[Kenny Bunk]

I thank you for this astounding post. To sum it all up:

The historical record witnesses that Joseph Smith had some intercourse with at least three important manifestations of the alternative and non-orthodox religious traditions that blossomed in the Renaissance and post-Renaissance period, traditions sometimes labeled as
"the occult": i.e., ceremonial magic,
Masonry, and
Kabbalah.

I have read a lot about Mormonism for years, but nothing 'makes the case' like this link. In many ways it causes the thoughtful reader to not only to better understand the cult, but to understand it, and to even respect it!

[NorthernCrunchyCon]

Thanks Kenny. I’m a devout Christian, but even I have to admit that Christian apologetics when it comes to Mormonism can sometimes be embedded with sensationalism and polemic, and thus some discernment is necessary.

Thus the reason I feel this article makes such a strong case is that it was not written primarily for a Christian audience within a polemical apologetics context.

Rather, it was written by a scholar educated in Mormonism, for a Mormon academic/scholarly publication, where it was well-received, widely quoted favorably by Mormon scholars and academics, received an award for Mormon scholarship, and was then picked up for republication by arespected journal of gnostic/occultic religious movements in the English language. The extensive documentation and footnotes help too.

So fair to say, Joseph Smith Jr’s inspiration for Mormonism was likely found more in the occult than in Christianity.