I have generally celebrated the success of “The Book of Mormon” musical. I enjoy irreverent satire, and the musical’s creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have finely calibrated their satiric sights for over a decade with “South Park.”
That said, the musical did get several things wrong about Mormonism, especially where its history and theology are concerned. The musical was guilty of the fashionable claim that Joseph Smith never let anyone see or handle the gold plates, instead (quickly and conveniently) returning them to the angel Moroni. The implication, of course, is that Joseph Smith never had the gold plates; a point Stone and Parker also belabored in the South Park episode “All About Mormons.”
The story of Mormonism’s origins and the gold plates is vastly more nuanced, however. In this post, I’ll argue that Joseph Smith actually had gold plates (or a passable substitute). Contrary to popular belief outside of Mormonism, Smith did reveal the gold plates to a number people—namely the 11 witnesses, but a few others as well.
In fairness to Stone and Parker, there are serious critics of Mormonism who contend that Smith never had the plates, and that the witnesses’ experiences were visionary in nature, not literal or material. Fawn Brodie in No Man Knows My History and Grant H. Palmer in An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins take this approach, for the most part.
I’m ultimately convinced this view cannot adequately explain all of witnesses’ accounts (for reasons I’ll make clear later), but it’s not totally unfounded. Frontier America in the early 19th-century was a hotbed of superstition and religious fervor. Reports of visions and revelations were commonplace, as were occultist practices and folk magic. As a young adult, Joseph Smith supplemented his family’s meager farm income by ‘treasure-digging’, whereby he would use seer stones to locate buried treasure (though he never successfully recovered any). Olivery Cowdery, a Book of Mormon witness, believed in the efficacy of divining rods. And Martin Harris, another witness, was incredibly susceptible to religious persuasion, having changed faiths at least five times throughout his life.
So for many of the witnesses, the line between the magic/spiritual and the real was blurred, and this is evident in their remarks about the gold plates. When Martin Harris was asked whether he saw the plates with his natural eye, he responded, “No, I saw them with a spiritual eye.” Other times, he claimed to have seen the plates with his “eye of faith” or in a vision. David Whitmer, reputed to be the most rational of the three witnesses, admitted later in life that he didn’t see an angel so much as feel an “impression” of it.
The testimony of eight witnesses found at the beginning of the Book of Mormon more clearly suggests a physical experience, as it claims that the eight handled the plates and inspected its engravings. It’s important to note, however, that the witnesses didn’t write the statement, they only signed onto it. And of the eight, only three reported having seen or touched the plates themselves. John Whitmer, one of the eight witnesses, stated that the plates were shown to him “by a supernatural power.” If the plates were a material object, what role need a supernatural power play?
It is for these reasons that some doubt the literalness of the witnesses’ experiences and the very existence of the gold plates. But despite all this, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Joseph Smith had something physical, because several accounts of the gold plates cannot easily be explained away as wholly imagined.
The first account that challenged my former belief that the plates never existed was the following statement by Emma Smith:
The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen tablecloth, which I had given him to fold them in. I once felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book….
I long knew about people having seen the plates hidden under a cloth, but never thought much of it. It’d be easy to hide something under a cloth and claim it’s the plate. That he’d have the covered plates unattended and in plain view is more interesting. Perhaps Smith felt secure that no one would take a peak at the plates, for he warned of spiritual calamity for those who did. No, what I find the most compelling about Emma’s account is her actually feeling the pages of the book through the cloth.
Martin Harris too, who usually cast his experiences in spiritual or visionary terms, claimed to have held the plates on his knee for half an hour, examining them “plate by plate.” In Whitmer’s last interview, he similarly reported to have handled the plates uncovered. His account is particularly impressive, because, while all of the three witnesses apostatized at some point, only Whitmer never rejoined. And still, he retained a testimony of the gold plates as a physical reality.
Another evidence for the plates’ physicality is that the reports of their dimensions, weight, and color are fairly consistent. It is largely agreed that the plates were 7 by 8 inches, had the thickness of a tin sheet, weighed about 60 pounds, and had the appearance of gold. It is difficult to make sense of this consistency were the plates merely the figment of others’ subjective imaginations.
The totality of the testimonies, notwithstanding the spiritual trappings of some accounts, then suggest that Joseph Smith possessed actual, material plates.
Let’s entertain the possibility that Joseph Smith had the gold plates. Does it necessarily follow that Smith was a prophet or that Mormonism is true? No. As I mentioned earlier, Smith made a modest career digging for buried Spanish and ancient American treasure. It’s remotely possible that he actually uncovered gold plates in one of his treasure-digging projects and might have mistaken them to be a history of ancient American peoples called Nephites and Lamanites, just as he mistook Egyptian funerary papyri to be the writings of Abraham.
Even if Book of Mormon is an accurate translation of the plates, it doesn’t mean that Smith was a prophet beyond that. Indeed, David Whitmer held that Smith’s divine commission largely ended with the translation of the gold plates, and that he was a fallen prophet with his subsequent revelations, especially polygamy.
Then there is the possibility that Smith and/or co-conspirators fashioned together a prop to pass for gold plates. This is an uncomfortable position, because the conclusion that Smith was, at least initially, a deliberate fraud is almost inescapable.
Why might he have done this? It’s impossible to know for sure. I suspect a slight financial motive, if not for himself, then for his destitute family. Yet I imagine there must have been easier money-making schemes than starting a new religion!* Consequently, the prevailing theory among secular scholars of Mormonism is that Joseph Smith’s primary motive was instead religious—that he was a “pious fraud” who sincerely hoped to bring people to Christ through the Book of Mormon.
The question of motives aside, would it have been possible to create a convincing enough prop to fool the witnesses? I think so; look to the historical cases of the Voree and Kinderhook plates.
During the 1844 succession crisis following Joseph Smith’s death, James Strang was able to convince thousands of Mormons to join his breakaway sect. Early on, Strang enjoyed the support of several Book of Mormon witnesses, prominent Mormon leaders, and all but a few of Joseph Smith’s family. Like Smith, he professed to have translated an ancient American document called the Voree plates by the power of god. But unlike Smith, he made these plates readily accessible for public viewing. The evidence points to Strang having manufactured these plates from ordinary tea kettle brass, but, even after close inspection, thousands believed in their historicity and Strang’s prophetic pretensions.
Joseph Smith himself was fooled by the fraudulent Kinderhook plates—a proven hoax intended to expose Joseph Smith as a charlatan. Smith was presented the plates and asked to interpret them. He never translated the plates, but he did erroneously declare them to be a history of one of Ham’s descendants. The LDS Church maintained that the plates were authentic well into the 20th century.
Because others were able to fabricate seemingly ancient plates, Joseph Smith could have done the same. And given the credulity of many of the witnesses, in addition to Joseph Smith’s charismatic and persuasive personality, a relatively crude prop might have done the trick. (Please note, though, that there is no hard evidence that Smith ever did create such a prop.)
Once we grant the physical existence of the plates, provocative questions remain, like, “Where are the plates now?” They could have been destroyed, hidden, or lost. The Kinderhook plates, for example, went missing for many decades, and the whereabouts of the Voree plates is still a mystery. According to LDS lore, the gold plates were returned to the angel Moroni or deposited in a cave within the Hill Cumorah.
Countless questions surround the origins of Mormonism, and I doubt we’ll ever definitively answer all of them. I think with this post, I probably raised more questions than I answered. But it is precisely this enigmatic and elusive quality to early Mormonism that interests me. Its history is often more complex than its believers and critics realize. That’s certainly true regarding the gold plates.
Needless to say, I don’t find the church’s explanation of the gold plates plausible, but neither am I entirely satisfied with the naturalistic account I’ve sketched here. And while it’s not my burden to provide an exhaustive explanation, it is an interesting subject to discuss. I look forward to your thoughts.
*A good point was raised in the comments. It’d be wrong to assume that Joseph Smith always intended to use the plates to start a religion. They might have been an extension of his treasure-digging at first and only later took on religious significance.
I don’t find the Whitmer and Emma accounts to be convincing really at all. If you were to ask me which two people would be the least credible, I would respond with Emma and Whitmer, because Emma was his wife, and Whitmer has such a financial investment in the church. It’s perfectly reasonable to conclude that both of them would make it up, to either save their reputation, or quite possibly their lives. I find no reason to take their words as credible. Now, if someone less biased claimed to have seen the plates, I would be more willing to except that he actually had something.
And let’s be honest. If you give any 14 year old boy the secret to the universe, hes not going to keep it in some hat. He’s going to show it to the world. That is, unless, he really didn’t have anything.
Finally, I wanted to briefly point out that having multiple women to sleep with is a far better motive than money. Sex and power make men do crazy things, as well as the financial gains.
“If you were to ask me which two people would be the least credible, I would respond with Emma and Whitmer, because Emma was his wife, and Whitmer has such a financial investment in the church.”
That Emma was his wife shouldn’t totally discredit her; that’s rather unfair and too easy, I think. Moreover, given the strain that polygamy put on her relationship with Joseph (and according to her biographer’s, might have even attempted to poison him), there is not reason to believe that she’d lie in his defense. I’m convinced that Emma was sincere in her belief that her husband was, at least before polygamy, a prophet.
As for Whitmer: What exactly was his financial investment in the church. And what evidence to you have that suggests he was still reaping the rewards of that investment toward the end of his life? Whitmer had been out of the church for several decades at the time when the interview I cited was taken.
I also don’t buy the argument that Whitmer pulled his punches because he feared for his life. Whitmer’s life was in danger shortly after his excommunication, granted, but I’m aware of no evidence that his life continued to be threatened throughout his life. Had he genuinely feared for his life, why would he publish “An Address to All Believers in Christ” wherein he writes that Smith was a fallen prophet?
“Finally, I wanted to briefly point out that having multiple women to sleep with is a far better motive than money. Sex and power make men do crazy things, as well as the financial gains.”
If Joseph wanted sex, he could just sleep around. Inventing a religion and a revelation to practice polygamy (a teaching that may have ultimately cost Smith his life) is too convoluted a process to got sex. That’s almost like buying a 747 jet for the free peanuts.
Now, sex may have been a component to polygamy, but I think it’s wrong to reduce it to sex.
“And let’s be honest. If you give any 14 year old boy the secret to the universe, hes not going to keep it in some hat.”
Joseph didn’t have the plates at 14.
“He’s going to show it to the world. That is, unless, he really didn’t have anything. ”
That, or perhaps he felt the plates were too sacred to subject to public scrutiny. He might also have felt commanded by god not to display them in such a way.
If Joseph wanted sex, he could just sleep around. Inventing a religion and a revelation to practice polygamy (a teaching that may have ultimately cost Smith his life) is too convoluted a process to got sex. That’s almost like buying a 747 jet for the free peanuts.
@Jon
I’ve never been a fan of when people speculate on Joseph’s motives but particularly this one. I agree with Brodie when she suggests that Joseph’s role as a prophet was an evolving one. And so it could have been possible that his motives also evolved as well. It does sound ridiculous the way you present it. But if the opportunity of sex presents itself later on in his prophet-career, I wouldn’t put it past Joseph.
Posts like this are the reason this is one of the few blogs I read. Thank you for a well- balanced and reasoned approach to the reality of the gold plates. I think that Joseph probably did have some sort of prop used from time to time. I had never considered that it might have been something that he dug up and hid from public view because he knew he wasn’t really translating it. Perhaps his success in fooling people emboldened him by the time the “Book of Abraham” came along and he was less cautious about exhibiting is abilities as a so-called-translator by then.
Fascinating post, Jon. Thanks.
Great post. I would only like to point out a couple of things.
One reason I find Emma’s account questionable is knowing her willingness to lie about at least one other aspect of Mormon history. Emma raised her children on the story that her husband never had anything to do with polygamy. However, we now know that she was aware of a number of Joseph’s relationships. If she was willing to rewrite history once, it would not surprise me if she chose to do it again.
Also, when you mention that “there must have been easier money-making schemes than starting a new religion,” that assumes that starting a new religion was his original goal. It would not surprise me if Joseph just planned on writing a new Bible, selling as many copies as possible (or the rights to print the book, as he tried selling away the copyright in Canada), and considering the work done.
I understand why Emma would lie about polygamy to her sons; it was a sore subject for her, and understandable. But it’s less obvious to me why she’d lie about the plates. Point taken, all the same.
I don’t understand why, though, some ex/non-Mormons are so resistant to grant the plates’ (or some props’) existence. Because if Smith had absolutely nothing physical to show for his prophetic claims, then that makes it all the more impressive that he got tens of thousands to follow him! It would have required a massive conspiracy among all of the witnesses, Smith’s family, and his close associates to keep hidden the fact that there really were no plates. That, or you have to believe that the witnesses were so deluded, and Smith such a talented magician/hypnotist, to induce in people the same spiritual experiences.
All that is possible, of course, but I think my explanation is more parsimonious–that is, requires fewer assumptions.
I agree that Smith’s intentions might have originally been financial. I should have been clearer, because I didn’t mean to preclude that possibility. His claiming (after years of unsuccessful digs) to have found gold plates does make sense as a natural extension of his treasure-digging activities. But even were money the initial impetus for Mormonism, I think we can both agree that it very quickly became bigger than that. Smith seems to have been a genuinely religious man and sincere in the delusion of himself as prophet.
Perhaps his treasure-hunting business needed a PR boost, and things got out of hand.
I struggle to accept that Smith was a “pious fraud.” A man who knowingly manufactured golden plates as scripture would surely have more sense than to accept something like the Kinderhook plates as scripture as well; it’s just too risky if you want to keep the fraud going.
Also, regarding Emma, I’m much more inclined to believe the things she wrote later in life, after she’d had to suffer for a bit under her husband’s ridiculous revelation of polygamy. I trust her less in the early years because I have to admit that her writings may have been more subject to bias.
I know it’s cliche for a psych student, but the more I learn about him, the more I begin to believe that Smith may have been genuinely delusional. If he did in fact manufacture the plates, I think he believed his own fraud as much as his followers. Where a cunning con man would know better than to readily proclaim a possible fraud as scripture, a man who truly believed himself to be a prophet would be more prone to such a mistake. Is it possible that the man who made the plates convinced himself that he found them?
As for polygamy, that’s a revelation that should send any “prophet” to hell. If Emma did try to poison Joseph, I can’t really say I blame her.