The Timing of the Book of Mormon Translation

Critics of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon have advanced many theories about the origin of the Book of Mormon. But there are many witnesses to the timing of the translation, and the historical evidence demonstrates that the Book of Mormon as it exists now was translated from April to June, 1829.

That timeline is nothing less than miraculous. Modern scholars have examined the historical records extensively to analyze the evidence regarding the timing. John W. Welch¹ spent a significant portion of his professional career creating the timeline that I reference in this post. I find the timeline fascinating, but I have another purpose for quoting Professor Welch’s work.

Throughout this site, I have often discussed the importance of choosing reliable sources. The work of Professor Welch demonstrates the value of reading the works of scholars who study and interpret the historical records. His work has some conjecture, which he admits, but even that is derived from a comprehensive analysis of the original sources to make the best estimates possible. Additionally, as will be discussed, he performed his own experiments to validate his conclusions.

The information in this post might not be relevant to the casual reader. But if you have any interest in reading the historical sources, I would encourage you to read the two articles that I will cite by Professor Welch. They are the product of a lifetime of professional work, and they demonstrate the type of insights that can come from studying reliable sources.

Anchor dates in the timeline

In his article called “Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon,”² Professor Welch briefly describes how intently he worked on compiling the timeline: “A wise question that Elder Maxwell asked me in 1985 about how long it took Joseph to translate the Book of Mormon launched my thirty-year involvement with this subject.”³ His paper demonstrates the intensity of his study and effort, and is worth reading to understand how he formulated his timeline, but also as an example of the scholarship that exists regarding the Book of Mormon translation.

Professor Welch has identified “five anchor dates,”⁴ which are five dates that can be established with a certain amount of precision. These anchor dates are as follows:

• April 7, 1829: “Oliver Cowdery commenced work as a scribe for Joseph Smith on April 7, 1829, in Harmony, Pennsylvania.”⁵
• May 15, 1829: “Joseph Smith’s own record tells us that John the Baptist ordained him and Oliver to the Aaronic Priesthood and they baptized each other on May 15, 1829. Oliver Cowdery adds that John’s appearance happened in the context of Joseph and Oliver having just translated and written the middle of 3 Nephi.”⁶
• May 31, 1829: The title page of the Book of Mormon was translated on or shortly before this date. Joseph said that the title page was on “the very last leaf, on the left hand side of the collection or book of [the large] plates.”⁷
• June 11, 1829: The copyright application for the Book of Mormon was signed by R. R. Lansing, clerk of the U.S. Federal District Court for the Northern District of New York.⁸
• June 30, 1829: The translation of the Book of Mormon was completed.⁹

Experimenting with the process of dictation

Not only did Professor Welch search the historical records to determine verifiable dates, but he also used real-world experiments to attempt to determine how fast Joseph and Oliver could have worked. He and his wife read through several portions of the Book of Mormon, one of them reading, the other writing, then changing roles, to determine the rate that they could dictate and scribe the text. They followed a process described by witnesses to the translation (which included the scribe reading back what had been written, and the translator confirming it was correct or pointing out mistakes). Professor Welch then repeated this experiment with approximately 45 other people. The result of this experiment was that a translation rate of around 20 words per minute was possible, but they couldn’t imagine sustaining that rate hour after hour, day after day:

“Our hands got tired, and the one playing Joseph needed to catch his or her breath and clear his or her voice. We used ballpoint pens. We imagined Oliver dipping and using his quill pen. We wondered if they didn’t work a little slower, and thus might have worked an hour or two longer on each average day.

“Although not strictly scientific, this exercise produced a flood of experiential insights. The stress of trying to achieve a maximum accuracy took a substantial toll on us. People playing the role of Joseph struggled to keep their minds focused on the line at hand as they waited for the person playing Oliver to finish. Their thoughts wandered back to foregoing lines or anticipated what might come next. We noticed more
details in the text than ever before. We wondered what Joseph, Oliver, and Emma close by would have thought when hearing these things for the first time. How long did Joseph take after Oliver read back a line to him? Did the translation process work seamlessly and promptly, or were there long pauses to collect his thoughts? Those playing the role of Oliver had to be patient and pay very close attention (as Oliver had been counseled to do in Doctrine and Covenants 6:18–19).”¹⁰

Events in the timeline of the translation

The following are significant events surrounding the translation of the Book of Mormon, and is a table quoted from Professor Welch’s work:¹¹

Estimated day-by-day translation

The following table contains Professor Welch’s work estimating the timeline of the translation. As demonstrated in his paper, this was the product of a significant amount of work. He compared the language of the Book of Mormon to letters and other documents written during the same time, and noticed correlations as Joseph, Oliver, and others used similar language from what they were learning as the Book of Mormon was translated. This is a remarkable work by Professor Welch, and I would encourage you to read his article.¹² The bolded text are historically established details:

What do we learn from the timeline?

How did we get the Book of Mormon?¹³ However we got it, the historical evidence is clear and consistent that from April to June, 1829, Joseph Smith dictated, and Oliver Cowdery (primarily) wrote, day after day, what we now have as the Book of Mormon. Whatever you think of how he did it, the evidence exists.

The timing is nothing less than amazing. Someone with Joseph’s education could not have created that work as he did in such a short a time. Rather than cricitize, question, or doubt, read the book. There is certainly value in studying the historical records, but the real power comes from reading the book.

References

1. “John W. Welch,” BYU Studies website, https://rsc.byu.edu/author/welch-john-w. ↩︎
2. John W. Welch, “Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon: ‘Days [and House] Never to Be Forgotten,'” BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 4, 2018, pp. 10-52, https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/timing-the-translation-of-the-book-of-mormon-days-and-hours-never-to-be-forgotten/. ↩︎
3. Welch, p. 11, n.1. ↩︎
4. Welch, p. 16. ↩︎
5. Welch, p. 17. ↩︎
6. Welch, p. 25. ↩︎
7. Welch, p. 26. ↩︎
8. Welch, p. 28. ↩︎
9. Welch, p. 29. ↩︎
10. Welch, p. 39. ↩︎
11. John W. Welch, “The Miraculous Timing of the Translation of the Book of Mormon,” in “Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820–1844 (Second Edition),” Brigham Young University Press, Provo, Utah, 81, https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-chapters/documents-of-the-translation-of-the-book-of-mormon/ ↩︎
12. The table is found in Welch, “Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon,” 45-49. But that is just the conclusion, or the result of his work. The entire article should be read to see how meticulous he was in studying the record and creating this work. ↩︎
13. “How Did We Get the Book of Mormon?” https://discoverfaithinchrist.com/how-did-we-get-the-book-of-mormon/. ↩︎