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A REFERENCE TO THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

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Joseph Smith — Translator

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“Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground. If Joseph Smith was a deceiver, who willfully attempted to mislead the people, then he should be exposed; his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false.”

— Joseph Fielding Smith

10th Mormon prophet
Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, p. 188


Joseph Smith gave a revelation of himself that he is a translator.


I give unto you my servant Joseph to be a presiding elder over all my church, to be a translator, a revelator, a seer, and prophet.

Doctrine and Covenants

— Doctrine and Covenants


124: 125

Product Evaluations
Book of Mormon We are unable to directly examine Joseph’s translation, as according to him, an angel took back the gold plates after his translation was completed.
Book of Abraham We can evaluate Joseph’s translation of Egyptian papyri, as published in his Book of Abraham. See Book of Abraham
Kinderhook Plates Evaluated here below.

Kinderhook Plates


Wilbur Fugate, Robert Wiley and Bridge Whitten conspired to bait Joseph Smith to see if he would translate another set of ancient plates. This time though, these plates would not be ancient nor would they come from an angel. They were intentionally engraved with nonsensical characters.


Kinderhook Plates Facsimiles

Facsimiles of the six Kinderhook Plates, as published in History of the Church, Vol. 5, pp. 374-376

Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation.

Richard Bushman

— Richard Bushman

LDS Historian
Rough Stone Rolling, p. 490


TIMELINE
1843, April 23 Brass plates ‘discovered’ in Kinderhook, Illinois
1843, April 29 Plates delivered to Nauvoo, Illinois for Joseph Smith’s inspection.
1843, May 1

Circumstances are daily transpiring which give additional testimony to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon....

The following letter and certificate, will, perhaps have a tendency to convince the skeptical, that such things have been used, and that even the obnoxious Book of Mormon, may be true; and as the people of Columbus' day were obliged to believe that there was such a place as America; so will the people in this day be obliged to believe, however reluctantly, that there may have been such plates as those from which the Book of Mormon was translated....

We have no doubt however, but Mr. Smith will be able to translate them.

Times and Seasons

— Times and Seasons


"Ancient Records", Vol. 4, No. 12, pp. 185-186

I insert fac-similes of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook, in Pike county, Illinois, on April 23, by Mr. Robert Wiley and others, while excavating a large mound....

I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth.

Joseph Smith

— Joseph Smith

Mormonism founder
History of the Church, Vol. 5, p. 372

May 1. [Joseph Smith] Translates a portion of certain brass plates discovered at Kinderhook, Iowa

John A. Widstoe

— John A. Widstoe

Mormon apostle
Joseph Smith — Seeker after Truth, Prophet of God, p. 366

1843, May 3

The plates above alluded to were exhibited in this city last week and are now, we understand, in Nauvoo, subject to the inspection of the Mormon Prophet. The public curiosity is greatly excited, and if Smith can decipher the hieroglyphics on the plates, he will do more towards throwing light on the early history of this continent, than any man now living.

Quincy Whig

— Quincy Whig


"Singular Discovery--Material for another Mormon Book", Vol. 6, No. 2, p. 2

1843, May 7

Six plates having the appearance of Brass have lately been dug out of a mound by a gentleman in Pike Co. Illinois. They are small and filled with engravings in Egyptian language and contain the genealogy of one of the ancient Jaredites back to Ham the son of Noah.... The gentleman who found them were unconnected with this church but have brought them to Joseph Smith for examination and translation. A large number of Citizens here have seen them and compared the characters with those on the Egyptian papyrus which is now in this city.

Parley P. Pratt

— Parley P. Pratt

Mormon apostle
John Van Cott correspondence
catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org

In the forenoon I was visited by several gentlemen, concerning the plates that were dug out near Kinderhook.

Joseph Smith

— Joseph Smith

Mormonism founder
History of the Church, Vol. 5, p. 384

1843, May 10

The plates above alluded to, were exhibited in this city last week, and are now, we understand, in Nauvoo, subject to the inspection of the Mormon Prophet. The public curiosity is greatly excited, and if Smith can decipher the hieroglyphics on the plates, he will do more towards throwing light on the early history of this continent, than any man now living.

John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff

— John Taylor & Wilford Woodruff

Third and Fourth Mormon prophets, respectively
Reprint of "Singular Discovery" Editors, Nauvoo Neighbor, Vol. 1, No. 2, Whole No. 54

1844, January 15

Why does the circumstance of the plates recently found in a mound in Pike county, Ill., by Mr. Wiley, together with ethmology and a thousand other things, go to prove the Book of Mormon true?—Ans. Because it is true!

Times and Seasons

— Times and Seasons


Vol. 5, No. 2, p. 406

1844, May 22

These plates were found about eleven feet under the surface, of a long mound in the vicinity of Kinderhook, Pike County, Illinois. On removing the crust that had collected about them, hieroglyphics were found engraved, the meaning of which no one was able to divine. They were sent to Jo. Smith, in order to get his opinion of their meaning. Jo had a fac simile taken, and engraved on wood, and it now appears... that he is busy in translating them. *The new work which Jo. is about to issue as a translation of these plates will be nothing more nor less than a sequel to the Book of Mormon.

Warsaw Signal

— The Warsaw Signal


May 22, 1844

  • If not for Joseph’s death the next month (June 27) he may have completed this translation.
1904, March

The plates were submitted to the Prophet, and speaking of them in his journal, under date of May 1, 1843, he says: "I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth"....

The event would go very far towards confirming the idea that in very ancient times, there was intercourse between the eastern and western hemispheres; and the statement of the prophet would mean that the remains were Egyptian. The fair implication, also, from the prophet's words is that this descendant of the Pharaohs possessed a kingdom in the new world; and this circumstance may account for the evidence of a dash of Egyptian civilization in our American antiquities.

Improvement Era

— Improvement Era


Vol. 7, No. 5, p. 387

1962, September

The plates are now back in their original category of genuine. What scholars may learn from this ancient record in future years or what may be translated by divine power is an exciting thought to contemplate. This much remains. Joseph Smith, Jun., stands as a true prophet and translator of ancient records by divine means and all the world is invited to investigate the truth which has sprung out of the earth not only of the Kinderhook plates, but of the Book of Mormon as well.

Improvement Era, 1962

— Welby W. Ricks

BYU Archaeological Society President
"The Kinderhook Plates", Improvement Era, pp. 636-37, 656-660

1979

There are the Kinderhook plates, too, found in America, and now in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society. Controversy has surrounded these plates and their engravings, but most experts agree they are of ancient vintage.

Mark E. Petersen

— Mark E. Petersen

Mormon apostle
Those Gold Plates!, p. 3

1980

For 137 years after Joseph translated a portion of the plates, Mormon historians and General Authorities believed the Kinderhook Plates were authentic and ancient.

Professor D. Lynn Johnson of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, performed sophisticated analytics testing, which proved that one of the plates was not of ancient origin. He also demonstrated that the tested plate was an original used for the facsimiles published in 1843.

1981, August

Official church periodical concedes plates are a hoax.


A recent electronic and chemical analysis of a metal plate (one of six original plates) brought in 1843 to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois, appears to solve a previously unanswered question in Church history, helping to further evidence that the plate is what its producers later said it was—a nineteenth century attempt to lure Joseph Smith into making a translation of ancient-looking characters that had been etched into the plates....

The conclusion, therefore, is that the Chicago plate is indeed one of the original Kinderhook plates, which now fairly well evidences them to be faked antiquities.

Ensign

— Stanley B. Kimball

Historian, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
"Kinderhook Plates Brought to Joseph Smith Appear to Be a Nineteenth-Century Hoax", Ensign (1981, Aug.), churchofjesuschrist.org


Conclusion

The LDS church finally conceded that the Kinderhook plates were a hoax. A hoax that duped the church for over 130 years—a church that boasts it is led by continual revelation.


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