Description

Joseph Smith, Jr., and his principle scribe, Oliver Cowdery, claimed that Joseph translated the golden plates with an instrument the Nephites called “interpreters.” Joseph and Oliver called them Urim and Thummim. Some of their contemporaries claimed instead that Joseph merely dictated words that appeared on a seer stone he placed in a hat. The dual narratives were well known in 1834. In response, Joseph and Oliver formally reaffirmed that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim. They reiterated that position for the rest of their lives. In recent years, historians have revived the seer stone narrative. Which version is correct? Urim and Thummim or seer stone? Can they both be correct, or is it an either/or situation? Some historians have reconciled the discrepancies by simply redefining the term “Urim and Thummim” to mean both the Nephite interpreters and the seer stones, but that revisionist approach contradicts the plain historical usage. This book explores the historical evidence and proposes a solution that vindicates the testimonies of Joseph and Oliver while also accepting the statements of the observers as to what they saw. Except what they actually saw was not what they thought they saw.