Item Detail
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30705
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4
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58
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English
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Naturalistic Explanations of the Origin of the Book of Mormon : A Longitudinal Study
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BYU Studies
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2019
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58
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3
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Provo, UT
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Brigham Young University
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105-148
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Joseph Smith and his followers declared the Book of Mormon’s supernatural origin—that it was a divinely inspired translation of an ancient-American record, acquired by Joseph through visions and the help of an angel. This explanation, however, was widely rejected by outsiders from the outset. Within weeks after the Book of Mormon’s first pages came off the press, critics promoted “naturalistic explanations”—so called because they are based on scientific observation or natural phenomena—that rejected the possibility of a divine, supernatural origin of the Book of Mormon. To varying degrees, these naturalistic theories continue to be perpetuated today. This article examines the most popular naturalistic explanations for the Book of Mormon longitudinally, which will enable readers to better understand them and why they have waxed and waned in popularity over time.
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American Apocrypha : Essays on the Book of Mormon
An Imperfect Book : What the Book of Mormon Tells Us about Itself
Automaticity and the Dictation of the Book of Mormon
Automatic Writing and the Book of Mormon : An Update
A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856
Changing Critics' Criticisms of Book of Mormon Changes
Curiously Unique : Joseph Smith as Author
of the Book of Mormon
David Whitmer Interviews : A Restoration Witness
Digging in Cumorah : Reclaiming Book of Mormon narratives
Does the Shoe Fit? : A Critique of the Limited Tehuantepec Geography
Early Days of Mormonism, Palmyra, Kirtland, and Nauvoo
Evangelical America and Early Mormonism
Exiles in a Land of Liberty : Mormons in America, 1830-1846
History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, and Morris' Reserve
How Joseph Smith's Grammar Differed from Book of Mormon Grammar : Evidence from the 1832 History
Inside the Mind of Joseph Smith : Psychobiography and the Book of Mormon
Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses
Isn't One Wife Enough?
James Gordon Bennett's 1831 Report on 'The Mormonites'
Joseph Smith and His Mormon Empire
Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon
Joseph Smith : Rough Stone Rolling
Joseph Smith : The Making of a Prophet
Joseph Smith : The Verdict of Depth Psychology
Lamanite Genesis, Genealogy, and Genetics
Losing a Lost Tribe : Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church
Mormonism and the American Experience
Mormonism and the Mormons
Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838
Mormonism Portrayed : Its Errors and Absurdities Exposed, and the Spirit and Designs of Its Authors Made Manifest
Mormonism Unvailed : Or, a Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion From Its Rise to the Present Time
Mormon Parallels : A Bibliographic Source
Natural Born Seer : Joseph Smith, American Prophet, 1805-1830
No Man Knows My History : The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet
Oliver Cowdery and the 'Mythical Manuscript Found'
Origin, Rise and Progress of Mormonism
Religion and Sexuality : Three American Communal Experiments in the Nineteenth Century
Sidney Rigdon : A Portrait of Religious Excess
Solomon Spaulding's Indians, or, What the "Manuscript Found" Really Tells Us
Spirit Writing: Another Look at the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon and Automatic Writing
The Centennial of Mormonism
The Geography of Book of Mormon Events : A Source Book
The Joseph Smith Papers : Documents, Volume 1: July 1828-June 1831
The Miraculous Timing of the Translation of the Book of Mormon
The Mormons or Latter-day Saints
The Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon
The Psychology of Religious Genius : Joseph Smith and the Origins of New Religious Movements
The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith by His Mother
The Seer Stone Controversy : Writing the Book of Mormon
"The Word of the Lord in the Original" : Joseph Smith's Study of Hebrew in Kirtland
Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon : “Days [and Hours] Never to Be Forgotten”
Toward an Introduction to a Psychobiography of Joseph Smith
Translating the Book of Mormon : Evidence from the Original Manuscript
Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? The Critics and Their Theories
Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? : The Spalding Enigma
Wilford Woodruff's Journals