The weight of the golden plates miscellaneous mormon. I was reading about the golden plates and it is hysterical, my sides are hurting. Wouldnt actual gold plates be too heavy to carry around. The book of mormon is a religious text of the latter day saint movement. Joseph smith recorded that moroni told him that the nephite record was written upon gold plates, but this does not exclude the possibility that they were actually a. Mormon metallurgist reed putnam estimates that if the plates were made of pure gold, they would have probably weighed around 100 pounds. According to joseph smith, the book of mormon was engraved on a stack of metal plates, six inches wide, six inches thick, eight inches long, and had the appearance of gold. I wrote a great deal of the book of mormon myself, as joseph smith translated or spelled the words out in english. An introduction to the study of the book of mormon.
In studying the history of joseph smith and the the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, referred to as the mormons, we emphasize joseph smiths own testimony of the book of mormon, that book of additional scripture that is another testament of jesus christ. Critics fail to note that at no time does the book of mormon itself say that the plates on which mormon abridged his record were made of gold. Mormon and moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. The golden plates in reexploring the book of mormon, deseret book company and farms, 1992, page 276. The young prophet translated the unsealed portion of those plates and published that translation to the world for the first time in march 1830 as the book of mormon. The plates upon which the book of mormon was engraved were made of gold and have been. If the plates were made of gold, they would have weighed 200 pounds. The story of the gold plates is an absolutely essential part of the mormon narrative, for in the eyes of many latterday saints, the coming forth of this record, and its subsequent translation into the book of mormon, legitimizes their belief that smith was indeed a prophet sent by god to restore the true christian faith lost long ago due to a.
Naturalistic theory of the gold plates building on ann. See articles of faith, by talmage, page 262, 34th ed. Witnesses of the book of mormon were consistent in their witness that the plates weighed 4060 pounds. Based on these parameters, modern researchers have estimated plates of pure gold would weigh at least 45 kilograms 100 pounds and might be too soft for engraved characters. Gold weighs 1,204 pounds per cubic foot, so if we use the dimensions given by smith we can conclude that the plates were 16 of a cubit foot. Language the language on the plates is called reformed egyptian. We also talk about the testimony of the three witnesses, three men who were allowed to see an angel and the physical gold.
Mormons believe a con artist is a prophet who found golden. Thats a good question and the weight can easily be calculated. Have you ever thought of how much the golden plates that joseph smith translated the book of mormon from weighed. Doxey, assistant in the office of the quorum of the twelve. The antimormon side is much more involved and cant be reduced. I never saw the golden plates, only in a visionary or entranced state. On that trunk lay a book of mormon and gold plates, labans sword, aarons breastplate. If they were a block of those dimensions made out of pure gold which is unlikely and n.
By the following calculations, the book of mormon text fits on a 2. Some critics assume that the golden plates are pure gold, or that they are a solid block of gold. The term is used throughout the book of mormon to describe the religious, political, and cultural traditions of the group of settlers. Contemporaries of smith gave varying dimensions for the plates, as well as a wide range of estimated weights. The keystone of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints is the book of mormon. According to mormon history, an angel guided smith to buried gold plates near his home in upstate new york in 1823. The plates weighed approximately 4060 pounds, and about half of the plates. The book of mormon mentions plates of brass or of gold that were used to preserve a wide variety of materials, from genealogies to history and prophecy. Maxwell institute for religious scholarship as how witnesses described the gold plates, journal of book of mormon studies, vol. Is it possible for all that to fit onto a small set of gold plates. Still too heavy to run three miles with, fending off attackers. When the angel moroni delivered the gold plates to joseph smith in 1827, he fulfilled biblical prophecy see rev. Book of mormontranslationweight of the gold plates fairmormon.
The book of mormon itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two precolumbian prophethistorians from around the year ad 400. According to smith, the angel was the guardian of the golden plates, buried in the hill cumorah near smiths home in western new york. How could joseph carry the golden plates around so easily, and how could the witness have hefted the plates. The prophet joseph smith described the gold plates. Nobody knows how much the plates should have, or did weigh. So, naturally, people have been studying, testing, challenging, and scrutinizing the book of mormon for almost 200 years now, trying to figure out where this book came from. Mormon, the man and the message religious studies center. The modern discovery, translation, and editions of the. We do not have the book of mormon metal plates available to us. What was the weight of the golden plates from which joseph. Joseph smith claimed that the book of mormon is his translation of an ancient book written on gold plates that he found buried in a hill. Mesoamericans did use a coppergold alloy the spaniards called. According to joseph smith, the book of mormon was engraved on a stack of plates six inches wide, six inches thick, and eight inches long that had the appearance of gold. It was the upper plates of the plates of mormon which were translated both into the book of lehi 116 pages and also the book of mormon.
At 531 pages, the book of mormon is a large volume of scripture. The book of mormon merely says they were made of ore 1 nephi 19. Problems with the gold plates of the book of mormon. The eight witnesses of the book of mormon lds blogs. Ive heard some lds apologists argue that the plates had to of not been pure gold, however, this argument overlooks mosiah 8.
In his book, an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, he wrote. Witnesses of the book of mormon were consistent in their witness that the plates weighed 4060 pounds some critics assume that the golden plates are pure gold, or that they are a solid block of gold. Mormon challenges were the actual gold plates too heavy. A longer version of this article was originally published by the neal a. By such statements the critics have hoped to break the mormon pitcher at the threshold, as the greek. Detailed witness descriptions give us a good idea of what the gold plates which joseph smith used. Instead, i was taught and believed in the miracle of translation where the prophet joseph smith received sacred golden plates and the urim and thummim. Ive also heard people say that he must have been empowered by god. A true testimony of the book of mormon comes from reading it and, as counseled by moroni in a promise he left to us in moroni 10. Putnam has argued persuasively that the book of mormon plates that were in joseph smiths hands were of tumbaga.
The golden plates couldnt be made of pure gold the golden plates couldnt be made of pure gold, new era, july. Could the entire book of mormon text fit on gold plates. The manner in which joseph received the plates has been a matter of controversy since he first made the unprecedented claim that he was visited by god himself in what is known as the first vision. Some critics assume that the golden plates are pure. Book of mormontranslationweight of the gold plates. Facts on the book of mormon witnesses part 1 mormons. What was the approximate weight of the gold plates from which the. Critics of the church often use the weight of the plates as evidence that the book of mormon story is not true. Dimensions according to joseph, the book was 6 x 8 x 6 and each plate was thinner than common tin. The young mans name was joseph smith and the unsealed third became known as the book of mormonanother testament of jesus christ. The plates were said to be 6 to 7 inches wide, about 8 inches long and 4 to 6 inches thick.
Supposedly all three men saw the angel and gold plates the same day. If you dropped the golden plates, they would have made a pretty big dent in. There is no question that metal was sometimes used as writing material in the ancient world, including the near east. Mormons believe a con artist is a prophet who found golden plates in ny posted on jan 9, 2012 82 comments mormon beliefs were started by joseph smith, a convicted con artist, from palmyra, new york, who allegedly found golden plates, which he translated to become the book of mormon. This article traces its modern history from josephs accounts of discovering the gold plates from which the book of mormon is said to have been translated to the most recent editions of josephs translation. The latter being sacred interpreters that had been prepared and preserved by the lord to bring forth the book of mormon in his due time. In his book, an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, he wrote, r. Sorenson, agreed that putnams explanation helps solve the weight problem. If its a fraud, the rest of our truth claims come tumbling down. If god can create the world, he can condense the book of mormon into golden plates. If this is the case then such a story really carries no more persuasive weight than the testimony of the three witnesses who claimed to have seen the plates smith received from moroni. Problems with the gold plates of the book of mormon christian.
Others have asserted that if the prophet joseph had a sufficient number of gold plates to contain the entire text of the book of mormon, they would have been too heavy to handle as a book. How much would the gold plates weigh that momonisms. What was the weight of the golden plates from which joseph smith translated the book of mormon. The sealed portion the final testament of jesus christ. We know that, and critics of our faith know that as well. Different people estimated the weight at 30 to 60 lbs. Outsiders might be skeptical of a holy book written on gold plates unearthed in an upstate new york field by a migrant farmer almost 200 years ago, but the book of mormon is here to stay. Problems with the gold plates in the book of mormon.
Thus, if these are indeed the plates of mormon, as they certainly appear to be, then there are still over half of them left to be opened at the coming of the savior to those who believe in his word. Latter day saints believe the plates were the source material for the book of mormon. The plates weighed approximately sixty pounds witnesses of the book of mormon were consistent in their witness that the plates weighed 4060 pound. Smith allegedly collected the plates, which were inscribed in reformed egyptian by ancient americans with hebraic dna, and translated them into the churchs signature text, the book of mormon, which he published in 1830. Joseph smith running with the gold plates mormonthink.
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