How the Book of Mormon Came About

The story of how the Book of Mormon came to be has been distorted throughout history, and chances are you'll hear conflicting stories from Mormons and scholars alike. Below is the true history of the Book of Mormon, along with a few corrections of common misconceptions and misrepresentations.

In the second month following, Martin Harris and his wife were at my house. In conversation about Mormonites, she observed that she wished her husband would quit them, as she believed it was all false and a delusion. To which I heard Mr. Harris reply; "What if it is a lie; if you will let me alone I will make money out of it!" I was both an eye and ear witness of what has been stated above.Abigail Harris (Martin Harris' sister-in-law), statement dated at Palmyra, November 28, 1833

First Vision

At the very beginning of the story (known as the "first vision"), we already see distortions and changes between accounts. The basic story is that Smith was praying and some heavenly being appeared to him.

Original version (1832)

In Joseph Smith's original account of the events (recorded in 1832), he already knew that all the world's religions were false before he went to pray in 1822. When he was 15, Jesus alone appeared to him and forgave his sins. There was no commission given to Smith to start a church, he was not appointed a prophet, and no one else appeared.

This original account can be viewed online here.

Another version (1835)

In 1835, Smith published another account saying the events happened in 1823. In this version, Smith was 17 at the time he was praying in his bedroom, wondering if God existed and wanting to know if God accepted him or not. An angel sent by Jesus appeared (not Jesus Himself), assuring Smith that his sins were forgiven, stating that God would do work through him, and revealing the existence of the golden plates.

This version can be read online here.

Official version

James Mulholland recorded this version in 1838 (published in 1842), and it has become the official version taught by the LDS organization, canonized in the Pearl of Great Price as Joseph Smith - History 1:7-20. This version states that it was a spring morning in 1820 when Smith (age 14) went into the woods to pray in order to ask God which church to join. Both God the Father and Jesus appeared, telling him not to join any church because "they were all wrong...all their creeds were an abomination in his sight" (18).

This official version of the story can be read online here.

Angelic appearance

This part of the story is also confused by many, and indeed has been changed over time. In 1823, feeling convicted of his sins, Joseph Smith was praying in his bedroom (which he shared with 4 brothers) in his family's two-room cabin, and an angel appeared. In the original story, the messenger is identified as Nephi (History of the Church (1838), Times and Seasons 3:753 (1842), Millennial Star 3:53 (1842), Life of Joseph Smith (1844, printed 1853), Pearl of Great Price p41 (1851), and on, and on...), though Mormons will tell you that it was Moroni who appeared (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith - History 1:33). In the official account in Joseph Smith - History, the angel made a very real, physical appearance. Mormon teaching before the publishing of the Book of Mormon, however, was that the appearance was a dream. Book of Mormon witness Martin Harris was quoted saying, "he states that after a third visit from the same spirit in a dream he (Smith) proceeded to the spot" ("A Golden Bible," Gem (Rochester, NY), 5 Sept. 1829, referenced in A New Witness for Christ in America, (Zion's Printing and Publishing, 1951).).

Consequently long before the idea of a Golden Bible entered their minds, in their excursions for money-digging, which I believe usually occurred in the night, that they might conceal from others the knowledge of the place, where they struck their treasures, Jo used to be usually their guide, putting into a hat a peculiar stone he had through which he looked to decide where they should begin to dig.

It was after one of these night excursions, that Jo, while he lay upon his bed, had a remarkable dream. An angel of God seemed to approach him, clad in celestial splendor.Martin Harris, interview quoted in Testimonies of Book of Mormon Witnesses, John Clark, Gleanings (1842), p226

The angel told Smith that "there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this [American] continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants [of the Americas]" (Joseph Smith - History 1:34). The Book of Mormon (contained on the gold plates) tells us that the bad Native Americans (Lamanites) killed off all the good, white-skinned Native Americans (Nephites), and so they were cursed with dark skin:

And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men.Book of Mormon, Alma 3:6

Native Americans are supposedly Jews who came across the Atlantic on a boat. According to itself:

[The Book of Mormon] gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.Book of Mormon Introduction

The angel appeared to Smith three times, according to the offical version (Joseph Smith - History 1:47).

The Gold Plates

As with the rest of the story, accounts conflict about how Joseph Smith found the gold plates which, as revealed by the angel, contained the fulness of the gospel, as well as the story of the Native Americans). The accounts do agree that the angel Moroni showed Joseph Smith the exact spot where the plates were--a location on what Smith called the "Hill Camorah". Interestingly, there is an island called Grande Comore off the coast of Africa, whose capital is called Moroni.

Smith used seer stones to translate the plates he found. As early as 1822, Smith had been using a seer stone which "was a chocolate-colored, somewhat egg-shaped stone which the Prophet found while digging a well in company with his brother Hyrum, for a Mr. Clark Chase, near Palmyra, NY. It possessed the qualities of a Urim and Thummim, since by means of it, as well as by means of the Interpreters found with the Nephite record, Joseph was able to translate the characters - engraven on the [golden] plates" (Official History of the Church, v1 p128).

Joseph Smith describes the gold plates and a tool he found with them, in an 1842 letter (found here) to the editor of the Chicago Democrat, John Wentworth:

These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold, each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian characters and bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction and much skill in the art of engraving. With the records was bound 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 breast plate.Joseph Smith

According to Martin Harris, the instrument Urim and Thummim "differed in appearance entirely from the Urim and Thummim that was obtained with the [golden] plates, which were two clear stones set in two rims, very much resembling spectacles, only they were larger" (Offical History of the Church, v1 p128).

Of course, evidence points to Smith's story being entirely made up, and the gold plates have never been seen by anyone (how could they if they never existed?). However, the LDS organization points out that the Book of Mormon contains a statement at the beginning of it saying that the plates were real, listing the names of some of Smith's associates beneath the statement. Yet even the historical existence of any such signed statement is in doubt, as no original copy of the statement or signatures can be found.

I never saw the gold plates, only in a visionary or entranced state.

In about three days I went into the woods to pray that I might see the plates. While praying I passed into a state of entrancement, and in that state I saw the angel [Moroni] and the plates.Martin Harris

Translating the plates

The translation process (since the gold plates were written in the fictional language of Reformed Egyptian) consisted of Joseph Smith putting a stone into a hat, then putting his face into the hat and dictating the Book of Mormon to his scribe. Note that Smith used his own seeing stone to translate the plates, not Urim and Thummim, as many believe today.

The details of this miraculous method of translation are still not fully known. Yet we do have a few precious insights. [Oliver Cowdery's brother-in-law] David Whitmer wrote:

"Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man." (David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887, p. 12.)Elder Russell M. Nelson, A Treasured Testament, Ensign, July 1993, 61

In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us.Emma Smith, Joseph's first wife, in History of the RLDS Church, 8 vols, "Last Testimony of Sister Emma" 3:356

Martin Harris related an incident that occured during the time that he wrote that portion of the translation of the Book of Mormon which he was favored to write direct from the mouth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He said that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone, Martin explained the translation as follows: By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin and when finished he would say "Written," and if correctly written that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used.Deseret News, "One of the Three Witnesses," 30 November 1881

Smith also used the stone to translate the Book of Abraham and give numerous other revelations. Interestingly, the translation process assured that there were absolutely no errors in the Book of Mormon, yet there are many problems and changes to the Book of Mormon.

Joseph Smith, Jr., Martin Harris and others, used to meet together in private, a while before the gold plates were found, and were familiarly known by the name of the "Gold Bible Company." They were regarded by the community in which they lived, as a lying and indolent set of men, and no confidence could be placed in them. Henry Harris, Martin Harris' brother

Original translation lost

After the original Book of Mormon was written, Martin Harris took the 116 pages with him to Manchester, New York. Official LDS history says that Smith has having hard times at home (Harmony, Pennsylvania), as his first wife Emma had given still-born, deformed child, and Smith was nursing Emma back to health. Smith got worried after he hadn't heard from Harris in two weeks, and traveled to Manchester to find out what was going on. Smith's mother wrote that after Smith arrived, Harris admitted he had lost the 116 pages, and Smith said, "Oh my God! All is lost! Must I return to my wife with such a tale as this I dare not do it lest I should kill her at once."

So Smith lost the original Book of Mormon. He claimed that God told him he wouldn't be allowed to translate the same thing again:

31 ... For, behold, if you should bring forth the same words they will say that you have lied and that you have pretended to translate, but that you have contradicted yourself.
32 And, behold, they will publish this, and Satan will aharden the hearts of the people to stir them up to anger against you, that they will not believe my words.
33 Thus Satan thinketh to overpower your testimony in this generation, that the work may not come forth in this generation. Doctrine and Covenants 10:31-33

Anyone with a head can see what's going on here. The only real reason anyone would say there are contradictions is if there are contradictions. If Smith had translated the plates again, as he claims he had before, then there would be no contradictions. Clearly, the Mormon god isn't so bright.

Anyway, Smith claims God told him not to translate the Book of Lephi from the gold plates again, but to translate instead from the plates of Nephi, which conveniently contained the same story, but from a different perspective, and containing some things God considered to be more and better revelation anyway (Doctrine and Covenants 10:45, Official Church History 1:56). This happened 7 months after the original 116 pages were lost, and Martin Harris did not act as the scribe.

In Doctrine and Covenants 3, Smith starts recording what he claims is direct revelation of God. That is, this is his first claim to be a prophet, rather than just a translator. And so the story of the Book of Mormon ends. Unfortunately, its legacy continues on to this day.