Sidney Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship

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Did Sidney Rigdon author the Book of Mormon?

Questions

Critics claim that Sidney Rigdon authored the Book of Mormon, and conspired with Joseph Smith well ahead of time to compose it and start a religion.

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]

Answer

There is no persuasive evidence for contact between Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith prior to the Book of Mormon's publication. Most critics have abandoned the Spaulding theory and any connection to Sidney Rigdon. Ironically, most have returned to the option which struck Joseph's contemporaries as implausible—attributing authorship to Joseph himself. Yet, had this been a viable option, Joseph's contemporaries would not have sought to credit Rigdon, Spaulding, or others with authorship

Detailed Analysis

My father, after I had finished saying what I have repeated above, looked at me a moment, raised his hand above his head and slowly said, with tears glistening in his eyes: "My son, I can swear before high heaven that what I have told you about the origin of [the Book of Mormon] is true. Your mother and sister, Mrs. Athalia Robinson, were present when that book was handed to me in Mentor, Ohio, and all I ever knew about the origin of [the Book of Mormon] was what Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith and the witnesses who claimed they saw the plates have told me, and in all of my intimacy with Joseph Smith he never told me but one story.
—Sidney Rigdon to his son John, just prior to Sidney's death

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Initial reaction to the Book of Mormon attributed the authorship to Joseph Smith himself, and reviewers were quit to criticize the book's problems of style, and simply declared it an obvious, amateurish forgery.

It seems to have soon become clear, however, that Joseph truly was incapable of writing such a book. As a result, Sidney Rigdon, an experienced minister, was soon blamed for the book, with Joseph as a willing fellow-con:

[1 September 1831] ...the money diggers of Ontario county, by the suggestions of the Ex-Preacher from Ohio [i.e., Rigdon], thought of turning their digging concern into a religious plot, and thereby have a better chance of working upon the credulity and ignorance of their associates and the neighborhood. Money and a good living might be got in this way....

There is no doubt but the ex-parson from Ohio is the author of the book which was recently printed and published in Palmyra, and passes for the new Bible. It is full of strange narratives—in the style of the scriptures, and bearing on its face the marks of some ingenuity, and familiar acquaintance with the Bible. It is probable that Joe Smith is well acquainted with the trick, but Harris the farmer and the recent coverts, are true believers....

They were called translations, but in fact and in truth they are believed to be the work of the Ex-Preacher from Ohio, who stood in the back ground and put forward Joe to father the new bible and the new faith.^[1]

Sidney's involvement would later be added to the Spalding theory, though this theory poses major historical problems which have led even most present-day critics to likewise abandon it.

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Notes

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1. [note]  “Mormon Religion—Clerical Ambition—Western New York—The Mormonites Gone to Ohio,” Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer (New York City, New York) 7, no. 1331 (1 September 1831). off-site