FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Spalding Theory of Book of Mormon authorship
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Criticism
Critics have claimed that Joseph Smith either plaigerized or relied upon a manuscript by Solomon Spaulding to write the Book of Mormon.
Source(s) of the Criticism
- George Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1932).
- Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (New York : AMS Press, 1834 [1977]).
- William Alexander Linn, The Story of the Mormons (New York: Macmillan, 1902).
Claimed the existence of a second Spaulding manuscript when the first theory failed:
- George B. Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1932).
Response
The response should be brief and summary in nature.
Conclusion
A summary of the argument against the criticism.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
- Links to related articles in the wiki
FAIR web site
- FAIR Topical Guide:
External links
- Lester Bush, "The Spalding [sic] Theory Then and Now," Dialogue 10:4 (Autumn 1977): 40-69.
- L. Ara Norwood, "Book of Mormon Authorship: A Closer Look," FARMS Review of Books 1:1 (1989): 80–88. [1]
Printed material
- Gary F. Novak, "Naturalistic Assumptions and the Book of Mormon," BYU Studies 30:3 (1990): 23-40. [2]