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TitleJoseph the Prophet
Publication TypeMagazine Article
Year of Publication1920
AuthorsHart, Charles H.
MagazineImprovement Era
Volume23
Issue Number6
Pagination491–495
Date PublishedApril 1920
KeywordsApologetics; Book of Mormon Authorship; External Evidence; First Vision; Jr.; Latter-day Saint History (1820-1846); Smith, Joseph
Abstract

This article argues that it is more difficult to think Joseph Smith could invent the Book of Mormon, given his youth, limited experience, and opportunities, than to believe he was inspired. Joseph would have needed extensive research to have learned, for example, that Native Americans used stone boxes for the burial of valuables, a fact virtually unknown in his day. Not until 1906 were such boxes discovered in the areas of Toronto, Tennessee, Illinois, and New Mexico.