God the Father was a Christ, God the Son is Christ, and God the Holy Ghost will be a Christ

In the Nauvoo period, it is very possible, at least judging by the available sources, that Joseph Smith had reached a theology of the Godhead in which God the Father and all the Gods before him had gone through a mortal probation in a similar manner to Jesus Christ, redeeming a world or worlds through an atonement. According to this theology, Jesus Christ would become like God the Father, and the Holy Ghost would become like Jesus Christ and fulfill the role of Savior in at some future point. The public teaching of this theology happened most significantly in the King Follett Sermon and the Sermon in the Grove, particularly as seen in the notes of one Nauvoo saint, George Laub.

A Godhead of Like Beings

The big reveal in the King Follett Sermon is that God the Father, not only is in the form of a man but also had once lived out a mortal probation, died, and resurrected. In revealing this point, Smith specifically uses Jesus Christ as the type for this and language specifically points to Christ's mortal sacrifice and resurrection. The version of the sermon originally published in the Times and Seasons reads,

Jesus said, as the Father hat power in himself, even so hath the Son power; to do what? why what the Father did, that answer is obvious; in a manner to lay down his body and take it up again. Jesus what are you going to do? To lay down my life, as my Father did, and take it up again.

While, this version can easily be interpreted as saying that Jesus Christ literally did things he saw the father do (i.e. died for others sins, was resurrected), George Laub's notes on the discourse provide a concrete detail. He wrote, 

...Jesus Christ spoke in this manner; I do as my Father before me did. Well what did the Father do? Why he went and took a body and went to redeem a world in the flesh and had power to lay down his life and to take it up again...

http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/1844/7Apr44.html

George Laub's inclusion of the phrase "redeem a world in the flesh" leaves even less ambiguity to the matter. It also parallels with a teaching about the Holy Ghost, which Smith had stated at least half a year earlier. In August 1843, Franklin Richards recorded that JS taught,

Joseph also said that the Holy Ghost is now in a state of Probation which if he should perform in righteousness he may pass through the same or a similar course of things that the Son has.

http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/1843/27Aug43.html

This creates a theology of a consistent Godhead. God the Father was a Christ, God the Son is Christ, and the Holy Ghost will be a Christ. George Laub's notes on the Sermon in the Grove (June 1844),  possibly Smith's second most significant sermon following the King Follett sermon, outline this concept of a consistent Godhead. The relevant portion of Laub's notes read,

But the holy ghost is yet a Spiritual body and waiting to take to himself a body. as the Savior did or as god did or the gods before them took bodies for the Saviour Says the work that my father did do i also & those are the works he took himself a body & then laid down his life that he might take it up again

http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/1844/16Jun44.html

What was likely Smith's conception of the progression of the Gods is laid out clearly here, implying that each God had "laid down his life that he might take it up again."

The Historical Significance of the King Follett Sermon and the Sermon in the Grove

 In weighing the significance of Smith's comments here it's important to remember that the King Follett sermon is not just an important sermon to modern readers interested in Smith's views on the nature of man and God, it was also a huge deal for Smith at the time. It was a big reveal at the equivalent of general conference, through which he was demonstrating his prophethood in the face of criticism and controversy. As is well known, there was a high level controversy during the Nauvoo period surrounding Smith, his practices, and his teachings. Several comments from the King Follett sermon demonstrate that it was intended as a significant reveal to help steady things.

The apostle says this is eternal life, to know God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. If any man enquire what kind of a being is God, if he will search diligently his own heart, if the declaration of the apostle by true, he will realize that he has not eternal life, there can be eternal life on no other principle. My first object is, to find out the character of the only wise and true God, and if I should be the man to comprehend God, and explain or convey the principles to your hearts so that the spirit seals it upon you, let every man and woman henceforth put their hand on their mouth and never say any thing against the man of God again; but if I fail, it becomes my duty to renounce all my pretensions to revelations, inspirations, &c., and if all are pretensions to God, they will all be as bad off as I am at any rate. There is not a man but would breathe out an anathema, if they knew I was a false prophet; and some would feel authorized to take away my life.

If any man is authorized to take away my life, who says I am a false teacher: then upon the same principle am I authorized to take away the life of every false teacher, and where would be the end of blood, and who would not be the sufferer. But no man is authorized to take away life in consequence of their religion; which all laws and governments ought to tolerate, right or wrong. If I show verily, that I have the truth of God, and show that ninety-nine out of a hundred are false teachers, while they pretend to hold the keys of God, and to kill them because they are false teachers, it would deluge the whole world with blood.

...the Father of us all dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did, and I will show it from the Bible. I wish I had the trump of a arch angel, I could tell the story in such a manner that persecution would cease forever;

...no man knows my history; I cannot tell it. I shall never undertake it; if I had not experienced what I have, I should not have known it myself. I never did harm any man since I have been born in the world. My voice is always for peace, I cannot lie down until all my work is finished. I never think any evil, nor any thing to the harm of my fellow man.--- When I am called at the trump of the ark-angel, and weighed in the balance, you will all know me then. I add no more. God bless you all. Amen.

The Sermon in the Grove is a follow up and extension of the King Follett sermon, and again it is meant as a significant response to criticism and controversy. It is a public sermon at the grounds near the temple. Hear are a couple of pertinent quotes:

Now, you know that of late some malicious and corrupt men have sprung up and apostatized from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and they declare that the Prophet believes in a plurality of Gods, and, lo and behold! we have discovered a very great secret, they cry -- "The Prophet says there are many Gods, and this proves that he has fallen."  It has been my intention for a long time to take up this subject and lay it clearly before the people, and show what my faith is in relation to this interesting matter.

...I testify again, as the Lord lives, God never will acknowledge any traitors or apostates. Any man who will betray the Catholics will betray you; and if he will betray me, he will betray you. All men are liars who say they are of the true Church without the revelations of Jesus Christ and the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which is after the order of the Son of God.

It is in the order of heavenly things that God should always send a new dispensation into the world when men have apostatized from the truth and lost the priesthood, but when men come out and build upon other men's foundations, they do it on their own responsibility, without authority from God; and when the floods come and the winds blow, their foundations will be found to be sand, and their whole fabric will crumble to dust.

Did I build on any other man's foundation? I have got all the truth which the Christian world possessed, and an independent revelation in the bargain, and God will bear me off triumphant. I will drop this subject. I wish I could speak for three or four hours; but it is not expedient on account of the rain; I would still go on, and show you proof upon proofs; all the Bible is equal in support of this doctrine, one part as another.

It is in this context of reasserting his prophethood that Smith taught this exciting new doctrine. He obviously considered it a big deal. It should also be noted that the earlier comment on the Holy Ghost recorded by Franklin Richards in 1843 suggests that Smith had been developing this doctrine for some time. If he had lived longer, it is possible that this theology would have been written down or ritualized, similar to Smith's earlier pattern of doctrinal development through personal revelation and exploration followed by giving the concepts a more concrete form in public revelation or ritual.

Moroni's Impossible Inspiration for the Gifts of the Spirit

The most common apologetic explanation of anachronistic intertextuality of the Book of Mormon with the Bible is that they are artifacts of translation. In other words, due to similar wording and due to the translator's familiarity or deference to the KJV, they chose to use the KJV wording. I do agree that many of the intertextualities in the BOM could be explained as artifacts of translation. However, there are many intertextualities that I think are suggestive of 19th century or post-KJV creation, and these are anachronistic structural/narrative intertextualities, especially when these large-scale intertextualities are supported with phrasal allusions to the same text. Moroni 10, though it's in the quotation/allusion category (which intertextualties are more easily seen as a possible artifact of a translation process), can be seen as a dependent expansion of 1 Corinthians 12's gift of the spirit list.

Each item of Paul's exposition is treated in order, and many items are expanded. Moroni's gifts-of-the-spirit list appears to be a doctrinal commentary of Paul's list with some expansions and clarifications.

• Element 1: Holy Ghost's witness of Jesus Christ
  • "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." (1 Cor 12:3)
  • "And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is. And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever." (Moro 10:6-7)
  • Both elements of denial of Christ and testament of Christ are present in both texts with expansion in Moroni.
• Element 2: Diversities of gifts
  • "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." (1 Cor 12:4-7)
  • "And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them." (Moro 10:8)
  • Several phrases in Corinthians are present in Moroni, just with varied wording. In other words, same meaning, but different wording. This is antithetical to the  reasoning which justifies KJV quotation/allusion because of similar meaning of an original text. Also, it should be noted that key words, like administration/administered and manifestation, are preserved.
    • "diversities of gifts" = "they are many;"
    • "but the same Lord" = "and they come from the same God"
    • "diversities in administrations" = "different ways that these gifts are administered"
    • "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal" = "and they are given by the manifestation of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them"
  • Lastly, the phrase "but it is the same God which worketh all in all" comes following the "diversities of operations" phrase in Corinthians, and appears following the "different ways that these gifts are administered" phrase in Moroni, creating a kind of paraphrase. It's interesting to see how the BOM text jumps from expansion to paraphrase and from variation to quotation here. I'm not sure this particular feature is suggestive of anything, just worth noting.
• Element 3: Wisdom
  • "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom;" (1 Cor 12:8)
  • "For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;" (Moro 10:9)
  • simple expansions "of God" and "that he may teach"
• Element 4: Knowledge
  • "to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;" (1 Cor 12:8)
  • "And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;" (Moro 10:10)
  • expansion "he may teach"
• Element 4: Faith
  • "To another faith by the same Spirit;" (1 Cor 12:9)
  •   "And to another, exceedingly great faith;" (Moro 10:11)
  • expansion "exceedingly great"
• Element 5: Healing
  • "to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;" (1 Cor 12:9)
  • "and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;" (Moro 10:11)
• Element 6: Miracles
  • "To another the working of miracles;" (1 Cor 12:10)
  • "And again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles;" (Moro 10:12)
  • expansion "mighty"
• Element 7: Prophecy
  • "to another prophecy;" (1 Cor 12:10)
  • " And again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things;" (Moro 10:13)
  • expansion "concerning all things"
• Element 8: Discerning of spirits
  • "to another discerning of spirits;" (1 Cor 12:10)
  •  "And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;" (Moro 10:14)
  • expansion "beholding of angels" and "ministering"
• Element 9: Tongues
  • "to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:" (1 Cor 12:10)
  • "And again, to another, all kinds of tongues; And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues." (Moro 10:15-16)
  • expansion without clear purpose(?)
• Element 10: selfsame Spirit
  • But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." (1 Cor 12:11)
  • "And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will." (Moro 10:17)
  • expansion "Spirit of Christ"

The case for the above being artifact of translation is also weakened by the fact that D&C section 46 has a very similar commentary-style version of 1 Cor. 12. Following is the section that covers the above items. Notice how it covers the same core elements with it's own unique expansions and variations.

"To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful. And again, to some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know the differences of administration, as it will be pleasing unto the same Lord, according as the Lord will, suiting his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men. And again, it is given by the Holy Ghost to some to know the diversities of operations, whether they be of God, that the manifestations of the Spirit may be given to every man to profit withal. And again, verily I say unto you, to some is given, by the Spirit of God, the word of wisdom. To another is given the word of knowledge, that all may be taught to be wise and to have knowledge. And again, to some it is given to have faith to be healed; And to others it is given to have faith to heal. And again, to some is given the working of miracles; And to others it is given to prophesy; And to others the discerning of spirits. And again, it is given to some to speak with tongues; And to another is given the interpretation of tongues. And all these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God."

I'm not outlining this and other examples to destroy faith in the BOM, but instead to recognize that it is an artifact of the 19th century. By understanding Joseph Smith's revelations in this light, we realize the independence that Mormonism has to continue learning and growing in the present!

Early Modern English, Freemasonry, and the Book of Mormon

I wanted to present a possible pathway for Early Modern English to have found its way into the Book of Mormon. Freemasonry contains an oral tradition dating back to the 1600s, and in its 19th century form contained at least some examples of Early Modern English (see below) . Passing through the degrees requires significant amounts of word-for-word memorization, which would provide a mechanism for preserving archaic language. Though there is no evidence that Joseph Smith passed through the degrees prior or during dictation of the Book of Mormon, there is a large body of evidence showing that he was familiar with at least some aspects of Freemasonry.

Enochian Legend and the Book of Mormon
The most important points of contact come in the Enochian legend from the 13th, 14th, and 21st (I think) degrees of Royal Arch Freemasonry. The legend has Enoch constructing a stone vault in Mount Moriah complete with arches, a brass pillar with the creation account written on it, another pillar, spheres/globes on the pillars containing the maps of the universe that also acted as oracles, a stone lid, and most importantly a gold plate preserving the name of God, which had originally been given to Adam. The purpose of the vault was to preserve divine knowledge past the coming flood. According to the legend, in the time of King Solomon, the vault was uncovered, and on top of a pillar was was found a book, which had the entire Gospel of John written in it.

If the parallels with the Book of Mormon haven't hit you over the head yet, early accounts of Joseph retrieving the gold plates include the stone lid having "arches" and the artifacts being on "pillars" (See Bruno presentation linked below). The liahona was a sphere that gave directions. The brass plates contained the books of Moses, of which Genesis contains the creation account. Joseph Smith found the gold plates in a stone box in a hill and restored ancient knowledge. That hill's name is cuMORAH, which is readily seen as related to MORIAH. Also, according to Nick Frederick's work, Joseph Smith's revelations are highly intertextual with the Gospel of John, and it could be argued that the Gospel of John is central to the theological exposition of the text. In the Book of Moses, Enoch learns the name of God in the "language of Adam." Scholars have been exploring these connections for over half a century, and there is more than what I've listed here (one recent example: Cheryl Bruno Presentation, and there are many before her including mentions in The Refiner's Fire and the infamous address by Reed C. Durham).

While there is no official record of Joseph's membership in a lodge, his brother Hyrum was a member and his father was possibly a member. More importantly, Joseph lived in the geographic vicinity of Batavia, NY, where the anti-Freemason movement of 1830s-50s began. William Morgan, a disaffected Freemason, was kidnapped in 1826 after threatening to publish masonic secrets (his wife joined the church in 1834 and became a plural wife of Joseph Smith soon after). This was the crime of the decade, a hot topic of conversation and press, and spurred the anti-Freemason movement. It seems plausible that in an environment such as this Joseph could have been exposed to Freemasonry without becoming an official member.

Freemasonry and Archaic Language
Despite not knowing exactly how Smith became influenced by Freemasonry, the possibility that it deeply affected him demands consideration in light of the heavy overlap between the Enochian legend and many elements from Joseph Smith's life including the Book of Mormon text, the book of Moses, and his interactions with the Book of Mormon artifacts. Grammar may be another area of overlap. Granted, I'm not a linguist, but reading an 1853 exposition of Masonic ceremony published in NY (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433075953525;view=1up;seq=7 ), it quickly becomes clear that the English is archaic to the time period. Following are some examples that I could pick out.

A few examples from the Entered Apprentice (first) degree:

• "From whence came you?" p. 33
• "I did not so recieve it, neither can I so impart it." p. 36
• "What came you here to do?" p.38
• "Where was you first prepared to be made a mason?" "Where was you secondly prepared?" "How did you know this to be a door, you being hood-winked?" p. 40
• "How was you then disposed of?" p. 41
• "What was you next presented with?" p. 43
• "Finally, brethren, be ye of one mind..." p. 55

There are plenty more examples of "was you" throughout the questions of the degree ceremony. This is just a quick peek, and it's kind of late. We really need to see what the language was like in the 1820s, when I'm proposing Joseph somehow became familiar with Freemasonry. However, this is enough to establish that this is a valid line of inquiry and a potential path for Early Modern English to have made it into the Book of Mormon.

Archaic Language in Joseph's 1832 History
Finally, a small attestation that Joseph used archaic English in a non-revelatory setting can be found in the 1832 account of the first vision and coming forth of the Book of Mormon. After finishing the first vision account, Joseph switches from writing himself to dictating. At this point he begins to slip into scriptural language, including beholds, therefores, and it came to passes. The archaic grammar includes at least the following:

• "there was plates of gold upon which there was engravings which was engraven by Maroni & his fathers"
• "and found where the plates was deposited"
• "I supposed it had been a dreem of Vision"
• "therefore thou was left unto temptation that thou mightest be made accquainted with the power of the advisary"
• "thou shalt obtain them"

http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/4

A Jaredite Story Based on the Bible Instead of History

Mount Moriah, according to Jewish/Christian tradition

Recently, I discovered intertextuality in place names in the Book of Mormon. Essentially, place names can be references to Biblical parallel locations.

Ramah
For example, the hill Ramah (the Jaredite name for the the hill Cumorah, where both the Jaredite and Nephite nations ended), can be read as an allusion to the city Ramah where the Benjamites were killed and/or carried away captive at the beginning of the Babylonian exile. The pertinent Old Testament verses are Jeremiah 31:15-17:

"15 ¶Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

 16 Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

 17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border."

Rahel weeping is a reference to Rachel, the wife of Jacob, mother of Benjamin and progenitor of the Benjamites, as it's the Benjamite's whose territory the city Ramah can be found in. So, hill Ramah + city of Ramah = places of destruction of covenant peoples = biblical allusion built into a place name in the book of Mormon.

Shim and Shemer
The hill Shim is another important hill in the Book of Mormon. It's where a collection of Nephite records were buried and where Mormon retrieved the Gold Plates when he was around the age of twenty four. It also plays a role in the Jaredite narrative. It's the hill that King Omer passes by as he and his family flee a civil war in Ether 9:3:

"3 And the Lord warned Omer in a dream that he should depart out of the land; wherefore Omer departed out of the land with his family, and traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed, and from thence eastward, and came to a place which was called Ablom, by the seashore, and there he pitched his tent, and also his sons and his daughters, and all his household, save it were Jared and his family." 

This seems to be an allusion to the hill owned by Shemer, purchased by king Omri in 1 Kings 16:23-24:

" 23 ¶In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah.

 24 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria."

So far, we have: 

• Omri = Omer 
• hill with owner and city named Shemer = hill Shim

If this wasn't enough there is a whole series of allusions throughout Ether 8-9 to 1 Kings 16:

• Civil wars under both Omer's and Omri's reigns
• 1 Kings 16:21: "half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri")
• Ether 8:1-3: "1 And it came to pass that he begat Omer, and Omer reigned in his stead. And Omer begat Jared; and Jared begat sons and daughters. 2 And Jared rebelled against his father, and came and dwelt in the land of Heth. And it came to pass that he did flatter many people, because of his cunning words, until he had gained the half of the kingdom. 3 And when he had gained the half of the kingdom he gave battle unto his father, and he did carry away his father into captivity, and did make him serve in captivity;
• Secret combinations or conspiracy, which are condemned in the text.
• 1 Kings 16:9-16: "9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him... 16 And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp."
• Ether 8-26.
• Omer and Omri are on the opposite side of the conspiracy in both cases.

Cumorah and Moriah
Having put this much together, the next logical question is, what about Cumorah? That's the other prominent Book of Mormon hill name. Does it have some allusional meaning? Probably. 

If the hill Shim is a reference to the hill of Samaria and the city of Shemer, which is the city of Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, I propose Cumorah, the other prominent hill name, could be an allusion to Jerusalem, the capital of the southern kingdom. Traditionally, Solomon's temple was built on mount Moriah, where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac. Others before me actually have already proposed this connection. The MORAH from Cumorah, being an allusion to MORIAH. This would be little to go on by itself, but it actually fits in with a large body of evidence that connects the Book of Mormon to a masonic legend about Enoch that Joseph Smith was likely familiar with, which includes a gold plate and some indecipherable hieroglyphics among other things. Scholars have been exploring these connections for over half a century (one recent example: Bruno Presentation, and there are many before her including mentions in The Refiner's Fire and the infamous address by Reed C. Durham). In the legend, Enoch places his gold plate in a stone vault in mount Moriah. 

Olishem and Ulisum

Alright, so now we've pretty safely established the intertextuality of at least a few place names (and one character name) in the Book of Mormon, but it gets better! There is another hill in the book of Abraham, the one where he was suppose to be sacrificed. It's called Potiphar's hill and it's at the head of the plain of Olishem. Did you catch that? Yes, we've got another Shem, this time Joseph's Egyptian version. Only this one isn't an allusion as far as I can tell. Instead, their is a chance that it represent an authentic location, Ulisum, in the correct time and place in which a figure like Abraham would have lived. Here is one example typifying the apologetic argument from Kerry Muhlestein, "Egyptian Papyri and the Book of Abraham: Some Questions and Answers," in Religious Educator 11, no. 1 (2010): 91–108:

"While critics pounce on what they see as anachronisms, what they ignore are textual elements that support an authentic Abrahamic context. Space permits only one example: Abraham mentions that the altar on which he was nearly sacrificed was located in a valley called Olishem. During Joseph Smith’s day, this name was completely unknown. However, since then an Egyptian text roughly contemporary with Abraham, which outlines geographic areas in the Levant, names an Olishem.[31] Further, this Olishem is in the same area as a likely candidate for the city Ur.[32]The odds that Joseph would make up a random name that happened to match a real ancient place in the correct time and region are extremely slight."

Critics argue superficial similarity and the chance that it's just the result of coincidence. If this was the only interesting parallel that Joseph hit on that, according to modern scholarship, wasn't available in the 19th century, we might overlook it. However, there are other features of the Book of Abraham like the narrative aspects of being an intended sacrifice and teaching astrology in Egypt that align with pseudepigrapha, and some of these aspects wouldn't have been known in Joseph Smith's time (just do a search Abraham apologetics and you'll find references to what I'm talking about). While, this doesn't convince me of historicity--we are talking pseudepigrapha here and there is the fact that Abraham is very possibly not a historical person to begin with--it certainly gives me pause.

When push comes to shove, I believe in revelation. I've experienced it in my life in many ways that have brought me closer to God. Beyond my own experience, we can read about the revelatory experiences of millions of people across cultures and throughout history, whose experiences may have not revealed historical truth, but certainly brought them closer to God (I know there are counter examples as well). So, if Joseph was somehow tapping into some spiritual knowledge through a creative process, likely unbeknownst to him, I don't want to pass up the potentially authentic experience with God that his revelations preserve just because I can dissect them for their 19th century context. Their underlying messages, the ability of man to commune with God and become like him, far outweigh any concerns I have over historicity, as I have experienced revelation and divinization through Joseph's teachings and revelations. At the very least, his revelations are worthy of study. They have inspired a significant religious movement that, in many ways though not all, is a productive and person-building tradition. They are also tightly organized with surprising features, as evidenced above, which show a little of the genius behind the creation. More on that in the future.