Why does the Book of Mormon resemble Spaldings known writings?
There is no single, well agreed upon measure of how much resemblance actually exists. Certainly there was enough general similarity between the two writings to get the Spalding claims started in the first place. Serious investigators have compiled lists of the similarities — but, again, there seems to be no consensus regarding their possible relevance in the compilation of the Book of Mormon. Some readers say that the apparent similarities may be due to coincidence, because both the Book of Mormon and Spalding’s preserved writings deal with somewhat similar happenings in American prehistory. Others says that some textual parallels in the two works may arise from the fact that the idiomatic English of Joseph’s day was practically the same as that of Spalding’s period. No one has been able to demonstrate what, if any, thematic correspondence in the texts might have arisen as a consequence of Smith’s “seer’s powers” or Spalding’s possible visionary experiences. The question still begs fo
Related Questions
- Why does the Book of Mormon contain numerous names that were originally mocked by critics but are now known to be authentic ancient Semitic names?
- If baptism was known in the Americas, as the Book of Mormon teaches, why was it unknown among Native Americans?
- Why does the Book of Mormon resemble Spaldings known writings?
