WHO REALLY WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON? (The Spalding Enigma) Did an “angel of God” in the late 1820s really give 18-year-old con artist Joseph Smith Mormon bible, as he claimed? Or was the book really derived from Solomon Spalding’s romantic fantasy novel called Manuscript Found? Did Baptist/Campbellite preacher Sidney Rigdon steal the recently deceased Spalding’s book from the Pennsylvania print shop? Did Rigdon hook up with Oliver Cowdrey and Joseph Smith Jr. and after their 3-year rewrite publish the book in 1830? Co-authors Arthur Vanick and Wayne Cowdrey discuss their 558-page book (Concordia Publishers, 2005; video thanks to Doug Spaulding) 15 min.