The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon
Questions & Concerns
Where did the Book of Mormon come from?
The Book of Mormon haunted me when I attempted to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. No matter how hard I tried, I could not develop a working naturalistic theory explaining the Book of Mormon that made sense. Any theory asserted by critics only brought up more questions.
Who wrote the Book of Mormon?
Joseph Smith was a poor farm boy from upstate New York with a limited frontier education. Until the Book of Mormon, he had never written a book or demonstrated a knack for long dictation. When the original manuscript was finished in the summer of 1829, Joseph was 23 years old. Critics attempt to explain the Book of Mormon with far-fetched and contradictory claims.
If not by divine means, how did Joseph Smith come up with the Book of Mormon? If it wasn’t from God or Joseph, then where did it come from? Who wrote it?
Historians generally concede that Joseph Smith had metal plates of some kind.5 Where did he get them from? How could he afford the gold or brass or lead to “make” the plates? Could he have assembled them with no experience in metallurgy? Why are there no witnesses to him fabricating plates?
If someone else wrote the Book of Mormon, why did no one come forward?
Sidney Rigdon was an educated preacher and an early church leader. Critics sometimes say that he wrote the Book of Mormon or provided material for it. If that is true, how was he converted in November 1830 by the book “he wrote” in 1829? Then, he never took credit for it?
Others claim that Oliver Cowdery wrote or gave Joseph Smith ideas about the Book of Mormon. If that is true, why did he never admit it? Wasn't he estranged from Joseph Smith and the Church for years?6
If Joseph Smith used other sources, why did he have nothing else with him during the translation process?7
Source Claims for the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon translation was completed at the end of June 1829 and published in Palmyra, New York, in March 1830. Critics believe Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon himself or plagiarized someone else. The Church teaches that the Book of Mormon is an ancient record from dozens of authors written over a 1,000-year period.
If Joseph wrote the Book of Mormon, how did he dictate a complicated 580-page, 269,320-word religious book with a compelling narrative, consistent geography, and brilliant lectures/sermons/allegories/poetic structures in less than three months?
Joseph Smith was not formally educated beyond basic primary education in reading, writing, and math. He had no documented experience writing books and was not known to be a prolific reader. He had no formal preaching experience and was not well-traveled. He had limited life experience beyond the hardship of planting and harvesting crops. How could Joseph create a work like the Book of Mormon?
In the 173 public Nauvoo discourses, Joseph Smith only referenced two Book of Mormon scriptures, whereas dozens of biblical scriptures were quoted.8 Joseph seems unacquainted with the Book of Mormon, especially compared to the Bible.
If Joseph Smith is the author of the Book of Mormon himself, why is he so unfamiliar with it compared to the Bible?
How did Joseph Smith dictate the Book of Mormon in 65 (or perhaps 90) days9 in one draft with his limited experience and education?10
How did Joseph Smith create a complex narrative with consistent geography within the book?11 There are 86 place names in the Book of Mormon. It contains around 600 references to place names. The distances, relative locations, and topography are consistent throughout the text. Other authors like JRR Tolkien have sprawling geographies, but how did Joseph Smith do it in 65 days? Even if I say that “Joseph had years to think about the Book of Mormon,” isn’t putting it all together in such a short period quite unusual?
Other prolific authors have written fictional stories and characters, whereas the Book of Mormon purports to be a historical, not fiction, book. If Joseph Smith is making up the Book of Mormon, why are so many of its claims proving more true as time goes on? If the Book of Mormon comes from the imagination of a 23-year-old farm boy, how have millions of members been touched by it and joined the Church?
Some authors have written short books quickly. How many uneducated and inexperienced authors have written something close to 269,320 words in one draft in less than three months? Is there any example of a feat remotely close to what critics say Joseph Smith did?
Critics write off the “one draft” argument by pointing out the approximately 4000 authorized changes made in the 1837 and 1840 editions of the Book of Mormon, compared to the 1830 edition.12 Weren’t the vast majority of the changes typographical in nature? The changes were for the purpose of aligning the printer's manuscript with the original translation, correcting spelling, or clarifying the intended meaning. Sentence structures and order were unchanged, and no more than 4-5 words were changed in any given passage. Isn’t that feat incredibly impressive for an inexperienced, uneducated, and unknown farmer in upstate New York in the 1830s?
Could Joseph Smith have written or dictated the Book of Mormon by using another non-divine source? If critics answer “yes,” then they are burdened with developing a working theory for where it came from. The most common candidates are the Spaulding Manuscript, View of the Hebrews, the Late War, The First Book of Napoleon, and the Bible.
The Spaulding Manuscript
In early church history, critics of the Church gave no credence to Joseph Smith’s intelligence. They presumed someone else wrote the Book of Mormon. The most common source proposed was a lost manuscript by the then-deceased Reverend Solomon Spaulding.
Initially, there were no copies of the manuscript to compare to the Book of Mormon. Years later, affidavits by critics said that Sidney Rigdon gave Joseph Smith the Spaulding Manuscript, and it was the primary inspiration for the Book of Mormon.13 A manuscript was finally found years later and published in 1885. It was apparent then and now that the Book of Mormon and the Spaulding Manuscript have virtually nothing in common. So those critics lied. Manuscript Found14 or the Spaulding Manuscript, is a draft of a pseudo-pirate romance novel about Romans. I have read the manuscript. Any similarity is general and superficial. Plus, the manuscript is considerably shorter than the Book of Mormon.15
Why do many critics still reference the Spaulding Manuscript as a source for the Book of Mormon? Why talk about a claim that has been debunked since 1886?
Why do critics still maintain that there must be a missing “2nd manuscript”? What are the odds that the mysterious (likely non-existent) second manuscript is the Book of Mormon? If the first draft was pirate romance fiction, what are the chances that the second draft is the Book of Mormon?
Is there any evidence at all that Joseph Smith used the Spaulding Manuscript? Do we have an eyewitness who saw Joseph using that book? Did he have a copy? Did anyone he knew have a copy?
Why did the Church of Jesus Christ publish the Spaulding Manuscript if it was a source for the Book of Mormon?16
View of the Hebrews
Seventy-two years after the Book of Mormon was published, I. Woodbridge Riley (1902) was the first to popularize the theory that the View of the Hebrews was a source for it.17
Why did none of the critics that were contemporary to the publication of the Book of Mormon think of the View of the Hebrews as a source? Wasn’t the View of the Hebrews widely available in 1830?18 None of the eager early church critics put two and two together?
View of the Hebrews was published in Poultney, Vermont, in 1823 and 1825. The Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra, New York, in 1830. Why does the CES Letter falsely relay that the Book of Mormon was published in Sharon, Vermont (a county neighboring Poultney, Vermont), despite its publication being 300 miles away in Palmyra, New York?19 Is Mr. Runnells attempting to make the Book of Mormon and the View of the Hebrews appear more connected than they are?
The CES Letter insinuates, without evidence, that Oliver Cowdery used the View of the Hebrews as source material for the Book of Mormon.
“This direct link between Joseph and Oliver and View of the Hebrews demonstrates that Joseph is very likely to have been aware of the theme and content of that book.”20
– CES LETTER, section on the View of the Hebrews
If this scenario is correct, how do critics explain the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon? Wasn't that dictated in 1828, months before Joseph Smith met Oliver Cowdery?
Joseph Smith met Oliver Cowdery for the first time on April 5th, 1829.21 Oliver Cowdery was Joseph Smith’s primary scribe during the translation of the Book of Mormon from April 7th 1829, to the last week of June 1829, when the dictation was completed.
Did Oliver Cowdery have a vast knowledge of the View of the Hebrews? How did Joseph Smith convince Oliver Cowdery in three days to use what Oliver knew about the View of the Hebrews to help him make up the Book of Mormon? Is there any evidence that Oliver Cowdery had read or had a copy of the View of the Hebrews? Is there any evidence that Joseph had other materials with him during the translation?
Parallels shown side by side can seem compelling. Such is the case with the Book of Mormon and the View of the Hebrews. Critics use expressive language like “striking parallels” to drive home the point. There seem to be around 26 possible parallels between the two books. How strong of a correlation is that in a 269,320-word book?
Are parallels convincing evidence? If so, do critics give credence to the Book of Mormon for its 35 parallels with the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls found 100 years after the publication of the Book of Mormon?22
At first, looking at an official-looking table of parallels seemed convincing. Then, as I started reading the View of the Hebrews, the matches characterized as "bullseyes" looked more like a stretch.
If the View of the Hebrews was a major source for the Book of Mormon, why did no one notice the loose parallels between them until 1902? Among the people who did not notice the connections was the View of the Hebrews author Ethan Smith, who was alive for 19 years after the publication of the Book of Mormon.
The reality is that any parallels with the View of the Hebrews are tenuous at best. High-level parallels are not a source. Many of the "parallels" are not parallels once they are thoroughly examined:23
Both speak of... | View of the Hebrews | Book of Mormon |
---|---|---|
...the destruction of Jerusalem... | ...by the Romans in AD 70. | ...by the Babylonians in 586 BC. |
...Israelites coming to the American continent... | ...via dry land across the Bering Strait. | ...via the ocean on board a ship. |
...colonists spread out to fill the entire land... | ...from the North to the South. | ...from the South to the North. |
...a great lawgiver (whom some assume to be associated with the legend of Quetzalcoatl) ... | ...who is identified as Moses. | ...who is identified as Jesus Christ. |
...an ancient book preserved for a long time and then buried... | ...because they had lost the knowledge of reading it, and it would be of no further use to them. | ... to preserve the writings of prophets for future generations. |
...a buried book taken from the earth... | ...in the form of four dark yellow, folded leaves of old parchment. | ...in the form of a set of gold metal plates. |
...the Egyptian language since | ...an Egyptian influence is present in hieroglyphic paintings made by native Americans. | ...a reformed Egyptian language was used to record a sacred history. |
Some "parallels" between the Book of Mormon and View of the Hebrews are also parallels with the Bible as well:
The Book of Mormon | View of the Hebrews | The King James Bible |
---|---|---|
The Book of Mormon tells the story of inspired seers and prophets. | View of the Hebrews talks of Indian traditions that state that their fathers were able to foretell the future and control nature. | The Bible tells the story of inspired seers and prophets. |
The Book of Mormon was translated using the Nephite interpreters, which consisted of two stones fastened to a breastplate and later using a seer stone, both of which were later referred to by the name "Urim and Thummim" three years after the translation was completed. | View of the Hebrews describes a breastplate with two white buttons fastened to it, resembling the Urim and Thummim. | The Bible describes the Urim and Thummim as being fastened to a breastplate (Exodus 28:30). |
Why do critics still cite the View of the Hebrews as a source for the Book of Mormon?
The View of the Hebrews is around 57,000 words long. If Joseph Smith used the View of the Hebrews as his primary source for the Book of Mormon, where did the other 200,000 words come from?
Is there any evidence that Joseph Smith used the View of the Hebrews as a source? Do we have an eyewitness of Joseph using the book? Did he have a copy of it? Did anyone else he knew have a copy of it? Do we have anyone in letters or journal entries mentioning him referencing it?
If Oliver Cowdery was involved, why didn't he admit it when he was estranged from Joseph Smith for years?
If View of the Hebrews was a source for Joseph, why did the BYU re-publish and make it available for free to read online?24
The First Book of Napoleon
From the CES Letter (emphasis added) – “The following is a side-by-side comparison of selected phrases the Book of Mormon is known for from the beginning portion of the Book of Mormon with the same order in the beginning portion of The First Book of Napoleon (note: these are not direct paragraphs).”
The wording “selected phrases,” “known for,” and “from the beginning portion” are suspicious, right? Here is the critic's attempt to make the Book of Mormon and the First Book of Napoleon seem similar.

“Condemn not the [writing] … (skip a page) an account…(skip a page) the First Book of Napoleon (skip two pages)… upon the face of the earth…(skip four pages) it came to pass… (next paragraph) the land…(skip a page) their inheritance, their gold and silver… (skip two pages) the commandments of the Lord… (skip five pages) the foolish imaginations of their hearts… (skip two pages) small in stature… (skip two pages) Jerusalem… (skip four pages) the wickedness and perverseness of the people”
With all due respect, what?
Why do Jeremy Runnells and other critics claim that the beginning of the First Book of Napoleon is similar to the start of the Book of Mormon? Doesn’t the critic need to use words and phrases from 25 different pages in the First Book of Napoleon and several from the Book of Mormon to make them look similar?25 Isn’t that connection dishonest? Why include it in the CES Letter?
If I can select words and phrases from dozens of pages, couldn’t I make almost any two books seem similar with this logic?
Isn’t the First Book of Napoleon a quasi-biblical work that describes the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise to power? Isn’t Napoleon the central figure of the First Book of Napoleon, whereas Christ is the central figure of the Book of Mormon? Aren’t the themes radically different?
Did any contemporaries of Joseph Smith notice the parallels between the First Book of Napoleon and the Book of Mormon? Why not?
The First Book of Napoleon has around 22,500 words. If Joseph Smith used the First Book of Napoleon as a primary source, where did the other 230,000 words of the Book of Mormon come from?
Is there any evidence that Joseph Smith used the First Book of Napoleon as a source? Do we have an eyewitness of Joseph using that book? Did he even have a copy of it? Did anyone else he knew have a copy of it? Do we have anyone in letters or journal entries mentioning him referencing it?
The Late War
In 2013, Chris and Duane Johnson presented results from a breakdown comparing the Book of Mormon with 100,000+ books. Computing power allows for this sort of analysis to happen in modern days. They found that the book most correlated with the Book of Mormon was a textbook published in 1819 called The Late War.26 The textbook uses a scriptural writing style to describe the War of 1812. Until 2013, no one had made this connection with the Book of Mormon, including anyone in Joseph Smith’s day.27
The Johnsons’ analysis showed 74 parallels between the books; how strong of a correlation is that in a 260,000-word book? Don’t many of those correlations also correlate with the King James Version of the Bible?
Isn’t it true that something else would have been the most correlated if not the Late War? Why isn’t The View of the Hebrews, The First Book of Napoleon, or the Spaulding Manuscript more correlated?
Is there any proof that Joseph Smith had read The Late War or even had access to it?
Since 2014, after several debunkings, the Johnsons have not followed up on their study. Why?
The Late War has 56,632 words. Where did the other 200,000 words in the Book of Mormon come from if Joseph Smith used The Late War as a source?
Is there evidence that Joseph Smith used The Late War as a source? Do we have an eyewitness of Joseph using the book? Did he even have a copy of it? Did anyone else he knew have a copy of it? Do we have anyone in letters or journal entries mentioning him referencing it?
Is it reasonable to think that Joseph Smith used all these listed sources (and much more) from memory to dictate the Book of Mormon in 65 days? Is there any proof that he used any of these sources? Has anyone ever mentioned seeing Joseph Smith using them or even having them? Were they in Joseph Smith’s library? Did Joseph Smith ever reference these books in casual conversation at all?
The Bible
The Book of Mormon and the Bible have parallels for more obvious reasons. Depending on the method used, between 5% and 10% of the Book of Mormon is from the Bible, or 15% at the very most.28
Isn’t more than 10% of the New Testament a citation or allusion to an Old Testament scripture? Don’t the biblical parallels make a better, not weaker, case for the Book of Mormon’s divine origin?
If 5%-15% of the Book of Mormon is from the Bible, where did the other 85%-95% come from?
Is there any evidence that Joseph Smith referenced the Bible during the translation?
Tactic Change Update: To make all the naturalistic source theories work, critics must suspend belief and imagine Joseph Smith had memorized or memorialized a library of books. In Fawn Brodie’s biography of Joseph Smith, No Man Knows My History (1945), she popularized the “Joseph was a religious genius” theory that is still prevalent today.
So, in a little over 100 years, critics went from Joseph being an ignorant fool to someone else writing the Book of Mormon to Joseph being a religious genius.
The Narrative of Zosimus
The Narrative of Zosimus is an ancient text written originally in Hebrew. It appears to be at least as old as the time of Christ and likely much older. Critics usually do not reference this text, but the parallels to the story of Lehi are fascinating.29
- The narrative explains how a group of sons, led by their father, escaped the destruction of Jerusalem at the time of Jeremiah
- The family survived the scattering of Israel
- They were led by God to an ideal land across the ocean
- Zosimus, dwelling in a cave in the desert, prays to the Lord and obtains spiritual passage to a land of blessedness
- Zosimus must wander in the wilderness without knowing where he is being led
- He attains his destination by constant prayer and divine intervention
- Zosimus arrives at the bank of an unfathomable river of water covered by an impenetrable cloud of darkness
- After crossing the water, Zosimus sits beneath a beautiful tree, eating its fruit
- Zosimus is met by an angelic escort, who asks him what he wants
- Zosimus is shown a vision in which he thinks he beholds the Son of God
- Their history is "engraved" upon soft stone plates.
- The family is allowed to occupy a land of paradise and abundance
Critics may not claim the Narrative of Zosimus as a source for the Book of Mormon, as its first major English publication was not until 1867. If critics claimed it to be a source, they would have to explain how Joseph got his hands on this ancient document decades before it was translated into English.
“Accounting for the similarities between these texts is intriguing and complicated. In a religious context, the parallels between the two writings may be explained as deriving from a common source of revelation or religious experience. Academically, the parallels are an intellectual challenge with no definite resolution. Even though I cannot account for these parallels in all respects, their mere existence tends to support claims of ancient Near Eastern origins for Book of Mormon authorship.” (emphasis added) - John Welch30
Vernal Holley Model
31In 1992, Vernal Holley theorized that Joseph Smith got the names and geography of the Book of Mormon by altering the names of cities/bodies of water in the Great Lakes area. Below are the two maps provided in the CES Letter (Vernal Holley maps). The insinuation is that Joseph Smith modified names and places from his surroundings. When I first saw these maps, I was unsure what to think. At first glance, in a convincing-looking map, it seemed conclusive.


Here is the problem: The whole thing is bogus. According to the geography of the Book of Mormon, virtually everything in the Vernal Holley map is in the wrong place. Fair Latter-day Saints provides a thorough debunking of the Vernal Holley map.32 Below is my attempt to fix the map.

Morianton should be by the eastern seashore; Holley places it near the “sea west.” Ramah is the Jaredite name for the Hill Cumorah, yet Holley places it in Ontario, much further north than New York. Holley places Jacobugath in the land southward, while in the Book of Mormon, it is northward. Ogath in the Book of Mormon is south of Ripliancum, not east of it, as Holley’s map proposes. Angola should be north of Zarahemla, not south. Alma should be north of Lehi-Nephi, not far to the west. The list goes on. Worst of all, many of Holley’s “parallels” are locations in the Book of Mormon that are only named once and not given a location. Holley likely leans on Jaredite place names because their location is less clear than Nephite ones.
Why do critics use the Vernal Holley map when it is objectively wrong?
There are 86 place names in the Book of Mormon. The Holley model theorizes that 28 of the names were created by looking at a map and altering the names. Joseph would have needed to take names from five US states and two Canadian provinces, hundreds of miles away from the upstate New York farmer.
Aren’t some of the “parallels” a bit of a stretch? (i.e. Oneida is Onidah, Antioch is Ani-Anti, Monroe is Moroni, and Ripple Lake is Ripliancum)
Is it not true that other parallels are Biblical names like Jerusalem, Boaz, Midian, and Jordan?
Didn’t many of the 28 parallel cities not appear on 1820-1830 maps? Didn’t many of the parallel cities not exist at all until after the publication of the Book of Mormon?
Angola, New York, was established in 1854, twenty-four years after the publication of the Book of Mormon.
Tecumseh did not have a name until 1912, eighty-two years after 1830.
Alma was a small, unincorporated community in Tyler County, West Virginia. It does not appear on the maps Joseph would have used, and it was settled in the early 1830s.
Irish migrants named Conner, Canada, after the migrant's hometown in Ireland. The name came in 1865, thirty-five years after the publication of the Book of Mormon.
Jacobsburg was established in 1815 but was too small to appear on maps. Its first appearance on a map of Ohio was in 1831, one year after the publication of the Book of Mormon.
The Kiskimentas Township in Pennsylvania was named such in 1832, two years after the publication of the Book of Mormon.
Mantua Village, Ohio, was incorporated in 1898, sixty-eight years after 1830.
Monroe, New York, existed in 1830 but was too small to appear on maps of New York in 1822 or 1831.
Creation of Minoa was in 1895, 60 years after the publication of the Book of Mormon.
Ripple Lake is already a stretch for the waters of Ripliancum. Even so, it is so small that locating it even on modern-day maps is challenging. Plus, it is one of more than 250,000 lakes in Ontario. Did Joseph Smith like the name of a small and obscure body of water hundreds of miles away so much that he kept the first three letters of "Ripple Lake," added seven letters, and called it Ripliancum?
Here is a breakdown:
Potential names connected to the Book of Mormon | Existed in 1830 |
---|---|
Sodom (Sidom) | |
Ripple Lake (Ripliancum) | |
Oneida (Onidah) | |
Oneida Castle (Onidah, Hill) | |
Moraviantown (Morianton) | |
Lehigh (Lehi) | |
Hellam (Helam) | |
Antrim (Antum) | |
Monroe (Moroni) *Monroe existed but did not appear on maps in 1822/1831 | |
Rama (Ramah) | |
Omer (Omner) | |
Morin (Moron) | |
Minoa (Minon) | |
Mantua (Manti) | |
Kishkiminetas (Kishkumen) | |
Jacobsburg (Jacobugath) | |
Conner (Comner) | |
Antioch (Ani-Anti) | |
Alma (Alma, Valley of) |
The following eight names theorized in the Vernal Holley model are also in the Bible. So, if Joseph Smith were to copy them, the Bible would be a more plausible source for these names in the Book of Mormon than random towns and lands, sometimes hundreds of miles away. At the same time, if ancient peoples came from the Old World to the New World, they may have named these cities after Israelite names.
Potential names connected to the Book of Mormon | Existed in 1830 |
---|---|
Land of Midian (Land of Midian) | |
Noah Lakes (Valley of Noah) | |
Jordan (Jordan) | |
Boaz (Boaz) | |
Shiloh (Shilom) *Shiloh existed but did not appear on maps in 1822/1831 | |
Jerusalem (Jerusalem) | |
Ephrem, Saint (Ephraim, Hill) |
How did Joseph Smith borrow names from small towns and bodies of water hundreds of miles away that did not exist until after 1830?
When I discovered the above facts, I was floored that critics still use the Holley model to criticize the Book of Mormon. Why has Jeremy not removed this section from the CES Letter? Jeremy removed the Monroe and Moroni connection, but the rest remains. The original 28 out of 86 connections were not particularly strong in the first place.
With only 9% potential connections remaining (8 out of 86), why do critics still use the Vernal Holley model?
Joseph Smith Had the Skills and Resources to Make Up the Book of Mormon
“Joseph Smith spent 5 ½ years from the time he claimed to have found the plates extensively planning the book, then dictated it. Very simple. Easy to understand.” – Reddit user in response to my assertion that critics have yet to provide a model that convincingly explains the Book of Mormon naturalistically.33
In recent years, critics have shifted from the extreme narratives about Joseph’s intelligence (from idiot to genius) to a more moderate position. Namely, in 1829, Joseph Smith had the skills, intelligence, experience, and resources necessary to create the Book of Mormon in 90 days in one draft. Joseph Smith would require a long list of skills to do what critics claim he did.34
The Book of Mormon has 269,320 words and 5,600 unique words, includes hundreds of college-level vocabulary words, and reads at an eighth-grade level. It has 77 storylines, 207 named characters, 44 social and geographic groups, over 100 geographical locations, over 400 geographical movements by characters that are spatially consistent, over 170 original English proper nouns, over 100 distinct titles for Christ, three chronological systems, several lengthy flashbacks to genealogies with greater than 20 generations, hundreds of ecological references, at least 63 religious compositions comprising over 87,000 words, discussion of over 80 Christian themes, hundreds of parallel poetic devices like chiasmus, hundreds of intertextual King James Bible phrases, while covering specific themes accurately like biblical law, arboriculture, and warfare tactics.
Joseph Smith states that Moroni’s first appearance was in 1823 (Joseph Smith – History, verses 27-34). So, in theory, Joseph could have had 5-6 years to craft the story and theme of the Book of Mormon. In this scenario, Joseph took his carefully planned religious text and dictated it in around 65 working days in a 90-day period in 1829.35 He did this without scripts or source material available during the translation36 or significant edits. According to Emma, Joseph would pick up where he left off after breaks without being told the last item dictated.37
Here is a list of skills Joseph Smith would have needed to produce the Book of Mormon of his own accord.
Mental – A person who could create a book like the Book of Mormon would need considerable mental acuity. That person would require focus and a high level of attention to detail. They would need a photographic memory to recall the library of books that critics claim Joseph Smith used. While Joseph was not ordinary, is there any evidence that he demonstrated the mental capacity he would have needed at age 23 to produce a book like the Book of Mormon of his own volition? Scribes for Joseph during the translation included Emma Smith, Martin Harris, and Oliver Cowdery. They all believed the Book of Mormon was divinely inspired to the end of their lives. If Joseph had demonstrated the mental skills required to produce the Book of Mormon, those who left the Church (Martin and Oliver) or Emma, who didn’t join the saints in Utah, would have suspected he wrote it, right? Joseph’s contemporary critics claimed that someone else wrote the Book of Mormon, and no one close to him suspected that he was the author. David Whitmer described Joseph as “a man of limited education and could hardly write legibly.”38
Physical – To create a 269,320-word book of the depth and complexity of the Book of Mormon in less than three months, an individual would need a high level of time management and organizational skills. Further, they would need stamina and self-discipline. Even if I assumed that Joseph had years to plot the structure and story of the Book of Mormon, to pull it all together in that short period is absurd. There is some conflict about how diligent Joseph Smith was at that age, with some claiming he was a lazy treasure-seeking fraud and others claiming he was an industrious, hard-working farmer.39 Suppose I assumed Joseph’s true character matched the more diligent version. What evidence do we have that he had experience outside of farming to physically exert himself to make a creative work like the Book of Mormon in so short a period?
Creativity – Love it or hate it, the Book of Mormon is a creative work that most people in 1829 could not write. What evidence is there that Joseph had the imagination, storytelling, and world-building experience to create the Book of Mormon? Lucy Mack Smith recalled that while living at home, Joseph would “describe the ancient inhabitants of [the American] continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular.”40 Critics claim this lone quote from Lucy is the smoking gun on Joseph’s creative abilities. However, the time frame of these events described by Lucy would coincide with Moroni’s annual visits to Joseph.
From Joseph Smith History:
He [Moroni, in 1823] said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. (verse 34)
While he was conversing with me about the plates, the vision was opened to my mind that I could see the place where the plates were deposited, and that so clearly and distinctly that I knew the place again when I visited it. (verse 42)
Accordingly, as I had been commanded, I went at the end of each year, and at each time I found the same messenger there, and received instruction and intelligence from him at each of our interviews, respecting what the Lord was going to do, and how and in what manner his kingdom was to be conducted in the last days. (verse 54)
Was Joseph Smith an imaginative youth making up tall tales of the Native Americans, or was he relaying what Moroni had shown him annually from 1823 to 1827?
Another person who could have remembered these storytelling sessions was Joseph’s brother, William Smith. He was not convinced with Joseph’s overall ability and said that Joseph was incapable of authoring a “history of a once enlighned [sic] people, their rise their progress, their origin, and their final over throw that once inhabited this American Continent.”41 Referring to Joseph’s aptitudes in the 1820s, William states that Joseph was “illiterate to some extent is admitted but that he was enterly [entirely] unlettered is a mistake.”42 Emma Smith commented that “Joseph Smith could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter, let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon.”43 Perhaps she exaggerates Joseph’s inabilities in this quotation, but she left no doubt whether she believed Joseph could make up the Book of Mormon. Her testimony is significant for someone who knew Joseph as intimately as she did and endured so much because of the restoration.
Intelligence – Joseph Smith was not an idiot. At the same time, friend and foe of Joseph did not believe he had the intelligence to produce the Book of Mormon. He would have needed a college-level vocabulary, experience in long dictation, and research-backed knowledge. There is no evidence that Joseph had any of these skills. Lucy Mack Smith described her son as “less inclined to the perusals of books [than] any of the rest of our children, but far more given to meditation and deep study.”44 She even went so far as to say that by eighteen years of age, he had never read the Bible through.45 There is one reference to Joseph being a “very passable exhorter”46 at Methodist camp meetings (from the fall of 1824 to the winter of 1825)47 and a participant in a juvenile debate club by one Orsamus Turner.48 There are three problems here. First, this is the only reference to Joseph being a junior Methodist exhorter and participating in a debate club. Second, if I grant this to the critics, neither of these items explains how Joseph turned some preaching and debate experience as a teenager into the Book of Mormon. That would be like someone accusing me of being the CEO of Microsoft because I got 3rd place in a regional DECA49 competition in the 10th grade. Lastly, Orsamus Turner, in the same chapter regarding Joseph Smith, said Joseph was “lounging, idle (not to say vicious,) and was possessed of less than ordinary intellect.”50 Critics consistently reference Joseph’s potential exhorting and debate experience to explain the Book of Mormon. I was floored when I read the rest of Mr. Turner's thoughts on Joseph. Why not mention the “less than ordinary intellect” by the same source?
Even if I granted every concession to the critics regarding Joseph’s work ethic, mental abilities, intellect, and creativity, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d still be left with a rather farfetched scenario. Further, I would have to make the mental leap that Joseph had access to a wealth of books, maps, and resources to create the Book of Mormon.
Critics: is it safe to say that, given the circumstances surrounding the translation of the Book of Mormon, it was highly unusual?
Whether you believe it or not, is it fair to say the Book of Mormon is unexpected or even remarkable?
If Joseph Smith is the creator of the Book of Mormon, why does he seem so unacquainted with it? Why was he unfamiliar with the content and structure of the Book of Mormon as he dictated it to his scribes during the translation?51 Orson Pratt kept a detailed record of the scriptures Joseph used in his sermons, and Bible verses were cited ten times more often than the Book of Mormon.52 If Joseph had years to plot the Book of Mormon in his mind, undoubtedly, the Book of Mormon would have permeated nearly every conversation and sermon. He could not have avoided the Book of Mormon poking out in everyday life, yet it seems absent from his psyche.
Footnotes
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TruthSeekerPlus. “Question: How can super intelligent professionals and others who are members of the Mormon church persist in believing in it despite all the evidence of its fraud?” Reddit, July 8, 2021, https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/og8bzw/question_how_can_super_intelligent_professionals/?rdt=34599 ↩
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Kelley, William. “The Hill Cumorah, and the Book of Mormon,” Saints’ Herald 28 (1 June 1881): 165 ↩
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Kelley, William. “The Hill Cumorah, and the Book of Mormon,” Saints’ Herald 28 (1 June 1881): 165-166 ↩
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Peterson, Daniel. “Variety and Complexity in the Witness to the Book of Mormon.” The Interpreter, 2019, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/variety-and-complexity-in-the-witnesses-to-the-book-of-mormon/
See also “What "Did the ‘Unofficial’ Witness of the Book of Mormon Plates Experience?”, Saints Unscripted, December 2, 2020, https://saintsunscripted.com/faith-and-beliefs/the-restoration-of-christs-church/unofficial-witnesses-of-book-of-mormon/
Roundy, Jeff. “Defending the Book of Mormon Witnesses.” Latter-day Saint Q&A, January 21, 2020, https://latterdaysaintsqa.com/defending-the-book-of-mormon-witnesses/ ↩
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Harper, Steven. “Oliver Cowdery as Second Witness of Priesthood Restoration.” In Days Never to Be Forgotten: Oliver Cowdery, ed. Alexander L. Baugh (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009), 73–89), https://rsc.byu.edu/days-never-be-forgotten-oliver-cowdery/oliver-cowdery-second-witness-priesthood-restoration ↩
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“Book of Mormon Evidence: No Notes or Reference Materials." Evidence Central, Update June 1, 2023. https://evidencecentral.org/recency/evidence/no-notes-or-references ↩
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Underwood, Grant. "Book of Mormon Usage in Early LDS Theology." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 1984, 17 (3): 36–74. doi:10.2307/45227937. JSTOR 45227937. S2CID 254397416. https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/book-of-mormon-usage-in-early-lds-theology/ ↩
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“Joseph Smith Translates the Gold Plates.” in the church history section of ChurchofJesusChrist.org, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/content/joseph-smith-translates-the-gold-plates?lang=eng ↩
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Skousen, Royal. “Changes in the Book of Mormon.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 11 (2014): pg 161-176), https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/changes-in-the-book-of-mormon/
And “Book of Mormon Textual Changes,” Fair Latter-day Saints. Accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Book_of_Mormon_textual_changes ↩
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Griffin, Tyler. “Book of Mormon Geographical References: Internal Consistency Taken to a New Level.“, FAIR Latter-Day Saint Conference, August 2017. https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/conference/august-2017/internal-consistency-taken-to-a-new-level ↩
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“Book of Mormon Textual Changes,” FAIR Latter-day Saints, accessed on May 25, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Book_of_Mormon_textual_changes ↩
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“The Spalding Theory of Book of Mormon authorship.“, FAIR Latter-day Saints, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/The_Spalding_Theory_of_Book_of_Mormon_authorship ↩
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Spaulding, Solomon. “Manuscript Found: the complete original ‘Spaulding manuscript’.” Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1996, https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/13968/ ↩
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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Topics. “Spaulding Manuscript.“, ChurchofJesusChrist.org, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/spaulding-manuscript?lang=eng ↩
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Spaulding, Solomon. “Manuscript Found: the complete original ‘Spaulding manuscript’.” Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1996, https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/13968/ ↩
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Riley, I. Woodbridge. “The Founder of Mormonism.” (New York, 1902), 124–126. ↩
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“View of the Hebrews theory of Book of Mormon authorship.“, FAIR Latter-day Saints, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/View_of_the_Hebrews_theory_of_Book_of_Mormon_authorship ↩
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Runnells, Jeremy. ”View of the Hebrews section of the Book of Mormon section of the CES Letter.” CES Letter Foundation, October 2017. (In case Jeremy removes it, this is as of 4/11/2024) https://read.cesletter.org/bom/ ↩
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Runnells, Jeremy. ”View of the Hebrews section of the Book of Mormon section of the CES Letter.” CES Letter Foundation, October 2017. (In case Jeremy removes it, this is as of 4/11/2024) https://read.cesletter.org/bom/ ↩
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“Oliver Cowdery, People of the D&C.“ Doctrine and Covenants Central, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/people-of-the-dc/oliver-cowdery/ ↩
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The fallacy of parallels pointed out by Hugh Nibley as discussed by Roundy, Jeff. “Book of Mormon Author Theories Debunked.” Latter-day Saints Q & A, May 6, 2020, https://latterdaysaintsqa.com/book-of-mormon-author-theories-debunked/ ↩
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Chart provided by FAIR Latter-day Saints. “Question: What are the similarities and differences between View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon?“, Fair Latter-day Saints, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:\_What_are_the_similarities_and_differences_between\_%27%27View_of_the_Hebrews%27%27_and_the_Book_of_Mormon%3F ↩
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Smith, Ethan. “The View of the Hebrews.” Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, Tate, C. Editor, 1996, https://rsc.byu.edu/book/view-hebrews#:~:text=This%20book%20is%20a%20faithful,of%20early%20American%20religious%20history. ↩
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“Question: Was the beginning of the Book of Mormon derived from ''The First Book of Napoleon''?“, FAIR Latter-day Saints, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:\_Was_the_beginning_of_the_Book_of_Mormon_derived_from\_%27%27The_First_Book_of_Napoleon%27%27%3F#:~:text=Some%20critics%20of%20Mormonism%20postulate,was%20written%20in%20Biblical%20style ↩
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Johnson, Chris and Duane. “A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain.“, Chris and Duane Johnson, January 11, 2014, http://wordtree.org/thelatewar/ ↩
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“The Late War theory of Book of Mormon authorship.“, FAIR Latter-day Saints, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/The_Late_War_theory_of_Book_of_Mormon_authorship ↩
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“Bible passages in the Book of Mormon,“ FAIR Latter-day Saints, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Bible_passages_in_the_Book_of_Mormon ↩
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Welch, John. “The Narrative of Zosimus (History of the Rechabites) and the Book of Mormon” Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (Provo, UT), pg 323-374, https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/sites/default/files/archive-files/pdf/welch/2019-12-30/13_john_w.\_welch_the_narrative_of_zosimus_and_the_book_of_mormon_323-374.pdf ↩
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Welch, John. “The Narrative of Zosimus (History of the Rechabites) and the Book of Mormon” Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (Provo, UT), pg 323-374, https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/sites/default/files/archive-files/pdf/welch/2019-12-30/13_john_w.\_welch_the_narrative_of_zosimus_and_the_book_of_mormon_323-374.pdf ↩
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Holley, Vernal. “Book of Mormon Authorship,” Roy, UT, 1992, https://www.solomonspalding.com/docs2/2001vern.htm ↩
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FAIR Latter-day Saints (my own markings on the map based on the suggestions in the article of where each Book of Mormon city should be placed). “Question: What is the Vernal Holley map?“ FAIR Latter-day Saints, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:\_What_is_the_Vernal_Holley_map%3F ↩
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Proudex-mormon. Response to the question, “Is the Light and Truth Letter even worth looking at?” Reddit, September 14, 2024, accessed on December 20th, 2024 from https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1fgdtcz/is_the_light_and_truth_letter_even_worth_looking/ ↩
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For more information on this topic, see Hales, Brian. “Joseph Smith’s Education and Intellect As Described in Documentary Sources.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 59 (2023): 1-32 ↩
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“Joseph Smith Translates the Gold Plates.” in the church history section of ChurchofJesusChrist.org, accessed on May 4, 2024 from https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/content/joseph-smith-translates-the-gold-plates?lang=eng ↩
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Whitmer, David. “The Last Man” Chicago Times, October 17, 1881. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Chicago_Times,\_October_17,\_1881 ↩
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Smith III, Joseph. “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” The Saints’ Herald, 1 October 1879, 290. ↩
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David Whitmer quoted in Lyndon W. Cook, ed., David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness (Orem, UT: Grandin Books, 1991), 211. ↩
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See testimonials of both friend and foe at “The work ethic of the Smith family” FAIR Latter-day Saints, https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Joseph_Smith%27s_family_as_trustworthy_and_hard-working ↩
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Smith, Lucy Mack. “A Mother’s Testimony” History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, pages 82-83, accessed from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2002/12/a-mothers-testimony?lang=eng ↩
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Smith, William. “Notes Written on `Chambers’ Life of Joseph Smith,’” circa 1875, 11–12, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/7ce89849-3bb8-4ca4-9627-3c283aec0bae/0/14 ↩
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Smith, William. “Notes Written on `Chambers’ Life of Joseph Smith,’” circa 1875, 11–12, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/7ce89849-3bb8-4ca4-9627-3c283aec0bae/0/14 ↩
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Smith III, Joseph. “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” The Saints’ Herald, 1 October 1879, 290. ↩
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Smith, Lucy Mack. “History, 1845”, p. 86, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed December 20, 2024, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1845/93 ↩
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Smith, Lucy Mack. “History, 1845”, p. 86, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed December 20, 2024, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1845/93 ↩
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Turner, Orsamus. “History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham’s Purchase, and Morris’ Reserve.”* *(Rochester, NY: William Alling, 1851), 214. ↩
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Vogel, Dan ed., “Early Mormon Documents,” vol. 5 (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 2003), 396. ↩
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Turner, Orsamus. “History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham’s Purchase, and Morris’ Reserve.”* *(Rochester, NY: William Alling, 1851), 214. ↩
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DECA is an international nonprofit academic club that helps students develop leadership, career readiness, and business skills. ↩
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Turner, Orsamus. “History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham’s Purchase, and Morris’ Reserve.”* *(Rochester, NY: William Alling, 1851), 214. ↩
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“Book of Mormon Evidence: An Unfamiliar Text.” Scripture Central, evidence #107, November 2, 2020 from https://scripturecentral.org/evidence/book-of-mormon-evidence-an-unfamiliar-text ↩
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Underwood, Grant. "Book of Mormon Usage in Early LDS Theology." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 1984, 17 (3): 36–74. doi:10.2307/45227937. JSTOR 45227937. S2CID 254397416. ↩