Mormonism and Wikipedia/Golden plates/Introduction

A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: Mormonism and Wikipedia/Golden plates A work by a collaboration of authors (Link to Wikipedia article here)

Origin and historicity

The name Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. Wikipedia content is copied and made available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

An analysis of the Wikipedia article "Golden plates" (Version December 10, 2009)

-	Wikipedia Main Article: Golden plates–	Wikipedia Footnotes: Golden plates–Notes	A FAIR Opinion
	According to the theology of Latter Day Saint movement churches, the golden plates (also called the gold plates or in some 19th century literature, the golden Bible)	Use of the terms golden bible and gold Bible by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, Harris (1859) , p. 167 (use of the term gold Bible by Martin Harris in 1827); Smith (1853) , pp. 102, 109, 113, 145 (use of the term gold Bible in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); Grandin (1829) (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.
	are a book of bound and engraved metal plates that Joseph Smith, Jr. said was his source for the Book of Mormon. Some followers and relatives of Smith testified that they saw the plates, and Smith said he returned them to an angel after translating them. Therefore, if they existed, they are not available for researchers to examine. Although most outside of the Latter Day Saint movement dismiss Joseph Smith's story of the golden plates as "beyond belief,"	Bushman (2005) , p. 58.	The cited source states, For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact.
	to Latter Day Saints their existence is a matter of faith.	Not to mention to statements of the witnesses who actually saw them.
	Joseph Smith said he was guided to the plates on September 22, 1823 on Cumorah Hill, Manchester, New York, in a buried box. Smith said they had been protected there for centuries by the angel Moroni, once a mortal prophet and the book's final author, and the one who guided him to the plates. According to Smith, the angel told him he could not take possession of the plates until he obeyed certain commandments, which included making four annual visits to the spot.	No sources provided.	Template:WikipediaCitationMissing There is no reference to support the claim that Joseph stated that the Angel Moroni "protected" the plates in that location for centuries. The hill to which Joseph was directed was not named "Cumorah" until much later
	Smith's 1827 announcement that he had uncovered an ancient golden book brought him local notoriety. The curious came to see the wooden chest where they were told the plates were stored; but Smith said that the angel had commanded him not to show the plates to anyone else until a later date. After moving near his wife's parents in northern Pennsylvania, Smith dictated to scribes what he said was an English translation of the inscribed characters on the plates, a language he described as reformed Egyptian. This reputed translating took place sporadically between 1827 and 1829 and consisted, according to most accounts, of Smith's looking into a hat containing a "seer stone" in which he said he could see the translated words and characters.	Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented Wagoner (1982) , pp. 59–62, one of his own accounts states that with the plates he found a set of stone spectacles called the Urim and Thummim, which he used to make the translation Smith (Mulholland) , p. 5. He said the angel also commanded him not to show the Urim and Thummim to others (id.). Other than Smith himself, his mother was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth Smith (1853) , p. 101.	Citation abuse— The meaning of a source quotation has been altered, or the source used does not support the author's conclusion. The wiki editor states that "Smith...said he could see the translated words and characters." This is incorrect. Joseph never gave any detail regarding the exact method by which he dictated from the seer stone. It was David Whitmer (An Address to All Believers in Christ) who gave a detailed description of Joseph seeing translated words and characters in the stone, not Joseph.
	During this period, Smith also began dictating written commandments in the voice of God, including a commandment to form a new church and to choose eleven men who would join Smith as witnesses. These men declared, in two statements attached to the 1830 published Book of Mormon, that they had seen the plates.	Two separate statements were later incorporated into printed editions of the Book of Mormon.	Note that the statements were incorporated into the first and all subsequent editions of the Book of Mormon.
	Some of these witnesses gave descriptions of the plates, not entirely consistent with one another. According to Smith, he then returned the plates to the angel Moroni. Many adherents of the faith believe that Moroni retains them or that they are hidden in the hill Cumorah.
	The golden plates are the most significant of a number of metallic plates important in Latter Day Saint history and theology, many of which are mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Although the Book of Mormon is generally accepted by adherents as a sacred text, not all Latter Day Saints view the plates as an ancient, physical artifact engraved by ancient prophets.

References

Wikipedia references for "Golden Plates"

• Anthon, Charles, Howe, Eber Dudley (editor) Mormonism Unvailed: or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time , Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press off-site .
• Bennett, James Gordon, Jr., Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca off-site .
• Bennett, James Gordon, Sr., Arrington, Leonard J. (editor) (1831), James Gordon Bennett's 1831 Report on 'The Mormonites' off-site .
• Benton, Abram W., Vogel, Dan (editor) Early Mormon Documents Signature Books .
• Bidamon, Emma Smith, Early Mormon Documents Signature Books .
• Burnett, David S., Something New.—Golden Bible off-site .
• Burnett, Stephen, Vogel, Dan (editor) (1838), Early Mormon Documents Signature Books .
• Bushman, Richard Lyman, (2005), Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling , New York: Knopf .
• Chase, Willard, Howe, Eber Dudley (editor) (1833), Mormonism Unvailed , Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press off-site .
• Clark, John A., (1842), Gleanings by the Way , Philadelphia: W.J. & J.K. Simmon off-site .
• Cobb, James T., The Hill Cumorah, And The Book Of Mormon. The Smith Family, Cowdery, Harris, and Other Old Neighbors—What They Know off-site .
• Cole, Abner, Gold Bible, No. 6 off-site .
• Cook, Lyndon W., (1991), David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness Grandin .
• Cowdery, Oliver, (1834), Letter [I] off-site .
• Cowdery, Oliver, (1834b), Letter III off-site .
• Cowdery, Oliver, (1835a), Letter IV off-site .
• Cowdery, Oliver, (1835b), Letter VIII off-site .
• Crystal, David, (1997), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language Cambridge University Press .
• (1996), The World's Writing Systems Oxford University Press .
• Gilbert, John H., (1892), Recollections of John H. Gilbert , Palmyra, New York: typescript located in Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University off-site .
• Givens, Terryl L., (2003), By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion Oxford University Press .
• Grandin, E.B., Editor's note off-site .
• Hadley, Jonathan A., Golden Bible off-site .
• Hale, Isaac, Howe, Eber Dudley (editor) (1834), Mormonism Unvailed , Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press off-site .
• Hamblin, William J., (2007), Sacred Writing on Metal Plates in the Ancient Mediterranean off-site .
• Harris, Abigail, Howe, Eber Dudley (editor) (1833), Mormonism Unvailed , Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press off-site .
• Harris, Henry, Howe, Eber Dudley (editor) (1833), Mormonism Unvailed , Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press off-site .
• Harris, Martin, (1859), Mormonism, No. II off-site .
• Howe, Eber Dudley, (1834), Mormonism Unvailed Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press off-site .
• Knight, Joseph, Sr., Jessee, Dean (editor) (1833), Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History off-site .
• Lapham, [La]Fayette, (1870), Interview with the Father of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, Forty years Ago. His Account of the Finding of the Sacred Plates off-site .
• Mormon History off-site .
• Mather, Frederic G., (1880), Early Days of Mormonism off-site .
• Metcalfe, Brent Lee, (1993), Apologetic and Critical Assumptions about Book of Mormon Historicity off-site .
• Packer, J. Cameron, (2004), Cumorah's Cave Maxwell Institute off-site .
• Palmer, Grant H., (2002), An Insider's View of Mormon Origins Signature Books .
• Parrish, Warren, (1838), Letter from W. Parrish, Kirtland The Evangelist off-site , republished in Vogel, Dan (editor) (1999), Early Mormon Documents , Salt Lake City: Signature Books .
• Phelps, , (1833), A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ Zion: William Wines Phelps & Co. off-site .
• Poulson, P. Wilhelm, Letter to the editor. .
• Pratt, Orson, (1856), The Faith and Visions of the Ancient Saints—The Same Great Blessing to be Enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints off-site .
• Pratt, Orson, (1859), Evidences of the Bible and Book of Mormon Compared off-site .
• Pratt, Orson, (1877), King Limhi's Enquiry, from the Book of Mormon' off-site .
• Putnam, Read H., Were the Golden Plates Made of Tumbaga? off-site .
• Quinn, D. Michael, (1998), Early Mormonism and the Magic World View , Salt Lake City: Signature Books .
• Riley, I. Woodbridge, (1903), The Founder of Mormonism: A Psychological Study of Joseph Smith, Jr. , New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. off-site
• Roberts, B. H. (editor) (1902), History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Salt Lake City: Deseret News off-site .
• Roberts, B. H. (editor) (1905), History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Salt Lake City: Deseret News off-site .
• Roberts, B. H. (editor) (1908), History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Salt Lake City: Deseret News off-site .
• Robinson, Andrew, (2002), Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts McGraw Hill .
• Salisbury, Katharine Smith, Walker, Kyle R. (editor) Katharine Smith Salisbury's Recollections of Joseph's Meetings with Moroni off-site .
• Saunders, Benjamin, Vogel, Dan (editor) (1884a), Early Mormon Documents , Salt Lake City: Signature Books .
• Saunders, Lorenzo, Vogel, Dan (editor) (1884b), Early Mormon Documents , Salt Lake City: Signature Books .
• Saunders, Orson, Bennett, James Gordon, Jr. (editor) Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca off-site .
• Smith, Joseph III, last Testimony of Sister Emma off-site .
• Smith, Joseph, Jr., (1830), The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi , Palmyra, New York: E. B. Grandin off-site .
• Smith, Joseph, Jr., Jessee, Dean C (editor) (1832), Personal Writings of Joseph Smith , Salt Lake City: Deseret Book off-site .
• (1835), Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God , Kirtland, Ohio: F. G. Williams & Co off-site .
• Smith, Joseph, Jr., (1838a), History of the Church , copied to Jessee, Dean C (editor) (1839–1843), Personal Writings of Joseph Smith Deseret Book .
• Smith, Joseph, Jr., (1838b), Editor's note off-site .
• Smith, Joseph, Jr., Church History [Wentworth Letter] , Nauvoo, Illinois: off-site .
• Smith, Joseph, Sr., To the Public off-site .
• Smith, Lucy Mack, Casawall, Henry (editor) (1842b), The City of the Mormons; or, Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842 , London: J.G.F. & J. Rivington off-site .
• Smith, Lucy Mack, (1853), Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations Liverpool: S.W. Richards off-site .
• Smith, William, (1883), William Smith on Mormonism: A True Account of the Origin of the Book of Mormon' Lamoni, Iowa: RLDS Church off-site .
• Smith, William, (1884), The Old Soldier's Testimony off-site .
• Stevenson, Edward, (1882), One of the Three Witnesses: Incidents in the Life of Martin Harris off-site .
• Storey, Wilbur F., Interview with David Whitmer off-site .
• Tvedtnes, John A, (1990), Review of Little Known Evidences of the Book of Mormon by Brenton G. Yorgason Maxwell Institute off-site .
• Tucker, Pomeroy, (1867), Origin, Rise and Progress of Mormonism , New York: D. Appleton off-site .
• Turner, Orasmus, (1851), History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, and Morris' Reserve , Rochester, New York: William Alling off-site .
• Wade, B., An Interesting Document off-site .
• {{{title}}} .
• Walker, Ronald W., (1986), Martin Harris: Mormonism's Early Convert off-site .
• Whitmer, , The Golden Tables off-site .
• Whitmer, David, (1887), An Address to All Believers in Christ By A Witness to the Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon' , Richmond, Missouri: David Whitmer off-site .
• Whitmer, David, An Old Mormon's Closing Hours: David Whitmer, One of the Pioneers of That Faith, Passing Away off-site .
• Williams, Stephen, (1991), Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory University of Pennsylvania Press .
• Woodard, Roger D. (editor) (2004), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages Cambridge University Press .
• Young, Brigham, Watt, G.D. (editor) Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others , Liverpool: F.D. & S.W. Richards off-site .
• Young, Brigham, Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, His Two Counselors, and the Twelve Apostles , Liverpool: William Budge .