Elder Smith
Following the discovery of the six Kinderhook
plates in 1843 that supposedly had ancient
writing on them,
what ever became of those plates?
Chris
During the Civil War the plates were thought to be lost.
However, some time in the 1960’s, Wilford
Poulson a professor at Brigham Young University,
found one of the original plates #5 in the
Chicago Historical Society Museum.
After examining the plate, Professor Poulson
believed it to be a forgery.
Welby Ricks, who was President of the BYU
Archaeological Society, welcomed the discovery
as a vindication of Joseph Smith’s work.
He wrote,
Elder Young
So, the plates must have been real!
Chris
In 1980, LDS scholar Stanley P. Kimball was
permitted to perform destructive tests on
the #5 plate.
He described the results of the tests in the
LDS Church publication, The Ensign,
August 1981, pp. 66-70.
The article says,
Elder Young
If Joseph Smith said he translated a portion
of the plates, I wonder what was written on
them?
Chris
If Joseph Smith had not been shot and killed
in June 1844, it is very possible he might
have published a finished translation of all
six of the counterfeit plates.
Wouldn’t that have been interesting?
Elder Smith
What is the Church’s position on the Kinderhook plates, today?
Chris
The Church defended the authenticity of the
plates and Joseph’s translations of them
since their discovery in 1843 up to 1980 –
137 years!
Following the destructive testing, the Church
backed off its claim that the plates were real.
Now the Church claims it was all a hoax.
Elder Smith
Maybe that’s true – it was all a scam.
Chris
But Smith made the claim that he could translate
the ancient writings on the plates.
And in fact, did translate some of them.
It should be obvious that Smith’s work on
these fraudulent plates casts serious doubt
upon his credibility as a translator of other
ancient records like, the Book of Mormon and
the Book of Abraham.
We already know from the Church’s Gospel
Topica Essay found on churchofjesuschrist.org titled:
“Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham”
that the Book of Abraham isn’t a true translation
of ancient Egyptian papyri.
The Church now admits that.
After disproving the Kinderhook plates and
the Book of Abraham translation, am I now
supposed to trust Joseph Smith when he claims
to have translated the Book of Mormon
written in an unknown language in Reformed Egyptian
from a - rock in a hat?
