It was in 1885 when the Spalding manuscript was discovered in Hawaii. Many of the key comments on this discovery are preserved in volume 4 of RLDS church history, chapters 27 and 28. Suffice it to say that the Spalding-Rigdon theory on the origin of the Book of Mormon suffered a death blow by this confirmed discovery. Representatives from both the LDS and RLDS were anxious to obtain copies to publish to finally refute the Spalding-Rigdon authorship theory, and this they did.
However, the aspect of this discovery that is most devastating to enemies of the Book of Mormon is the revelation that some of their predecessors had been knowingly telling lies.
The task of admitting this was left to a Joe Smith hater honest enough to acknowledge that lying had taken place. In the July 30, 1885, issue in the Boston Congregationalist was an article by the Reverend C. M. Hyde, D.D. entitled "Who wrote the Book of Mormon? Solomon Spalding not its author". That the Reverend Hyde was a Joe Smith hater is proven by the final sentence of the article: "While, on the contrary, all that is known of Joe Smith, his money-digging, his religious ranting, his schemes for getting a livelihood, corroborate the belief, in view of all the facts of the case, that he, and he alone, is the author of the Mormon bible and the founder of the Mormon church."
It therefore must have been painful to Reverend Hyde to have to admit (emphasis mine): "The story has not the slightest resemblance IN NAMES, incidents or style to anything in the Book of Mormon." The "IN NAMES" refers to a claim in Mormonism Exposed (1834) that states: "The names of Nephi and Lehi are yet fresh in my memory as being the principal heroes of his [Spalding's] tale."
Hyde must have felt some disappointment as he had to admit this (emphasis his): "It is evident from an inspection of this Manuscript, and from the above statements, that whoever wrote the Book of Mormon, Solomon Spalding did not. The testimony of the Conneaut people after the lapse of twenty years, as to their knowledge of the contents of Spalding's story, the Manuscript Found, is not to be relied upon, imperfect and contradictory as it is. The supposition that Spalding wrote another story, which he carried with him to Pittsburg, to the office of Patterson and Lambdin, to be printed; that he left it there, where it was found in 1822 by Rigdon when he worked in that office, and that Rigdon took this Manuscipt with him and published it through Joe Smith in 1830 as the Book of Mormon, is a most violent supposition, unsupported by any evidence whatever; Rigdon in fact, having never met Smith until after the publication of the Mormon bible."
Sadly, some diehard Joe Smith haters don't want to admit that some of their predecessors were liars. Some are still claiming that the Nephi and Lehi names were in another manuscript by another Spalding! This reminds me of Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.
Spalding's ms was a likely contributor to smith's imagination - as well as those other books you avoid answering about. BTW, there were two Spalding ms involved "Manuscript Story" and "Manuscript Found". In fact "Manuscript Story" was incorrectly published as "Manuscript Found". But just to keep the record straight why do people look to spalding as a reference.
- The discoverers of both books claim to have discovered the records by using a lever to remove a rock under which the records were deposited
- Both books depict the goings-on of ancient settlers to the New World
- While making their initial oceanic crossing, the settlers in both books are blown by a fierce storm which makes them fear capsizement
- The civilized segments of the societies in both books are given strict charges to avoid intermarriage with the less civilized segments
- Both books mention horses being in America
- Both books discuss the division of the people into two major civilizations
- Forts in both books are identical in their manner of consruction
- The narrators of both books suddenly and inexplicably go out of their way to explain that the earth revolves around the sun
- Both books describe a messiah-like figure who appears suddenly, teaches the people, and ushers in an era of great peace
- Both books describe the settlers as having all goods in common at one point
- Both books, respectively, show the two major civilizations entering into a war of mutual destruction
- Both books at one point describe the populace as making use of elephants, which in fact are not in existence in America
As stated, smith used many sources as was proven in previous posts by comparing one existing book to the identical descriptions and language in the bom.
Sadly, some diehard Joe Smith haters don't want to admit that some of their predecessors were liars. Some are still claiming that the Nephi and Lehi names were in another manuscript by another Spalding! This reminds me of Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.
Interesting how you hold to a 'testimony' of people excommunicated - yet reject a priori OTHERS testimony. Two edged sword there John.