Sunday, June 8, 2025

John Wayne Wardell (Protestant) on Joseph Smith Beingthe "Author" and "Proprietor" of the 1830 Book of Mormon

While critical of the Book of Mormon, Protestant John Wayne Wardell notes that the 1830 Book of Mormon listing Joseph Smith as its "author" and "proprietor" does not mean that, originally, Smith claimed to have been its author (read: it was fiction, etc):


Smith lists himself as the “author and proprietor” in the first edition of the Book of Mormon in 1830. Some critics have suggested that this is evidence that Smith admits he was the author, and not God. However, this was clarified in the preface of the 1830 edition where Smith specifies that he just translated the record. Mormons defend their founder here by noting that copy-right laws require a human author be designated to get any work published. So, Prophet Smith just attached his name as the author for publishing purposes. This Mormon argument is reasonable enough, for Smith always proclaimed through his entire life that God Himself was the Divine author of the Book of Mormon. (John Wayne Wardell, The Footprints of Mormonism [London: Austin Macauley Publishers, 2025], 153)

 

 Further Reading:


The 1830 Book of Mormon listing Joseph Smith as “Author and Proprietor”


John Whitmer and Joseph Smith being the "author and proprietor of the Book of Mormon"


John H. Gilbert on Joseph Smith being the "Author and Proprietor" in the 1830 Book of Mormon


Nathaniel Hinckley Wadsworth, Copyright Laws and the 1830 Book of Mormon

Miriam Smith and John W. Welch, Joseph Smith: "Author and Proprietor"

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