Key events related to the Book of Mormon translation

How did Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon? What do all records say about the instruments used?

Joseph[BIO] used several different translation methods.[17] The various accounts included common elements such as "spectacles,"[18] "rock(s),"[19] and "Urim & Thummim."[20] Many accounts also mention a hat (see below).[21]

There are over 200 accounts referring to Joseph's various translation methods.[22] Many of the accounts are late, contradictory, and hearsay.[23]

Table of Translation Methods

What do the firsthand accounts say about the translation process?

The only firsthand witness accounts about the translation with any details are from Joseph Smith, Emma Smith,[BIO] Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer.[BIO] Joseph referred to "spectacles"[57] as well as the "Urim and Thummim"[58] as means of translation. Many decades later, Emma and David both recalled a stone in a hat,[59] and Oliver recalled Joseph using "Interpreters" or "urum and thummim".[60]

What did Joseph mean by the "spectacles"?

Joseph Smith and others seemed to use the term "spectacles," "Urim and Thummim," and "Nephite interpreters" interchangeably.[61]

Some reports describe the "spectacles" as two transparent stones set in a metal rim, like a pair of big glasses.[62] Apparently, the glasses could be attached to some kind of breastplate[63] which was found in the stone box with the plates.[64] It's unclear what this looked like or how it was used.

So what about the stone in the hat? How did that work?

It's unclear. Some accounts say that he put spectacles in a hat;[65] others say that he put the plates[66] or one[67] or two stones in the hat.[68] These sources sometimes reference Joseph putting his face in the hat to block light.[69]

What were the stones?

They were probably seer stones.[70] Generally, seer stones were stones used by practitioners of folk magic to "see" hidden things like missing objects or treasures.[71] Joseph Smith sometimes used a seer stone to assist in revelation.[72]

So both a seer stone and the Urim and Thummim were used to translate the gold plates?

Yes, but historical accounts don't clearly establish which methods were used when or how often.[73]

In an 1870 letter, Emma Smith recalled that Joseph Smith switched to the seer stone when God took the Urim and Thummim after the 116 pages were lost.[74] David Whitmer corroborated this story in an 1885 interview.[75]

How did seer stones work as a translation method?

It's unclear. The accounts are vague and contradictory.[76]

For example, David Whitmer reportedly said that words would "appear" on the stone,[77] but he also said that a parchment would appear and then disappear after it was read.[78] Some other accounts say that he didn't put the seer stone in his hat, but that he put the Urim and Thummim (the "spectacles") into the hat and recited the translation.[79]

These details are mostly second or thirdhand or are recollections from decades after.[80]

But isn't all of this really weird?

Yes.

Has God used strange objects like this elsewhere?

Yes. For example, in the Bible, there are similarly strange practices and events like burning bushes, using the "Urim" to receive revelation, and "casting lots."[81]

What did Joseph mean by "translation"?

Joseph Smith used the term "translation" to mean a process done "by the gift and power of God."[82] He also seemed to believe that the characters on the plates could be translated by secular means.[83] Joseph was set apart as a translator[84] and early Church leaders considered translation a spiritual gift.[85]

Assuming the translation just appeared to Joseph through rocks, why was it necessary to have gold plates with the original text on them?

It's unclear. It could have been important for ancient people to have a physical method to record their history.[86] It also could have been important for Joseph to be able to show a physical object to witnesses to support his testimony.[87]

How does all that square with what the Doctrine & Covenants says about Oliver Cowdery needing to study to translate?

It seems there was some study required to translate, at least for Oliver Cowdery,[BIO][88] and not just a simple use of the Urim & Thummim or seer stone.[89] It's unclear whether this means studying the plates or getting in a proper frame of mind.[90]

Did the Church try to hide how the plates were translated?

Sort of, but sort of not. In the early twentieth century, references to seer stones used in the translation of the Book of Mormon appeared in various Church manuals and in books.[91][92] However, there are also examples of Church leaders and Church literature casting doubt on the accounts of Joseph using seer stones.[93][94]

In the twenty-first century, Church leaders have included different narratives about the translation—including ones with the hat and seer stone—in the New Era,[95] the Ensign,[96] and Church history book and articles.[97]

Why are all the images of Joseph Smith translating just him reading the plates instead of using a hat and a stone?

It seems many artists weren't familiar with the historical records on translation.[98] Showing Joseph sitting at a table with the plates is also easier than trying to figure out what the "breastplate and spectacles" looked like or if the "rock in the hat" narrative was something that would visually work in a painting.[99]

Art depicting the different translation methods has become more common in the twenty-first century.[100]

What if I don’t like the idea of a “rock in a hat” and I want to just believe that he translated the Book of Mormon some other way?

The evidence indicates that Joseph used a variety of methods for translation, including a "rock in a hat" method.[101] Though much of the historical record is hearsay or late,[102] there is still credible evidence supporting this translation method.[103]