Mormonleaks is a research project that seeks to reconstruct the authentic narrative of the origins of the mormon canon by combining macroanalytic computing tools with contemporary historical evidence. The spalding enigma by wayne cowdery, howard davis, and donald scales summary. Young sidney rigdon seeking fame and fortune through religion. Craig criddle evidence of rigdons involvement with the book of mormon manuscript. For five years after publication of howes mormonism unvailed on nov 28, 1834, rigdon and smith provided no written rebuttal to that books central thesis, i. Criticism of mormonismbookswho really wrote the book of mormon. This new analysis continues to indicate that the major authors were rigdon and spalding. Mormonleaks is a research project that seeks to reconstruct the authentic narrative of the origins of the mormon canon by combining macroanalytic computing tools with contemporary historical evidence the historical records reveal a small pool of candidate authors collaborating in western new york and northern ohio to create the mormon scriptures.
In addition to restricting the location of the book of mormon s choice land to the united states, the annotated edition of the book of mormon aebom attempts to erase or diminish the lamanite identity of indigenous american populations outside of the heartland. Glenn and randy continue the discussion on who wrote the book of mormon and are joined by dr. Including all of the words of one of the most repeated signature phrases of the book of mormon as evidenced by mark twains description of it when it is not a feature of spaldings work would be pretty risky if the study was actually a set up. Spalding submitted his manuscript to a pittsburgh print shop for publication. In the first essay i discussed why authorship of the book of mormon is important, how bias affects the analysis, and i critiqued some of the major authorship theories. Campbellite doctrine in the book of mormon beggars bread.
An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates. I was going through my notes when i found this paper that my trainer from my mission gave me. Uncle dale, i understand that spalding was called mr old and it came to pass. The lord had said, in the book of mormon, that he would raise up to joseph smith a spokesman. Others, however, have assumed that joseph smith or one of his associates wrote. Out of the top matches, we discovered a book called the late war between the united states and great britain, a scriptural style account of the war of 1812 published in new york in 1816. Book of mormon authorship update from craig criddle. Davis, published after decades of historical sleuthing in 2005 as who really wrote the book of mormon the spalding enigma. In october 20, the authors conducted a data analysis comparing the book of mormon to over 100,000 books from the pre1830s era. Dale broadhurst spalding book of mormon textual parallels, plus an important study of unique word parallels.
The spalding theory was generally rejected by critics for many years, but was revived in recent years by vernal holly, dale broadhurst, and the extensive research of arthur vanick, wayne l. I also summarized 24 pieces of evidence, pointing to sidney rigdon as a key contributor and likely mastermind for the 1830 version of the book of mormon. Since the book of mormon s publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship. What they determined the probability that someone wrote a chapter of the book of mormon. Book of mormon authorship update from craig criddle the catchall forum for general topics and debates. The most common belief of adherents is that promoted by joseph smith, who said he translated ancient golden plates inscribed by prophets. The theory that sidney rigdon was the true author of the book of mormon first appeared in print in an august 31, 1831. Oct 14, 20 glenn and randy continue the discussion on who wrote the book of mormon and are joined by dr. The historical records reveal a small pool of candidate authors collaborating in western new york and northern ohio to create the mormon scriptures. Of course, it could also be that josephs plagiarism lifting content from multiple authors, each with their differing writing style fingerprint, would also show differing wordprints in byus analysis. Craig criddles address at the exmormon foundation october 2009. There are several theories as to the origin of the book of mormon.
Part of the research includes a wordprint study that attempts to show which chapters in the book of mormon were likely written by rigdon, cowdery, spalding, or parley p. I really appreciate a comment by chris spencer on my previous post dueling wordprint studies in that post, i had discussed a controversial study completed by stanford researchers mathew jockers, daniela witten, and craig criddle who concluded that 57% the book of mormon was authored by sidney rigdon and solomon spaulding. Openmormon view topic craig criddles presentation at. For the past year or so, ive mentioned that information regarding book of mormon authorship would be forthcoming. Also, since i gave the exmo conference talk in october, we have retested the book of mormon, including this new material as a signal for smith. Jun 18, 2015 when i first started investigating how the book of mormon was written, i thought this theory was compelling. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of the. The strength of the argument that the book of mormon is a remix of the late war rests on the cumulative improbability of finding all of these phrases somewhere else. The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed, published in 1834 by e. The battle over mormonleaks two websites with one name and. The spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship is the theory that the book of mormon was plagiarized in part from an unpublished manuscript written by solomon spalding. In that post, i had discussed a controversial study completed by stanford researchers mathew jockers, daniela witten, and craig criddle who concluded that 57% the book of mormon was authored by sidney rigdon and solomon spaulding. Personally, i feel like the most plausible explanation for the bofm is that joseph wrote it, but that he really believed it was coming from god. The forerunner to the book of mormon, manuscript found, was a story penned by solomon spalding.
Jan 27, 2017 the goal was to offer the public new evidence that the book of mormon, the churchs foundational scripture, was not an ancient record translated into english by founder joseph smith as the church of jesus christ of latterday saints teaches. Criddle, the primary inspiration for the study, is a former mormon who has long advocated the theory that sidney rigdon and solomon spalding were the real authors of the book of mormon. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. Rigdons role as author was also proposed in an august 1831 article by james gordon bennett, who had visited the palmyra manchester area and interviewed several residents. Pratt as key players in the authorship of the book of mormon. Parallels with the bible, roman history, and other sources. Craig criddle part 2 part 2 of craig criddle s 2009 ex mormon conference. Dec 14, 2008 our findings support the hypothesis that rigdon was the main architect of the book of mormon and are consistent with historical evidence suggesting that he fabricated the book by adding theology to the unpublished writings of spalding then deceased. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification. Episode 05 provides evidence for how the lost116pages incident triggered a series of events that led to the complexity of the book of mormon. Response to claims made in who really wrote the book of mormon. I caught this as part of my highwire press alerts i dont typically follow publications in this. Craig criddle s address at the ex mormon foundation october 2009. The theory that sidney rigdon was the true author of the book of mormon first appeared in print in a february 15, 1831 article.
Craig criddle2009who really wrote the book of mormon. This presentation presents the strong connection via word print analysis. Joseph smith was to translate the book of mormon, and sidney rigdon was to take it, and gather israel. More than one spalding manuscript a paper stating the reasons for more than one spalding manuscript. Christensen sent a letter to the states lay leaders. Craig criddle, environmental professor at stanford, demonstrates that the book of mormon is actually the work of sidney rigdon, oliver c. I caught this as part of my highwire press alerts i dont typically follow publications in this journal. But yes, you, on the other hand, wish to reject what they point blank tell you.
The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. Craig was born into a mormon family in 1957, grew up as a typical mormon boy, and served a mission to uruguay in 197678. After publication of the book of mormon in 1830, many of those familiar with spaldings unpublished work claimed that spaldings manuscript found was the source of distinctive names and the nontheological content and storyline of the book of mormon. There are only two options when it comes to the book of mormon. In 1888, walter sidney rigdon, sidney rigdons grandson.
Pdf reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. Others, however, have assumed that joseph smith or one of his associates wrote it. No other book, aside from the first book of napoleon, approaches the density of rare phrases 4grams, specifically that are shared by the book of mormon. Mormon discussions view topic book of mormon authorship. Creating the book of mormon 8 oct 2005 craig criddle life sketch of sidney rigdon made for moores new yorker in 1967 image provided courtesy of dale broadhurst. I recently perfunctorily read a new study written by three stanford university professors, titled reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification, and published in the latest issue of the journal, literary and linguistic computing while i admit to being disturbed by the article, it is not for the reason. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. May 27, 2018 glenn and randy continue the discussion on who wrote the book of mormon and are joined by dr. A few weeks ago when i asked about theories of joseph as a savant, i was getting at an image of joseph as a genius, but not a conscious genius. According to this theory, rigdon obtained from a pittsburgh publisher a manuscript for a historical novel written by solomon spalding, and by reworking it and adding a theological component, had created the book of mormon. Rigdon and spalding were independently named as authors before anyone was aware of a connection between them. I offer you the following information for your consideration. By craig criddle email the author sidney rigdon elder sidney.
Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Lies, expletive deleted lies, and statistics fairmormon. Stanford professor craig criddle believes that can be done and has. It is either a true record and joseph is a prophet who was called to translate it. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. Book of mormon authorship update from craig criddle posted. Wikipedia article on the stonecampbell restorationist movement wikipedia article on alexander. A paper stating the reasons for more than one spalding manuscript. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of. Authorship who really wrote the book of mormon video presentation on the spauldingrigdon theory at the 2009 exmormon foundation conference additional resources.
Most adherents to the latter day saint movement view the book as a work of inspired scripture. This theory says much of the story of the book of mormon was plagiarized from an unpublished manuscript written by solomon spalding. Craig criddle is a professor and senior fellow, woods institute for the environment, stanford university, having taught at stanford since 1998. Criddle s investigations contributed to a 2008 wordprint study of the spaldingrigdon claims the results of which were. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship wikipedia. Members of the church have long held that its joseph smith. However, a fair number of chapters are now attributed to smith. Ep 27 who wrote the book of mormon part 2 infants on thrones. And to do that, the only concrete thing you have to base that on is the roman story mswhich you apparently think works in your favor. It accomplishes this by selectively quoting early latterday saint. The research is interesting, but it looks like theres a.
The battle over mormonleaks two websites with one name. Ex mormon rants mormon truth interviews mormon truth podcastmy original mormon truth stories with demon of kolob. Also in the original 1st edition of the book of mormon there were more and it came to pass then there are today,because they were edited out. This project is the result of painstaking effort on the part of matt jockers, daniela m. Stanford professor craig criddle believes that can be done and has compiled his investigative findings into a 2009 powerpoint lecture running some 90 minutes in length. So says a new computerassisted authorship study out of stanford. Criddle, reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification, literary and linguistic computing 234 2008. Sidney rigdon embraced mormonism without much investigation. He maintained this in spite of extensive problems with the theory that has led some critics of the book of mormon to abandon this theory as hopeless. The goal was to offer the public new evidence that the book of mormon, the churchs foundational scripture, was not an ancient record translated.
Craig criddle part 1 part 1 of craig criddle s 2009 ex mormon conference presentation. Book of mormon authorship update from craig criddle page. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. Additionally rigdon, who was a preacher, weaved his own religious views into the story. When the book of mormon appeared, all who heard him were satisfied that he referred to it. Craig criddle, a professor at stanford university who believes the book of mormon had several authors. The idea is that sidney rigdon got a hold of the manuscript and used it to author the book of mormon. Selections from the old book of mormon studies homepage provide unique information and intriguing possibilities. This book attempted to revive the moribund spalding manuscript theory for the book of mormon. Who wrote the book of mormon part 2 infants on thrones. I really appreciate a comment by chris spencer on my previous post dueling wordprint studies. The discussion centers around the spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. When i first started investigating how the book of mormon was written, i thought this theory was compelling. In 1839, rigdon wrote a letter denying his role in the composition of the book of mormon.
Infants on thrones interview with craig criddle, monday, october 14th, 20 who wrote the book of mormon part 2. Those who believe that joseph smith translated it by the gift and power of god naturally have accepted that its source texts were written by multiple ancient prophets. Witnesses described it as a biblicalstyle fiction that traced the origin of native americans to migrations from the middle east. The thought has occurred to me that the book of mormon can be taken as a channeled text, and in fact it may have been understood as such in the earliest days of the church by joseph smith and other members of the inner circle. The battle over mormonleaks two websites with one name and one goal. Craig criddle and ryan mcknight have a lot in common. Part 1 of craig criddles 2009 exmormon conference presentation. For two years before the book of mormon appeared rigdons sermons were full of declarations and prophecies that the age of miracles would be restored, and more complete revelations, than those in the bible, would be given. D, is a professor and senior fellow, woods institute for the environment, stanford university. A forum for exmormons and others who have been affected by mormonism to share news, commentary, and comedy about the mormon church. Craig criddle has also written extensively in support of the spalding explanation. We hope you have a wonderful christmas and a happy new year. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and.