them are unique to the Book of Mormon. Paul Y. Hoskisson leads the Onomasticon Project, which seeks to identify and interpret Book of Mormon names using standard principles and methods. This article introduces five subsequent articles that demonstrate to nonspecialists how this type of research can and should be applied to the Book of Mormon. Prepared scholars—Hoskisson, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Dana M. Pike, John A. Tvedtnes—display the type of interchange that is required to clarify and settle the issues surrounding Book of Mormon proper names. This article also introduces two additional articles that complement the onomastic discussion.