Historical narratives are created by word and image. Eventually they acquire a reality of their own. Most content produced by LDS historians is excellent, but errors and omissions have crept in. This blog offers suggestions for improvement, based on President Nelson teaching that "good inspiration is based upon good information." Good history is also based on good information.
Monday, February 24, 2025
2025 improvements: The Seminary manual
The current version of the Seminary manual includes "lesson 8--the Translation of the Book of Mormon."
The manual does a good job focusing on the content and purpose of the Book of Mormon. It also helps students respond to a common question they might face from non-LDS friends. To that extent, it is helpful.
But for students who seek clarity and understanding about the topic, the manual omits important, relevant references and blurs rather than clarifies the issues about the translation of the Book of Mormon.
This post offers some suggestions for improvement in the pursuit of clarity, charity and understanding.
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The lesson appropriately focuses more on the content and purpose of the Book of Mormon instead of the book's origins. It may be beneficial for some students to emphasize that "it doesn't matter how the book was produced; all that matters is that it is authentic scripture."
But other students may seek a deeper or clearer understanding, especially when they are confronted with specific questions. By largely ignoring what Joseph and Oliver taught and instead emphasizing what others taught, along with the speculation of certain scholars, the lesson leaves students with a confusing narrative that aligns with the critics instead of the prophets.
Students should be empowered by learning what Joseph, Oliver and the other prophets have taught about the translation so they can make informed decisions and respond to critics with a firm foundation of the teachings of the prophets. It is far better for students to learn what Joseph and Oliver taught in seminary than for them to learn about this from others who are challenging their faith.
My comments in red, suggested quotations in green.
Lesson 18: Doctrine and Covenants 6-9
The Translation of the Book of Mormon
“The Gift and Power of God”
This image presents the SITH narrative that contradicts the explicit teachings of both Oliver and Joseph. A more "neutral" (ambiguous) image would better fit the point of this lesson.
With Oliver Cowdery serving as his scribe, Joseph Smith made miraculous progress on the translation of the Book of Mormon during the spring of 1829. While we don’t know specific details about how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, we do know he did it by the gift and power of God.
This excerpt--"by the gift and power of God"--is misdirection. When Joseph said he translated it by the gift and power of God, he always said also that he used the Urim and Thummim and/or took the translation from the record itself. It's always better to quote what Joseph actually taught instead of paraphrasing or truncating what he taught.
This lesson is intended to help students strengthen their testimony that God provided means and power for Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Mormon for us.
Possible Learning Activities
Origin of the Book of Mormon
Consider beginning class by sharing the following scenario. You could give students an opportunity to role-play with a partner or in front of the class.
Imagine one day you shared with one of your good friends your belief that the Book of Mormon is scripture like the Bible. Your friend seems a little surprised and says she was taught that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon from his imagination.
What are some ways you might respond in this situation?
Role-play is effective, and some people might be taught that Joseph composed the text, but by far the more common teaching from critics is that Joseph used a seer stone (a "peep stone" according to Mormonism Unvailed), which is an occult device, and didn't even use the plates after all. Students would benefit from addressing that point the way Joseph and Oliver did, by refuting the SITH narrative by emphasizing that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates.
Now that prominent LDS scholars have publicly announced their conclusion that Joseph and Oliver intentionally misled everyone about the translation, this may become an even more common objection that students will encounter. The current version of this lesson leaves them unprepared to discuss that objection.
Explain that this lesson will help students learn about some of the details related to Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon. Invite students to look for truths as they study that can help them in situations like this and strengthen their testimony that the Book of Mormon is from God.
As we'll see, the lesson largely ignores what Joseph and Oliver taught and instead focuses on the SITH narrative. This leads to more confusion than to clarity.
Oliver Cowdery assists in the translation
Consider asking the students what they remember about the circumstances related to Oliver Cowdery assisting Joseph Smith with the translation of the Book of Mormon. If needed, refer to the “Doctrine and Covenants 6” lesson or Saints, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth, 58–60.
The Saints book goes on to say this:
Sometimes Joseph translated by looking through the interpreters and reading in English the characters on the plates.
Often he found a single seer stone to be more convenient. He would put the seer stone in his hat, place his face into the hat to block out the light, and peer at the stone. Light from the stone would shine in the darkness, revealing words that Joseph dictated as Oliver rapidly copied them down.
Of course, nothing Joseph or Oliver ever said supports that narrative. This SITH narrative was published in 1834 in Mormonism Unvailed as an alternative to the Urim and Thummim narrative. Joseph's contemporaries and successors in Church leadership always testified of the Urim and Thummim narrative, but critics and certain modern LDS scholars promote the SITH narrative instead.
It would be less confusing for students to learn what Joseph and Oliver taught instead of the rationalizations of modern scholars.
Within two days of coming to Harmony, Pennsylvania, to meet Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery started working as Joseph’s scribe. Joseph and Oliver soon made miraculous progress on the translation of the Book of Mormon. It is estimated that, with Oliver as his scribe, Joseph Smith completed the translation of the Book of Mormon in approximately 65 working days (see Russell M. Nelson, “A Treasured Testament,” Ensign, July 1993, 61).
The passive voice here--"it is estimated"-- avoids reference to the assumptions made to come up with 65 days, but students should know that Joseph said he resumed translation in the fall of 1828 and thus had completed at least some portion of Mosiah, if not all of it, before Oliver arrived.
Joseph Smith’s descriptions of the translation
Consider asking students what they know about how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon in such a miraculous way.
The following excerpt from the Gospel Topics essay titled “Book of Mormon Translation” can help students understand what Joseph Smith wanted the world to know about the translation.
In the preface to the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith wrote: “I would inform you that I translated [the book], by the gift and power of God.” When pressed for specifics about the process of translation, Joseph repeated on several occasions that it had been done “by the gift and power of God” and once added, “It was not intended to tell the world all the particulars of the coming forth of the book of Mormon.” (Gospel Topics Essays, “Book of Mormon Translation,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org)
1. The quoted excerpt from the Preface is misleading because it omits the rest of the sentence, in which Joseph explains:
"I would inform you that I translated, by the gift and power of God, and caused to be written, one hundred and sixteen pages, the which I took from the Book of Lehi, which was an account abridged from the plates of Lehi, by the hand of Mormon."
In this passage, Joseph explained that he translated 116 pages that he "took from the Book of Lehi." By declaring the source of the translation--the Book of Lehi which was on the plates--Joseph contradicted rumors that he had not used the plates or that he had merely read words that appeared on a stone in a hat.
2. Anyone who looks at the reference can see that Joseph was not asked "to relate how this record was translated."
Br. said that he thought best that the information of the coming forth of the book of Mormon be related by Joseph himself to the present that all might know for themselves.
Br. Joseph Smith jr. said that it was not intended to tell the world all the particulars of the coming forth of the book of Mormon, & also said that it was not expedient for him to relate these things &c.
Hyrum asked Joseph to relate "The coming forth of the book of Mormon," a topic that is far broader than the translation and may not have even included the translation anyway. Some of those present in the meeting did later discuss their own thoughts about the translation, which indicates they did not interpret Joseph's response to pertain to the translation per se.
The "coming forth" would include the visits of Moroni, Joseph's interaction with other divine messengers including the Three Nephites (one of whom introduced himself to Mary Whitmer as "Brother Nephi), the visits to the repository in Cumorah, the two sets of plates, and much more.
At any rate, Joseph (and Oliver) were specific about one thing. They claimed that Joseph translated the plates by means of the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates, which refutes the claims that he used another "instrument."
What truths can we learn from Joseph Smith’s statement about the translation of the Book of Mormon?
First, as we just was, the minutes from this meeting were not a statement about the translation. More importantly, the manual does not tell students what Joseph actually said about the translation. At a minimum, the manual should give students the quotations from what Joseph taught in the Elders' Journal and the Wentworth letter.
Here are some examples that every Latter-day Saint should be familiar with.
1832. An article in the Boston Investigator 2 (August 10, 1832), reported on the missionary efforts of Orson Hyde and Samuel Smith (Joseph's younger brother). They had been called on a mission to the "eastern countries" in January 1832 (D&C 75:13).
The article included this exchange:
Q.-In what manner was the interpretation, or translation made known, and by whom was it written?
A.-It was made known by the spirit of the Lord through the medium of the Urim and Thummim; and was written partly by Oliver Cowdery, and partly by Martin Harris.
Q.-What do you mean by Urim and Thummim?
A.-The same as were used by the prophets of old, which were two crystal stones, placed in bows something in the form of spectacles, which were found with the plates.
In 1838, Joseph set out several oft-asked questions in the Elders' Journal. Joseph answered the question about the Book of Mormon directly, clearly, and unambiguously. This should be the starting place for any discussion of the translation, but the SITH scholars never quote it.
Question 4th. How, and where did you obtain the Book of Mormon?
Answer. Moroni, the person who deposited the plates, from whence the Book of Mormon was translated, in a hill in Manchester, Ontario County, New York, being dead, and raised again therefrom, appeared unto me and told me where they were and gave me directions how to obtain them. I obtained them andthe Urim and Thummimwith them,by the means of which I translated the plates and thus came the Book of Mormon.
1842. In the 1842 Wentworth letter, Joseph reiterated the point. This, too, is missing from the GTE.
With the records was found a curious instrument which the ancients called “Urim and Thummim,” which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate. Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record by the gift, and power of God.
Help students identify the truth that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God.
Why is it important to know the Book of Mormon was translated by the power of God rather than by Joseph Smith?
This is an odd framing. Joseph himself claimed that he translated the book. The question seems designed to lead students to think that the seer stone translated the book instead of Joseph Smith. This compounds the confusion students are facing.
Translation instruments
The following can help students understand a little about the instruments God made available to Joseph Smith to help in his efforts to translate the Book of Mormon.
When the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith in 1823, he gave instructions to the Prophet about how the Book of Mormon would come forth.
Read Joseph Smith—History 1:34–35 and look for what instruments God had prepared for the translation of the Book of Mormon.
This reference refers only to the Urim and Thummim. Students should also read verse 62 which explains how Joseph used the Urim and Thummim to translate specific characters. Also, students should read this: "you had power given unto you to translate by the means of the Urim and Thummim." (Doctrine and Covenants 10:1) Nowhere in the scriptures does the Lord give Joseph power to translate by the means of a stone he found in a well.
If desired, you could also invite students to read Mormon 9:34 and Ether 3:23–24 to help them understand that Book of Mormon prophets understood that God would prepare a way for their words to be translated.
Also helpful is another account of Moroni's visit from the Joseph Smith Papers that was published more often than JS-History during Joseph's lifetime.
He said this history was written and deposited not far from that place, and that it was our brother’s privilege, if obedient to the commandments of the Lord, to obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record.
In what ways did the Lord prepare the Book of Mormon for translation?
To help students better understand details about Joseph Smith’s use of physical instruments to translate the Book of Mormon, consider showing the video “Seer Stone” (3:47), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Alternatively, you could summarize the following information or invite a student to read it to the class.
The video confuses viewers the same way the Gospel Topics essay does.
3:47
Seer Stone
Later historical accounts indicate that in addition to using the Urim and Thummim (sometimes called the Nephite interpreters or spectacles) to translate the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith used another instrument called a seer stone. The Prophet had discovered this instrument several years before he obtained the gold plates.
This is an inaccurate paragraph because the 1834 book Mormonism Unvailed described SITH as an alternative to the Urim and Thummim. Joseph and Oliver responded to Mormonism Unvailed on several occasions by emphasizing that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates.
Students don't need to read the account in Mormonism Unvailed, but they should know that this was the origin of the SITH narrative.
The translation finally commenced. They were found to contain a language not now known upon the earth, which they termed "reformed Egyptian characters." The plates, therefore, which had been so much talked of, were found to be of no manner of use. After all, the Lord showed and communicated to him every word and letter of the Book. Instead of looking at the characters inscribed upon the plates, the prophet was obliged to resort to the old *''pecp stone," which he formerly used in money-digging. This he placed in a hat, or box, into which he also thrust his face. Through the stone he could then discover a single word at a time, which he repeated aloud to his amanuensis, who committed it to paper, when another word would immediately appear, and thus the performance continued to the end of the book.
Another account they give of the transaction, is, that it v/as performed with the big spectacles before mentioned, and which were in fact, the identical Urim and Thummim...
We do not know many details about how Joseph used these instruments God had prepared.
Students should know that Joseph translated individual characters with the U&T, that he applied them to his eyes to look on the plates, and that he never once stated, impied, or even suggested that he read words off a stone in the hat.
But witnesses said Joseph would sometimes place either the Urim and Thummim or the seer stone into a hat to block out light, which allowed him to better see the words that appeared on the physical instruments (see Gospel Topics Essays, “Book of Mormon Translation,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
The credibility, reliability and motivations of these witnesses has been discussed elsewhere, but basically these witnesses promoted the SITH narrative from Mormonism Unvailed, which Joseph and Oliver refuted repeatedly.
This can be easily handled by explaining to students that while there were dual, competing narratives, the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets consistently supported what Joseph and Oliver said all along.
Help students understand that while we know some details related to Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon, there is much we do not know about the translation process. The most important truth is that God’s power enabled His word to be brought to His children.
Good conclusion that is made stronger by accepting what Joseph and Oliver taught instead of the alternative SITH narrative favored by their critics.
Consider using one or more of the following resources to help students feel that the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God.
Oliver Cowdery’s description of the translation process as recorded in Joseph Smith—History (found in the first paragraph following verse 75)
Students can all see that Oliver referred to the Urim and Thummim and not a seer stone in a hat.
You may want to invite students to discuss the following questions in small groups or pairs before inviting them to share their responses with the class.
What words or phrases from Emma or Oliver support Joseph Smith’s testimony that the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God?
What do you learn or feel about God after learning how Joseph Smith was an instrument in His hands to translate the Book of Mormon?
The power of the Book of Mormon in your life
Explain that one of the best ways we can know the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God is by studying it and experiencing God’s power through living its teachings.
This is the correct emphasis of the lesson, made all the more powerful by clarity about the origin of the book.
Give students time to find a verse or story from the Book of Mormon that has impacted their lives. If students struggle to find something, consider providing help or guidance, such as inviting them to study some of the Book of Mormon doctrinal mastery passages. You could also suggest a few verses they might study.
What is a verse or story from the Book of Mormon that has impacted your life?
How has this verse or story influenced your feelings toward Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
Consider testifying to students that the strength they can receive from studying the Book of Mormon is confirmation of God’s power in bringing about the Book of Mormon.
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