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| − | ===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
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| − | When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2-5}}.</ref>
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| − | In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref><!--
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| − | --> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref><!--
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| − | --> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>
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| − | In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>
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| − | In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>
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| − | ===Returning the plates===
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| − | {{Main|Cumorah}}
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| − | After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref><!--
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| − | --> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref><!--
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| − | --> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>
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| − | Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>
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| − | [[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref><!--
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| − | --> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>
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| − | ==Descriptions of the plates==
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| − | {{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}
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| − | Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="ReferenceA"/><!--
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| − | --> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.
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| − | According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref><!--
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| − | --> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> The next day,<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>
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| − | By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref><!--
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| − | --> During the second half of June 1829,<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref><!--
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| − | --> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref><!--
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| − | --> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref><!--
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| − | --> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>
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| − | In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>
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| − | ===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
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| − | [[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]
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| − | The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>
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| − | [[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref><!--
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| − | --> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/><!--
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| − | --> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>
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| − | Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...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 [15 cm] in thickness".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>
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| − | ===Described composition and weight===
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| − | The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<!--
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>
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| − |
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| − | [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | -->. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> "were lead or gold".<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>
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| − |
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| − | Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref><!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>
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| − |
| |
| − | ==="Sealed" portion===
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| − | According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<!--
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| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> physical, or a combination of these elements.
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| − |
| |
| − | The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>
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| − |
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| − | Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>
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| − |
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| − | Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref><!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --> "as solid to my view as wood,"<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<!--
| |
| − |
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| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref><!--
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| − |
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| − | --> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref><!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref><!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>
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| − |
| |
| − | ===Claimed engravings===
| |
| − | {{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
| |
| − | [[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]
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| − |
| |
| − | The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref><!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>
| |
| − |
| |
| − | [[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref><!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30-31}}.</ref>
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| − |
| |
| − | ==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
| |
| − | {{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref><!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<!--
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| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}} The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and 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 information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...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."'' More than six pages in Volume Five of History of the Church discuss the Kinderhook plates.</ref><!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref><!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. As in the case of the golden plates, witnesses testified to the existence of Strang's plates. These likewise are not extant, nor can they be examined or scientifically authenticated.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | For many Latter Day Saints, however, particularly within the [[Community of Christ]], the significance of these plates, including the golden plates, has waned as increasing numbers of adherents have doubted their historicity.<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | FOOTNOTE--><ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion).</ref><!--
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| − |
| |
| − | --> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of these plates, and especially the golden plates, are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<!--
| |
| − |
| |
| − | --><ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>
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