Translation of the Book of Mormon
What
most Latter-day Saints have been taught in church and believe as truth.
Significant details & problems that most Latter-day
Saints are not aware of.
What
did Joseph say about how he translated?
What
exactly is the Urim & Thummim?
The seer
stone was also used for revelation.
Hiram Page
also used a seer stone?
Where
is the seer stone today?
Joseph
losing the ability to translate timeline.
Why did the
prophets stop using seer stones?
Seer
stones in the Celestial Kingdom.
Why
doesn’t the church be honest when teaching the method to investigators or even
its own members?
Responses
to these issues by faithful Latter-day Saints.
Links
What most Latter-day-Saints have been
taught in church and believe as truth.
Joseph Smith used the seer
stones referred to as the Urim and Thummim to translate the Book of Mormon to
various scribes, Oliver Cowdery being the scribe used for most of the Book of
Mormon. The Urim and Thummim were
preserved in the stone box, along with the gold plates, for over 1,500 years for
the purpose of enabling Joseph Smith to translate the writings on the gold
plates.
Numerous illustrations in all
the various official church magazines, including The Ensign, various church
books and in paintings adorning LDS chapels, temples and visitor’s centers
throughout the world depict Joseph translating the Book of Mormon by showing
him in deep concentration as he studied the golden plates. The impression given is that the
dictation process involved Joseph’s direct visual contact with the plates. Usually there was a blanket between Joseph
and the scribe. The various scribes were
never allowed to see the plates as Joseph was translating.
Some illustrations show Joseph with the Urim and Thummim attached to the breastplate as described by Joseph:
This image was in the Oct 2006 issue of The Ensign which shows both Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery at the same table with the plates in full view of both of them, which is not what is generally taught in the Church, but perhaps is what is now being promoted:
Significant details
& problems that most Latter-day Saints are not aware of.
The actual method used by Joseph.
There were numerous witnesses to
the translation of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith. They all tell essentially the same
story. Joseph would put a stone in a
hat, then burying his face in the hat he would proceed to dictate the Book of
Mormon to the scribe. Joseph claimed to
see in the darkened hat the words he dictated. The gold plates were either
always covered in a cloth, where no one including Joseph could even see them or
they were not even in the room at the time Joseph was translating. The seer stone, that Joseph
put in the hat as he translated, was a stone that he found in a well
that he helped dig when he was employed as a treasure seeker years before the
Book of Mormon plates were retrieved by Joseph.
These are the following accounts:
Emma Hale Smith
Emma
Hale Smith, Joseph's wife, was the first
person to serve as his scribe. Here is her testimony as recounted to her son
Joseph Smith III:
"In
writing for your father I 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."
Robert N. Hullinger, in his book: Joseph Smith's Response to Skepticism, cites a personal interview
Emma Smith-Bidamon gave to a committee of the Reorganized Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1879. He notes on pages 9-10: "Smith's wife Emma supported Harris's
and Whitmer's versions of the story in recalling that her husband buried his
face in his hat while she was serving as his scribe."
David
Whitmer
David Whitmer
was one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. The majority of the
translation work took place in the Whitmer home.
"I will
now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was
translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face
in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the
darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling
parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a
time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother
Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal
scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if
it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the
interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift
and power of God, and not by any power of man."4
"I, as
well as all of my father's family, Smith's wife, Oliver Cowdery and Martin
Harris, were present during the translation. . . . He [Joseph Smith] did not
use the plates in translation"5
REF: Page 12 of his book An Address to All Believers in Christ,
Martin
Harris
Martin
Harris, a Book of Mormon scribe for the lost 116 pages of
the BOM, also one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, provided this
information to his friend Edward Stevenson, who would later become part of the
LDS First Council of Seventy.
"Martin Harris related an incident that occurred
during the time that he wrote that portion of the translation of the Book of
Mormon which he was favored to write direct from the mouth of the Prophet
Joseph Smith. He said that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was
enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience
he then used the seer stone, Martin explained the translation as follows: By
aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and
written by Martin and when finished he would say "Written," and if
correctly written that sentence would disappear and another appear in its
place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the
translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the
language then used." 7
In his Comprehensive History of the Church (CHC), LDS historian and Seventy Brigham H. Roberts quotes Martin
Harris, one of the three witnesses whose name is found in every edition of the Book of Mormon since its original
edition. Harris said that the seer stone Smith possessed was a "chocolate-colored, somewhat egg-shaped
stone which the Prophet found while digging a well in company with his brother
Hyrum." Harris went on to say it was by using this stone that "Joseph was able to translate the
characters engraven on the plates" (CHC 1:129).
Martin Harris was one of the scribes Joseph Smith used to
record the writing on the plates. This enabled him to give a first-hand account
of how Smith performed this translation. Harris noted, "By aid of the Seer Stone, sentences would appear and were read by
the Prophet and written by Martin, and when finished he would say 'written;'
and if correctly written, the sentence would disappear and another appear in
its place; but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that
the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language
then used" (CHC 1:29).
Martin also
said that: "I, as well as all of my
father's family, Smith's wife, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris, were present
during the translation. . . . He [Joseph Smith] did not use the plates in
translation." Interview given
to Kansas City Journal, June 5,
1881, reprinted in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Journal of History, vol. 8, (1910), pp.
299-300.
Isaac
Hale
Isaac Hale, the father of Emma Hale Smith,
stated in an 1834 affidavit: "The manner in which he pretended to read
and interpret, was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with a
stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at
the same time hid in the woods."8
Michael Morse
The first-hand account of Michael Morse,
Emma Smith's brother-in-law, was published in an 1879 article in the RLDS
publication Saint's Herald: "When Joseph was
translating the Book of Mormon [I] had occasion more than once to go into his
immediate presence, and saw him engaged at his work of translation. 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, resting his
elbows upon his knees, and then dictating word after word, while the scribes —
Emma, John Whitmer, O. Cowdery, or some other wrote it down.
Joseph Knight, Sr.
Joseph Knight, Sr., an early member of the
Church and a close friend of Joseph Smith, wrote the following in a document on
file in the LDS Church archives: "Now the way he translated was he put
the urim and thummim into his hat and darkened his eyes then he would take a
sentence and it would appear in bright roman letters then he would tell the writer
and he would write it then that would go away the next sentence would come and
so on. But if it was not spelt rite it would not go away till it was rite, so
we see it was marvelous. Thus was the hol [whole] translated."
(spelling preserved from original)
Oliver Cowdery
Oliver Cowdery was
Joseph's principal scribe for the Book of Mormon, and another of the Three
Witnesses to the Book of Mormon.
"These
were days never to be forgotten — to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by
the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day
after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he
translated, with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said,
'Interpreters,' the history, or record, called 'The book of Mormon." (spelling
and emphasis preserved from original)6
As described later in this article, Cowdery's use here of the
terms "Urim
and Thummim" was a common designation among Mormons after 1833
for Joseph's seer stone.
Our Comment: Oliver never gave any details of the
translation process. His statement above
only mentioned the use of the Urim and Thummim.
Several readers have asked us why we don’t include a quote used by Fawn
Brodie in No Man Knows My History
where Oliver expressed doubts about the BOM translation as the plates were not present
in the translation process. LDS
historian Grant Palmer researched this quite thoroughly and could not find any
evidence that Oliver said that. It may
have been said by one of the Whitmers, but not by Oliver. For this reason, we reject the quote.
William Smith
In volume two of "A
New Witness for Christ in
1830 Newspaper
Account
The article from the Cincinnati Advertiser of June 2, 1830, supports the ‘stone in the hat’ translation method:
"A fellow by the name of Joseph Smith, who resides in
the upper part of Susquehanna county, has been, for the last two years we are told, employed
in dedicating as he says, by inspiration, a new bible. He pretended that he had
been entrusted by God with a golden bible which had been always hidden from the
world. Smith would put his face into a hat in which he had a white stone, and
pretend to read from it, while his coadjutor transcribed."
The article corroborates the ‘stone in the hat’ version of
the translation, as opposed to Joseph’s description of ‘two stones in silver
bows’. Considering the earliness of the article, June 1830, it is closer
to the original method of the translation as told by Smith's first
scribes----Emma, Harris, Whitmer, Joseph Knight, etc.---before Cowdery became
involved. Perhaps the original ‘peep-stone’
story evolved over time into the ‘Urim and Thummim’ version, in an attempt to
give Joseph’s practice a Biblical stamp, and to shed the image of his 1820s ‘peep-stoning’.
http://sidneyrigdon.com/Classics1.htm
Artist’s depiction of the actual translation process http://www.imagesoftherestoration.org/blog/?p=8
References
http://www.irr.org/mit/divination.html
http://www.lds-mormon.com/transltn.shtml
An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins, Chapter 1, Grant Palmer
http://www.mrm.org/multimedia/text/seer-stone.html
What
did Joseph say about how he translated?
When
Joseph was asked how exactly he translated the Book of Mormon, he would never
give any details. He would only say that
he did it by the ‘gift and power of God’.
In a
general conference of the church in October 1831, in
asked his brother to give details of the BOM translation method. Joseph
replied
that "it was not expedient for him to tell more than had already been told
about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and it was not well that any
greater details be provided."
Given what the witnesses to the translation process said, it
is no wonder that Joseph didn’t like talking about it. Seeing as how it had been only five years
since his 1826 Bainbridge court appearance, it is not surprising that Joseph
would be shy to provide any further details; if he had recounted the 'seer
stone in the hat' version, some in his
audience may have recalled that 'peep-stoning' led to his arrest, and that he
had purportedly promised to end such activities.
Per LDS apologist Stephen Ricks: “His reticence was probably
well justified and may have been due to the inordinate interest which some of
the early Saints had shown in the seer stone or to the negative and sometimes
bitter reactions he encountered when he
had reported some of his sacred experiences to others."
Most LDS are somewhat aware that Joseph Smith did some treasure seeking in his younger days. A following statement is sometimes quoted in church. This comes from Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.120:
"Q: 'Was Joseph Smith not a money digger?'
'Yes, but it was not a
very profitable job for him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for
it.'"
This is usually the only thing said at church regarding his treasure-seeking
past. This statement is made to casually
dismiss the allegations by critics of Joseph as someone very much involved in
seeking buried treasure using seer stones.
This way the members can say that they know about his past dealings and
that these activities were really nothing because the prophet Joseph said they
were nothing. In actual fact, $14 a
month was a pretty good income for a young single man in the 1820s that still
lived at home.
Many of the people who were
digging for buried treasure were very superstitious. There were many strange
stories connected with these treasure hunts. Martin Harris, one of the three
witnesses to the Book of Mormon, related the following:
Mr. Stowel was at this time at old Mr. Smith's digging for
money. It was reported by these money-diggers, that they had found boxes, but
before they could secure them, they would sink into the earth.... There were a
great many strange sights. One time the old log school-house south of
On another occasion Martin Harris admitted that he
participated in some money-digging and that a stone box slipped back into the
hill: "Martin Harris (speaking to a group of Saints at
The following describes Joseph’s treasure seeking for Josiah Stowel. It is from Joseph Smith’s 1826 court transcript when he was brought up on charges as a disorderly person and imposter.
STATE OF
Warrant issued upon written complaint upon oath of Peter G. Bridgeman, who
informed that one Joseph Smith of Bainbridge was a disorderly person and an
imposter. Prisoner brought before Court March 20, 1826.
Prisoner examined: says that he came from the town of Palmyra, and had been at
the house of Josiah Stowel in Bainbridge most of time since; had small part of
time been employed in looking for mines, but the major part had been employed
by said Stowel on his farm, and going to school. That he had a certain stone
which he had occasionally look at to determine where hidden treasures in the
bowels of the earth were; that he professed to tell in this manner where gold
mines were at a distance under ground, and had looked for Mr. Stowel several
times, and had informed him where he could find these treasures, and Mr. Stowel
had been engaged in digging for them. That at Palmyra he pretended to tell by
looking at this stone where coined money was buried in Pennsylvania and while
at Palmyra had frequently ascertained in that way where lost property was of
various kinds; that he had occasionally been in the habit of looking through
this stone to find lost property for three years, but of late had pretty much
given it up on account of its injuring his health, especially his eyes, making
them sore; that he did not solicit business of this kind, and had always
declined having anything to do with this business.
Josiah Stowel sworn: says that prisoner had been at his house something like
five months; had been employed by him to work on farm part of time; that he
pretended to have skill of telling where hidden treasures in the earth were by
means of looking through a certain stone; that prisoner had looked for him
sometimes; once to tell him about money buried in Bend Mountain in
Pennsylvania, once for gold on Monument Hill, and once for a salt spring; and
that he positively knew that the prisoner could tell, and did possess the art
of seeing those valuable treasures through the medium of said stone; that he
found the [word illegible] at Bend and Monument Hill as prisoner represented
it; that prisoner had looked through said stone for Deacon Attleton for a mine,
did not exactly find it but got a p- [word unfinished] of ore which resembled
gold, he thinks; that prisoner had told by means of this stone where a Mr.
Bacon had buried money; that he and prisoner had been in search of it; that
prisoner had said it was in a certain root of a stump five feet from the
surface of the earth, and with it would be found a tail feather; that said
Stowel and prisoner thereupon commenced digging, found a tail feather, but
money was gone; that he supposed the money moved down.
That prisoner did offer his
services; that he never deceived him; that prisoner looked through stone and
described Josiah Stowel’s house and outhouses, while at Palmyra at Simpson
Stowel’s, correctly; that he had told about a painted tree, with a man’s head
painted upon it, by means of said stone. That he had been in company with
prisoner digging for gold, and had the most implicit faith in prisoner’s skill.
Arad Stowel sworn: says that he went to see whether prisoner could convince him
that he possessed the skill he professed to have, upon which prisoner laid a
book upon a white cloth, and proposed looking through another stone which was
white and transparent, hold the stone to the candle, turn his head to look, and
read. The deception appeared so palpable that witness went off disgusted. McMaster sworn: says he went with Arad
Stowel, and likewise came away disgusted. Prisoner pretended to him that he
could discover objects at a distance by holding this white stone to the sun or
candle; that prisoner rather declined looking into a hat at his dark colored
stone, as he said that it hurt his eyes.
Jonathon Thompson: says that prisoner was requested to look for chest of money;
did look, and pretended to know where it was; and prisoner, Thompson and
Yeomans went in search of it; that Smith arrived at spot first; was at night;
that Smith looked in hat while there, and when very dark, and told how the
chest was situated. After digging several feet, struck something sounding like
a board or plant. Prisoner would not look again, pretending that he was alarmed
on account of the circumstances relating to the trunk being buried [which] came
all fresh to his mind. That the last time he looked he discovered distinctly
the two Indians who buried the trunk, that a quarrel ensued between them, and
that one of said Indians was killed by the other, and thrown into the hold
beside the trunk, to guard it, as he supposed. Thompson says that he believes in
the prisoner’s professed skill; that the board he struck his spade upon was
probably the chest, but on account of an enchantment the trunk kept settling
away from under them when digging; that notwithstanding they continued
constantly removing the dirt, yet the trunk kept about the same distance from
them. Says prisoner said that it appeared to him that salt might be found at
Bainbridge, and that he is certain that prisoner can divine things by means of
said stone. That as evidence of the fact prisoner looked into his hat to tell
him about some money witness lost sixteen years ago, and that he described the
man the witness supposed had taken it, and the disposition of the money: And
therefore the Court find the Defendant guilty.
- Joseph Smith’s 1826 court transcript; see Abanes, One Nation Under
Gods, p. 501
http://www.ils.unc.edu/~unsworth/mormon/jsconviction.html
Critic’s Comment: Joseph never found any treasure for the men that hired him to find treasure using his seer stones. However, he was able to convince them he had the ability by describing things on Josiah Stowel’s property such as his house, outhouses and a painted tree. Obviously he could have found out about these things without having special abilities. Also, it’s very easy to plant a tail feather to prove he could ‘see’ distant things in his stone. When it came to treasure, he would always seem to have an excuse as to why they couldn’t find the treasure even though he saw it in his stone. Often Smith would say that the treaure kept sinking further into the ground as they dug or that the spirits of dead Indians were guarding the treasure and wouldn’t let anyone have it.
Most LDS are not aware as to what extent Joseph was involved in treasure-seeking activities involving seer stones in a similar manner in which he brought forth the Book of Mormon. The references given below go into much further depth on Joseph and his family’s involvement in these kinds of activities which may cast some doubt on Joseph’s story of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
References
Mormonism and the
Magic World View, Michael Quinn
Changing World of
Mormonism
Mormonism: Shadow or Reality by Jerald and Sandra Tanner. Chapter 4, page 77.
http://www.lds-mormon.com/jsmith.shtml
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 120
http://www.ils.unc.edu/~unsworth/mormon/jsconviction.html
Joseph Smith was arrested and brought up on charges as a
"glass looker" by a justice of the peace in
What is
particularly disturbing about this incident is the timing of the charges. The court records that were found prove that
Joseph was involved in treasure seeking with a seer stone for profit after he
received the First Vision but before he translated the Book of Mormon. This puts Joseph in a new light. It would seem that his belief in magic and
seer stones was motivated more by profit and superstition rather than a sincere
desire to bring forth the restoration.
It would be very unlikely that the chosen prophet of the restoration
would engage in such activities after conversing with Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ as well as the Angel Moroni.
Would he really be doing such activities a year before he dug up the
golden plates, after he had met with the angel
“if
this court record is authentic it is the most damning evidence in
existence against Joseph Smith." Hugh Nibley, The Myth Makers
The following references provide the details of the how the court
records came to be, LDS apologist responses and evidence of the validity of the
records. Basically LDS apologists use to
refute the validity of the claims that were becoming better known starting in
1945 when Fawn Brody’s book No Man Knows
My History came out and discussed the court trials. LDS faithful argued that the evidence
supporting the claims was not that convincing.
Although famed LDS historian Hugh Nibley admitted that if the court records
were actually true, it would lend a lot of credibility to the arguments against
Joseph Smith and his divine claims. But
since that couldn’t be a possibility to faithful people like Nibley, they
determined the evidence wasn’t sufficient to prove that a trial actually took
place.
However since an actual court document from 1826 was found in the
courthouse in 1971, the LDS apologists have been strangely silent on the
matter. They now usually say that the
trial, and subsequent conviction of Joseph Smith on the charge of glass looking,
isn’t really that damaging to Joseph despite their earlier claims that if the
trial was true it would be very damaging to Joseph Smith.
Note: A copy of the official
court records was donated to the LDS
Church
References
Joseph Smith’s Bainbridge, N.Y., Court Trials, Wesley P. Walters, pp. 129-131
http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech4.htm
http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no95.htm
http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no65.htm
Inventing Mormonism:
Tradition and the Historical Record, Michael Marquardt
http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon430.htm
http://www.saintsalive.com/mormonism/ftruth/ft1.doc
What exactly is the Urim & Thummim?
Some
accounts refer the seer stones as a pair of stones set in eye frames to
resemble spectacles. Other accounts
refer to a single seer stone by itself.
Apparently the spectacle version was with the plates in the stone
box. They were only used for translating
just the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon and were then taken from Joseph
by the angel along with the plates. The
angel returned the plates but not the spectacle ‘Urim and Thummim’. After this, Joseph used the single seer stone
that he had in his possession from before the Book of Mormon plates were
retrieved.
The
term "Urim and Thummim" is mentioned seven times in the Old Testament
(Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8; Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65; Deuteronomy 33:8;
Numbers 27:21; 1 Samuel 28:6 — in the latter two passages "Urim" is
used alone.). The Urim and Thummim
described in the Old Testament appears to more of a ‘Yes/No’ tool like a pair of dice rather than an
actual translation device. We know of no
historian or Biblical scholar who claims that the Biblical Urim and Thummim had
anything to do with "translating languages", or that they resembled
"giant spectacles" as BOM witnesses claimed. But the term ‘Urim and Thummim’ did give the
seer stone an aire of Biblical authority to it so the church started using that
term after 1833 and backdated earlier
references of seer stone with urim and thummim.
Term ‘Urim and Thummim’ not used until 1833
It is notable that the term "Urim and Thummim" is not found in the Book of Mormon and was never used by Joseph Smith with reference to producing the Book of Mormon until after 1833. In that year, a close associate of Smith, W.W. Phelps, speculated that the ancient Nephite interpreters mentioned in the Book of Mormon and by Joseph Smith might be the Urim and Thummim of the Old Testament. Phelps wrote in the LDS publication The Evening and Morning Star (Jan. 1833) that the Book of Mormon had been translated, "through the aid of a pair of Interpreters, or spectacles — (known perhaps, in ancient days as Teraphim, or Urim and Thummim). Phelps words, "known perhaps in ancient days as Teraphim, or Urim and Thummin" show that it was merely speculation on his part that associated Joseph’s magic seer stone with the biblical Urim and Thummim. Phelps' speculation gained quick popularity to the point where LDS writers used the term Urim and Thummim to refer to both the mystical interpreters Joseph Smith said were with the gold plates, and to the seer stone Joseph placed in his hat while dictating the Book of Mormon. As a result, many LDS writings used the term Urim and Thummim synonymously for seer stone. An example of this confusion of the terms is provided by the tenth President of the LDS church, Joseph Fielding Smith:
The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the
altar in the
According to David Whitmer, the
entire Book of Mormon text we have today came through Joseph's seer stone and
not through the Nephite interpreters. In an 1885 interview, Zenas H. Gurley,
then the editor of the RLDS Saints’
Herald, asked Whitmer if Joseph had used his "Peep stone" to do
the translation. Whitmer replied:
... he used a stone called a
"Seers stone," the "Interpreters" having been taken away
from him because of transgression. The
"Interpreters" were taken from Joseph after he allowed Martin Harris
to carry away the 116 pages of Ms [manuscript] of the Book of Mormon as a
punishment, but he was allowed to go on and translate by use of a "Seers
stone" which he had, and which he placed in a hat into which he buried his
face, stating to me and others that the original character appeared upon
parchment and under it the translation in English.
These comments from David Whitmer regarding the loss
of the "Interpreters" and Joseph’s subsequent use of his stone, help
clarify some confusion regarding what exactly Joseph used to produce the Book
of Mormon. When Joseph first announced the discovery of gold plates with
strange engravings, he also claimed there were special spectacles called
"Interpreters" that were with the plates. Joseph said these were to help in the
translation process. However, after
Martin Harris lost the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon translation that
Joseph loaned to him, Joseph claimed that the angel took back both the plates
and the Interpreters as punishment to Joseph. He would later get back the gold plates, but
was told he would not receive the Interpreters, but instead was allowed to use
his seer stone to produce all of the Book of Mormon we have today. As time went
on, Joseph Smith and others would refer to the seer stone both as
"Interpreters" and as the "Urim and Thummim."
Even LDS apologist Stephen Ricks acknowledges
that the term "Urim and Thummim" was not used by any Mormon until
about 1833:
"the term Urim
and Thummim (first used by W. W. Phelps in 1833, which is
generally associated with the Nephite interpreters, is frequently used in a
rather undifferentiated manner to indicate either the seer stone or the
interpreters."
B.H. Roberts
Although Mormon historian B. H. Roberts claimed
that Joseph Smith used the Urim and Thummim, he frankly admitted that he
sometimes used a "Seer Stone" to translate the plates: "The Seer Stone referred to here was a chocolate-colored,
somewhat egg-shaped stone which the Prophet found while digging a well in
company with his brother Hyrum,... It possessed the qualities of Urim and
Thummim, since by means of it —
as described above — as well by means of the Interpreters found with the
Nephite record, Joseph was able to translate the characters engraven on the
plates." (Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, vol. 1, page 129)
B.H. Roberts explains the difference between
the seer stone and the translating device found in the stone box:
“The sum of the whole matter, then,
concerning the manner of translating the sacred record of the Nephites,
according to the testimony of the only witnesses competent to testify in the
matter is: With the Nephite record was deposited a curious instrument,
consisting of two transparent stones, set in the rim of a bow, somewhat
resembling spectacles, but larger, called by the ancient Hebrews ‘Urim and
Thummim,’ but by the Nephites ‘Interpreters.’ In addition to these
‘Interpreters’ the Prophet Joseph had a ‘Seer Stone,’ possessed of similar
qualities to the Urim and Thummim; that the prophet sometimes used one and
sometimes the other of these sacred instruments in the work of translation;
that whether the ‘Interpreters’ or the ‘Seer Stone’ was used the Nephite
characters with the English interpretation appeared in the sacred instrument;
that the Prophet would pronounce the English translation to his scribe, which
when correctly written would disappear and the other characters with their
interpretation take their place, and so on until the work was completed” (B.H. Roberts, The Seventy’s Course in
Theology, First Year, p.111).
http://www.askgramps.org/in-what-way-did-the-prophet-joseph-smith-translate-the-book/
Urim & Thummim in
the Doctrine and Covenants
It should be noted that the mention of the
Urim and Thummim in Doctrine and Covenants 10:1, dated "summer of
1828," was written back into this revelation at a later date. In its original form as Chapter IX of the 1833
Book of Commandments, the revelation makes no mention of the Urim and Thummim 17 (view scanned image of 1833
Book of Commandments, Chapter IX). The
mention of Urim and Thummim in what is now designated D&C 10:1 first
appears in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Commandments, where it is found
as Section XXXVIII.
Critic’s comment: Apparently the Church took that action to
cover up the ‘peep-stone’ accounts, and replace it with something that sounded
Biblical, rather than occultic.
References
http://www.irr.org/mit/divination.html
Why would the angel take away the Urim & Thummim and make Joseph use a stone he found during his treasure-seeking days to finish the Book of Mormon translation?
Joseph Smith claimed that when he was
a teenager, in 1823, that an American Indian by the name of
He said there was a book deposited, written
upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this
continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the
fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the
Savior to the ancient inhabitants. Also, that there were two stones in silver
bows (and these stones, fastened to a breast-plate, constituted what is called
the Urim and Thummim) deposited with the plates, and the possession: and use of
these stones was what constituted Seers in ancient or modern times, and that God
had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book."
(History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet,
2:34-35)
As mentioned in the section above by David Whitmer,
after the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon were translated and then lost
by Martin Harris, the Angel punished Joseph by taking away the golden plates
and the Urim & Thummim. After Joseph
repented for allowing the plates to be lost, the angel returned the golden
plates to him but he did not return the Urim & Thummim. Instead Joseph had to resort to using a
common stone that he had found while digging a well in the company of his
brother Hyrum, for Willard and Mason Chase.
Joseph was digging a well for Mr.
Chase. Martin Harris stated that the stone was 24 feet underground.
(Martin Harris statement in Tiffany’s Monthly, 1859, pages
163-170.)
Dan Vogel quotes sources that
indicate that in the fall of 1825, Joseph Smith sent Hyrum Smith to Willard
Chase to borrow the stone from Willard. Willard Chase said that Hyrum
came to him claiming that Joseph needed the stone to “accomplish some business
of importance, which could not very well be done without the aid of the
stone.” Chase was hesitant but Hyrum persisted and promised to return the
stone. But Chase would never see the stone again. (Willard Chase,
ca. 11 De4c. 1833, in E. D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 241 (Also found in
Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents
2:66)
Does it make any sense
at all that the angel would actually punish Joseph by taking away the very
means by which he needed to translate the plates with? The ‘Nephite Interpreters’ were kept with the plates
for thousands of years for the sole purpose of allowing the sacred golden
plates to be translated to a modern-day language. Why preserve the Urim & Thummim and only
allow it to be used for translating the first 116 pages of the Book of
Mormon? Why punish Joseph after he
repented – wasn’t he forgiven, he did after all get the plates back, which are
certainly more important than the Urim and Thummim? And why punish him in this manner by forcing
him to resort to using a common stone he found in a well? Also, why does the church continually
perpetuate the belief that the Urim & Thummim, contained in the stone box
along with the gold plates, were used in translating the Book of Mormon when it
was only used for the first 116 pages which were lost anyway?
The 2008 Sunday School manual on Joseph Smith
(Chapter 5 on repentance – first page) states that:
For a time, the Lord took the Urim and Thummim and the plates from
Joseph. But these things were soon
restored to him. “The angel was rejoiced
when he gave me back the Urim and Thummim,” the Prophet recalled, “and said
that God was pleased with my faithfulness and humility, and loved me for my
penitence and diligence in prayer, in the which I had performed my duty so well
as to … be able to enter upon the work of translation again.” Reference
given for this is:
Quoted by Lucy Mack Smith, “The History of Lucy
Smith, Mother of the Prophet,” 1844–45 manuscript, book 7, p. 11, Church Archives.
However, David Whitmer and Emma Smith said that the
original Urim and Thummim was taken back by the angel after the 116 pages were
lost and not returned. This seems more
likely because if Joseph did have the original Urim and Thummim, why would he
use a common stone he found while digging a well to translate the rest of the
BOM with? The fact that he used a single
stone for translating the BOM is not in dispute as is mentioned many times by
faithful LDS historians such as B.H. Roberts and even apostle Russell M.
Nelson. Also the Church has this stone
in its possession today but not the original spectacle-version of the Urim and Thummim, that was reportedly in the stone box.
Many critics contend that there never was a
spectacle-version of the Urim and Thummim.
There doesn’t appear to be any firm validation that anyone actually saw
it other than Joseph, although Lucy Smith (Joseph’s mother) claimed to have felt the
breastplate under a cloth. Some
critic’s speculate that perhaps the spectacle version and breastplate would not
pass a detailed inspection so Joseph substituted one of his common seer stones
when the angel purportedly took back the plates and Urim and Thummim after
losing the lost 116 pages. Or perhaps he
started using the stone sometime during translation of the first 116 pages to
Martin Harris. If they used a curtain,
as sometimes reported, Martin wouldn’t know exactly what Joseph used and may
explain why Martin said “that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which
he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim”.
References
Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 129
(I.A.5, LUCY SMITH HISTORY, 1845, 1853:107
The seer stone was also used for
revelation.
The seer stone that Joseph found 24 feet underground
while digging a well was used for obtaining revelation from God as well as for
translating ancient documents.
From David Whitmer, An
Address to All Believers in Christ, p.30 - p.31 [It will be on slightly
different pages in different editions of Whitmer's pamphlet.]
We were waiting on Martin Harris who was doing his best to
sell a part of his farm, in order to raise the necessary funds. After a time
Hyrum Smith and others began to get impatient, thinking that Martin Harris was
too slow and under transgression for not selling his land at once, even if at a
great sacrifice. Brother Hyrum thought they should not wait any longer on
Martin Harris, and that the money should be raised in some other way. Brother
Hyrum was vexed with Brother Martin, and thought they should get the money by
some means outside of him, and not let him have anything to do with the
publication of the Book, or receiving any of the profits thereof if any profits
should accrue. He was wrong in thus judging Bro. Martin, because he was doing
all he could toward selling his land. Brother Hyrum said it had been suggested
to him that some of the brethren might go to
In discussing the "Canadian Copyright Caper" B. H. Roberts
quotes this entire passage in Comprehensive
History of the Church, Vol. 1 pp. 162-66
Apostle Orson Pratt tells of Joseph using the seer stones for
revelation
On 4 November 1830 Smith used the white stone to dictate for Orson
Pratt, a recent convert, what is now Doctrine and Covenants 34. Forty-eight years later, Pratt related the
circumstances of this experience during a visit to David Whitmer's home with
Joseph F. Smith: "he asked Joseph [Smith, Jr.] whether he could not
ascertain what his mission was and Joseph answered that he would see. &
asked Pratt and John Whitmer to go up stairs with him. and arriving there
Joseph produced a small stone called a seer stone. and putting it into a hat
soon commenced speaking."
Pratt, who met Smith after the church president had stopped using the brown
stone, subsequently told a congregation of Mormons that he was present "on
several occasions" when Smith received revelations and that
"sometimes Joseph used a seer stone when enquiring of the Lord, and
receiving revelation."
Smith also used the white stone to give a prophetic blessing. According to
Newel K. Whitney, who would become one of the church's presiding bishops, Smith
gave him a patriarchal (prophetic) blessing on 7 October 1835 "through the
Urim and Thummim," or the white seer stone. This is the only known use of a seer stone for
giving a patriarchal blessing in the church. However, this event lends credence to the
statements of unfriendly
Seer Stones and
their use:
- Used to locate buried treasure.
a. Hiel Lewis (Emma’s cousin)
stated that Joseph used the peep stone found while digging a well for the Chase
family in 1822[B.H. Roberts CHC (Salt lake City: Deseret news Press, 1930),
vol. 1, 120.] was used to translate the golden plates and “directed his
enchantments and dog sacrifices; and it was all by the same spirit.”
[Hiel Lewis, “Review of Mormonism: Rejoinder to Elder Cadwell.” Amboy Journal, June 4, 1879, Quoted in
Quinn, 172.
b. “The manner in which he
pretended to read and interpret, was the same as when he looked for
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!” Isaas Hale, in
Howe, 264 online at http://www.solomonspalding.com/docs/1834howf.htm#pg264)
c. Alva Hale, Emma Smith’s brother
said, “Joe Smith never handled one shovel of earth in those diggings [treasure
hunts]. All that Smith did was to peep with stone and hat, and give
directions where and how to dig, and when and where the enchantment moved the
treasure. That Smith said if he should work with his hands at digging
there, he would lose the power to see with the stone. (Alva Hale, Quoted in
Joseph Lewis, “Review of Mormonism,” Amboy
Journal, June 11, 1879, cited in David Persuitte, Joseph Smith and the
Origins of the Book of Mormon (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2000), 38
d. In the trial transcript of the
1826 Trial in
e. In the trial transcript of 1826
Trial in Bainbridge: Jonathan Thompson “says that prisoner [Joseph Smith] was
requested to look for a chest of money; did look, and pretended to know where
it was;. . . Smith looked in hat while there, and when very dark, and told how
the chest was situated [under the ground]. . . . the last time he looked he
discovered distinctly two Indians who buried the trunk, that a quarrel ensued
between them, and that one of the said Indians was killed by the other, and
thrown into the hole beside the trunk, to guard it, as he supposed. . . . . on
account of an enchantment the trunk kept settling away from under them when
digging; that notwithstanding they continued constantly removing the dirt, yet
the trunk kept about the same distance from them.
f. Lucy Mack Smith wrote that
Josiah Stowel came all the way from
The following link has
very interesting information on the use of seer stones by LDS prophets. Quotes are from LDS sources.
http://www.realmormonhistory.com/newpage13.htm -
Joseph%20Smith%20claimed%20that%20when%2