Stating the obvious, the Book of Mormon exists. As Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Here is the Book of Mormon. I hold it in my hand. I read its words.”1 With many of Joseph Smith’s experiences, he is the only one who can testify to what he witnessed. But the Book of Mormon is something concrete that we can hold and read. It is a book that, in my opinion, defies Joseph Smith’s educational level and writing abilities as they existed at the time the book was published. If we are to fairly judge Joseph Smith’s claims as a prophet, we have to confront perhaps the greatest product of his ministry: the Book of Mormon.
Criticisms of the Book of Mormon.
Since its publication in 1830, there have been many who have criticized the Book of Mormon.2 Some have attacked its origins, asserting that Joseph Smith plagiarized its content from existing sources such as the Solomon Spaulding Manuscript,3 or Ethan Smith’s book titled View of the Hebrews.4 Some have analyzed its content, asserting that its teachings are inconsistent with the Bible and can only be the product of Joseph Smith’s own mind.5
As I have discussed in previous posts, I believe that before forming an opinion of Joseph Smith’s claims, we should examine the evidence. In this case, that means studying the Book of Mormon. For me, that has also included hearing those who advocate against it, particularly when they claim it was taken from other existing sources. After having read the Spaulding Manuscript and View of the Hebrews, I don’t see any way that the Book of Mormon was plagiarized from either of those sources. In subsequent posts, I will provide those documents and discuss my thoughts regarding those claims.
Evidence of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
As with the First Vision, anyone desiring to form an opinion regarding the authenticity of the Book of Mormon should study and evaluate all available evidence. This includes the evidence regarding Joseph Smith’s life and how the Book of Mormon came to be. Joseph Smith claims that an angel named Moroni appeared to him in 1823 and told him of golden plates buried near Joseph’s home in Palmyra, New York. Joseph then recounts that for four years he prepared himself to obtain those plates, which he did in 1827. Joseph Smith had little education, and because of various family and vocational problems he found it challenging to make much progress on the translation until 1829. The Book of Mormon as we have it was primarily translated from April through June of 1829, and was then published in 1830.
The historical records include Joseph’s testimony regarding these events, but unlike the First Vision, there are testimonies of many others who participated in and were witnesses to these events. Joseph’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, writes about Joseph’s life during this period.5 Eight individuals testified that they saw and held the gold plates.6 Three individuals testified that they saw and held the gold plates, but these three individuals also testified that an angel presented the plates to them.7 The testimonies of the three witnesses are particularly significant for me, because each one of them left the church and became antagonistic to Joseph Smith. David A. Whitmer, one of those three witnesses, wrote a book later in his life where he explained why he continued to testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon while disagreeing with Joseph Smith regarding many other teachings.8
In addition to the witnesses to the gold plates, there are many others who wrote or talked about their interactions with Joseph Smith during the time that he was translating the plates. For example, in 1879, Emma Smith gave an interview to her son: “Emma told her son that she ‘frequently wrote day after day’ at a small table in their house in Harmony. Joseph could not have concealed anything from Emma, as she sat ‘at the table close by him’—close enough to see exactly how the translation occurred. Believing that her husband could not have produced the text of the Book of Mormon on his own, Emma was as astonished by the translation as anyone. ‘Though I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates,’ she told one interviewer, as mentioned above, ‘it is marvelous to me, ‘a marvel and a wonder,’ as much so as to anyone else.'”9
Study the evidence.
I find the story of the Book of Mormon fascinating. Not just the story in the book itself, but the history of how it was published. Was it written by Joseph Smith, or translated as he said? Did Joseph copy the text from another source and commit a fraud on the world, or was it written by ancient prophets who taught of Jesus Christ? As a believer, I am convinced that the Book of Mormon is what Joseph Smith said: writings by ancient prophets who taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. As I have studied the historical evidence, I cannot fathom Joseph Smith conceiving of that book himself, or even copying it from some other source. If you have concerns about Joseph Smith, the best evidence you can read to determine whether he was a prophet is the Book of Mormon. I echo the words of President Gordon B. Hinckley:
“I thank the Almighty for my testimony of the Book of Mormon, this wonderful companion to the Holy Bible. It is strange to me that unbelieving critics must still go back to the old allegations that Joseph Smith wrote the book out of ideas gained from Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews and Solomon Spaulding’s manuscript. To compare the Book of Mormon with these is like comparing a man to a horse. It is true they both walk, but beyond this there is little similarity. The test of the book is in its reading. I speak as one who has read it again and again and tasted of its beauty and depth and power. Could Joseph Smith, I ask you, the young man reared in rural New York largely without schooling, have dictated in so short a time a volume so complex in its nature and yet so harmonious in its whole, with so large a cast of characters and so extensive in its scope? Could he of his own abilities have created the language, the thought, the moving inspiration that has caused millions over the earth to read and say, ‘It is true’?
“I have read much of English literature. In my university days, I tasted the beauty and richness of the whole field from ancient to modern times. I have been lifted by writings that have come of the genius of gifted men and women. But withal, I have not received from any of these the inspiration, the knowledge of things sublime and eternal that have come to me from the writings of the prophets found in this volume, which was translated in the rural communities of Harmony, Pennsylvania, and Fayette, New York, and printed on the Grandin Press in Palmyra. I have read again and again the closing testimony of Moroni, including these challenging words:
“’And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust? …
“‘And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true’ (Moro. 10:27, 29).
“I thank the Lord, my brethren, that I will not have to wait to meet Moroni before I know the truth of his words. I know this now and have known it for a long time by the power of the Holy Ghost.”10
References
- Gordon B. Hinckley, “Joseph Smith: Praise to the Man,” BYU Speeches, November 4, 1979, https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/gordon-b-hinckley/joseph-smith-praise-man/.
- Church History Topics, “Critics of the Book of Mormon,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/critics-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng.
- Gospel Topics, “Spaulding Manuscript,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/spaulding-manuscript?lang=eng; see also Solomon Spaulding, “Manuscript Found,” ed. Kent P. Jackson, BYU Religious Studies Center, 1996, https://rsc.byu.edu/book/manuscript-found.
- Ethan Smith, “View of the Hebrews,” ed. Charles D. Tate, Jr., BYU Religious Studies Center, 1996, https://rsc.byu.edu/book/view-hebrews.
- Lucy Mack Smith, “The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother,” Zion’s Camp Books, Kindle Edition; see also Church History Topics, “Lucy Mack Smith,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/lucy-mack-smith?lang=eng.
- Book of Mormon, Testimony of Eight Witnesses, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/eight?lang=eng.
- Book of Mormon, Testimony of Three Witnesses, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/three?lang=eng.
- David Whitmer, “An Address to All Believers in Christ,” Richmond, Missouri, 1887, https://www.google.com/books/edition/An_Address_to_All_Believers_in_Christ/wVU3AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=david+a+whitmer&printsec=frontcover.
- Michael Hubbard MacKay and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, “Firsthand Witness Accounts of the Translation Process,” in The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, edited by Dennis L. Largey, Andrew H. Hedges, John Hilton III, and Kerry Hull (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2015), 61–79, https://rsc.byu.edu/coming-forth-book-mormon/firsthand-witness-accounts-translation-process.
- Gordon B. Hinckely, “My Testimony,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, 51-53, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1993/11/my-testimony?lang=eng.