MormonThink - Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith historical questions have moved from the margins of Mormon studies to the center of institutional anxiety. When the LDS Church quietly admitted in 2015 that its founder translated the Book of Mormon by burying his face in a hat containing a seer stone, it confirmed what MormonThink had documented for years. The discrepancy between the Sunday School image of Joseph studying golden plates through the Urim and Thummim and the eyewitness accounts of a folk magic stone in a hat represents more than a cosmetic correction. It strikes at the heart of how the Church has managed its founding narrative.

Background: The Archive of Discrepancies

MormonThink emerged as a critical repository during the 2000s, compiling primary sources that complicated the standard faith-promoting history. Founded by members and former members seeking transparency, the site became a reference point for those encountering gaps between correlated curriculum and the archival record. Grant Palmer, a former Church Educational System instructor who spent 33 years as a Church employee, contributed research that exemplified the site's approach. When Palmer encountered a potentially damaging Oliver Cowdery quote, he advised against using it after discovering it lacked proper documentation. This rigor undercut accusations that critics simply sought to destroy faith.

The site catalogs issues ranging from the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon manuscript to Joseph Smith’s polygamy practices, but its most significant contribution involves the translation method. For decades, the Church depicted Joseph studying reformed Egyptian characters on the plates through spectacles provided by an angel. MormonThink aggregated the eyewitness accounts that told a different story.

Key Claims: The Stone, the Hat, and the Silence

The translation method controversy illustrates the site's central argument. Multiple firsthand witnesses, including Emma Smith, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer, described a process where Joseph placed his seer stone in a hat, blocked out the light, and dictated words that appeared on the stone. The plates themselves sat nearby, often covered by a cloth, sometimes not in the room at all. This account contradicts the traditional artwork still used in Church materials today.