What are the Golden Plates actually?

Question

Why did the angel not allow Joseph to take them home but later gave them to him and took them back, but gave them back later???

Answer 1

They never existed. Its all totally bogus. Scholars can prove
that portions of the Book of Mormon was directly lifted
from the King James Bible, translation mistakes included.
Plus, I was in SLC one year and went to the musuem
on the Temple grounds (one of the few places "Gentiles:
can go) One of the exhibits has "copies" of the notes
that J Smith made from the "golden plates" and its just
a mess of scribbles......codebreakers who have lookes
at that say that there is no code there to translate. Its
just gibberish.
Plus there is no archeological evidence of the so-called
civilization of the 10 lost tribes here in the Americas.....A
great civilization always leaves some evidence of its
being, it can never be totally erased.

Answer 2

I don't have my Cleon Skousen or other commentaries with me at work today, but I believe the reason Moroni did not give the plates to Joseph Smith right away was because there was a need for spiritual and mental preparation. Four years passed, with Joseph returning each year to the same place to the stone box where the gold plates were deposited, until he was permitted to actually remove the plates from the hill located in Ontario County in New York. You may already have noticed the difference between a 17-18-year-old freshman boy and a 22-year-old college student who is about to graduate. Or maybe you have watched people around you grow and mature spiritually and intellectually, rising in their level of responsibility at work and in the community. Something about the timing had to be just right for Joseph to receive the gold plates. Here's a modern application. You would not ask a typical freshman college student to sit in a graduate level class for hours on end and expect them to stay focused on what was going on, without a proper foundation first. Joseph did eventually take the plates home but then had to continually keep them in hiding, because once word got out that he had them, Joseph says "Every strategem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose. The persecution became more bitter and severe than before, and multitudes were on the alert continually to get them from me if possible." (Joseph Smith History). As I recall, at least a couple of hiding places included under the hearthstones and in a barrel, but as I don't have my commentaries with me today, that is just off the cuff. Hope this answered your question.

Answer 3

The angel Moroni showed Smith the gold plates.

The Mormons call the book that was produced from these gold plates, the "Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ"

Another Gospel right?

Further, the Mormons claim to accept the Bible...

BUT the Bible says this: (Galations 1:8) But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

So where are the plates? You got me.