Category: Gold Plates
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3 Absolute Imperatives
NOTE: This article was published in the March/April 2025 Mormonism Researched newsletter, a free publication. To subscribe, please visit the registration site. Over the years, Latter-day Saint leaders have been very bold when it comes to some non-negotiable imperatives regarding the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The argument goes, and I…
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Citations on Plates of Gold (Book of Mormon)
The following are sections out of Bill McKeever’s book In their Own Words: A Collection of Mormon Quotations. Standard Works “And for a testimony that the things that they had said are true they have brought twenty-four plates which are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold” (The Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:9).…
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Book of Mormon Graphic Leaves out Important Detail
Note: The following was originally printed in the April 2017 edition of Mormonism Update. To receive this publication every other month, you must be a financial support of $25 or more per month. An illustration in the February 2017 issue of Friend magazine, an LDS publication geared toward Mormon children. left out an important portion of the gold plates…
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Joseph Smith’s Gold Plates
Joseph Smith, the first Mormon Prophet, claimed he was divinely guided to a set of gold plates that were buried near his home in the state of New York. After taking possession of these plates, according to the official LDS account, Joseph translated the ancient writing they contained, which resulted in the Book of Mormon.…
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The Gold Plates Apologetic: A Most Concise Presentation
Standing in the street in front of the Manti, UT temple, Bill McKeever shares a concise 5-minute apologetic using the Gold Plates. He considers several common arguments and explain how you could use this tactic too! To see the five-minute YouTube video, click here.
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When it comes to the plates, there was no miracle
For the past several years Bill McKeever has been bringing a replica set of “gold plates” to the Mormon Miracle Pageant held annually in Manti, Utah. By encouraging Mormon visitors to lift the plates, it gives Bill an opportunity to explain the many problems he sees with the official account of how Smith allegedly retrieved…
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Wagonloads of Plates in Cumorah’s Cave?
Wagonloads of plates in Cumorah’s cave By Bill McKeever The following was originally printed in the March-April 2010 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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Confirming Lucy Mack Smith’s Gold Plate Story
Confirming Lucy Mack Smith’s Gold Plate Story By Bill McKeever The following was originally printed in the Nov-Dec 2009 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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Should LDS Church Art Coincide With the Facts?
For many years the LDS Church has used staff artists to provide illustrations for its church manuals and magazines. Book of Mormon and Bible stories are commonly depicted, as well as historical church events. One favorite scene for LDS articles is Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon. For example, the front cover of…
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Problems with the Gold Plates in the Book of Mormon
Just what exactly were the gold plates made from. In this article that first appeared in Christian Research Journal, volume 34, number 02 (2011), Bill McKeever considers the possibilites and shows why it is impossible that Joseph Smith was given plates made of real gold.
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Gold Plates (Defined)
Gold Plates. An historical record of American peoples written on plates of gold. In A.D. 421, Moroni, a Nephite warrior and son of Mormon, buried the plates in the Hill Cumorah. In 1823, as a resurrected being, Moroni revealed the whereabouts of the plates to Joseph Smith who was permitted to retrieve them in 1827.…
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Courage to View the Gold Plates
Pomeroy Tucker was a contemporary of Joseph Smith. Living in Palmyra, New York, he knew the Smith family, counted Martin Harris among his friends, and was actively engaged in the 1830 printing process of the Book of Mormon. In 1867 Pomeroy Tucker published a book about Mormonism titled, “Origin, rise, and progress of Mormonism: Biography…
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Where are the Gold Plates Now?
By Bill McKeeverAccording to Mormon lore, Smith claimed to receive the “few plates” from Moroni in 1827 and from them translated the Book of Mormon. When he was finished translating the plates he gave them back to the angel who he claimed “has them in his charge” (Joseph Smith History 1:60). Many ask, “Where are…
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Book Review: Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson’s Archaeological Search for The Book of Mormon
By Stan Larson Reviewed By Eric Johnson
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How Heavy Were Those Gold Plates?
Paramount in the story of the Latter-day Saints is the account given by Joseph Smith of a visitation he received from the angel Moroni on September 21, 1823. He stated that after he retired to bed, his room became filled with light. At his bedside stood an angel who called Smith by name and told…
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Mormon Circles
According to the LDS history web site, on this day (September 22nd) in 1827 Joseph Smith “received the golden plates from the angel Moroni on the hill where they were buried.” Eyewitnesses reported that Joseph took the gold plates home and began translating them with the help of a seer stone — that is, a…
