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Joseph Smith, Jr. Book of Mormon

Questions

== Critics claim that:

1. Joseph Smith, Jr. manufactured some metal plates out of tin, copper, or some other metal in order to trick witnesses into thinking he had gold plates.
2. Gold plates of the dimensions described by the witnesses would be too heavy (on the order of 200 lbs) to be realistically lifted and carried as Joseph and others described.

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here

Detailed Analysis

==

See also: Metal plates

Controlling biases

It is important to note at the outset that Dan Vogel (a prominent advocate of this attempt to redefine the witnesses' testimonies) describes his approach as beginning

"with the assumption that the Book of Mormon is not real history. Thus to the extent that one believes the evidence points to a non-historical Book of Mormon, it also points to something other than real gold plates under the cloth. The two are inseparably connected."^[1]

Thus, Vogel must come up with a counter-explanation for the Book of Mormon. Having decided that the Book of Mormon cannot be true history, Vogel must ignore evidence which disproves his thesis, and manufacture evidence through speculation, rather than considering all the evidence and then drawing conclusions therefrom about both the reality of the Book of Mormon's history and the existence of the plates. As he notes, the two are connected. One cannot dismiss the eyewitness reports (some of whom reported that they saw more than just plates 'under the cloth,') as irrelevant to the question of the Book of Mormon's historicity and origins.

Vogel does not seem to realize it, but the difficulty which he has in coming up with plausible explanations for the physical plates and the testimonies of the eight witnesses is evidence for the reality of the Book of Mormon. But, that conclusion is unacceptable to him, so he must downplay the evidence for the physical plates.

Only a "spiritual vision"?

Vogel and others attempt to argue that the witnesses only 'saw' the plates in a spiritual state, and then were allowed to heft a covered box. This flatly contradicts their own reports, and those of others. Lucy Mack Smith wrote:

In a few days we were follow by Joseph and Oliver and the Whitmers who came to make us a visit and also to make some arrangements about getting the book printed soon after they came They all that is the male part of the company repaired to a little grove where it was customary for the family to offer up their secret prayers. as Joseph had been instructed that the plates would be carried there by one of the ancient Nephites. Here it was that those 8 witnesses recorded in the Book of Mormon looked upon the plates and handled them of which they bear witness in the [title page of the Book of Mormon]. . . . After the witnesses returned to the house the Angel again made his appearance to Joseph and received the plates from his hands. We commenced holding meetings that night in the which we declared those facts that we knew to be true.^[2]

See also: Literal experience, Eight witnesses, and Other witnesses

Descriptions of the plates

A variety of persons who handled and/or saw the plates left descriptions:^[3]

Stone box in which plates were deposited

• "there, on the side of a hill, found in a stone box, or a square space enclosed by stone on every side, the plates on which the revelation was inscribed. The box in thickness was about 6 inches, and about 7 by 5 otherwise....well secured by silver rings or loops in the box as an effectual defence against all weather...." - “The Orators of Mormon,” Catholic Telegraph (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1 (14 April 1832): 204–5. Reprinted from Mercer Press (Pennsylvania), circa April 1832. off-site

Material

• "the appearance of gold"^[4] — Joseph Smith Jr., Eight Witnesses
• "golden plates"^[5] — David Whitmer
• "a mixture of gold and copper"^[6] - William Smith
• "pure gold" - “The Orators of Mormon,” Catholic Telegraph (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1 (14 April 1832): 204–5. Reprinted from Mercer Press (Pennsylvania), circa April 1832. off-site
• "whitish yellow" - Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 15; attributed to David Whitmer off-site
• "engraven on plates of gold" - Parley P. Pratt, "Discovery of an Ancient Record in America," Millennial Star 1 no. 2 (June 1840), 30–37. off-site

Weight

• "weighing altogether from forty to sixty lbs."^[7] —Martin Harris
• "I was permitted to lift them. . . . They weighed about sixty pounds according to the best of my judgement."^[8] —William Smith
• "I . . . judged them to have weighed about sixty pounds."^[9]—William Smith
• "They were much heavier than a stone, and very much heavier than wood. . . . As near as I could tell, about sixty pounds."^[10] —William Smith
• "I hefted the plates, and I knew from the heft that they were lead or gold."^[11] —Martin Harris
• "My daughter said, they were about as much as she could lift. They were now in the glass-box, and my wife said they were very heavy. They both lifted them."^[12] —Martin Harris
• "I moved them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work."^[13] —Emma Smith
• Joseph's sister Catherine, while she was dusting in the room where he had been translating, "hefted those plates [which were covered with a cloth] and found them very heavy."^[14] —H. S. Salisbury, paraphrasing Catherine Smith Salisbury

Size of each plate

• "six inches wide by eight inches long"^[15] —Joseph Smith Jr.
• "seven inches wide by eight inches in length"^[16] —Martin Harris
• "seven by eight inches"^[17] —Martin Harris
• "about eight inches long, seven inches wide"^[18] —David Whitmer
• "about eight inches square" - Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 15; attributed to David Whitmer off-site
• "six or eight inches square" - “Mormonism,” Fredonia Censor (New York) (7 March 1832). Reprinted from the Franklin Democrat (Pennsylvania) circa March 1832. off-site
• "The plates were each about 7 by 8 inches in width and length." - Parley P. Pratt, "Discovery of an Ancient Record in America," Millennial Star 1 no. 2 (June 1840), 30–37. off-site

Thickness of each plate

• "of the thickness of plates of tin"^[19] —Martin Harris
• "thin leaves of gold"^[20] —Martin Harris
• "about as thick as parchment"^[21] —David Whitmer
• "[We] could raise the leaves this way (raising a few leaves of the Bible before him)."^[22] —William Smith
• "They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metalic [sic] sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book."^[23] —Emma Smith
• "each as thick as a pane of glass" - “Mormonism,” Fredonia Censor (New York) (7 March 1832). Reprinted from the Franklin Democrat (Pennsylvania) circa March 1832. off-site
• "the plates themselves were about as thick as window glass, or common tin" - “The Orators of Mormon,” Catholic Telegraph (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1 (14 April 1832): 204–5. Reprinted from Mercer Press (Pennsylvania), circa April 1832. off-site
• "thickness of tin plates" - Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 15; attributed to David Whitmer off-site
• "being about the thickness of common tin" - Parley P. Pratt, "Discovery of an Ancient Record in America," Millennial Star 1 no. 2 (June 1840), 30–37. off-site

Thickness of whole volume

• "[W]hen piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches thick."^[24] —Martin Harris
• "six or eight inches thick" - “Mormonism,” Fredonia Censor (New York) (7 March 1832). Reprinted from the Franklin Democrat (Pennsylvania) circa March 1832. off-site
• JS - 6 inches? ^{[citation needed]}
• "The volume was something near six inches in thickness." - Parley P. Pratt, "Discovery of an Ancient Record in America," Millennial Star 1 no. 2 (June 1840), 30–37. off-site

Sealed vs. unsealed

• "A large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them."^[25] —David Whitmer
• "What there was sealed appeared as solid to my view as wood. About the half of the book was sealed."^[26] —David Whitmer
• "they thus translated about two thirds of what the plates contained, reserving the residue for a future day as the Lord might hereafter direct." - “The Orators of Mormon,” Catholic Telegraph (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1 (14 April 1832): 204–5. Reprinted from Mercer Press (Pennsylvania), circa April 1832. off-site
• "the leaves were divided equidistant between the back and the edge, by cutting the plates in two parts, and again united with solder, so that the front might be opened, while the back part remained stationary and immovable, and was consequently a sealed book, which would not be revealed for ages to come, and which Smith himself was not permitted to understand." - Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 15; attributed to David Whitmer off-site

Rings

• "[T]hey were fastened with rings thus [a sketch shows a ring in the shape of a capital D with six lines drawn through the straight side of the letter to represent the leaves of the record]."^[27] —David Whitmer
• "bound together like the leaves of a book by massive rings passing through the back edges"^[28] —David Whitmer
• "They were bound together in the shape of a book by three gold rings."^[29] —David Whitmer
• "put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book"^[30] —Martin Harris
• "The plates were . . . connected with rings in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book."^[31] - William E. McLellin quoting Hyrum Smith
• "I could tell they were plates of some kind and that they were fastened together by rings running through the back."^[32] - William Smith
• "volume of them were bound together like the leaves of a book, and fastened at one edge with three rings running through the whole" - Parley P. Pratt, "Discovery of an Ancient Record in America," Millennial Star 1 no. 2 (June 1840), 30–37. off-site
• "The plates were minutely described as being connected with rings in the shape of the letter D, when facilitated the opening and shutting of the book."^[33] - Early skeptical newspaper account
• "back was secured with three small rings of the same metal, passing through each leaf in succession" - Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 15; attributed to David Whitmer off-site

It should be noted that the "D" shape here described is the most efficient way to pack pages with rings. It is a common design in modern three-ring binders, but was not invented until recently (the two-ring binder did not exist prior to 1854 and were first advertised in 1899. The critics would apparently have us believe that Joseph Smith and/or the witnesses just happened upon the most efficient binding design more than a century before anyone else! Such a pattern also matches a collection of gold plates found in Bavaria dating from 600 B.C.^[34]

Engravings

• "[The plates] were filled with . . . Egyptian characters. . . . The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction and much skill in the art of engraving."^[35] —Joseph Smith Jr.
• "There were fine engravings on both sides."^[36] —John Whitmer
• "We also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship."^[37] —Eight Witnesses
• "[T]he characters . . . were cut into the plates with some sharp instrument."^[38] —William Smith
• "On opening that part of the book which was not secured by seals, he discovered inscribed on the aforesaid plates, divers and wonderful characters, some large and some small" - Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 15; attributed to David Whitmer off-site
• "These were filled with engravings on both sides" - Parley P. Pratt, "Discovery of an Ancient Record in America," Millennial Star 1 no. 2 (June 1840), 30–37. off-site

Description of the plates' hiding place

Oliver Cowdery described the plates as found by Joseph:

First, a hole of sufficient depth, (how deep I know not,) was dug. At the bottom of this was laid a stone of suitable size, the upper surface being smooth. At each edge was placed a large quantity of cement, and into this cement, at the four edges of this stone, were placed, erect, four others, their bottom edges resting in the cement at the outer edges of the first stone. The four last named, when placed erect, formed a box, the corners, or where the edges of the four came in contact, were also cemented so firmly that the moisture from without was prevented from entering. It is to be observed, also, that the inner surface of the four erect, or side stones was smooth. This box was sufficiently large to admit a breast-plate, such as was used by the ancients to defend the chest, &c. from the arrows and weapons of their enemy. From the bottom of the box, or from the breast-plate, arose three small pillars composed of the same description of cement used on the edges; and upon these three pillars was placed the record of the children of Joseph, and of a people who left the tower far, far before the days of Joseph, or a sketch of each, which had it not ben for this, and the never failing goodness of God, we might have perished in our sins, having been left to bow down before the altars of the Gentiles and to have paid homage to the priests of Baal! I must [196] not forget to say that this box, containing the record was covered with another stone, the bottom surface being flat and the upper, crowning. But those three pillars were not so lengthy as to cause the plates and the crowning stone to come in contact. I have now given you, according to my promise, the manner in which this record was deposited; though when it was first visited by our brother, in 1823, a part of the crowning stone was visible above the surface while the edges were concealed by the soil and grass, from which circumstance you will see, that however deep this box might have been placed by Moroni at first, the time had been sufficient to wear the earth so that it was easily discovered, when once directed, and yet not enough to make a perceivable difference to the passer-by.

- Oliver Cowdery to W. W. Phelps, "Letter VIII," Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 2 no. 1 (October 1835), 195–196. off-site

Of what material were the plates?

The Journal of Book of Mormon Studies states:

Were the Book of Mormon plates pure gold, or were they made from an alloy that looked like gold? The most serious investigation of this question was done 45 years ago by Read H. Putnam of Evanston, Wyoming, a blacksmith and metallurgist. [1] Working first from the general dimensions of the set of plates as reported by eyewitnesses, he calculated that a block of pure gold of that size would have weighed a little over 200 pounds. A number of witnesses, however, put the weight of the set at about 60 pounds. The discrepancy can be partly accounted for by the fact that the leaves must have been handcrafted, presumably by hammering, and irregularities in flatness would have left air space between the plates. This led Putnam to surmise that the entire set of plates would have weighed probably less than 50 percent of the weight of a solid block of the metal.

Because the weight of a metal depends on its purity, we must also consider whether the plates were of pure gold. The Nephites were aware of purity distinctions and alloys. We know, for example, that the "brass" plates were of an alloy (quite surely bronze, a copper-tin mixture) [2] and that the plates of Ether were specifically distinguished as being of "pure" gold (Mosiah 8:9). Furthermore, Nephi taught his associates "to work in all manner of" metals and "precious ores" (2 Nephi 5:15). Yet nowhere does the text say that the Nephites' plates were of pure gold.

Joseph Smith's brother William specifically said that the material of the plates was "a mixture of gold and copper." [3] (Someone must have provided an objective basis for that statement, for the natural assumption would have been that the plates were pure gold.) The cautious statements by other witnesses, including Joseph Smith himself, who spoke of the plates as having "the appearance of gold," suggest that the metal may have been an alloy. [4]

Putnam observed that the only two colored metals from antiquity were gold and copper. An alloy of those two elements was called "tumbaga" by the Spaniards and was in common use in ancient tropical America for manufacturing precious objects. Putnam put forward the reasonable hypothesis that metal plates made in Mormon's day were of that material (the earliest Mesoamerican archaeological specimen of tumbaga—made from a hammered metal sheet—dates to the same century, the fifth century AD, when Moroni hid up the plates he had in his possession). [5] If Mormon's Book of Mormon plates were made of tumbaga, their weight would have been much less than had they been made of pure gold. Putnam made that point in mathematical detail and concluded that the total weight of the plates in Joseph Smith's charge would have been near the 60-pound figure reported by several witnesses.

It is of interest that tumbaga was commonly gilded by applying citric acid to the surface. The resulting chemical reaction eliminated copper atoms from the outer .0006 inch of the surface, leaving a microscopic layer of 23-carat gold that made the object look like it was wholly gold. [6] Plates having "the appearance of gold," then, are exactly what we would expect if they were made of tumbaga.[7] [Footnote markers have been left in; references are available on the original site, linked below.]^[39]

Tin?

The critics have made an ad hoc assumption that Joseph made plates out of tin. There is no known evidence to support this assertion, nor does it explain how skeptical witnesses were convinced that they were made of gold, rather than tin. This accusation is interesting, because it shows how desperate some critics are to discredit Joseph Smith, yet they cannot dismiss the repeated testimony that he had actual, physical plates which many witnesses concluded were of gold, and of ancient origin.

== Notes ==

1. [note] Dan Vogel, "Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling: Comments" John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 26 (September 2006): 322—325.
2. [note]  Preliminary manuscript, Family and Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; cited in Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Attempts to Redefine the Experience of the Eight Witnesses," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005). [18–] link
3. [note]  Many of these were collected in Kirk B. Henrichsen, "How Witnesses Described the 'Gold Plates'," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (2001). [16–21] link (Key source)
4. [note] Joseph Smith Jr., "Church History [also known as the Wentworth Letter]," Times and Seasons (1 March 1842), 707. off-site GospeLink ; "The Testimony of Eight Witnesses," Book of Mormon; and Orson Pratt, in a pamphlet titled "An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records" (Edinburgh, Scotland: Ballantyne and Hughes, May 1840), 12–13.
5. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Kansas City Journal, 5 June 1881, in David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness, ed. Lyndon W. Cook (Orem, Utah: Grandin, 1993), 60.
6. [note]  William Smith (Joseph's younger brother) interview, The Saints' Herald, 4 October 1884, 644.
7. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Iowa State Register, August 1870, as quoted in Milton V. Backman Jr., Eyewitness Accounts of the Restoration (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986), 226.
8. [note]  William Smith, William Smith on Mormonism (Lamoni, Iowa: Herald Steam, 1883), 12.
9. [note]  William Smith interview with E. C. Briggs. Originally written by J. W. Peterson for Zions Ensign (Independence, Mo.); reprinted in Deseret Evening News, 20 January 1894, 11.
10. [note]  William Smith interview, The Saints' Herald, 4 October 1884, 644.
11. [note]  "Interview with Martin Harris," Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 169.
12. [note]  Ibid., 168.
13. [note]  Emma Smith interview, published as "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," The Saints' Herald, 1 October 1879.
14. [note]  I. B. Bell interview with H. S. Salisbury (grandson of Catherine Smith Salisbury), Historical Department Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
15. [note]  Joseph Smith Jr., "Church History [also known as the Wentworth Letter]," Times and Seasons (1 March 1842), 707. off-site GospeLink
16. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 165.
17. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Iowa State Register, August 1870, as quoted in Backman, Eyewitness Accounts, 226.
18. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221.
19. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 165.
20. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Iowa State Register, August 1870, as quoted in Backman, Eyewitness Accounts, 226.
21. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Kansas City Journal, 5 June 1881, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 64.
22. [note]  William Smith, The Saints' Herald, 4 October 1884, 644.
23. [note]  Emma Smith interview, The Saints' Herald, 1 October 1879.
24. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 165.
25. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221.
26. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Deseret Evening News, 16 August 1878, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 20–21.
27. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Edward Stevenson diary, 22–23 December 1877, Historical Department Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Original capitalization and punctuation have been modernized. In Stevenson's interview, Whitmer recounted his mother's description of the rings.
28. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Kansas City Journal, 5 June 1881, 1.
29. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221.
30. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 165.
31. [note]  Reported in the Huron Reflector (Norwalk, OH), 31 October 1831; cited in Ashton, below.
32. [note]  Interview of William Smith with E. C. Briggs and J. W. Peterson, Zion's Ensign, 13 January 1894, 6.
33. [note]  “The Mormonites,” Christian Intelligencer and Eastern Chronicle (Gardiner, Maine) (18 November 1831): 184. Reprinted from Illinois Patriot (Jacksonville, Illinois) (16 September 1831). off-site
34. [note]  Warren P. Ashton, "The Rings That Bound the Gold Plates Together," Insights 26 no. 3 (2006), N/A.
35. [note]  Joseph Smith Jr., "Church History" (Wentworth Letter)
36. [note]  John Whitmer to Theodore Turley, "in the presence of his anti-Mormon friends." As reported in Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1981), 131. ISBN 0877478465.
37. [note]  "Testimony of the Eight Witnesses."
38. [note]  William Smith interview, The Saints' Herald, 4 October 1884, 644.
39. [note]  Anonymous, "Of What Material Were the Plates?," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (2001). [21–21] link

Further Reading

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