New Witnesses for God (Volume 3 of 3)Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Religion
New Witnesses for God (Volume 3 of 3)
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Book of Mormon; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
himself any more than he can separate himself from his true form,
features, or character. Since we have in this "Manuscript Found" enough
of Mr. Spaulding's style to determine its nature, if this manuscript of
his was used either as the foundation or the complete work of the Book
of Mormon, we should be able to detect Spauldingisms in it; identity
of style would be apparent; but these things are entirely absent from
every page of the Book of Mormon. Mr. Rice does not overstate the
matter when he says: "I should as soon think the Book of Revelation
was written by the author of "Don Quixote," as that the writer of this
manuscript was the author of the Book of Mormon." And again, he is
right when he says: "It is unlikely that any one who wrote so elaborate
a work as the Mormon Bible would spend his time in getting up so
shallow a story as this"--the Spaulding Story.
Another point at which the Spaulding theory goes to pieces is in the
utter inability of its advocates to bring together the parties to
the conspiracy in which the Book of Mormon is supposed to have had
its origin. They fail even to bring Joseph Smith in contact with the
Spaulding manuscript; they also fail to connect Sidney Rigdon with
the manuscript; they fail to bring together Joseph Smith and Sidney
Rigdon, previous to the publication of the Book of Mormon. In all these
things, vital to the maintenance of their theory, they fail. Joseph
Smith and Sidney Rigdon, until after the publication of the Book of
Mormon, are from 200 to 300 miles apart, with no means of communication
or of collaboration, which would be necessary if the Spaulding theory
were correct. Of the necessary extent and greatness of this conspiracy,
Elder George Reynolds justly remarks:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account