Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon

One of the great contributions that Joseph Smith made to the gospel of Jesus Christ was bringing forth the Book of Mormon. The origin of the Book of Mormon is miraculous. In the modern world where miracles are thought ceased, the story of the Book of Mormon contains revelations, visions, and angelic visitations. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, with the Bible, and is also a testimony of the restored church of God.

The Gold Plates

On April 21, 1823, while Joseph Smith was praying, the angel Moroni appeared to him. He identified himself as a messenger from God and told Joseph he had a work to do. The angel told him of a book written on plates of gold that was buried in a nearby hillside. It was a record of an ancient people on the American continent and contained the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith was shown the location of the plates in a vision, buried under a rock in the hill Cumorah, not far from his home in upstate New York. The angel returned three times during the night and repeated his message exactly. After the last appearance it was already dawn.

Joseph Smith went to the fields to work that morning, exhausted. His father sent him back to bed, as he was returning home the angel Moroni appeared again and repeated his message as before. The angel told Joseph Smith to tell his father of the vision.

Joseph's father believed him and sent Joseph to the site, where he uncovered the plates along with the Urim and Thummim. The angel told him that he could not remove the plates yet because the time was not right. Each year for four years Joseph Smith went to the place where the plates were buried and the angel Moroni instructed him in his upcoming mission.

On the 22nd of September 1827, Joseph Smith was entrusted with the gold plates. The angel Moroni also said that he could not show the plates to anyone unless instructed by the Lord. During the next two years Joseph was forced to hide the plates from treasure seekers that heard rumor of gold plates while he commenced a translation.

The Lord allowed Joseph Smith to show the plates to a few people who would act as witnesses to the world. The testimonies of the three and eight witnesses can be found at the beginning of the Book of Mormon.

After Joseph Smith was finished translating the gold plates, they were given back to the angel Moroni.

Translating the Book of Mormon

Joseph Smith used the power of God to translate the Book of Mormon from the gold plates he received from the angel Moroni. Contained with the plates were the Urim and Thummim, ancient seer stones that Joseph Smith used in the translation of the plates. Joseph had a few people serve as scribes. They, along with family and friends, give different accounts of the process of translation. One account says he would separate himself behind a curtain and look directly at the characters engraved on the plates through the Urim and Thummim. Another version states that he would look at the seer stone by burying his face in a hat and the translation would appear without having to uncover the gold plates.

Concerning the translation, his wife Emma, who served as scribe for a short time, said, "After meals, or after interruptions, [Joseph] would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him. He had neither manuscript nor book to read from, [and] if he had anything of the kind he could not have concealed it from me." The other scribes agree with Emma that neither the Bible nor any other book were used by Joseph Smith during the translation process.

The translation was dictated in only three months. Oliver Cowdery acted as the primary scribe. He declared, "That book is true. … I wrote it myself as it fell from the lips of the Prophet. It contains the everlasting gospel, and comes in fulfillment of the revelations of John where it says he saw an angel come with the everlasting gospel to preach to every nation, tongue and people. It contains principles of salvation. And if you will walk by its light and obey its precepts you will be saved in the everlasting kingdom of God."

Joseph Smith proclaimed the Book of Mormon as the keystone of the Mormon religion. Just a few weeks after its initial publishing he organized the restored Church of Christ upon the earth.

For more information on Joseph Smith:

Joseph Smith - American Prophet
BBC - Religion & Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith