Confirmatory Evidences of "Mormonism": The Book of Mormon Plates

CONFIRMATORY EVIDENCES OF “MORMONISM”

The Book of Mormon Plates

METAL plates, used in Eastern and Western hemispheres for recording purposes, were also employed for the records of the Book of Mormon. The Prophet Joseph Smith, translator of the Book of Mormon, gives the following description of the plates:

These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold; each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long and not quite as thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian characters, and 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 in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction and much skill in the art of engraving. (History of the Church, Vol. 4, p. 537.)

Joseph Smith’s description of the plates is a clear, straightforward account. It gives the essential points, enabling one to construct a mental picture of their appearance. There is no weak attempt to give a vague or indefinite explanation; the description bears the stamp of veracity by its very simplicity and conciseness.

When the size of the plates is told and the word “gold” is mentioned, the question may arise, “Were they not very heavy?” Indeed, this has been urged as an evidence against the truth of the Book of Mormon, since on several occasions the Prophet carried the plates in his arms. Critics have thought that if they could make it appear that the Prophet could not have carried the plates, they could remove the entire foundation of the Church. This objection, of course, in their minds, carries more influence, and is of more importance than all the positive evidence for the Church.

About what would the plates weigh? Accepting the Prophet's description that they were 6x8x6 inches, a cube of gold that size would weigh two hundred pounds, which would be a heavy weight for a man to carry, even though he were of the athletic type of Joseph Smith, of whom Governor Ford says, in his History of Illinois, “He was full six feet high, strongly built, and uncommonly well muscled.”

It is very unlikely, however, that the plates were made of pure gold. They would have been too soft and in danger of destruction by distortion. For the purpose of keeping records plates made of gold mixed with copper would be better, for such plates would be firmer, more durable, and generally more suitable for that type of work. If the plates were made of 8 carat gold, which is the fineness of gold frequently used in present-day jewelry; and if ten per cent, of their volume—a conservative estimate—be allowed for the space between the leaves, and the gold cut away by engraving, then the total weight of the plates would not be above 117 pounds, a weight easily carried by a man as strong as Joseph Smith. Elder J. M. Sjodahl, basing his conclusions on an experiment with gold coins, comes to the conclusion that “everything considered, the volume must have weighed considerably less than a hundred pounds.” (Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon, pp. 43-44.) The probable weight of the plates, in the face of criticism, appears as an evidence of the truth of the Book of Mormon.

One unfamiliar with the subject, at first thought, questions the possibility of writing the whole of 522 pages of the Book of Mormon upon a series of gold plates with a total thickness of about two inches (one-third of the whole volume of plates). This point has been thoroughly investigated, and Joseph Smith’s claims proved to be true.

Elder Sjodahl asks:

The question before us is, Could one-third (two-thirds being sealed) of a volume of metal leaves 6x8x6 (the Prophet Joseph) or 8x7x4 inches (Martin Harris), or 8x7x6 inches (Orson Pratt), contain a sufficient number of plates, each as thick as parchment or tin, to yield the necessary space for the entire text of the Book of Mormon? If so, what about their immense weight? (Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon, p. 39.)

On pages 40 and 41 of Elder Sjodahl's book, there are two remarkable illustrations, the first in Hebrew, the second in Phoenician. The first is a facsimile of a sheet of paper, 8x7 inches, upon which a Hebrew translation of 14¾  pages of the American text of the Book of Mormon has been written in the modern, square Hebrew letters in common use. The Book of Mormon, if written in these characters, could have been written on 40 pages pages, or 21 plates. If the Phoenician characters were used (which were known to Lehi and his contemporaries), about 45 plates would be needed, allowing for the known loss of a portion of the first manuscript. On this point Elder Sjodahl says:

Rev. M. T. Lamb (a critic of the Book of Mormon) has allowed 50 plates to the inch, or 200 plates to the four inches (the smallest number). One-third only was translated; that is, 66 plates and a fraction. But we have demonstrated that the entire book, including the lost pages, could have been written on 45 plates. If we allow 66, or even 50, we have ample space for a text engraved in large, legible characters, (Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon, pp. 42-43.)

Thus the capacity of the Book of Mormon plates, when questioned, appears as another evidence of the truth of the Book of Mormon.

These questions, as other questions which may arise relating to the Book of Mormon, the Church, and the Gospel, when studied in the light of reason and available evidence, show additional consistencies in harmony with their claims. To one who voices objections to the Book of Mormon, or to “ Mormonism,” we could paraphrase an old proverb and say, “Think before you speak.” The objections discussed above, as do others which are sometimes loudly proclaimed, disappear in the light of common sense, and reveal new witnesses for the Gospel.—Franklin S. Harris, Jr.