Joseph Smith dictated the words of the entire Book of Mormon, as we know it today, in about 3 months. This of course does not take into account the time to produce the 116 pages that were lost or the near decade of time Joseph was either producing this narrative in his mind, or receiving instruction from the angel Moroni, whichever story resonates more with you. There are disparate opinions among Latter-day Saints about the divinity of the Book of Mormon. Some view it entirely an ancient work, translated miraculously through the gift and power of God. Some believing Mormons view it as modern expansion of an ancient source, meaning Joseph Smith added some of his own ideas and copied KJV passages of scripture into the text. Some critics view it as a 19th century work crafted carefully by Joseph Smith over a long period of time and put to paper in a short period of time. Hugh Nibley famously challenged his BYU students to come up with a similar work as the Book of Mormon, with all its complexities, in a semesters time (more time than he said Joseph Smith had to produce the Book of Mormon).

What about the examples in history of others who were also gifted, prolific dictators of text? Does it automatically prove their works are inspired, or divine?

What similarities are there between Joseph Smith and Pearl Curran-aka Patience Worth?

Pearl Curran was a housewife, who on July 8, 1913 in St. Louis Missouri, through the use of a ouija board, introduced Patience Worth to the world. Patience was a spirit, who had been dead for over 250 years. Here is the first communication received from Patience.

Irving Litvag said:

I need to make it clear that I am in no way trying to prove or disprove the authenticity of the work produced either by Joseph Smith or Pearl Curran. I am simply pointing out some interesting parallels between two gifted orators, who lived almost a century apart.

Very limited formal education

Pearl Curran:

Joseph Smith:

Difficulty composing text on their own, when not dictating their works

Pearl Curran:

Joseph Smith:

Both were able to coherently dictate large volumes of text in a short period of time

Pearl Curran:

Joseph Smith:

Both were able to pick up dictation right where they left off, dictate without written material in front of them, and both had many different scribes

Pearl Curran:

Joseph Smith:

Joseph Smith had many different scribes to transcribe his dictation. Some of the scribes were Martin Harris (for the 116 pages), Emma Smith and perhaps her brother Reuben Hale. Oliver Cowdery was the main scribe for the book as we know it today. Another individual who may have served as a scribe for a short stint is John Whitmer (it’s been suggested it is his handwriting attributed to an “unknown scribe.”)

Both were unfamiliar with the historical period they were writing about, but claimed to receive details through “divine” means.

Pearl Curran:

Joseph Smith:

Both outgrew the need for physical objects

Joseph Smith:

Pearl Curran:

Both sincerely believed in the authenticity of their work

Pearl Curran:

Joseph Smith:

Conclusion

So were the literary creations of Joseph Smith and Pearl Curran the products of imaginative, creative minds, divine inspiration, or perhaps a little of both? This blog post does not attempt to critique the methods or results of what Joseph and Pearl dictated, but their claims were taken at face value. There are a number of differences between Joseph Smith and Pearl Curran, but based on the number of similarities, can someone accept one of them as inspired and reject the other as uninspired? If the quality and speed at which Joseph Smith dictated the words of the Book of Mormon are indicators of divine inspiration and assistance, can the same be said about the religious works of Patience Worth?