Article in The Friend (September 1974) discusses the use of a seer stone as one of the means by which Joseph translated the plates.

"A Peaceful Heart," The Friend (September 1974), accessed June 10, 2024

Translating the ancient and strange looking writing on the gold plates was not a job that just anyone could do. Such an important work needed to be done by someone who was especially prepared by the Lord to do it.Because of his spiritual nature and his willingness to learn the truth, Joseph Smith was tested and found worthy to be the translator of the Book of Mormon. To help him with the translation, Joseph found with the gold plates “a curious instrument which the ancients called Urim and Thummim, which consisted of two transparent stones set in a rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate.”Joseph also used an egg-shaped, brown rock for translating called a seer stone. The translating was done at Peter Whitmer’s home, a friend of the Prophet’s where Oliver Cowdery, Emma Smith (Joseph’s wife), one of the Whitmers, or Martin Harris wrote down the words spoken by the Prophet as soon as they were made known to him.Martin Harris said that on the seer stone “sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by [the one writing them down] and when finished [that person] would say ‘written;’ and if correctly written, the sentence would disappear and another take its place; but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates.”Even with the help of the Urim and Thummim and the seer stone, it wasn’t easy to translate the sacred record. It required the Prophet’s greatest concentration and spiritual strength.Joseph’s friend, David Whitmer, said that sometimes when the Prophet would try to translate, “he was spiritually blind” and could not do it. Joseph explained that when that happened it was because his mind “dwelt too much on earthly things.”One morning the Prophet was unhappy with his wife Emma over a household matter. When he went upstairs where Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer were waiting to continue with the translation, he still had a bad feeling about his wife in his heart. Joseph tried to translate but not even a syllable of a word came to him; and he knew why. Joseph went downstairs and out into an orchard where he prayed to the Lord.After about an hour, Joseph returned to the house feeling humble and repentant. He asked Emma to forgive him for his lack of understanding. Then he went back upstairs where he was able to translate without any difficulty.David Whitmer also understood why the Prophet couldn’t translate just an hour before. He said, “Now we see how very strict the Lord is, and how he requires the heart of man to be just right in his sight before he can receive revelations from him.”See Full


Richard Anderson mentions various possibilities for the translation process for the Book of Mormon (e.g., potential use of seer stones) in the Ensign.

Richard Lloyd Anderson, "By the Gift and Power of God," Ensign (September 1977), accessed June 24, 2021

The person who best reflects Martin Harris is probably Edward Stevenson, since he spent nearly two months with the Witness after going to Ohio to escort him back to Utah in 1870. On the means of translation Stevenson reported, “He said that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone.”After Martin Harris lost the part of the translation done in 1828, Oliver Cowdery became chief scribe for the entire Book of Mormon as it is now printed. Toward the end of this new work of 1829, David Whitmer on occasion watched and afterwards spoke of the seer stone . . . David Whitmer’s idea of translation is similar to Samuel Richards’s. Yet this view does not appear until 1875, nearly a half-century after Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery worked in David Whitmer’s home. His many statements on translation harmonize with his Address to All Believers In Christ, published in 1887 to supersede second-hand reports. There he gave his most detailed view of “the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated”:“Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light. And in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe. And when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God and not by any power of man. The characters I speak of are the engravings on the golden plates from which the book was translated.”See Full


Jon Butler wrote that early American Christianity was intermingled with the occult.

Jon Butler, "Magic, Astrology, and the Early American Religious Heritage, 1600-1760," American Historical Review 84, no. 2 (April 1979): 318

For American colonists were indeed religious, but many resorted to occult and magical practices unacceptable to most Christian clergymen and lawmakers.BHR Staff Commentary


Blake T. Ostler argues that the Book of Mormon is an ancient record with nineteenth century expansions.

Blake Ostler, "The Book of Mormon as a Modern Expansion of an Ancient

This essay has attempted to identify and define some expansions of the Book of Mormon and to demonstrate the value of such a model as an explanation of the book. The expansion model requires coming to grips with larger issues concerning the historicity of scripture and the plausibility of revelation as a partial explanation. Evidences concerning the historicity of the Book of Mormon certainly will never be explained to the satisfaction of all, but a universally acceptable proof is not necessary to show that many of our common assumptions about scripture prevent an adequate interpretation of scriptures and their historicity.The conclusion that the Book of Mormon is pious fraud derived from nineteenth-century influences does not logically follow from the observation that it contains KJV quotations and is expressed in terms of a nineteenth-century worldview. Nor does it follow that doctrinal developments cast doubts on whether earlier expressions reflected an authentic encounter with God. All expressions of revelation must be communicated within their author's framework of thought, a framework limited by its assumptions. Nor does it follow that if the book derives from the revelation of an ancient source it must be explained exclusively in ancient terms. Fundamentalist views of revelation and scripture that give rise to such assumptions are grossly inadequate.The views expressed here logically preclude taking scripture as a sourcebook of axiomatic truths which can be wielded as a sword of the excluded middle to exclude all who disagree on religious issues with the true understanding. They do not, however, exclude taking seriously the possibility that God is involved in human experiences giving rise to scripture. The Book of Mormon is worthy of serious consideration and respect. It is a sufficient foundation for the community which reveres it as scripture. The refusal to engage the richness, complexity, and even the problems of the Book of Mormon will impoverish our religious lives as individuals and as a community.. . . Douglas Jones, a respected Old Testament scholar, agrees with others that certain disciples of Isaiah in the exile expanded and explained basic passages from the original prophet to console the exiles and give them hope of return in chapters 40-55 (Jones 1955, 227-44; McKenzie 1983, xx-xxiii; Nibley 1973, 144-47). This hypothesis deserves serious consideration. Significantly, before the coming of the resurrected Christ, the Book of Mormon does not quote from "trito-Isaiah," chapters 56-66, which many scholars regard as devoid of the words of the original prophet Isaiah (McKenzie 1983, xx-xxiii; Eissfeldt 1965, 343-46). Scholars also usually regard chapters 1 and 24-27 as post-exilic (Eissfeldt 1965, 232-37). Again, the Book of Mormon does not quote from these chapters. Nephi and Jacob refer, not to the "book" of Isaiah but to the "words of Isaiah," possibly a collection of "words" or sayings written by the eighth-century prophet which may not have included chapters 56-66 (1 Ne. 15:20; 19:23-24; 2 Ne. 6:4-5, 14; 11:18). Possibly the resurrected Christ "updated" the Nephite scriptures by quoting Isaiah 52, 54, and 66:18-19, Malachi 3 and 4, and Micah, together with various New Testament scriptures, just as he restored the words of the Lamanite prophet Samuel which the Nephites had failed to record (3 Ne. 23:9-14). Hence, the Book of Mormon may anticipate the "Isaiah problem" and can be reconciled with the deutero- Isaiah/trito-Isaiah hypothesis.See Full


Kenneth W. Godfrey, in an article published in the Ensign, notes that scripture indicates the translation involved "the Urim and Thummim or a seerstone."

Kenneth W. Godfrey, "A New Prophet and New Scripture," Ensign (January 1988): 6-13

On precisely the day that marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall, seventeen-year-old Joseph Smith learned of the Book of Mormon from the angel Moroni. It is appropriate that the book, destined to be the restored church’s greatest missionary and a primary sign of the gathering of Israel, would first be made known on the day that officially begins the harvest season.On that day, 21 September 1823, Moroni showed to Joseph Smith in vision the Nephite and Lamanite civilizations and gave a brief sketch of their origin, culture, and history. He told the youthful prophet about a box buried in a hill, containing engravings on plates of gold written by ancient American prophets that gave an account of those civilizations. The angel also informed Joseph Smith of two stones fastened to a breastplate, which God had prepared to help translate the book. (See JS—H 1:27–47.)In his 1835 account of the experience, the Prophet writes that these stones, known as Urim and Thummim, would assist him in translating the plates because God would give him the power to use the stones. Joseph Smith learned that if he kept the commandments of God, he would be an instrument in God’s hand in bringing forth the book.Oliver Cowdery tells us that the Prophet was warned that bringing the book to light “must be done with an eye single to the glory of God” or the adversary would prevent him from succeeding. He then relates that, while the angel was describing where the record lay hidden, the vision of Joseph Smith’s mind was opened: “He was permitted to view [the place] critically” and could thus “follow the direction of the vision, afterward,” to the exact spot where they were buried.The following day at the Hill Cumorah, after locating the stone under which the gold plates lay, the young man removed the earth around the stone, obtained a lever, and raised the stone up. For the first time, he beheld the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate. Joseph Smith’s earliest account of these events simply relates that he made three unsuccessful attempts to obtain the record, but Oliver Cowdery provides greater detail concerning these attempts.Apparently the thought of the gold had severely tempted the youth, and the actual sight of the plates moved Joseph to thoughts of riches. In his first attempt to take possession of the record, Joseph Smith experienced a shock from an unseen power that physically weakened him. An even stronger shock accompanied the second attempt. With increased exertion, young Joseph tried a third time, unsuccessfully, and was left far weaker than before. He then cried out, “Why can I not obtain this book?” From a short distance away, he heard Moroni’s voice say, “Because you have not kept the commandments of the Lord.”Lucy Smith and Joseph Knight provide further details about the Prophet’s first visit to Cumorah. Mother Smith writes that her son expected to receive the plates and hide them until the proper time for translation. She relates that he actually took the plates up, then laid them down, thinking that the box might contain something valuable and ought to be covered. When he turned back from looking into the box, the plates were gone.Joseph Knight, in a manuscript written some time between 1833 and 1847, relates in his personalized style that the Prophet reopened the box and found the plates resting in it. When he tried to lift them out, he found he couldn’t budge them. At that point he cried out, “Why Cant I stur [stir] this Book?” He was answered, “You have not Done rite; you should have took the Book and gone right away. You cant have it now.” It was probably in this incident that Joseph reached forth his hand to touch the plates and was hurled back upon the ground, as his mother describes.In the Prophet’s 1838 account, Joseph says that the messenger informed him that “the time for bringing [the plates] forth had not yet arrived, neither would it, until four years from that time.” He was instructed to return to the place in precisely one year, when he would again meet the messenger. (JS—H 1:53.) Lucy Smith, Joseph’s mother, informs us that Joseph was told he could not obtain the plates “until he had learned to keep the commandments of God—not only till he was willing but able to do it.”Oliver Cowdery adds that a manifestation regarding the forces of evil accompanied the angel’s instructions. When the darkness dissipated from his mind, he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and the heavens were opened. Moroni then said, “All this is shown, the good and the evil, the holy and impure, the glory of God and the power of darkness, that you may know hereafter the two powers and never be influenced or overcome by that wicked one.” Moreover, the angel stated that the plates were sealed by the power of faith, and their true value was the knowledge they contained. The angel then gave instructions regarding the process of translation.That evening, September 22, the Prophet related the experiences of the past twenty-four hours to his family. Alvin observed that Joseph was terribly tired. He suggested that they all retire and that the next evening their mother might prepare an early supper to allow more time to listen to Joseph’s account. The following evening, before the discussion, Joseph Smith warned his family that evil men would hate them and seek their lives because of what had happened to him. They then spent the evening discussing Joseph’s recent experiences. With one accord, they believed and received his account joyfully.Unfortunately, we know little of the September 1824, 1825, and 1826 interviews with Moroni. The Prophet said about his meetings with the angel that “at each time I found the same messenger there, and received instruction and intelligence from him at each of our interviews, respecting what the Lord was going to do, and how and in what manner his kingdom was to be conducted in the last days.” (JS—H 1:54.)Meanwhile, opposition to the Smith family was growing, as Joseph had warned. The Smiths lost their home. Mr. Stoddard, the carpenter on their house, tried to cheat the Smiths out of their farm, and they ended up selling it and their home to Mr. Durfee to keep it out of Stoddard’s hands. On another occasion, Joseph Smith was brought to trial on a misdemeanor charge. The accounts of and references to the trial disagree on almost everything, including the verdict. One thing they agree on is the subject—treasure hunting. Rumors about Joseph Smith’s ability to find treasure as a result of his experience with the gold plates were evidently rife, even though Joseph himself references in his writings to only one incident in which he was involved in treasure hunting—when Josiah Stowell hired him and his father at fourteen dollars a month to help find a mine. Joseph says that the search was fruitless and that he finally persuaded Mr. Stowell to stop looking.Sometime in early 1827, shortly after Joseph Smith had married Emma Hale, the Prophet left for Manchester on business. Lucy Smith recalls that he came home late that night exhausted, three hours later than expected. He told his father that the angel Moroni had appeared to him, saying that he “had not been engaged enough in the work of the Lord; that the time had come for the record to be brought forth; and that [he] must be up and doing and set [himself] about the things which God had commanded.”As the night of 22 September 1827 approached, Joseph Smith and his family had much to be anxious about. According to Joseph Knight, who was a close friend of the family and who happened to be visiting the Smiths at the time, Moroni had told the Prophet that if he did not prepare himself and make himself worthy to receive the plates that year, he would never have them. Furthermore, members of the community knew that Joseph Smith went to Cumorah every year on the same day, and the Prophet was fearful that Samuel Lawrence, a local resident who professed seership, might spend the night on the hill in an attempt to obtain the plates for himself.On the twenty-first, Joseph Smith sent his father to scout the neighborhood to see if Samuel was, in fact, planning to interfere with the upcoming visit with Moroni. When night came, Joseph Knight and Josiah Stowell, who had come with Mr. Knight on the visit, retired to bed. Joseph Smith, Sr., returned and reported that everything was fine. He, too, retired for the night. Lucy kept busy painting oilcloth. About midnight, Joseph Smith, who was fully dressed, asked his mother if she had a chest with a lock and key. She knew immediately what he wanted it for and was greatly alarmed that they did not have one. Joseph perceived her anxiety and said, “Never mind, I can do very well for the present without it—be calm—all is right.”Shortly after, Emma, in her bonnet and riding dress, left with her husband, who borrowed a horse and wagon from Mr. Knight. The two arrived at Cumorah, and the 21-year-old prophet climbed to the meeting place, leaving Emma to pray. There he met Moroni, who delivered the plates into his charge with the promise that if Joseph strove to preserve the plates until Moroni called for them, they would be protected. (JS—H 1:59.)Wrapping the plates in his coat, Joseph Smith took them into the forest, where he hid them in a log he had hollowed out for the purpose, covering the hole with pieces of bark. The young couple then returned to the farm, where an anxious family and the two visitors waited. It was already after breakfast. Joseph Knight says that the Prophet told them, “It is ten times better than I expected,” and described the length, width, and thickness of the plates. He was especially pleased with the Urim and Thummim, saying, “I can see anything, they are marvelous.”Joseph Smith soon learned why Moroni had instructed him to preserve the plates. A few days after the Prophet obtained the record, his father overheard Samuel Lawrence and some neighbors devise plans to take what they called the gold Bible. Emma left to fetch Joseph, who had gone to Macedon to work, and they immediately rode back home. Joseph sent his brother Carlos to Hyrum’s for a chest with a lock, then set off for the plates. He retrieved them from the log, wrapped them in a linen smock, and began the journey home. Lucy Smith writes that he was attacked three times while coming home but struck the men down, dislocating a thumb during the third attack.The Smiths continued to be harassed, and the Prophet had to resort to numerous hiding places. Joseph Smith first placed them in Hyrum’s chest, then, at various times, secreted the plates under the hearth of his father’s home, in a pile of flax in the cooper’s loft, in Father Beman’s Ontario glass box, and in Emma’s red Morocco trunk.However, Joseph Smith’s calling was not merely to preserve the gold plates, but also to translate them. With people in the area around Manchester so intent on stealing the plates, Joseph and Emma decided to move to Harmony to live on her father’s farm. They hoped to have the necessary peace there to accomplish the divine task. Martin Harris gave Joseph $50 to make the move, and Emma’s brother Alva lent them a team and wagon. They left after hiding the record in a barrel of beans in the wagon. Several men detained the travelers but were unsuccessful in finding the plates.In Harmony, the couple moved into a two-room house owned by Jesse, another of Emma’s brothers, about 150 yards from Isaac Hale’s house. The Prophet was ready to begin the translation. On at least six different occasions, Joseph Smith gave brief descriptions of how he translated the Book of Mormon. All six accounts agree that he translated them by the gift and power of God, through the Urim and Thummim.Such a statement does not mean, though, that Joseph Smith did nothing but read to his scribe the English appearing in that instrument. He first began to translate by copying a considerable number of characters off the plates. He then studied them out in his mind and finally, by using the Urim and Thummim and his faith, translated them.The scriptures indicate that translation involved sight, power, transcription of the characters, the Urim and Thummim or a seerstone, study, and prayer. David Whitmer and Martin Harris testify that if the Prophet made the proper preparation, sentences would appear, which he dictated to his scribe. If the scribe wrote them correctly, the words would disappear, and others would take their place.About two months after Joseph and Emma had moved to Harmony, Martin Harris and Hyrum arrived for a visit. Joseph, with Emma’s help, had carefully copied quite a few characters from the plates and translated some of them. Martin left with the characters and translation for New York to show them to linguists there. His biographer, Rhett James, feels that Martin Harris went east to confront the learned, not because he wanted more proof to alleviate his doubts but because Joseph Smith had requested him to make the journey. To James, Martin Harris was not a doubter but was a believer from the first.On his return, Martin Harris told Joseph Smith that he had presented the characters and translation to two scholars and that their response increased his faith in the Prophet’s work. It was around this time that Martin Harris volunteered to act as Joseph Smith’s scribe.After returning from a trip to Palmyra to settle his affairs, Martin began to transcribe. From April 12 to June 14, Joseph translated while Martin wrote, with only a curtain between them. On occasion they took breaks from the arduous task, sometimes going to the river and throwing stones. Once Martin found a rock closely resembling the seerstone Joseph sometimes used in place of the interpreters and substituted it without the Prophet’s knowledge. When the translation resumed, Joseph paused for a long time and then exclaimed, “Martin, what is the matter, all is as dark as Egypt.” Martin then confessed that he wished to “stop the mouths of fools” who told him that the Prophet memorized sentences and merely repeated them.By early summer, the Prophet had translated and his scribe had written 116 pages of script on foolscap paper. Martin Harris wanted evidence to take to his wife, Lucy, to convince her that he had not been wasting his time or their money. Perhaps Joseph Smith saw a way to help silence some of his critics. Whatever the reasons, Joseph asked the Lord several times for permission to let Martin Harris take the manuscript pages to Palmyra. What follows is the famous lost-manuscript episode, which has been told and retold by dozens of historians and writers.Because Martin Harris lost the manuscript, the first part of the published Book of Mormon was actually translated last. Doctrine and Covenants 3 and 10 [D&C 3, D&C 10] were given in relation to the loss, detailing the impact it had on the Lord’s work. Joseph Smith was required to give the interpreters back to the angel Moroni for a time and was not allowed to translate until he received them back later that year, with Emma acting as scribe.On 5 April 1829 Joseph’s brother Samuel Smith arrived in Harmony with Oliver Cowdery. Twenty-year-old Oliver had learned of Joseph and his work while teaching school in Palmyra and boarding with the Smith family. Later he would write that he remembered those days as the sort that would never be forgotten: “To sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven.” The Prophet probably resumed translating with Oliver Cowdery in what is now the book of Mosiah. Oliver Cowdery was so excited with the work that he even desired to try some translating himself. He was unsuccessful, and the Lord tells us why in Doctrine and Covenants 9, [D&C 9] giving us insight into the translation process.By May, Joseph Smith was working on 3 Nephi and the account of Christ’s ministry among the Nephites. There he read the instructions of the Savior concerning baptism, which led Joseph and Oliver to the Susquehanna River, where they received the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist and were baptized.In June, after the Melchizedek Priesthood had been restored, David Whitmer offered the translator and his scribe free room and board at his parents’ home in Fayette, New York. They accepted; Joseph Smith apparently felt the translation would be easier in an environment of believers. David and John Whitmer also assisted the Prophet as scribes for a time. The first few pages of the translation of 1 Nephi are in Oliver Cowdery’s handwriting, followed by several pages of what is probably John Whitmer’s hand.Evidently, the Prophet was still working on 1 Nephi in June 1829. David Whitmer, in an interview with M. J. Hubble in 1886, remembered that while Joseph Smith was working on the translation that month, he came to the place where it speaks of Jerusalem being a walled city (undoubtedly 1 Ne. 4:4). At that point he stopped until they got a Bible and he was shown that the Holy City was indeed walled. The translation was finished by 1 July 1829.In late May or early June, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery may have come across the passage in Ether 5 that mentions the principle of witnesses.32 Later, while working on 2 Nephi 27, [2 Ne. 27] the principle would be reinforced. When the translation was nearly complete, the Prophet learned that David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris would fill the role of witnesses to the Book of Mormon.Joseph Smith, Sr., and Lucy Smith were visiting at that time. They spent their first evening reading from the completed portion of the manuscript. The following morning, after a devotional, Joseph Smith told Martin Harris that he would have to humble himself that day if he were to look upon the plates.The Prophet went with Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris into the woods near David Whitmer’s farm. After each prayed twice without success, Martin offered to withdraw. Joseph, David, and Oliver then knelt, and within a few minutes, they saw a light over their heads. An angel appeared with the plates, and, according to David Whitmer, they also saw the breastplate, Lehi’s directors, and the sword of Laban as they lay on a table. The angel told them that God had revealed the plates, that they were translated by the power of God, and that the translation was correct. He commanded them to bear record of what they had seen and heard, then departed. Later Joseph found Martin Harris, and the two men subsequently had essentially the same experience.The Prophet asked Oliver Cowdery to make a complete copy of the original manuscript as a precaution against loss. Even before the translation was finished, Joseph Smith deposited the title page in the office of R. R. Lansing, clerk of New York’s northern district, and obtained a copyright. Then he began searching for a printer.Only three months before Joseph Smith finished the translation of the Book of Mormon, E. B. Grandin began to advertise himself as a book printer. Grandin had purchased a Palmyra newspaper, The Wayne Sentinel, and a bookstore on 13 April 1827 from John Gilbert. Thereafter, Gilbert worked for Grandin and was the person who set the type and printed the Book of Mormon. E. B. Grandin was at first reluctant to publish the book. He agreed after Joseph Smith and Martin Harris pointed out to him that it would appear anyway because another printer, Elihu F. Marshall, had agreed to print the book.John Gilbert, as chief compositor, began his work under rather unusual circumstances. He received the manuscript only through a guard and only in small batches of copy. The copy was then composed and set in galley, and page forms were checked and proofread. Oliver Cowdery and a guard, sometimes Hyrum Smith, withdrew the manuscript each evening and took it home for safekeeping.Even so, Abner Cole, who used the Grandin press in the evenings to publish his newspaper, the Reflector, actually printed the first chapter of 1 Nephi on 2 January 1830. Even though Hyrum Smith pointed out to him that the book was copyrighted, Cole insisted that he would continue to publish the book in his newspaper and did so in the next two issues. About this time, Joseph Smith, who had gone back to Harmony to be with Emma, was summoned, and he and Cole reached an accord through arbitration that Cole would cease to pirate the contents of the Book of Mormon.After working six days a week—and many times eleven hours a day—from fall until spring, the printer finally printed five thousand copies of the Book of Mormon. He was able to announce on 26 March 1830, in the Wayne Sentinel, that the book was now on sale at the E. B. Grandin bookstore.Some of the citizens of Palmyra organized a boycott of the book. They called on E. B. Grandin and told him their decision. They argued that since the Smiths had lost their farm, Grandin would not receive his pay unless the book sold. Reacting to this pressure, Grandin demanded full payment from Joseph Smith. However, it was not until 7 April 1831 that Martin Harris, who had already left a mortgage agreement with Grandin as security on 25 April 1829, liquidated enough of his properties to pay the printing costs.The Book of Mormon had indeed been brought forth by the gift and power of God. Every step of the way, from its beginnings on the small plates six hundred years before Christ to its appearance in March 1830 as a printed book, that volume of scripture had been protected and then brought forth by the hand of the Lord. Time would soon tell what impact the book would have on those who learned about it.See Full

Reading Public, Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


Russell Nelson, referencing Whitmer, taught that Joseph used a Seer Stone in a Hat to translate BOM.

Russell M. Nelson, "A Treasured Testament," Ensign (July 1993), accessed July 7, 2021

The details of this miraculous method of translation are still not fully known. Yet we do have a few precious insights. David Whitmer wrote:“Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.” (David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, Richmond, Mo.: n.p., 1887, p. 12.)


Neal A. Maxwell taught that Joseph used a seer stone to translate plates in Ensign.

Neal A. Maxwell, "By the Gift and Power of God," Ensign (January 1997), accessed June 24, 2021

The Prophet Joseph alone knew the full process, and he was deliberately reluctant to describe details. We take passing notice of the words of David Whitmer, Joseph Knight, and Martin Harris, who were observers, not translators. David Whitmer indicated that as the Prophet used the divine instrumentalities provided to help him, “the hieroglyphics would appear, and also the translation in the English language … in bright luminous letters.” Then Joseph would read the words to Oliver (quoted in James H. Hart, “About the Book of Mormon,” Deseret Evening News, 25 Mar. 1884, 2). Martin Harris related of the seer stone: “Sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin” (quoted in Edward Stevenson, “One of the Three Witnesses: Incidents in the Life of Martin Harris,” Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, 6 Feb. 1882, 86–87). Joseph Knight made similar observations (see Dean Jessee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History,” BYU Studies 17 [Autumn 1976]: 35).


D. Michael Quinn said that seer stones common for treasure digging in Palmyra in Joseph's time.

D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised edition (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 41

Even in Palmyra, several of Smith’s neighbors had seer stones. Until the Book of Mormon thrust Joseph into prominence, Palmyra's most notable seer was Sally Chase who used a greenish-colored stone. Her schoolfriend said: “She told me she would place the stone in a hat and hold it to her face, and claimed things would be brought to her view.” William Stafford also had a seer stone, and Joshua Stafford had a “peepstone which looked like white marble and had a hole through the center.” The hole allowed Stafford’s “peepstone” to double as an amulet (see ch. 3). Both the Chase and Stafford families used their stones for treasure-digging around Palmyra. Joseph Knight described Samuel Lawrence as a fourth non-Mormon “Seear” at Palmyra. Martin Harris and another Palmyra neighbor also described Lawrence as participating in local treasure-digging with the Smith family.


Royal Skousen proposes how Joseph Smith may have translated the Book of Mormon.

Royal Skousen, "How Joseph Smith Translated the Book of Mormon: Evidence from the Original Manuscript," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 7/1 (1998): 22–31

AbstractDetails of the translation process Joseph Smith used for translating the Book of Mormon from the plates can be adduced from statements of witnesses and from evidence in the original and printer’s manuscripts. According to witnesses, Joseph Smith often translated without the plates being present and used the interpreters to receive the revealed text. Evidence from the manuscripts themselves shows that the original manuscript was written from dictation, that Joseph Smith was working with at least twenty words at a time, that Joseph Smith could see the spelling of names, that the scribe repeated the text to Joseph Smith, and that the word chapter and the corresponding chapter numbers were not part of the revealed text. The manuscripts and text show that Joseph Smith apparently received the translation word for word and letter for letter, in what is known as “tight control.”


Lorenzo Saunders recalled how Sally Chase had a seer stone.

E.L. Kelley, interview by Lorenzo Saunders, November 12, 1884, in  Dan Vogel, ed., Early Mormon Documents, 5 vols. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 2:154

Willard Chase claimed his sister Sally had a peep stone. The Lord bless you I have seen her peep stone a hundred times; It was a little bit of a stone & it was green & she would hold it before light. After I left there, it was thirty years ago:—after I left there I can not tell you whether the peep stone was used or not[.] When men will come to e & tell me that men can pick stones out of this Earth [sentence incomplete]. as I told Jo. Smith when he dug one out of a well on Chases Farm in the Shape of a baby's foot. They dug that hole for money. Chase's & Smiths altogether was digging it[.] I knew all about the stone; Edmund Chase told me all about it, He lives here now, this side of Kalamazoo. He is a man older than I am[.] his name is Edmund Chase[.]


Historian Ashurst-McGee perspective on Joseph's progression from village seer to prophet.

Mark Ashurst-McGee, "A Pathway to Prophethood: Joseph Smith Junior as Rodsman, Village Seer, and Judeo-Christian Prophet," MA thesis, Utah State University, 2000, 27

Joseph was born into a family tradition of wisdom divination. Coming out of this background, he learned to use a divining rod. After becoming a rodsman, he then progressed to village seer. Finally, he attained prophethood. With each step, Joseph moved further from mechanical divination and closer to ecstatic revelation.


Robert Matthews discussed disparity between knowledge of artists and scholars about issues, including BOM topics.

"A Conversation with Robert J. Matthews," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 12, no. 2 (2003): 92

JBMS: Do you think there are things that artists could do in portraying the Book of Mormon?RJM: Possibly. To me it would be particularly helpful if they could illustrate what scholars have done. When I was on the Correlation Committee [of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], there were groups producing scripture films. They would send to us for approval the text of the words that were to be spoken. We would read the text and decide whether we liked it or not. They would never send us the artwork for clearance. But when you see the artwork, that makes all the difference in the world. It was always too late then. I decided at that point that it is so difficult to create a motion picture, or any illustration, and not convey more than should be conveyed. If you paint a man or woman, they have to have clothes on. And the minute you paint that clothing, you have said something either right or wrong. It would be a marvelous help if there were artists who could illustrate things that researchers and archaeologists had discovered.See Full


Richard Bushman describes how the Book of Mormon might have been translated.

Richard Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling: A Cultural Biography of Mormonism's Founder (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 71-73

Neither Joseph nor Oliver explained how translation worked, but Joseph did not pretend to look at the "reformed Egyptian" words, the language on the plates, according to the book's own description. The plates lay covered on the table, while Joseph's head was in a hat looking at the seerstone, which by this time had replaced the interpreters. The varying explanations of the perplexing process fall roughly into two categories: composition and transcription. The first holds that Joseph was the author of the book. He composed it out of knowledge and imaginings collected in his own mind, perhaps aided by inspiration. He had stuffed his head with ideas for sermons, Christian doctrine, biblical language, multiple characters, stories of adventure, social criticism, theories of Indian origins, ideas about Mesoamerican civilization, and many other matters. During translation, he composed it all into a narrative dictated over the space of three months in Harmony and Fayette.Composition is the naturalistic explanation for the Book of Mormon-the way books are always written-but it is at odds with Joseph Smith and the historical record. The accounts of the neighbors picture an unambitious, uneducated, treasure-seeking Joseph, who had never written anything and is not known to have read anything but the Bible and perhaps the newspaper. None of the neighbors noted signs of learning or intellectual interests beyond the religious discussions in a juvenile debating club. To account for the disjuncture between the Book of Mormon complexity and Joseph's history as an uneducated rural visionary, the composition theory calls for a precocious genius of extraordinary powers who was voraciously consuming information without anyone knowing it.The transcription theory has Joseph Smith "seeing" the Book of Mormon text in the seerstone or the Urim and Thummim. He saw the words in the stone as he had seen lost objects or treasure and dictated them to his secretary. The eyewiynesses who described translation, Joseph Knight, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, who was in the whouse during the last weeks of translation, understood translation as transcription. Refering to the seerstone as a Urim and Thummim, Knight said: "Now the way he translated was he put the urim and thummim into his hat and Darkned his Eyes then he would take a sentance and it would apper in Brite Roman Letters. Then he would tell the writer and he would write it. Then that would go away the next sentance would Come and so on."Joseph himself said almost nothing about his method but implied transcription when he said that "the Lord had prepared spectacles for to read the Book." Close scrutiny of the original manuscript (by a believing scholar) seems to support transcription. Judging from the way Cowdery wrote down the words, Joseph saw twenty to thrity words at a time, dictated them, and then waited for the next twenty to appear. Difficult names (Zenoch, Amalakiah) were spelled out. By any measure, transcription was a miraculous process, calling for a huge leap of faith to believe, yet, paradoxically it is more in harmony with the young Joseph of the historical record than is composition. Transcritpion theory gives us a Joseph with a miraculous gift that evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure-seeking. The boy who gazed into stones and saw treasure grew up to become a translator who looked in a stone and saw words.See Full


Brant A. Gardner gave 1800s background to Joseph's use of Seer Stones.

Brant A. Gardner, "Joseph the Seer—or Why Did He Translate With a Rock in His Hat?," address at 2009 FairMormon Conference, accessed June 22, 2021

Brant. A. Gardner gives 19th-century background to JS's use of a seer stone in a hat to translate the plates at a FairMormon Conference.


2012 Seminary Teacher Manual States Plates Translated by "Urim and Thummim."

Book of Mormon: Seminary Teacher Manual (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2012), 505

Invite a student to read Ether 3:25-26, and ask the class to identify what the Lord showed the brother of Jared in vision. Invite students to report what they learn.Summarize Ether 3:21-24, 27-28 by explaining that the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to write down the things he had seen and heard and to seal up his writings. The Lord also explained that He would prepare a way for the writings of the brother of Jared to be translated in the future—through two stones. These stones were part of what is called a Urim and Thummim (see D&C 17:1; see also Bible Dictionary, "Urim and Thummim").


Moroni discussed sealing up the interpreters with the plates.

Ether 4:5 in The Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2013), 494-495

And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people.And after Christ truly had showed himself unto his people he commanded that they should be made manifest.And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief; and there is none save it be the Lamanites, and they have rejected the gospel of Christ; therefore I am commanded that I should hide them up again in the earth.Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.See Full


2013 D&C Manual Published by Church: Urim and Thummim is an instrument that aids a seer in the work of translation.

Doctrine and Covenants and Church History: Seminary Teacher Manual (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2013, 2017), 49

What items did Moroni entrust to Joseph Smith? (the gold plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate. Explain that the Urim and Thummim is a divinely prepared instrument that aids a seer in the work of translation and in receiving revelation.)


Gospel Topics Essay Teaches Joseph did use the Seer Stone in a Hat Method to Translate Plates.

Gospel Topics Essay: Book of Mormon Translation, accessed June 17. 2021

The other instrument, which Joseph Smith discovered in the ground years before he retrieved the gold plates, was a small oval stone, or “seer stone.” As a young man during the 1820s, Joseph Smith, like others in his day, used a seer stone to look for lost objects and buried treasure. As Joseph grew to understand his prophetic calling, he learned that he could use this stone for the higher purpose of translating scripture.Apparently for convenience, Joseph often translated with the single seer stone rather than the two stones bound together to form the interpreters. These two instruments—the interpreters and the seer stone—were apparently interchangeable and worked in much the same way such that, in the course of time, Joseph Smith and his associates often used the term “Urim and Thummim” to refer to the single stone as well as the interpreters. In ancient times, Israelite priests used the Urim and Thummim to assist in receiving divine communications. Although commentators differ on the nature of the instrument, several ancient sources state that the instrument involved stones that lit up or were divinely illumined. Latter-day Saints later understood the term “Urim and Thummim” to refer exclusively to the interpreters. Joseph Smith and others, however, seem to have understood the term more as a descriptive category of instruments for obtaining divine revelations and less as the name of a specific instrument . . . Most of the accounts speak of Joseph’s use of the Urim and Thummim (either the interpreters or the seer stone), and many accounts refer to his use of a single stone. According to these accounts, Joseph placed either the interpreters or the seer stone in a hat, pressed his face into the hat to block out extraneous light, and read aloud the English words that appeared on the instrument. The process as described brings to mind a passage from the Book of Mormon that speaks of God preparing “a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light" . . . Another scribe, Martin Harris sat across the table from Joseph Smith and wrote down the words Joseph dictated. Harris later related that as Joseph used the seer stone to translate, sentences appeared. Joseph read those sentences aloud, and after penning the words, Harris would say, “Written.” An associate who interviewed Harris recorded him saying that Joseph “possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone.”See Full


Anthony Sweat depicted Joseph using a rock in a hat to translate the BOM in a Deseret Book publication.

Anthony Sweat, "Joseph translating with Martin Harris as his scribe" (2014), in Michael Hubbard Mackay and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, From Darkness Unto Light: Joseph Smith's Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon (Provo and Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company and BYU Religious Studies Center, 2015), 125


Anthony Sweat quoting Walter Rane on the Difficulty of portraying the translation process in art.

Anthony Sweat, “The Gift and Power of Art," in Michael Hubbard MacKay and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat. From Darkness unto Light: Joseph Smith’s Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon (Provo and Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company and BYU Religious Studies Center, 2015), 236-37

When I asked Walter Rane about creating an image of the translation with Joseph looking into a hat, he surprised me by telling me that the Church had actually talked to him a few times in the past about producing an image like that but that the projects fell by the wayside as other matters became more pressing. Note how Walter refers to the language of art as to why he never created the image:At least twice I have been approached by the Church to do that scene [Joseph translating using the hat]. I get into it. When I do the drawings I think, “This is going to look really strange to people.” Culturally from our vantage point 200 years later it just looks odd. It probably won’t communicate what the Church wants to communicate. Instead of a person being inspired to translate ancient records it will just be,“What’s going on there?” It will divert people’s attention. In both of those cases I remember being interested and intrigued when the commission was changed (often they [the Church] will just throw out ideas that disappear, not deliberately) but I thought just maybe I should still do it [the image of Joseph translating using the hat]. But some things just don’t work visually. It’s true of a lot of stories in the scriptures. That’s why we see some of the same things being done over and over and not others; some just don’t work visually.See Full


Steven Snow affirmed in Ensign that Joseph used a Seer Stone to translate the Plates.

Steven E. Snow, "Joseph Smith in Harmony," Ensign (September 2015), accessed September 30, 2021

Not all the details about the translation of the Book of Mormon are known, but Joseph and his scribes did mention his use of two instruments. One was the Urim and Thummim (called the “interpreters” in the Book of Mormon), which Joseph received with the plates and “which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow.” The other instrument was a seer stone that Joseph had found some years before. Both of these instruments helped him translate the plates “by the gift, and power of God.”


Richard Turley et al. wrote about how Joseph used a seer stone.

Richard E. Turley Jr., Robin S. Jensen, and Mark Ashurt-McGee, "Joseph the Seer," Ensign (October 2015), accessed September 30, 2021

“Seeing” and “seers” were part of the American and family culture in which Joseph Smith grew up. Steeped in the language of the Bible and a mixture of Anglo-European cultures brought over by immigrants to North America, some people in the early 19th century believed it was possible for gifted individuals to “see,” or receive spiritual manifestations, through material objects such as seer stones.The young Joseph Smith accepted such familiar folk ways of his day, including the idea of using seer stones to view lost or hidden objects. Since the biblical narrative showed God using physical objects to focus people’s faith or communicate spiritually in ancient times, Joseph and others assumed the same for their day. Joseph’s parents, Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, affirmed the family’s immersion in this culture and their use of physical objects in this way, and the villagers of Palmyra and Manchester, New York, where the Smiths lived, sought out Joseph to find lost objects before he moved to Pennsylvania in late 1827.See Full

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


Artistic Depiction of Joseph using Seer Stone in a hat in the Church History Topics.

"Joseph Smith translates the Book of Mormon, dictating the text to his scribe Oliver Cowdery," in Church History Topics-Book of Mormon Translation, accessed August 23, 2021


Michael MacKay and Nicholas Frederick's book, published by Deseret and BYU, discussing how Joseph used a seer stone.

Michael Hubbard MacKay and Nicholas J. Frederick, Joseph Smith's Seer Stones (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2016)

About the BookThis book discusses the origins of Joseph Smith’s seer stones and explores how Joseph used them throughout his life in a way that goes beyond translating the Book of Mormon. It also traces the provenance of the seer stones once they leave his possession.The authors also examine how the Book of Mormon itself provides a storyline about the history of seer stones, which also helped Joseph Smith learn about his own prophetic gifts. Finally, this book explores how Joseph Smith took his own experiences with seer stones and created a theology of seer stones that became closely linked with his unique doctrines of exaltation.


John Welch gives quotes and overview of various sources discussing BOM translation.

John W. Welch, "Documents of the Translation of the Book of Mormon," in John W. Welch, ed., Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820-1844, 2nd ed. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2017), 126-227

The following historical documents are presented in these groupings: 1–9: Statements in the Doctrine and Covenants while the translation was under way 10–43: Accounts by participants, eyewitnesses, or people most closely associated with these events, including Joseph and Emma Smith 44–68: Martin Harris, initial scribe and one of the Three Witnesses 69–78: Oliver Cowdery, main scribe and another of the Three Witnesses 79–100: David Whitmer, the most interviewed of the Three Witnesses 101–4: John Whitmer, another of the scribes 105–13: Members of the Joseph Smith Sr. family, including Lucy Mack Smith, William Smith, and Katharine Smith Salisbury 114–19:


Saints mentions Joseph using a seer stone in a hat to translate the plates.

Saints: The Story of The Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter-Days (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2018), 1:50

With peace restored, Joseph and Martin translated quickly. Joseph was growing into his divine role as a seer and revelator. Looking into the interpreters or another seer stone, he was able to translate whether the plates were in front of him or wrapped in one of Emma's linen cloths on the table.


2020 Come Follow Me Manual References Joseph using a seer stone to translate plates.

Book of Mormon 2020: Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2019), 3

How was the Book of Mormon translated?The Book of Mormon was translated "by the gift and power of God." We don't know many details about the miraculous translation process, but we do know that Joseph Smith was a seer, aided by instruments that God had prepared: two transparent stones called the Urim and Thummim and another stone called a seer stone. Joseph saw in these stones the English interpretation of the characters on the plates, and he read the translation aloud while a scribe recorded it. Each of Joseph's scribes testified that God's power was manifest in the translation of this sacred work.


Steven Snow describes how we keep records in order to keep God's commandments.

Steven E. Snow, "The Sacred Duty of Record Keeping (Online Exclusive)," Ensign (April 2019), accessed November 29, 2021

The records and history of the Church have been important to the Lord from the beginning. He taught Adam and Eve to keep “a book of remembrance” (Moses 6:5), counseled the ancient prophets to keep records, and checked to ensure that the Nephite records were complete (see 3 Nephi 23:7–13). In this dispensation, He taught Joseph Smith and other early leaders that “there shall be a record kept among you,” that the records and histories should be kept “continually,” and that doing so would “be for the good of the church, and for the rising generations” (Doctrine and Covenants 21:1; 47:3; 69:8). . . . We keep the records because of the Lord’s commandments, and we use them to support the Church’s work of salvation and to help the Saints remember. Records help us see and understand the hand of God and His dealings in our lives (see 1 Nephi 19:22; Omni 1:17; Mosiah 1:3). Reviewing sacred records and histories can lead to revelation and knowledge (see 1 Nephi 5:17; Doctrine and Covenants 93:53). The records of the Church are also shared to strengthen the rising generations by publishing accurate historical information for use in seminary and institute classes and through other Church publications and programs (see 1 Nephi 5:21; Mosiah 1:4; Abraham 1:31). These same records also present the truth of the restored gospel to the public (see Joseph Smith—History 1:1) and broaden their understanding of and respect for the early members of the Church.See Full


Michael Mackay addresses importance of gold plates (even when hidden while Joseph translated).

Michael Hubbard Mackay, Prophetic Authority: Democratic Hierarchy and the Mormon Priesthood (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2020), 15-16

[T]he gold plates themselves demonstrated Smith’s authoritative claims. The translation process legitimized the gold plates, even though they remained a hidden object; they were rarely used or even kept in the same room with Smith when he translated them through the seer stones. Because the translated words presumably appeared on the seer stones, translation could occur via the seer stones while the plates remained apart. But the mere fact of the gold plates themselves instilled confidence in Smith and his scribes that the text appearing on the stones was truly from an ancient record. As Ann Taves argues, even if they were not ancient, they still became sacred and represented something deeply important to Mormonism. Without the translation, the plates were a lump of metal, lifted and hefted by others, yet in context the plates became the object of inspiration—the proof of prophet-hood—that prompted a belief in the historical reality of the Book of Mormon text. Without the plates, the text of the Book of Mormon was nothing more than modern revelation, but the combination of the translated text, the plates, and the seer stones elevated all three, placing them in a complex relationship that knit the sacred word with an earthly physical reality.See Full


New Era teaches youth that Joseph used a stone in a hat to Translate BOM Plates.

"How did Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon?" New Era (April 2020), accessed July 8, 2021

Before hiding the gold plates, Moroni, the last prophet of the Book of Mormon, wrote on the book’s title page that the book would be translated “by the gift and power of God.” This remains the best description of the translation of the Book of Mormon.Joseph Smith dictated the words of the translation to scribes, mostly Oliver Cowdery. Because Joseph was translating a completely unknown language, he needed to rely on the Lord. One way the Lord helped was to provide physical instruments to aid Joseph in translating. Witnesses said Joseph looked into the instruments and that words appeared to him in English. The translation instruments included the “interpreters” or “Urim and Thummim”—two clear stones fastened in a metal rim so that Joseph could look through them. These had been given to Joseph along with the plates. Another instrument Joseph used was a “seer stone” that he would look into, often by placing it in a hat. Joseph had found this stone earlier and had used it to find hidden or lost things. He used both the interpreters and the seer stone as he translated, always relying on the inspiration of heaven.The translation of the Book of Mormon was truly miraculous and was done “by the gift and power of God.”See Full


The Church says that the plates are evidence that links the Book of Mormon to the ancient world.

"What Are the Book of Mormon Gold Plates? | Now You Know," April 13, 2020, YouTube, accessed November 29, 2021

The plates are tangible evidence linking the translated Book of Mormon to the ancient prophets who wrote it.


Joseph Smith Papers description of Seer Stones and seeing things not visible to the natural eye.

"Seer Stone," Glossary, The Joseph Smith Papers website, accessed July 14, 2021

According to a European tradition of folk belief reaching back at least into the middle ages, quartz crystals or other stones could be used to find missing objects or to see other things not visible to the natural eye.


Grant Hardy discusses how Joseph may have translated the Book of Mormon.

Grant Hardy, "The Book of Mormon Translation," BYU Studies 60, no. 3 (2021): 203-9

. . . He obviously did not know the language of the plates—reformed Egyptian (Morm. 9:32). His own education was limited, and the first rudimentary decipherment of any form of ancient Egyptian by scholars had happened just a few years earlier. So when Joseph spoke of “translating,” he was not using the word in its ordinary sense, whereby someone who knows the source language perceives the meaning and then formulates corresponding expressions in the target language. Some Latter-day Saints believe that the seer stone allowed Joseph to bypass the first step in such a way that the meaning of the golden plates’ text was revealed to him in a nonverbal or preverbal form, which he then put into his own words. Other Latter-day Saints think that when he looked at the seer stone, he could see English letters and words, which he read aloud to his scribes. This means that there was a pre-existing translation, which he could access through the stone. (John Gilbert, the non-LDS typesetter for the first edition, put it this way: “The question might be asked here whether Jo or the spectacles was the translator?”)Either way, when Joseph “translated,” he was rarely looking at the characters on the plates, which were usually either on the table covered in cloth or hidden elsewhere in the house or vicinity. At the same time, however, the process was not as straightforward as ordinary reading, since David Whitmer reported that if Joseph was not spiritually in tune (as when he had some sort of argument with his wife Emma), the device did not work. In addition, Oliver Cowdery once attempted to translate and failed—though it is uncertain whether he had tried to use the seer stone (D&C 9). Eyewitnesses to the translation process believed that Joseph was reading a pre-existing text. According to Martin Harris, “By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet . . . , and when finished he would say, ‘Written,’ and if correctly written, that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected,” with Joseph occasionally spelling out difficult words or names. Other witnesses, including Emma Smith, Joseph Knight Sr., David Whitmer, and John Whitmer, gave similar reports. These witnesses did not look into the seer stone themselves, and there is no record of Joseph ever explaining the translation process, so their descriptions are presumably based on their own observations of Joseph at work. Nevertheless, an examination of the text of the Book of Mormon, particularly the original manuscript, may provide additional evidence. In comparing these accounts to the original manuscript (of which 28 percent is extant), linguist Royal Skousen proposed three theories of translation: “loose control,” in which ideas were revealed to Joseph and then put into his own language; “tight control,” where he saw specific words and read them to his scribes; and “iron-clad control,” in which his reading from the stone could not move forward if a scribe had made an uncorrected mistake. Most of the witnesses appear to have believed the last theory, though the presence of spelling and transcription errors in the original manuscript appears to disprove it. Clearly the dictation moved forward even when a few words were missed by the transcriber or when names were misspelled. (It is important to note that the three theories refer only to the translation process, not to the translation itself. The English Book of Mormon may be a rather free translation that was nevertheless revealed word for word. In fact, the presence of so many phrases from the King James Version, particularly from biblical texts written after 600 BC, argues strongly for it being a translation characterized by functional rather than formal equivalence.). . . See Full


Tagged 'Scribed Verbatim Reprint 2nd Hand Early'

JS, Letter, Harmony Twp., Susquehanna Co., PA, to Oliver Cowdery, [Palmyra Twp., NY], 22 Oct. 1829. Featured version copied [ca. 27 Nov. 1832–Jan. 1833] in JS Letterbook 1, p. 9; handwriting of Frederick G. Williams; JS Collection, CHL.

Respected sir I would in form you that I arrived at home on sunday morning the 4th. after having a prosperous journy, and found all well the people are all friendly to <us> except a few who are in opposition to evry thing unless it is something that is axactly like themselves and two of our most formadable persacutors are now under censure and are cited to a tryal trial in the church for crimes which if true are worse than all the Gold Book business. we do not rejoice in the affliction of our enimies but we shall be glad to have truth prevail[.] there begins to be a great call for our books in this country the minds of the people are very much excited when they find that there is a copy right obtained and that there is really books about to be printed I have bought a horse of Mr. [Josiah] Stowell and want some one to come after it as soon as convenient Mr Stowell has a prospect of getting five or six hundred dollars he does not know certain that he can get it but he is a going to try and if he can get the money he wants to pay it in immediately for books we want to hear from you and know how you prosper in the good work, give our best respects to Father & Mother and all our brothers and Sisters to Mr. [Martin] Harris and all the company concerned tell them that our prayers are put up daily for them that they may be prospered in evry, good word and work and that they may be preserved from sin here and and from the consequen[c]e of sin here after and now dear brother be faithful in the discharge of evry duty looking for the reward of the righteous and now may God of his infinite mercy keep an<d> preserve us spotless untill his coming and receive us all to rest with him in eternal repose through the attonement of Christ our Lord Amen Joseph Smith Jr Oliver H Cowd[e]ry

Summary: JS writes to Oliver Cowdery from Harmony reporting his arrival home Oct 4, local opposition, book demand, Josiah Stowell horse purchase and book interest, and sends respects to Martin Harris and Cowdery family.

Oliver Cowdery; believers in Palmyra area


Oliver Cowdery, Letter, Manchester, NY, to Joseph Smith Jr., Harmony, PA, 6 Nov. 1829. Copied in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 6-8; handwriting of Frederick G. Williams; JS Collection, CHL.

Brother Joseph Smith Jr. I received your leter yesterday bearing date Oct. 22d I had long time expectted to hear from you and had often enquired at the post office for a letter and of course it was gladly received by us all[.] we rejoice to hear that you are well... Hyram [Hyrum Smith] and Martin [Harris] went out to fayette last week they had a joyful time... Martin thinks of comeing to the South in the course of two or three weeks and will callculate to take back that horse... the printing goes rather Slow yet as the type founder has been sick but we expect that the type will be on and Mr, Granden [Egbert B. Grandin] Still think we <he> will finish printing by the first of febuary... we received one from Mr— [Thomas B.] Marsh from Boston Masacuchusetts [Massachusetts] dated the 25th Oct. ... I have Just got to alma commandment to his Son in coppyinng the manscrip... we are all in tolerable hea[l]th here but my Father health is poor

Summary: Oliver Cowdery replies to JS from Manchester, reporting receipt of JS's Oct 22 letter. Reports Hyrum Smith and Martin Harris visited Fayette; Harris planning to come to Harmony; printing slow at Grandin's (expects completion by Feb 1); received letter from Thomas B. Marsh in Boston; father William Cowdery in poor health.


Agreement with Isaac Hale, 6 April 1829. JS Collection, Church History Library, Salt Lake City. Published in Joseph Smith Papers, Documents Volume 1.

This Agreement made and Concluded this 6th day of April Ano Domini one thousand eight hundred and twenty nine Between Isaac Hale of the Township of Harmony in the County of Susquehanna and State of Pennsy[l]vania of the one part and Joseph Smith Jun... Isaac Hale hereby Covenants and agrees to sell and convey to the said Joseph Smith Jun... all that certain piece or parcel of land... Containing in the whole thirteen Acres and eighty Rods... In consideration and for the some <sum> of two hundred Dollars... one Hundred & fourteen Dollars to be paid by the first of May 1829, and the remainder the first of May 1830... Signed Joseph Smith Jr. Isaac Hale. Witnessed: Oliver H P Cowdery, Samuel H Smith

Summary: Joseph Smith Jr. enters into legal agreement with Isaac Hale to purchase 13 acres 80 rods in Harmony, PA for $200 ($114 due May 1 1829, remainder May 1 1830). Witnessed by Oliver Cowdery and Samuel H. Smith.

Signatories; Susquehanna County legal record


Deed from Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, 25 August 1830, Susquehanna County, PA. Recorded in Susquehanna County Deeds. JS Collection, CHL.

This Indenture, Made the twenty fifth day of August in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty Between Isaac Hale <& Elizabeth [Hale] his wife> of the township of Harmony & County of Susquehanna & State of Pennsylvania of the one Part and Joseph Smith, J,r, of the other Part of the place aforesaid... for and in consideration of the sum of two Hundred Dollars to him them in hand paid... all that certain Piece o[r] parcel of Land situate and lying in the Township of Harmony... thirteen acres & Eighty Perches be the same more or less— Bounded on the East by Lands owned by Joseph McKune & on the North & west by Lands of Isaac Hale—

Summary: Isaac and Elizabeth Hale execute deed transferring 13 acres 80 rods in Harmony, PA to Joseph Smith Jr. for $200 (paid in full). Property bounded by Joseph McKune and Isaac Hale lands, Susquehanna River. JS described as 'of the place aforesaid' (Harmony).


JS, History, ca. Summer 1832, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 1–6; handwriting of Frederick G. Williams and JS; JS Collection, CHL.

I was married to Emma Hale Daughtr of Isaach [Isaac] Hale who lived in Harmony Susquehan[n]a County Pensylvania on the 18th January AD, 1827, on the 22d day of Sept of this same year I obtained the plat[e]s—and the in December following we mooved to Susquehana by the assistence of a man by the name of Martin Har[r]is who became convinced of th[e] vision and gave me fifty Dollars to bare my expences... he imediately came to Suquehannah and said the Lord had shown him that he must go to new York City with some of the characters... I commenced translating the characters... after we had translated 116 pages... he took them and took his journey unto his friends to Wayne County & State of N York and he brake the covenent... the Plates was taken from me... my wives [father] was about to turn me out of doores

Summary: JS's earliest autobiographical account. Reports marriage to Emma Hale Jan 18 1827 in Harmony; obtaining plates Sep 22 1827; move to Susquehanna in December 1827 assisted by Martin Harris ($50); Harris going to NYC with characters; translating with spectacles; loss of 116 pages when Harris took them to Wayne County; plates temporarily taken; Isaac Hale threatening eviction.


Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ (Zion [Independence], MO: W.W. Phelps & Co., 1833), ch. XXIV.

[VERIFICATION PENDING] Claimed header for Chapter XXIV: 'The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ, given in Manchester, New-York, April 6, 1830.' This text is from secondary sources and has not been independently verified from the 1833 original. The 1835 D&C changed the location header to 'Fayette.' Source to verify: Book of Commandments (Zion [Independence], MO: W.W. Phelps & Co., 1833), ch. XXIV.

Summary: The 1833 Book of Commandments (precursor to Doctrine and Covenants) reportedly placed revelation headers for the April 6, 1830 church organization in Manchester, NY. The 1835 Doctrine and Covenants changed these headers to Fayette, NY. This is the earliest documentary evidence for the Manchester location claim.


Peter Ingersoll, Affidavit, Palmyra, Wayne Co., NY, Dec. 2, 1833. Sworn before Thomas P. Baldwin, Judge of Wayne County Court. Published in Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH: 1834), ch. 17.

In the month of August, 1827, I was hired by Joseph Smith, Jr. to go to Pennsylvania, to move his wife's household furniture up to Manchester, where his wife then was. When we arrived at Mr. Hale's, in Harmony, Pa. from which place he had taken his wife, a scene presented itself, truly affecting. His father-in-law (Mr. Hale) addressed Joseph, in a flood of tears: 'You have stolen my daughter and married her. I had much rather have followed her to her grave. You spend your time in digging for money—pretend to see in a stone, and thus try to deceive people.' Joseph wept, and acknowledged he could not see in a stone now, nor never could; and that his former pretensions in that respect, were all false. He then promised to give up his old habits of digging for money and looking into stones. Mr. Hale told Joseph, if he would move to Pennsylvania and work for a living, he would assist him in getting into business. Joseph acceded to this proposition. I then returned with Joseph and his wife to Manchester. [Later:] Joseph then went to Palmyra; and, said he, I there met that dam fool, Martin Harris, and told him that I had a command to ask the first honest man I met with, for fifty dollars in money, and he would let me have it. I saw at once, said Jo, that it took his notion, for he promptly gave me the fifty. [Earlier, re: sand hoax:] 'As I was passing, yesterday, across the woods, after a heavy shower of rain, I found, in a hollow, some beautiful white sand... I took off my frock, and tied up several quarts of it, and then went home... I happened to think of what I had heard about a history found in Canada, called the golden Bible; so I very gravely told them it was the golden Bible. To my surprise, they were credulous enough to believe what I said... Now, said Jo, I have got the damned fools fixed, and will carry out the fun.' Notwithstanding, he told me he had no such book, and believed there never was any such book.

Summary: Peter Ingersoll swears: JS hired him in August 1827 to move Emma's furniture from Harmony to Manchester. At Hale's house, Isaac Hale wept, accusing JS of stealing his daughter and deceiving people by 'pretending to see in a stone.' JS wept, acknowledged he could not see in a stone 'now, nor never could,' and that his former pretensions were false. JS promised to give up money-digging. Also testifies JS told him he conned Martin Harris out of $50 by claiming a 'command from God' to ask the first honest man for money. Reports JS showed his family a bag of sand claiming it was 'the golden Bible' as a hoax.

Public; published as anti-Mormon evidence


Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844-1845, bk. 7, pp. [1]-[12]; handwriting of Martha Jane Knowlton Coray and Howard Coray; CHL.

[p. 1] Book 7 — Harris insisted upon taking that which he had writen home with him that he might show his family... Joseph for a long time resisted... Harris now took the most solemn oath that he would not show the writing manuscript to any save 5 individuals... he was now fully prepared to set out for home which he did carrying with him 116 pages of the record in manuscript this was in july immediately after his departure Emma was confined became the Mother of a son but she had but little comfort... he was very soon snatched from her arms... [p. 2] so uncertain seemed her fate for a season that in the space of 2 weeks her husband never slept one hour in undisturbed quiet... she called her husband to her and asked him what he thought about the manuscript I feel so uneasy said she that I cannot rest... After much persuasion he concluded to leave his wife in the care of her mother-in-law for a few days and set out on the before mentioned journey... [p. 3] He cast his eyes abroad upon the age now upon the earth and reflected that he stood alone an unlearned youth opposed to all the casuistry and learning and ingenuity of the combined world... He had not now that feeling of justification which assured him of the especial favor of God for he awfully feared that he had ventured too far in vouching for the safety of the manuscript... [p. 4] The hot displeasure of the Almighty would be kindled against him... he had regarded man more than his maker... he neither ate nor sleeped while on the rout... a fellow traveller insisted on accompanying him the remaining 20 miles on foot... Joseph told the gentleman that he had left his wife in so low a state of health... also he had buried his first and only child but a few days previous... there was heavy trouble laying at his heart that he did not dare to mention... [p. 5] the stranger was under the necessity of leading Joseph by his arm for nature was too much exhausted to suport him... Joseph requested us to send with all possible speed for Martin Harris... at half past 12 we saw him walking with a slow and measured tread... he got upon the fence and sat some time with his hat drawn over his eyes... [p. 6] Martin pressed his hands upon his temples and cried out in a tone of anguish Oh! I have lost my soul I have lost my soul. Joseph sprang from the table exclaiming Oh! Martin have you lost that manuscript!... yes replied Martin it is gone and I know not where— Oh! My God My God said Joseph... all is lost... I have sinned... Martin said I have even ripped open beds and pillows and I know it is not there... [p. 7] JS wept and grieved like a tender infant untill about sunset... the next morning he went home... When he arrived at home he was not slow to exhibit the manuscript to his wife and family... his wife seemed highly pleased... she gave her husband the priviledge of locking it up in a set of drawers which she had never before permited him to look into... [p. 8] he showed it to any good friend that happened to call on him... Mrs Harris returned and beheld the marred and injured state of her beaureau her irracible temper knew no bounds... when Joseph arrived he went immediately to his drawer— but the manuscript was gone— he asked his wife where it was— she solemnly averred that she did not know anything about it... We never heard from our unfortunate son untill 2 months after... We (Mr Smith and myself) went down to Harmony to make him a visit... Joseph started off to meet us... his joy did not arise wholely from seeing us... [p. 9] I poured out my soul in supplication... an Angel stood before me and answered me saying that I had sinned... he must now give back the plates... if you are sufficiently humble and penitent you will receive them again on the 22 of september... [revelation:] The works and designs and purposes of God cannot be frustrated... [p. 11] on the 22 of september I had the Joy and satisfaction of again receiving the record and Urim and Thummin into my possession... Emma writes for me now... Mr. Isaac Hale... his Family consisted of Elizabeth his wife and Jesse, David, Alva, Isaac Ward, and Reuben his sons also his Phebe Elizabeth his daughters they were a lovely intelligent and highly respectable Family... [p. 12] We spent the time very agreeably and returned home... we found sophronia and samuel lying at the point of Death... there came a man into our neighborhood by the name of Lyman Cowdray... the next day he brought his brother Oliver and requested them to receive him in the place of himself... Oliver requested my husband to take him as a boarder... he began to hear about the plates from all quarters and immediately he commenced importuneing Mr. Smith upon the subject.

Summary: Lucy Mack Smith's complete Book 7: Martin Harris insists on taking 116 translated pages home to Palmyra; swears oath to show only 5 family; departs July 1828. Emma gives birth to son Alvin who dies same day; she nearly dies over next 2 weeks. JS leaves by stage coach for Palmyra, tormented by fear he has lost the plates permanently and 'regarded man more than his maker.' A stranger notices his distress, walks 20 miles with him to the Smith house. Martin Harris summoned; arrives late, cries 'I have lost my soul!' and confesses manuscript is gone. Lucy Harris's rage when she finds her bureau rifled; manuscript vanishes. JS Sr. and Lucy visit Harmony 2 months later. JS tells them an angel appeared, chastened him, and returned the plates/Urim and Thummim on Sept 22 1828. Emma now writing. Lucy describes the Hale family. Back in Manchester, Lyman Cowdery brings his brother Oliver to teach school and board with Smiths. Oliver begins importuning JS Sr. about the plates.


BillionGraves Index, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV91-SQRZ). NOT VERIFIED — FamilySearch and BillionGraves blocked automated access. Record from OCR of screenshot provided by researcher.

Name: Smith. Death Date: 15 June 1828. Event Type: Burial. Event Place: Oakland, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, United States. Cemetery: McKune Cemetery. Coordinates: 41.95088, -75.63669. Source: BillionGraves Index via FamilySearch.

Summary: BillionGraves record: burial of a 'Smith' on June 15, 1828 at McKune Cemetery, Oakland, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Record identifies name only as 'Smith.' Context (date matching Lucy Mack Smith's account of infant Alvin's death) strongly suggests this is the burial of Joseph and Emma Smith's first child, but the record itself does not specify given name, parents, or age.


Isaac Hale, Affidavit, Harmony, Susquehanna Co., PA, March 20, 1834. Sworn before Charles Dimon, J.P. Character witnesses: William Thompson and Davis Dimock, Associate Judges, Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas. Published in Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH: 1834), ch. 17.

I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr. in November, 1825. He was at that time in the employ of a set of men who were called 'money diggers;' and his occupation was that of seeing, or pretending to see by means of a stone placed in his hat, and his hat closed over his face... His appearance at this time, was that of a careless young man—not very well educated, and very saucy and insolent to his father. Smith, and his father, with several other money-diggers boarded at my house while they were employed in digging for a mine... young Smith made several visits at my house, and at length asked my consent to his marrying my daughter Emma. This I refused... while I was absent from home, carried off my daughter, into the state of New York, where they were married without my approbation or consent... Smith stated to me, that he had given up what he called 'glass-looking,' and that he expected to work hard for a living... I was shown a box in which it is said they were contained, which had to all appearances, been used as a glass box of the common window glass. I was allowed to feel the weight of the box, and they gave me to understand, that the book of plates was then in the box—into which, however, I was not allowed to look... I inquired of Joseph Smith Jr., who was to be the first who would be allowed to see the Book of Plates? He said it was a young child. After this, I became dissatisfied, and informed him that if there was any thing in my house of that description, which I could not be allowed to see, he must take it away... the Plates were said to be hid in the woods... About this time, Martin Harris made his appearance upon the stage; and Smith began to interpret the characters... while Harris wrote down the interpretation. It was said, that Harris wrote down one hundred and sixteen pages, and lost them... The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret, was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods! After this, Martin Harris went away, and Oliver Cowdery came and wrote for Smith... I conscientiously believe... that the whole 'Book of Mormon' (so called) is a silly fabrication of falsehood and wickedness, got up for speculation.

Summary: Isaac Hale's sworn affidavit (March 20, 1834): First met JS Nov 1825 as money-digger; describes JS as 'careless young man—not very well educated, and very saucy.' JS eloped with Emma without consent while Hale absent. JS later claimed to have given up 'glass-looking.' Box said to contain plates 'to all appearances, been used as a glass box of common window glass.' Hale demanded plates be removed if he couldn't see them. Reports Harris wrote 116 pages and lost them. Cowdery came as replacement scribe. Translation method: stone in hat. Concludes the Book of Mormon is 'a silly fabrication of falsehood and wickedness.' Character vouched for by two Associate Judges.


Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, undated [circa 1833-1847]. MS 3470, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT. Holograph: 1 folder, 10 pages, 25 cm. Digitized images accessed via Church History Catalog (https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/37b7b91c-4148-45d6-8f32-df4acf06fe99).

[Full transcription pending — 10 manuscript pages, holograph. Key passages include:]

[Page 1-2: Knight meets JS at Stowell's employ, 1826. JS describes visitation of an angel and the plates.]

[Pages 3-5: Knight provides wagon and provisions for move to Harmony. Translation begins. Knight brings paper and supplies. Description of translation process — JS looks into interpreters (spectacles), sees 'dark spectrum' that prevents reading when his mind wanders.]

[Pages 6-7: Martin Harris visits, writes for JS. The 116-page manuscript lost. Knight's account of the crisis. Oliver Cowdery arrives as replacement scribe.]

[Pages 8-10: Translation completed. Printing arrangements with Grandin. Organization of the Church. Account ends mid-sentence — incomplete.]

--- NEEDS FULL TRANSCRIPTION FROM IMAGES ---

Summary: Joseph Knight Sr.'s holograph reminiscences (10 pages, undated) recounting his interactions with Joseph Smith from circa 1826 through the organization of the Church in 1830. Knight, a prosperous farmer from Colesville, NY, was one of JS's earliest and most consistent supporters. He describes: hiring JS in 1826; JS's account of obtaining the gold plates; providing a wagon and provisions for the move to Harmony; bringing paper and provisions during the translation; witnessing JS translate (describing the 'dark spectrum' in the interpreters); the 116-page loss and Martin Harris's role; Oliver Cowdery's arrival; the completion of translation; printing arrangements with Grandin; and the organization of the Church. The account ends mid-sentence on page 10 — incomplete. Knight's reminiscences are among the most important friendly primary sources for the translation period.

Personal record; not intended for publication