“Who Wrote the Book of Mormon?” Liahona, Oct. 2011, 22–23
Who Wrote the Book of Mormon?
Ancient prophets, historians, and leaders engraved their testimonies and history on golden plates. Later, the Prophet Joseph Smith, by the gift and power of God, translated an abridgment of those original plates.
Authors or Sources of the Original Ancient Records |
Records That Made Up the Plates |
---|---|
Nephi1, Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni, and others |
Small plates of Nephi (spiritual records; about 600 B.C. to 130 B.C.) |
Mormon |
Words of Mormon (connects the small plates and the abridgment of the large plates of Nephi; see verses 1–18) |
Brass plates of Laban (see 1 Nephi 5:10–14) |
Large plates of Nephi (temporal records and religious history; about 130 B.C. to A.D. 321) |
Zeniff | |
Lehi (see 2 Nephi 1:1–4, 11; D&C 3, section introduction); Benjamin (see Omni 1:12–23; Words of Mormon 1:16–18; Mosiah 1–6); Mosiah2 (see Omni 1:23–25; Mosiah 6:3); Alma the Younger, Sons of Mosiah, Helaman2, Pahoran, Captain Moroni, Nephi3, Nephi4 | |
Mormon |
Records of Mormon (about A.D. 345 to A.D. 385) |
Jaredite records on 24 plates, including the writings of Ether (see Ether 1:1–5) |
Book of Ether, edited Jaredite records (about 2400 B.C. to 600 B.C.) |
Moroni |
Records of Moroni (see Mormon 9:30–37; about A.D. 385 to A.D. 421) |
Golden Plates Given to the Prophet Joseph Smith by the Angel Moroni on September 22, 1827 |
The Book of Mormon |
---|---|
Plates of Mormon (records compiled and abridged by Mormon and Moroni) |
Title Page* 1 Nephi 2 Nephi Jacob Enos Jarom Omni Words of Mormon Mosiah Alma Helaman 3 Nephi 4 Nephi Mormon Ether Moroni |
Sealed portion (not translated) |
On the evening of September 21, 1823, the angel Moroni appeared to young Joseph Smith and told him of the golden plates that would be translated as the Book of Mormon. Four years later, Joseph was able to take the plates in order to translate them (see Joseph Smith—History 1:27–54).
The original manuscript of the translation was completed in 1829, the printer’s manuscript was completed during 1829–30, and the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon were published in 1830.
From left: Photograph by Jed Clark; Mormon Abridging the Plates, by Tom Lovell; The Angel Moroni Appears to Joseph Smith, by Tom Lovell; photograph by Craig Dimond; Moroni Delivering the Golden Plates, by Gary Kapp, may not be copied; photograph by Emily Leishman; photo illustration by John Luke