Only Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery saw the three items in the stone box at Cumorah. The Gold Plates, The Breastplate and the Urim and Thummim, also called Interpreters, or “The Key”. Lucy Mack Smith saw the breastplate and the glasses at her home, as Joseph let her see and hold them, as they were wrapped in a thin cloth where she describes them in detail below.
Most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have received a spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and it is a second witness with the Bible as a Testament of Jesus Christ.
There is a difference of opinion with some members of the Church however, about the method of translation of the Book of Mormon by the Prophet Joseph Smith, but all active members of the Church believe the Book of Mormon was translated by the “Gift and Power of God” as I do as well.
The Church and its Prophet and Apostles have not determined what the specific method of translation was, as just knowing the doctrine of the Church that the Book of Mormon is the word of God is most important, which I am in total agreement with. The Church is very supportive of anyone to have their own opinion about what instrument or method that Joseph Smith used. That is the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are blessed with knowing the Doctrine’s of the Lord’s Church through Prophets and Apostles, but on non-doctrinal issues, or our personal opinions we have our freedom to choose. Personal Revelation is critical.
No one except Joseph, Oliver and Lucy Mack Smith have ever seen the breastplate or the spectacles, so researchers could only share what their interpretation is of the information they have found. Many historians rarely look outside the box and there is always a hat or a rock nearby, so that makes it easy to demonstrate. Many historians also like to come up with new theories. Our Prophet has re-shared many things which many historians have shared with him as what they believe to be true, although it is just their opinions. That’s why the Brethren rarely say exactly how the translation happened as it is not revelation, so it really doesn’t concern them. I suppose it shouldn’t matter to most of us, as the spiritual confirmation that Joseph used the gift and power of God is the best answer. However, I enjoy searching for additional answers as Moroni said, “ye may know the truth of all things.”
The stone in the hat is not a fact, but many historians and Church videos show it as the “New Narrative.” Nowhere in the scriptures does it even speak about it. Church Historians have developed consensus in their progressive thoughts, and they don’t like the traditionalist view. It’s just like the opinion that there is consensus that man causes global warming, so the intellectuals all agree on their non-provable THEORY.
The stone in a hat is a theory. Our scriptures tell us many times Joseph used “these two stones fastened to a breastplate” JSH 1:35. And Oliver Cowdery in scripture said, “Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, ‘Interpreters,’ the history or record called ‘The Book of Mormon.” JSH 1:75n. Latter-day Saints who testify that the Scriptures are true, should be able to agree that Joseph used those items which were in the stone box at the Hill Cumorah. Plates, Breastplate, and Interpreters. Joseph’s witness is powerful. I don’t believe David Whitmer, Martin Harris or Emma Smith as they have been quoted below of Joseph used a stone in a hat. Not according to the scriptures.
Joseph Smith said again, “I obtained them [gold plates], and the Urim and Thummim with them, by the means of which I translated the plates; and thus came the Book of Mormon.” (History of the Church, 3:28)
The details of this miraculous method of translation are still not fully known
Elder Russell M. Nelson said this. “As Oliver Cowdery testified a few years later: “These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated *… the history or record called ‘The Book of Mormon.’ (JS—H 1:75n. The details of this miraculous method of translation are still not fully known. Yet we do have a few precious insights. David Whitmer wrote” Quote from Elder Nelson.
[Elder Nelson then quotes David Whitmer, but why quote David? David was not present at the translation and neither was Martin and Emma never saw the method of translation.] They all just guessed because Joseph did have a type of stone, but Joseph did not use that single stone to translate. No where in the scriptures does it mention Joseph using a stone in a hat to translate. See JSH 1:35 for scriptural confirmation that Joseph used “these stones fastened to a breastplate” to translate.
First Anti-Mormon Book Lies about the Translation
On page 18, which you can read here, Mormonism Unvailed acknowledges two alternative explanations of the translation. The first involved the seer stone (which the book calls a “peep stone”) that Joseph put in a hat to read off the words that appeared. Setting aside the sarcasm of this passage, we can see that the first paragraph below is what our revisionist Church historians are teaching today (although they claim Joseph saw a group of words instead of a single word at a time).
“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 [Joseph] 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 ”peep 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.” Mormonism Unveiled page 18
Here is the truth about the translation from the article, The Process of Translating the Book of Mormon by Joseph Fielding McConkie (Professor of Ancient Scripture, BYU) and Craig J. Ostler (Assistant Professor of Church History and Doctrine, BYU)
“The testimony of David Whitmer, which is laid forth below, clearly contradicts the principles established by the Lord in this revelation. It is also at odds with the testimonies of both Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. In our judgment, Mr. Whitmer is not a reliable source on this matter. We are entirely respectful of and grateful for the testimony to which he appended his name as one of the three witnesses of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and its divine origin. That, however, does not make him a competent witness to the process of translation. We too, like countless others, are competent witnesses of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Our knowledge of how it was translated, however, is limited to that which has come through the channels ordained by the Lord for that purpose.
As to David Whitmer’s explanation, it should be remembered that he never looked into the Urim and Thummim nor translated anything. His testimony of how the Book of Mormon was translated is hearsay. Spanning a period of twenty years (1869-1888), some seventy recorded testimonies about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon claim David Whitmer as their source. Though there are a number of inconsistencies in these accounts, David Whitmer was repeatedly reported to have said that after the loss of the 116 pages, the Lord took both the plates and the Urim and Thummim from the Prophet, never to be returned. In their stead, David Whitmer maintained, the Prophet used an oval-shaped, chocolate-colored seer stone slightly larger than an egg. Thus, everything we have in the Book of Mormon, according to Mr. Whitmer, was translated by placing the chocolate-colored stone in a hat into which Joseph would bury his head so as to close out the light. While doing so he could see “an oblong piece of parchment, on which the hieroglyphics would appear,” and below the ancient writing, the translation would be given in English. Joseph would then read this to Oliver Cowdery, who in turn would write it. If he did so correctly, the characters and the interpretation would disappear and be replaced by other characters with their interpretation (Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 115, 157-58).
Such an explanation is, in our judgment, simply fiction created for the purpose of demeaning Joseph Smith and to undermine the validity of the revelations he received after translating the Book of Mormon. We invite the reader to consider the following: First, for more than fifty years David Whitmer forthrightly rejected Joseph Smith, declaring him to be a fallen prophet. Though he never denied his testimony of the Book of Mormon, he rejected virtually everything else associated with the ministry of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. His rejection included both the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods, which were restored during the time the Book of Mormon was being translated and, of course, the revelations which would eventually constitute the Doctrine and Covenants… Finally, the testimony of David Whitmer simply does not accord with the divine pattern. If Joseph Smith translated everything that is now in the Book of Mormon without using the gold plates, we are left to wonder why the plates were necessary in the first place. The Process of Translating the Book of Mormon by Joseph Fielding McConkie (Professor of Ancient Scripture, BYU) and Craig J. Ostler (Assistant Professor of Church History and Doctrine, BYU)
Whitmer thus continued to the grave, his 1829 on-site understanding of “Urim and Thummim” as a single seer stone. The Church in Utah attempted to correct Whitmer’s “error” above, shortly after its publication in the Chicago Times, with these comments . . . “The next error is that the seer stone which Joseph used in the translation ‘was called Urim and Thummim.’ The instrument thus denominated was composed of two crystal stones ‘set in the two rims of a bow.’ The seerstone was separate and distinct from the Urim and Thummim. The latter was delivered to the angel as well as the plates after the translation was completed; the former remained with the Church and is now in the possession of the President.” [Reynolds 1883, 85; citing, on his page 84 as his source quoted, “The Deseret Evening News at the time of the publication of his letter . . . ,” by which Reynolds means the letter of the Chicago Times correspondent to the Chicago Times, reporting his interview with Whitmer.] Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source © 2014 Rick Grunder page 1522
The Urim and Thummim Used for other Revelations
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Hannah Stoddard said, “Joseph definitely had and was using the Urim & Thummim in Fayette. One example is the revelation calling the Three Witnesses. According to Joseph’s account, that revelation was given through the Urim and Thummim.
History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834]
at length <I> complied, and through the Urim and Thummin, I obtained of the Lord for them the following Revelation. [p. 23]
38Revelation to Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, at Fayette, Seneca County, New York, June 1829. Given previous to their viewing the plates containing the Book of Mormon.
1 Behold I say unto you, that you must rely upon my word, which if you do with full purpose of heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim which were given to the brother of Jared on the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face, and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on the borders of the red sea; and it is by <your> faith that you shall obtain a view of them; even by that faith which was had by the prophets of old.
2 And after that you have obtained faith and have seen them with your eyes, you shall testify of them by the power of God; and this you shall do that my servant Joseph Smith jr, may not be destroyed, that I may bring about my righteous purposes unto the children of men in this work. And ye shall testify that you have seen them, even as my servant Joseph Smith Jr has seen them, for it is by my power that he has seen them, and it is because he had faith: and he has translated the book, even that part which I have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true. 3 Wherefore you have received the same power, and the same faith, and the same gift like unto him; and if you do these last commandments of mine, which I have given you, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; for my grace is sufficient for you: and you shall be lifted up at the last day.— And I, Jesus Christ, your Lord and your God, have spoken it unto you, that I might bring my righteous purposes unto the children of men. A[men. ] [HC 1:53]39
Not many days after the above commandment was given, we four, viz Martin Harris, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself, agreed to retire into the woods, and try to obtain by fervent and humble prayer, the fulfilment of the promises given in this revelation; that they should have a view of the pl[ates] &c[.]40 we accordingly made choice of a piece of woods convenient to Mr Whitmer’s [house],41 to which we retired, and having knelt down, we began to pray in much faith, to Almighty God to bestow upon us a realization of those promises. According to previous arrangement, I commenced by vocal prayer to our Heavenly Father and was followed by each of the rest in succession; we did not yet however obtain any answer or manifestation of the divine favour in our behalf. We again observed the same order of prayer each calling on and praying fervently to God in rotation; but with the same result as before. Upon this our second failure, Martin Harris proposed that he would withdraw himself from us, believing as he expressed himself that his presence was the cause of our not obtaining what we wished for: He accordingly withdrew from us, and we knelt down again, and had not been [p. 24]
See another revelation here: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/28
Other headings in the D&C also claim they were given through the Urim & Thummim.
History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834]
In the meantime, David, John, and Peter Whitmer Jr became our zealous friends and assistants in the work; And being anxious to know their respective duties, and having desired with much earnestness that I should enquire of the Lord concerning them, I did so, through the means of the Urim and Thummim and obtained for them in succession the folowing Revelations.
34Revelation given to David Whitmer, at Fayette, Seneca County New York. June 1829.
1 A great and marvelous work is about to come forth unto the children of men: behold I am God, and give heed to my word, which is quick [HC 1:49] and powerful, sharper than a two edged sword, to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow: therefore give heed unto my word. 2 Behold the field is white already to harvest, therefore whoso desireth to reap let him thrust in his sickle with his might and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God: yea, whosoever will thrust in his sickle and reap, the same is called of God: therefore, if you will ask of me you shall receive; if you will knock it shall be opened unto you.
3 Seek to establish bring forth and establish my Zion. Keep my commandments in all things, and if you keep my commandments, and endure to the end, you shall have eternal life; which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.
4 And it shall come to pass, that if you shall ask the father in my name, in faith believing, you shall receive the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance, that you may stand as a witness of the things of which you shall both hear and see; and also, that you may declare repentance unto this generation. 5 Behold I am Jesus Christ the son of the living God, who created the heavens and the earth, a light which cannot be hid in darkness: wherefore, I must bring forth the fulness of my gospel from the Gentiles unto the house of Israel. And behold thou art David, and thou art called to assist: which thing if ye do, and are faithful ye shall be blessed both spiritually and temporally, and great shall be your reward. Amen.
35Revelation given to John Whitmer, at Fayette, Seneca County, New York, June 1829.
1 Hearken my servant John, and listen to the words of Jesus Christ, your Lord and your Redeemer, for behold I speak unto you with sharpness and with power, for mine arm is over all the earth, and I will tell you that which no man knoweth save me and thee alone: for many times you have desired of me to know that which would be of most worth unto you.
2 Behold, blessed are you for this thing, and for speaking my words which I have given [p. 22]
Selected Teachings on Book of Mormon Translation: Authentic Statements
Joseph Smith (Translator)
Moroni, who deposited the plates 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, and the Urim and Thummim with them, by the means of which I translated the plates; and thus came the Book of Mormon. (History of the Church, 3:28)
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 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 breast plate. Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record by the gift and power of God. (“The Wentworth Letter,” History of the Church, 4:536-541)
[T]he fact is, that by the power of God I translated the Book of Mormon from hieroglyphics, the knowledge of which was lost to the world, in which wonderful event I stood alone, an unlearned youth, to combat the worldly wisdom and multiplied ignorance of eighteen centuries, with a new revelation, which (if they would receive the everlasting Gospel,) would open the eyes of more than eight hundred millions of people, and make “plain the old paths,” wherein if a man walk in all the ordinances of God blameless, he shall inherit eternal life. (History of the Church, 6:74-77)
Oliver Cowdery (Eyewitness to the Events)
These were days never to be forgotten to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated, with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, “Interpreters,” the history or record called “The book of Mormon.” (Messenger and Advocate, 1:14)
I wrote with my own pen, the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith, as he translated it by the gift and power of God, by means of the Urim and Thummim, or, as it is called by the book, “holy interpreters.” I beheld with my eyes, and handled with my hands, the gold plates from which it was translated. I also saw with my eyes and handled with my hands the “holy interpreters.” (as cited in Joseph Fielding Smith, Restoration of All Things, 113)
[2nd-hand account]. Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath [during the June 1830 Colesville trials], that said Smith found with the plates, from which he translated his book, two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates. (Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, 9 April 1831; see online account. Note: that this is quoted by an unbeliever, in an antagonistic magazine, in a spirit of incredulity adds to the force of Oliver’s statement)
The Three Witnesses (Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, & David Whitmer)
[We], through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. (“Testimony of the Three Witnesses”)
