Sidney Rigdon’s introduction to the Book of Mormon and his public conversion to Mormonism long after the book’s publication pose obvious challenges for proponents of the Spalding-Rigdon theory. In October 1830, Oliver Cowdery accompanied Parley P. Pratt, Ziba Peterson, and Peter Whitmer on a mission to Missouri, intending to preach to the Lamanites (Doctrine and Covenants 28:14; 32). While passing through northern Ohio, these missionaries stopped in Mentor, where they introduced Sidney Rigdon to the Book of Mormon. Rigdon, although initially resistant, eventually accepted the Book of Mormon and was baptized. Those who witnessed the reformist preacher’s first encounter with early missionaries indicate that Rigdon at first had some difficulty accepting the book. In his own recollection of these events, Rigdon himself said he initially “felt very much prejudiced at the assertion” that the Book of Mormon was a revelation from God. Pratt said that Rigdon “was much surprised, and it was with much persuasion and argument, that he was prevailed on to read it, and after he had read it, he had a great struggle of mind, before he fully believed and embraced it.” Rigdon’s daughter Nancy Rigdon Ellis was eight years old at the time of these events. In an interview with E. L. and W. H. Kelley in 1884, she said she remembered the event “because of the contest which soon arose between her father and Pratt and Cowdery, over the Book of Mormon.” She stated: “I saw them hand him the book, and I am as positive as can be that he never saw it before. He read it and examined it for about an hour and then threw it down, and said he did not believe a word in it.” Rigdon must have known that acceptance of the Book of Mormon would mean losing both the home recently built by his Mentor congregation and the support of many who had been his followers, friends, and religious associates for years. The life adjustment necessitated by his conversion seems to have been a difficult trial for the proud man.

Rigdon’s initial response to the book as remembered by friends and family is consistent with his claim that he was not responsible for its origin or involved in its coming forth. That conclusion is further strengthened by evidence that some of Rigdon’s previous practices and beliefs as a reformist preacher conflicted with those he encountered in the Book of Mormon. Reuben Harmon, a resident of Kirtland at this time, recalled hearing Rigdon preach a sermon following his acceptance of the Book of Mormon. “He said he had been preaching wrong doctrine, and asked their forgiveness. He said he should address them no more in public. He wept freely through his sermon.” Harmon also stated: “I heard Sidney Rigdon [give] the last speech that he made while he officiated as a Disciple preacher. He said he had been mistaken all his life-time, and he quit preaching and went into Mr. Morley’s field and went to plowing. . . . He did not go to preaching right away after he left the Disciple church. I heard him make the remark that he never expected to speak in public again.” Following his own baptism and ordination, he would in fact preach again, but Harmon’s recollection suggests that the transition from Disciple to Latter-day Saint was not an easy one and that there were significant elements of the Book of Mormon that conflicted with Rigdon’s previous religious practices and beliefs. One significant area likely had to do with the issue of divine authority.

Sidney Rigdon, like Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott, had baptized followers but did not claim divine authority for this practice beyond biblical precedent. This apparent rejection of the need for a divine restoration of authority to perform ordinances such as baptism was troubling to those who were initially sympathetic to Campbellite teachings but who later believed the Book of Mormon and joined the Saints. Eliza R. Snow described her earlier associations with the Campbellites: “During my brief attachment to that church I was deeply interested in the study of the ancient Prophets, in which I was assisted by the erudite A. Campbell, Walter Scott whose acquaintance I made, but more particularly (by) Sidney Rigdon who was a frequent visitor at my father’s house.” Like many other Christians who were seeking a restoration, Snow had sought to understand the biblical prophecies concerning the latter days and the millennium and looked for a return to original Christian teachings among these Campbellite teachers, but she found that something was still lacking: “Some told me one thing and some another; but there was no Peter, ‘endowed from on high.’ I heard Alexander Campbell advocate the literal meaning of the Scriptures—listened to him with deep interest—hoped his new life led to a fulness—was baptized, and soon learned that, as well they might, he and his followers disclaimed all authority, and my baptism was of no consequence.” This absence of divine authority was apparent to others as well. John Murdock had been attracted to the teachings of Campbell and Rigdon, but he said that he eventually became disillusioned by Campbell’s rejection of modern spiritual gifts. Murdock asked, “Where is the man to commence the work of baptizing? or where shall he get his authority? Can he go to those who are out of the way and obtain authority? . . . The only way the authority can be obtained is, the Lord must either send an angel to baptize the first man, or he must give a special command to someone to baptize another.” Parley P. Pratt wrote of his religious searching prior to encountering Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon:

About this time one Mr. Sidney Rigdon

came into the neighborhood as a preacher,

and it was rumored that he was a kind of

Reformed Baptist, who, with Mr. Alexander Campbell,

of Virginia, a Mr. Scott, and

some other gifted men, had dissented from

the regular Baptists, from whom they differed much in doctrine. At length I went

to hear him, and what was my astonishment when I found he preached faith in

Jesus Christ, repentance towards God, and

baptism for remission of sins, with the

promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost to all

who would come forward, with all their

hearts, and obey this doctrine! Here was

the ancient gospel in due form. Here were

the very principles which I had discovered

years before; but could find no one to minister in.

But still one great link was wanting to complete the chain of the ancient

order of things; and that was, the authority

to minister in holy things—the apostleship, the power which should accompany

the form. This thought occurred to me as

soon as I heard Mr. Rigdon make proclamation of the gospel.

Peter proclaimed this gospel, and baptized

for remission of sins, and promised the gift

of the Holy Ghost, because he was commissioned so to do by a crucified and risen

Saviour. But who is Mr. Rigdon? Who is

Mr. Campbell? Who commissioned them?

Who baptized them for remission of sins?

Who ordained them to stand up as Peter?

Of course they were baptized by the Baptists, and ordained by them, and yet they

had now left them because they did not

administer the true gospel. And it was

plain that the Baptists could not claim the

apostolic office by succession, in a regular,

unbroken chain from the Apostles of old,

preserving the gospel in its purity, and

the ordinances unchanged, from the very

fact that they were now living in the perversion of some, and the entire neglect of

others of these ordinances; this being the

very ground of difference between the old

Baptists and these Reformers. Again, these

Reformers claimed no new commission

by revelation, or vision from the Lord,

while they had not the least shadow of

claim by succession. It might be said, then,

with propriety: “Peter I know, and Paul I

know, but who are ye?” However, we were

thankful for even the forms of truth, as

none could claim the power, and authority,

and gifts of the Holy Ghost—at least so far

as we knew.

These comments highlight an important distinction between the pre-Mormon beliefs of Sidney Rigdon and those found in the Book of Mormon. Rigdon and other Reformers believed that the Bible provided sufficient warrant to baptize, while the Book of Mormon teaches that baptism and other sacred ordinances in the church can only be done by divine authority bestowed by God or his duly authorized representatives. This is illustrated by the account of King Limhi’s people, who believed in the words of Alma but lacked an authorized representative who could baptize them: “And it came to pass that king Limhi and many of his people were desirous to be baptized; but there was none in the land that had authority from God. And Ammon declined from doing this thing, considering himself an unworthy servant” (Mosiah 21:33). Limhi’s people could not be baptized without authority from God, yet such a lack of divine authority would not have stopped Reformers like Campbell, Scott, or Rigdon from administering baptism. The twelve Nephite disciples received authority to baptize directly from the resurrected Jesus and not from earlier scripture or the community of believers (3 Nephi 11:21–26; 12:1). The specific granting of divine authority to mortals is a recurrent element in the resurrected Lord’s ministry at the Book of Mormon’s climax (3 Nephi 18:5, 36–37; 20:4; 4 Nephi 1:5). If Rigdon were the author of the Book of Mormon and he hoped to form a new church, why would he contradict what the Book of Mormon teaches about baptizing without divine authority? Rigdon denied any connection with the origin of the Book of Mormon. Several residents near New Portage, Medina County, Ohio, remembered a discourse by Rigdon that appears to have been given at the high point of the antiMormon excitement associated with Philastus Hurlbut’s 1834 activities. Phineas, Hiel, and Mary D. Bronson recalled:

In the spring of 1833 or 1834, at the house of

Samuel Baker, near New Portage, Medina

county, Ohio, we, whose signatures are

affixed, did hear Elder Sidney Rigdon, in

the presence of a large congregation, say he

had been informed that some in the neighborhood had accused him of being the

instigator of the Book of Mormon. Standing in the door-way, there being many

standing in the door-yard, he, holding up

the Book of Mormon, said, “I testify in the

presence of this congregation, and before

God and all the Holy Angels up yonder,

(pointing towards heaven), before whom I

expect to give account at the judgment day,

that I never saw a sentence of the Book of

Mormon, I never penned a sentence of the

Book of Mormon, I never knew that there

was such a book in existence as the Book

of Mormon, until it was presented to me by

Parley P. Pratt, in the form that it now is.”

Rigdon condemned E. D. Howe’s book, the first to propose the Spalding theory, as a “book of falsehoods.” Just before leaving Kirtland for Missouri, Rigdon testified that he had nothing to do with the origin of the Book of Mormon. Reuben Harmon recalled that “Sidney Rigdon at the time he made his last speech here, said that he knew nothing about the Book of Mormon until it was presented to him by Oliver Cowdery and Parley Pratt. I never heard of the Spaulding story until it was sprung on me.” In 1839 Rigdon stated that he had never heard of Spalding or his manuscript until the theory had been advanced by Philastus Hurlbut some five years earlier. In a letter to the Quincy Whig in response to a recent article asserting his connection with Spalding, Rigdon dismissed the claim as a “moonshine story” and said that he was “entirely indebted to this production” for the “knowledge of [Spalding’s] earthly existence, . . . for surely until Doctor Philastus Hulburt [sic] informed me that such a being lived, at some former period, I had not the most distant knowledge of his existence.” Between 1831 and 1844, Rigdon was a prominent leader in the church, but he became alienated from Joseph Smith after the troubles in Missouri. Following Joseph Smith’s death in 1844, Rigdon unsuccessfully sought appointment as the Prophet’s successor, refused to follow the apostolic leadership, and for a time led a small group of dissenters. After his excommunication, Rigdon expressed bitterness toward Joseph Smith, claiming he was a fallen prophet and denouncing the practice of plural marriage and the leadership of the Twelve. He continued until his death in 1876, however, to maintain that he had nothing to do with the origin of the Book of Mormon. According to the Spalding-Rigdon theory, Sidney Rigdon spent years of time, deception, and effort forging a lengthy work of fiction in the hopes of using that book as a tool to found a religious scheme. If so, then it is strange that he rarely used it. Rigdon’s published writings between 1830 and 1846 reveal a writer preoccupied with the need for continuing revelation, miracles, gifts, and prophecies of the latter days, the restoration, and the millennium, but not, interestingly enough, with the Book of Mormon. Rigdon traveled with Joseph Smith in late December 1831 and January 1832 on a brief mission in which he publicly spoke on the subject of the Book of Mormon and defended it. He clearly believed the book to be true and was willing to defend it, but he rarely if ever quoted from it or used the text to defend and support his arguments. When he mentioned the Book of Mormon at all, it was in a general context of decrying critics or denying having had anything to do with its origin. This is particularly noteworthy in contrast to the writings of W. W. Phelps, for example, who seems to have been infatuated with the Book of Mormon, speaking of it and citing it frequently. Rigdon’s relative neglect of the Book of Mormon would be surprising had he been responsible for its production. Following the death of his daughter Eliza in 1846, Rigdon seems to have become increasingly unstable and erratic in his behavior, leading to increased alienation from former friends and supporters. His interest in religious things, however, appears not to have been dampened. A collection of purported revelations written between 1863 and 1876 provides a window into some of Rigdon’s beliefs and teachings during the last thirteen years of his life. These writings show a man who still believed in the Book of Mormon and had an affinity for certain restorationist and millennialist ideas, yet they also reveal a man who, sadly, had an inflated view of his own importance and who believed that nearly everyone else but him had gone astray. Sometimes the Book of Mormon is mentioned or alluded to, but it is rarely quoted or used to defend Rigdon’s teachings. These writings seem strangely disconnected from the content and style of the Book of Mormon. Instead, they contain material that is extraneous to the Book of Mormon story. One purported revelation, for example, claims that the Esquimauxs (Eskimos) are descendants of Joseph the son of Lehi, something about which the Book of Mormon is silent. Also, instead of quoting Book of Mormon prophecies, other Rigdon revelations turn them on their head. The Book of Mormon contains prophecies of the biblical Joseph and, like the Bible, speaks highly of the patriarch; but according to another purported Rigdon revelation, the biblical Joseph was in reality a wicked man who sought power and worldly fame and became lifted up in pride because of the prophecies about his latter-day namesake. The biblical Joseph’s prophecy in the Book of Mormon concerning the “spokesman” for the seer is anachronistically applied to Rigdon rather than to Oliver Cowdery. Rigdon’s descriptions of the sealed portion of the plates likewise contradict the scriptural text. Rigdon’s later religious writings reflect teachings that require contradictory changes, additions, or revisions to the Book of Mormon to make it fit his later self-serving, iconoclastic, and confused ideology. This dynamic seems inconsistent with the claim that Rigdon was the author of the Book of Mormon.