73 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND THE LIMITS OF NATURALISTIC CRITERIA: COMPARING JOSEPH SMITH AND ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS William L. Davis In an 1879 interview with her son, Emma Smith famously asserted: “My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity—I have not the slightest doubt of it. I am satisfed that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired.” In support of her declaration, Emma turned from a confessional assertion to a natural- istic line of reasoning, arguing, “for, when [I was] acting as his scribe, your father would dictate to me hour afer hour; and when returning afer meals, or afer interruptions, he would at once begin where he had lef of, without either seeing the manuscript or having a portion of it read to him. Tis was a usual thing for him to do. It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this; and, for one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible.” 1 Emma’s turn to naturalistic criteria ofers an opportunity to explore the persistent rela- tionships that ofen emerge in Mormon communities between personal testimonies and naturalistic arguments, which usually take the form of direct claims or indirect assumptions about Joseph’s alleged ignorance Tis essay is indebted to insights from Brent Metcalfe, David Rodes, Colby Townsend, and the editor and anonymous readers for Dialogue. 1. Dan Vogel, ed., Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996), 1:542. Hereafer EMD.