Polygamy deniers claim that Joseph Smith didn’t write the second half of Section 132, but that it might have been Brigham Young to justify the practice. Extensive word studies called stylometrics take a look at the claim.
2025 Doctrine and Covenants


Polygamy deniers claim that Joseph Smith didn’t write the second half of Section 132, but that it might have been Brigham Young to justify the practice. Extensive word studies called stylometrics take a look at the claim.

(Professor) Debrah RoundyJanuary 1, 2026
This was a fascinating article. I remember in the 1990's when the first person discovered that each person write in a different Voice Print that was unique to that person. The study has gone so far since then. I am in awe to see the changes and growth and how it is being used to identify the writer of a document, and even whether a person was speaking with revelation or on his own. Eventually I used what I knew when checking for plagiarism in my university student's essays. I would compare an essay they had written in a 5-minute Quick Write with no access to the internet, to the essay they had written for, say, a test. If the document style did not match, I would Google for the author. I did not miss. When I caught 80% of my students and made them redo it, the word got around fast. I transferred to another university and my reputation did not follow me, it beat me there.