If Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon himself, would we expect it to be so spiritually impactful for millions of people?

What are the odds that a 23-year-old farm boy with limited education would create a book that would then be studied by millions of people for hundreds of years afterwards? How could Joseph create a book that is the basis of people’s faith all around the world?

We would reasonably expect that if Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon himself he probably wouldn’t have contributed much to faith and Christianity yet we see the complete opposite.

Doctrine and Covenants 135 summarizes this point:

Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood;

Why was Joseph Smith unique in this respect? What was so special about Joseph?

See:

Witnesses of the Book of Mormon

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