“Why Joseph’s magical treasure quests began to take on a religious context is open to reasonable speculation. His family’s dire financial circumstances, his trouble with the law for searching for treasure, his confrontation with Isaac Hale over Emma, and other circumstances are individually and collectively plausible explanations. But, in context, and along with all the other evidence, the explanation put forward by the church and various Mormon apologists—that Joseph Smith was a prophet called by God, even if that calling was gradually revealed through Joseph’s immediate cultural context—is just not believable. If it were, it would be the story Mormon missionaries teach openly and outright to prospective converts, and people would be converting and bearing testimony about the realities of the powers of magical stones. But it is not. And it was not the foundation on which my testimonial experience had been premised.”