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| − | {{Resource Title|Origin of the Book of Mormon}}
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| − | |subject=Overview of secular authorship theories for the Book of Mormon
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| − | |summary=Latter-day Saints believe that the Book of Mormon was revealed by the "gift and power of God." Critics, however, must account for its existence, and entertain a number of authorship theories. Ever since it was first published in 1830, numerous secular and non-secular theories have been proposed to account for the existence of the Book of Mormon. Initially, it was assumed that the book was the product of Joseph Smith’s own creative mind—a book not worthy of attention since it could not possibly contain anything of value. As critics began to actually read the book however, it became apparent that the depth and complexity of the writing did not fit well with the proposal that Joseph Smith, Jr. as the book’s sole author. This gave rise to the theory that Joseph Smith had an educated accomplice in his effort to create the book. The accomplices most often proposed are Sidney Rigdon and Oliver Cowdery. Some secular authorship theories also postulate that Joseph Smith plagiarized sources that may have been available to him during the time that he was producing the Book of Mormon. The most commonly referenced potential sources include an unpublished manuscript by Solomon Spalding, a published work called View of the Hebrews, and the King James Bible.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Spalding manuscript|subject=The Spalding manuscript
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| − | |summary=It is claimed that Joseph Smith either plagiarized or relied upon a manuscript by Solomon Spaulding to write the Book of Mormon. There is a small group of critics who hold to the theory that the production of the Book of Mormon was a conspiracy involving Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery and others. These critics search for links between Spalding and Rigdon. Joseph Smith is assumed to have been Rigdon's pawn.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/View of the Hebrews|subject=View of the Hebrews
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| − | |summary=It is claimed that a 19th century work by Ethan Smith, View of the Hebrews, provided source material for Joseph Smith's construction of the Book of Mormon. Critics also postulate a link between Ethan Smith and Oliver Cowdery, since both men lived in Poultney, Vermont while Smith served as the pastor of the church that Oliver Cowdery's family attended at the time that View of the Hebrews was being written.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Golden Pot|subject=The Golden Pot
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| − | |summary=Former LDS Church Education System (CES) teacher Grant Palmer argues that Joseph Smith developed his story of visits by Moroni and the translation of a sacred book from The Golden Pot, a book by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations
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| − | |subject=Accusations of plagiarism in the Book of Mormon
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| − | |summary=Critics look to numerous contemporary sources to explain how Joseph Smith was able to produce the Book of Mormon.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Apocrypha|subject=Apocrypha
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| − | |summary=It is claimed that Joseph Smith created the story of Nephi and Laban by plagiarizing concepts and phrases from the story of Judith and Holofernes in the Apocrypha. It is also claimed that Joseph Smith copied the name "Nephi" from the Apocrypha.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/King James Bible
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| − | |subject=The King James Bible|summary=Critics of the Book of Mormon claim that major portions of it are copied, without attribution, from the Bible. They present this as evidence that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon by plagiarizing the Authorized ("King James") Version of the Bible.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Westminster Confession|subject=The Westminster Confession
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| − | |summary=It is claimed that the content of Alma Chapter 40 derived from a Presbyterian document called The Westminster Confession}}
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/The Wonders of Nature
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| − | |subject=The Wonders of Nature and Providence Displayed
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| − | |summary=It is claimed that Joseph Smith plagiarized Josiah Priest's The Wonders of Nature and Providence Displayed in order to write portions of The Book of Mormon. Critics also claim that Joseph Smith plagiarized Shakespeare.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Place names from North America|subject=North American place names
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| − | |summary=It is claimed that Joseph Smith is clearly the author of the Book of Mormon because many Book of Mormon place names supposedly have clear evidence of "borrowing" from geographic locations in the United States and Canada.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Comoros Islands and Moroni|subject=The Comoros Islands
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| − | |summary=Comoros is a small nation made up of three islands off the southeast coast of Africa. Its capital city is Moroni. Some critics have claimed that Joseph Smith created the Book of Mormon names Cumorah and Moroni by copying them from a map of the Comoros islands.
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| − | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Joseph Smith, Sr.'s dream and Lehi's vision|subject=Joseph Smith, Sr.'s dream
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| − | |summary=Critics point to similarities between a Lucy Mack Smith's account of a dream Joseph Smith's father had and Lehi's dream of the tree of life as evidence that Joseph wrote the Book of Mormon based on his own experiences.
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