The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon and the Priesthood The Prophet and Oliver Cowdery were working on the translation of Third Nephi when they had a question about baptism. There was some what of a disagreement about the mode of baptism and how baptism should be performed. They also had a question about authority and who actually held it. They went to a place along the Susquehanna River and prayed for an answer. John the Baptist appeared to them. Clearly, the Book of Mormon was needed as an added witness in these the decades of deep doubt. Clearly, the theophany at Palmyra puts to rout all the chatter about the historicity of Jesus; it ended all the theological historical fuzziness about the nature of the Godhead, while dramatically confirming the reality of the resurrection (Neal A. Maxwell, All Hell Is Moved, 178). The Susquehanna River John the Baptist ordaining Joseph and Oliver on May 15, 1829 Restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood. May 15, 1829 and May or June of 1829 3 Things Necessary For a Restoration : 1.Doctrine 2. Ordinances/ Covenants 3. Authority Home of Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, Emmas parents Joseph and Emma Smiths Home Visitor Center Elder George F. Richards taught: The ordinances of the Gospel have virtue in them by reason of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, and without it there would be no virtue in them for salvation (Madsen, Temple and Atonement, 72). Accordingly, if we want to better understand a saving ordinance and its symbolism, we might appropriately ask, How does this ordinance relate to the Atonement of Jesus Christ? (Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, 279). 1830 Book of Mormon Title Page Martin Harris Unknown to Martin at the time, Joseph had apparently already seen Martin in the spectacles and knew that God Had chosen him to help bring forth the Book of Mormon (Tiffany, Mormonism, August 1859, 18). Joseph sent his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, to visit with Martin to find out if he would help Joseph translate the plates. Lucy remembered that Lucy Harris was initially excited about the plates and eagerly discussed them with her visitor (admittedly, this may have been a way for Lucy Mack Smith to emphasize Lucy Harriss dismissal of the plates later). Lucy Mack Smith remembered that Harris did not wait for me to get through with my story before responding by offering money to assist Joseph in his efforts to translate. Lucy Harris traveled to the Smiths Manchester home with her daughter to speak with Joseph, hoping to see the plates before she or her husband offered any support for the translation project. Lucy Harris told Joseph that if she could get a witness that he spoke the truth she would believe it and want to do something about the translation and help in anyway (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, book 6, [5]). Lucy Mack Smith remembered Lucy Harris having a remarkable dream that evening. When she spoke the next morning, she declared that a personage had appeared to her the night before and said to her that in as much as she had disputed the servant of the Lord and said that his word was not to be believed and asked many improper questions that she had done that which was not right in the sight of God. However, after the chastisement from the personage, she was shown the plates in her dream and in the morning she was able to describe the record in detail to her daughter and the Smith Family. After discussing the dream and pondering its meaning, Joseph handed Lucy Harris and her daughter the wooden box containing the plates (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, book 6, [5-7]). Lucy said they were very heavy. Even though she knew that Joseph possessed what seemed to be a set of plates, Lucy Harriss experience slowly faded from her mind, and she eventually discounted her evening at the Smiths as evidence that the plates existed. Martin Harris was surprised to find that Joseph had already planned to include him in the forthcoming effort to translate the plates. Martin concluded that the object was a set of plates and that their weight indicated that they could have been made of gold. Like a child investigating a wrapped gift, Harris surmised the contents. He knew that Joseph had not credit enough to buy so much lead, let alone gold or some other expensive metal. Harris realized that Joseph Smith neither had the means to fabricate nor purchase metal plates. Harris calculated that the plates must have weighed around sixty pounds, which made him believe that, given the size of the box, the plates must have been lead or gold (Tiffany, Mormonism, August 1859, 168). Harris approached the situation very skeptically. Harris interrogated Emma and other members of the Smith family to try and catch them in a lie. Martin finally declared, If it is the Lords, you can have all the money necessary to bring it before the world (Tiffany, Mormonism, August 1859, ). While Martin and Lucy Harris were now convinced, not all Palmyra residents reacted so positively. With the growing threats from angry residents, Joseph needed a way to leave Palmyra quickly to live with Emmas family in Harmony, Pennsylvania. In a local tavern, Martin presented Joseph with fifty dollars so Joseph could settle his debts and do the work of the Lord. Joseph had been forced to nail the previous boxes shut to prevent people from looking at the plates. With a new box, possible the fourth, the plates were more accessible, because it had a lock on the lid. It was also the last box used to store and protect the plates that is mentioned in historical records. Once Joseph settled in his home in Harmony in late November or early December of 1827, he only occasionally went to any length to hide the plates. Emma later recalled, They lay under our bed for a few months but I never felt the liberty to look at them (Emma Smith Bidamon Interview by Nels Madson and Parley P. Pratt, Church History Library, SLC, 1877). Emma explained, The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen table cloth. Emmas son Joseph Smith III also remembered, My mother told me that she saw the plates in the sack, for they lay on a small table in their living room in their cabin on he fathers farm, and she would lift and move them when she swept and dusted the room and furniture. She even thumbed the leaves as one does the leaves of a book, and they rustled with a metallic sound (Joseph Smith III to Mrs. E. Horton, 7 March 1900, CCLA, in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:546-47). The fourteen-acre farm included a frame home, a barn, and other improvements, which Joseph formally purchased from Isaac Hale on 6 April Isaac Hale insisted that Joseph would stop accepting work as a laborer digging for buried silver or gold. Hale was quickly disappointed to find that Joseph claimed he had brought with him from Palmyra a set of gold plates that had been buried in a hill. Hale received these claims with doubt and derision. Hale was not allowed to see the plates. Hale expected Joseph to show him the plates out of respect. He demanded that nothing be stored in his house if he could not see it. Perhaps it was in part to try and satisfy Hales doubts that Joseph soon produced paper copies of the characters on the plates. David Whitmer Oliver Cowdery Born 3 October 1806 in Wells, Rutland County, Vermont. The youngest of eight children. Received an education of reading, writing, and the basic rules of arithmetic. He engaged in blacksmithing and farming. He was slight of build, about five feet five inches tall, with dark wavy hair and piercing eyes. In 1829, Lyman, his brother was hired to teach in the Manchester township which was close to where Josephs family lived. Lyman was unable to fulfill his assignment and suggested that they hire Oliver in his stead. It was approved by the trustees, one of whom was Hyrum Smith. Oliver boarded at the home of Joseph Smith Sr. and pressed the Smiths for any information they would give him relative to Joseph Jr. On Tuesday, 7 April, Oliver and Joseph commenced the work of the translation. Regarding his experiences working with Joseph Smith, Oliver later reminisced: 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 (Joseph Smith --- History endnote). Joseph and Oliver labored with little cessation on the translation throughout April. With Olivers help, Joseph proceeded faster than ever before. During the next three months Joseph and Oliver completed the amazing task of translating approximately five hundred printed pages. This was a glorious period in their lives (Church History in the Fullness of Times, 53). Oliver Cowdery, the most constant and involved witness to the miraculous translation, always affirmed the divinity of the process. Though later disaffected for a time from the Church, he nevertheless came humbly back. He spoke forthrightly about how he wrote with my own pen the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the Lips of the prophet (Journal of Reuben Miller, October 1848, Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Oliver would not have humbly returned to the Church at all, especially seeking no station, had there been any kind of fraud! Instead, at the approach of death, Oliver could not have been more dramatic about his testimony concerning the Book of Mormon. Olivers half-sister, Lucy P. Young, reported: Just before he breathed his last he asked to be raised up in bed so he could talk to the family and friends and he told them to live according to the teachings in the Book of Mormon and they would meet him in Heaven then he said lay me down and let me fall asleep in the arms of Jesus, and he fell asleep without a struggle (Letter of Lucy Cowdery Young, 7 March 1887, Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). What an exit endorsement! (Ensign, January 1997, 41). The Everest of ecclesiastical truth built from the translations and revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith speaks for itself as it towers above the foothills of philosophy.Revelations came to us through an inspired prophet, Joseph Smith. His spelling left something to be desired, but how he provided us with the essential grammar of the gospel! (Neal A. Maxwell, A Choice Seer, 115). Joseph probably first used the stones in spectacles that came with the plates, and then, for most of the translation period, substituted one of the stones he had found. Joseph put the seer stone in a hat to exclude the light and read off the translated text by looking in the stone. All the while, the plates lay wrapped in a cloth on the table. Apparently Joseph did not look at the plates through most of the translation (Michael Hubbard Mackay and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, From Darkness unto Light, Foreward, vi). Samuel Smiths Baptism May 15 th or May 25 th ? According to Lucy Mack Smith, Samuel was baptized on the very day that Oliver and Joseph received the Aaronic Priesthood and baptized each other. In the History of the Church these circumstances are recorded differently than Mother Smiths account: We informed Samuel of what the Lord was about to do for the children of men, and began to reason with him out of the Bible. The result was that he obtained revelation for himself sufficient to convince him of the truth of our assertions. On the 25 th day of that same month in which we had been baptized and ordained, Oliver baptized him and he returned to his fathers house greatly glorifying and praising God, being filled with the Holy Spirit (History of the Church, 1:44). Patriarchal Blessings The first Patriarchal Blessings given in this dispensation were given by Joseph Smith Jr. The first ordained Patriarch in this dispensation was Joseph Smith Sr. Melchizedek Priesthood We do not know the exact date that it was received. This restoration most probably occurred between the 16 th -28th of May 1829 (Larry C. Porter, Priesthoods, Ensign, Dec. 1996, 33-47). Doctrine & Covenants 27:12 The Addison Everett Account Addison was a faithful member of the church. He said he heard Joseph talking to Hyrum Smith just before they went to Carthage. They were talking about the time they were arrested in 1829 after they had come back down into the Colesville/ Harmony area. Their lawyer John Reid said that they had no chance in the court room and that they had better escape and flee for their lives. So they did, running most of the evening to get away. The prophet had to carry Oliver much of the way because of his bad health. At daylight, both men were exhausted and sitting on a log and Oliver said, Joseph, how long do we have to endure such things? It was at this moment that Peter, James and John made their appearance and conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood and the Apostleship on both men. Joseph said Oliver had no trouble going the rest of the way. This is the only account of the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood that the Church has. No date has ever been given. Doctrine & Covenants 27:12 This text confirms the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Erastus Snow, who served as an apostle for nearly forty years, gave the following account of the restoration of the higher priesthood: In due course of time, as we read in the history which he (Joseph Smith) had left, Peter, James and John appeared to him --- it was at a period when they were being pursued by their enemies and had to travel all night. In the dawn of the coming day they were weary and worn and who should appear to them? Peter, James and John, for the purpose of conferring upon them the Apostleship, the keys of which they themselves had held while upon the earth, which had been bestowed upon them by the Savior (Journal of Discourses 23:183). President Wilford Woodruff explained: Joseph Smith never attempted to organize this Church until he received commandment so to do from God. He never attempted to baptize a man until he received the Aaronic Priesthood under the hands of John the BaptistHe never attempted to officiate in any of the ordinances of the Gospel until he received the Apostleship under the hands of Peter, James and John. These men appeared to him. They laid their hands upon his head and sealed the Apostleship upon him with all the power thereof (Journal of Discourses, 24:241). David Whitmers Description of Moroni David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and Joseph were traveling by wagon to Fayette. As they traveled they saw an older man along the road with a knapsack over his shoulder. The prophet leaned over to David and said, Ask him if hed like a ride. When they got up to him they stopped the wagon. David Whitmer said the stranger was about 58 59, and had a little white beard with long white hair. The stranger sat the knapsack down and took a hanky and wiped the sweat off his brow and before they could speak to him said, Its a hot day isnt it? Yes it is, would you like a ride? No, no thank you, Im on my way to Cumorah. Well, David Whitmer had never heard of Cumorah before. He had no idea what the man was talking about. David said, Okay and drove off. Later, Joseph told David that the stranger they had visited with was Moroni and that he had taken the plates from Joseph to get them safely to Fayette. What is unique about this story was that Joseph saw Moroni in a glorious setting on September 21 st, 1823, resurrected and with glory beyond all words. Then, he (they) saw him as an old man who was wiping sweat from his brow. They were getting a glimpse about the nature of resurrected beings and some of the talents they have, and some of the things they can do. Lucy Mack Smith said that Joseph Jr. met with Moroni in Fayette, in the back of the garden at the Whitmer home and received the plates after his trip with David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery. Sarah Conrad Mary Whitmer (Peter Whitmer Seniors wife) was dealing with a great amount of stress because leaders of the Church were living in her home. She had three more mouths to feed and there was only a limited amount of space. The Whitmers hired a girl by the name of Sarah Conrad, a local teenager to help with the chores and the cooking. Sarah approached Mary Whitmer and said, Mrs. Whitmer, Ill not work for you one more minute unless you tell me what is going on in this house, Im scared to death. Sarah was scared because she had seen Joseph Smith come down from the translating room with his face in a heavenly glow. She had never seen anything like it. Sarah said, You have to tell me what is going on or Ill not stay. Mary Whitmer took her into her confidence and told her who Joseph was and that he had the gold plates and was working on a translation that would bless the world. Sarah believed, stayed on as a hired hand and eventually joined the Church. Sarah traveled with the Saints to Utah and remained faithful all of her days ! The 13 th Witness of the Plates! Mary Whitmer As Mary came around the back of the barn completing her outside chores, she was feeling stressed with all that was going on. An old man met her with a sack hung over his shoulder. At first she was fearful, but the fear immediately left. The old man said, You are entitled to a witness of whats going on in your home, he then pulled the plates out of his sack and held them out to her. He allowed her to touch them and see the curious writings. Mary Whitmer was the only woman in the History of the Church that we have a record of that saw the plates ! Mary Whitmer had no problem getting the rest of her chores done that day. When she went back to the house, you can only imagine her excitement. She told Joseph that he would never believe what had just happened to her. Joseph told Mary that he already knew what had happened because Moroni had told him the night before what he was going to do (Millennial Star). Doctrine & Covenants 17 The Ultimate Show and Tell 1. The Gold Plates 2. The Breastplate 3. Sword of Laban 4. Urim & Thummim 5. The Miraculous director The Brass Plates `We (the three witnesses) not only saw the plates of the Book of Mormon, but also the Brass Plates (B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols., 1:142-43). David Whitmer Moroni spoke specifically to David Whitmer and said, David, blessed is the Lord and he who keeps the commandments. This was prophetic as we look at historical retrospect (Doctrine & Covenants 14:7). Later, David would not keep the commandments, particularly the Word of Wisdom. He was excommunicated from the Church and never returned. All twelve witnesses were true to their testimonies of the plates! The Characters on the Plates: Joseph had absolutely no ability to decipher any language other than English. Josephs early attempts to find a translator of the transcribed characters has been almost completely lost to Latter-day Saints history. Emma Smith, for instance, aided Joseph to make copies of the characters, but she never saw the plates herself. It is possible that Joseph was making copies of the characters by placing a paper over the plates and rubbing a piece of charcoal over the inscribed characters. Aside from his wife, Joseph apparently had others help him make copies of the characters from the pages. If Joseph produced only one sheet of copied characters, as the history has traditionally been told, why would Joseph have employed two scribes in this period? Furthermore, if there was only one sample, and Joseph had already made the copy himself directly from the plates, why have any scribe at all? Yet there are records indicating not only that Joseph Smith used Emma and Reuben Hale as scribes, but also that he had Martin Harris create other copies of some characters, presumably after Emma and Reuben had assisted (Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, in JSP, H1:15). Joseph had the plates in his possession for over four months before Harris took copies of the characters to New York City in February 1828, allowing for the possibility that Joseph had, during that time, studied the characters and made numerous copies. (MacKay, Drumbeat, and Jens, The Caractors Document, ). The copies of these characters allowed Joseph Smith and his followers to provide physical evidence to doubters that the plates did exist. Safely living in Harmony, Pennsylvania over one hundred miles from those who tried to take the plates from him in Palmyra, Joseph began a new era of working with the gold plates. The Publication of the Book of Mormon The translation was finished around the end of July, E.B. Grandin finally consented to publish it (Egbert Bratt Grandin). He was afraid that the community would associate him with the Mormon Church and that his business would suffer because of it. How much profit was E.B. Grandin going to make on the publication of the Book of Mormon? Did he lose money? Did he recover his cost? Three thousand dollars for five thousand copies promised him far more than the 12% printers customarily hoped for. Grandins projected profit was 33% above his costs. Furthermore, once the expenditure was secured by a mortgage on Martin Harris farm, Grandin was home free. He sold the mortgage to a wealthy Palmyran, Thomas Rogers, for $2, enough to assure him his 12% profit --- and Rogers in turn resold it soon after for $3,000. Everyone benefited financially, save for Martin Harris, who lost the farm (From Light to Darkness, Foreward, vii). The Grandin Press The Exterior of the Grandin Press Joseph went to two other publishers who declined to publish the Book of Mormon. Their names were Thurlo Weed and Elahu F. Marshall. The Prophet finally told E.B. Grandin (who was about Josephs age) that somebody was going to publish it and he preferred it to be him because he was closer than the others E.B. Grandin was born in 1806 and died in 1845 (fairly close to the same years that Joseph was alive. Pomeroy Tucker, E.B. Grandins brother-in-law also helped. Pomeroy Tucker would later write one of the first anti-Mormon books about our Church. John Gilbert (a non-member), was the printer and the one who set the type. He was much older than Joseph Smith and E.B. Grandin. John H. Gilbert --- Chief Typesetter Oliver Cowdery made two copies of the Book of Mormon. They learned a good lesson from the loss of the 116 page manuscript and were determined not to let that happen again. Joseph and Oliver took a few pages at a time to the printer and were escorted by a body guard. Orin Porter Rockwell was the body guard. Simply said, they had no problems. The selling of the farm brought a divorce between Martin Harris and his wife Lucy. For Lucy, it was the final straw. Almost all of the citizens in the area signed a petition saying that they would not buy the Book of Mormon once it was published. Pomeroy Tucker who helped with the publishing process was behind the petition. E.B. Grandin was nervous and then insisted that he be paid in gold coins. He would not accept paper currency because of the phony money that was circulating around the city and state. Where was the Church going to get 3,000 in gold coins? Thomas Lackey arrived in the area from England with his daughter who had received a large inheritance. Their inheritance was paid to them in 20 dollar gold eagle pieces. Their desire was to purchase a farm (another tender mercy of the Lord). Martin Harris sold 150 acres to Thomas Lackey and his daughter (Satan --- frustrated again). What happened to the two original copies of the Book of Mormon ? Oliver Cowdery kept one copy. He later gave the copy to David Whitmer in Richmond Missouri. This was done just before David died in It then ended up in the possession of the Re- organized Church (now called the Community of Christ). Joseph kept the other copy. Lewis Bidamon, Emmas second husband was building an addition to the Nauvoo House and found the original Book of Mormon in the cornerstone. Joseph Smith had placed it there when the Nauvoo House was dedicated. Joseph did not put anything around the Book of Mormon to preserve it, so a lot of it was damaged. Lewis Bidamon handed out pages of the original copy of the Book of Mormon to Mormons who traveled to Nauvoo from Utah as a kind gesture. By the time the Church figured out it was one of the original two copies of the Book of Mormon they rushed to purchase the remains from him. It is now in our archives. When the manuscript was retrieved in 1882, water seepage had destroyed most of it. Joseph had deposited the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon in 1841 for safekeeping. The plates often lay on the table without any attempt of concealment, wrapped in a small linen table cloth, which I had given him to fold them in. I felt of the plates, as they lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. Joseph could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well worded letter, let alone dictate a book like the Book of Mormon (Emma Smith Bidamon, Notes of an Interview with Joseph Smith III, 1879). Emma Hale Smith, long after the martyrdom of her husband, Joseph, and her remarriage to Major Lewis C. Bidamon, gave two interviews in which she described the plates and her own labors as a scribe during the translation. When my husband was translating, I wrote a part of it, as he dictated each sentence, word for word, and when he came to proper names he could not pronounce, or long words, he spelled them out, and while I was writing the, if I made a mistake in spelling, he would stop me and correct my spelling, although it was impossible for him to see how I was writing them down at the time. Even the word Sarah (Sariah?) he could not pronounce at first, but had to spell it, and I would pronounce it for him. When he stopped again for any purpose at any time he would, when he commenced again, begin where he left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him. One time while he was translating he stopped suddenly, pale as sheet, and said, Emma, did Jerusalem have walls around it? When I answered Yes, he replied Oh! I was afraid I had been deceived. He had such limited knowledge of history at the time that he did not even know that Jerusalem was surrounded by walls (Interview of Emma Smith with Edmund C. Briggs in Nauvoo, Illinois, 1856, in Edmund C. Briggs, A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856, Journal of History 9 (Jan. 1916): 454. Joseph Smith completed the translation in about 65 working days (I Have a Question, Ensign, Jan. 1988, 46-47). Question:What of the truth of Mormonism? Answer: I know Mormonism to be the truth; and believe the Church to have been established by divine direction. I have complete faith in it. 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 (the seer stone by which Joseph translated), and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us. Question: Had he not a book of manuscript nor book to read from. Answer: He had neither manuscript nor book to read from. Question:Could he have had, and you not know it? Answer: If he had anything of the kind he could not have concealed it from me. Question:Are you sure that he had the plates at the time you were writing for him? Answer: The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen table cloth, which I had given him to fold them in. I once 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 thumbs the edge of a book. Question:Could not father have dictated the Book of Mormon to you, Oliver Cowdery and the others who wrote for him, after having first written it, or having read it out of some book? Answer: Joseph Smith could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well- worded letter, let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon. And, though I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates, and had cognizance of things as they transpired, it is marvelous to me, a marvel and a wonder, as much so as to any one else. Question:I should suppose that you would have uncovered the plates and examined them? Answer: I did not attempt to handle the plates, other than I have told you, nor uncover them to look at them. I was satisfied that it was the work of God, and therefore did not feel it to be necessary to do so. I knew that he had them, and was not specially curious about them. I moved them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work. Question:Mother, what is your belief about the authenticity, or origin of the Book of Mormon? Answer: My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity --- I have not the slightest doubt of it. I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired; for, when acting as his scribe, your father would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him. This was a usual thing for him. It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this; and, for one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible (Interview with Emma Smith with Joseph Smith III in Nauvoo, Illinois, 1879, in Joseph Smith III, Last Testimony of Sister Emma, Saints Herald 26 (1 Oct. 1979): Joseph Knight said that Joseph translated by putting the Urim and Thummim into his hat which darkened his eyes. He would then take a sentence and it would appear in bright Roman letters. He would tell the writer what was written and the scribe would write it down. Oliver Cowdery said that Joseph saw twenty to thirty words at a time, dictated them, and then waited for the next twenty to appear. Different names were spelled out. By a measure, transcription was a miraculous process, calling for a huge leap of faith to believe. Whatever the process, the experience thrilled Oliver Cowdery, he said, These days were never to be forgotten (Messenger and Advocate 1 (Oct. 1834): 14). Martin Harris mentioned that after continued translation they would become weary and would go down to the river and exercise by throwing stones into the river, etc. On one occasion, Martin found a stone which resembled the one used by Joseph for translating, and on resuming their labor of translation, Martin put it in place of the stone that Joseph had been using. After they returned to resume translating the Prophet remained unusually silent and intently gazing into darkness, no traces of the usual sentences appeared. Much surprised, Joseph exclaimed, Martin! What is the matter? All is dark as Egypt. Martins countenance betrayed him, and the prophet asked Martin why he had done so. Martin said, to stop the mouths of fools, who had told him that the he had learned those sentences and was merely repeating them (George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, edited and arranged by Philip C. Reynolds, 7 vols., 4:438). The Lost Manuscript July 6 th - 10 th, 1828 ? The same day on which Martin told Joseph that he had lost the manuscript, a heavy fog swept over Mr. Harriss fields and blighted all of his wheat. He lost about two- thirds of his crop, while the fields on the opposite side of the road remained untouched. Lucy Mack Smith said she would always remember that day of darkness, both within and without. To her, at least, the heavens seemed clothed with blackness, and the earth shrouded with gloom. She often said within herself that if a continual punishment, as severe as that which her family experienced were to be inflicted upon the most wicked characters who ever stood upon the footstool of the Almighty --- if even their punishment were no greater than that which happened, she would pity their condition. A New Bible ? 1830 Mark Twain dismissed it as chloroform in spring. Bernard DeVoto called it a yeasty fermentation, formless, aimless and inconceivably absurda disintegration. Histories of American literature usually ignore the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon has been controversial from the moment of its publication. Martin Harris referred to the manuscript as the Mormon Bible when he was negotiating with the printer. Newspapers derisively called it the Gold Bible. Nearly 350 names are listed in the pronunciation guide at the back of modern editions. Doctor Philastus Hurlbut, an excommunicated Mormon and a violent enemy of Joseph Smith had been employed to collect derogatory reports on Smith. Hurlbut found a half dozen old- timers in Conneaut, Ohio, who thought the Book of Mormon resembled a novel written years earlier by Solomon Spaulding, a Dartmouth graduate and former town resident. Spauldings story told of a party of Romans blown off course in route to Britain during the heyday of the Roman Empire. Landing in America, the Romans lived among the Indian tribes and wrote an account of their experiences addressed to future generations. Spaulding purportedly discovered the parchments and translated them from the Latin. The story bore little resemblance to the Book of Mormon apart from the migration to the New World. The Spaulding theory remained the standard explanation of the Book of Mormon for more than a century. The downfall of the Spalding theory began in 1884 when Manuscript Found --- still never published and subsequently lost --- turned up in Hawaii and came into the hands of James Fairchild who concluded that the manuscript Hurlbut found was a novel that the witnesses remembered and that the alleged second manuscript never existed. He said evidence for any Spaulding manuscript coming into the hands of Rigdon and thence to Smith was tenuous. He said the theory did not hold water. Other Interesting Items about the Book of Mormon : Jacob 5 revealed an accurate understanding of olive tree culture. Almost as frequently as the book was called a gold bible it was called a history of the Indians. From the seventeenth century onward, both Christians and Jews had collected evidence that the Indians had Jewish origins. Jonathan Edwards Jr. noted the similarities between the Hebrew and Mohican languages. Such Indian practices as anointing their heads, paying a price for their wives, observing the feast of the harvest: were cited as Jewish parallels. The Book of Mormon deposited its people on some unknown shore --- not even definitely identified as America --- and had them live out their history in a remote place in a distant time, using names that had no connections to modern Indians. Nephites and Lamanites fought with bows and arrows, but also with swords, cimeters, slings, and shields, more like classical warriors than Native Americans. Indians are not viewed as a pathetic civilization moving inevitably toward their doom, as sympathetic observers in Josephs time depicted them. In its very nature, the Book of Mormon overturns conventional American racism. The mastery history of Americas origins is not about Columbus or the Puritans, but about native peoples. The Book of Mormon is not just sympathetic to Indians; it grants them dominance --- in history, in Gods esteem, and in future ownership of the American continent. Mormons talked up the Book of Mormon as an explanation of Indian origins, but the book does little to identify its peoples with Indian culture. The Book of Mormon, the longest and most complex of Joseph Smiths revelations, by rights should have been written in his maturity, not when he was twenty-three. Emerson, Josephs nearly exact contemporary, was still finding his voice when he was that age, with only his journals to show for his extensive study. Joseph dictated the Book of Mormon without any practice runs or previous writing experience. It came in a rush, as if the thoughts had been building for decades. Talking to her son late in her life, Emma remembered how fluidly Joseph dictated: When acting as his scribe he would dictate to me hour after hour, and when returning after meals or after interruptions, he could at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the page of having any portion of it read to him. This was a usual thing for him to do. It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this, and for so ignorant and unlearned as he was it was simply impossible. The Book of Mormon thinks like the Bible. It makes religion a public concern. Its religion has a broader scope, the salvation of individuals. Sermons are directed to kings and cities with the intent of converting whole societies. The Book of Mormon prepares us for the Joseph who would construct a world religious capital and run for President of the United States. David Whitmer spoke often of the translation of the Book of Mormon. He described the seer stone and remembered that each time before resuming the work all present would kneel in prayer and invoke the Divine blessing on the proceeding. He also told of the following incident: One morning when he (Joseph) was getting ready to continue to translation, something went wrong about the house and he was put out about it. Something that Emma, his wife, had done. Oliver and I went upstairs, and Joseph came up soon after to continue the translation, but he could not do anything. He could not translate a single syllable. He went down stairs, out into the orchard and made supplication to the Lord; was gone about an hour --- came back to the house, asked Emmas forgiveness and then came upstairs where we were and the translation went an all right (Lyndon W. Cook, ed., David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness (Orem: Grandin Book Co. 1991), 174, 86).