Joseph smith said that the book of mormon translation was performed by the gift and power of god the lost 116 pages of the book of mormon manuscript. Furthermore no prophet used any object like this to translate parchments or hear from god. Maxwell quorum of the twelve many who read the book of mormon understandably desire to know more about its coming forth, including the actual process of translation. The book of mormon contains a version of the sermon on the mount, which some authors have claimed to be the achilles heel of the book of mormon. Those involved with the translation of the book of mormon said that joseph initially used the stones found with the plates. Aug 04, 2015 a picture of a smooth, brown, eggsized rock is shown in the printers manuscript of the book of mormon. Why new testament words and phrases are in the book of mormon part 9. Sometimes the quotation is explicit, as in the second book of nephi, which contains 18 quoted chapters of the book of isaiah other significant connections between the two books include book of mormon words and phrases. In some cases, entire passages are duplicated in the book of mormon. Matthews and benjmins translation method is particularly interesting for book of mormon translation theories, since some of the biggest issues in discussions of book of mormon translation are. Joseph remains with emma for two weeks after the death. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints, which has translated the full book of mormon into 90 languages selections are offered in 21 others since the work was first printed in 1830, also.
Seer stones and the translation of the book of mormon. Some readers of the book of mormon and other students of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints have become concerned with issues that might, in their view, preclude the view that the translation of the book of mormon was given wordforword, directly by god such as the presence of language from the king james bible in the text. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from. It is claimed that each sentence and word in the 1830 book of mormon had supposedly come directly from god. A picture of a smooth, brown, eggsized rock is shown in the printers manuscript of the book of mormon. The eyewitnesses to the translation of the book of mormon describe a different method than the one depicted by the lds church. Above all, were these words given by the gift and power of god.
Joseph smith translated the book of mormon by the power of. Because joseph followed the instructions from heavenly father and translated the writings of ancient prophets, each of us can be blessed by reading the stories found in the book of mormon. Fwiw, sidney sperrys book of mormon compendium has a bit of information on the miller translation, including a letter from j. And so in the spring and summer of 1828 joseph, with martin harris and his wife emma working as his scribes, began the translation of the book of mormon. He moved in with the smiths in the winter of 1828 to act as scribe for joseph smith. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. The same goes for oliver cowderys use of the terms in his description of the translation process. Book of mormon translation response to an essay on the mechanical process in which the book of mormon was translated was put in the topical guide of the website on 1230. Hebrew translations of the bom by common consent, a mormon blog.
The book of mormon came into the world through a series of miraculous events. From a 1993 statement from the first presidency of the church. How the book of mormon translation story changed over time. The language in the sections of the book of mormon that correspond to parts of the bible is quite regularly selected by joseph smith, rather than obtained through independent translation. Jun 29, 2016 it was an interesting and challenging experience. The publication of the book was done under adverse circumstances, and there were a few errors, mostly. Jones produced the first translation of selections from the book of mormon into spanish. From contemporary accounts of others, including his wife, emma, oliver cowdery, and martin harris, all whom acted as scribes during the translation, it is.
The mormon church is for the first time publishing photos of the stone it believes. Timeline of the book of mormon translation scott woodward. The book of mormon is rife with narrative issues, which are problems from the actual story, context, history, etc. Book of mormon since the first edition was published. But beginning about 182728, smith and his followers began to change how they talked about the translation process, transforming it from magical treasure lore into christian epic.
Wher e and how did joseph smith get the gold plates. Who w as the main scribe who wrote down josephs translation. Mason allred and mark ashurstmcgee discuss historical accounts of the book of mormon translation process, including joseph smith using a seer stone and accounts of joseph smith using urim and thummim. When joseph smith began the book of mormon translation, he acted in his capacity as a treasure seer and used the tools of that trade. However, after a fair and candid examination of the evidence, many thousands of honest mormons have discovered that this claim. The translation of the book of mormon, from dan vogel, ed. Critics have argued that the book of mormon cannot be true because joseph smiths claims about the book of mormons translation seem unbelievable, but this new video seeks to put these criticisms to rest. The mormon church is for the first time publishing photos of the stone it. The difference in spelling between onidah in alma 32. Oct 07, 2017 the second installment in book of mormon centrals evidence video series tackles the translation of the book of mormon.
Cannons translation of the book of mormon into hawaiian in 1855. Joseph smiths translation and publication of the book of mormon. The exact process by which the book of mormon was translated is known only to joseph smith he described it as through the gift and power of god, and attributed the urim and thummim as a vehicle for translation. Much can be known about the coming forth of the english text of the book of mormon through a careful study of statements made by joseph smith, his scribes, and others closely associated with the translation of the book of mormon. Almost all of the present book of mormon text was translated during a threemonth period between april and june 1829 with. The original book of mormon transcript the book of. Apr 22, 2016 the language in the sections of the book of mormon that correspond to parts of the bible is quite regularly selected by joseph smith, rather than obtained through independent translation.
According to mosiah priority, after the text of mosiah through the end of the book of mormon was transcribed, joseph smith returned to the beginning and. The prophet joseph smith said that the book of mormon was the most correct of any book on earth. Interest in the manner of the translation of the book of mormon is still alive among many thoughtful students. However, after a fair and candid examination of the evidence, many thousands of honest mormons have discovered that this claim simply is not true. Translating the book of mormon religious studies center. No further translations were published for twenty years. The book of mormon was presented to the world as the translation of an ancient text engraved on golden plates more than 180 years ago. The article is fairly brief and only superficially addresses the problem.
Joseph and emmas first child, alvin, was born but died shortly thereafter. A book of mistakes, error, and fraud by jon gary williams introduction the mormon church promotes the book of mormon as an inspired writing. The details of the book of mormon translation are not known. The book of mormon incorporates text which seems to be taken from the king james version, including passages which are now considered to be mistranslations in the king james version. There are two possible explanations for the origin of the book of mormon. All of these appeared in 1852, and culminated with george q. Peterson wrote an excellent article in which he cites witnesses to the book of mormon translation process, giving modern readers insight into what eyewitnesses saw regarding how joseph smith translated the book of mormon. How long did it take joseph smith to translate the book of. The translation of the book of lehi is completed, resulting in 116 pages of translated text.
Book of mormontranslation errors from the kjv fairmormon. Roberts 18571933, a general authority of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church, which examine the validity of the book of mormon as a translation of an ancient american source roberts served in the. It occurs in a list with food items, namely, corn, wheat, barley, neas another book of mormon hapax legomenon, and fruit seeds. Joseph smith was a seer able to translate the golden plates into the book of mormon by his seer abilities not by the plates themselves. Therefore, sheum cannot be equated with any english names of seeds or grains attested by their english name in the book of mormon. Jul 18, 2009 the translation of the book of mormon. The increasing interest taken in the study of the book of mormon and in the history of the peoples whose origin, progress and destruction it narrates, encourages the author of this little work to think that this addition to the literature of the subject will not be like one born out of due time, but will be received as an acceptable aid to the study of its sacred pages. While the main lds church continues to teach that the book of mormon is an authentic translation, a breakaway group known as the community of christ stated at a 2007 world conference, while the church affirms the book of mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree. The translation and publication of the book of mormon. Dynamically equivalent translation and the book of mormon. When lehi et al come to america, they bring horses and grains from the old world, including corn. A dictionary of the book of mormon wikisource, the free.
From time to time there are those who wish to rewrite the book of mormon into familiar or modern english. The urim and thummim was preserved in a stone box, along with the gold plates, for over 1,500 years for the purpose of. The term translation some mormon scholars argue that the term translation was broader in meaning in 1828 than it is today, and smiths work was at the time considered a revision of the english text, rather than a translation between languages citation needed. It is true that when the book of mormon was printed the printer was a man who was unfriendly. From the printers manuscript, the 1830 edition of the book of mormon was typeset. Arnold greens byu studies article a survey of lds proselyting efforts to the jewish people also notes that a rabbi edward joseph isaacson translated the book of mormon into yiddish in the late 1880s fwiw, sidney sperrys book of mormon compendium has a bit of information on the miller translation, including a letter from j. His early work on the translation, with emma smith and martin harris serving as the main scribes, was lost in 1828. Accordingly, after the translation was finished, oliver cowdery copied the entire book of mormon onto a second manuscript, known today as the printers manuscript. This whole concept of finding the book of mormon on plates is a sham. Mosiah priority is a theory about the creation of the book of mormon arguing that the original manuscript began not with 1 nephi found at the beginning of the book of mormon, but midway through, starting with mosiah. Welch, foundation for ancient research and mormon studies farms. There is a specific reason that the book of mormon is not translated into more modern english. Much can be known about the coming forth of the english text of the book of mormon through a careful study of.
The book of mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the king james bible kjv. The details of this miraculous method of translation are still not fully known. Book of mormon translation evidence book of mormon. In entertainment, they call these plotholes, tropes, plotarmor, etc. Critics have argued that the book of mormon cannot be true because joseph smiths claims about the book of mormon s translation seem unbelievable, but this new video seeks to put these criticisms to rest. One author makes the point that certain portions of the greek manuscripts of matthew 57 do not agree with the kjv of the text, and concludes that the book of mormon version of the sermon should not contain text similar to the kjv. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints, which has translated the full book of mormon into 90 languages selections are offered in 21 others since the work was first printed in. Unless otherwise indicated, the translation was financed and the resulting text published by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church. Aug 12, 2011 the book of mormon was presented to the world as the translation of an ancient text engraved on golden plates more than 180 years ago. As of march 2015, the lds church continues to publish at least portions of the book of mormon in 110 languages.
Joseph smith translating the book of mormon by looking at a seer stone in a hat. The following letters on the subject are, therefore, both timely and engagingeditors. For some parts of the book of mormon text, likely dates of transcription have been identified. However, the faithful assurance that it is a translation has not had an accompanying understanding of how that translation took place. Interesting correspondence on the subject of the manual theory. Additionally, any suggestions for an etymology probably should also be narrowed to a new world food for which the prophet would not have known the english translation. Though it appears in a list of seeds and grains, the context in mosiah 9. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain these translational errors. Who w ere the three witnesses who saw an angel showing them the gold plates. The second installment in book of mormon centrals evidence video series tackles the translation of the book of mormon. Well, of course, there is no truth in that statement. This was certainly so with faithful and loyal hyrum smith.
The 116 pages of the book of lehi were borrowed and then lost by martin harris. Mason allred and mark ashurstmcgee discuss the various historical accounts of the book of mormon translation process, including accounts of joseph smith using a seer stone to translate the. Historical details about the time it took to translate the book are remarkably well preserved. Studies of the book of mormon is a collection of essays written at the beginning of the 20th century though not published until 1985 by b. Joseph smith translated an ancient text by the gift and power of god to produce the book of mormon. Aug 21, 2015 when joseph smith began the book of mormon translation, he acted in his capacity as a treasure seer and used the tools of that trade. The original book of mormon transcript the book of mormon.
Book of mormon translation challenge home facebook. Most lds church members were taught that joseph smith used seer stones referred to as the urim and thummim nephite interpreters to translate the book of mormon bom 1 to various scribes. Hebrew translations of the bom by common consent, a. Book of mormon translator converted the mormon urban. It is either of divine or human origin, and if it is of human origin that means that joseph smith concocted the book. One of the most amazing facts about the book of mormon is that it took joseph smith only about sixtyfive working days to translate a book that, in the current edition, is 531 pages long.
3 343 270 1140 1047 502 1269 1150 817 864 956 988 243 735 716 1412 177 1523 859 1418 1322 613 889 396 175 720 514 436 426 1419 91 1519 541 492 208 429 1054 1398 1200 594 271 1022 1157 397 1298