Difference between revisions of "Book of Mormon/Gold plates"

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==Endnotes==
 
==Endnotes==
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<!--Assumptions-->
 
#{{note|vogel1}}Dan Vogel, "Review of Richard Bushman's ''Rough Stone Rolling''" ''John Whitmer Historical Assocation Journal'' 26 (September 2006): 325.
 
#{{note|vogel1}}Dan Vogel, "Review of Richard Bushman's ''Rough Stone Rolling''" ''John Whitmer Historical Assocation Journal'' 26 (September 2006): 325.
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<!--Witness statements-->
 
#{{note|descript1}} Many of these were collected in {{JBMS-10-1-3}}{{NB}}
 
#{{note|descript1}} Many of these were collected in {{JBMS-10-1-3}}{{NB}}
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#{{note|fn1}}{{TS1|author=Joseph Smith Jr.|article=Church History [also known as the Wentworth Letter]|date=1 March 1842|start=?}} ; "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&ndash;13.  
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#{{note|fn1}}{{TS1|author=Joseph Smith Jr.|article=Church History [also known as the Wentworth Letter]|date=1 March 1842|start=707}} ; "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&ndash;13.  
 
#{{note|fn2}} 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.  
 
#{{note|fn2}} 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.  
 
#{{note|fn3}} William Smith (Joseph's younger brother) interview, ''The Saints' Herald'', 4 October 1884, 644.  
 
#{{note|fn3}} William Smith (Joseph's younger brother) interview, ''The Saints' Herald'', 4 October 1884, 644.  
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#{{note|fn10}} Emma Smith interview, published as "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," ''The Saints' Herald'', 1 October 1879.  
 
#{{note|fn10}} Emma Smith interview, published as "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," ''The Saints' Herald'', 1 October 1879.  
 
#{{note|fn11}} 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.
 
#{{note|fn11}} 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.
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#{{note|fn12}} {{TS1|author=Joseph Smith Jr.|article=Church History [also known as the Wentworth Letter]|date=1 March 1842|start=707}}
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#{{note|fn13}} Martin Harris interview, ''Tiffany's Monthly'', May 1859, 165.
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#{{note|fn14}} Martin Harris interview, ''Iowa State Register'', August 1870, as quoted in Backman, ''Eyewitness Accounts'', 226.
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#{{note|fn15}} David Whitmer interview, ''Chicago Tribune'', 24 January 1888, in ''David Whitmer Interviews'', ed. Cook, 221.
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#{{note|fn17}} Martin Harris interview, ''Tiffany's Monthly'', May 1859, 165.
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#{{note|fn18}} Martin Harris interview, ''Iowa State Register'', August 1870, as quoted in Backman, ''Eyewitness Accounts'', 226.
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#{{note|fn19}} David Whitmer interview, ''Kansas City Journal'', 5 June 1881, in ''David Whitmer Interviews'', ed. Cook, 64.
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#{{note|fn21}} William Smith, ''The Saints' Herald'', 4 October 1884, 644.
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#{{note|fn22}} Emma Smith interview, ''The Saints' Herald'', 1 October 1879.
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#{{note|fn24}} Martin Harris interview, ''Tiffany's Monthly'', May 1859, 165.
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#{{note|fn25}} David Whitmer interview, ''Chicago Tribune'', 24 January 1888, in ''David Whitmer Interviews'', ed. Cook, 221.
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#{{note|fn26}} David Whitmer interview, ''Deseret Evening News'', 16 August 1878, in ''David Whitmer Interviews'', ed. Cook, 20–21.
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#{{note|fn29}} 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.
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#{{note|fn30}} David Whitmer interview, ''Kansas City Journal'', 5 June 1881, 1.
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#{{note|fn31}} David Whitmer interview, ''Chicago Tribune'', 24 January 1888, in ''David Whitmer Interviews'', ed. Cook, 221.
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#{{note|fn32}} Martin Harris interview, ''Tiffany's Monthly'', May 1859, 165.
 
#{{note|fn32a}}  Reported in the ''Huron Reflector'' (Norwalk, OH), 31 October 1831; cited in Ashton, below.
 
#{{note|fn32a}}  Reported in the ''Huron Reflector'' (Norwalk, OH), 31 October 1831; cited in Ashton, below.
 
#{{note|binder1}} {{Insights1|author=Warren P. Ashton|article=The Rings That Bound the Gold Plates Together|date=2006|vol=26|num=3|start=N/A}}
 
#{{note|binder1}} {{Insights1|author=Warren P. Ashton|article=The Rings That Bound the Gold Plates Together|date=2006|vol=26|num=3|start=N/A}}
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<!--Tin?-->
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<!--Conclusion-->
 
==Further Reading==
 
==Further Reading==
 
===FAIR wiki articles===
 
===FAIR wiki articles===

Revision as of 12:39, 27 November 2006

This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.

Criticism

Critics claim that Joseph manufactured some metal plates (out of tin) to trick witnesses into thinking he had gold plates.

Source(s) of the Criticism

  • Dan Vogel, Making of a Prophet (A Biography) (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 2004).

Response

See also: article on Metal plates

Controlling biases

It is important to note at the outset that Dan Vogel (the originator of this theory) begins his work

"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 some;thing other than real gold plates under the cloth. The two are inseparably connected."[1]

Thus, Vogel must come up with a counter-explanation of 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. 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 disregard the evidence for the physical plates.

Descriptions of the plates

A variety of persons who handled and/or saw the plates left descriptions:[2]

Material

  • "the appearance of gold"[3] — Joseph Smith Jr., Eight Witnesses
  • "golden plates"[4] — David Whitmer
  • "a mixture of gold and copper"[5] - William Smith

Weight

  • "weighing altogether from forty to sixty lbs."[6] —Martin Harris
  • "I was permitted to lift them. . . . They weighed about sixty pounds according to the best of my judgement."[7] —William Smith
  • "I . . . judged them to have weighed about sixty pounds."[8]—William Smith
  • "They were much heavier than a stone, and very much heavier than wood. . . . As near as I could tell, about sixty pounds."[9] —William Smith
  • "I hefted the plates, and I knew from the heft that they were lead or gold."[10] —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."[11] —Martin Harris
  • "I moved them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work."[12] —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."[13] —H. S. Salisbury, paraphrasing Catherine Smith Salisbury

Size of each plate

  • "six inches wide by eight inches long"[14] —Joseph Smith Jr.
  • "seven inches wide by eight inches in length"[15] —Martin Harris
  • "seven by eight inches"[16] —Martin Harris
  • "about eight inches long, seven inches wide"[17] —David Whitmer

Thickness of each plate

  • "of the thickness of plates of tin"[18] —Martin Harris
  • "thin leaves of gold"[19] —Martin Harris
  • "about as thick as parchment"[20] —David Whitmer
  • "[We] could raise the leaves this way (raising a few leaves of the Bible before him)."[21] —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."[22] —Emma Smith

Thickness of whole volume

  • "[W]hen piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches thick."[23] —Martin Harris
  • JS - 6 inches? [citation needed]

Sealed vs. unsealed=

  • "A large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them."[24] —David Whitmer
  • "What there was sealed appeared as solid to my view as wood. About the half of the book was sealed."[25] —David Whitmer

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]."[26] —David Whitmer
  • "bound together like the leaves of a book by massive rings passing through the back edges"[27] —David Whitmer
  • "They were bound together in the shape of a book by three gold rings."[28] —David Whitmer
  • "put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book"[29] —Martin Harris
  • "The plates were . . . connected with rings in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book."[30] - William E. McLellin quoting Hyrum Smith

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.[31]

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."[32] —Joseph Smith Jr.
  • "There were fine engravings on both sides."[33] —John Whitmer
  • "We also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship."[34] —Eight Witnesses
  • "[T]he characters . . . were cut into the plates with some sharp instrument."[35] —William Smith

Tin?

 [needs work]

Endnotes

  1. [note] Dan Vogel, "Review of Richard Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling" John Whitmer Historical Assocation Journal 26 (September 2006): 325.
  2. [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)
  3. [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.
  4. [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.
  5. [note]  William Smith (Joseph's younger brother) interview, The Saints' Herald, 4 October 1884, 644.
  6. [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.
  7. [note]  William Smith, William Smith on Mormonism (Lamoni, Iowa: Herald Steam, 1883), 12.
  8. [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.
  9. [note]  William Smith interview, The Saints' Herald, 4 October 1884, 644.
  10. [note]  "Interview with Martin Harris," Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 169.
  11. [note]  Ibid., 168.
  12. [note]  Emma Smith interview, published as "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," The Saints' Herald, 1 October 1879.
  13. [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.
  14. [note]  Joseph Smith Jr., "Church History [also known as the Wentworth Letter]," Times and Seasons (1 March 1842), 707. off-site GospeLink
  15. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 165.
  16. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Iowa State Register, August 1870, as quoted in Backman, Eyewitness Accounts, 226.
  17. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221.
  18. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 165.
  19. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Iowa State Register, August 1870, as quoted in Backman, Eyewitness Accounts, 226.
  20. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Kansas City Journal, 5 June 1881, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 64.
  21. [note]  William Smith, The Saints' Herald, 4 October 1884, 644.
  22. [note]  Emma Smith interview, The Saints' Herald, 1 October 1879.
  23. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 165.
  24. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221.
  25. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Deseret Evening News, 16 August 1878, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 20–21.
  26. [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.
  27. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Kansas City Journal, 5 June 1881, 1.
  28. [note]  David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221.
  29. [note]  Martin Harris interview, Tiffany's Monthly, May 1859, 165.
  30. [note]  Reported in the Huron Reflector (Norwalk, OH), 31 October 1831; cited in Ashton, below.
  31. [note]  Warren P. Ashton, "The Rings That Bound the Gold Plates Together," Insights 26 no. 3 (2006), N/A.

Further Reading

FAIR wiki articles

Template:PlatesWiki

Book of Mormon "Anachronisms"

Book of Mormon/Gold plates


FAIR web site

Template:PlatesFAIR

External links

Template:PlatesLinks

Printed material

Template:PlatesPrint

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