Exilic and Post-Exilic Isaiah: An Interview with Colby Townsend

In the Fall 2022 article “‘The Robe of Righteousness’: Exilic and Post-Exilic Isaiah in The Book of Mormon” Colby Townsend concludes: 

Although the problem of Isaiah in The Book of Mormon has been a part of Mormon studies since its beginning as an academic subfield, scholars have yet to fully incorporate biblical scholarship into their work on this crucial issue. Prior work has attempted to isolate the problem of Isaiah in The Book of Mormon as only regarding the dating of Deutero-Isaiah. Attempts to understand this issue have not involved more direct engagement with continuing contemporary scholarship on Isaiah. Relatedly, very few attempts to further identify the influence of all of Isaiah on The Book of Mormon have been carried out in the last several decades. This paper invites those engaged in the study of The Book of Mormon to not remain in isolation but to broaden their studies by incorporating different methods, fields, and approaches to locating and analyzing the influence of the Bible on The Book of Mormon. This influence is crucial to understanding the content, message, and composition of the book.

In this Dialogue Out Loud #30 Interview, Colby discusses this and his other findings with Editor Taylor Petrey from his fascinating article. Click in to listen.