(refer in Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Bassett, to 2 Ne. 9:28–30)
This is not solely a reference to professor Anthon, since the plural pronoun they is used. The reference suggests a mind-set of most of the learned of the world, who, by and large, do not take the Book of Mormon seriously. Even when they read it, they do not really read it, except with a mind-set which excludes miracles, including the miracle of the book’s coming forth by the “gift and power of God.”
(Neal A. Maxwell, First Nephi, The Doctrinal Foundation, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr. [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1988], 9.)