The True Author of The Book of Mormon is......

[_Quasimodo]

The professor who taught the course on the Origins of the American Indians, which both Sol. Spalding and E. Smith took, was accomplished in all the biblical languages available. His name was John Smith. In all likelihood, Sol and Ethan only knew Latin.

Hi MCB! We haven't spoken in a while (risking a nasty derail to say hello).

My answer is: d) Solomon Spaulding and Sidney Rigdon.

Too many interesting coincidences to ignore.

[_Daheshist]

I have studied Uncle Dale's websites extensively for years.

Hey, Darrick, have you ever read any of Uncle Dale's threads? He has done an extensive study of the Spaulding theory. He also has a website. I don't have the URL handy, but I'm sure some folks here could find it.

[_MCB]

@Quasi:

http://books.google.com/books?id=kTEAAA ... &q&f=false

There are some remarkable parallels with I and II Nephi and Jacob in this book. I think they inserted some Ethan Smith content, with permission, in the replacement portion. And I am sure you have read his View of the Hebrews.

I vote for E. Smith, Sid Rigdon, O. Cowdery, J. Smith, and Sol Spalding.

[_Yoda]

I have studied Uncle Dale's websites extensively for years.

Hey, Darrick, have you ever read any of Uncle Dale's threads? He has done an extensive study of the Spaulding theory. He also has a website. I don't have the URL handy, but I'm sure some folks here could find it.

Cool! :-)

[_sock puppet]

@Quasi:

http://books.google.com/books?id=kTEAAA ... &q&f=false

There are some remarkable parallels with I and II Nephi and Jacob in this book. I think they inserted some Ethan Smith content, with permission, in the replacement portion. And I am sure you have read his View of the Hebrews.

I vote for E. Smith, Sid Rigdon, O. Cowdery, J. Smith, and Sol Spalding.

Maybe the apologetic to explain these pre-JSJr stylings that led to the Book of Mormon should be that elohim/jehovah tried with some older, academic types to restore the gospel and the Book of Mormon through direct inspiration without the benefit of gold plates, but there was just too much academic pride that got in the way of them getting right. So, at last, elohim/jehovah settled on a 14 year old boy, near where Moroni had buried the plates and thus, it was a natural fit--and voila, it worked. It could be referred to as the Practice Makes Perfect apologetic.

[_Mike Reed]

No map Joseph Smith would have had would have shown "Moroni" which was just a village in his day. I doubt any map had the name "Moroni" on it at that time, since Moroni was just a small village on islands claimed by Arabs.

Although I remain unsatified with the theory, I found a French map (1784) with both names last year.

See my blog: http://culturalmormoncafeteria.blogspot ... eroni.html

[_bcspace]

Almost a), but ultimately, none of the above.

[_Mike Reed]

However, there was a book about the capture and hanging of Captain Kidd, a British-American pirate, who hid from the British fleet in Moroni on Grand Comoro which was called them Camora.

Incidentally... the song about Captain Kidd that Joseph Smith reportedly sang, likely included a stanza about Kidd burying a Bible in the sand. The song is pretty catchy. :) See my other blog post about this: http://culturalmormoncafeteria.blogspot ... Bible.html

[_MCB]

Maybe the apologetic to explain these pre-JSJr stylings that led to the Book of Mormon should be that elohim/jehovah tried with some older, academic types to restore the gospel and the Book of Mormon through direct inspiration without the benefit of gold plates, but there was just too much academic pride that got in the way of them getting right. So, at last, elohim/jehovah settled on a 14 year old boy, near where Moroni had buried the plates and thus, it was a natural fit--and voila, it worked. It could be referred to as the Practice Makes Perfect apologetic.

I guess having been called to this task, despite the fact that I was blind to the influence Mormonism has had on my life until ten years ago, I owe a great debt to you academics who have been at it for more than twice as long. :) I greatly appreciate your guidance, and that of others like you. I just re-read some of my initial effort, and I tell you, I had great motivation, but excessive reliance on uninformed "inspiration." So many ideas tried and discarded.

Perhaps an insignificant person from Hancock County will eventually have some influence on the situation.

[_Jersey Girl]

Spalding--->Rigdon---> Cowdery---> maybe a smidge of Pratt, possibly J. Smith.

Influences: The Bible, Ethan Smith and Emanuel Swedenborg.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

:-)