Who is Joseph Smith?
Joseph Smith, born in 1805, was one of 9 children of emigrants from Scotland who emigrated to the USA and settled in Palmyry and then moved to Manchester, New York. He came from a poor family, and since childhood, he and his father worked for local farmers. Taking about that, it can be assumed, which will be important later, he was educated at an elementary level.
Joseph had his first supernatural experience in 1820, when as a 14-year-old boy praying in the forest, he experienced a religious vision. Father God and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him not to join any of the churches for now, because they were all in error, and he would later be informed what to do.
The second experience occurred about 4 years later, on September 21, 1823, in the bedroom of his family home in Palmyra, while he was praying fervently. Then the prophet Moroni appeared to him and told him that on the nearby hill of Cumorah he would find a buried chest containing gold plates with inscriptions on them in Reformed Egyptian. These plates are supposed to contain the history and origin of the ancient inhabitants of the American continent.
Along with the plates, the chest also contains a breastplate with two Urim and Thummim stones attached, which were used by Jewish priests for divination and were supposed to help Joseph with translations.
Smith’s task was to translate fragments contained on the plates and distribute them to the public!
Joseph Smith – History 1:51–52
Joseph went looking for gold plates. He went to a hill near his house. It was the hill of Cumorah. The gold plates were buried there under a large stone. They were in the stone chest with the Urim and Thummim.
Moroni did not allow Smith to take the plates and stones, but told him to come on the same day every year. (Apparently, during his first attempt to remove the records, Smith was electrocuted (?) and fell to the ground.)
Smith excavated the plates, breastplate, and urim and thummim stones four years later, in 1927.
After 21 months, Smith translated texts using stones. He then showed the translations and the plates to three witnesses who swore in writing that Joseph Smith had the plates. Two days later, Smith showed the plates to eight more witnesses, who also signed that tey seen the plates.
After about two years, the plates were taken by the angel Moroni to be preserved for future generations.
According to Smith, the plates themselves with hieroglyphic notes were thin and mounted like a binder, and could be turned over. The book containing metal plates was approximately 20 x 15 centimeters in size and approximately 15 centimeters thick. Some of the pages could be turned, some were sealed.
Based on the translated plates, Smith published The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Book of Mormon, adding to it a prophecy concerning Jesus, which “is a continuation of the biblical story adapted to the faith of American society in the 1950s.”
Who is Moroni?
According to Mormon beliefs, Moroni is a prophet who appears in the Book of Mormon. Moroni would complete the record (Book of Mormon) of his father Mormon and then summarize the history of the Jaredites, called the Book of Ether. He also added his own text known as the Book of Moroni.
Could Moroni have been a messenger of the Lord, and therefore an intermediary between the creator and the people? Was he an alien like his superior? Or maybe someone else?
What does the Book of Mormon contain?
The Book of Mormon is an abridged record of the people of Nephi and the Lamanites – it is addressed to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel, as well as Jews and Gentiles…
…The Book of Mormon also includes excerpts from the Book of Ether, which is the work of the people of Jared, who were scattered when the Lord confused the people who were building a tower to get to heaven…
Why the Book of Mormon?
In addition to the Bible, which, in my opinion, contains one of the richest archives of humanity, the Book of Mormon and many other “holy books” are a perfect supplement to the history of people and their contacts with God, Angels and other messengers that we are unable to physically experience.
Additionally, the Book of Mormon contains 2 very interesting books that I want to refer to in the near future.
But the most important question for today is: how was a man with primary education, a farmer, with knowledge of the basics of English, able to translate the text from disks with texts in Reformed Egyptian language?