Skeptics have put forth several theories of Book of Mormon authorship that do not require believing in golden plates delivered by angels and translated by a miracle. These range from the now-discredited Spaulding theory, to inspiration from an obscure German fairy tale called The Golden Pot, to collaboration with Oliver Cowdery or Sidney Rigdon. But the simplest and arguably most popular theory is that Joseph himself was the primary author.
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
The article refutes Emma Smith's declaration, many years after the fact, that "Joseph could neither write nor dictate a well-worded letter". Emma could be very self serving, as the mother or the wife of a prophet. She definitely was duplicious about polygamy.
Could George R.R. Martin have authored A Song of Ice and Fire?
Could J.K. Rowling have authored the Harry Potter series?
Could James Joyce have authored Ulysses?
"The Church is authoritarian, tribal, provincial, and founded on a loosely biblical racist frontier sex cult."--Juggler Vain "The lds church is the Amway of religions. Even with all the soap they sell, they still manage to come away smelling dirty."--Some Schmo
Equality wrote:Could George R.R. Martin have authored A Song of Ice and Fire?
Could J.K. Rowling have authored the Harry Potter series?
Could James Joyce have authored Ulysses?
Could John Newbrough have written the Oahspe?
Could Helena Blavatsky have written the Mahatma letters and the Book of Dzyan?
Could Frederick Oliver have written A Dweller on Two Planets?
Could Jane Roberts have written the Seth material?
There are literally thousands of examples. To say that they are all frauds and the Book of Mormon is the exception requires industrial-strength special pleading. There are also those who will say that these texts really were channeled but from demonic spirits. That's where I expect TBMs to go with it, right into the arms of the occult and the pseudosciences.
Who ever wrote the Book of Mormon had access to the Creeds of the 4th and 5th Creeds, and the KJV of the Bible since the Book of Mormon agrees completely with the Creeds
2 Nephi 31: 21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.
Alma 11: 44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but everything shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.
Mormon 7: 7 And he hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, whereby he that is found guiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end.
The Testimony of Three Witnesses And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen. Oliver Cowdery David Whitmer Martin Harris
1 Nephi 13: 41 And they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb; and the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed, as well as in the records of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; wherefore they both shall be established in one; for there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth.
2 Nephi 26:12 And as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews, that Jesus is the very Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God;
3 Nephi 11: 13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying: 14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. 17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.
Mosiah 3:5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.
3 Nephi 19: 18 And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God.
Mosiah 5:15 Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen.
2 Nephi 10:3 3 Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name—should come among the Jews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world; and they shall crucify him—for thus it behooveth our God, and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.
Helaman 14:12 And also that ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name.
1 Nephi 17: 36 Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.
Justice = Getting what you deserve Mercy = Not getting what you deserve Grace = Getting what you can never deserve
Infants on Thrones had a brilliant interview with John Hamer about Book of Mormon authorship. This was, I think, John Hamer's first appearance on Infants on Thrones. John effectively argues that Joseph Smith is very easily plausible as the sole author of the Book of Mormon. All the elements of the story could have been drawn from the life, experience, and education of Joseph Smith.
While Joseph lacked an extensive formal education, he clearly had read the Bible and his father had been formally trained as a school teacher. Joseph Sr. did home school Joseph and his siblings while they were growing up on the frontier of early 1800s America. Richard Bushman lays this out very well in "Rough Stone Rolling".
These range from the now-discredited Spaulding theory, . . .
"Now-discredited?" According to whom?
"Finally, for your rather strange idea that miracles are somehow linked to the amount of gay sexual gratification that is taking place would require that primitive Christianity was launched by gay sex, would it not?"
While for the past thirty years the Spalding theory has been a dead issue, it has never truly disappeared. The very imprecision of the original arguments, so integrally tied to the eventual abandonment of the theory by scholars of Mormonism, has served to assure its preservation. However high the possibilities, no one has ever been able to "prove" in any absolute sense that the Hurlbut affidavits were erroneous recollections, deliberate or otherwise. Superficial analyses, shaped largely by an a priori assumption that Joseph Smith was incapable of producing the Book of Mormon alone, will no doubt continue to find "hard evidence" in the persisting trace of uncertainty—and carry the Spalding corpus perpetually onward. So long as the subject remains, in O'Dea's words, a "not-quite-solved" historical problem, this will probably ever be so. One therefore can reasonably expect that new variants will, like the influenza, reemerge every now and then. The strength of these will probably be, as in the most recent instance, inversely proportionate to the publicity with which they are heralded. One newspaper headlined this latest episode, "Book of Mormon'S AUTHENTICITY DOUBTED BY HANDWRITING EXPERTS." More aptly the title could have been, "THE LATE REVEREND SPALDING DISINTERRED . . . BUT SLATED FOR REBURIAL."
The probability of Spalding content equals the probability of content borrowings from other literature available at the time. Subjected to a final polishing or roughing up (depending on the perspective of the individual critic) by Joseph Smith.
Problems with auto-correct: In Helaman 6:39, we see the Badmintons, so similar to Skousenite Mormons, taking over the government and abusing the rights of many.