Believes that the Book of Mormon came forth out of a religio-magical backdrop. The author discusses the event of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon with commentary to help the reader look at the book in the appropriate setting, consistent with the “magical” beliefs of the 19th century. This work is reviewed in W.365, W 286, and in R.418.

A response to an attack on the Church by Willers, a minister of the German Reformed Church. This article contains important insights into the role of the Urim and Thummim in the translation of the Book of Mormon. Ten locations are cited as places for translation besides the Whitmer home.

The Book of Mormon’s declarations concerning war dispense with the concepts of the war-like Jehovah of the Old Testament as well as the pacifistic Christ of the New Testament. Ear Latter-day Saints were ambivalent with respect to war until they were leaving the United States and the Mexica War developed. Although peaceful solutions were always sought, there was no opposition to the defense of liberty. A strong military stance was maintained in Utah for the sole purpose of defense.

A critic gives his appraisal of Mormonism and the Book of Mormon. While he finds several examples of good moral teachings in the Book of Mormon, he finds the book’s narration “fiat, monotonous, imitative of the King James Version of the Bible, and lacking in vitality in contrast to the Bible itself and other scriptures of Penguin Classic stature”