Is there any real physical evidence that Joseph Smith had a set of Gold Plates with writing on them?

Question

I know there were the witnesses, but even the church recognizes the fact that were not actually allowed to see the plates.

Answer 1

Yes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:GoldenPlates.JPG

Answer 2

Oddly enough, just before Joseph Smith said he found the gold plates, he was arrested for pulling a con on the people of his community. He said he had a magic "seer stone" that would tell him where treasure could be found. He would put the stone in his hat and place his face over the hat. He said that the stone would light up and tell him where they could find treasure. People paid him for this knowledge, and of course it wasn't true. After he was convicted, he said he found the gold plates and guess what? He put them in his hat and placed his face over the hat and was able to translate them that way. He had someone hiding behind a blanket writing down everything he said, and not one person ever saw the plates. Sound plausible?

atheist

The Atheist Bible, it could be said, has but one word: "THINK." - Emmett Fields

Answer 3

"Where did Joseph Smith get the idea of ancient records on metal plates hidden in a stone box that was buried in the earth? Critics mocked this for decades--until many other examples of ancient records preserved on plates or in stone boxes were found. In our day, scholars know that there is a vast ancient tradition pertaining to preserving sacred records by concealing them for some future time. Some of this evidence is brought together lucidly in John A. Tvedtnes, The Book of Mormon and Other Hidden Books (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000). Also see my Book of Mormon "Nugget," "Hiding Sacred Records like the Golden Plates: A Well Established Ancient Practice." It turns out that this practice of concealing records "is most prominent in the ancient Near East, the land from which the Book of Mormon people emigrated to the New World. The practice of concealing records in stone boxes is also well attested in the ancient world and was still being practice in Moroni's day. And the use of metal for preserving sacred records is also attested, particularly in the ancient Near East. Joseph Smith could not have known this, and his early critics had no clue either (and many modern critics still remain blissfully unaware of the extensive discoveries in this area). How, then, if the Book of Mormon is a forgery, did Joseph manage to be so lucky as to make up a story about the plates that fits ancient patterns so well? "

Answer 4

Joseph Smith stolded his story from a freemason/king Solomon folk tale:
13. Solomon and his builders, the Masons, while building and excavating for the temple at Mt. Moriah, discovered the cavern and the sacred treasure.

14. After three attempts to obtain the treasure, they were finally successful. Those Masons were very rejoiceful upon receiving these preserved Mysteries.

15. But. three wicked men intervened and committed a horrible crime. They attempted to force one of the Masons, one of the faithful Masons who had discovered the treasure. Hiram Abif; or Hiram, the widow's son, to reveal the hiding (place) and the contents of the hidden treasure.

16. He would not reveal his knowledge and therefore they killed him.

17. While being slain, Hiram. with uplifted hands, cried out, "Oh Lord, My God, is there no help for the widow's son?" This has since become a general Masonic distress call.

18. Then three loyal Masons, seeking revenge, pursued the three evil ones.

19. One of the three faithful Masons overtook one of the arch-villains. He was asleep with his word, or knife, nearby. 20. The Mason slew the villain with his own knife by cutting off his head.

21. In Masonic ceremonies, the words ``strike off his head" were employed.

22. Also in Masonic ceremonies, in revolutionary France, the re-enacting of the killing of this villain. the tyrant's name was King Philippe le Bel (Philip IV or the Fair who destroyed the Knights Templar. M. B. H.)

23. The loyal Mason was rewarded by King Solomon.

24. The recovered treasures then became part of the temple treasury. It consisted of the brass records, the gold plate, the metal ball, the breast plate and the urim and thummim.

Such is the Masonic legend of the Secret Doctrine, or the sacred treasure in the sacred hill, or the treasure of the widow's son.

The parallels of Joseph Smith and the history of Mormonism are so unmistakable, that to explain them only as coincidence would be ridiculous.

Joseph Smith was named Enoch, even by God. He was 25 when he brought forth his sacred record. His sacred record was buried in the hill by a man who had the initial "M". There were gold plates containing the mysteries of God. They were also in Egyptian hieroglyphics or some Egyptian form. There were brass plates, which also contained an account of the creation of the world. There was another record which contained an account of the tower of Babel. The cavity in the hill, and the hill and the cavity Joseph both saw in vision, was covered with a stone lid. The other treasures in the stone box were the breastplate, the urim and thummim, as well as the round metal ball which served as a director and was called the Liahona.

Joseph Smith also claimed to be an Israelite, and he too made several fruitless attempts at getting the treasure when he first saw it. Joseph Smith had three witnesses to the Book of Mormon and the record itself bears witness that an arch-villain named Laban, or Laban, was thwarting the availability and accessibility of the sacred records, had his head cut off by his own sword. This prophet also built temples for the in-dwelling of God's spirit. Now these parallels, dramatic as they seem, still do not represent the strangest part of the story. All of these aspects of the legend seem transformed into the history of Joseph Smith, so much so that even it appears to be a kind of symbolic acting out of Masonic lore.

But there is a point in this drama where the action goes beyond metaphor and the symbol merges into a tragic reality. This has to do, of course, with the death of Hiram Abif in the legend and the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, in June Joseph Smith gave himself up to be imprisoned and on June 27, 1844, a mob stormed the little Carthage jail. Hyrum was killed instantly and John Taylor seriously wounded. Joseph Smith, Master Mason and widow's son, went to the window and with upraised hands, commenced giving the Masonic distress call to fraternal Masons who were present in the mob: "Oh, Lord, My God." He was unable to complete his plea and fell out of the window to his death.

How does a Mormon historian interpret Joseph Smith and the Masonic Enoch legend? The parallels demand an answer. Was Joseph Smith the fruition of Enoch's prophecy? Was this an extreme "grabbing on" by the Prophet? Or did mysterious and divine, even magical, forces attach themselves to him? Can anyone deny that Masonic influence on Joseph Smith and the Church, either before or after his personal Masonic membership? The evidence demands comments.

I have attempted to indicate that with regard to Mormonism and Masonry, there remains an abundance of that which is "new under the sun." I do not believe that the Nauvoo story can adequately be told without an inquiry into Masonry.

There are many questions which still demand the answers. I earnestly hope I have raised some questions. Perhaps I have answered a few. But if we, as Mormon historians, respond to these questions and myriads like them relative to Masonry in an ostrich-like fashion, with our heads buried in the traditional sand, then I submit: there never will be "any help for the widow's son."

www.saintsalive.com the radical ex-mormon dude.

Answer 5

joseph smith claims to have been sent by god to establish the true church again when even the bible say that if a prophet makes a prophecy in the name of God and it is shown to be false then label him as a false prophet. joseph smith is on record many times making prophecy in God's name and did not come true he is a false prophet and of course no one can find these because it is made up so people will follow him.

Answer 6

Only if you can consider taking the eye witness testimony of a known and convicted con man as having actually seen them?

If you check the historical context no one else could see the plates without suffering some form of ailment or affliction so they were hidden behind sheets.

Also, his wife got so sick of his scam that she refused to support him in his efforts and later became his ex-wife.

Answer 7

dying to see them myself.....conveniently, he had to give them back, wow way to get out of having evidence. Research Joseph Smith, I'm sure your list of questions will be never ending.

Answer 8

If we discard the eyewitness accounts, there is NO physical evidence

Answer 9

It would suck to loose a Gold Plate....
Go figure.



Blessed Be!

Answer 10

none what so ever. Why do you think he could not reinterpret the same book twice after the first "translation" was lost