Controversy of...The Gold Plates

 This is an artist's rendering of the gold plates that Joseph Smith says he found on the mountain Cumorrah and from which he translated the BOOK OF MORMON
 

 
Smith supposedly received the plates while kneeling - hands outstretched!
Smith then ran home with them under his arm - a distance of 3 miles - to escape unknown assailants whom he believed were out to rob him!
While the plates were unattended on the kitchen table, Smith's teenage sister claims to have 'hefted' the plates - and declared them to be 'quite heavy'!
the plates were described as measuring 7" x 8" x 6", equivalent to 336 cubic inches;
Gold weighs 1204.7 pounds per cubic foot;
These plates therefore weighed 234 pounds!

In the first chapter of his epistle to the Galatians the Apostle Paul made the following statement:
 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel: a gospel which is not the gospel you first knew. But there are some that are disturbing you, and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel different from the one we first preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, I repeat now - if any man preaches to you a gospel different to that which you first received, let him be accursed (Gal. 1:6-9
- paraphrased).
This powerful statement by the inspired apostle has been perfectly fulfilled by many sects and cults today - but nowhere is it more perfectly exemplified than in Mormonism.

 ORIGINS

On the night of September 21, 1823, young Joseph Smith, Jr., of New York, allegedly received a visit from an angelic personage, named Moroni, who pronounced himself "a messenger sent from the presence of God," and further that the god whom he represented had a special work for Joseph Smith to carry out.

 Basing his claim to divine inspiration as a prophet of God upon this and similar experiences he allegedly had with the "Father and Son", Smith, treasure hunter, occultic "peep stone" gazer, and "seer," set out to pen a new revelation now known as The Book of Mormon, which is indeed "different gospel" purported by Smith's followers of today (Mormons) to be the "restoration" of the true Gospel of Christ which they contend has for centuries been suppressed by the clergy of all religions in Christendom, a fact which necessitated divine intervention and the anointing of "Prophet" Smith.
The Mormon church of today would not want you to know that Joseph Smith had at an early age gained a reputation something less than enviable, to say the least, and he is best understood in the light of the statement made by those who knew him best, his neighbours: "... by reason of the extravagancies of his statement, his word was received with the least confidence by those who knew him best. He could utter the most palpable exaggeration or marvellous absurdity with the utmost apparent gravity" (Pomeroy Tucker, Origin, Rise and Progress of Mormonism, p. 16, 1867, New York). Some sixty-two residents of Palmyra, New York (where the Smiths lived for some time) signed the following statement:
We, the undersigned, have been acquainted with the Smith family for a number of years, while they resided near this place.
We have no hesitation in saying that we consider them destitute of that moral character which ought to entitle them to the confidence of any community.
 They were particularly famous for visionary projects; spent much of their time in digging for money which they pretended was hid in the earth, and a large excavation may be seen in the earth not far from their residence where they used to spend their time in digging for hidden treasures.
Joseph Smith, Sr., and his son, Joseph, were in particular considered entirely destitute of moral character and addicted to vicious habits (E.D. Howe, Mormonism Unveiled, Zanesville, Ohio, 1834, p. 261).

These and many similar unimpeachable testimonies give us good reason to question the stories brought to our doors today by Mormon missionaries - and since they set such store on "testimonies of feelings" which fly in the face of facts they are clearly in no position to rebut the testimonies of others!

THE BOOK OF MORMON

After supposedly receiving a threefold visit from the "angel" Moroni Prophet Smith, by angelic authority, supposedly unearthed "golden plates" on which were inscribed in
"Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics" (an unknown language so none could refute him!) from which he claimed to translate The Book of Mormon. In addition to this marvellous discovery the "angel" also directed the prophet to a mysterious pair of Urim and Thummim "spectacles" which, when the prophet gazed through them, translated the "Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics" into English so that Smith was able to transcribe them through his loyal secretaries, Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery, both of whom in company with one David Witmer swore to the authenticity of Smith's revelation and the existence of the golden plates.
We call attention at this point to the fact that both David Witmer and Oliver Cowdery were excommunicated from the Mormon faith as was Martin Harris (FIVE of another EIGHT witnesses called to observe these plates also deserted the "truth"!), and these supposedly unimpeachable witnesses to the veracity of Smith's revelation were described by their former brethren as "thieves," "liars" and "counterfeiters" - hardly a staunch recommendation for the veracity of their testimony of The Book of Mormon! Martin Harris, a prosperous farmer, who befriended Smith and invested money in his schemes, later changed his testimony from a claim to having literally seen the "golden plates" to:
 "Well, I did not see them just as I see the penholder, but I saw them with the eye of faith. I saw them as plainly as I see anything whatever about me, although at the time they were covered over with a cloth"
Today anyone interested in the carefully erected myth concerning the "golden plates" can visit Palmyra, New York, and see the hill Cumorah, where a solitary shaft of granite commemorates the "fact" that it was here that Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, discovered the "golden plates" which formed the basis for The Book of Mormon.
 Should you wish to contest these statements or have further questions regarding the golden plates, you can do so by contacting the author at:
christian.expositor@ntlworld.com