Robert Hullinger – Joseph Smith�s Response to Skepticism
Robert Hullinger – Joseph Smith�s Response to Skepticism
Joseph Smith�s Response to Skepticism (called Mormon Answer to Skepticism: Why Joseph Smith Wrote the Book of Mormon when published by a different company) is a less than great book. The author doesn’t seem to have a very clear focus. I couldn�t figure out whether he is trying to show why Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon, or if he is trying to prove that View of the Hebrews is the source (in which case he does a very poor job as he misses dozens of parallels), or if he is trying to reveal the truth on the Anthon affair. In any case, he touches on several important points, but does so on such a shallow level that you really aren’t convinced of anything.
The skepticism Hullinger is talking about is a result of the enlightenment era and the mounting threat secularization of society was having on traditional religions. Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason being but one example of the thoughts being expressed at the time that Joseph Smith may have been responding to.
Dan Vogel’s article on why Joseph Smith may have done what he did expounds on some of the items Hullinger raises.