Analysis Of The Book Of Mormon By Joseph Smith
From this actual photo of the first printing of the Book of Mormon it seems clear that Joseph Smith claimed to be the “author” of this book, and later changed this to claim he was a translator of the book.
B. H. Roberts, a general authority and historian for the Mormon Church, expressed the idea that Joseph Smith was capable of producing the Book of Mormon himself. Joseph Smith tells the story of the golden plates and is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. He told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances and some of these provided second-hand accounts.
Mormon scholars have collaborations such as Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon
Studies. Among these studies the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a “troublesome item.”
The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999) begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (pp. 259–77) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (at p. 259).
A reputed transcript of reformed Egyptian characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828. The characters are not linked to any known language.
The Book of Mormon itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two pre-columbian prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: Mormon and his son Moroni. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "reformed Egyptian" a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists. The Community of Christ, however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.
B. H. Roberts, a general authority and historian for the Mormon Church, expressed the idea that Joseph Smith was capable of producing the Book of Mormon himself. Joseph Smith tells the story of the golden plates and is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. He told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances and some of these provided second-hand accounts.
Mormon scholars have collaborations such as Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon
Studies. Among these studies the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a “troublesome item.”
The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999) begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (pp. 259–77) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (at p. 259).
A reputed transcript of reformed Egyptian characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828. The characters are not linked to any known language.
The Book of Mormon itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two pre-columbian prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: Mormon and his son Moroni. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "reformed Egyptian" a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists. The Community of Christ, however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.