Where does Mormonism come from? The Mormons themselves claim that it’s the result of a true and inspired divine revelation, given by an angel to the prophet Joseph Smith. Sceptics have advanced other explanations, the most popular being the idea that Joseph Smith was inspired by magical folk traditions in Upstate New York, and perhaps also more robust occult notions.Dan Vogel’s “Religious seekers and the advent of Mormonism” takes yet another tack on the problem. Vogel attempts to trace the pedigree of Mormonism to a group of religious dissenters known as Seekers. This radical Protestant current goes back to the 16th century Reformation, but was particularly strong during the English Civil War (17th century). Still during the 19th century, there were many people in the United States who considered themselves Seekers, including Joseph Smith’s father. Vogel distinguishes between “spiritualistic Seekers” and “literalist Seekers”. The former group regarded the church, the sacraments and the second advent of Christ as purely spiritual notions. Most of these joined the Quakers. The literalistic Seekers, by contrast, hoped for the restoration of a literal church, a literal millennium under the direct rule of Jesus Christ, and the emergence of an apostle or angel to take the lead in this process. Both groups were charismatic. They also both held that all established churches, sacraments and priesthood ordinances were fallen and invalid. Only God himself could restore the church. Until such a time, the Seekers didn’t administer any sacraments, had no priesthood, and were decentralized.