How was he able to translate them and who were the witnesses/
2006-08-27 08:34:02 · 15 answers · asked by Sparks 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It's a very odd story.
The Golden Plates were taken back by the same Moroni who brought them.
Smith himself said he was given holy spectacles called Urim and Thurim to enable him to read the Plates which were apparently written in something called - and this is a kicker - "Reformed Egyptian". Probably because Smith knew that if he said they were in Hebrew like you'd think, other people would be able to read them. However, the contemporary evidence is that he didn't use the Holy Specs, instead he put his face in his hat and dictated to his gullible er..... faithful amenuensis. In his hat he had the same seer stone he was earlier accused to using to hunt for treasure!
There were 11 close friends of Smith who are claimed as witnesses. Only one of them remained a Mormon at his death and he told someone he'd rejoined out of curiosity to find out what was going on. Personally, if I'd seen anything that momentous I'd have stuck to it like glue but I guess that's not how it works.
Only three of these witnesses actually saw them and they said their experience wasn't actually sort of physical more sort of mystical, subjective and visionary ie they hypnotised themselves into seeing the Plates.
If you really want a Mormon oddity - look at the Book of Abraham which forms part of the Mormon scriptures. Smith bought some papyrus from a travelling showman and said they were written by Abraham. There are drawings of the papyrus and a translation by Smith in those Scriptures. The papyrus were then lost for years until they turned up a few years ago and turned out to be standard funerary texts - nothing to do with Abraham and hundreds of years from the right time period.
2006-08-27 11:09:28 · answer #1 · answered by UKJess 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hello Ronald,
The plates supposedly came from under the hill Cumorah. Smith said Moroni told him where to find them. Four years later he saw Moroni again and obtained the plates and spectacles which were supposed to be two crystals which decipherd them. Because the so called translation was so bad and obviously false no one wanted to publish it. So it was left at the printers shop in Pittsburgh. The printer Mr Patterson died and a man called Rigdon found the manuscript and used it to write the Book of Mormon with the help of Smith and Porley Pratt (real name) THE PLATES then went missing conveniently. So no one can actually test the vadility of the said plates.
2006-08-27 15:49:08 · answer #2 · answered by : 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The Mormon's claim that the Angel that show Mr. Smith where they were, came back for them, and took them golden plates back to Heaven.
2006-08-27 15:42:54 · answer #3 · answered by inteleyes 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The angel took them back, he was able to use seer stones (Bible references seer stones) and the witnesses are listed in the front of the Book of Mormon, or on line at lds.org if you go to scriptures. None of the witnesses denied their testimony of what they saw, even if they left the church. The 3 witnesses (the first group of the two to see them) all emphatically re-stated their testimonies again and again even after they'd left the church, the last poster needs to get their facts straight.
2006-08-27 19:49:33 · answer #4 · answered by justinodhans982000 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The plates were returned to the angel who gave them. He was able to translate them by the use of prophecy and instruments called the urim and the thummin. There were witnesses. Three saw and touched the plates and an additionally 8 saw the plates. Obviously Joseph also saw and handled them.
2006-08-27 15:46:29 · answer #5 · answered by twinkletoes 3 · 2⤊ 3⤋
There were no witnesses. He would only read them behind a sheet, no-one else was allowed to see them. And then they just disappeared. It's not done the Mormons' argument much good.
2006-08-27 15:40:14 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
There were no witnesses, and the plates are convieently gone.
2006-08-27 15:50:41 · answer #7 · answered by Scott M 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Suggest that you go to www.mormon.org or www.lds.org. All you Q. regarding the religion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is contained there.
You can also aks Q. from the site.
Do hope this information is of help to you and that you will read and learn of what their beliefs and teachings are.
God Bless.
2006-08-27 15:39:41 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Act your age. Do you really think an american at that particular time in history would have buried the things. He'd have taken them to the nearest bullion dealer and sold them. The afact that they seem to believe it is one of the reasons that som many of us refer to them as the morons.
2006-08-27 17:28:33 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
You don't need to be a Moron to answer this question. Ole Joe hangs them on the wall over the mantle.
2006-08-27 16:12:02 · answer #10 · answered by Dean B 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋