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David said the "translation" process was more like "dictation" where Joseph saw the already translated English and either spoke the words or spelled them out. When Book of Mormon critics accused the Book of Mormon of having "bad grammar," LDS apologists were quick to say it was Joseph's fault; that he used his own language:
No responsible authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has ever claimed that God or an angel DICTATED the physical format of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, or directed what the GRAMMAR, SPELLING, punctuation, and capitalization of the text should be. NOR HAS ANY RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH, PAST OR PRESENT, said in specific terms that the translation in the Book of Mormon was DICTATED WORD FOR WORD to Joseph Smith by divine means. (Sidney Sperry, The Problems of the Book of Mormon, Bookcraft, 1964, p. 183.)
True, the Lord would aid the prophet by means of the Urim and Thummim to get the ideas expressed by the characters on the Gold Plates, BUT HE LEFT IT TO HIS SERVANT TO EXPRESS THOSE IDEAS IN THE BEST LANGUAGE AT HIS COMMAND. The Lord seldom does for man what man can do for himself. CONSEQUENTLY THE ALMIGHTY IS NOT TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR FAULTY GRAMMAR AND DICTION IN THE FIRST EDITION OF THE BOOK OF MORMON. (Ibid, p. 186)
The Lord was rightly concerned about the correctness of the ideas expressed in Joseph Smith's translation BUT LEFT IT TO THE PROPHET'S GOOD SENSE TO SEE TO IT THAT THE BOOK OF MORMON APPEARED TO THE PUBLIC IN AS DECENT A FORM AS HE COULD BRING ABOUT. (Ibid, p. 187)
Thanks to the work of Dr. Royal Skousen, he has verified the truth of David's statement:
I began to see considerable evidence for the traditional interpretation that witnesses of the translation process claimed: (1) the text was given word for word, (2) Book of Mormon names were frequently spelled out the first time they occurred in the text, and (3) during dictation there was no rewriting of the text except to correct errors in taking down the dictation. Joseph Smith was literally reading off an already composed English-language text. The evidence in the manuscripts and in the language of the text itself supports the hypothesis that the Book of Mormon was a precisely determined text. I do not consider this conclusion apologetic, but instead as one demanded by the evidence.
The opposing viewpoint, that Joseph Smith got ideas and he translated them into his own English, cannot be supported by the manuscript and textual evidence. The only substantive argument for this alternative view has been the nonstandard nature of the text, with its implication that God would never speak ungrammatical English, so the nonstandard usage must be the result of Joseph Smith putting the ideas he received into his own language. Yet with the recent finding that the original vocabulary of the text appears to be dated from the 1500s and 1600s (not the 1800s), we now need to consider the possibility that the ungrammaticality of the original text may also date from that earlier period of time, not necessarily from Joseph’s own time and place. Joseph Smith is not the author of the Book of Mormon, nor is he actually the translator. Instead, he was the revelator: through him the Lord revealed the English-language text (by means of the interpreters, later called the Urim and Thummim, and the seer stone). Such a view is consistent, I believe, with Joseph’s use elsewhere of the verb translate to mean ‘transmit’ and the noun translation to mean ‘transmission’ (as in the eighth Article of Faith). (Royal Skousen, See #8)
Dr. Skousen took this stance as early as 1998:
A number of statements from the witnesses definitely show that virtually all of them believed in the iron-clad theory:
1. Joseph Knight (autograph [between 1833 and 1847]):
But if it was not Spelt rite it would not go away till it was rite, so we see it was marvelous.
2. Emma Smith (Edmund Briggs interview, 1856):
When my husband was translating the Book of Mormon, I wrote a part of it, as he dictated each sentence, word for word, and when he came to proper names he could not pronounce, or long words, he spelled them out, and while I was writing them, if I made a mistake in spelling, he would stop me and correct my spelling, although it was impossible for him to see how I was writing them down at the time.
3. Martin Harris (Edward Stevenson's 1881 account):
By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin, and when finished he would say, "Written," and if correctly written, that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used.
4. David Whitmer (Eri Mullin interview, 1874):
. . . the words would appear, and if he failed to spell the word right, it would stay till it was spelled right, then pass away; another come, and so on.
Joseph Smith's Translation of the Book of Mormon: Evidence for Tight Control of the Text, Royal Skousen, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Volume - 7, Issue - 1, Pages: 22-31, 1998
See also: By the Gift and Power of God ; Joseph Smith: The Gift of Seeing
Others Knew
The method was known and reiterated in a Court case as reported by Abram W. Benton in "Mormonites," Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, Utica, New York, vol. 2, no. 15 (April 9, 1831), p. 120:
This trial led to an investigation of his [Joseph Smith Jr.'s] character and conduct, which clearly evinced to the unprejudiced, whence the spirit came which dictated his inspirations. During the trial it was shown that the Book of Mormon was brought to light by the same magic power by which he pretended to tell fortunes, discover hidden treasures, &c. Oliver Cowdry, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith found with the plates, from which he translated his book, two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, HE WAS ABLE TO READ IN ENGLISH, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.
Problems with the current view:
- "Thus saith the Lord" has no merit. Joseph used his own words for both the D&C and the Book of Mormon, therefore could change them.
- What was the Urim and Thummim/Seer Stone used for if not to see the words!
- Word print analyses shows different authors for the Book of Mormon, i.e. Alma, Moroni, etc. Joseph did not use his own words.
- Scripture is clear, the word of the Lord IS given "word for word:"
But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. (Mark 13:11)
And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might speak, and they also had what they should speak given unto them (Helaman 5:18)
And it shall be given thee in the very moment what thou shalt speak AND WRITE (D&C 24:6)
Sperry and others stated that David did not know what he was talking about; that "only a prophet would know." I guess since no Mormon or RLDS prophet knew, they are not true prophets!
More details can be found:
Kenneth Godfrey
Paul Cheesman
Sidney Sperry
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Dictated - Yes
