The theory first appeared in print in the book mormonism unvailed, published in 1834 by e. Part 1 of craig criddles 2009 exmormon conference presentation. The goal was to offer the public new evidence that the book of mormon, the churchs foundational scripture, was not an ancient record. A new wordprint study on the book of mormon breathes new life to a longchallenged theory for book of mormon authorship, the theory that its real author was solomon spalding secretly assisted by sidney rigdon. Book of mormon samples averaged 1,117 words and ranged in. Craig was born into a mormon family in 1957, grew up as a typical mormon boy, and served a mission to uruguay in 197678. Pratt as key players in the authorship of the book of mormon. Who wrote the book of mormon part 2 infants on thrones. Narrative for the book of mormon video clips exmormon conference, salt lake. 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. D, is a professor and senior fellow, woods institute for the environment, stanford university. The battle over mormonleaks two websites with one name and one goal.
I caught this as part of my highwire press alerts i dont typically follow publications in this journal. Pdf reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. Farnham, travels in the great western prairies, the anahuac and rocky mountains, and in the oregon territory, poughkeepsie, new york. Infants on thrones interview with craig criddle, monday, october 14th, 20 who wrote the book of mormon part 2. Feb 19, 2010 the inclusion of all the words is yet another indicator of the robustness of the findings. In october 20, the authors conducted a data analysis comparing the book of mormon to over 100,000 books from the pre1830s era. Mormon discussions view topic book of mormon authorship. Book of mormon central archive the historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of the book of mormon. The history of sidney rigdon the history of joseph smith. 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. I offer you the following information for your consideration. 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. Julysept 1828 rigdon revised mosiah through mormon 7. Mormon prophet joseph smith 18051844 claimed that more than twodozen ancient.
Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification literary and. Young sidney rigdon seeking fame and fortune through religion. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and. The theory that sidney rigdon was the true author of the book of mormon first appeared in print in an august 31, 1831. This new analysis continues to indicate that the major authors were rigdon and spalding. According to the spaldingrigdon theory, the book of mormon is the product of a pious fraud perpetrated by sidney. This project is the result of painstaking effort on the part of matt jockers, daniela m.
Not only has the msm ignored the book, even some prominent conservative talk. 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. The lord had said, in the book of mormon, that he would raise up to joseph smith a spokesman. 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. The best case ive seen made for this theory is by a researcher named craig criddle. Craig criddle spr translation timeline exploring mormonism. Ep 27 who wrote the book of mormon part 2 infants on thrones.
Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification. Book of mormon authorship update from craig criddle. Fyi, craig criddle the antimormon member of the team has written about the process through which this study come.
Dale broadhurst spaldingbook of mormon textual parallels, plus an important study of unique word parallels. This means rigdon was the mastermind behind the book of mormon and then gave the manuscript to joseph smith to use when dictating. 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. 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. Matthew jockers center for digital research in the. Dale broadhurst spalding book of mormon textual parallels, plus an important study of unique word parallels. Sidney rigdon embraced mormonism without much investigation. Craig criddle, environmental professor at stanford, demonstrates that the book of mormon is actually the work of sidney rigdon, oliver c. 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. Craig criddle evidence of rigdons involvement with the book of mormon manuscript.
Criddle is a civil engineer and a contributor to an internet message board for exmormons. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta andnearestshrunken centroid classification. This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists. Mormon prophet joseph smith 180544 claimed that more than twodozen ancient individuals nephi, mormon, alma, etc. Craig criddles address at the exmormon foundation october 2009. Lies, expletive deleted lies, and statistics fairmormon. 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. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of the book of mormon. The goal was to offer the public new evidence that the book of mormon, the churchs foundational scripture, was not an ancient record translated. We believe that the time has come for a candid conversation about the origins of the book of mormon and the rise of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints.
Craig criddle is a professor and senior fellow, woods institute for the environment, stanford university, having taught at stanford since 1998. Highly conductive textile electrodes for microbial fuel cells acs national meeting book of abstracts. Authorship who really wrote the book of mormon video presentation on the spauldingrigdon theory at the 2009 exmormon foundation conference additional resources. Wordprint analysis and the book of mormon deseret news. Craig criddle2009who really wrote the book of mormon. When i first started investigating how the book of mormon was written, i thought this theory was compelling. There is a theory that sidney rigdon helped joseph smith create the book of mormon based on a manuscript written by a man named solomon spaulding.
Criddles investigations contributed to a 2008 wordprint study of the spaldingrigdon claims the results of which were. 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. Part 1 of craig criddle s 2009 ex mormon conference presentation. Authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest. However, a fair number of chapters are now attributed to smith. Stanford professor craig criddle believes that can be done and has compiled his investigative findings into a 2009. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of. Criddle s investigations contributed to a 2008 wordprint study of the spaldingrigdon claims the results of which were. 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. This theory can be based on any of the following premises.
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. The research is interesting, but it looks like theres a. Draft preprint of reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using. Selections from the old book of mormon studies homepage provide unique information and intriguing possibilities. Jun 18, 2015 when i first started investigating how the book of mormon was written, i thought this theory was compelling. There was an interesting discussion at mormon matters as well. Creating the book of mormon, epaper, originally published 8 october 2005. Wikipedia article on the stonecampbell restorationist movement wikipedia article on alexander. So says a new computerassisted authorship study out of stanford. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship wikipedia. Examining a misapplication of nearest shrunken centroid. The historical records reveal a small pool of candidate authors collaborating in western new york and northern ohio to create the mormon scriptures. Dec 14, 2008 lies, expletive deleted lies, and statistics december 14, 2008 by steven danderson 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.
Glenn and randy continue the discussion on who wrote the book of mormon and are joined by dr. This knowhy is the first in a series which discusses stylometry and its relevance to questions of book of mormon authorship. Dec 09, 2008 a new wordprint study on the book of mormon breathes new life to a longchallenged theory for book of mormon authorship, the theory that its real author was solomon spalding secretly assisted by sidney rigdon. Day saints lds coauthors a book with two other prominent scholars proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that. 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. Tracking authorship through the book of mormon spalding first, rigdon second, cowdery third by craig criddle. I really appreciate a comment by chris spencer on my previous post dueling wordprint studies. He borrowed it from the printer he made book bindings for as a tanner, and then didnt return it may have paid even since the author was dead.
According to mosiah priority, after the text of mosiah through the end of the book of mormon was transcribed, joseph smith returned to the beginning and transcribed 1 nephi. The battle over mormonleaks two websites with one name and. 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. Mosiah priority is a theory about the creation of the book of mormon arguing that the original manuscript began not with 1 nephi found at the beginning of the book of mormon, but midway through, starting with mosiah.
Join facebook to connect with craig criddle and others you may know. Reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. The smithassoleauthor theory asserts that smith produced the book of mormon with or without supernatural assistance. This timeline is a summary of all events that indicate that this theory may be true based on my notes collected over a sixyear period. Supplementary data for reassessing authorship of the book of. Return to mormonleaks the origins of mormon scripture home page. My article campbellite doctrine in the book of mormon briefly discusses where many of the above doctrines can be found in the book of mormon. For the past year or so, ive mentioned that information regarding book of mormon authorship would be forthcoming. Craig criddle, a professor at stanford university who believes the book of mormon had several authors.
The discussion centers around the spaldingrigdon theory of. Craig criddle and ryan mcknight have a lot in common. Joseph smith was to translate the book of mormon, and sidney rigdon was to take it, and gather israel. Infants on thrones interview with craig criddle, monday, october 14th, 20 who wrote the book of mormon part 2 the. Parallels with the bible, roman history, and other sources. 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. Book of mormon authorship update from craig criddle page. Criddle, reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification, literary and linguistic computing.
The battle over mormonleaks two websites with one name. This first article explains what stylometry is and gives readers a short history of stylometric studies performed on the book of mormon. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a 19thcentury translation of a record of ancient inhabitants of the american continent, which was written in a script which the book refers to as reformed egyptian. Heres a hypothetical timeline for the translation that is consistent with the spaldingrigdon theory. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Testing authorship in the personal writings of joseph smith using nsc classification. Before mormonism an online library of early texts origins of the book of mormon a presentation by craig criddle, oct. The historical case against sidney rigdons authorship of the.