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Daniel Arlon Vogel (born 1955) [1] is an independent researcher, writer, and author on a number of works that include Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet and is most known for his work on early Mormon documents.
Vogel was awarded the Best Book award in September 2004 by the John Whitmer Historical Association and the Turner-Bergera Best Biography award by the Mormon History Association in May 2005 for his biography Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet . [2] [3]
Vogel argues in the biography that Joseph Smith was a pious fraud—that Smith essentially invented his religious claims for what he believed were noble, faith-promoting purposes. Vogel identifies the roots of the pious fraud in the conflict between members of the Smith family, who were divided between the skepticism and universalism of Joseph Smith, Sr., and the more mainstream Protestant faith of Lucy Mack Smith. Vogel interweaves the history of Joseph Smith with interpretation of the Book of Mormon, which is read as springing from the young man's psychology and experiences.
In the LDS historical community, Vogel's work has received significant recognition. In 1997, Vogel received the "Best Documentary Editing/Bibliography Award" from the Mormon History Association for Volume 1 of Early Mormon Documents. [4] Vogel's 2004 biography of Joseph Smith received the highest award for such works from both the John Whitmer Historical Association and the Mormon History Association. LDS history journals have reviewed most of Vogel's publications. A typical summary: "Despite its idiosyncrasies, Early Mormon Documents remains the most useful collection of documents on the early movement available to researchers. Its unconventionality may actually magnify its importance, not diminish it." [5]
Vogel's scholarship on the topic has been debated by Mormon apologists and scholars who have stated that he is critical of Mormon faith claims. [6] [7] [8] He has also been criticized by ex-Mormons [ who? ] and anti-Mormons [ who? ] for not being sufficiently critical of Joseph Smith. Larry Morris praised his efforts to produce the multi-volume Early Mormon Documents. [9]
Many of Vogel's books have been critically reviewed by members of FARMS, a Mormon apologetics institute. [10] For example, in 1991, Mormon religion professor and FARMS scholar Stephen E. Robinson suggested that Vogel's naturalistic arguments closely resemble those of Korihor, an atheist polemicist in the Book of Mormon. [11]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Dan Vogel has made a significant and lasting contribution to Mormon studies, and he deserves to be thanked for his bibliographic work. I sincerely appreciate his prodigious research.
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Martin Harris was an early convert to the Latter Day Saint movement who financially guaranteed the first printing of the Book of Mormon and also served as one of Three Witnesses who testified that they had seen the golden plates from which Joseph Smith said the Book of Mormon had been translated.
Dennis Michael Quinn was an American historian who focused on the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1976 until he resigned in 1988. At the time, his work concerned church involvement with plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto, when new polygamous marriages were officially prohibited. He was excommunicated from the church as one of the September Six and afterwards was openly gay. Quinn nevertheless identified as a Latter-day Saint and continued to believe in many LDS teachings, though he did not actively practice the faith.
The Three Witnesses is the collective name for three men connected with the early Latter Day Saint movement who stated that an angel had shown them the golden plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon; they also stated that they had heard God's voice, informing them that the book had been translated by divine power. The Three are part of twelve Book of Mormon witnesses, who also include Smith and the Eight Witnesses.
Signature Books is an American press specializing in subjects related to Utah, Mormonism, and Western Americana. The company was founded in 1980 by George D. Smith and Scott Kenney and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is majority owned by the Smith-Pettit Foundation.
There are many works relating to Joseph Smith. These works cover Joseph Smith's his life, legacy, and teachings. Smith is the author of several works of scripture, and several personal histories, letters, and other writings. There have also been several biographies written about him.
Joseph Knight Sr. was a close associate of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Knight provided significant material support to Smith's translation and publication of the Book of Mormon.
Mormonism Unvailed [sic] is a book published in 1834 by Eber D. Howe. The title page proclaims the book to be a contemporary exposé of Mormonism, and makes the claim that the historical portion of the Book of Mormon text was based upon a manuscript written by Solomon Spalding.
Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet is a biography written by Dan Vogel that depicts the formative years of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. The book covers the period of Smith's life up until 1831. Vogel casts Smith in the role of a magician, who perhaps believes in his own ability to perform magic while using fraud to support his position: a charlatan that came to believe that he was called of God. The author assumes Smith to be the author of the Book of Mormon and takes the position that the book may be used as a "primary source document" that represents a reflection of Smith's own life. Events portrayed in the Book of Mormon are compared to specific events in Smith's life to illustrate similarities and to deduce Smith's thoughts and aspirations during these periods. Making of a Prophet won the Smith–Pettit Best Book Award from the John Whitmer Historical Association and the Best Biography Award from the Mormon History Association.
History of Joseph Smith by His Mother is a biography of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, according to his mother, Lucy Mack Smith. It was originally titled Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations and was published by Orson Pratt in Liverpool in 1853.
Adherents to the Latter Day Saint movement view the Book of Mormon as a work of divinely inspired scripture, which was written by ancient prophets in the ancient Americas. Adherents mostly believe Joseph Smith's account of translating ancient golden plates inscribed by prophets. Smith preached that the angel Moroni, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, directed him in the 1820s to a hill near his home in Palmyra, New York, where the plates were buried. An often repeated and upheld as convincing claim by adherents that the story is true is that besides Smith himself, there were at least 11 witnesses who said they saw the plates in 1829, three that claimed to also have been visited by an angel, and other witnesses who observed Smith dictating parts of the text that eventually became the Book of Mormon.
Todd Merlin Compton is an American historian in the fields of Mormon history and classics. Compton is a respected authority on the plural wives of the LDS Church founder, Joseph Smith.
Marvin Sidney Hill (1928–2016) was a professor of American history at Brigham Young University (BYU) and a historian of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Sterling Moss McMurrin was a liberal Mormon theologian and Philosophy professor at the University of Utah. He served as United States Commissioner of Education in the administration of President John F. Kennedy.
Richard S. Van Wagoner was an American historian, audiologist, and author who published works on the history of Utah and the history of the Latter Day Saint movement.
The John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA) is an independent, nonprofit organization promoting study, research, and publishing about the history and culture of the Latter Day Saint movement. It is especially focused on the Community of Christ, other midwestern Restoration traditions, and early Mormonism. The Community of Christ's approach to its own history was influenced, in part, by historical problems raised and explored through JWHA publications and conferences, and those of its sister organization, the Mormon History Association. JWHA membership numbers around 400 and is open to all, fostering cooperation with LDS and non-Mormon scholars.
This is a bibliography of works on the Latter Day Saint movement.
Stan Larson is an American author, researcher, and librarian.
Brent Lee Metcalfe is an independent researcher and writer of the Latter Day Saint Movement.
The legacy of Joseph Smith includes the immediate aftermath of Smith's killing, among various competing denominations, the status of his family and the church he founded, and a scholarly assessment of his life and religion. Although Smith was killed in 1844, he attracted thousands of devoted followers before his death, and millions in the century that followed. Among Mormons, he is generally regarded as a prophet on par with Moses and Elijah. In a 2015 compilation of the 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time, Smithsonian magazine ranked Smith first in the category of religious figures.
