Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the American Renaissance

Abstract

Rees talks about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the American Renaissance. He examines the literature that supports Joseph Smith's claims about its origins and the literature that postulates the Book of Mormon. Much of his interest in and approach to the Book of Mormon lies with the text–though not just as a field for scholarly exploration. Explanations by Louis Midgley present Joseph Smith as a country bumpkin and a brilliant sophisticate, as a simple self-delusionist and a complicated conspirator, as an idiot and a genius, and as a Devil-inspired and God-inspired seer. Assessments of the Book of Mormon itself are no less extreme.