Tag: gold plates
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Consider David Whitmer’s Testimony
The February issue of Liahona magazine (published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) includes a supplement to the church’s religious study curriculum, “Come, Follow Me.” The magazine article looks briefly at two Book of Mormon witnesses, David Whitmer and Martin Harris–both of whom, along with Oliver Cowdery (a third Book of Mormon…
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A Notion of Truth for Questioning Mormons
In the Bible, Pilate famously asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). If he had asked that same question of LDS historian Richard Bushman, Pilate would have been told that truth is whatever works to bring any given individual to what they themselves consider “a good life.” In an interview published in The Salt Lake…
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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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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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Two Sets of Official Book of Mormon Witnesses
In his continuing effort at “Defending the [LDS] Faith,” BYU professor Daniel Peterson has recently tackled the testimonies of the eleven Book of Mormon witnesses. He notes that the two signed testimonies appearing in the front of each Book of Mormon (one signed by three witnesses, the other signed by eight witnesses) are “distinctly different…
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Gospel Topics Essay: Book of Mormon Translation
To see an introduction to the Gospel Topics essays, click here. The entire essay is printed below, underlined, with my commentary included throughout. Because I will try to be short and to the point as much as possible, a number of sites (many from MRM) to support my disagreement are included. I encourage interested readers to consider…
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Book of Mormon Index
Archaeological/Geographical Issues Stela 5 and Lehi’s Vision of the Tree of Life Smithsonian Institute Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon The Land of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea Scrolls Was Jesus born “at Jerusalem”? Beit Lei: Another “proof” for the Book of Mormon? DNA and the Book of Mormon Record NHM – A Place Name…
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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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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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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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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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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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You Didn’t Bring Your Dead Brother Alvin? Sorry, You Can’t Have the Plates
As September 22nd was the date known as the Autumnal equinox to contemporaries of Joseph Smith in 1823, September 25 was a notable day the following year. Joseph Smith Sr., Jr.’s father, published a notice in the Palmyra newspaper denying “reports [that] have been industriously put in circulation, that my son, Alvin, had been removed…
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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…
