Table of Contents
How did Joseph Smith carry the plates?
Joseph Smith carried them around, hid them in a log, a bean barrel, boxes and under hearthstones. They were picked up and fingers flipped through the metallic leaves, frrrrrrp! Joseph Smith wrote that the plates were “something near six inches in thickness.” Harris remembered it being about four inches.
How were the gold plates sealed?
(1830), the founder of the Mormon faith, claimed to have received gold plates from an angel of God named Moroni. When he received the plates, Smith relates that 2/3 of them were sealed. Using two stones called the Urim and Thummim, Joseph Smith translated the unsealed portion.
How far did Joseph Smith run with the gold plates?
The text comes from “The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith by His Mother,” edited by Scot Facer Proctor and Maurine Jensen Proctor. “The plates were secreted about three miles from home …” This is how far away the plates are, not how far Joseph ran that night.
How much did Joseph Smith’s plates weigh?
Mormon history provides an idea, although somewhat conflicting, of the weight of the plates Joseph Smith collected from the hill to take back to his home. Some contemporaries of Smith’s suggested that the plates weighed 60 pounds while others alleged they were 30 pounds (2).
How did John Smith transport the plates?
This detail poses a challenge to the story. According to the account set forth concerning how Smith transported the plates home by Lucy Mack Smith, Smith’s mother, Smith took the plates “wrapping them in his linen frock, placed them under his arm and started for home.”
What is the significance of the story of the golden plates?
Much then is of significance concerning the story of the golden plates for if there is uncertainty concerning the origin of the Book of Mormon then it might well deliver a fatal blow to the religion.
Were the plates made of solid gold?
This claim runs contrary to multiple lines of evidence that the plates were made of solid gold, including the testimonies put forth by Lucy Smith (6), Oliver Cowdery (7), and David Whitmer (8). Further, is has been suggested that Smith received a supernatural strength from God to both carry and flee with the plates.