Joseph Smith’s Creative Efforts to Outsource the Book of Mormon Translation

After four years of waiting, learning, and personal refinement, 21 year old Joseph Smith was finally entrusted by the angel Moroni with the ancient record that for centuries had lain in waiting in a stone box embedded in a hill near his home. Recalling this time years later, Joseph said that almost as soon as he had received the plates “the most strenuous exertions were used to get them from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose. The persecution became more bitter and severe than before, and multitudes were on the alert continually to get them from me if possible.” In today’s episode we take a closer look at what we know of these efforts to get the plates from Joseph and the surprising supernatural means his antagonists resorted to in their attempts to do so.  We also dive into Joseph’s initial creative efforts in 1828 to get the record translated, including creating an Egyptian alphabet from the engravings on the plates, as well as sending Martin Harris to New York to recruit linguistic experts to help in translating the book. And although these secular translation efforts ultimately failed, the lessons learned through this experience continue to offer value to us today.