WHEN people began to read the Book of Mormon they were convinced that Joseph Smith could not possibly have written it. Eager to discount his story of its miraculous and divine translation, his bitter opponents attempted to show that Ethan Smith's book, Views of the Hebrews, and other publications were the basis of this strange book. Finally a theory was evolved which has been accepted by many people as the true explanation of the origin of the Book of Mormon. Briefly, it was this:

"Solomon Spaulding, a minister of the Congregational Church, had written a novel about ancient Indian life in America. He sent the completed manuscript to a firm in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for publication, Sidney Rigdon must have stolen the document and encouraged Joseph Smith to use it as the basic text of the Book of Mormon."

This puerile argument has been answered many times. We shall be content to show how the theological pattern of the Book of Mormon is completely at variance with the teachings of the Congregational Church. First, however, let us review the story which Rev. Spaulding named The Manuscript Found, which manuscript was found years after this theory had been advanced.