Who was rev Solomon Spalding born 1771 died in 1809 and how is he related to the book of Mormon?

Answer 1

Solomon Spalding wrote a document now called the "Spalding Manuscript". Critics claim that Joseph Smith did not actually translate ancient plates into the Book of Mormon, but rather wrote the Book of Mormon himself and based it on the Spalding Manuscript.

This claim is largely denied by scholars, both Mormon and non-Mormon, because of the testimonies of several people who saw or handled the ancient plates, and because modern writing evaluation technology has concluded that the Book of Mormon could not have been written by a single man (especially one with next to no literary edcuation, as Joseph Smith had).