Category: Folk Magic and Seer Stones
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Joseph Smith and the Seer Stone: The Art of the Book of Mormon Translation Process
This article was revised on 9/25/24 Art can be very powerful. It tells a story. For instance, what is your idea when you see this photograph from June 1989 regarding the issue of China and democracy? This image had a powerful effect on many who knew little about the details of the June 1989 student…
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Did Joseph Smith Use the Seer Stone…or Didn’t He?
For many years, many Mormons have denied that Joseph Smith used a “seer stone” to translate the Book of Mormon. They were led to believe that he used the “urim and thummim,” special instruments even mentioned in the Old Testament, to aid him in the translation. Tenth Mormon President Joseph Fielding Smith was quite adament…
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How Was Joseph Smith’s Seer Stone Like a Smart Phone?
I know the headline sounds like a lead-in to a joke, but in fact, Mormon apologist Daniel Peterson wrote a “Defending the Faith” column for Deseret News in which he suggested that, though “some critics of Joseph Smith mock the fact that part of the Book of Mormon translation process apparently involved dictating while looking…
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Seer Stone (Defined)
Seer Stone: Described as a chocolate-colored, egg-shaped rock Joseph Smith found while digging a well near Palmyra, New York (Comprehensive History of the Church 1:129). A number of witnesses claimed Smith used the stone when translating the Book of Mormon. According to historian Richard Bushman, “Joseph Jr. never repudiated the stones or denied their power to…
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Joseph’s Orb: Undeniable Sign of Truth?
I am at a loss. I can’t find the logic in a statement found in Mormon Times (or the article that follows it). Maybe the Mormon Coffee community can suss this out and make some sense of it for me. Mormon Times reported that at the BYU Studies Symposium a couple of weeks ago Paul…
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Joseph Smith Jr. Index
PropheciesCivil War predictionRocky Mountain prophecyPrediction of Second ComingDoes the Bible contain Prophecies of Joseph Smith?Joseph the ManNEW!
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Joseph Smith and Folk Magic
The post focuses on Joseph Smith’s involvement in magical practices, particularly surrounding the autumnal equinox and their significance in the origins of the Book of Mormon, as examined through various scholarly reviews.
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Book Review: Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
Author: D. Michael Quinn Signature Books, 1998 Reviewer: Eric Johnson Introduction
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A Seer Stone and a Hat – "Translating" the Book of Mormon
Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon via a seer stone is debated. Eyewitness accounts describe his use of a hat to block light during the process, raising questions about its credibility.
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