AboutMichael Kelley Expertise For a different viewpoint on Mormonism for your questions, try me. I am a staunch believer in the Book of Mormon and belong to another church (the Church of Christ)that is set up identically to the Biblical church. If there are things about traditional Mormonism that trouble you or you have questions about, just ask and you might find the answers from the Book of Mormon to be quite surprising. I have been studying the scriptures diligently for 16 years under the school of hard knocks... I may not have all of the answers but will sure go find them if I don`t. I`m strongest on Biblical and Book of Mormon doctrines, and am also somewhat familiar with Mormon history and archaeology.
Question In the early history of the Mormon church,it mentions Joseph Smith carrying the golden plates around while hiding them from treasure seekers. But pure gold is a very heavy metal,so I would like to know how he could carry around something that heavy?
Answer Hi Leonard,
I will be happy to answer your questions. Please note that I am ex-LDS and belong to the original Church of Christ that believes in the Book of Mormon.
There is no specific weight ever recorded of the plates, only eye witness accounts of them being 6x9 or 5x8 and about 4" thick. The Book of Mormon states they were made of gold ore, and this may mean the plates would have weighed less than pure gold. Estimates range from 40-60 lbs to 123 lbs. This would not have been an impossible weight to carry for several miles for a seasoned farm boy.
Others object that so small a volume could contain the entire Book of Mormon plus the untranslated sealed portion however we must remember the plates were recorded in a modified Egyptian language, not Hebrew. Each character could have translated into an entire word or sentence, thereby an entire book could be recorded in a small space. The Book of Mormon itself says that because of this there are imperfections and if they had the space to write in Hebrew there would have been no imperfections. The same applies to the Bible where imperfections are introduced in the translation process... from Aramaic to Greek to English etc., but the gospel teachings are still clearly taught.
I also believe most of those who were seeking to steal the plates were not so much treasure seekers, but those of other faiths who felt threatened by the restorted Gospel and wanted it destroyed lest they lose some of their flocks to another religion.
I hope this helps answer your questions, feel free to ask others if you wish.
