The theory that Sydney Rigdon wrote a lot of the Book of Mormon really intrigues me. I know he left the church after he found out about Joseph Smith's polygamy. He was in the first presidency, but couldn't stay in when he found out about Joseph's evil deeds.

Does anyone have any information on what he did after that? Did he still profess a believe in the Book of Mormon? Was he still a preacher?

There was a book that came out about 15 years ago entitled S
"Sidney Rigdon: A Portrat of Religious Excess". I am at work and not at home to give you the author, but I think it may have been published by Univeristy of Illinois Press.
It is quite involved describing Rigdon's life as a Campbellite minister and his life and ultimate insanity later in life.

Written by Richard S Van Waggoner. I just ordered it from Amazon. Thanks

Thanks! That book looks very interesting and is what I was looking for.

He did try to raise a separate branch of Mormonism, which he would have presided over. It didn't last long. He tried again later in life as well. He never rejected the Book of Mormon that I read about.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2011 01:35PM by george.

If, as the Spaulding-Rigdon theory goes, his original plan was for Joseph Smith to "translate" the book, and to take the role of Prophet for himself (how did it all go so wrong!?) then it is reasonable to suppose that he would always believe the BoM to be "true" and would always hold out the hope that he could return to Mormonism to lead it.

I do understand that he made a failed attempt to sieze control after JS's death. Eventually he found his own church with a reasonable, if short-lived success. He probably died feeling rather unfulfilled, having never lived up to his delusional expectations.

JS, on the other hand, probably never expected to be the founding Prophet of a global church when he was 14 (and most certainly wasn't receiving nightly visits from angels!)