Joseph often extemporized about ancient artifacts and people. His mom said he used to entertain the family with tales of the ancient Indians. When Zion's Camp came upon a burial mound he had a vision revealing that it held the remains of a white Lamanite named Zelph. When Joseph showed visitors the Chandler mummies and papyri, he shared grandiose back stories about the mummies' identities. To me, his comments about the Kinderhook plates seem more of this type than something he translated from the GAEL.
Daniel HaywardAugust 24, 2016
Informative and interesting article, but those who base their testimony on historical or scientific evidence are headed for a terrible stumble and eventual fall. Joseph Smith will not be proved or disproved a prophet (despite his human fallibility), by the secular mind. An unwavering testimony that he was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true scripture can only be obtained by an undeniable witness of the Holy Ghost, and that witness is available to everyone only on the condition of faith, repentance, and a willingness to live the complete gospel of Jesus Christ.
ScottAugust 24, 2016
@Carl,
I disagree that the Kinderhook plates are real artifacts and not fakes. Have you read the August 1981 Ensign article? After several inconclusive non-destructive tests were performed, Dr. D. Lynn Johnson of Northwestern University performed scanning electron microscope (SEM) testing to determine whether the characters on the plates were scratched with a tool or etched with acid.
From the Ensign article, "The irregular, grainy texture characteristic of acid etching is evident, not a striated surface that would have been produced by an engraving tool. A thorough SEM examination of the characters on the plate brought Dr. Johnson to the conclusion that the characters on the plate were indeed prepared by acid etching, not by any form of tooling, scratching, or cutting."
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1981/08/kinderhook-plates-brought-to-joseph-smith-appear-to-be-a-nineteenth-century-hoax?lang=eng
Delbert StapleyAugust 23, 2016
Early church perspectives
"A recent discovery of one of the Kinderhook plates which was examined by Joseph Smith, Jun., reaffirms his prophetic calling and reveals the false statements made by one of the finders. ...[The find] solved a seventy-four-year-old controversy and put the plates back into the category of 'genuine' which Joseph Smith, Jun., had said they were in the first place. ...What scholars may learn from this ancient record in future years or what may be translated by divine power is an exciting thought to contemplate. This much remains. Joseph Smith, Jun., stands as a true prophet and translator of ancient records by divine means and all the world is invited to investigate the truth which has sprung out of the earth not only of the Kinderhook plates, but of the Book of Mormon as well."
(September 1962 Improvement Era)
“Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation.”
(LDS Historian Richard Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p. 490)
Jerry GroverAugust 23, 2016
Anyone interested in some free pdf books pertaining to reformed Egyptian and the historicity of the Book of Mormon go to www.caractors.org
Carl Hugh JonesAugust 23, 2016
The Kinderhook plates are real artifacts not not fakes. I have seen up close and carefully lite photographs of one remaining known plate in possession of the Davenport, Iowa Museum. It is obvious that this plate was engraved as several of the characters with multiple strokes (lines) showed the strokes intersecting and over leaping early strokes of the engraving tool. The three who said they faked the plates in the local blacksmith shop said that the etched the characters with acid, first covering the plates with wax and then engraving the characters into the wax and placing the plates in a acid bath. This process should have created uniform depth of the engravings, not the trailing off the marks on the plates from and engraving tool.
RichTexAugust 23, 2016
Very interesting article. I had never heard the GAEL explanation before. It makes perfect sense. Thanks, Michael.
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Brent TubbsAugust 25, 2016
Joseph often extemporized about ancient artifacts and people. His mom said he used to entertain the family with tales of the ancient Indians. When Zion's Camp came upon a burial mound he had a vision revealing that it held the remains of a white Lamanite named Zelph. When Joseph showed visitors the Chandler mummies and papyri, he shared grandiose back stories about the mummies' identities. To me, his comments about the Kinderhook plates seem more of this type than something he translated from the GAEL.
Daniel HaywardAugust 24, 2016
Informative and interesting article, but those who base their testimony on historical or scientific evidence are headed for a terrible stumble and eventual fall. Joseph Smith will not be proved or disproved a prophet (despite his human fallibility), by the secular mind. An unwavering testimony that he was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true scripture can only be obtained by an undeniable witness of the Holy Ghost, and that witness is available to everyone only on the condition of faith, repentance, and a willingness to live the complete gospel of Jesus Christ.
ScottAugust 24, 2016
@Carl, I disagree that the Kinderhook plates are real artifacts and not fakes. Have you read the August 1981 Ensign article? After several inconclusive non-destructive tests were performed, Dr. D. Lynn Johnson of Northwestern University performed scanning electron microscope (SEM) testing to determine whether the characters on the plates were scratched with a tool or etched with acid. From the Ensign article, "The irregular, grainy texture characteristic of acid etching is evident, not a striated surface that would have been produced by an engraving tool. A thorough SEM examination of the characters on the plate brought Dr. Johnson to the conclusion that the characters on the plate were indeed prepared by acid etching, not by any form of tooling, scratching, or cutting." https://www.lds.org/ensign/1981/08/kinderhook-plates-brought-to-joseph-smith-appear-to-be-a-nineteenth-century-hoax?lang=eng
Delbert StapleyAugust 23, 2016
Early church perspectives "A recent discovery of one of the Kinderhook plates which was examined by Joseph Smith, Jun., reaffirms his prophetic calling and reveals the false statements made by one of the finders. ...[The find] solved a seventy-four-year-old controversy and put the plates back into the category of 'genuine' which Joseph Smith, Jun., had said they were in the first place. ...What scholars may learn from this ancient record in future years or what may be translated by divine power is an exciting thought to contemplate. This much remains. Joseph Smith, Jun., stands as a true prophet and translator of ancient records by divine means and all the world is invited to investigate the truth which has sprung out of the earth not only of the Kinderhook plates, but of the Book of Mormon as well." (September 1962 Improvement Era) “Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation.” (LDS Historian Richard Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p. 490)
Jerry GroverAugust 23, 2016
Anyone interested in some free pdf books pertaining to reformed Egyptian and the historicity of the Book of Mormon go to www.caractors.org
Carl Hugh JonesAugust 23, 2016
The Kinderhook plates are real artifacts not not fakes. I have seen up close and carefully lite photographs of one remaining known plate in possession of the Davenport, Iowa Museum. It is obvious that this plate was engraved as several of the characters with multiple strokes (lines) showed the strokes intersecting and over leaping early strokes of the engraving tool. The three who said they faked the plates in the local blacksmith shop said that the etched the characters with acid, first covering the plates with wax and then engraving the characters into the wax and placing the plates in a acid bath. This process should have created uniform depth of the engravings, not the trailing off the marks on the plates from and engraving tool.
RichTexAugust 23, 2016
Very interesting article. I had never heard the GAEL explanation before. It makes perfect sense. Thanks, Michael.
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