Steven Snow affirmed in Ensign that Joseph used a Seer Stone to translate the Plates.
Steven E. Snow (declarant, Sep 2015) --- Ensign (recorder) · 0.0 yrs after events · Thirdhand+
Reference
Steven E. Snow, "Joseph Smith in Harmony," Ensign (September 2015), accessed September 30, 2021
Date of Account
Sep 2015
Date of Events
1827–1829
Retrospective Distance
0.0 yrs after events
Hearsay Tier
Thirdhand+ — Tagged 'Direct Secondary'
Point of View
todo
Status
Unreviewed
Source Type
Periodical
Audience
General Public
Transcription
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.”