Difference between revisions of "Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Spalding manuscript/Difficult to explain before"
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{{Main Page}}
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{{Resource Title|The rise of the Spalding theory of Book of Mormon authorship}}
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== ==
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{{Criticism label}}
 
==Issue==
 
==Issue==
 
{{Epigraph|The Mormon Bible.—The origin of this work which it has puzzled many to account for, evidently the production of a cultivated mind, yet found in the hands of
 
{{Epigraph|The Mormon Bible.—The origin of this work which it has puzzled many to account for, evidently the production of a cultivated mind, yet found in the hands of
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Initial critics of the Book of Mormon tended to take one of two stances—either:
 
Initial critics of the Book of Mormon tended to take one of two stances—either:
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# The Book of Mormon was a [[Book of Mormon/Early reactions to/Clumsy or obvious forgery|clumsy, obvious forgery]] upon which [[Book_of_Mormon/Early_reactions_to/No_intelligent_person|no intelligent person]] would waste time; and/or
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# The Book of Mormon was a [[Book of Mormon/Early reactions to/Clumsy or obvious forgery|clumsy, obvious forgery]] upon which [[Book_of_Mormon/Early_reactions_to/No_intelligent_person/CriticalSources|no intelligent person]] would waste time; and/or
 
# Joseph Smith was the Book of Mormon's [[Book_of_Mormon/Early_reactions_to/Joseph_Smith_obvious_author|obvious author]].
 
# Joseph Smith was the Book of Mormon's [[Book_of_Mormon/Early_reactions_to/Joseph_Smith_obvious_author|obvious author]].
  
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It is interesting to note the after-the-fact admission from critics that prior to the Spalding theory, the Book of Mormon was difficult to account for.  Unfortunately for the modern critic, the collapse of the Spalding theory means that they are likewise ill-placed to attribute the Book of Mormon's text to Joseph Smith.
 
It is interesting to note the after-the-fact admission from critics that prior to the Spalding theory, the Book of Mormon was difficult to account for.  Unfortunately for the modern critic, the collapse of the Spalding theory means that they are likewise ill-placed to attribute the Book of Mormon's text to Joseph Smith.
  
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{{CriticalSources}}
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{{Critical sources box:Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Spalding manuscript/Difficult to explain before/CriticalSources}}
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==Endnotes==
 
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''None''
 
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==Further reading==
 
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===FAIR wiki articles===
 
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{{BofM authorship theories}}
 
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===FAIR web site===
 
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*{{tg|url=http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai115.html|topic=Spaulding Theory}}
 
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{{BoMAuthorshipFAIR}}
 
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*Matthew B. Brown, "Solomon Spaulding and the Book of Mormon" {{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/apol/bom/bom09.html}}
 
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*John K. Wise, "Clouds Without Water, Zeal Without Knowledge" {{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/Reviews/Rvw01010.html}}
 
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===External links===
 
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* '''Online text''' of "Manuscript Found", the Spaulding document discovered in 1884 and published by the RLDS Church.{{link|url=http://www.solomonspalding.com/docs/rlds1885.htm}}
 
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* “Considerable Excitement,” ''The Evening and the Morning Star'' (Kirtland, Ohio) 2, no. 19 (April 1834): 150. {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=811&REC=1}}
 
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*{{MA1|author=Anonymous|article=A Summary|vol=1|num=5|date=February 1835|start=76–77}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=1123&REC=7}}
 
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*{{Ensign|author=Bruce D. Blumell|article=Would you respond to the theories that the Book of Mormon is based on the Spaulding manuscript or on Ethan Smith's ''View of the Hebrews?''|date=September 1976|start=83|end=87}}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1976.htm/ensign%20september%201976.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm$f=templates$3.0#LPTOC2}}
 
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*{{Dialogue|author=Lester Bush|article=The Spalding [sic] Theory Then and Now|vol=10|num=4|date=Autumn 1977|start=40|end=69}}{{link|url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/docviewer.exe?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=1260&CISOSHOW=1149}}
 
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*{{Ensign|author=Orson Scott Card|article=News of the Church: Spaulding ''Again?''|vol=7|date=September 1977|start=94|end=95}}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1977.htm/ensign%20september%201977.htm/news%20of%20the%20church.htm?fn=document-frameset.htm$f=templates$3.0#LPTOC4}}
 
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*Jeff Lindsay, "Plagiarism in the Book of Mormon: Is It Derived from Modern Writings?, ''jefflindsay.com'' (accessed 5 October 2005).{{link|url=http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_BMProb3.shtml}}
 
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*{{FR-1-1-10}} <!-- Norwood -->
 
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*{{BYUS|author=Gary F. Novak|article=Naturalistic Assumptions and the Book of Mormon|vol=30|num=3|date=1990|start=23|end=40}}{{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cgi-bin/docviewer.exe?CISOROOT=/byustudies&CISOPTR=21980&CISOSHOW=9859}}
 
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*"Origins of the Spaulding Manuscript", by Professor A. S. Root, Oberlin College, 12 May 1927.{{link|url=http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/faq/spaulding_origins.html}}
 
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*{{FR-17-2-3}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=282981}}{{NB}}
 
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*{{IE1|author=President Joseph F. Smith|article=The Manuscript Found|vol=33|num=4|date=February 1900|start=? page}}{{link|url=http://www2.ida.net/graphics/shirtail/manuscri.htm}}
 
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{{BoMAuthorshipLinks}}
 
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===Printed material===
 
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:'''''Responses to the Spalding theory:'''''
 
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*{{BoMComesForth|article=The Spalding-Rigdon Theory|start=185|end=201}}
 
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*{{NewWitnessesForGod | vol=3, Chapter XLIV|article=Counter Theories of Origin|start=347 | end=406}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=211299}}
 
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*{{DFS1 |vol=1|article=A Brief Debate on the Book of Mormon|start=365|}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=205446}}
 
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*{{DFS1 |vol=2|article=The Origin of the Book of Mormon|start=95|end=229|}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=205459}}
 
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*Benjamin Winchester, ''The Origin of the Spaulding Story, Concerning the Manuscript Found,'' (Philadelphia: Brown, Bicking & Guilfert, 1840).
 
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*Dean C. Jessee, 'Spalding theory' re-examined,' ''Church News'' (20 August 1977): 3&ndash;5.
 
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{{BoMAuthorshipPrint}}
 
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[[de:Buch_Mormon_Autorschaft:_Das_Spaulding_Manuskript]]
 
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{{Suggestions}}
 
  
 
[[fr:Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Spalding manuscript/Difficult to explain before]]
 
[[fr:Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Spalding manuscript/Difficult to explain before]]

Latest revision as of 17:37, 30 April 2024

FAIR Answers—back to home page

The rise of the Spalding theory of Book of Mormon authorship

Questions

Issue

The Mormon Bible.—The origin of this work which it has puzzled many to account for, evidently the production of a cultivated mind, yet found in the hands of exceedingly ignorant and illiterate persons is at length explained.

— “The Mormon Bible,” Trumpet and Universalist Magazine (Boston) 11, no. 48 (18 May 1839), n.p.. off-site

Initial critics of the Book of Mormon tended to take one of two stances—either:

  1. The Book of Mormon was a clumsy, obvious forgery upon which no intelligent person would waste time; and/or
  2. Joseph Smith was the Book of Mormon's obvious author.

Ironically, with the appearance of the Spalding theory, critics quickly began to claim that Joseph Smith could not have written the Book of Mormon, and attributed the Book of Mormon's writing to Spalding and (usually) Sidney Rigdon.

It is interesting to note the after-the-fact admission from critics that prior to the Spalding theory, the Book of Mormon was difficult to account for. Unfortunately for the modern critic, the collapse of the Spalding theory means that they are likewise ill-placed to attribute the Book of Mormon's text to Joseph Smith.

Source(s) of the criticism:
Critical sources
The following sources all admit (after the arrival of the Spalding theory) that the Book of Mormon had been difficult to explain under the presumption that Joseph Smith produced it himself. These sources manifest considerable relief at being able to explain a book that had previously been dismissed as not worthy of anyone's attention:
  • “The Mormon Bible,” Trumpet and Universalist Magazine (Boston) 11, no. 48 (18 May 1839), n.p.. off-site
  • “The Mormon Bible,” Christian Register and Boston Observer (Boston, Massachusetts) 18, no. 970 (4 May 1839). off-site
  • John A. Clark, “Gleanings by the Way. No. VII,” Episcopal Recorder (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 18, no. 25 (12 September 1840), n.p.. off-site
  • John A. Clark, “Gleanings by the way. No. VIII,” Episcopal Recorder (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) (26 September 1840): 106–107. off-site
  • Thomas J. Farnham, Travels in the Great Western Prairies, the Anahuac and Rocky Mountains, and in the Oregon Territory, (Poughkeepsie, New York: Killey and Lossing, 1841), 8-9. off-site
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