The Key to the Keystone Audiobook By Jonah R. Barnes cover art

The Key to the Keystone

How Apocryphal Texts Unlock the Book of Mormon's Brass Plates

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Key to the Keystone

By: Jonah R. Barnes
Narrated by: Jonah R. Barnes
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Over 2,000 years ago, a band of desert travelers huddled against the sandy blasts of the Arabian peninsula. They clutched in their arms a metallic book and absconded away to preserve it against the impending doom of the Babylonian invasion. This treasured text would become the source material for the Book of Mormon, one of the most influential books in American history. Though critics have tried (and spectacularly failed) to explain its origins, the Book of Mormon owes everything to this mysterious stolen text. Yet that ancient brass book wasn't the only treasure to emerge from the sands of the Near East. Years after the publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830, a cascade of newly discovered apocryphal texts would appear like voices from the dust. Using these miraculous new sources, independent researcher Jonah Barnes has used paleography and philology to reconstruct the content of Lehi's brass plates. His research will answer questions such as: Which books were on the brass plates stolen by Lehi in 597 BC? Can we read them? Who corrupted the Old Testament canon? And how badly? Who was Lucifer, and why does the Bible say so little about him? Who was Eve, and why are the Christian creeds so hard on women? Who was the prophet Abinadi? Where did he come from? How did the prophet Isaiah die? Who killed him and why? Who murdered the prophet Jeremiah? And what for? Why does the Book of Mormon sound too Messianic and not more Mosaic? Do the apocrypha support the authority of the Bible? Or do they support the Book of Mormon? Do anti-Mormons think Joseph Smith was a time-traveler? Do they think Elvis is still alive? Filled with unique parallels and scriptural insights with recently discovered apocryphal works, the The Key to the Keystone will unlock the Book of Mormon and change your view of the mission of Jesus Christ. And it might make you chuckle along the way.

©2024 Jonah R. Barnes (P)2024 Jonah R. Barnes
Bibles Bibles & Bible Study Christianity Mormon
Thorough Research • Faith-affirming Content • Good Audio Tone • Engaging Presentation • Witty Commentary
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
This is one of the best commentaries on the Book of Mormon I’ve ever read. I rarely ever listen to (or read) a book twice, but I absolutely plan to do this one again. Soooooo good!

Excellent performance. Truly engaging. Never gets boring or slow.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Through my years and years of studying the Book of Mormon and gaining a deep testimony of it's truth, it's caused me to notice many problems that exist in the Old Testament. There are glaring differences from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and what is taught in the Bible. All I had to go on was that many plain an precious truths were lost from the Bible. Things were lost in translation.
Jonah's work here is so very helpful. I no longer have confusion. The critics of the Book of Mormon now have no leg to stand on, and the crazy things found in the Bible make full sense. Reading this fills me with excitement because all the things I've guessed at or speculated about are now validated. Very fun!

So excited to read Jonah's next book.

The book that pieces everything together

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book is full of knowledge, good scholarship and research, and has amazing insights. Add in Mr. Barnes gently snarky sense of humor and it's the awesome-est book I've read in a while.

10 out of 10

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It is very good, however one chapter just ends mid sentence and in this format we don't have access to the qr code for the extra content.

Bugs need the be fixed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It all comes together now. It’s unfortunate that many LDS’s will not take the time to read or listen to this work. I believe if they did their testimony of the BoM would grow exponentially!

Wow

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It's not often that you get a truly fresh take on something that you already know quite a bit about. Jonah does a fantastic job of keeping an academic topic interesting and accessible to all audiences. I don't even quite know what to say except that this was a fantastic read.

A fresh take with incredible insights

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

For many years I have tried to read from the Old Testament to find the Messiah. So many scholars point to certain passages but I always found those passages very cryptic, and although I could see what they were saying, I could also see why Jews or other religions could reject those meanings. I had also always heard that the Jews always looked for a mighty savior in the form of a battle warrior but not one to save mankind from sins, and yet I could easily find Jesus interacting with people in the Gospels who recognized him as a Savior, and obviously not the battle warrior kind. So I always wondered how those two could be bridged- like there had to be an understanding of the Messiah for how He actually be but it just wasn’t in the OT. I always assumed that confusion would be something that would remain on my “shelf” but Jonah Barnes answers that question so fully and in a way that it makes so much sense! Lehi was not the only Messianic Jew of his time and it wasn’t the people angry at him for preaching repentance, it was the establishment angry at him for not preaching their redacted form of religion. So interesting and so well laid out. It changes everything without having to reject anything I had wrong! It just adds so much understanding. Will recommend to my friends!

Changes everything!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The Keystone is a triumph savagely written, straight to the point, and unapologetically bold. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in the Book of Mormon, ancient texts, or the intersection of faith and reason. Barnes has thrown down the gauntlet, and it’s hard to walk away unconvinced. Grab this book, buckle up, and prepare to see the Book of Mormon with new eyes.

Unlocking Truth: A No-Holds-Barred Dive into "Keys: The Keystone

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

One of the very best books I've encountered. A brilliant writeup on the doctrines stripped from the Old Testament by the Deuteronomists that were preserved in other ancient texts. This is a must read for every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and others interested in the doctrines of the ancient tradition.

Must listen to title!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I bought the book while listening to audible as it was clear this needed to be in my library. It stinks that I essentially bought it twice. I bought the book from Plain and Precious Publishing instead of Amazon. Hopefully Jonah Barnes gets a huge chunk of my purchase. I appreciate the work and thought that went into publishing this information in an entertaining, engaging and digestible way.

Well done. Very informative.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews