FAIR - Contribuições do utilizador [pt]

Predefinição:PolygamyLinks

2010-01-05T16:32:33Z

MikeParker: BYU Studies changed all their links.

{{editme|url=Template:PolygamyLinks|before=|after='''''Plural marriage on-line articles'''''}}
*{{Ensign|author=James B. Allen|article=Line upon Line|date=July 1979|start=32|end=40}}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1979.htm/ensign%20july%201979%20.htm/line%20upon%20line.htm}}
*{{BYUS|author=Edwin B. Firmage|article=The Judicial Campaign against Polygamy and the Enduring Legal Questions|vol=27|num=3|date=Summer 1987|start=91|end=113}} {{pdflink|url=http://byustudies.byu.edu/Products/MoreInfoPage/MoreInfo.aspx?Type=7&ProdID=1272}}
* {{EoM|author=Danel Bachman, Ronald K. Esplin|article=Plural Marriage|vol=3|start=1091|end=1095}} {{link|url=http://ldsfaq.byu.edu/emmain.asp?number=145}}
* Stephen R. Gibson, "Does the Book of Mormon Forbid Polygamy," ''lightplanet.com''. {{link|url=http://www.lightplanet.com/response/answers/forbid.htm}}
*{{BYUS|author=Gordon Irving|article=The Law of Adoption: One Phase of the Development of the Mormon Concept of Salvation, 1830–1900|vol=14|num=3|date=Spring 1974|start=291|end=314}}{{pdflink|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/byustudies,316}}
*{{Aremormonschristians|start=90|end=96}}
*Gilbert W. Scharffs, ''The Truth About “The Godmakers”: A Response to an Inaccurate Portrayal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'' (Salt Lake City: Publishers Press, 1986). {{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/tagm/tagm00.html}}
* {{FR-20-1-12}} 
*W. John Walsh, "Is Plural Marriage Necessary for Exaltation?" {{link|url=http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/daily/history/plural_marriage/necessary.htm}}
* Mormon-polygamy.org {{link|url=http://www.mormon-polygamy.org/}}

Predefinição:BaptismDeadWiki

2009-08-06T20:07:41Z

MikeParker:

{{editme|url=Template:BaptismDeadWiki|before=|after='''''Vicarious baptism for the dead wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Baptism for the dead]]
*[[Refusing baptism for the dead|How do I keep someone from performing vicarious baptism for me?]]
** [[Baptism_for_the_dead/Ancestor_worship_quote_mining|Baptism for the dead = ancestor worship: quote mining]]
*[[Why_is_baptism_for_the_dead_not_taught_in_the_Book_of_Mormon%3F|Baptism for the dead not in Book of Mormon?]]
*[[Refusing baptism for the dead]]
*[[Temple work for Holocaust victims]]

Predefinição:VoHBYU1

2009-01-22T17:50:31Z

MikeParker: Link to BYU e-text

''View of the Hebrews: 1825 2nd Edition Complete Text by Ethan Smith'', edited by Charles D. Tate Jr., (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1996), {{{start}}}. ISBN 1570082472. {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/rsc,6303}}

Predefinição:BlacksPriesthoodWiki

2008-11-27T03:12:50Z

MikeParker: Add The "curse of Cain" and "curse of Ham"

{{editme|url=Template:BlacksPriesthoodWiki|before=|after='''''1978 Priesthood revelation wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Blacks and the priesthood]] (summary)
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Deny based on race?|Blessings denied by race?]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Origin of the priesthood ban?|Origins of the ban]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:The_"curse_of_Cain"_and_"curse_of_Ham"|The "curse of Cain" and "curse of Ham"]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Understanding_pre-1978_statements|Understanding pre-1978 statements]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:LDS scriptures|LDS scripture and the ban]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Lifting the ban|Lifting the ban]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Social pressure?|Social pressure and the ban?]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Repudiated ideas|Repudiated ideas]]
*[[Fallibility of prophets]]
*[[Racist statements by Church leaders]]
**[[Blacks go to heaven as slaves|Do blacks go to heaven as slaves?]]
**[[Brigham Young on race mixing|Death the penalty for race mixing?]]

O Livro de Mórmon/Tradução/Pedra vidente

2008-09-18T02:09:40Z

MikeParker: /* Endnotes */ Change E&MS link to BYU PDF

{{JosephSmithPortal}}
{{question}}
==Questions==
* What can you tell me about Joseph's seer stone? What is its relation to the "Urim and Thummim"?
* Did Joseph place his seer stone in his hat while he was translating the Book of Mormon?

===Source(s) of the Criticism===
*{{AntiBook:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=45, 351 n. 144; 56 357 n. 40}}
*{{AntiBook:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=Chapter 2}}
*{{AntiBook:Ostling:Mormon America|pages=26}}
*{{AntiBook:Palmer:Insider|pages=2}}
*{{AntiBook:Tanner:Changing World|pages=22}}

==Response==

===How many seer stones were there?===

Joseph first used a neighbor's seer stone (probably Sally Chase, on the balance of historical evidence, though there are other possibilities) to discover the location of a brown, baby's foot-shaped stone. The vision of this stone likely occurred in about 1819–1820, and he obtained his first seer stone in about 1821–1822.{{ref|mcgee1}}

Joseph then used this first stone to find a second stone (a white one). The colour and sequence of obtaining these stones has often been confused,{{ref|confused1}} and readers interested in an in-depth treatment are referred to the endnotes.{{ref|mcgee2}}

Joseph would later discover at least two more seers stones in Nauvoo, on the banks of the Mississippi. These stones seem to have been collected more for their appearance, and there is little evidence of Joseph using them at that late date in his prophetic career.{{ref|mcgee3}}

===How did Joseph obtain his second seer stone?===

The seer stone was reportedly found on the property of William Chase in 1822 as Chase described it:

:In the year 1822, I was engaged in digging a well. I employed Alvin and Joseph Smith to assist me.... After digging about twenty feet below the surface of the earth, we discovered a singularly appearing stone, which excited my curiosity. I brought it to the top of the well, and as we were examining it, Joseph put it into his hat, and then his face into the top of his hat.... The next morning he came to me, and wished to obtain the stone, alleging that he could see in it; but I told him I did not wish to part with it on account of its being a curiosity, but I would lend it.{{ref|chase1}}

Martin Harris and Wilford Woodruff were to later confirm this account after Joseph's death.{{ref|chaseconfirm}}

===What did the stones look like?===
One witness reported (of the first, brown stone), from 1826:

:It was about the size of a small hen's egg, in the shape of a high-instepped shoe. It was composed of layers of different colors passing diagonally through it. It was very hard and smooth, perhaps by being carried in the pocket.{{ref|stonesize}}

The second stone:

: [the] Seer Stone was the shape of an egg though not quite so large, of a gray cast something like granite but with white stripes running around it. It was transparent but had no holes, neither on the end or in the sides.{{ref|secondstoneappear}}

===For what purpose(s) did Joseph use the stones prior to the restoration?===

As noted above, Joseph used the first stone to find the second.

Martin Harris recounted that Joseph could find lost objects with the second, white stone:

:: I was at the house of his father in Manchester, two miles south of Palmyra village, and was picking my teeth with a pin while sitting on the bars. The pin caught in my teeth and dropped from my fingers into shavings and straw. I jumped from the bars and looked for it. Joseph and Northrop Sweet also did the same. We could not find it. I then took Joseph on surprise, and said to him--I said, "Take your stone." I had never seen it, and did not know that he had it with him. He had it in his pocket. He took it and placed it in his hat--the old white hat--and placed his face in his hat. I watched him closely to see that he did not look to one side; he reached out his hand beyond me on the right, and moved a little stick and there I saw the pin, which he picked up and gave to me. I know he did not look out of the hat until after he had picked up the pin.{{ref|pin}}

Joseph's mother also indicated that Joseph was sought out by some, including Josiah Stoal, to use the stone to find hidden valuables. He

:came for Joseph on account of having heard that he possessed certain keys by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye.{{ref|lucymack1}}

Joseph referred to this incident in {{scripture||JS-H|1|55-56}}.

Stoal eventually joined the Church; some of his family, however, charged Joseph in court for events related to this treasure seeking. Stoal testified in Joseph's defense. (See ''FAIRwiki'' article on the trial [[Joseph_Smith's_1826_glasslooking_trial|here]].)

Joseph Knight also said that, at the command of the angel Moroni, Joseph looked into his seer stone to learn who he should marry. He "looked in his glass and found it was Emma Hale."{{ref|marryemma1}}

===How were the stone(s) involved in the translation of the Book of Mormon?===

There is considerable evidence that the location of the plates and Nephite interpreters (Urim and Thummim) were revealed to Joseph via his second, white seer stone. In 1859, Martin Harris recalled that "Joseph had a stone which was dug from the well of Mason Chase...It was by means of this stone he first discovered the plates."{{ref|stoneplates1}}

Some critics have sought to create a contradiction here, since Joseph's history reported that Moroni revealed the plates to him ({{s||JS-H|1|34-35,42}}). This is an example of a false dichotomy: Moroni could easily have told Joseph about the plates and interpreters. The vision to Joseph may well have then come through the seer stone, as some of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants (e.g., Section X) would later be revealed. One account matches this theory well:

:I had a conversation with [Joseph], and asked him where he found them [the plates] and how he come to know where they were. he said he had a revelation from God that told him they were hid in a certain hill and he looked in his [seer] stone and saw them in the place of deposit."{{ref|henryharris1}}

Joseph Knight recalled that Joseph was more excited about the Nephite interpreters than the gold plates:

:After breakfast Joseph called me into the other room, set his foot on the bed, and leaned his head on his hand and said, "Well I am disappointed."
:"Well, I said, "I am sorry."
:"Well, he said, "I am greatly disappointed. It is ten times better than I expected."
:Then he went on to tell the length and width and thickness of the plates and, said he, they appear to be gold. But, he seemed to think more of the glasses or the Urim and thummim than he did of the plate for, said he, "I can see anything. They are marvelous."{{ref|knight1}}

Martin Harris later described the Nephite interpreters as

:about two inches in diameter, perfectly round, and about five-eighths of an inch thick at the centre.... They were joined by a round bar of diver, about three-eights of an inch in diameter, and about four inches long, which with the two stones, would make eight inches.{{ref|harris1}}

Despite having the Nephite interpreters, Joseph Smith often used the seer stone to translate. This led to an episode in which Martin tested the veracity of Joseph's claim to use the second, white stone to translate:{{ref|harriswhite1}}

:Once Martin found a rock closely resembling the seerstone Joseph sometimes used in place of the interpreters and substituted it without the Prophet’s knowledge. When the translation resumed, Joseph paused for a long time and then exclaimed, “Martin, what is the matter, all is as dark as Egypt.” Martin then confessed that he wished to “stop the mouths of fools” who told him that the Prophet memorized sentences and merely repeated them.{{ref|mouthoffools}}

Joseph also seems to have sometimes removed the Nephite stones from the "silver bows" which held them like spectacles, and used them as individual seer stones. Joseph used his white seer stone sometimes "for convenience" during the translation of the 116 pages with Martin Harris; later witnesses reported him using his brown seer stone.{{ref|variousstones1}}

===Did Joseph lose the seer stone(s) and/or the Urim and Thummim?===

Following the loss of the 116 pages, the Lord told Joseph:

:1 NOW, behold, I say unto you, that because you delivered up those writings which you had power given unto you to translate by the means of the Urim and Thummim, into the hands of a wicked man, you have lost them.
:2 And you also lost your gift at the same time, and your mind became darkened.
:3 Nevertheless, it is now restored unto you again; therefore see that you are faithful and continue on unto the finishing of the remainder of the work of translation as you have begun.
:4 Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end. ({{s||DC|10|1-4}})

Thus, "it" (Joseph's gift) was restored to him, but there is no indication that the Nephite interpreters (Urim and Thummim) were also returned, Joseph having also lost "them." That is, after repenting, Joseph would recover his seer stones, but apparently not the the Urim and Thummim. Some Church sources have seen this as the point at which Joseph received the seer stone for the first time, but this is likely incorrect:

:As a chastisement for this carelessness [loss of the 116 pages], the Urim and Thummim was taken from Smith. But by humbling himself, he again found favor with the Lord and was presented a strange oval-shaped, chocolate colored stone, about the size of an egg, but more flat which it was promised should answer the same purpose. With this stone all the present book was translated.{{ref|hr1}}

This source is clearly somewhat confused, since it sees Joseph as getting his dark stone ''after'' the 116 pages, when it likely dates to 1822 at the latest (see above).

David Whitmer, who only came in contact with the translation after the loss of the 116 pages, indicated through a friend that

:With the sanction of David Whitmer, and by his authority, I now state that he does not say that Joseph Smith ever translated in his presence by aid of Urim and Thummim; but by means of one dark colored, opaque stone, called a 'Seer Stone,' which was placed in the crown of a hat, into which Joseph put his face, so as to exclude the external light. Then, a spiritual light would shine forth, and parchment would appear before Joseph, upon which was a line of characters from the plates, and under it, the translation in English; at least, so Joseph said.{{ref|sh1}}

Joseph also used the seer stone to keep himself and the plates safe, as his mother recorded:

:That of which I spoke, which Joseph termed a key, was indeed, nothing more nor less than the Urim and Thummim, and it was by this that the angel showed him many things which he saw in vision; by which also he could ascertain, at any time, the approach of danger, either to himself or the Record, and on account of which he always kept the Urim and Thummim about his person.{{ref|lucymack2}}

We see here the tendency to use the term "Urim and Thummim" to refer to Joseph's seer stone (or to the Nephite interpreters, which would have been too large for Joseph to carry on his person undetected). This lack of precision in terminology has, on occasion, confused some members who have not understood that either or both may be referred to by early LDS authors as "Urim and Thummim." To Joseph and his contemporaries, they were all the same type of thing, and merely differed in the strength of their power and ability. Clearly, devices from the Lord when directed by an angelic messenger (such as the Nephite interpreters) would outrank a seer stone found on one's own.

===What is the relation between Urim and Thummim and seer stones?===

As seen above, members of the Church tended to conflate the seer stone with the Nephite interpreters (never called "Urim and Thummim" by the Book of Mormon text; the label is a modern application).

The Book of Mormon makes reference to a stone that likely has reference to Joseph Smith's seer stone (as distinct from the Nephite interpreters):

: And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.{{s||Alma|37|23}}

Joseph Smith's "code name," used for the publication of some sections of the Doctrine and Covenants to hide the recipients from their enemies, was "Gazalem." And, at his funeral, W.W. Phelps also applied this name to Joseph.{{ref|gazalem1}}

Alma's account then goes on to speak of the Nephite interpreters:

:24 And now, my son, these interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled, which he spake, saying:
:25 I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land.{{s||Alma|37|24-25}}

Thus, "stone" (singular) may well be distinct from the "interpreters" (plural) possessed by the Nephites. The Book of Mosiah makes clear that the interpreters consisted of "two stones":

: 13 Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.
:14 And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.{{s||Mosiah|8|13-14}}
:…
:13 And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.
:14 Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages;
:15 And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of his people;
:16 And whosoever has these things is called seer, after the manner of old times. .{{s||Mosiah|28|13-16}}

The first use in print of "Urim and Thummim" to refer to the interpreters was in January 1833:

:[The Book of Mormon] was translated by the gift and power of God, by an unlearned man, through the aid of a pair of Interpreters, or spectacles--(known, perhaps in ancient days as Teraphim, or Urim and Thummim).{{ref|wwphelps1}}

Members of the Church seem to have used the term interchangeably on many occasions.{{ref|interchange1}}

===Why did Joseph tend to use the seer stone more than the Nephite interpreters?===

The size of the interpreters may have been a significant barrier to their use. William Smith, Joseph's brother, described the Nephite instruments as

:too large for Joseph's eyes; they must have been used by larger men.{{ref|williamsmith1}}

Charles Anthon agreed when he later recalled Martin Harris' description and wrote:

:These spectacles were so large that if a person attempted to look through them, his two eyes would have to be turned towards one of the glasses merely, the spectacles in question being altogether too large for the breadth of the human face.{{ref|anthon1}}

===Why did use of the seer stones subside?===

The Urim and Thummim were the means of receiving most of the formal revelations until June 1829. That was the time of completing the Book of Mormon, which was translated through the Urim and Thummim and also the seer stone. After this, seer stones were generally not used while receiving revelation or translation. (The JST and the Book of Abraham translations both began with seer stone usage, but Joseph soon quit using them.{{ref|JSTandBoA}}) Following his baptism, receipt of the Holy Ghost, and ordination to the Melchizedek priesthood, Joseph seems have felt far less need to resort to the stones.{{ref|priesthood1}} He had learned, through divine tutoring, how to receive unmediated revelation—the Lord had taken him "line upon line" from where he was (surrounded with beliefs about seeing and divining) and brought him to further light, knowledge, and power.

This perspective was reinforced by Orson Pratt, who watched the New Testament revision (JST) and wondered why the use of seer stones/interpreters (as with the Book of Mormon) was not continued:

:While this thought passed through the speaker's mind, Joseph, as if he read his thoughts, looked up and explained that the Lord gave him the Urim and Thummim when he was inexperienced in the Spirit of inspiration. But now he had advanced so far that he understood the operations of that Spirit and did not need the assistance of that instrument.{{ref|prattuandt}}

===Are there any Biblical parallels to Joseph's seer stone understanding?===

The idea of sacred stones acting as revelators to believers is present in the Bible, and Joseph Smith embraced a decidedly "non-magical" and "pro-religious" view of them:

:In Revelation, John incorporates past religious symbols into his message. Thus the most internally consistent interpretation of the "white stone" combines with the book's assurance that the faithful will become "kings and priests" to the Most High (Rev. 1:6). These eternal priests will be in tune with God's will, like the High Priest with the breastplate of shining stones and the Urim. In Hebrew that term means "light," corresponding to the "white" stone of John's Revelation. This correlation should be obvious, but Joseph Smith is virtually alone in confidence that John sees the redeemed as full High Priests: "Then the white stone mentioned in Rev. 2:17 is the Urim and Thummim, whereby all things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms, even all kingdoms, will be made know." As for genuine religion, Joseph Smith perceived the stone of John's vision not as a stone of chance but as a conduit of enlightenment and a reward of worthiness of character.{{ref|revelationjohn1}}

===What happened to the seer stones?===

As noted above, the Nephite interpreters were apparently reclaimed by Moroni following the loss of the 116 pages, and were only seen again by the Three Witnesses ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/thrwtnss Testimony of Three]).

Van Wagoner and Walker write:
: David Whitmer indicated that the seer stone was later given to Oliver Cowdery: "After the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished early in the spring of 1830 before April 6th, Joseph gave the Stone to Oliver Cowdery and told me as well as the rest that he was through with it, and he did not use the Stone anymore.” Whitmer, who was Cowdery's brother-in-law, stated that on Oliver's death in 1848, another brother-in-law, "Phineas Young, a brother of Brigham Young, and an old-time and once intimate friend of the Cowdery family came out from Salt Lake City, and during his visit he contrived to get the stone from its hiding place, through a little deceptive sophistry, extended upon the grief-stricken widow. When he returned to Utah he carried it in triumph to the apostles of Brigham Young's 'lion house.'"...

[Van Wagoner and Walker here confuse the two seer stones, so this section is not included here, given that better information has since come to light.]

:...Joseph Fielding Smith, as an apostle, made clear that "the Seer Stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days . . . is now in the possession of the Church." Elder Joseph Anderson, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve and long-time secretary to the First Presidency, clarified in 1971 that the "Seer Stone that Joseph Smith used in the early days of the Church is in possession of the Church and is kept in a safe in Joseph Fielding Smith's office.... [The stone is] slightly smaller than a chicken egg, oval, chocolate in color."{{ref|fatestone}} (This would be Joseph's first, "shoe-shaped stone," which was given to Oliver Cowdery, and then to his brother-in-law Phineaus Young, brother of Brigham Young.{{ref|fatestone1}})

Joseph's second (white) stone is also in the possession of the LDS First Presidency.{{ref|2ndstonefate}}

===Has the Church tried to hide Joseph's use of a seer stone?===

The Church has been very frank about the seer stone's use, though the ''product'' of the translation of the Book of Mormon is usually given much more attention that the ''process''.

Text translated with the Nephite interpreters was lost with the 116 pages given to Martin Harris—see {{s||DC|3||}}. The Church's ''Historical Record'' records Joseph's use of the seer stone to translate all of our current Book of Mormon text:

:As a chastisement for this carelessness [loss of the 116 pages], the Urim and Thummim was taken from Smith. But by humbling himself, he again found favor with the Lord and was presented a strange oval-shaped, chocolate colored stone, about the size of an egg, but more flat which it was promised should answer the same purpose. With this stone all the present book was translated. [Note that the chronology of Joseph's acquisition of the stone is here somewhat confused. The use of the stone, however, is clearly indicated.]{{ref|hr1}}

References to the stone are not confined to the distant past. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Twelve Apostles described the process clearly in an ''Ensign'' article:

:Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.{{ref|nelson1}}

It would be strange to try to hide something by having an apostle talk about it, and then send the account to every LDS home in the official magazine!

====Other mentions in Church materials====
Similar material is also found in other Church publications, some of which are included below:

* {{Ensign1|author=Richard Lloyd Anderson|article=‘By the Gift and Power of God’|date=Sepember 1977|start=79}}{{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=5a921f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1}}
* Hyrum Andrus, ''Joseph Smith, the Man, the Seer'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1960), 102. {{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=271098}}
* {{FR-6-1-14}}
* {{BYUS|author=Marvin S. Hill|article=Money-Digging Folklore and the Beginnings of Mormonism: An Interpretative Suggestion|vol=24|num=4|date=Fall 1984|start=?|end=??}}{{GL|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=282646}}
* {{IE1|author=Francis W. Kirkham|article=The Manner of Translating The BOOK of MORMON|date=1939}} {{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=242545}}
* Joseph Fielding McConkie, Craig J. Ostler, ''Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co., 2000), D&C 9. {{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=352684}}
* {{JBMS-2-2-14}}
* {{DFS1|article=A Brief Debate on the Book of Mormon|vol=1|start=350}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=205446}}
* {{BYUS1|author=Royal Skousen|article=Towards a Critical Edition of the Book of Mormon|start=52|date=Winter 1990|vol=30|num=1}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=282960}}

The charge that the Church is "hiding" or "suppressing" this material cannot be sustained.

==Conclusion==

{{nw}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|mcgee1}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=200|end=215}}
#{{note|confused1}} See, for example, {{CHC1|vol=1|start=129}}; Roberts was followed by Richard S. Van Wagoner, Dan Vogel, Ogden Kraut, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, and D. Michael Quinn. See discussion in Ashurst-McGee, 247n317.
#{{note|mcgee2}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=200|end=283}}
#{{note|mcgee3}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=200|end=201}}

#{{note|chase1}} Eber Dudley Howe, ''Mormonism Unvailed'' (Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press, 1834), 241-242; cited in {{Dialogue|author=Richard Van Wagoner and Steven Walker|article=Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing|vol=15|num=2|date=Summer 1982|start=48|end=68}}
#{{note|chaseconfirm}} See Van Wagoner and Walker, 54.

#{{note|stonesize}} W. D. Purple, ''The Chenango Union'' (3 May 1877); cited in {{NewWitnessForChrist1|vol=2|start=365}} (See Van Wagoner and Walker, 54.)
#{{note|secondstoneappear}} Richard Marcellas Robinson, "The History of a Nephite Coin," manuscript, 20 December 1834, LDS Church archives; cited in {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis1|start=264}}

#{{note|pin}} Joel Tiffany, ''Tiffany's Monthly'' (June 1859): 164;cited in Van Wagoner and Walker, 55.
#{{note|lucymack1}} {{biosketch|start=91|end=92}}
#{{note|marryemma1}} {{BYUS1|author=Dean C. Jesse|article=Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History|vol=17|date=August 1976|num=1|page=31}}; cited in {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis1|start=281}}

#{{note|stoneplates1}} Mormonism—II," ''Tiffany's Monthly'' (June 1859): 163, see also 169; cited in Ashurst-McGee (2000), 286.
#{{note|henryharris1}} Henry Harris, statement in E.D. Howe ''Mormonism Unvailed'' (1833), 252; cited in Ashurst-McGee (2000), 290.
#{{note|knight1}} Joseph Knight, cited in Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, ''Saints Without Halos: The Human Side of Mormon History'' (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1981), 6. Spelling and punctuation have been modernized. The original text reads: "After Brackfist Joseph Cald me in to the other Room and he sit his foot on the Bed and leaned his head on his hand and says, well I am Dissopented. Well, say I, I am sorrey. Well, says he, I am grateley Dissopnted. It is ten times Better then I expected. Then he went on to tell the length and width and thickness of the plates and, said he, they appear to be gold. But he seamed to think more of the glasses or the urim and thummim than he Did of the plates for says he, I can see anything. They are Marvelous."
#{{note|harris1}} Joel Tiffany, "Mormonism—No. II," ''Tiffany's Monthly'' (June 1859): 165–166; cited in VanWagoner and Walker, footnote 27.
#{{note|harriswhite1}} Tiffany, 163.
#{{note|mouthoffools}} Told in ''Millennial Star'' 44:87; quotation from {{Ensign1|author=Kenneth W. Godfrey|article=A New Prophet and a New Scripture: The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon|date=January 1988|start=6}}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1988.htm/ensign%20january%201988.htm/a%20new%20prophet%20and%20a%20new%20scripture%20the%20coming%20forth%20of%20the%20book%20of%20mormon.htm}}
#{{note|variousstones1}} See {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=320|end=326}}

#{{note|hr1}} ''The Historical Record. Devoted Exclusively to Historical, Biographical, Chronological and Statistical Matters'', (LDS Church Archives), 632,; cited in Van Wagoner and Walker, 54. Note that Van Wagoner and Walker contain inaccurate information about the stones, their provenance, and order of discovery.
#{{note|recoverurim}} See Joseph Smith's 1838/9 history in {{EarlyMormonDocs1|vol=1|num=73}} and {{LucyMackSmith-Anderson1| start=428}}
#{{note|sh1}} ''Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 November 1879): 341.

#{{note|gazalem1}} The material on "gazelem" is derived from Van Wagoner and Walker, 56.
#{{note|wwphelps1}} {{EMS1|vol=1|num=8|date=January 1833|author=William W. Phelps (uncredited)|article=The Book of Mormon|start=58}}; cited in Van Wagoner and Walker, 53. {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/NCMP1820-1846,5765}}
#{{note|interchange1}} See discussion in Van Wagoner and Walker, 59–63.

# {{note|williamsmith1}} William Smith interview by J. W. Peterson and W. S. Pender, 4 July 1891, reported in ''The Rod of Iron'' 3 (February 1924): 6-7; ''Saints' Herald'' 79 (9 March 1932): 238; cited in VanWagoner and Walker, footnote 27.
#{{note|anthon1}} Charles Anthon letter to E. D. Howe, 17 Feb. 1834, published in E.D. Howe, ''Mormonism Unvailed'', 17; cited in VanWagoner and Walker, footnote 27.

#{{note|JSTandBoA}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=334|end=337}}
#{{note|priesthood1}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=332|end=333}}
#{{note|prattuandt}} {{MatureJS}} ; citing Orson Pratt, "Discourse at Brigham City," 27 June 1874, Ogden (Utah) Junction, cited in {{MS|author=Orson Pratt|article=Two Days´ Meeting at Brigham City|vol=36|date=11 August 1874|start=498|end=499}}

#{{note|revelationjohn1}} {{MatureJS}}

#{{note|fatestone}} Van Wagoner and Walker, 58–59 (citations removed).
#{{note|fatestone}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=230|231}}
#{{note|2ndstonefate}} Quinn, ''Early Mormonism and the Magic World View'' 242–247.
#{{note|hr1}} ''The Historical Record. Devoted Exclusively to Historical, Biographical, Chronological and Statistical Matters'' (LDS Church Archives), 632.
#{{note|nelson1}} David Whitmer, ''An Address to All Believers in Christ'' (Richmond, Mo.: n.p., 1887), 12; cited in {{Ensign1|author=Russell M. Nelson|article=A Treasured Testament|date=July 1993|start=61}}{{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=05169209df38b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1}}



===FAIR wiki articles===
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===External links===
*{{Dialogue|author=Richard Van Wagoner and Steven Walker|article=Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing|vol=15|num=2|date=Summer 1982|start=49|end=68}} {{link|url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=16574&REC=16}}{{NB}}
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[[de:Joseph_Smith_und_Sehersteine]]

O Livro de Mórmon/Tradução/Pedra vidente

2008-09-18T00:58:46Z

MikeParker: Fix footnote ref

{{JosephSmithPortal}}
{{question}}
==Questions==
* What can you tell me about Joseph's seer stone? What is its relation to the "Urim and Thummim"?
* Did Joseph place his seer stone in his hat while he was translating the Book of Mormon?

===Source(s) of the Criticism===
*{{AntiBook:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=45, 351 n. 144; 56 357 n. 40}}
*{{AntiBook:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=Chapter 2}}
*{{AntiBook:Ostling:Mormon America|pages=26}}
*{{AntiBook:Palmer:Insider|pages=2}}
*{{AntiBook:Tanner:Changing World|pages=22}}

==Response==

===How many seer stones were there?===

Joseph first used a neighbor's seer stone (probably Sally Chase, on the balance of historical evidence, though there are other possibilities) to discover the location of a brown, baby's foot-shaped stone. The vision of this stone likely occurred in about 1819–1820, and he obtained his first seer stone in about 1821–1822.{{ref|mcgee1}}

Joseph then used this first stone to find a second stone (a white one). The colour and sequence of obtaining these stones has often been confused,{{ref|confused1}} and readers interested in an in-depth treatment are referred to the endnotes.{{ref|mcgee2}}

Joseph would later discover at least two more seers stones in Nauvoo, on the banks of the Mississippi. These stones seem to have been collected more for their appearance, and there is little evidence of Joseph using them at that late date in his prophetic career.{{ref|mcgee3}}

===How did Joseph obtain his second seer stone?===

The seer stone was reportedly found on the property of William Chase in 1822 as Chase described it:

:In the year 1822, I was engaged in digging a well. I employed Alvin and Joseph Smith to assist me.... After digging about twenty feet below the surface of the earth, we discovered a singularly appearing stone, which excited my curiosity. I brought it to the top of the well, and as we were examining it, Joseph put it into his hat, and then his face into the top of his hat.... The next morning he came to me, and wished to obtain the stone, alleging that he could see in it; but I told him I did not wish to part with it on account of its being a curiosity, but I would lend it.{{ref|chase1}}

Martin Harris and Wilford Woodruff were to later confirm this account after Joseph's death.{{ref|chaseconfirm}}

===What did the stones look like?===
One witness reported (of the first, brown stone), from 1826:

:It was about the size of a small hen's egg, in the shape of a high-instepped shoe. It was composed of layers of different colors passing diagonally through it. It was very hard and smooth, perhaps by being carried in the pocket.{{ref|stonesize}}

The second stone:

: [the] Seer Stone was the shape of an egg though not quite so large, of a gray cast something like granite but with white stripes running around it. It was transparent but had no holes, neither on the end or in the sides.{{ref|secondstoneappear}}

===For what purpose(s) did Joseph use the stones prior to the restoration?===

As noted above, Joseph used the first stone to find the second.

Martin Harris recounted that Joseph could find lost objects with the second, white stone:

:: I was at the house of his father in Manchester, two miles south of Palmyra village, and was picking my teeth with a pin while sitting on the bars. The pin caught in my teeth and dropped from my fingers into shavings and straw. I jumped from the bars and looked for it. Joseph and Northrop Sweet also did the same. We could not find it. I then took Joseph on surprise, and said to him--I said, "Take your stone." I had never seen it, and did not know that he had it with him. He had it in his pocket. He took it and placed it in his hat--the old white hat--and placed his face in his hat. I watched him closely to see that he did not look to one side; he reached out his hand beyond me on the right, and moved a little stick and there I saw the pin, which he picked up and gave to me. I know he did not look out of the hat until after he had picked up the pin.{{ref|pin}}

Joseph's mother also indicated that Joseph was sought out by some, including Josiah Stoal, to use the stone to find hidden valuables. He

:came for Joseph on account of having heard that he possessed certain keys by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye.{{ref|lucymack1}}

Joseph referred to this incident in {{scripture||JS-H|1|55-56}}.

Stoal eventually joined the Church; some of his family, however, charged Joseph in court for events related to this treasure seeking. Stoal testified in Joseph's defense. (See ''FAIRwiki'' article on the trial [[Joseph_Smith's_1826_glasslooking_trial|here]].)

Joseph Knight also said that, at the command of the angel Moroni, Joseph looked into his seer stone to learn who he should marry. He "looked in his glass and found it was Emma Hale."{{ref|marryemma1}}

===How were the stone(s) involved in the translation of the Book of Mormon?===

There is considerable evidence that the location of the plates and Nephite interpreters (Urim and Thummim) were revealed to Joseph via his second, white seer stone. In 1859, Martin Harris recalled that "Joseph had a stone which was dug from the well of Mason Chase...It was by means of this stone he first discovered the plates."{{ref|stoneplates1}}

Some critics have sought to create a contradiction here, since Joseph's history reported that Moroni revealed the plates to him ({{s||JS-H|1|34-35,42}}). This is an example of a false dichotomy: Moroni could easily have told Joseph about the plates and interpreters. The vision to Joseph may well have then come through the seer stone, as some of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants (e.g., Section X) would later be revealed. One account matches this theory well:

:I had a conversation with [Joseph], and asked him where he found them [the plates] and how he come to know where they were. he said he had a revelation from God that told him they were hid in a certain hill and he looked in his [seer] stone and saw them in the place of deposit."{{ref|henryharris1}}

Joseph Knight recalled that Joseph was more excited about the Nephite interpreters than the gold plates:

:After breakfast Joseph called me into the other room, set his foot on the bed, and leaned his head on his hand and said, "Well I am disappointed."
:"Well, I said, "I am sorry."
:"Well, he said, "I am greatly disappointed. It is ten times better than I expected."
:Then he went on to tell the length and width and thickness of the plates and, said he, they appear to be gold. But, he seemed to think more of the glasses or the Urim and thummim than he did of the plate for, said he, "I can see anything. They are marvelous."{{ref|knight1}}

Martin Harris later described the Nephite interpreters as

:about two inches in diameter, perfectly round, and about five-eighths of an inch thick at the centre.... They were joined by a round bar of diver, about three-eights of an inch in diameter, and about four inches long, which with the two stones, would make eight inches.{{ref|harris1}}

Despite having the Nephite interpreters, Joseph Smith often used the seer stone to translate. This led to an episode in which Martin tested the veracity of Joseph's claim to use the second, white stone to translate:{{ref|harriswhite1}}

:Once Martin found a rock closely resembling the seerstone Joseph sometimes used in place of the interpreters and substituted it without the Prophet’s knowledge. When the translation resumed, Joseph paused for a long time and then exclaimed, “Martin, what is the matter, all is as dark as Egypt.” Martin then confessed that he wished to “stop the mouths of fools” who told him that the Prophet memorized sentences and merely repeated them.{{ref|mouthoffools}}

Joseph also seems to have sometimes removed the Nephite stones from the "silver bows" which held them like spectacles, and used them as individual seer stones. Joseph used his white seer stone sometimes "for convenience" during the translation of the 116 pages with Martin Harris; later witnesses reported him using his brown seer stone.{{ref|variousstones1}}

===Did Joseph lose the seer stone(s) and/or the Urim and Thummim?===

Following the loss of the 116 pages, the Lord told Joseph:

:1 NOW, behold, I say unto you, that because you delivered up those writings which you had power given unto you to translate by the means of the Urim and Thummim, into the hands of a wicked man, you have lost them.
:2 And you also lost your gift at the same time, and your mind became darkened.
:3 Nevertheless, it is now restored unto you again; therefore see that you are faithful and continue on unto the finishing of the remainder of the work of translation as you have begun.
:4 Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end. ({{s||DC|10|1-4}})

Thus, "it" (Joseph's gift) was restored to him, but there is no indication that the Nephite interpreters (Urim and Thummim) were also returned, Joseph having also lost "them." That is, after repenting, Joseph would recover his seer stones, but apparently not the the Urim and Thummim. Some Church sources have seen this as the point at which Joseph received the seer stone for the first time, but this is likely incorrect:

:As a chastisement for this carelessness [loss of the 116 pages], the Urim and Thummim was taken from Smith. But by humbling himself, he again found favor with the Lord and was presented a strange oval-shaped, chocolate colored stone, about the size of an egg, but more flat which it was promised should answer the same purpose. With this stone all the present book was translated.{{ref|hr1}}

This source is clearly somewhat confused, since it sees Joseph as getting his dark stone ''after'' the 116 pages, when it likely dates to 1822 at the latest (see above).

David Whitmer, who only came in contact with the translation after the loss of the 116 pages, indicated through a friend that

:With the sanction of David Whitmer, and by his authority, I now state that he does not say that Joseph Smith ever translated in his presence by aid of Urim and Thummim; but by means of one dark colored, opaque stone, called a 'Seer Stone,' which was placed in the crown of a hat, into which Joseph put his face, so as to exclude the external light. Then, a spiritual light would shine forth, and parchment would appear before Joseph, upon which was a line of characters from the plates, and under it, the translation in English; at least, so Joseph said.{{ref|sh1}}

Joseph also used the seer stone to keep himself and the plates safe, as his mother recorded:

:That of which I spoke, which Joseph termed a key, was indeed, nothing more nor less than the Urim and Thummim, and it was by this that the angel showed him many things which he saw in vision; by which also he could ascertain, at any time, the approach of danger, either to himself or the Record, and on account of which he always kept the Urim and Thummim about his person.{{ref|lucymack2}}

We see here the tendency to use the term "Urim and Thummim" to refer to Joseph's seer stone (or to the Nephite interpreters, which would have been too large for Joseph to carry on his person undetected). This lack of precision in terminology has, on occasion, confused some members who have not understood that either or both may be referred to by early LDS authors as "Urim and Thummim." To Joseph and his contemporaries, they were all the same type of thing, and merely differed in the strength of their power and ability. Clearly, devices from the Lord when directed by an angelic messenger (such as the Nephite interpreters) would outrank a seer stone found on one's own.

===What is the relation between Urim and Thummim and seer stones?===

As seen above, members of the Church tended to conflate the seer stone with the Nephite interpreters (never called "Urim and Thummim" by the Book of Mormon text; the label is a modern application).

The Book of Mormon makes reference to a stone that likely has reference to Joseph Smith's seer stone (as distinct from the Nephite interpreters):

: And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.{{s||Alma|37|23}}

Joseph Smith's "code name," used for the publication of some sections of the Doctrine and Covenants to hide the recipients from their enemies, was "Gazalem." And, at his funeral, W.W. Phelps also applied this name to Joseph.{{ref|gazalem1}}

Alma's account then goes on to speak of the Nephite interpreters:

:24 And now, my son, these interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled, which he spake, saying:
:25 I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land.{{s||Alma|37|24-25}}

Thus, "stone" (singular) may well be distinct from the "interpreters" (plural) possessed by the Nephites. The Book of Mosiah makes clear that the interpreters consisted of "two stones":

: 13 Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.
:14 And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.{{s||Mosiah|8|13-14}}
:…
:13 And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.
:14 Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages;
:15 And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of his people;
:16 And whosoever has these things is called seer, after the manner of old times. .{{s||Mosiah|28|13-16}}

The first use in print of "Urim and Thummim" to refer to the interpreters was in January 1833:

:[The Book of Mormon] was translated by the gift and power of God, by an unlearned man, through the aid of a pair of Interpreters, or spectacles--(known, perhaps in ancient days as Teraphim, or Urim and Thummim).{{ref|wwphelps1}}

Members of the Church seem to have used the term interchangeably on many occasions.{{ref|interchange1}}

===Why did Joseph tend to use the seer stone more than the Nephite interpreters?===

The size of the interpreters may have been a significant barrier to their use. William Smith, Joseph's brother, described the Nephite instruments as

:too large for Joseph's eyes; they must have been used by larger men.{{ref|williamsmith1}}

Charles Anthon agreed when he later recalled Martin Harris' description and wrote:

:These spectacles were so large that if a person attempted to look through them, his two eyes would have to be turned towards one of the glasses merely, the spectacles in question being altogether too large for the breadth of the human face.{{ref|anthon1}}

===Why did use of the seer stones subside?===

The Urim and Thummim were the means of receiving most of the formal revelations until June 1829. That was the time of completing the Book of Mormon, which was translated through the Urim and Thummim and also the seer stone. After this, seer stones were generally not used while receiving revelation or translation. (The JST and the Book of Abraham translations both began with seer stone usage, but Joseph soon quit using them.{{ref|JSTandBoA}}) Following his baptism, receipt of the Holy Ghost, and ordination to the Melchizedek priesthood, Joseph seems have felt far less need to resort to the stones.{{ref|priesthood1}} He had learned, through divine tutoring, how to receive unmediated revelation—the Lord had taken him "line upon line" from where he was (surrounded with beliefs about seeing and divining) and brought him to further light, knowledge, and power.

This perspective was reinforced by Orson Pratt, who watched the New Testament revision (JST) and wondered why the use of seer stones/interpreters (as with the Book of Mormon) was not continued:

:While this thought passed through the speaker's mind, Joseph, as if he read his thoughts, looked up and explained that the Lord gave him the Urim and Thummim when he was inexperienced in the Spirit of inspiration. But now he had advanced so far that he understood the operations of that Spirit and did not need the assistance of that instrument.{{ref|prattuandt}}

===Are there any Biblical parallels to Joseph's seer stone understanding?===

The idea of sacred stones acting as revelators to believers is present in the Bible, and Joseph Smith embraced a decidedly "non-magical" and "pro-religious" view of them:

:In Revelation, John incorporates past religious symbols into his message. Thus the most internally consistent interpretation of the "white stone" combines with the book's assurance that the faithful will become "kings and priests" to the Most High (Rev. 1:6). These eternal priests will be in tune with God's will, like the High Priest with the breastplate of shining stones and the Urim. In Hebrew that term means "light," corresponding to the "white" stone of John's Revelation. This correlation should be obvious, but Joseph Smith is virtually alone in confidence that John sees the redeemed as full High Priests: "Then the white stone mentioned in Rev. 2:17 is the Urim and Thummim, whereby all things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms, even all kingdoms, will be made know." As for genuine religion, Joseph Smith perceived the stone of John's vision not as a stone of chance but as a conduit of enlightenment and a reward of worthiness of character.{{ref|revelationjohn1}}

===What happened to the seer stones?===

As noted above, the Nephite interpreters were apparently reclaimed by Moroni following the loss of the 116 pages, and were only seen again by the Three Witnesses ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/thrwtnss Testimony of Three]).

Van Wagoner and Walker write:
: David Whitmer indicated that the seer stone was later given to Oliver Cowdery: "After the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished early in the spring of 1830 before April 6th, Joseph gave the Stone to Oliver Cowdery and told me as well as the rest that he was through with it, and he did not use the Stone anymore.” Whitmer, who was Cowdery's brother-in-law, stated that on Oliver's death in 1848, another brother-in-law, "Phineas Young, a brother of Brigham Young, and an old-time and once intimate friend of the Cowdery family came out from Salt Lake City, and during his visit he contrived to get the stone from its hiding place, through a little deceptive sophistry, extended upon the grief-stricken widow. When he returned to Utah he carried it in triumph to the apostles of Brigham Young's 'lion house.'"...

[Van Wagoner and Walker here confuse the two seer stones, so this section is not included here, given that better information has since come to light.]

:...Joseph Fielding Smith, as an apostle, made clear that "the Seer Stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days . . . is now in the possession of the Church." Elder Joseph Anderson, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve and long-time secretary to the First Presidency, clarified in 1971 that the "Seer Stone that Joseph Smith used in the early days of the Church is in possession of the Church and is kept in a safe in Joseph Fielding Smith's office.... [The stone is] slightly smaller than a chicken egg, oval, chocolate in color."{{ref|fatestone}} (This would be Joseph's first, "shoe-shaped stone," which was given to Oliver Cowdery, and then to his brother-in-law Phineaus Young, brother of Brigham Young.{{ref|fatestone1}})

Joseph's second (white) stone is also in the possession of the LDS First Presidency.{{ref|2ndstonefate}}

===Has the Church tried to hide Joseph's use of a seer stone?===

The Church has been very frank about the seer stone's use, though the ''product'' of the translation of the Book of Mormon is usually given much more attention that the ''process''.

Text translated with the Nephite interpreters was lost with the 116 pages given to Martin Harris—see {{s||DC|3||}}. The Church's ''Historical Record'' records Joseph's use of the seer stone to translate all of our current Book of Mormon text:

:As a chastisement for this carelessness [loss of the 116 pages], the Urim and Thummim was taken from Smith. But by humbling himself, he again found favor with the Lord and was presented a strange oval-shaped, chocolate colored stone, about the size of an egg, but more flat which it was promised should answer the same purpose. With this stone all the present book was translated. [Note that the chronology of Joseph's acquisition of the stone is here somewhat confused. The use of the stone, however, is clearly indicated.]{{ref|hr1}}

References to the stone are not confined to the distant past. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Twelve Apostles described the process clearly in an ''Ensign'' article:

:Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.{{ref|nelson1}}

It would be strange to try to hide something by having an apostle talk about it, and then send the account to every LDS home in the official magazine!

====Other mentions in Church materials====
Similar material is also found in other Church publications, some of which are included below:

* {{Ensign1|author=Richard Lloyd Anderson|article=‘By the Gift and Power of God’|date=Sepember 1977|start=79}}{{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=5a921f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1}}
* Hyrum Andrus, ''Joseph Smith, the Man, the Seer'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1960), 102. {{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=271098}}
* {{FR-6-1-14}}
* {{BYUS|author=Marvin S. Hill|article=Money-Digging Folklore and the Beginnings of Mormonism: An Interpretative Suggestion|vol=24|num=4|date=Fall 1984|start=?|end=??}}{{GL|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=282646}}
* {{IE1|author=Francis W. Kirkham|article=The Manner of Translating The BOOK of MORMON|date=1939}} {{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=242545}}
* Joseph Fielding McConkie, Craig J. Ostler, ''Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co., 2000), D&C 9. {{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=352684}}
* {{JBMS-2-2-14}}
* {{DFS1|article=A Brief Debate on the Book of Mormon|vol=1|start=350}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=205446}}
* {{BYUS1|author=Royal Skousen|article=Towards a Critical Edition of the Book of Mormon|start=52|date=Winter 1990|vol=30|num=1}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=282960}}

The charge that the Church is "hiding" or "suppressing" this material cannot be sustained.

==Conclusion==

{{nw}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|mcgee1}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=200|end=215}}
#{{note|confused1}} See, for example, {{CHC1|vol=1|start=129}}; Roberts was followed by Richard S. Van Wagoner, Dan Vogel, Ogden Kraut, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, and D. Michael Quinn. See discussion in Ashurst-McGee, 247n317.
#{{note|mcgee2}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=200|end=283}}
#{{note|mcgee3}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=200|end=201}}

#{{note|chase1}} Eber Dudley Howe, ''Mormonism Unvailed'' (Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press, 1834), 241-242; cited in {{Dialogue|author=Richard Van Wagoner and Steven Walker|article=Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing|vol=15|num=2|date=Summer 1982|start=48|end=68}}
#{{note|chaseconfirm}} See Van Wagoner and Walker, 54.

#{{note|stonesize}} W. D. Purple, ''The Chenango Union'' (3 May 1877); cited in {{NewWitnessForChrist1|vol=2|start=365}} (See Van Wagoner and Walker, 54.)
#{{note|secondstoneappear}} Richard Marcellas Robinson, "The History of a Nephite Coin," manuscript, 20 December 1834, LDS Church archives; cited in {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis1|start=264}}

#{{note|pin}} Joel Tiffany, ''Tiffany's Monthly'' (June 1859): 164;cited in Van Wagoner and Walker, 55.
#{{note|lucymack1}} {{biosketch|start=91|end=92}}
#{{note|marryemma1}} {{BYUS1|author=Dean C. Jesse|article=Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History|vol=17|date=August 1976|num=1|page=31}}; cited in {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis1|start=281}}

#{{note|stoneplates1}} Mormonism—II," ''Tiffany's Monthly'' (June 1859): 163, see also 169; cited in Ashurst-McGee (2000), 286.
#{{note|henryharris1}} Henry Harris, statement in E.D. Howe ''Mormonism Unvailed'' (1833), 252; cited in Ashurst-McGee (2000), 290.
#{{note|knight1}} Joseph Knight, cited in Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, ''Saints Without Halos: The Human Side of Mormon History'' (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1981), 6. Spelling and punctuation have been modernized. The original text reads: "After Brackfist Joseph Cald me in to the other Room and he sit his foot on the Bed and leaned his head on his hand and says, well I am Dissopented. Well, say I, I am sorrey. Well, says he, I am grateley Dissopnted. It is ten times Better then I expected. Then he went on to tell the length and width and thickness of the plates and, said he, they appear to be gold. But he seamed to think more of the glasses or the urim and thummim than he Did of the plates for says he, I can see anything. They are Marvelous."
#{{note|harris1}} Joel Tiffany, "Mormonism—No. II," ''Tiffany's Monthly'' (June 1859): 165–166; cited in VanWagoner and Walker, footnote 27.
#{{note|harriswhite1}} Tiffany, 163.
#{{note|mouthoffools}} Told in ''Millennial Star'' 44:87; quotation from {{Ensign1|author=Kenneth W. Godfrey|article=A New Prophet and a New Scripture: The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon|date=January 1988|start=6}}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1988.htm/ensign%20january%201988.htm/a%20new%20prophet%20and%20a%20new%20scripture%20the%20coming%20forth%20of%20the%20book%20of%20mormon.htm}}
#{{note|variousstones1}} See {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=320|end=326}}

#{{note|hr1}} ''The Historical Record. Devoted Exclusively to Historical, Biographical, Chronological and Statistical Matters'', (LDS Church Archives), 632,; cited in Van Wagoner and Walker, 54. Note that Van Wagoner and Walker contain inaccurate information about the stones, their provenance, and order of discovery.
#{{note|recoverurim}} See Joseph Smith's 1838/9 history in {{EarlyMormonDocs1|vol=1|num=73}} and {{LucyMackSmith-Anderson1| start=428}}
#{{note|sh1}} ''Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 November 1879): 341.

#{{note|gazalem1}} The material on "gazelem" is derived from Van Wagoner and Walker, 56.
#{{note|wwphelps1}} {{EMS1|vol=1|num=8|date=January 1833|author=William W. Phelps (uncredited)|article=The Book of Mormon|start=58}}; cited in Van Wagoner and Walker, 53. {{link|url=http://www.centerplace.org/history/ems/v1n08.htm Direct}}
#{{note|interchange1}} See discussion in Van Wagoner and Walker, 59–63.

# {{note|williamsmith1}} William Smith interview by J. W. Peterson and W. S. Pender, 4 July 1891, reported in ''The Rod of Iron'' 3 (February 1924): 6-7; ''Saints' Herald'' 79 (9 March 1932): 238; cited in VanWagoner and Walker, footnote 27.
#{{note|anthon1}} Charles Anthon letter to E. D. Howe, 17 Feb. 1834, published in E.D. Howe, ''Mormonism Unvailed'', 17; cited in VanWagoner and Walker, footnote 27.

#{{note|JSTandBoA}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=334|end=337}}
#{{note|priesthood1}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=332|end=333}}
#{{note|prattuandt}} {{MatureJS}} ; citing Orson Pratt, "Discourse at Brigham City," 27 June 1874, Ogden (Utah) Junction, cited in {{MS|author=Orson Pratt|article=Two Days´ Meeting at Brigham City|vol=36|date=11 August 1874|start=498|end=499}}

#{{note|revelationjohn1}} {{MatureJS}}

#{{note|fatestone}} Van Wagoner and Walker, 58–59 (citations removed).
#{{note|fatestone}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=230|231}}
#{{note|2ndstonefate}} Quinn, ''Early Mormonism and the Magic World View'' 242–247.
#{{note|hr1}} ''The Historical Record. Devoted Exclusively to Historical, Biographical, Chronological and Statistical Matters'' (LDS Church Archives), 632.
#{{note|nelson1}} David Whitmer, ''An Address to All Believers in Christ'' (Richmond, Mo.: n.p., 1887), 12; cited in {{Ensign1|author=Russell M. Nelson|article=A Treasured Testament|date=July 1993|start=61}}{{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=05169209df38b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1}}



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*{{Dialogue|author=Richard Van Wagoner and Steven Walker|article=Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing|vol=15|num=2|date=Summer 1982|start=49|end=68}} {{link|url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=16574&REC=16}}{{NB}}
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[[de:Joseph_Smith_und_Sehersteine]]

O Livro de Mórmon/Tradução/Pedra vidente

2008-09-18T00:51:46Z

MikeParker: Fix footnote ref

{{JosephSmithPortal}}
{{question}}
==Questions==
* What can you tell me about Joseph's seer stone? What is its relation to the "Urim and Thummim"?
* Did Joseph place his seer stone in his hat while he was translating the Book of Mormon?

===Source(s) of the Criticism===
*{{AntiBook:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=45, 351 n. 144; 56 357 n. 40}}
*{{AntiBook:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=Chapter 2}}
*{{AntiBook:Ostling:Mormon America|pages=26}}
*{{AntiBook:Palmer:Insider|pages=2}}
*{{AntiBook:Tanner:Changing World|pages=22}}

==Response==

===How many seer stones were there?===

Joseph first used a neighbor's seer stone (probably Sally Chase, on the balance of historical evidence, though there are other possibilities) to discover the location of a brown, baby's foot-shaped stone. The vision of this stone likely occurred in about 1819–1820, and he obtained his first seer stone in about 1821–1822.{{ref|mcgee1}}

Joseph then used this first stone to find a second stone (a white one). The colour and sequence of obtaining these stones has often been confused,{{ref|confused1}} and readers interested in an in-depth treatment are referred to the endnotes.{{ref|mcgee2}}

Joseph would later discover at least two more seers stones in Nauvoo, on the banks of the Mississippi. These stones seem to have been collected more for their appearance, and there is little evidence of Joseph using them at that late date in his prophetic career.{{ref|mcgee3}}

===How did Joseph obtain his second seer stone?===

The seer stone was reportedly found on the property of William Chase in 1822 as Chase described it:

:In the year 1822, I was engaged in digging a well. I employed Alvin and Joseph Smith to assist me.... After digging about twenty feet below the surface of the earth, we discovered a singularly appearing stone, which excited my curiosity. I brought it to the top of the well, and as we were examining it, Joseph put it into his hat, and then his face into the top of his hat.... The next morning he came to me, and wished to obtain the stone, alleging that he could see in it; but I told him I did not wish to part with it on account of its being a curiosity, but I would lend it.{{ref|chase1}}

Martin Harris and Wilford Woodruff were to later confirm this account after Joseph's death.{{ref|chaseconfirm}}

===What did the stones look like?===
One witness reported (of the first, brown stone), from 1826:

:It was about the size of a small hen's egg, in the shape of a high-instepped shoe. It was composed of layers of different colors passing diagonally through it. It was very hard and smooth, perhaps by being carried in the pocket.{{ref|stonesize}}

The second stone:

: [the] Seer Stone was the shape of an egg though not quite so large, of a gray cast something like granite but with white stripes running around it. It was transparent but had no holes, neither on the end or in the sides.{{ref|secondstoneappear}}

===For what purpose(s) did Joseph use the stones prior to the restoration?===

As noted above, Joseph used the first stone to find the second.

Martin Harris recounted that Joseph could find lost objects with the second, white stone:

:: I was at the house of his father in Manchester, two miles south of Palmyra village, and was picking my teeth with a pin while sitting on the bars. The pin caught in my teeth and dropped from my fingers into shavings and straw. I jumped from the bars and looked for it. Joseph and Northrop Sweet also did the same. We could not find it. I then took Joseph on surprise, and said to him--I said, "Take your stone." I had never seen it, and did not know that he had it with him. He had it in his pocket. He took it and placed it in his hat--the old white hat--and placed his face in his hat. I watched him closely to see that he did not look to one side; he reached out his hand beyond me on the right, and moved a little stick and there I saw the pin, which he picked up and gave to me. I know he did not look out of the hat until after he had picked up the pin.{{ref|pin}}

Joseph's mother also indicated that Joseph was sought out by some, including Josiah Stoal, to use the stone to find hidden valuables. He

:came for Joseph on account of having heard that he possessed certain keys by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye.{{ref|lucymack1}}

Joseph referred to this incident in {{scripture||JS-H|1|55-56}}.

Stoal eventually joined the Church; some of his family, however, charged Joseph in court for events related to this treasure seeking. Stoal testified in Joseph's defense. (See ''FAIRwiki'' article on the trial [[Joseph_Smith's_1826_glasslooking_trial|here]].)

Joseph Knight also said that, at the command of the angel Moroni, Joseph looked into his seer stone to learn who he should marry. He "looked in his glass and found it was Emma Hale."{{ref|marryemma1}}

===How were the stone(s) involved in the translation of the Book of Mormon?===

There is considerable evidence that the location of the plates and Nephite interpreters (Urim and Thummim) were revealed to Joseph via his second, white seer stone. In 1859, Martin Harris recalled that "Joseph had a stone which was dug from the well of Mason Chase...It was by means of this stone he first discovered the plates."{{ref|stoneplates1}}

Some critics have sought to create a contradiction here, since Joseph's history reported that Moroni revealed the plates to him ({{s||JS-H|1|34-35,42}}). This is an example of a false dichotomy: Moroni could easily have told Joseph about the plates and interpreters. The vision to Joseph may well have then come through the seer stone, as some of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants (e.g., Section X) would later be revealed. One account matches this theory well:

:I had a conversation with [Joseph], and asked him where he found them [the plates] and how he come to know where they were. he said he had a revelation from God that told him they were hid in a certain hill and he looked in his [seer] stone and saw them in the place of deposit."{{ref|henryharris1}}

Joseph Knight recalled that Joseph was more excited about the Nephite interpreters than the gold plates:

:After breakfast Joseph called me into the other room, set his foot on the bed, and leaned his head on his hand and said, "Well I am disappointed."
:"Well, I said, "I am sorry."
:"Well, he said, "I am greatly disappointed. It is ten times better than I expected."
:Then he went on to tell the length and width and thickness of the plates and, said he, they appear to be gold. But, he seemed to think more of the glasses or the Urim and thummim than he did of the plate for, said he, "I can see anything. They are marvelous."{{ref|knight1}}

Martin Harris later described the Nephite interpreters as

:about two inches in diameter, perfectly round, and about five-eighths of an inch thick at the centre.... They were joined by a round bar of diver, about three-eights of an inch in diameter, and about four inches long, which with the two stones, would make eight inches.{{ref|harris1}}

Despite having the Nephite interpreters, Joseph Smith often used the seer stone to translate. This led to an episode in which Martin tested the veracity of Joseph's claim to use the second, white stone to translate:{{ref|harriswhite1}}

:Once Martin found a rock closely resembling the seerstone Joseph sometimes used in place of the interpreters and substituted it without the Prophet’s knowledge. When the translation resumed, Joseph paused for a long time and then exclaimed, “Martin, what is the matter, all is as dark as Egypt.” Martin then confessed that he wished to “stop the mouths of fools” who told him that the Prophet memorized sentences and merely repeated them.{{ref|mouthoffools}}

Joseph also seems to have sometimes removed the Nephite stones from the "silver bows" which held them like spectacles, and used them as individual seer stones. Joseph used his white seer stone sometimes "for convenience" during the translation of the 116 pages with Martin Harris; later witnesses reported him using his brown seer stone.{{ref|variousstones1}}

===Did Joseph lose the seer stone(s) and/or the Urim and Thummim?===

Following the loss of the 116 pages, the Lord told Joseph:

:1 NOW, behold, I say unto you, that because you delivered up those writings which you had power given unto you to translate by the means of the Urim and Thummim, into the hands of a wicked man, you have lost them.
:2 And you also lost your gift at the same time, and your mind became darkened.
:3 Nevertheless, it is now restored unto you again; therefore see that you are faithful and continue on unto the finishing of the remainder of the work of translation as you have begun.
:4 Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end. ({{s||DC|10|1-4}})

Thus, "it" (Joseph's gift) was restored to him, but there is no indication that the Nephite interpreters (Urim and Thummim) were also returned, Joseph having also lost "them." That is, after repenting, Joseph would recover his seer stones, but apparently not the the Urim and Thummim. Some Church sources have seen this as the point at which Joseph received the seer stone for the first time, but this is likely incorrect:

:As a chastisement for this carelessness [loss of the 116 pages], the Urim and Thummim was taken from Smith. But by humbling himself, he again found favor with the Lord and was presented a strange oval-shaped, chocolate colored stone, about the size of an egg, but more flat which it was promised should answer the same purpose. With this stone all the present book was translated.{{ref|hr1}}

This source is clearly somewhat confused, since it sees Joseph as getting his dark stone ''after'' the 116 pages, when it likely dates to 1822 at the latest (see above).

David Whitmer, who only came in contact with the translation after the loss of the 116 pages, indicated through a friend that

:With the sanction of David Whitmer, and by his authority, I now state that he does not say that Joseph Smith ever translated in his presence by aid of Urim and Thummim; but by means of one dark colored, opaque stone, called a 'Seer Stone,' which was placed in the crown of a hat, into which Joseph put his face, so as to exclude the external light. Then, a spiritual light would shine forth, and parchment would appear before Joseph, upon which was a line of characters from the plates, and under it, the translation in English; at least, so Joseph said.{{ref|sh1}}

Joseph also used the seer stone to keep himself and the plates safe, as his mother recorded:

:That of which I spoke, which Joseph termed a key, was indeed, nothing more nor less than the Urim and Thummim, and it was by this that the angel showed him many things which he saw in vision; by which also he could ascertain, at any time, the approach of danger, either to himself or the Record, and on account of which he always kept the Urim and Thummim about his person.{{ref|lucymack2}}

We see here the tendency to use the term "Urim and Thummim" to refer to Joseph's seer stone (or to the Nephite interpreters, which would have been too large for Joseph to carry on his person undetected). This lack of precision in terminology has, on occasion, confused some members who have not understood that either or both may be referred to by early LDS authors as "Urim and Thummim." To Joseph and his contemporaries, they were all the same type of thing, and merely differed in the strength of their power and ability. Clearly, devices from the Lord when directed by an angelic messenger (such as the Nephite interpreters) would outrank a seer stone found on one's own.

===What is the relation between Urim and Thummim and seer stones?===

As seen above, members of the Church tended to conflate the seer stone with the Nephite interpreters (never called "Urim and Thummim" by the Book of Mormon text; the label is a modern application).

The Book of Mormon makes reference to a stone that likely has reference to Joseph Smith's seer stone (as distinct from the Nephite interpreters):

: And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.{{s||Alma|37|23}}

Joseph Smith's "code name," used for the publication of some sections of the Doctrine and Covenants to hide the recipients from their enemies, was "Gazalem." And, at his funeral, W.W. Phelps also applied this name to Joseph.{{ref|gazalem1}}

Alma's account then goes on to speak of the Nephite interpreters:

:24 And now, my son, these interpreters were prepared that the word of God might be fulfilled, which he spake, saying:
:25 I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land.{{s||Alma|37|24-25}}

Thus, "stone" (singular) may well be distinct from the "interpreters" (plural) possessed by the Nephites. The Book of Mosiah makes clear that the interpreters consisted of "two stones":

: 13 Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.
:14 And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.{{s||Mosiah|8|13-14}}
:…
:13 And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.
:14 Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages;
:15 And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of his people;
:16 And whosoever has these things is called seer, after the manner of old times. .{{s||Mosiah|28|13-16}}

The first use in print of "Urim and Thummim" to refer to the interpreters was in January 1833:

:[The Book of Mormon] was translated by the gift and power of God, by an unlearned man, through the aid of a pair of Interpreters, or spectacles--(known, perhaps in ancient days as Teraphim, or Urim and Thummim).{{ref|wwphelps1}}

Members of the Church seem to have used the term interchangeably on many occasions.{{ref|interchange1}}

===Why did Joseph tend to use the seer stone more than the Nephite interpreters?===

The size of the interpreters may have been a significant barrier to their use. William Smith, Joseph's brother, described the Nephite instruments as

:too large for Joseph's eyes; they must have been used by larger men.{{ref|williamsmith1}}

Charles Anthon agreed when he later recalled Martin Harris' description and wrote:

:These spectacles were so large that if a person attempted to look through them, his two eyes would have to be turned towards one of the glasses merely, the spectacles in question being altogether too large for the breadth of the human face.{{ref|anthon1}}

===Why did use of the seer stones subside?===

The Urim and Thummim were the means of receiving most of the formal revelations until June 1829. That was the time of completing the Book of Mormon, which was translated through the Urim and Thummim and also the seer stone. After this, seer stones were generally not used while receiving revelation or translation. (The JST and the Book of Abraham translations both began with seer stone usage, but Joseph soon quit using them.{{ref|JSTandBoA}}) Following his baptism, receipt of the Holy Ghost, and ordination to the Melchizedek priesthood, Joseph seems have felt far less need to resort to the stones.{{ref|priesthood1}} He had learned, through divine tutoring, how to receive unmediated revelation—the Lord had taken him "line upon line" from where he was (surrounded with beliefs about seeing and divining) and brought him to further light, knowledge, and power.

This perspective was reinforced by Orson Pratt, who watched the New Testament revision (JST) and wondered why the use of seer stones/interpreters (as with the Book of Mormon) was not continued:

:While this thought passed through the speaker's mind, Joseph, as if he read his thoughts, looked up and explained that the Lord gave him the Urim and Thummim when he was inexperienced in the Spirit of inspiration. But now he had advanced so far that he understood the operations of that Spirit and did not need the assistance of that instrument.{{ref|prattuandt}}

===Are there any Biblical parallels to Joseph's seer stone understanding?===

The idea of sacred stones acting as revelators to believers is present in the Bible, and Joseph Smith embraced a decidedly "non-magical" and "pro-religious" view of them:

:In Revelation, John incorporates past religious symbols into his message. Thus the most internally consistent interpretation of the "white stone" combines with the book's assurance that the faithful will become "kings and priests" to the Most High (Rev. 1:6). These eternal priests will be in tune with God's will, like the High Priest with the breastplate of shining stones and the Urim. In Hebrew that term means "light," corresponding to the "white" stone of John's Revelation. This correlation should be obvious, but Joseph Smith is virtually alone in confidence that John sees the redeemed as full High Priests: "Then the white stone mentioned in Rev. 2:17 is the Urim and Thummim, whereby all things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms, even all kingdoms, will be made know." As for genuine religion, Joseph Smith perceived the stone of John's vision not as a stone of chance but as a conduit of enlightenment and a reward of worthiness of character.{{ref|revelationjohn1}}

===What happened to the seer stones?===

As noted above, the Nephite interpreters were apparently reclaimed by Moroni following the loss of the 116 pages, and were only seen again by the Three Witnesses ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/thrwtnss Testimony of Three]).

Van Wagoner and Walker write:
: David Whitmer indicated that the seer stone was later given to Oliver Cowdery: "After the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished early in the spring of 1830 before April 6th, Joseph gave the Stone to Oliver Cowdery and told me as well as the rest that he was through with it, and he did not use the Stone anymore.” Whitmer, who was Cowdery's brother-in-law, stated that on Oliver's death in 1848, another brother-in-law, "Phineas Young, a brother of Brigham Young, and an old-time and once intimate friend of the Cowdery family came out from Salt Lake City, and during his visit he contrived to get the stone from its hiding place, through a little deceptive sophistry, extended upon the grief-stricken widow. When he returned to Utah he carried it in triumph to the apostles of Brigham Young's 'lion house.'"...

[Van Wagoner and Walker here confuse the two seer stones, so this section is not included here, given that better information has since come to light.]

:...Joseph Fielding Smith, as an apostle, made clear that "the Seer Stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days . . . is now in the possession of the Church." Elder Joseph Anderson, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve and long-time secretary to the First Presidency, clarified in 1971 that the "Seer Stone that Joseph Smith used in the early days of the Church is in possession of the Church and is kept in a safe in Joseph Fielding Smith's office.... [The stone is] slightly smaller than a chicken egg, oval, chocolate in color."{{ref|fatestone}} (This would be Joseph's first, "shoe-shaped stone," which was given to Oliver Cowdery, and then to his brother-in-law Phineaus Young, brother of Brigham Young.{{ref|fatestone1}})

Joseph's second (white) stone is also in the possession of the LDS First Presidency.{{ref|2ndstonefate}}

===Has the Church tried to hide Joseph's use of a seer stone?===

The Church has been very frank about the seer stone's use, though the ''product'' of the translation of the Book of Mormon is usually given much more attention that the ''process''.

Text translated with the Nephite interpreters was lost with the 116 pages given to Martin Harris—see {{s||DC|3||}}. The Church's ''Historical Record'' records Joseph's use of the seer stone to translate all of our current Book of Mormon text:

:As a chastisement for this carelessness [loss of the 116 pages], the Urim and Thummim was taken from Smith. But by humbling himself, he again found favor with the Lord and was presented a strange oval-shaped, chocolate colored stone, about the size of an egg, but more flat which it was promised should answer the same purpose. With this stone all the present book was translated. [Note that the chronology of Joseph's acquisition of the stone is here somewhat confused. The use of the stone, however, is clearly indicated.]{{ref|hr1}}

References to the stone are not confined to the distant past. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Twelve Apostles described the process clearly in an ''Ensign'' article:

:Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.{{ref|nelson1}}

It would be strange to try to hide something by having an apostle talk about it, and then send the account to every LDS home in the official magazine!

====Other mentions in Church materials====
Similar material is also found in other Church publications, some of which are included below:

* {{Ensign1|author=Richard Lloyd Anderson|article=‘By the Gift and Power of God’|date=Sepember 1977|start=79}}{{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=5a921f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1}}
* Hyrum Andrus, ''Joseph Smith, the Man, the Seer'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1960), 102. {{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=271098}}
* {{FR-6-1-14}}
* {{BYUS|author=Marvin S. Hill|article=Money-Digging Folklore and the Beginnings of Mormonism: An Interpretative Suggestion|vol=24|num=4|date=Fall 1984|start=?|end=??}}{{GL|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=282646}}
* {{IE1|author=Francis W. Kirkham|article=The Manner of Translating The BOOK of MORMON|date=1939}} {{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=242545}}
* Joseph Fielding McConkie, Craig J. Ostler, ''Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co., 2000), D&C 9. {{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=352684}}
* {{JBMS-2-2-14}}
* {{DFS1|article=A Brief Debate on the Book of Mormon|vol=1|start=350}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=205446}}
* {{BYUS1|author=Royal Skousen|article=Towards a Critical Edition of the Book of Mormon|start=52|date=Winter 1990|vol=30|num=1}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=282960}}

The charge that the Church is "hiding" or "suppressing" this material cannot be sustained.

==Conclusion==

{{nw}}

==Endnotes==

#{{note|mcgee1}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=200|end=215}}
#{{note|confused1}} See, for example, {{CHC1|vol=1|start=129}}; Roberts was followed by Richard S. Van Wagoner, Dan Vogel, Ogden Kraut, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, and D. Michael Quinn. See discussion in Ashurst-McGee, 247n317.
#{{note|mcgee2}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=200|end=283}}
#{{note|mcgee3}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=200|end=201}}

#{{note|chase1}} Eber Dudley Howe, ''Mormonism Unvailed'' (Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press, 1834), 241-242; cited in {{Dialogue|author=Richard Van Wagoner and Steven Walker|article=Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing|vol=15|num=2|date=Summer 1982|start=48|end=68}}
#{{note|chaseconfirm}} See Van Wagoner and Walker, 54.

#{{note|stonesize}} W. D. Purple, ''The Chenango Union'' (3 May 1877); cited in {{NewWitnessForChrist1|vol=2|start=365}} (See Van Wagoner and Walker, 54.)
#{{note|secondstoneappear}} Richard Marcellas Robinson, "The History of a Nephite Coin," manuscript, 20 December 1834, LDS Church archives; cited in {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis1|start=264}}

#{{note|refpin}} Joel Tiffany, ''Tiffany's Monthly'' (June 1859): 164;cited in Van Wagoner and Walker, 55.
#{{note|lucymack1}} {{biosketch|start=91|end=92}}
#{{note|marryemma1}} {{BYUS1|author=Dean C. Jesse|article=Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History|vol=17|date=August 1976|num=1|page=31}}; cited in {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis1|start=281}}

#{{note|stoneplates1}} Mormonism—II," ''Tiffany's Monthly'' (June 1859): 163, see also 169; cited in Ashurst-McGee (2000), 286.
#{{note|henryharris1}} Henry Harris, statement in E.D. Howe ''Mormonism Unvailed'' (1833), 252; cited in Ashurst-McGee (2000), 290.
#{{note|knight1}} Joseph Knight, cited in Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, ''Saints Without Halos: The Human Side of Mormon History'' (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1981), 6. Spelling and punctuation have been modernized. The original text reads: "After Brackfist Joseph Cald me in to the other Room and he sit his foot on the Bed and leaned his head on his hand and says, well I am Dissopented. Well, say I, I am sorrey. Well, says he, I am grateley Dissopnted. It is ten times Better then I expected. Then he went on to tell the length and width and thickness of the plates and, said he, they appear to be gold. But he seamed to think more of the glasses or the urim and thummim than he Did of the plates for says he, I can see anything. They are Marvelous."
#{{note|harris1}} Joel Tiffany, "Mormonism—No. II," ''Tiffany's Monthly'' (June 1859): 165–166; cited in VanWagoner and Walker, footnote 27.
#{{note|harriswhite1}} Tiffany, 163.
#{{note|mouthoffools}} Told in ''Millennial Star'' 44:87; quotation from {{Ensign1|author=Kenneth W. Godfrey|article=A New Prophet and a New Scripture: The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon|date=January 1988|start=6}}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1988.htm/ensign%20january%201988.htm/a%20new%20prophet%20and%20a%20new%20scripture%20the%20coming%20forth%20of%20the%20book%20of%20mormon.htm}}
#{{note|variousstones1}} See {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=320|end=326}}

#{{note|hr1}} ''The Historical Record. Devoted Exclusively to Historical, Biographical, Chronological and Statistical Matters'', (LDS Church Archives), 632,; cited in Van Wagoner and Walker, 54. Note that Van Wagoner and Walker contain inaccurate information about the stones, their provenance, and order of discovery.
#{{note|recoverurim}} See Joseph Smith's 1838/9 history in {{EarlyMormonDocs1|vol=1|num=73}} and {{LucyMackSmith-Anderson1| start=428}}
#{{note|sh1}} ''Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 November 1879): 341.

#{{note|gazalem1}} The material on "gazelem" is derived from Van Wagoner and Walker, 56.
#{{note|wwphelps1}} {{EMS1|vol=1|num=8|date=January 1833|author=William W. Phelps (uncredited)|article=The Book of Mormon|start=58}}; cited in Van Wagoner and Walker, 53. {{link|url=http://www.centerplace.org/history/ems/v1n08.htm Direct}}
#{{note|interchange1}} See discussion in Van Wagoner and Walker, 59–63.

# {{note|williamsmith1}} William Smith interview by J. W. Peterson and W. S. Pender, 4 July 1891, reported in ''The Rod of Iron'' 3 (February 1924): 6-7; ''Saints' Herald'' 79 (9 March 1932): 238; cited in VanWagoner and Walker, footnote 27.
#{{note|anthon1}} Charles Anthon letter to E. D. Howe, 17 Feb. 1834, published in E.D. Howe, ''Mormonism Unvailed'', 17; cited in VanWagoner and Walker, footnote 27.

#{{note|JSTandBoA}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=334|end=337}}
#{{note|priesthood1}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=332|end=333}}
#{{note|prattuandt}} {{MatureJS}} ; citing Orson Pratt, "Discourse at Brigham City," 27 June 1874, Ogden (Utah) Junction, cited in {{MS|author=Orson Pratt|article=Two Days´ Meeting at Brigham City|vol=36|date=11 August 1874|start=498|end=499}}

#{{note|revelationjohn1}} {{MatureJS}}

#{{note|fatestone}} Van Wagoner and Walker, 58–59 (citations removed).
#{{note|fatestone}} {{Ashurst-McGee-Thesis|start=230|231}}
#{{note|2ndstonefate}} Quinn, ''Early Mormonism and the Magic World View'' 242–247.
#{{note|hr1}} ''The Historical Record. Devoted Exclusively to Historical, Biographical, Chronological and Statistical Matters'' (LDS Church Archives), 632.
#{{note|nelson1}} David Whitmer, ''An Address to All Believers in Christ'' (Richmond, Mo.: n.p., 1887), 12; cited in {{Ensign1|author=Russell M. Nelson|article=A Treasured Testament|date=July 1993|start=61}}{{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=05169209df38b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1}}



===FAIR wiki articles===
{{MagicWiki}}

===FAIR web site===
{{MagicFAIR}}

===External links===
*{{Dialogue|author=Richard Van Wagoner and Steven Walker|article=Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing|vol=15|num=2|date=Summer 1982|start=49|end=68}} {{link|url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=16574&REC=16}}{{NB}}
{{MagicLinks}}

===Printed material===
{{MagicPrint}}
[[de:Joseph_Smith_und_Sehersteine]]

Predefinição:PoliticsWiki

2008-08-01T16:46:51Z

MikeParker: Link to Authoritarianism_and_Church_leaders/Quotes

{{editme|url=Template:PoliticsWiki|before=|after='''''Political issues in Church history wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Authoritarianism and Church leaders|Authoritarianism and Church leaders?]]
**[[Authoritarianism_and_Church_leaders/Quotes|Quotes on authoritarianism]]
*[[Church involvement in politics]]{{nw}}
*[[The Council of Fifty]]
*[[Joseph Smith and politics]]

Predefinição:DCWiki

2008-07-25T01:30:34Z

MikeParker: Remove duplicate & nonpertinent material

{{editme|url=Template:DCWiki|before=|after='''''D&C Wiki articles'''''}}

*[[Independence temple to be built "in this generation"]]
*[[Lamanites in the Doctrine and Covenants]]
*[[Official Declaration—1|Official Declaration—1 the result of political pressure]]
*[[Revelation after Joseph Smith]]{{nw}}
*[[Joseph_Smith_and_the_occult#Working_with_the_rod|Rod of Aaron / Rod of nature / Working with the rod]]
*[[Doctrine and Covenants textual changes|Textual changes]]

====Lectures on Faith====
*[[The Father: A Spirit vs. Embodied]]
*[[Lecture 5 teaches the Father is "a personage of spirit"|God a personage of spirit?]]
*[[Lectures on Faith removed from Doctrine and Covenants]]

Discussão:Bible/Translations

2008-03-28T22:57:13Z

MikeParker: Let's talk.

==Problems with proposed text==
I read Mike S.'s placeholder text for this article, and I have some significant concerns about the direction it's going. ''To wit:''
:<font color="red">''No original manuscript of the New Testament has been found, so critics cannot prove that other versions or translations are correct.''</font>
This claim greatly oversimplifies the methodology of textual criticism. For example:
*Textual critics work by examining the readings supported by the ''oldest'' texts, a ''majority'' of texts, and the most ''geographically diverse'' texts. A single, very old text from a remote area (say, western Europe) would not be considered superior to a wide range of texts that were somewhat older but closer to the source (Asia Minor).
*Texts are grouped into [http://www.cob-net.org/compare.htm#texttype families]: Alexandrian, Western, Caesarean, and Byzantine. Although the Byzantine text-type makes up 94% of all Greek NT manuscripts, they are all very late, the earliest having been written about the 9th century A.D. Most modern translations favor the so-called Eclectic approach, using the Alexandrian text-type as its base and incorporating elements from the other traditions.
*All other things being equal, a ''more difficult'' reading is preferred to an easier reading, because scribes would be more likely to make changes that make difficult readings easier, not the other way around.
This just scratches the surface. To claim that "no original manuscripts exist, therefore we don't know how the originals read" ignores a vast amount of scholarly literature on the Biblical text that goes back hundreds of years.
:<font color="red">''Some modern translations are affected by the beliefs of the translators, who render certain passages differently depending on their theological biases. One example is {{b||Ezekiel|37|16}} which some translators (such in the NIV) translated the scripture adding the words "of wood".''</font>
Yes, this is true of ''any'' translation, but the King James Version is probably the biggest offender in this regard.

For example, the KJV translates {{s||Isaiah|26|19}}a, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise," a clear allusion to the future resurrection of Jehovah/Jesus Christ. This is a thoroughly irresponsible rendering of the text, which actually reads "Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise" (NIV).

Likewise in {{s||Daniel|3|25}}b, which the KJV renders, "...and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." This translation was driven by the translators' theological bias to see a pre-mortal Jesus Christ in the fiery furnace with the three young men -- even though the person who said the words was a polytheistic Babylonian who didn't have any understanding of a "Son of God." The passage ''should'' read "son of the gods," as it does in every modern translation (including theologically conservative ones like the NIV and NET).
:<font color="red">''Using early manuscripts and discoveries is no good to prove that a Bible version is more accurate. {{b||John|7|53}}-{{b||John|8|1-11}} is not in the earliest manuscripts, but the text is considered as restored. A large number of early manuscripts and discoveries (like the rediscovered Gnostic Gospel of Judas) are in error. Even early manuscripts such as Codex Sinaiticus came from "copies of copies'' So in conclusion it cannot be intellectually disprove that inspired KJV translators restored some text the way they are suppose to be read (due to that there is multiple ways of translating a text).''</font>
There are a number of significant problems with this claim:
*The ''pericope adulterae'' does not appear in any NT manuscript until the 5th century, when it appears in the singular Codex Bezae (although one example of an early Christian writing has been discovered from the fourth century that quotes it). The evidence is overwhelming that it's a late addition to John, probably a popular story that circulated among Christians that was added by a well-meaning scribe.
*On what basis do you claim that the ''pericope'' is "restored"? Is there any revelation or scholarship indicating that the story was in the original gospel, then lost, then recovered?
*On what basis do you claim that the KJV translators were "inspired"?
Defending the ''pericope'' is not something we should try to do, especially when another FAIR wiki article (correctly) includes it in [[Textual_criticism#Examples_of_variant_readings|a list of suspect passages]].
:<font color="red">''We continue to use the KJV because of its linguistic similarity to the Book of Mormon and other LDS scriptures. (This needs evidence.)''</font>
:<font color="red">''Most of the Book of Mormon was translated in the English of the KJV Bible''</font>
:<font color="red">''There is nothing preventing Latter-day Saints from using other Bible translations in their personal study of the scriptures.''</font>
On these last three claims, I agree with you. And this is my point -- Latter-day Saints continue to use the KJV simply because of its strong linguistic ties to the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. There are no other reasons for continuing to use the KJV, and many, many reasons to discard it in favor of a more modern translation.

The King James Bible was based on corrupted and inferior manuscripts that in many cases do not accurately represent the meaning of the original text.
--[[User:MikeParker|MikeParker]] 16:57, 28 March 2008 (MDT)

Predefinição:BibleWiki

2008-03-24T18:11:14Z

MikeParker: Multiple authors of Isaiah; alphabetize

{{editme|url=Template:Biblewiki|before=|after='''''Holy Bible wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Bible basics]]
*[[%22Adding_to%22_or_%22taking_away_from%22_the_Bible|"Adding to" or "taking away" from the Bible]]
*[[Archeology and the Bible]]
*[[Born again translation|Being "born again"—what does the Bible mean?]]
*[[Biblical completeness|Completeness and sufficiency]] 
*[[Bible cosmology|Cosmology of the Bible]]
*[[Global or local Flood|Flood, global or local]]{{nw}}
*[[Biblical condemnation of genealogy|Genealogy, condemnation of]]
*[[Hebrews 7 and the Aaronic Priesthood]]
*[[Biblical historicity|Historicity]]{{nw}} 
*[[Biblical inerrancy|Inerrancy and the Bible]]
*[[Multiple authors of Isaiah|Isaiah, multiple authors of]]
*[[Lost scripture]]
*[[Open canon vs. closed canon]]
*[[Textual criticism]]
*[[Bible translations|Translations]]{{nw}}

Predefinição:BoMWiki

2008-03-24T17:35:09Z

MikeParker: Multiple authors of Isaiah; alphabetize

{{editme|url=Template:BoMWiki|before=|after='''''Book of Mormon wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Book of Mormon archeology|Archaeology]] 
**[[Archaeology and the Hill Cumorah|The Hill Cumorah]]
**[[Smithsonian statement on Book of Mormon archaeology]]
*[[Book of Mormon basics]]
*[[Book of Mormon chronology|Chronology]]
*[[Book of Mormon demographics|Demographics]]
*[[Book of Mormon and DNA evidence|DNA evidence]]
*[[Book of Mormon as a "familiar spirit"|"Familiar spirit", Book of Mormon as a]]
*[[Book of Mormon and the fulness of the gospel|Fulness of the gospel, Book of Mormon and the]]
*[[Book of Mormon historicity|Historicity]]
*[[Multiple authors of Isaiah|Isaiah, multiple authors of]]
*[[Joseph Smith Translation and the Book of Mormon]]{{nw}} 
*[[Book of Mormon as the most correct book|Most correct book, Book of Mormon as the]]
*[[Plain and precious Book of Mormon doctrines]]
*[[Book of Mormon textual changes|Textual changes]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: "the Son of"|"the Son of" added]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: "or out of the waters of baptism"|"or out of the waters of baptism" added]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: white or pure?|"white" changed to "pure"]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: Benjamin or Mosiah?|"Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah"]]
*[[Book of Mormon translation chronology|Translation chronology, Book of Mormon]]
**[[Anthon transcript]]
*[[Book of Mormon translation method|Translation method, Book of Mormon]]{{nw}}
{{BoMFooterWiki}}

Predefinição:CultureAttitudeWiki

2008-02-20T22:54:46Z

MikeParker: Internet Mormons vs. Chapel Mormons

{{editme|url=Template:CultureAttitudeWiki|before=|after='''''Mormon culture and attitudes wiki articles'''''}}
* [[Anti-Mormon]]
* [[Attitude to non-members]]
**[[Attitude to non-members:Primary sources|Primary sources]]
* [[Bias against Mormons]] {{nw}}
* [[Birth control]]
* [[Childbearing]]
* [[Church over family|Church over family?]]
* [[Education and belief|Education—does it threaten faith?]]
* [[Internet Mormons vs. Chapel Mormons]]
* [[Marriage|Marriage, duties in]] {{nw}}
* [[Marriage not needed for exaltation]]
* [[Childbearing|Mothers, duties toward]]
* [[Mormons as neighbors]] 
* [[Marriage|Wives, duties toward]]
* [[Salvation of non-members]]
*[[Temple work for Holocaust victims]]
* [[Wayward family members|Wayward family members, attitude toward]]

Predefinição:JosephSmithPortal

2008-02-14T19:10:42Z

MikeParker: Masonic distress cry

{| style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 1em; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa;" align="right" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0
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----
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Joseph_Smith_as_a_martyr|Martyrdom]]• [[Template:JosephSmithWiki|Wiki]]<br>
[[Joseph_Smith_healings_and_miracles|Healings and miracles]]<br>
[[Date_of_the_restoration_of_the_Melchizedek_priesthood|Priesthood restore date]]<br>
[[Joseph_Smith_prophesies|Prophecies]]
----
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Joseph_Smith_and_legal_trials|Legal trials]]<br>[[Joseph_Smith's_1826_glasslooking_trial|1826 trial]]<br>[[Kirtland Safety Society]]<br>[[Nauvoo Expositor]]<br>[[The Council of Fifty]]<br>[[Joseph_Smith_and_politics|Politics]]
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|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Joseph_Smith_and_the_occult|"Magic"]]<br>[[Joseph_Smith_and_Jupiter_talisman|Jupiter talisman]]<br>[[Joseph Smith and the Masonic cry of distress|Masonic distress cry]]<br>[[Joseph_Smith_and_money_digging|Treasure seeking]]<br>[[Joseph_Smith_and_seer_stones|Seer stones]]
----
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Joseph_Smith_is_the_Holy_Ghost|As Holy Ghost?]]<br>
[[Personal_failings_of_Joseph_Smith|Personal failings]]<br>
[[Did_Joseph_Smith_%27boast%27_of_keeping_the_Church_intact|Boastful about the Church?]]<br>
[[Joseph_Smith's_status_in_LDS_belief|Role in LDS belief]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FAIR web site
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai057.html Topical guide]• [[Template:JosephSmithFAIR|Articles]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FARMS web site
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [Pending]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | Additional reading
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Template:JosephSmithLinks|Online]] • [[Template:JosephSmithPrint|In print]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | Other portals
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" |[[Template:FirstVisionPortal|First Vision]]<br>[[Template:BoMPortal|Book of Mormon]]<br>[[Template:PolygamyPortal|Plural marriage]]<br>[[Template:TemplePortal|Temples]]
|}

Predefinição:JosephSmithWiki

2008-02-14T16:59:24Z

MikeParker: Add link to Joseph Smith and the Masonic cry of distress

{{editme|url=Template:JosephSmithWiki|before=|after='''''Joseph Smith, Jr. wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Did_Joseph_Smith_'boast'_of_keeping_the_Church_intact|Did Joseph boast of keeping the Church intact?]]
*[[Joseph_Smith_healings_and_miracles|Healings and miracles?]]
*[[Joseph Smith is the Holy Ghost|Holy Ghost, Joseph Smith is the]]
*[[Kinderhook Plates]]
*[[The Council of Fifty|King of the world, anointed]]
*[[Joseph Smith as a martyr|Martyr?]]
** [[Martyrdom in Christian history]]
*[[Joseph Smith and the Masonic cry of distress|Masonic cry of distress]]
*[[Joseph Smith and money digging|Money digging/treasure seeking]]
*[[Joseph Smith and moonmen|Moonmen]]
*[[Joseph Smith and the occult|Occult activities or "magick"?]]
*[[Personal failings of Joseph Smith|Personal failings]]
*[[Joseph Smith and politics|Political activities]]
*[[Joseph Smith and seer stones|Seer stones, use of]]
*[[Joseph Smith's status in LDS belief|Status in LDS belief]]
{{JSLegalWiki}}
{{ProphecyWiki}}
{{FirstVisionWiki}}

Predefinição:BibleWiki

2008-02-12T02:59:53Z

MikeParker: Flood - needs work

{{editme|url=Template:Biblewiki|before=|after='''''Holy Bible wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Bible basics]]
*[[%22Adding_to%22_or_%22taking_away_from%22_the_Bible|"Adding to" or "taking away" from the Bible]]
*[[Archeology and the Bible|Bible and archaeology]]
*[[Bible cosmology]]
*[[Born again translation|Being "born again"—what does the Bible mean?]]
*[[Biblical completeness|Completeness and sufficiency]] 
*[[Global or local Flood|Flood, global or local]]{{nw}}
*[[Biblical condemnation of genealogy|Genealogy, condemnation of]]
*[[Biblical historicity|Historicity]]{{nw}} 
*[[Biblical inerrancy | Inerrancy and the Bible]]
*[[Hebrews 7 and the Aaronic Priesthood]]
*[[Lost scripture]]
*[[Open canon vs. closed canon]]
*[[Textual criticism]]
*[[Bible translations|Translations]]{{nw}}

Predefinição:CTBoM44 1

2008-01-25T19:09:41Z

MikeParker: Create

Royal Skousen (editor), ''Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon'' [Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Vol. 4, Part 4: Alma 21–55] (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2007), {{{start}}}. ISBN 0934893128.

Predefinição:PolygamyWiki

2007-10-18T19:40:16Z

MikeParker: Councilor - > Counselor

{{editme|url=Template:PolygamyWiki|before=|after='''''Plural marriage wiki links'''''}}
*[[Book of Mormon condemns polygamy]]
*[[Polygamy not Biblical|Plural marriage is not Biblical?]]
*[[Brigham Young and polygamy|Brigham Young]]: hiding history?
*[[Early Christians on plural marriage]]
*[[Emma Smith and polygamy|Emma Smith]]
*Joseph Smith

**[[Joseph Smith and polygamy|Polygamy]]
**[[Joseph Smith's marriages to young women|Polygamous marriages to young women]]
*[[Polygamy because of lustful motives|Lustful motives?]]
*[[The Law of Adoption]]
*The Manifesto
**[[Official Declaration—1|The Manifesto the result of political pressure]]
**[[Polygamy after the Manifesto|Post-Manifesto plural marriages]]
*[[Polygamy and the modern Church|The modern Church and polygamous groups]]
*[[Polygamy a requirement for exaltation|Required for exaltation]]
**[[Brigham Young in JD 11, page 269]]
**[[First Presidency Counselor on the Polygamy / Exaltation Question]]
*[[Plural marriage spiritual manifestations|Spiritual manifestations to plural wives and families]]

Predefinição:MMMWiki

2007-09-02T14:39:30Z

MikeParker: Blood atonement

{{editme|url=Template:MMMWiki|before=|after='''''Mountain Meadows Massacre wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Mountain Meadows Massacre]]
**[[Mountain_Meadows_Massacre:September_Dawn_film|September Dawn film (2007)]]
*[[Blood atonement]]
*[[Oath of vengeance|Oath of vengeance in the temple endowment]]

Predefinição:BookofAbrahamWiki

2007-09-01T05:06:04Z

MikeParker: FAQ

{{editme|url=Template:BookofAbrahamWiki|before=|after='''''FAIR Book of Abraham wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Book of Abraham papyri:FAQ|Frequently-asked questions]]
*[[Book of Abraham papyri|Book of Abraham papyri (summary)]]
**[[Book of Abraham papyri (long)|Book of Abraham papyri (full-length version)]]
*[[Book of Joseph]]
*[[Book of Abraham:Book of the Dead|Hiding ''Book of the Dead'' connection?]]
*[[Kirtland Egyptian Papers]]

Predefinição:BofAPortal

2007-09-01T04:35:53Z

MikeParker: Link to FAQ

Predefinição:RacePortal

2007-07-17T21:17:06Z

MikeParker: Add Blacks slaves in heaven

{| style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 1em; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa;" align="right" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0
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| style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%" | FAIRwiki portal
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| style="text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; padding: 0 5px 0 5px" | [[Template:RacePortal|Race & <br>cultural issues]]
|-
| style="text-align: center; padding: 7px 0 7px 0;" | [[Image:Elijah_Abel_small.jpg]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FAIRwiki articles
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" |[http://www.fairwiki.org/index.php?title=Special:Whatlinkshere&target=Template%3ARacePortal All portal articles]<br>
[http://www.blacklds.org/ FAIR BlackLDS site]<br>

----
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" |
Blacks and the priesthood<br>
[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood|SUMMARY]]<br>
[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Deny based on race?|Blessings denied by race?]]<br>
[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Origin of the priesthood ban?|Origins of the ban]]<br>
[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Understanding_pre-1978_statements|Pre-1978 statements]]<br>
[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:LDS scriptures|LDS scripture and the ban]]<br>
[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Lifting the ban|Lifting the ban]]<br>
[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Social pressure?|Social pressure and the ban?]]<br>
[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Repudiated ideas|Repudiated ideas]]<br>
----
[[Racist_statements_by_Church_leaders|Racist statements?]]<br>
[[Blacks go to heaven as slaves|Blacks slaves in heaven]]<br>
[[Fallibility_of_prophets|Prophetic fallibility]]<br>
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FAIR web site
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai080.html Blacks and priesthood]]<br>
[http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai086.html Race & culture issues]]<br>
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FARMS web site
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [Pending]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | Additional reading
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" |[Pending]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | Other portals
|-
|}

Predefinição:BlacksPriesthoodWiki

2007-07-17T18:37:12Z

MikeParker: Link to new article: Blacks go to heaven as slaves

{{editme|url=Template:BlacksPriesthoodWiki|before=|after='''''1978 Priesthood revelation wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Blacks and the priesthood]] (summary)
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Deny based on race?|Blessings denied by race?]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Origin of the priesthood ban?|Origins of the ban]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Understanding_pre-1978_statements|Understanding pre-1978 statements]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:LDS scriptures|LDS scripture and the ban]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Lifting the ban|Lifting the ban]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Social pressure?|Social pressure and the ban?]]
**[[Blacks_and_the_priesthood:Repudiated ideas|Repudiated ideas]]
*[[Fallibility of prophets]]
*[[Racist statements by Church leaders]]
**[[Blacks go to heaven as slaves]]

Predefinição:Book of Mormon anachronisms

2007-07-03T16:10:57Z

MikeParker: Rmv "geography" (has its own template now)

{{editme|url=Template:Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms|before=|after='''''Book of Mormon "Anachronisms"'''''}}
*[[Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms |Anachronisms (general page)]]
*[[%22Adieu%22_in_the_Book_of_Mormon|"Adieu"]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Animals|Animals]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Cement|Cement]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Coins|Coins]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Compass|Compass]]
*[[Book_of_Mormon_and_DNA_evidence:Summary|DNA issues]]{{BoMPortal}}
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Gadianton_masons|Gadianton Robbers as Masons?]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Gold plates|"Gold" plates?]]{{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Holy Ghost|Holy Ghost]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Jerusalem_vs_Bethlehem|Jerusalem as site of Jesus' birth]]
*[[Legal codes in Book of Mormon| Legal codes and concepts]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Metals|Metals]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Metal plates|Metal Plates]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Mulek|Mulek]]{{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Names|Names]]
*[[Olive culture in the Book of Mormon|Olive culture]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Plants|Plants]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Red sea versus reed sea| Red Sea vs Reed Sea]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Reformed Egyptian|Reformed Egyptian]]
*[[Satyrs_in_the_Book_of_Mormon|Satyrs]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:serpents and drought|Serpents and drought]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Shiz struggles to breathe|Shiz struggles to breathe]]
*[[Sweat and skin pores]]
*[[Snow in the Book of Mormon|Snow]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Temple in New World|Temple in the New World]]{{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Three days of darkness|Three days of darkness]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Translation Errors from the KJV|Translation errors from the KJV]]{{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon and warfare|Warfare]]{{nw}}
**[[Book of Mormon and warfare:Swords|Swords]]
*[[Book of Mormon and windows|Windows]]

Predefinição:AdamWiki

2007-04-30T04:30:51Z

MikeParker: *Fallibility of prophets redirects to General authorities' statements as scripture

{{editme|url=Template:AdamWiki|before=|after='''''Wiki articles involving Adam'''''}}
*[[Adam-God]]
*[[Adam-God_and_the_%22Lecture_at_the_Veil%22|Lecture at the veil]]
*[[General authorities' statements as scripture]]
*[[Original sin]]{{nw}}
*[[Procreation before the Fall]]
*[[Temple endowment changes]]

Predefinição:JesusWiki

2007-03-29T17:11:22Z

MikeParker: Change quotation mark style and placement

{{editme|url=Template:Jesuswiki|before=|after='''''Jesus Christ wiki articles''''' }}
*[[Alpha and Omega]]
*[[Latter-day_Saints_aren't_Christians|Are LDS Christians?]]
*[[Worship different Jesus|Do the LDS worship a "different Jesus"?]]
*[[Jesus Christ is the brother of Satan|Brother of Satan]]
*[[Jesus Christ's conception|Conception]]
*[[Elohim and Jehovah]] 
*[[Jesus is the only Melchizedek priesthood holder]] 
*[[Jesus Christ the Savior of other worlds|Savior of other worlds]]
*[[Was Jesus Christ married?]]
*[[Was Jesus crucified on a cross?]]

FAIRwiki:Sandbox

2007-03-22T21:32:39Z

MikeParker:

<h1> Demo for how a multi-language wiki might work</h1>

Welcome to FAIR, blah blah blah.

{{s||DandC|93|1}}

Please pick a language:

* [[Main_Page|English]]
* [[Deutsch:Haputseite|Deutsch]]
* French
* Italian
* etc.

FAIRwiki:Sandbox

2007-03-22T21:32:26Z

MikeParker:

<h1> Demo for how a multi-language wiki might work</h1>

Welcome to FAIR, blah blah blah.

{{s||D%26C|93|1}}

Please pick a language:

* [[Main_Page|English]]
* [[Deutsch:Haputseite|Deutsch]]
* French
* Italian
* etc.

FAIRwiki:Sandbox

2007-03-22T21:31:59Z

MikeParker:

<h1> Demo for how a multi-language wiki might work</h1>

Welcome to FAIR, blah blah blah.

{{s||D%26;C|93|1}}

Please pick a language:

* [[Main_Page|English]]
* [[Deutsch:Haputseite|Deutsch]]
* French
* Italian
* etc.

FAIRwiki:Sandbox

2007-03-22T21:31:49Z

MikeParker:

FAIRwiki:Sandbox

2007-03-22T21:30:50Z

MikeParker:

<h1> Demo for how a multi-language wiki might work</h1>

Welcome to FAIR, blah blah blah.

{{s||D&C|93|1}}

Please pick a language:

* [[Main_Page|English]]
* [[Deutsch:Haputseite|Deutsch]]
* French
* Italian
* etc.

FAIRwiki:Sandbox

2007-03-22T21:30:29Z

MikeParker:

FAIRWiki:Scripture template how to

2007-03-22T21:28:44Z

MikeParker: /* Exceptions */ Rmv "of relatively little importance in apologetics" -- I disagree: WofM has critical info on Small Plates as replacement for Large; AofF frequently cited

The actual template is at [[Template:scripture]]. Click there to edit, but please don't unless you know what you're doing!

==How to use the template:==

Syntax is as follows: <nowiki> {{scripture|a|b|c|d}} [Can also use {{s|a|b|c|d}} if you don't want to type "scripture" every time.]</nowiki>

* a = Book number, like '''1''' Nephi or '''3''' John. If there is no book number, you must leave this space blank like this: <nowiki>{{scripture||b|c|d}}</nowiki> ('''note the two || lines''' beside each other, meaning that "a" section is ''blank''.
* b = Book of Scripture: Nephi, Jonah, etc. For D&C references, just put '''DC''', or it messes up the parser (this can be changed with some coding in an ungrade, but the necessary command doesn't work on FAIR Wiki yet.)
* c = chapter
* d = verses. Dashes, commas, or both are permitted; eg: 4-7,9 (verses 4 through 7, and verse 9).

'''''Note''''': don't put spaces between elements. So, you can put 4-7,9 for verses 4-7 and then verse 9, but don't put "4 - 7, 9." If you do so, you are ritually impure in a wiki sense.

==Exceptions==

Due to software limitations, books of scripture with more than one word in their title are a bit tricky. Fortunately, there are only 3:

{|valign="top" border="1" style="width:100%"
|-
!Book of Scripture!!Ways to cite it that work!!How it Looks
|-
|Words of Mormon||
*<nowiki>{{scripture||W+of+M|1|1}}</nowiki>
|| {{scripture||W+of+M|1|1}}
|-
| ||
*<nowiki>{{scripture||Words+of+Mormon|1|1}}</nowiki>
||{{scripture||Words+of+Mormon|1|1}}
|-
|Articles of Faith||
*<nowiki>{{scripture||A+of+F|1|13}}</nowiki>
||{{scripture||A+of+F|1|13}}
|-
| ||
* <nowiki>{{scripture||Articles+of+Faith|1|13}}</nowiki>
||{{scripture||Articles+of+Faith|1|13}}
|-
|Song of Solomon||
*<nowiki> {{scripture||Song|1|1}}</nowiki>
||{{scripture||Song|1|1}}
|-
|}

==Some Examples==

#To code D&C 121:5-7, you would put: <nowiki>{{scripture||DC|121|5-7}}</nowiki>
#To code 1 Nephi 3:7, you would put: <nowiki>{{scripture|1|Nephi|3|7}}</nowiki>
#To code Joseph Smith History 1:5, you would put: <nowiki>{{scripture||JS-H|1|5}}</nowiki>
#To code Joseph Smith Matthew 1:2, you would put: <nowiki>{{scripture||JS-M|1|2}}</nowiki>

==Help! It doesn't work for me!==
If you're having problems, try changing the template name to "scripturetest."

[[Template:scripturetest]]

This is a troubleshooting template, that shows you what you're entering, and how the computer is interpreting it. When you get it fixed, just change the name back to "scripture" instead of "scripture'''test'''", and you're good to go!

===Most common error===

* You have omitted an element, and thus missed putting two || together to show this element as 'blank'. This error is most likely to occur if you aren't citing "a" (for the numbered books like 1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, 2 Kings, 3 John, etc.).
* Or, the above error could happen if you're trying to cite a whole chapter: then the "d" element isn't entered, but you still need ||. (e.g. Alma 13 would be <nowiki> {{scripture||Alma|13||}} </nowiki> The first || contains the empty "a" (since there is no 1st Alma, 2nd Alma, etc.) and the second || contains the empty "d" (since no verses are being cited.)

In short, there should '''always''' be 4—count 'em!—vertical bars -> |||| within the template. Whether there's anything between the bars depends on what you're citing.

===Other common errors===

* you are using "D&C" for the Doctrine and Covenants, instead of plain old "DC." See the [[FAIRWiki:Scripture_template_how_to#Some_Examples|examples]] section to see how to cite the D&C properly.
* you have mistakenly put regular parentheses [smooth brackets like this: (()) ] instead of curly brackets [like this {{}} ] around your template call.
* you have a space between some elements: don't put spaces between commas, dashes, etc.
* you are trying to cite Joseph Smith-History or Joseph Smith-Matthew from the Pearl of Great Price without using JS-H and JS-M. See the [[FAIRWiki:Scripture_template_how_to#Some_Examples|examples]].
* you are trying to cite Words of Mormon, Articles of Faith, or Song of Solomon without looking at the [[FAIRWiki:Scripture_template_how_to#Exceptions|exceptions]] table.

==Heeelp! It still doesn't work!==

Please report any bugs or citations that don't work to [[User:GregSmith]]. You may have found a bug with the system, which we need to fix or work around, or we can help spare you frustration by showing you what's going wrong.

Predefinição:FR-4-1-16

2007-03-20T16:59:53Z

MikeParker: Add opening parenthesis

{{FR-4-1|author=Michael D. Rhodes|article=The Book of Abraham: Divinely Inspired Scripture (Review of ''By His Own Hand upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri'' by Charles M. Larson)|start=120|end=126|url=http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=93}}{{pdflink|url=http://farms.byu.edu/getpdf.php?filename=NDIzMzA3ODc4LTQtMS5wZGY=&type=cmV2aWV3}}

Predefinição:BoMAuthorshipWiki

2007-03-18T17:50:12Z

MikeParker: Link to Joseph Smith and seer stones

{{editme|url=Template:BofM_authorship_theories|before=|after='''''Book of Mormon authorship theories'''''}}
*[[Book of Mormon authorship abnormal psychology|Abnormal psychology]]{{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon authorship theories|Authorship theories]] (general introduction){{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon and automatic writing|Automatic writing]]{{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon and epilepsy|Epilepsy]]{{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon and the Golden Pot|''The Golden Pot'']]
*[[Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon copyright|Joseph Smith as "author and proprietor"]]
*[[Joseph Smith, Sr.'s dream and Lehi's vision]]
*[[Joseph Smith as Mystic|Mysticism]] {{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon plagiarized from the Bible|Plagiarized from the Bible]]
*[[Joseph Smith and seer stones|Seer stones, use of]]
*[[Book of Mormon and Spaulding manuscript|The Spaulding manuscript]]
*[[Book of Mormon and View of the Hebrews|''View of the Hebrews'']]{{nw}}
*[[Book of Mormon wordprint studies|Wordprint studies]]

Utilizador:GregSmith:Mockup

2007-03-17T03:04:02Z

MikeParker: Redundant

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__

{| style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#ffffc0;border:1px solid #ccc"
| style="width:40%;color:#000" |
{|style="width:100%;border:solid 0px;background:none"
|-
| style="text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;color:#000"|
<div style="font-size:300%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;color:#000">Reply to X</div>
<div style="top:+0.2em;font-size:95%"><br>A collaborative effort of the<br>[http://www.fairlds.org Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research].</div>
|}

| style="width:75%;font-size:85%;color:#000"|
On 25 March 2007, ''XYZ Ministries'' distributed a ninety-minute DVD entitled ''TITLE'' to thousands of Utah homes.

It has excellent production values but, unfortunately, its contents are not of a similar quality. Though it purports to be an objective, "Christian" evaluation of the teachings, history, and beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it contains very little that is original or balanced.

It contains the same tired anti-Mormon propaganda that misguided religionists have been repeating for years. All the issues it raises have been repeatedly addressed by faithful Latter-day Saints, but the video makes no effort to address the responses to their charges.

This page provides information that will help you compare the video's claims with the actual history, teachings, and beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
|}




{| style="border-spacing:8px;margin:0px -8px"
| class="MainPageBG" style="width:60%;border:1px solid #cedff2;background-color:#f5faff;vertical-align:top"|
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#f5faff"
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#cedff2;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#000;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Table of Contents</h2>
|-
| style="color:#000"|
* Who is Jesus?
* Who is God?
* Eternal Life
* Archaeology
* Prophecy [Mike Parker]
* Character of Joseph/Polygamy [Greg Smith]
* Character of Joseph/First Vision
* Character of Joseph/The Occult
* Character of Joseph/Translator [Scott Gordon]
* DNA and Book of Mormon
* Book of Abraham
|-
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#cedff2;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#000;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Other information</h2>
|-
| style="color:#000"|
* A
* B
* C
|-
|}



| class="MainPageBG" style="width:40%;border:1px solid #cef2e0;background-color:#f5fffa;vertical-align:top;color:#000"|
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#f5fffa"
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#003366;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #258;text-align:left;color:#fff;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">About FAIR</h2>
|-
| style="color:#000"| {{About FAIR}}
|-
|}
|}

Utilizador:GregSmith:Mockup

2007-03-17T03:02:04Z

MikeParker: Copy edit

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__

{| style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#ffffc0;border:1px solid #ccc"
| style="width:40%;color:#000" |
{|style="width:100%;border:solid 0px;background:none"
|-
| style="text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;color:#000"|
<div style="font-size:300%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;color:#000">Reply to X</div>
<div style="top:+0.2em;font-size:95%"><br>A collaborative effort of the<br>[http://www.fairlds.org Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research].</div>
|}

| style="width:75%;font-size:85%;color:#000"|
On 25 March 2007, ''XYZ Ministries'' distributed a ninety-minute DVD entitled ''TITLE'' to thousands of Utah homes.

It has excellent production values but, unfortunately, its contents are not of a similar quality. Though it purports to be an objective, "Christian" evaluation of the teachings, history, and beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it contains very little that is original or balanced.

Despite its attractive packaging and high production values, it contains the same tired anti-Mormon propaganda that misguided religionists have been repeating for years. All the issues it raises have been repeatedly addressed by faithful Latter-day Saints, but the video makes no effort to address the responses to their charges.

This page provides information that will help you compare the video's claims with the actual history, teachings, and beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
|}




{| style="border-spacing:8px;margin:0px -8px"
| class="MainPageBG" style="width:60%;border:1px solid #cedff2;background-color:#f5faff;vertical-align:top"|
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#f5faff"
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#cedff2;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#000;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Table of Contents</h2>
|-
| style="color:#000"|
* Who is Jesus?
* Who is God?
* Eternal Life
* Archaeology
* Prophecy [Mike Parker]
* Character of Joseph/Polygamy [Greg Smith]
* Character of Joseph/First Vision
* Character of Joseph/The Occult
* Character of Joseph/Translator [Scott Gordon]
* DNA and Book of Mormon
* Book of Abraham
|-
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#cedff2;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#000;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Other information</h2>
|-
| style="color:#000"|
* A
* B
* C
|-
|}



| class="MainPageBG" style="width:40%;border:1px solid #cef2e0;background-color:#f5fffa;vertical-align:top;color:#000"|
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#f5fffa"
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#003366;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #258;text-align:left;color:#fff;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">About FAIR</h2>
|-
| style="color:#000"| {{About FAIR}}
|-
|}
|}

Utilizador:GregSmith:Mockup

2007-03-17T02:53:06Z

MikeParker: Mike Parker

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__

{| style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#ffffc0;border:1px solid #ccc"
| style="width:40%;color:#000" |
{|style="width:100%;border:solid 0px;background:none"
|-
| style="text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;color:#000"|
<div style="font-size:300%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;color:#000">Reply to X</div>
<div style="top:+0.2em;font-size:95%"><br>A collaborative effort of the<br>[http://www.fairlds.org Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research].</div>
|}

| style="width:75%;font-size:85%;color:#000"|
On DATE, XYZ Ministries produced and distributed a ninety-minute DVD entitled ''TITLE''. Distributed to thousands of homes, it has excellent production values. Unfortunately, its contents are not of a similar quality. It purports to be an objective, "Christian" evaluation of the teachings, history, and beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Unfortunately, it contains very little that is original or balanced—despite the glossy packaging, it contains the same tired anti-Mormon propaganda that misguided religionists have been repeating for years. All the issues have been repeatedly addressed, but the video makes no effort to address LDS responses to their charges. This page provides information which will allow the interested reader to compare the video's claims with the actual history, teachings, and beliefs of the Latter-day Saints.
|}




{| style="border-spacing:8px;margin:0px -8px"
| class="MainPageBG" style="width:60%;border:1px solid #cedff2;background-color:#f5faff;vertical-align:top"|
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#f5faff"
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#cedff2;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#000;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Table of Contents</h2>
|-
| style="color:#000"|
* Who is Jesus?
* Who is God?
* Eternal Life
* Archaeology
* Prophecy [Mike Parker]
* Character of Joseph/Polygamy [Greg Smith]
* Character of Joseph/First Vision
* Character of Joseph/The Occult
* Character of Joseph/Translator [Scott Gordon]
* DNA and Book of Mormon
* Book of Abraham
|-
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#cedff2;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#000;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Other information</h2>
|-
| style="color:#000"|
* A
* B
* C
|-
|}



| class="MainPageBG" style="width:40%;border:1px solid #cef2e0;background-color:#f5fffa;vertical-align:top;color:#000"|
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#f5fffa"
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#003366;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #258;text-align:left;color:#fff;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">About FAIR</h2>
|-
| style="color:#000"| {{About FAIR}}
|-
|}
|}

Predefinição:BoMWiki

2007-02-18T18:16:47Z

MikeParker: Change sort order

{{editme|url=Template:BoMWiki|before=|after='''''Book of Mormon wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Book of Mormon basics]]
*[[Book of Mormon and the fulness of the gospel]]
*[[Book of Mormon as the most correct book]]
*[[Book of Mormon textual changes]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: "the Son of"|"the Son of" added]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: "or out of the waters of baptism"|"or out of the waters of baptism" added]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: white or pure?|"white" changed to "pure"]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: Benjamin or Mosiah?|"Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah"]]
*[[Plain and Precious Book of Mormon doctrines]]{{NB}}
{{BoMFooterWiki}}

Predefinição:MA1

2007-02-17T18:57:58Z

MikeParker: Add {{{article}}}

{{{author}}}, "{{{article}}}," ''Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate'' {{{vol}}}:{{{num}}} {{{date}}}: {{{start}}}. {{link|url=http://www.centerplace.org/history/ma/}}

FAIRwiki:Templates

2007-02-16T23:35:13Z

MikeParker: /* Book of Mormon authorship */ {{BoMCriticalText}}

This page lists ''all'' templates created on the FAIR Wiki.

==Reference Templates==

This templates allow frequently-cited works to be included with short cuts. This allows all referenecs to be identical, include off-site links, use standard forms, etc. Changes to references can be made in one spot, instead of hundreds.

* {{ArticleMasterLists}}

==Editing Templates==

These templates provide short cuts for editing, replacing oft-used text, etc.

===General editing templates===
*[[Template:An]] - "Annotate": Annotates a link in small text.
:''Format'': <nowiki> {{an|Put any annotate text here you want.}}</nowiki>
*[[Template:Draft]]
*[[Template:editme]] - add link to edit a given list/template
*[[Template:EditorLinks]] - pink box on right of log-in screen for speedy editor use
*'''Logical fallacy templates'''
**[[Template:FallacyBegin]] - put before list of fallacies
**[[Template:FallacyEnd]] - put after fallcies (using these allows us to edit the 'table' style around all fallacies.
*[[Template:NB]] - marks a reference as especially important or key for further reading
*[[Template:NeedCite]] - marks a claim needing a reference/endnote (also [[Template:Nc]])
*[[Template:Nf]] - "needs formatting" label for FAIR editors. Content OK, refs need clean up, etc.
*[[Template:Nl]] - "needs links" label for FAIR editors; marks references that likely have on-line sources, but haven't been linked. Click "what links here" on this template to see all areas that need links added in.
*[[Template:Nw]] - "needs work" label for FAIR editors
*[[Template:Parabreak]] - used for triple-asterisk breaks between quoted paragraphs
*[[Template:Presalamander]] - added to references to note when they rely partly on Mark Hoffman's forged ''Salamander letter'' and other forged documents
*[[Template:Question]] - used when article comes from FAIR list question
*[[Template:Summary]] - labels a page as basically an index or link page to more detailed sub-pages.
*[[FAIRwiki:Specific author_template]] - basis for articles on specific authors
*[[FAIRwiki:Table_template]] - various "example" tables for copy and paste into pages
*[[Template:Templedisclaimer]] - labels a page indicating that FAIR will not discuss temple specifics in a public forum.

===Multiple version templates===

Some articles have a short, summary version, and a longer, more detailed article. These templates link the two articles together. "Extra" can be left blank, by simply putting extra=}} with no text.

*[[Template:ShortVersion]]
: <nowiki>''Format'': {{ShortVersion|topic=TopicHere|url=http://etc.|extra=Any other text at the end of the box}}</nowiki>
*[[Template:LongVersion]]
: <nowiki>''Format'': {{LongVersion|topic=TopicHere|url=http://etc.|extra=Any other text at the end of the box}}</nowiki>

===Other language for wiki===

* [[Template:OtherLang]]
: <nowiki>''Format'': {{OtherLang}}</nowiki>

Serves as a sub-category label for "other" language links.

Specific languages:
*[[Template:EnglishWiki]]
: <nowiki>''Format'': {{EnglishWiki|topic=TopicHere|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>
*[[Template:FrenchWiki]]
: <nowiki>''Format'': {{FrenchWiki|topic=TopicHere|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>
*[[Template:GermanWiki]]
: <nowiki>''Format'': {{GermanWiki|topic=TopicHere|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>
*[[Template:PortugueseWiki]]
: <nowiki>''Format'': {{PortugueseWiki|topic=TopicHere|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>
*[[Template:RussianWiki]]
: <nowiki>''Format'': {{RussianWiki|topic=TopicHere|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>
*[[Template:SpanishWiki]]
: <nowiki>''Format'': {{SpanishWiki|topic=TopicHere|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>

==Portal templates==
Click [[FAIRWiki:Portals|here]] to see all '''''Portals displayed'''''!

Portals are a collection of hotlinks for a given topic.
*[[Template:BiblePortal]]
**[[Template:BoMBiblePortal]] - relations between Book of Mormon and Bible. Appears on both templates; not a separate template of its own
*[[Template:BofAPortal]] - Book of Abraham
*[[Template:BoMWitnessPortal]] - Three, Eight, and other witnesses of Book of Mormon
*[[Template:BoMPortal]] - Book of Mormon (only for areas not covered in subcategories, like DNA and geography, which have their own Portal)
**[[Template:BoMBiblePortal]] - relations between Book of Mormon and Bible. Appears on both templates; not a separate template of its own
*[[Template:CreationPortal]] - Adam, creation, evolution, Noah, etc.
*[[Template:GeographyPortal]] - Book of Mormon geography and related issues
*'''The Godhead'''
**[[Template:GodPortal]] - God the Father and "God" generally
**[[Template:JesusChristPortal]] - Jesus Christ
**[[Template:HolyGhostPortal]] - Holy Ghost
*[[Template:DNAPortal]] - DNA, Amerinidians, geography - Book of Mormon
*[[Template:EarlyChristianityPortal]]
*[[Template:FirstVisionPortal]]
*[[Template:JosephSmithPortal]] - The Prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr.
*[[Template:PolygamyPortal]] - Plural marriage
*[[Template:PrimarySourcesPortal]] - Primary sources on FAIR wiki
*[[Template:TemplePortal]]

==Collected link/article templates==

''These templates contain frequently reused links (often useful for placing in the "further reading" section of all articles that deal with a topic (e.g. the Bible, the godhead) so that changes links for one are reflected in all articles.''
===Adam templates===

*[[Template:AdamWiki]]
*[[Template:AdamFAIR]]
*[[Template:AdamLinks]]
*[[Template:AdamPrint]]

===Baptism for the dead templates===

*[[Template:BaptismDeadWiki]]
*[[Template:BaptismDeadFAIR]]
*[[Template:BaptismDeadLinks]]
*[[Template:BaptismDeadPrint]]

===Bible templates===

*[[Template:BibleWiki]] - wiki articles on the Bible
*[[Template:BibleFAIR]]
*[[Template:BibleLinks]]
*[[Template:BiblePrint]]

====JST links====

*[[Template:JSTWiki]] - FAIRwiki JST links
*[[Template:JSTFAIR]] - FAIR site refs
*[[Template:JSTLinks]] - JST refs with hotlinks
*[[Template:JSTPrint]] - JST refs, printed versions only

====Theosis (Deification)====

*[[Template:TheosisWiki]] - FAIRwiki links
*[[Template:TheosisFAIR]] - FAIR site refs
*[[Template:TheosisLinks]] - refs, with hotlinks
*[[Template:TheosisPrint]] - refs, printed versions only

===Book of Mormon templates===
*[[Template:Book of Mormon anachronisms]]
*[[Template:Book of Mormon historicity books]]

====Book of Mormon footer templates====
*[[Template:BoMFooterWiki]]
*[[Template:BoMFooterFAIR]]
*[[Template:BoMFooterLinks]]
*[[Template:BoMFooterPrint]]

Footers in small print, to link to other subgroups of Book of Mormon material. (See General templates for examples of use).

====Book of Mormon GENERAL templates====
*[[Template:BoMWiki]]
*[[Template:BoMFAIR]]
*[[Template:BoMLinks]]
*[[Template:BoMPrint]]

====Book of Mormon archaelogy====

*[[Template:BoMArchaelogyLinks]] - with hotlinks
*[[Template:BoMArchaelogyPrint]] - printed works only (no on-line version)

====Book of Mormon authorship====

*[[Template:BoMAuthorshipWiki]] - list of authorship subtheories
*[[Template:BoMAuthorshipFAIR]] - list of FAIR TG links
*[[Template:BoMAuthorshipLinks]] - articles with hotlinks
*[[Template:BoMAuthorshipPrint]] - printed only
*[[Template:BoMCriticalText]] - books and articles on the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project

====Book of Mormon and KJV Bible text templates====

*[[Template:BoMBibleWiki]]
*[[Template:BoMBibleFAIR]]
*[[Template:BoMBibleLinks]]
*[[Template:BoMBiblePrint]]

====Book of Mormon and DNA====

*[[Template:DNAWiki]]
*[[Template:DNAFAIR]]
*[[Template:DNALinks]]
*[[Template:DNAPrint]]

====Book of Mormon geography====

*[[Template:BoMGeographyWiki]] - Wiki articles on geography in BoM
*[[Template:BoMGeographyFAIR]] - FAIR topical guide links of BoM geography
*[[Template:BoMGeographyLinks]] - references on geography
*[[Template:BoMGeographyPrint]] - references in print only
=====Book of Mormon geo - tables of models=====
*FAIRWiki:All_BoM_geography_model_raw_data_templates
*[[Template:BoMGeoTableStart]] - header of tables
*[[Template:BoMGeoTableEnd]] - footer of tables

{{BoMGeoTableList}}

====Book of Mormon - gold and metal plates====
*[[Template:PlatesWiki]]
*[[Template:PlatesFAIR]]
*[[Template:PlatesLinks]]
*[[Template:PlatesPrint]]

====Book of Mormon Hebraic Influences====

*[[Template:BoMHebrewInfluencesWiki]]
*[[Template:BoMHebrewInfluencesFAIR]]
*[[Template:BoMHebrewInfluencesLinks]]
*[[Template:BoMHebrewInfluencesPrint]]

===Book of Mormon witnesses templates===

*[[Template:BoMWitnessesWiki]]
*[[Template:BoMWitnessesFAIR]]
*[[Template:BoMWitnessesLinks]]
*[[Template:BoMWitnessesPrint]]
*[[Template:BoMWitnessesCritics]] - criticisms of the Witnesses

===Church history and D&C templates===

====Apostasy templates====

*[[Template:ApostasyWiki]]
*[[Template:ApostasyFAIR]]
*[[Template:ApostasyLinks]]
*[[Template:ApostasyPrint]]

====D&C and Lectures on Faith====
*[[Template:DCWiki]] - wiki articles on D&C and lectures on faith
*[[Template:DCFAIR]] - FAIR articles
*[[Template:DCLinks]] - off-site with links
*[[Template:DCPrint]] - printed only

====Emma Smith templates====

*[[Template:EmmaSmithWiki]]
*[[Template:EmmaSmithFAIR]]
*[[Template:EmmaSmithLinks]]
*[[Template:EmmaSmithPrint]]

====First Vision====

*[[Template:FirstVisionWiki]] - wiki articles
*[[Template:FirstVisionFAIR]] - FAIR articles
*[[Template:FirstVisionLinks]] - off-site with links
*[[Template:FirstVisionPrint]] - printed only

====Legal issues templates====

*[[Template:JSLegalWiki]]
*[[Template:JSLegalFAIR]]
*[[Template:JSLegalLinks]]
*[[Template:JSLegalPrint]]

===="Magic", Occult, etc.====
*[[Template:MagicWiki]]
*[[Template:MagicFAIR]]
*[[Template:MagicLinks]]
*[[Template:MagicPrint]]
*[[Template:MagicCritics]] - list of those who ascribe Joseph's work to occult, magic, etc.

=====1826 Glasslooking trial=====
*[[Template:1826TrialWiki]]
*[[Template:1826TrialFAIR]]
*[[Template:1826TrialLinks]]
*[[Template:1826TrialPrint]]

=====Hofmann and other Forgeries=====

*[[Template:SalamanderWiki]]
*[[Template:SalamanderFAIR]]
*[[Template:SalamanderLinks]]
*[[Template:SalamanderPrint]]

====Plural marriage====
*[[Template:PolygamyWiki]]
*[[Template:PolygamyFAIR]]
*[[Template:PolygamyLinks]] - on-line versions available
*[[Template:PolygamyPrint]] - no hotlinks available
====Political issues in Church history templates====
*[[Template:PoliticsWiki]]
*[[Template:PoliticsFAIR]]
*[[Template:PoliticsLinks]]
*[[Template:PoliticsPrint]]

====Priesthood templates====

*[[Template:AaronicPriesthoodWiki]]
*[[Template:AaronicPriesthoodFAIR]]
*[[Template:AaronicPriesthoodLinks]]
*[[Template:AaronicPriesthoodPrint]]
----
*[[Template:MelchizedekPriesthoodWiki]]
*[[Template:MelchizedekPriesthoodFAIR]]
*[[Template:MelchizedekPriesthoodLinks]]
*[[Template:MelchizedekPriesthoodPrint]]
----

*[[Template:BlacksPriesthoodWiki]]
*[[Template:BlacksPriesthoodFAIR]]
*[[Template:BlacksPriesthoodLinks]]
*[[Template:BlacksPriesthoodPrint]]

====Prophecy templates====
*[[Template:ProphecyWiki]]
*[[Template:ProphecyFAIR]]
*[[Template:ProphecyLinks]]
*[[Template:ProphecyPrint]]

===Evolution templates===

*[[Template:EvolutionWiki]]
*[[Template:EvolutionFAIR]]
*[[Template:EvolutionLinks]]
*[[Template:EvolutionPrint]]

===Grace templates===

*[[Template:GraceWiki]]
*[[Template:GraceFAIR]]
*[[Template:GraceLinks]]
*[[Template:GracePrint]]

===Joseph Smith templates===

*[[Template:JosephSmithWiki]]
*[[Template:JosephSmithFAIR]]
*[[Template:JosephSmithLinks]]
*[[Template:JosephSmithPrint]]

====Other visionary issues====
*[[Template:JSOtherVisionWiki]] - wiki articles
*[[Template:JSOtherVisionFAIR]] - FAIR articles
*[[Template:JSOtherVisionLinks]] - off-site with links
*[[Template:JSOtherVisionPrint]] - printed only

===Godhead templates===

====God====
*[[Template:GodWiki]] - all topics on "God" generally
*[[Template:GodFAIR]]
*[[Template:GodLinks]]
*[[Template:GodPrint]]

====Jesus====
*[[Template:JesusWiki]] - all topics on the Savior
*[[Template:JesusFAIR]] - FAIR website topics on the Savior
*[[Template:JesusLinks]]
*[[Template:JesusPrint]]

====Holy Ghost====
*[[Template:HolyGhostWiki]] - all topics on the Holy Ghost
*[[Template:HolyGhostFAIR]]
*[[Template:HolyGhostLinks]]
*[[Template:HolyGhostPrint]]

===Interfaith issues templates===

*[[Template:InterfaithWiki]]
*[[Template:InterfaithFAIR]]
*[[Template:InterfaithLinks]]
*[[Template:InterfaithPrint]]

===Pearl of Great Price templates===
*[[Template:BookofAbrahamWiki]]
*[[Template:BookofAbrahamFAIR]]
*[[Template:BookofAbrahamLinks]] - refs for BoA; on-line versions available
*[[Template:BookofAbrahamPrint]] - refs for BoA; no hotlinks

===Priesthood templates===
*[[Template:PriesthoodWiki]]
*[[Template:PriesthoodFAIR]]
*[[Template:PriesthoodLinks]] - on-line versions available
*[[Template:PriesthoodPrint]] - no hotlinks

===Hugh Nibley templates===

*[[Template:NibleyWiki]]
*[[Template:NibleyFAIR]]
*[[Template:NibleyLinks]]
*[[Template:NibleyPrint]]

===Other subjects===

*[[Template:CultureAttitudeWiki]] - list of cultural attitudes

====Accusations of dishonesty templates====

*[[Template:LyingWiki]]
*[[Template:LyingFAIR]]
*[[Template:LyingLinks]]
*[[Template:LyingPrint]]

====Statistics====

*[[Template:StatsWiki]]
*[[Template:StatsFAIR]]
*[[Template:StatsLinks]]
*[[Template:StatsPrint]]

===Quote mining templates===

*[[Template:Quotemininglist]] - lists of lies, distortions, textual manipulation, etc.

===Specific author templates===

*[[Template:AuthorsDisclaimer]] - explanatory note at the head of pages on specific authors
*[[Template:SpecificAuthorsList]] - list of specific authors

===Temple templates===

*[[Template:TempleWiki]]
*[[Template:TempleFAIR]]
*[[Template:TempleLinks]]
*[[Template:TemplePrint]]

====Freemasonry templates====

*[[Template:MasonryWiki]]
*[[Template:MasonryFAIR]]
*[[Template:MasonryLinks]]
*[[Template:MasonryPrint]]

===Word of Wisdom templates===

*[[Template:WoWWiki]]
*[[Template:WoWFAIR]]
*[[Template:WoWLinks]]
*[[Template:WoWPrint]]

==Footnote / Endnote templates==
These templates are used to create automatic endnotes.

*[[Template:Footnote boilerplate]] - shows no text, but if edited will see that it is commented text.
*[[Template:Note]] - used for text of automatic endnotes
*[[Template:Ref]] - used for text of automatic superscript links to endnotes

==Website and Hotlink Templates==

===Church LDS.org website===

;[[Template:lds]] : links to lds.org website<br>
''Format'': <nowiki> {{lds|topic=Marriage|url=http://etc. }} </nowiki>

Appears like this:
{{lds|topic=Challenges in Marriage|url=http://www.lds.org/topics/0,8170,1569-1-98,00.html}}

==="Edit Me"===

;[[Template:editme]] : FAIR website link<br>
''Format'': <nowiki> {{editme| url=PageName|before=TextBefore|after=TextAfter }} </nowiki>

''Note:''Use this at the top of templates to insert a small graphic for editors to click if they wish to edit the template list. The URL should be the page NAME that appears when one clicks "edit" the page which the link should edit.

Example of its use: [[Template:ArticleMasterLists]]
(For this example page, the url is <nowiki>Template:ArticleMasterLists</nowiki>)

So,
<nowiki>{{editme|url=FAIRWiki:Table_of_contents|before=This text is before the graphic|after='''This bold text is after the graphic'''}}</nowiki>

Gives the following output:

{{editme|url=FAIRWiki:Table_of_contents|before=This text is before the graphic|after='''This bold text is after the graphic'''}}

Note that if you do not want text before (and/or after), you must STILL include the before= and after= arguments, but leave them blank. So, to make a link to Table of Contents with no writing beside the icon, use:
<nowiki>{{editme|url=FAIRWiki:Table_of_contents|before=|after=}}</nowiki>

Which gives:

{{editme|url=FAIRWiki:Table_of_contents|before=|after=}}

If you don't include the blank before=|after=, then you get this:

{{editme|url=FAIRWiki:Table_of_contents}}

...which is ugly. :-)

===FAIR Topical Guide===

;[[Template:Tg]] : links to the topical guide; puts in "FAIR Topical Guide:" text for you<br>
''Format'': <nowiki> {{Tg|topic=Grace|url=http://etc. }} </nowiki>

Appears like this:
{{Tg|topic=Grace|url=http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai054.html}}

===FAIR Website===

;[[Template:fairlink]] : FAIR website link<br>
''Format'': <nowiki> {{fairlink| url=http://etc. }} </nowiki>

===GospeLink===
;[[Template:GL]] : GospeLink<br>
''Format'': <nowiki> {{GL | url=http://etc. }} </nowiki>

;[[Template:GL1]] : GospeLink - indicates that link is to a specific chapter, to distinguish from more generic links to the table of contents. Optional, but sometimes useful. (Compare link and link1 templates below.)<br>
''Format'': <nowiki> {{GL1| url=http://etc. }} </nowiki>

===Journal of Discourses===

* [[Template:JDQuickJump]] - gives hotlinks to each J of D table of contents.

===Off site HTML link===
;[[Template:link]]: Link to off-site webpage
''Format'': <nowiki> {{link|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>

;[[Template:link1]]: Link to off-site webpage; marks it as a "direct" link to the specific citation (compare GL1 and GL)
''Format'': <nowiki> {{link|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>

===Off site MP3 or other audio link===
;[[Template:mp3link]]: Link to off-site digital audio file (mp3, etc.)
''Format'': <nowiki> {{mp3link|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>

===Off site PDF===
;[[Template:pdflink]]: Link to off-site PDF file
''Format'': <nowiki> {{pdflink|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>

===wikilink===
;[[Template:wikilink]]: Link to off-site PDF file
''Format'': <nowiki> {{wikilink|url=http://etc.}}</nowiki>

Links can be made to the wiki by enclosing the title name in two square brackets, of course.

<nowiki>[[name of title here]]</nowiki>

This template allows a small link to the wiki, which can keep things from being too cluttered. The title of each article does NOT appear for the user.

Example:

<nowiki> {{wikilink|url=Bible basics}} </nowiki>

Gives a link like this: {{wikilink|url=Bible basics}}

Example of its use on a wikipage: [[First_Vision_accounts#Specific_First_Vision_Issues|here]].

==Special templates==

===Click===

This template creates a clickable graphic image to use as a link. It is used, for instance, by the "editme" template.

;[[Template:Click]]:
''Format'': <nowiki> {{Click|url=PageName|width=Xpx|height=Ypx|image=Wiki.jpg|Title=NAME}}</nowiki>

Where
:url=LOCAL pagename. This does not work for http:// style links outside the Wiki.
:X=pixel width of image (to max of 100 px; can exceed size of your graphic, but not be less than it)
:Y=pixel hegiht of image (as above)
:image=name of graphic to use as link
:title=Name of link

Predefinição:CTBoM43 1

2007-02-16T23:28:05Z

MikeParker: Create

Royal Skousen (editor), ''Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon'' [Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Vol. 4, Part 3: Mosiah 17–Alma 20] (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2006), {{{start}}}. ISBN 093489311X.

Predefinição:BoMWitnessesWiki

2007-02-16T23:11:17Z

MikeParker: What's up with the weird double-indented bullets?

{{editme|url=Template:BoMWitnessesWiki|before=|after='''''Book of Mormon witnesses wiki articles'''''}}
* [[Book of Mormon witnesses]] <small>(Summary page)</small>
* [[Book of Mormon witnesses:Hypnotism|"Mass hypnosis" of the witnesses?]]
'''The Three Witnesses'''
* [[Book of Mormon witnesses:Character|Character and mental stability of witnesses]]
* [[Book of Mormon witnesses:Recant|Faithfulness of witnesses to testimony]]
* [[Book of Mormon witnesses:Spiritual or literal|Literal nature of witness experience]]
* [[Book of Mormon witnesses:Strangite parallels|Strangite parallels for witnesses?]]
* [[David_Whitmer_told_to_leave|David Whitmer told to leave the Church?]]
'''The Eight Witnesses'''
* [[Book of Mormon witnesses:Eight witnesses|Eight witnesses]]
'''Other Witnesses'''
* [[Book of Mormon witnesses:Other Book of Mormon witnesses|Other witnesses]]{{nw}}

Predefinição:BoMPortal

2007-02-16T22:58:06Z

MikeParker: Add 'Textual changes'; hide 'Forthcoming' (why is that here?)

{| style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 1em; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa;" align="right" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%" | FAIRwiki portal
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; padding: 0 5px 0 5px" | [[Template:BoMPortal|Book of Mormon]]
|-
| style="text-align: center; padding: 7px 0 7px 0;" | [[Image:GoldPlates1.jpg]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FAIRwiki articles
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" |[http://www.fairwiki.org/index.php?title=Special:Whatlinkshere&target=Template%3ABoMPortal All portal articles]<br>
[[Book of Mormon basics|Basics]]•[[Template:BoMWiki|Wiki]]<br>
[[Book of Mormon and the fulness of the gospel|Gospel fulness]]<br>
[[Book of Mormon as the most correct book|Most correct book]]<br>
[[Plain and Precious Book of Mormon doctrines|Plain doctrines]]
----
{{BoMBiblePortal}}
----
[[Book of Mormon textual changes|Textual changes]]<br>
[[Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms|Anachronisms?]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FAIR web site
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai105.html Topical guide]
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Template:BoMFAIR|Articles]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FARMS web site
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [http://googlemini.farmsresearch.com/search?q=book+of+mormon&btnG=Search&ie=&site=my_collection&output=xml_no_dtd&client=my_collection&lr=&proxystylesheet=my_collection&oe= Articles]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | Additional reading
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" |[[Template:BoMLinks|On-line]] • [[Template:BoMPrint|Print]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | Other portals
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Template:DNAPortal|DNA]]<br>[[Template:GeographyPortal|Geography]]<br>[[Template:BiblePortal|Holy Bible]]<br>[[Template:JosephSmithPortal|Joseph Smith, Jr.]]<br>[[Template:BoMWitnessPortal|Witnesses]]
|}

Predefinição:BoMWiki

2007-02-16T22:52:39Z

MikeParker: Added links to individual articles on BofM changes

{{editme|url=Template:BoMWiki|before=|after='''''Book of Mormon wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Book of Mormon basics]]
*[[Book of Mormon and the fulness of the gospel]]
*[[Book of Mormon as the most correct book]]
*[[Book of Mormon textual changes]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: "the Son of"|"the Son of" added]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: Benjamin or Mosiah?|"Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah"]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: "or out of the waters of baptism"|"or out of the waters of baptism" added]]
**[[Book of Mormon textual changes: white or pure?|"white" changed to "pure"]]
*[[Plain and Precious Book of Mormon doctrines]]{{NB}}
{{BoMFooterWiki}}

Predefinição:ProphecyWiki

2007-02-03T20:43:07Z

MikeParker: Spell check

{{editme|url=Template:ProphecyWiki|before=|after='''''Prophecy wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Joseph Smith prophesies|Joseph Smith prophecies]]
**[[Independence temple to be built "in this generation"]]
**[[Fallibility of prophets|Prophetic inerrancy?]]
**[[Joseph Smith and prophetic test in Deuteronomy 18|Prophetic test in Deuteronomy]]
**[[Joseph Smith prophesied the Second Coming to be in 1890|Second Coming in 1890 (56 years)]]
*[[Prophets don't prophesy|LDS prophets don't prophesy?]]
*[[Revelation after Joseph Smith]]{{nw}}

Predefinição:TempleWiki

2007-02-02T07:20:21Z

MikeParker: Add Penalties in the endowment

{{editme|url=Template:TempleWiki|before=|after='''''Wiki temple articles'''''}}
*[[Adam-God and the "Lecture at the Veil"]]
*[[Baptism for the dead]]{{nw}}
*[[Do temples always face east|Do LDS temples always face east?]]
*[[Book of Mormon anachronisms:Temple in New World|Mosaic temple in the New World?]]{{nw}}
*[[Oath of vengeance]]
*[[Penalties in the endowment]]
*[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple]]
*[[Temple endowment and Freemasonry]]
**[[Temple endowment and Freemasonry:All Seeing Eye|All Seeing Eye]]
*[[Temple endowment changes]]
*[[Temple obsolete after Christ]]

Predefinição:TemplePortal

2007-02-02T04:25:48Z

MikeParker: Add Penalties in the endowment; shorten, reorganize section

{| style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 1em; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa;" align="right" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%" | FAIRwiki portal
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; padding: 0 5px 0 5px" | [[Template:TemplePortal|Temples]]
|-
| style="text-align: center; padding: 7px 0 7px 0;" | [[Image:NauvooTemple modern mini.JPG]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FAIRwiki
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" |[http://www.fairwiki.org/index.php?title=Special:Whatlinkshere&target=Template%3ATemplePortal All portal articles]<br>
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Do temples always face east|Always face east?]]<br>[[Baptism for the dead]]<br>[[Elias_and_Elijah_at_the_Kirtland_Temple|Elias vs Elijah?]]<br>[[Temple obsolete after Christ|Obsolete after Christ?]]
----
[[Temple endowment changes|Changes to endowment]]<br>[[Penalties in the endowment|Penalties]]<br>[[Oath of vengeance]]<br>[[Adam-God and the "Lecture at the Veil"|"Lecture at the Veil"]]
----
[[Temple endowment and Freemasonry|Relation to Freemasonry?]]<br>[[Symbols on the Nauvoo Temple|Nauvoo temple symbols]]<br>[[Temple endowment and Freemasonry:All Seeing Eye|All Seeing Eye]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FAIR web site
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai127.html Topical guide]• [[Template:TempleFAIR|Articles]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | FARMS web site
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [Pending]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | Additional reading
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Template:TempleLinks|Online]] • [[Template:TemplePrint|In print]]
|-
! style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;" | Other portals
|-
| nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;" | [[Template:EarlyChristianityPortal|Early Christianity]]<br>[[Template:JosephSmithPortal|Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
|}

Predefinição:StatsWiki

2006-12-05T04:42:38Z

MikeParker: Remove {{nw}} from LDS_use_of_antidepressants

{{editme|url=Template:StatsWiki|before=|after='''''Statistical issues wiki'''''}}
*[[Bankruptcy rate in Utah]]
*[[LDS_use_of_antidepressants|Antidepressant use among Mormons]]
*[[Suicide rate among Mormons]]{{nw}}

Predefinição:LyingWiki

2006-11-14T05:06:16Z

MikeParker: Replace underscores with spaces (still works)

{{editme|url=Template:LyingWiki|before=|after='''''Accusations of dishonesty wiki articles'''''}}
*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history|"Censorship" and "revision" of LDS history?]]{{nw}}
*[[Cognitive dissonance]]
*[[Excommunication of scholars]]{{nw}}
*[[Authorship_of_History_of_the_Church|History of the Church—authorship?]]
*[[Hypocrisy in Church Practices]]
*[[Lying for the Lord%3F]]
*[[Paid clergy]]