LDS renaissance == 

 I believe there is a major shortcoming of this article and it's in the fact that we are too stuck on reporting just about the book itself to the exclusion of the profound effect it has had over the 180 years it has been published.  The information missing is that the BOM created a rennaissance among believers and non-believers within the sphere of influence.  Think of it in terms of today...if someone came out with a totally new book of scripture today declaring extraordinary things...we wouldn't even come close to taking it seriously i.e. Ted Kaczynsky's manifesto or something akin to it in a religions realm.   

 The fact is that the book created lasting religions (not just the LDS church) with millions of followers, and quite possibly even more detractors.  The fact that this information is not there is proof that we aren't doing our jobs here.  I'm not talking about a huge expansion because yes there already are articles covering the History of the Latter Day Saint movement etc., but this book was the catalyst for it all.  This information is missing and should be created in a new section or added to the head of the "Role of the BOM" sections.  Thoughts?    

 :Your enthusiasm is clear, Twunchy, but you must also realize that about half of what you wrote in your comment is highly POV.  The Book of Mormon is a sacred book for one religious tradition.  That's the perspective you must approach this from.  Even if to you it is the sacred book of sacred books with a special place, you cannot write from that perspective.  I would actually argue that from a historical perspective, the Book of Mormon has a piece of the responsibility for the foundation of LDS movement, but that there are other more important factors to its expansion.  It may have been the first step, but subsequent steps were more important in making the LDS movement a worldwide faiththe missionary effort, Smith's own marketing skills, polygamy and the D&C;, the establishment of isolated communities, the move to Utah (free land), Young's theocracy, etc.  This is an encyclopedia, we are stuck with reporting the facts.  That is the function herenot proselytizing, but reporting.  So what are your suggested additions?  (  ) 

 ::Twunchy, I think we can certainly do much better to address that topic, and we need to do this to achieve GA status. Given the large amount of material that has been written about the Book of Mormon, this article, in the end, is only going to be a summary article.  But it should address all the important points, including the 180 years of secondary materials written about the book.  In fact, the secondary materials give us a clue as to what prominence to give the sub-points of the article.  No one topic should be given undue prominence, but all should be at least touched on.  The article should also be balanced, so that (as per WP:UNDUE) different POVs are given prominence in proportion to their prominence in the field, as reflected in the secondary literature. Since the historicity issue is the hottest topic of both apologists and critics alike, and has been for a few decades now, it should be given greater prominence than it has.   

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