Restorationist rival, first serious critic
Alexander Campbell
1788–1866
1 topic · 1 dated event · 1 source
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The Book of Mormon: Origins, Translation, and Witnesses
Restorationist rival, first serious critic
Leader of the movement Sidney Rigdon left for Mormonism. His 1831 essay, reprinted as the pamphlet Delusions in 1832, was the first sustained textual analysis of the Book of Mormon, arguing from the inside of the book rather than from gossip about its author. He charged that it answered 'every error and almost every truth discussed in New York for the last ten years' — the founding statement of the environmental-authorship case.
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Alexander Campbell publishes the first analysis
Campbell's essay in the Millennial Harbinger, reissued in Boston in 1832 as Delusions, examined the book's internal evidence rather than its author's reputation. He charged that it addressed 'every error and almost every truth discussed in New York for the last ten years,' and objected that Nephites kept temples and priesthood outside the Levitical order.
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Delusions: An Analysis of the Book of Mormon
Alexander Campbell
The first sustained textual critique — arguing the book answers the religious controversies of Joseph Smith's own decade rather than those of 600 BC.
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