Blixa wrote:Why don't you tell us a bit about your specific interests in Mormon history? Easier to help you if we know the what, where and why a bit...
I'm an odd bird. I'm neither Mormon nor ex-mormon, just a huge fan of history. I'm interested the opportunity Mormonism gives us to learn about the formation of a new religion, preserved in the fossil record of history.
How does a New York farm boy wind up becoming a prophet? What were his inspirations, motivations, and evolution from 1820-1830?
We'll never know these things about Moses or Buddha or Jesus or Muhammad. But with Smith, the tools of big data offer the tantalizing possibility that we will be able to get real, definitive answers to these questions.
The Johnson and Criddle studies don't have all the answers yet, but their methodology may yet turn up a "rosetta stone" that explains a lot of unanswered questions. Grant Palmer's suggestion of The Golden Pot is a good example of what inspiration might look like, although I remain unconvinced that it was an actual inspiration. I'm quite convinced by Dan Vogel's general sketch of what Joseph Smith's evolution and motivations-- that his initial teenaged goal was familial unity, rather than a premeditated "long con", but there are lots of details that need to be fleshed out.
So, that's my story. I have no emotional stake, but lots of curiosity. Almost two centuries later, 14 million people are still looking to Joseph Smith as a prophet-- how did that happen!?