Con people out of chump change by using a rock in a hat to claim to find buried treasure? Get arrested and hauled into court as a disorderly person.
Con people out of scads of money (and their wives and daughters) by using a rock in a hat to claim to translate mysterious ancient plates? Be hailed by millions as the greatest man on earth second only to Jesus.
Dogs aside, a natty chapeau is man's best friend. Set at perhaps a rakish (but not too rakish) angle, a piece of fine headgear connotes authority, style, and that certain je ne sais quoi that makes men smile knowingly and women swoon and grab the table edge for support.
A felt beret? Clearly an intellectual heavyweight. A backwards ball cap? A hip-hop mogul. A freshly pressed fedora? Your basic Silicon Valley CEO.
Yes, but, he said he was BETTER THAN Jesus; that even Jesus Christ himself couldn't keep a church together [and he even had the gall, and weakness/ cheapness, to say he was restoring His church - because he couldn't do it without JC, at least in the name, including ending ALL prayers in his name]
If more Mormons knew that, there would be less Mormons.
Clearly 'his "church"' doesn't want it's members to know his actual - and fool (full) - "his story".
That's what I was trying to say, he thought himself above jesus. Yes if they taught what he said and believed about being the greatest thing ever it would kill the religion so fast but Mormons are pretty brainwashed in la la land so I don't know.
Anyone whose life goal is to make an easy living running confidence tricks is a fool not to recognize religion as the only legally protected scam. I think Joe "found jesus" right after failing at the treasure hunting game by getting hauled into court.
The Book of Mormon answers a dozen or so religious questions of Joseph's time. Infant baptism is an example. It also confirmed a popular belief that American Indians were Israelites.
Grant Palmer's book, Insiders View of Mormonism, explores this in detail.