During his lifetime, LDS Church founder Joseph Smith was considered by skeptics to be a charismatic, but little more.

They dismissed his claims of visions, revelation and translation of an ancient record as the fanciful fabrications of a man who said he spoke to God but couldn't prove it.

Yet more than 160 years after his martyrdom on a sultry summer afternoon in 1844, scholars who see a growing academic interest in Smith's life and work are less likely to dismiss him than to study him, looking for clues to the wellspring of what many now consider to be his religious genius.

Twelve million people worldwide now belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which Smith founded in 1830 with a handful of members. The 175th anniversary of the church, and more especially, the 200th anniversary of Smith's birth, will likely be highlighted in several sermons during the faith's 175th Semiannual General Conference, which opens at 10 a.m. today in the Conference Center.

While those remarks will center on the gospel that Latter-day Saints believe Smith restored to Earth under the direction of Jesus Christ, it is the daring of Smith's claims of truth, the scrutiny of his texts, his novel religious thought and the examination of his place in the religious revivalism of the early 19th century that continue to attract scholarly attention.

Several conferences featuring papers on everything from the influence Smith's father had on his worldview to detailed examinations of his DNA have already taken place this year, including one highly publicized event held at the Library of Congress last spring and others in such far-flung places as New Zealand, Australia and Taiwan.

Additional forums are scheduled at a variety of locales before year's end, including Claremont Graduate University's School of Religion, in Claremont, Calif.; Centenary College in Shreveport, La.; Brigham Young University; and a venue in Korea, according to Robert Millet, the Richard L. Evans professor of religious understanding at BYU.

While the church-owned school has long hosted such events, the broad interest Millet has seen in Smith this year has been unprecedented, he said.

Part of the curiosity was generated by the Library of Congress event, he said, adding there's also "a recognition of something significant happening on the American scene. I think, as some honest historians would agree, Joseph Smith may finally be getting his due in terms of recognition and acknowledgment, even if they don't believe what he taught.

"There is a growing curiosity and desire to participate in rational discourse with us, and also a greater interest in inviting (LDS scholars) into broadening religious conversations."