In the July 1993 Ensign article, “A Treasured Testament”, Elder Russell M. Nelson quotes David Whitmer (an early member of the LDS Church and signatory to the 1830 statement, The Testimony of Three Witnesses) for a succinct summary of Joseph Smith’s method of translating the language etched on the Golden Plates into the Book of Mormon:

“Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. Click to continue… »

Before Joseph Smith claimed to have discovered golden plates buried in the ground, he claimed to have a special ability to locate other buried treasure. In 1826, while being employed by Josiah Stowell, a well-heeled farmer in Bainbridge County, New York, to find Spanish treasure that Stowell believed was buried on his property, Joseph was arrested and brought before a judge on criminal charges related to being a “glass-looker”.

What is a glass-looker? A glass-looker is a person who looks into an object, such as a crystal ball or a stone, to see into the future or to see into the spirit world. Click to continue… »

This drawing depicts a dream that Joseph Smith, Sr. reportedly had in 1811 Click to continue… »

Skeptics of the claim that the Book of Mormon is literally an historical account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas note that the book contains elements of Joseph Smith’s 19th century milieu.

One such element is the camp meeting, held from time to time in Joseph Smith’s community (a place known as the “burned-over district”) during his youth (a time called the “Second Great Awakening”). Click to continue… »

Historical records indicate that in early summer of 1827, Joseph Smith and his father began telling people in town that he had found a golden book buried in the ground, and that the spirit guarding it would not let him take it out without following a specific protocol. Click to continue… »