Dan Vogel

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Dan Vogel is the author of a number of books related to early Mormon history. He is a former member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an atheist and a skeptic.

Vogel was awarded the "Best Book" award in September 2004 by the John Whitmer Historical Association and the "Turner-Bergera Best Biography" award by the Mormon History Association in May 2005 for his biography Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet.

In this Smith biography, Vogel argues that Joseph Smith was a pious fraud--that he essentially invented his religious claims for what he believed were noble, faith-promoting purposes. Vogel identifies the roots of the pious fraud in the conflict between members of the Smith family, who were divided between the sometimes skepticism and universalism of Joseph Smith, Sr. and the more mainstream Protestant faith of Lucy Mack Smith. Vogel interweaves the history of Joseph Smith, Jr. with interpretation of the Book of Mormon, which is read as springing from the young man's psychology and experiences.

Vogel's scholarship on the topic has come under fire by Mormon apologists on the grounds that he is biased and critical of Mormon faith claims. He is sometimes also criticised by Exmormons and anti-Mormons for not being sufficiently critical of Joseph Smith. There is wide appreciation, however, for his contribution of the multi-volume Early Mormon Documents, which placed an unprecedented number of important documents within the reach of the average researcher.

Vogel has also edited volumes that attack the possibility of receiving the future through the word of God. In 1991, Mormon apologist Stephen E. Robinson suggested that Vogel's arguments closely resemble those of Korihor from the Book of Mormon.^[1]

[edit] Publications

Vogel, Dan (2002), Brent Lee Metcalf, ed., American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon, Signature Books.
Vogel, Dan (ed) (1998), Early Mormon Documents (Vols. 1-5), Signature Books.
Vogel, Dan (1986), Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon, Signature Books.
Vogel, Dan (2004), Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet, Signature Books, ISBN 1-56085-179-1.
Vogel, Dan (1993), Brent Lee Metcalf, ed., "Anti-Universalist Rhetoric in the Book of Mormon", New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology (Signature Books).
Vogel, Dan (1990), The Word of God: Essays on Mormon Scripture, Signature Books.