New scholarly article on Rigdon-Book of Mormon connection

[BartBurk]

This has been published in the Oxford University Press:

llc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/fqn040v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=1&hits=1&RESULTFORMAT=&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=mormon&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&resourcetype=HWCIT

 

[ralphinal]

Interesting abstract.

 

[BartBurk]

Interesting abstract.

I’m actually able to read the paper through the Notre Dame Library since we subscribe to a service that allows us to see the full article. It’s an interesting article, but I don’t have the expertise to evaluate what it is reporting. It should give people a reason to at least reconsider the Rigdon-Spalding connection which Mormons have tried to bury. The article simply states there is evidence both Rigdon and Cowdrey had an influence on the writing of the Book of Mormon. I think the evidence is growing strong enough that it can no longer simply be swept under the rug as Fawn Brodie and the Tanners have done.

 

[Georgia]

I read “Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon” and found it supported much the same theory, that Spaulding’s work was recast by Smith and Rigdon into the BOM. The book seemed logical to me and appeared to be well documented. I put it down quite convinced it had unlocked the authorship.

I am not, however, the world’s expert on anything, so take it for what it is worth.

 

[BartBurk]

I read “Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon” and found it supported much the same theory, that Spaulding’s work was recast by Smith and Rigdon into the BOM. The book seemed logical to me and appeared to be well documented. I put it down quite convinced it had unlocked the authorship.

I am not, however, the world’s expert on anything, so take it for what it is worth.

I think the evidence for Rigdon and Cowdrey’s involvement is pretty strong.

 

[venite_adoremus]

This has been published in the Oxford University Press:

llc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/fqn040v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=1&hits=1&RESULTFORMAT=&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=mormon&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&resourcetype=HWCIT

Were you aware your link requires a subscription to view?

 

[BartBurk]

Were you aware your link requires a subscription to view?

I guess it does. That’s unfortunate – I have access through the university. If you are interested in the article you could probably get it through inter-library loan or by going to your local library. At the very least you can look at the abstract which gives you the gist of the article.

 

[ralphinal]

I would say that I am shocked that no Mormons have responded. In fact, even our resident Catholic Mormons have not responded.

 

[BartBurk]

I would say that I am shocked that no Mormons have responded. In fact, even our resident Catholic Mormons have not responded.

I think they’ve left the house at this point … I have to admit I’m a little skeptical of the results of this paper. That’s probably because I don’t understand exactly what the study studied.

 

[ralphinal]

I think they’ve left the house at this point … I have to admit I’m a little skeptical of the results of this paper. That’s probably because I don’t understand exactly what the study studied.

From the abstract, I would say that they use some formula that reduces writing style to a mathmatical statement, and then they can compare probability that this passage was written in an era or by a person usin the same formula.

That may be an over-simplification, but it seems to be along these lines.

If you have samples of the people in question, I see no reason why you could not at least say it was written in the same style.

 

[why_me]

This theory has been around for quite some time, the theory that Rigdon and Cowdery had some doing in writing the book of mormon. However, the strangeness of the relationship of these two to mormonism tends to speak otherwise. Both had a fallen out with the lds church under Joseph Smith. And both left the fold. And yet, they never spilt the beans about the book of mormon being written by them. And both had good reasons to do so. And by doing so, the lds church under smith would have been destroyed.

Also, JS was reported to have translated the book of mormon by various means. One of those means was by looking in a hat and reading out the text of the book of mormon. This would have been quite a feat if Rigdon and Cowdery had written the book. This process was seen by David Whitmer and Emma Smith.

Also, how does one account for the witnesses to the book of book of mormon? None ever denied their testimony and several had no reason to keep the lie going. Even Oliver Cowdery came back to the fold never denying the book of mormon.

And so, the theory that Rigdon and Cowdery wrote the book is intriguing but the interesting facts about the book and how it came to be does not match that theory.

Not to mention the fact that emma never denied her husband’s prophethood or the book of mormon even when it would have been advantageous to do so.

 

[majick275]

This theory has been around for quite some time, the theory that Rigdon and Cowdery had some doing in writing the book of mormon. However, the strangeness of the relationship of these two to mormonism tends to speak otherwise. Both had a fallen out with the lds church under Joseph Smith. And both left the fold. And yet, they never spilt the beans about the book of mormon being written by them. And both had good reasons to do so. And by doing so, the lds church under smith would have been destroyed.

Also, JS was reported to have translated the book of mormon by various means. One of those means was by looking in a hat and reading out the text of the book of mormon. This would have been quite a feat if Rigdon and Cowdery had written the book. This process was seen by David Whitmer and Emma Smith.

Also, how does one account for the witnesses to the book of book of mormon? None ever denied their testimony and several had no reason to keep the lie going. Even Oliver Cowdery came back to the fold never denying the book of mormon.

And so, the theory that Rigdon and Cowdery wrote the book is intriguing but the interesting facts about the book and how it came to be does not match that theory.

Not to mention the fact that emma never denied her husband’s prophethood or the book of mormon even when it would have been advantageous to do so.

i have to disagree. whitmer, emma and rigdon all had the opportunity to profit if the BoM continued to be thought true. they had nothing to gain by its fall. cowdery may have been duped like harris but more likely he held out hope of gain from it as well. there is some reason to believe he may have denied it as well. none of the witnesses were credible as they were all “in on it” with the possible exception of harris who was prolly scammed. the facts are unclear. we may never know who all wrote parts of the BoM. I think the facts DO prove it to be a fraud. so who all was part of the scam becomes somewhat academic.

 

[PaulDupre]

The best research on the Rigdon connection to the Book of Mormon has already been done. See this article.

God bless us all,
Paul

 

[BartBurk]

The best research on the Rigdon connection to the Book of Mormon has already been done. See this article.

God bless us all,
Paul

Note that Criddle is also one of the authors on this new scholarly paper which I linked to in the first post.

 

[CatsAndDogs]

In fact, even our resident Catholic Mormons have not responded.

Huh?

You DO mean ex-Mormon Catholics, right?

:shamrock2:

 

[ralphinal]

Huh?

You DO mean ex-Mormon Catholics, right?

:shamrock2:

No. I mean folks who claim to be Catholic but are Mormon and our one resident CathoMormon who thinks that he can be both.

 

[why_me]

i have to disagree. whitmer, emma and rigdon all had the opportunity to profit if the BoM continued to be thought true. they had nothing to gain by its fall. cowdery may have been duped like harris but more likely he held out hope of gain from it as well. there is some reason to believe he may have denied it as well. none of the witnesses were credible as they were all “in on it” with the possible exception of harris who was prolly scammed. the facts are unclear. we may never know who all wrote parts of the BoM. I think the facts DO prove it to be a fraud. so who all was part of the scam becomes somewhat academic.

Emma gained nothing from the book of mormon except persecution. She also lost a child and a husband because of antimormon hatred. When Joseph was murdered, she more or less dropped out of the picture but she never denied the book of mormon even after Joseph Smith enacted Polygamy to her dismay.

Cowdery had a serious falling out with Joseph Smith over polygamy and Whitmer also had a serious falling out as did Rigdon. It would have been very much in human nature to expose the book has a fraud if any of them had any part in it. This would have destroyed Joseph’s power base when they were the most hostile toward Joseph.

But they didn’t. Harris claimed to see a vision of the plates. He wasn’t scammed at all. In fact, if he didn’t see that vision, he would not have taken part in it. He was very careful with his money.

 

[CatsAndDogs]

No. I mean folks who claim to be Catholic but are Mormon and our one resident CathoMormon who thinks that he can be both.

Wha…?

That’s a truly amazing variety of being a non-Catholic Catholic, don’tcha think?

Wow. Ok then. Well, uh, the human mind IS capable of holding incredibly tortured logic as “truth” (lacking [or simply disregarding] the (name removed by moderator)ut of the Church), I suppose, so this weird situation shouldn’t be TOTALLY surprising.

…but, Jeeeeeeeze!? <boggle!>uch:

:shamrock2:

 

[ralphinal]

Wha…?

That’s a truly amazing variety of being a non-Catholic Catholic, don’tcha think?

Wow. Ok then. Well, uh, the human mind IS capable of holding incredibly tortured logic as “truth” (lacking [or simply disregarding] the (name removed by moderator)ut of the Church), I suppose, so this weird situation shouldn’t be TOTALLY surprising.

…but, Jeeeeeeeze!? <boggle!>uch:

:shamrock2:

I am not sure where he is. Yes, he holds to the thought that he can be both. Long story.

There is another poster on here that some accuse of being Mormon and claiming to be Catholic. I will not accuse anyone of anything without more proof.

 

[majick275]

Emma gained nothing from the book of mormon except persecution. She also lost a child and a husband because of antimormon hatred. When Joseph was murdered, she more or less dropped out of the picture but she never denied the book of mormon even after Joseph Smith enacted Polygamy to her dismay.

where do you get these ideas? seriously, Emma gained money and property both. she managed to hang on to both when BY tried to take it. she lost a child due to disease. the “antimormon” hatred you refer to was actually outraged mormons who discovered JS trying to sleep with their wives/daughters/sisters.

Cowdery had a serious falling out with Joseph Smith over polygamy and Whitmer also had a serious falling out as did Rigdon. It would have been very much in human nature to expose the book has a fraud if any of them had any part in it. This would have destroyed Joseph’s power base when they were the most hostile toward Joseph.

but it would have provided no benefit to them. they wanted to profit from the BoM themselves. they could only do that by maintaining the story that the BoM was true. thus they tried the “fallen prophet” approach.

But they didn’t. Harris claimed to see a vision of the plates. He wasn’t scammed at all. In fact, if he didn’t see that vision, he would not have taken part in it. He was very careful with his money.

you are joking right? his wife’s biggest problem with him was how foolish he was with his money. he was easily influenced by religious claims. he joined many churches in his time and claimed a greater testimony of the shakers than the BoM. he was an easy mark and thus was targeted to provide the startup funds.