| Golden Plates |
Article Index for Golden |
Website Links For Golden |
Information AboutGolden Plates |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GOLDEN PLATES | |
| history of the latter day saint movement | |
| joseph smith, jr. | |
| book of mormon artifacts | |
|
The golden plates, also called the '''gold plates''' or the '''golden bible''' (an antiquated reference),Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, (use of the term ''Gold Bible'' by Martin Harris in 1827); (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s. were a set of engraved plates, bound into a book, that Joseph Smith, Jr. said was his source material for the '' Book Of Mormon '', a scripture of the Latter Day Saint Movement . Smith, the founder of that movement, said he obtained the plates on September 22 , 1827 on Cumorah Hill in Manchester , New York , where they were hidden in a buried box and protected by an Angel Named Moroni . After dictating a translation and obtaining signed statements by eleven other witnesses, he said he returned the plates to the angel in 1829. According to the ''Book of Mormon'', the golden plates were engraved by a Pre-Columbian prophet-warrior named Mormon and his son Moroni (who after death protected the buried plates as the Angel Moroni ) in about the year 400 CE. These men said they had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates in a language they called " Reformed Egyptian .". Part of the plates were said to have been sealed, and thus could not be translated. The golden plates are the most significant of a number of metallic plates important to Latter Day Saint history and theology. Background As a youth, Joseph Smith, Jr. lived on his parents' farm near Palmyra, New York a place and time noted for its participation in the Second Great Awakening and a "craze for treasure hunting.". ''See also'' (describing widespread treasure-seeking in early 19th century New England ). Beginning in the early 1820s, he was paid to act as a " Seer ", to use Seer Stones in (mostly unsuccessful) attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure. (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it"). Some contemporaries state that he would put the stone in a white Stovepipe Hat , put his face over the hat to block the light, and then "see" the information in the reflections of the stone. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; . Some say that his favored stone, chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,. was found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors.; . The stone was found in either 1819 (; ) or 1822 . OBTAINING THE PLATES Smith said that he first learned about the golden plates on the eve of September 22 September 22 was listed in a local Almanac as the Autumnal Equinox , which has led to the suggestion that the date had astrological significance according to Smith's worldview (; ). A Palmyra minister said that Martin Harris told him in 1827 that Smith had been on a treasure-hunting excursion earlier the night of the angel's first visit.. in 1823 (or possibly 1822),Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22 1823 ; however, other accounts say or infer that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22 1822 , although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" , which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after Oliver Cowdery initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age," he corrected the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822) —but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 . Smith's Father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 . A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823. when, in his bedroom late at night thinking about his First Vision ,. an angelSmith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 . Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" (; ; ) or a "ghost" (; see also a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology: ). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" . named Moroni appeared to him three times.; . Contrary to his other statements, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel was Nephi ; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as ''Moroni''. Moroni told him that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home later referred to as '' Cumorah '' (a name from the '' Book Of Mormon ''). (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); (referring to the hill as '' Cumorah ''). According to Smith and contemporaries who heard his account, the angel said he would not allow Smith to take the plates until he was able to obey certain "commandments". (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments). Smith and his believing followers said the angel's requirements included the following: that Smith tell His Father about the vision,Smith's mother Lucy Mack Smith said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision , but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (p. 82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night (; ). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year . Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family , although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection . that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain, (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God.") that he take the plates and go directly away without looking back,This commandment is described in the account of Joseph Knight, Sr. , a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's , and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s . Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal to his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s. that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest,There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother and sister and by two non-Mormons (; ). and that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.; . The last three of the angel's requirements were corroborated by non-believers who heard the story from Smith or his father, and who also add that Smith said the angel required him to wear "black clothes" to the site of the plates, (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his Seer Stone ). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr. , said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color" as those worn by the angel," but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing . to ride a "black horse with a switchtail", (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill . to call for the plates by a certain name, (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase). and to "give thanks to God". (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith). (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]] In the morning, Smith began to work as usual and did not tell his father about the vision. because he did not think his father would believe him.; (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would believe him). When he fainted because he had been awake all night, he said the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell his father.; . Smith's father believed the vision and encouraged his son to obey the angel's commandments.; . Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill }}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection . Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and Hyrum the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about . Smith then set off to visit the hill. To locate the place where the plates were buried, both believing and non-believing witnesses say he used his seer stone (statement were by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); (statement by Martin Harris , a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). and, according to one hearer of the account, he used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.). Smith said he "knew the place the instant that I arrived there" because the angel had shown him the location during the previous night's visions. At the proper location, he saw a large stone covering a stone (or possibly iron) box.Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box (; ); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box (; ). After using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover and prying it up with a lever, he said he saw the plates inside, together with other artifacts.. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a Breastplate (; ; , saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban (Book Of Mormon) "), a set of Large Spectacles made of Seer Stones (; ; ), the Liahona , the Sword Of Laban (; ), the Brass Plates of Laban , the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist . According to Smith's 1835 biography and other accounts, he "supposed his success certain" in obtaining the plates.; (saying that Smith, after failing to obey the commandment to tell his father about the visions, would not be allowed to receive the plates until he was "not only willing, but able" to keep the commandments, but that he and his family "fully expected" that he would carry them home on September 22 1824 ). In Smith's 1838 autobiography, he said the angel told him the previous night that retrieving the plates would require four yearly visits, and therefore he already knew his first three visits would not result in him obtaining the plates . According to Smith's trusted followers, Smith said he picked up the plates, but then put them on the ground while he covered the box with the stone to protect other valuable treasures in the box from being taken later by passers-by. (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates). Nevertheless, when Smith looked back at the plates on the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into the box. (account by Smith's mother); (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); (account of Smith's sister). According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw in the box something like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground. (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders). Although Smith's contemporary followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.Oliver Cowdery, writing for a church periodical with Smith's assistance, said Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second time because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion . Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times . Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice . Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force . Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times . Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts that day but did not mention being stricken . Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom {Link without Title} away" . Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" {Link without Title} .. Concluding that it was not, he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.; (saying Smith exclaimed "why Cant I stur this Book?"); (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?"). In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have."; (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years . Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return {Link without Title} told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" . Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told him, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" . According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",; . and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel. (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827). Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22 1824 , with the "right person", who the angel said was his older brother Alvin. (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); (account of Smith's sister Katharine). Alvin died in November 1823, so Smith returned to the hill in 1824 and asked what he should do,. but to his family's disappointment, he did not return with the plates. (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22 , 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. . Smith said he was told to return the next year with the "right person," but the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.; (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her."). For the visit on September 22 1825 , Smith may have attempted unsuccessfully to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,; (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of Crystal Gazing ). but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his Seer Stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale , his future wife.; (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records"). Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,. but there is no specific record of him being in the Palmyra vicinity between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to Palmyra from Pennsylvania with his New Wife . After his arrival in Palmyra in January 1827, Smith visited the hill and returned to tell his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord.". Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel . The next annual visit on September 22 1827 would be his last chance to receive the plates.. According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled necromancer from 60 miles away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.. During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.. A few days prior to the September 22 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and Joseph Knight, Sr. traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill. (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22 ); (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22 ). Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble. (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there). Therefore, on the eve of September 22 1827 , the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home. Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill Cumorah with his wife Emma.; (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him"). While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,. Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.; (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); ; (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log"). At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the " Urim And Thummim " or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two Seer Stones , which he showed His Mother when he returned in the morning.. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates . Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby Macedon to obtain money to buy a solid lockable chest in which he said he would put the plates.. By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith was successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their cut of the profits from what they saw as part of their joint venture.. Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly-talented seer from sixty miles away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of Divination .; (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates". When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,; . who reportedly determined through his Urim And Thummim that the plates were safe, but nevertheless he hurriedly rode home with Emma.. Once home in Manchester , he walked to Cumorah and said he removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked back home through the woods, away from the road, with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm... On the way, he said he suffered a "heavy blow with a gun" by a man who had been hiding behind a log, and blows from two other attackers.; ; ; . His family said he returned home with a dislocated thumb, an injured arm, and an injury to his side (mentioning only the dislocated thumb); (mentioning the indjury to his side); (mentioning the dislocated thumb and the injury to his arm). and he sent his father, Joseph Knight , and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found nobody.; . Smith then put the plates in a locked chest and hid it in his parent's home in Manchester.; . Smith refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or other artifacts directly. Some people, however, were allowed to heft them or feel them through a cloth.; ; . A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates, let his mother feel it through a thin cloth, then placed it in the locked chest with the plates and the Urim and Thummim. (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars). The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the plates on their property.. After word that a group of people would be attempting to enter the home by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,; . but the family was able to scare away the approaching intruders.. Fearing it might be discovered, however, Smith hid the chest under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then used as a cooper shop.. Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of flax, not long before the location of the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,; . who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find that location by looking in her Seer Stone . (the Seer was the sister of Willard Chase, and she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things"). TRANSLATING THE PLATES See Also: Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830 Most of the translation of the golden plates took place in Harmony, Pennsylvania (now located in Oakland Township ), where Smith and Emma moved in October 1827 with the financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner Martin Harris .The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic." A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." Quoted in "Ronald W. Walker, "Martin Harris: Mormonism's Early Convert," ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'', 19 (Winter 1986): 34-35. Harmony was Emma's home town. The work of translation took place in two phases: the first was a period from December 1827 to June 1828 in which Smith Transcribed Some Of The Characters and then dictated a translation to Martin Harris . The 116 Manuscript Pages from this period, however, were lost. The second phase of translation began sporadically in early 1829, and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of Oliver Cowdery , a schoolteacher willing to work full-time as his scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to Fayette, New York and finished the translation around the beginning of July 1829. Location of the plates during translation When Joseph and Emma traveled to Pennsylvania in October 1827, the golden plates were said to be transported in a glass box hidden in a barrel of beans.; . In Harmony, the couple stayed for a time in the home of Emma's father Isaac Hale , but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, only allowing him to heft the containing box, Hale banished the concealed object from his house.; . Afterwards, the plates were said to be hidden for much of the time in the woods nearby,; ; . although Emma said that for at least part of the time, Joseph kept the plates in the house, on a table, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.. In one instance, the plates were said to be in a trunk on Emma's bureau.. Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate.; ; . In April 1828, Harris' wife Lucy visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused, she searched the Smith house and grounds for the plates, but they had been hidden in the nearby woods, and were protected by a large black snake that frightened her and reportedly prevented her from digging them up.. Lucy was soon allegedly involved in the loss of the Loss Of 116 Pages of translation manuscript in July 1828, which had been loaned to Martin so that he could prove to his friends and family that the plates were real. Because of the lost 116 pages, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the Angel Moroni took back possession of the plates and the Urim And Thummim as a penalty for "delivering the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man." (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); (referring only to the plates); (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate). The angel is said to have returned them to Smith in Harmony again on September 22 , 1828 , the Autumn Equinox and the anniversary of the day he first received the plates.. In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates firsthand. Smith did not show him the plates directly, but told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates.. In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of Harmony locals necessitated a move to Fayette, New York , to the home of David Whitmer and his parents. As they traveled, the golden plates were reportedly transported by the Angel Moroni , who received the plates in Harmony and then placed them in the garden of the Whitmer house in Fayette, where Smith found them.; . After translation was completed, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel,;. although the angel periodically brought them, as needed, to show Several Witnesses . Many Latter Day Saints , including Brigham Young , have believed the plates were returned to Hill Cumorah and that other ancient records lie buried there, including the Sword Of Laban and the special spectacles given to aid the translation process. ''Journal of Discourses'' 19: 38 , July 17, 1877. According to Oliver Cowdery's account, when the angel instructed Smith to return the plates to the hill Cumorah , Oliver Cowdery accompanied him. The hill opened and they walked into a cave where there was a spacious room with wagon loads of metallic plates and the Sword Of Laban , unsheathed on a large table. Joseph and Oliver placed the plates on this table. Translation process Smith said he copied characters from the golden plates and translated them through the use of " Urim And Thummim " found with the plates.''Joseph Smith-History'' 1:62. Early followers of Smith seem to have called both the Urim and Thummim and the seer stone "interpreters." Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" "Mormonism," ''Susquehanna Register, and Northern Pennsylvanian'' 9 (1 May 1834), 1 in ''EMD'', 4: 287.''Joseph Smith-History'' 1:62. Emma Smith later recalled that when she took dictation from her husband, she "frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us.... The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen table cloth, which I had given him to fold them in. I once felt of the plates as they thus lay on the table tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book."D&C 25:4; Joseph Smith III, Notes of Interview with Emma Smith Bidamon, February 1879, Miscellany, RLDS Church Library-Archives, Independence, Missouri, in ''EMD'', 1: 536-40. Usually, however, the golden plates were not even in the same room. Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, said that he watched Smith on several occasions:"The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." from upstairs or from a different room. Smith used a number of assistants during the process of translating the ''Book of Mormon'', including should be identical to the first rather than be filled with the natural variants that would occur if one was translating, and not merely transcribing, a text from one language into another. Palmer, 7. Plates returned to Moroni Once the translation was complete, about July 1829, Smith said that he returned the plates to the angel.; Many , Oliver Cowdery accompanied him. The hill opened and they walked into a cave where there was a spacious room with wagon loads of metallic plates and the Sword Of Laban , unsheathed on a large table. Joseph and Oliver placed the plates on this table. WITNESSES TO THE PLATES See Also: Book of Mormon witnesses As Smith finished the translation of the plates, he revealed that witnesses would be asked to testify to their existence. In June 1829, two sets of witnesses, the 1829 , quoting the language of this revelation. Joseph Smith letterbook (22 Nov. 1835 to 4 Aug. 1835), 5-6. Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood," ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5. A revelation by Smith commanded Cowdery and Whitmer to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers . Soon thereafter in the second half of June 1829 , a group of Three Witnesses and a separate group of Eight Witnesses were selected, in addition to Smith himself, to testify that Smith had the Golden Plates. The Three Witnesses — Oliver Cowdery , David Whitmer , and Martin Harris — affirmed that an angel had descended from heaven and presented the plates, which they saw but did not touch. Then they heard a voice from heaven declaring that the book was translated by the power of God and that they should bear record of it. The Eight Witnesses were members of the Joseph Smith and David Whitmer families. Like the Three Witnesses, the Eight signed a joint statement that they had seen and, in their case, hefted the plates."The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship." In March 1838, disillusioned church members said that Martin Harris , who had given many specific descriptions of the plates, had now publicly denied having seen them at all.Their accounts state that Harris publicly denied that either he or the other Witnesses to the ''Book of Mormon'' had ever seen or handled the golden plates—although he had not been present when Whitmer and Cowdery first claimed to have viewed them. Harris's recantation, made during a period of crisis in early Mormonism, induced five influential members, including three Apostles, to leave the Church. (Stephen Burnett to Luke S. Johnson, 15 April 1838, in Joseph Smith's Letterbook, ''Early Mormon Documents'' 2: 290-92. Warren Parrish also wrote in August 11, 1838: "Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted." ''EMD'', 2: 289.)Near the end of his long life, Harris also said that he had seen the plates only in "a state of entrancement."Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347. Nevertheless, in 1871 Harris testified that no one had "ever heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon {Link without Title} the administration of the angel that showed me the plates.""No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr." Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''Saints' Herald'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338. See also Richard Lloyd Anderson, ''Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1981), 118 Yet even after Smith had returned the plates to the angel, other early LDS Church members testified that an angel had also showed them the plates.For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in Grant Palmer, ''An Insider's View of Mormon Origins'' (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002), 201. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt....One of the Quorum of the Tweleve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES Format, binding, and dimensions The plates were said to be in the format of a book, bound at one edge by a set of rings. Martin Harris , one of Joseph Smith, Jr. 's early scribes, is reported to have said in 1828 that he understood the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires". After saying that he saw the plates in 1829, Harris said in 1859 that the plates "were seven inches wide by eight inches in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book.". David Whitmer , another 1829 Witness , was quoted in a 1831 Palmyra newspaper as saying the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".. Anomalously, Smith's Father is quoted as saying the plates were only half an inch thick . Smith's Mother , who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches long, and six wide,... all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".. Hyrum Smith and John Whitmer , also Witnesses In 1829 , are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', Oct. 31, 1831. See also . Joseph Smith's wife Emma , and his younger brother William said they examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".. William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.. Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches mm wide and eight inches mm long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches mm in thickness." . Composition and weight The plates were first described as "gold." Beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".; ; . When the book was published in 1830, Eight Witnesses described the plates as having "the appearance of gold." The '' Book Of Mormon '' itself describes the plates as being made of "ore.". In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted David Whitmer , another Witness To The Plates , as saying the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color," with "three small rings of the same metal.". Joseph Smith, Jr. 's first published description of the plates agreed that the plates "had the appearance of gold.". but gave no further information about their composition. Late in life, Martin Harris stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,. and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds," "were lead or gold.". Joseph's brother William Smith , who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood." Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between forty and sixty pounds, most likely the latter.. Smith's father Joseph Smith, Sr. , who was one of the Eight Witnesses , reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds.". Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds according to the best of my judgment.". Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about sixty pounds. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds." . Joseph Smith's wife Emma never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".. Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds. . The plates might have been made from tin or various gold alloys. They might have been made of a gold and copper Mesoamerican alloy, called Tumbaga by the Spanish, which would have weighed between 50 and 70 pounds.Tumbaga was the name given by the Spanish to an Mesoamerican alloy of Gold and Copper.. Plates of roughly similar dimensions and weight might also have been made of tin, which was readily available in the Palmyra area. ; . "Sealed" portion According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion . containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the '''' is interpreted by many to describe a sealing of the plates that was spiritual, metaphorical,i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge physical, or any combination of these elements. The '' Book Of Mormon '' refers to other documents and plates being "sealed" by being buried to come forth at some future time. For example, the '' Book Of Mormon '' says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord", and that a separate record of John The Apostle was "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the End Times .''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26 One set of plates referred to in the ''Book of Mormon'' was "sealed up" in the sense that "no one can interpret them," because they were written "in a language that they cannot be read."''Book of Mormon'', Ether 3: 22. Smith may also have understood the sealing as a , anyone who looked into the "interpreters" "except by the command of God" would "perish" ."--> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith".. A physical "sealing" placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni has been described by several witnesses. David Whitmer said that an angel showed him the plates in 1829, and that "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them."David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid." He also said that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass that was "stationary and immovable," it "appeared as solid to my view as wood",. and it had "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed".. Whitmer also stated that the leaves "were so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them".. Orson Pratt , who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" . Lucy Mack Smith said in 1842 that "some of plates are sealed together and are not to be opened, and some of them are loose".. The testimony of the Eight Witnesses states that they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine un-translated parts of the book such as the sealed portion. David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was sealed in one interview,; . and in 1881 said that "about one-third" of the book was un-sealed, and the remainder sealed. Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with a 1856 statement by Orson Pratt , an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself, but who said he had spoken with the witnesses.. According to Pratt, "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".. The sealed portion of the plates is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The ''Book of Mormon'' states that this vision was originally given to the s expect that this prophecy will be eventually revealed."--> Engravings See Also: Reformed Egyptian of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates.]] The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the '' Book Of Mormon '' describes as Reformed Egyptian . . Smith later described them as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving.". According to John Whitmer , one of the Eight Witnesses who said he saw the plates in 1829, the plates had "fine engravings on both sides".. Orson Pratt , who did not see the plates himself, who had spoken with the witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read.". METAL PLATES IN LATTER DAY SAINT THEOLOGY AND HISTORY Other metal plates mentioned in the Book of Mormon In addition to the Golden Plates, the Book of Mormon refers to several other sets of books written on metal plates:
Other metal plates in the Latter Day Saint Tradition
Metal plates outside the Latter Day Saint tradition ]] Mormons often treat inscribed metal plates outside the Latter Day Saint tradition as evidence that the Golden Plates were actual historical artifacts. Some ancient European and Mesopotamian cultures did keep short records on metal plates, but those found to date have been extremely thin to facilitate being engraved with a pointed tool. In 500 BCE, Darius The Great of Persia inscribed a history on a gold plate and sealed it in a stone box in the temple at Persepolis. {Link without Title} , A six-page, 24- period, was recovered from smugglers by the Iranian police. The Pyrgi Tablets (now at the National Etruscan Museum , Rome) are gold plates with a bilingual Phoenician-Etruscan text. Gold Laminae Funerary Text s similar to Books Of The Dead have also been found in Italy. In the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls had been found, archeologists later discovered the aptly-named Copper Scroll , two rolled sheets of copper that may describe locations where treasures of the Second Temple of Jerusalem may have been hidden.A summary of information about the Copper Scroll from the [http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/educational_site/dead_sea_scrolls/copperscroll.shtml West Semitic Research Project, University of Southern California. Nevertheless, there is no known extant example of writing on metal plates longer than the eight-page Persian codex. See also NOTES REFERENCES
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|