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In this episode of Dialogue Out Loud, Dialogue co-editor Margaret Olsen Hemming interviews William L. Davis about his article “Joseph Smith’s Spiritual Language: The Presence of Early Modern English in the Book of Mormon,” featured in the Summer 2025 issue of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.
Davis explores how Joseph Smith employed the vocabulary, syntax, and cadence of Early Modern English to construct a voice of spiritual authority in the Book of Mormon. Drawing on his background in theater and performance studies, Davis argues that this language wasn’t merely borrowed from the King James Bible—it was a deliberate choice that shaped the tone, rhythm, and impact of Mormonism’s founding scripture. The conversation touches on translation theory, oral performance, and the ways that sacred language functions to signal divine legitimacy.
For those interested in questions of authorship, inspiration, and the literary construction of scripture, this episode offers a rich and thought-provoking listen.
Guest Bio:
WILLIAM L. DAVIS is an independent scholar with a PhD in theater and performance studies from UCLA. He has published in several academic journals on John Bunyan, Herman Melville, and William Shakespeare. More recently, he is the author of Visions in a Seer Stone: Joseph Smith and the Making of the Book of Mormon (University of North Carolina Press, 2020).
Episode Credits:
Produced and Edited by Daniel Foster Smith
Original Music by Daniel Foster Smith