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====Stone box in which plates were deposited==== | ====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...." - {{CriticalWork:Catholic Telegraph:14 April 1832|pages=204–205}} | * "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...." - {{CriticalWork:Catholic Telegraph:14 April 1832|pages=204–205}} | ||
− | + | * "A hole of sufficient depth had been dug, and a flat stone laid in the bottom; then there were four set erect at the outer edges of the bottom stone, joined together with some kind of cement, so as to form a Box. On the bottom stone was laid a Shield or Breastplate, from that arose three pillars made of cement. On the top of these pillars laid the Record, together with the “Urim and Thummim,” the whole not to extend quite even with the top of the side stones. Over the whole was placed a crowning stone, a small part of which was visible, when he first visited the spot." - {{Book:Appleby:Dissertation of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream|pages=1–24}} | |
====Material==== | ====Material==== | ||
*"the appearance of gold"{{ref|fn1}} — Joseph Smith Jr., Eight Witnesses | *"the appearance of gold"{{ref|fn1}} — Joseph Smith Jr., Eight Witnesses | ||
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* "six or eight inches square" - {{CriticalWork:Fredonia Censor:7 March 1832|pages=xxx}} | * "six or eight inches square" - {{CriticalWork:Fredonia Censor:7 March 1832|pages=xxx}} | ||
* "The plates were each about 7 by 8 inches in width and length." - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | * "The plates were each about 7 by 8 inches in width and length." - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | ||
− | * "about eight inches long, and six wide" - Lucy Mack Smith (allegedly) in {{CriticalWork:Caswall:City of the Mormons 2|pages=26}} | + | * "about eight inches long, and six wide" - Lucy Mack Smith (allegedly) in {{CriticalWork:Caswall:City of the Mormons 2|pages=26}} |
+ | * "Each plate was about six by eight inches" - {{Book:Appleby:Dissertation of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream|pages=1–24}} | ||
====Thickness of each plate==== | ====Thickness of each plate==== | ||
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* "thickness of tin plates" - Howe, ''Mormonism Unvailed'', 15; attributed to David Whitmer {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=808&REC=3}} | * "thickness of tin plates" - Howe, ''Mormonism Unvailed'', 15; attributed to David Whitmer {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=808&REC=3}} | ||
* "being about the thickness of common tin" - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | * "being about the thickness of common tin" - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | ||
+ | * "as thick as common tin" - {{Book:Appleby:Dissertation of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream|pages=1–24}} | ||
====Thickness of whole volume==== | ====Thickness of whole volume==== | ||
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* JS - 6 inches? {{NeedCite}} | * JS - 6 inches? {{NeedCite}} | ||
* "The volume was something near six inches in thickness." - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | * "The volume was something near six inches in thickness." - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | ||
+ | * "the whole being about six inches in thickness" - {{Book:Appleby:Dissertation of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream|pages=1–24}} | ||
====Sealed vs. unsealed==== | ====Sealed vs. unsealed==== | ||
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* "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 {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=808&REC=3}} | * "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 {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=808&REC=3}} | ||
* "some of them are sealed together and are not to be opened, and some of them are loose" - Lucy Mack Smith (allegedly) in {{CriticalWork:Caswall:City of the Mormons 2|pages=26}} | * "some of them are sealed together and are not to be opened, and some of them are loose" - Lucy Mack Smith (allegedly) in {{CriticalWork:Caswall:City of the Mormons 2|pages=26}} | ||
+ | * "a part of which was sealed. The unsealed part has been translated; and contains the Book of Mormon" - {{Book:Appleby:Dissertation of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream|pages=1–24}} | ||
====Rings==== | ====Rings==== | ||
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* "volume of them were bound together like the leaves of a book, and fastened at one edge with three rings running through the whole" - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | * "volume of them were bound together like the leaves of a book, and fastened at one edge with three rings running through the whole" - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | ||
* "They are all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate" - Lucy Mack Smith (allegedly) in {{CriticalWork:Caswall:City of the Mormons 2|pages=26}} | * "They are all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate" - Lucy Mack Smith (allegedly) in {{CriticalWork:Caswall:City of the Mormons 2|pages=26}} | ||
+ | * "put together with three rings, running through the whole" - {{Book:Appleby:Dissertation of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream|pages=1–24}} | ||
* "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."{{ref|16.sept.1831}} - Early skeptical newspaper account | * "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."{{ref|16.sept.1831}} - 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 {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=808&REC=3}} | * "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 {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=808&REC=3}} | ||
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* "These were filled with engravings on both sides" - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | * "These were filled with engravings on both sides" - {{MS1|author=Parley P. Pratt|article=Discovery of an Ancient Record in America|vol=1|num=2|date=June 1840|pages=30–37}} {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=2345&REC=13}} | ||
* "are covered with letters beautifully engraved" - Lucy Mack Smith (allegedly) in {{CriticalWork:Caswall:City of the Mormons 2|pages=26}} | * "are covered with letters beautifully engraved" - Lucy Mack Smith (allegedly) in {{CriticalWork:Caswall:City of the Mormons 2|pages=26}} | ||
+ | * "on each side beautifully engraved, and filled with black cement" - {{Book:Appleby:Dissertation of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream|pages=1–24}} | ||
===Description of the plates' hiding place=== | ===Description of the plates' hiding place=== |
Answers portal |
Book of Mormon Witnesses |
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Overview: Three Witnesses:
View of the plates: Eight Witnesses: Other Witnesses: |
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== Critics claim that:
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here
====
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
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.
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:
A variety of persons who handled and/or saw the plates left descriptions:[3]
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]
Oliver Cowdery described the plates as found by Joseph:
The Journal of Book of Mormon Studies states:
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 ==
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