Church Talks

BOOK OF MORMON PLATES

[Talk by John E. Enslen at Zone Conference, Birmingham, Alabama, on March 4, 2003.]

(One day past the 163rd anniversary of the first convert baptism in the State of Alabama: Samuel Turnbow, March 3, 1840)

INTRODUCTION

The Book of Mormon appeals to readers at all intellectual levels. However, an improved mind produces more mind with which to worship God with all of one’s heart, mind, and soul. Once we fairly understand the complexity of the assorted source documents from which the Book of Mormon originates, there will be in our minds no room for a theory of origin founded in human fabrication.

The acquisition of knowledge requires effort. People who claim they would believe the Book of Mormon if they only saw the plates are lying to themselves. (D & C 5:7) Our most valuable knowledge comes through study, faith, keeping the commandments, and the confirmation of the Spirit.

On June 5, 2002, Elder Neal A. Maxwell spoke to the mission presidents:

“How can you help your missionaries to testify of the Book of Mormon more convincingly?...As missionaries have greater confidence in the Book of Mormon, they will have greater confidence in themselves; investigators will sense both!”

The reading and study of the Book of Mormon anchors us directly to the restoration. It is the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon that verifies the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith. The Savior has staked his very existence as a true and living God on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. (D & C 17:6)

My goal today is to help us to better understand a complex puzzle, the Book of Mormon’s composition from multiple source documents.

I am mindful that spiritual evidence will always be more important than, and superior to, logic and the law of probabilities as man understand them. God’s knowledge of a truth far exceeds man’s ability to support that same truth with evidence.

For instance, if the Holy Ghost confirmed to us the instruction given us by a living prophet to avoid the death of our first born son by slaying a first born male lamb and splattering its blood on the outside of our front door, we should do it without first conducting a chemical analysis of the reaction between lamb’s blood and wooden boards. From an evidence-gatherers’ point of view, there is no logical connection between the process and the result of the process. Our obedience is a matter of faith or trust in the feelings that come through the Holy Ghost.

But tangible, empirical evidence generally plays, and should play, an extremely vital role in the development of our faith. After all, faith is composed of the “evidence” of things not yet seen. We need to find “substance” to support that which is hoped for. The multiple-source composition of the Book of Mormon provides overwhelming “evidence” and “substance” for the building of faith.

Metal plates were chosen as a medium because of their permanency and preservability. The difficulty in writing upon the plates caused the authors to contemplate and organize their thoughts before commencing to engrave. Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, for instance, is the obvious product of a dedicated, multiple-editing effort. Erasures were not practical, and thus we see corrections engraved after use of the explanatory words “or rather.” (Example: Mosiah 7:8; Alma 1:15; 2:34; 50:32) Messages were chosen for their quality of enduring value, and no message was more valuable than the Messianic message that Jesus is the Christ. (Jacob 4:1-4)

To believe the restored gospel is a great blessing. To be called to teach it is an even greater blessing. (D & C 34:4-5)

1. PLATES OF ETHER

• 24 gold plates - created subsequent to brass plates, but some of the source records were older than some of the source records from which brass plates were taken.
• Jaredite record found by the Nephites (People of Limhi) (Mosiah 8:7-9; Mosiah 21:27)
• Covers 2200 B.C. (Tower of Babel) to 400 B.C., but includes the creation and Adam, not by Moses! - also has secret combination rites. (Mosiah 28:19)
• Jaredites were a numerous people based on ruins and bones (Omni 1:22; Mosiah 8:8-9; Mosiah 21:27)
• Book of Ether is Moroni’s abridged record of the 24 plates
• Covers 31 pages in present-day Book of Mormon (487-518) Not the 100th part presented. (Ether 15:33)
• Joseph Smith did not have possession of 24 Gold Plates. One page of Jaredite hieroglyphics equals 64 pages of English, even if the 24 plates were engraved on back and front.
• Ether probably had the pre-migration record referred to in Ether 1:3 and 8:9
• Ether probably condensed all Jaredite records into 24 Gold Plates.
• Mosiah², with use of the Urim and Thummim, had translated the 24 Gold Plates in his day, 92 B.C., but did not publish them. Mosiah² translated the 24 Gold Plates 500 years ahead of Moroni and 300 years after Ether engraved them. (Mosiah 28:11-13)
• Moroni had to translate from Ether’s language with the Urim and Thummim and then re-write an abridgment in his own written language, assuming he did not use Mosiah’s earlier translation.
• Mormon² had originally wanted to include an abridgment of Ether in his writings (Mosiah 28:19)

• The engravers of the small plates of Nephi and the engravers of the large plates of Nephi quote from them.
• Contain five books of Moses; record of Jews to reign of King Zedekiah; writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Joseph; (1 Ne 13:28, 34); descendants of Joseph. Possibly originated with Joseph. Laban was a descendant of Joseph.
• Mentions unknown prophets Zenos, Zenock, Neum and Ezias.
• Written in Egyptian (Mosiah 1:4); Nephi was taught Egyptian (1 Ne 1:12) (Note: Mormon and Moroni wrote in a “reformed” [Hebrew influence] Egyptian) approximately 1,000 years later. Egyptian language takes less space than Hebrew.
• Joseph Smith did not have brass plates and did not translate directly from them.
• Equivalent to a Nephite “Bible”—used in their day to teach.
• Mosiah 1:4-5 - Purpose and use of plates of brass
• Provided a means for preserving the Egyptian language of their ancestors. (1 Ne 3: 19-20; Mosiah 1:4)

• Begun about 589 B.C. by Nephi, age 24, (1 Ne 19:1-4)—As soon as he arrived in promised land. Contemporary with Ezekiel’s Old World “sticks” prophesy.
• More secular in nature—Kings and wars. Kept by king line until Mosiah².
• The first book was named Lehi in honor of Nephi’s father.
• Successive authors cover 600 B.C. to 385 A.D.
• Various sections named for the various primary engravers/authors.
• Contains more than what is found in the Book of Mormon, because unabridged, including a full account of the history of the people of Nephi, a genealogy of Lehi, and the more part of the teachings of the resurrected Jesus Christ to the Nephite nation. (3 Nephi 26:6-12) Also contains some religious teachings quoted from the brass plates.
• Mormon was one of the engravers on these plates
• Mormon abridged these plates, including his own portion thereof, to make the Plates of Mormon. [There are three different books called the Book of Mormon]
• Joseph Smith never had possession of the Large Plates of Nephi.
• Joseph Smith first translated Mormon’s abridgment of the Book of Lehi, whatever else followed as contained in the Large Plates of Nephi prior to Mosiah, into the 116 pages lost by Martin Harris. Covered to 130 B.C.—reign of King Benjamin. The Book of Lehi and following was more historical than the present Book of Mormon version covering the same period, i.e., 1st Nephi through Omni. The 116 pages were translated between December 1827 and June 1828. Joseph lost translation privileges for about a year.
• Some idea of 116 pages by reading 1 Ne 19:1-7; 1 Ne 1:17
• May be published someday. (3 Ne 26:6-10)
• The 2 Nephi books in the large plates are not called 3rd and 4th Nephi because it was a separate independent record from the small plates which contain 1st and 2nd Nephi.

• Began about 570 B.C. by Nephi (1 Ne 19:1-4). He was 44 years old and had 20-years experience engraving records.
• More religious and spiritual than Large Plates of Nephi (1 Ne 9:2-4; 2 Ne 5:28-33)
• Covers 600 B.C. to 130 B.C.—nine engravers, all sons or brothers of predecessor but 92% engraved by Nephi and Jacob.
• Contains some religious teachings from the brass plates, mainly Isaiah, but also Zenos and others.
• Consists of Books of 1 Nephi through Omni in the present Book of Mormon (Omni 1:30) six books. Delivered to King Benjamin by 9th engraver Amaleki.
• First person account by nine engravers - not an abridgment.
• Joseph Smith had possession of them and translated directly from then, as well as the non-Lehi parts of the plates of Mormon. The entire translation was completed in about 75 days in the months of April through June 1929.
• Substituted for lost 116 pages.
• Read about small plates. (Jacob 1:1-4; 1 Ne 9:2-5)

• Began by Mormon as a new set after age 24 (Mormon 1:3-4; 3 Ne 5:10-20)
• Abridgment of the Large Plates of Nephi, but he includes some first-person quotes of others and his own first-person commentary.
• Covered Lehi and other writings down to Words of Mormon, and Mosiah, through Moroni.
• Delivered to Joseph Smith along with the Small Plates of Nephi on September 23, 1827, by Moroni, four years and one day after the first visit of Moroni, and after much tutoring.
• Does not contain 1/100th of the Large Plates of Nephi (3 Ne 26:6-12)
• Contains also (1) the Words of Mormon (Mormon 1:1,5) which is not an abridgment, (2) Moroni’s abridgment of Ether, (3) the first person account of Moroni (Mormon 8-9 and Moroni which is not an abridgment), and (4) title page.
• 2/3’s of these plates by volume were sealed and the sealed part was probably authored by Moroni. Per Nephi’s vision, the sealed portion covers “all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof” (2 Ne 27:10) taken probably from Brother of Jared’s vision which Moroni sealed. (Ether 4:4-7)
• Mormon abridged his own record as contained in the Large Plates of Nephi. (Mormon 1:4; 2:17-18; 5:9)
• The title page by Moroni was part of these plates—last, but put first
• Only two engravers involved in producing the Plates of Mormon: Mormon and Moroni, father and son
• Mormon’s editorial commentary is very important: “Thus we see,” and is not an abridgment.

• Saw the Savior
• Tutored by angels or translated beings
• Saw our day and wrote to the solution of our problems (Moroni 8:34-35)
• Were commanded what to write—makes Savior himself the supervisory author of the Book of Mormon

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