Episode 95: The Miraculous Translation of the Book of Mormon (Gerrit Dirkmaat)

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BYU Religious Education

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4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 1 January 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

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Summary

The prophet Ammon declared that “God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles” (Mosiah 8:18). A marvelous work and a wonder during the Restoration was the translation of the Book of Mormon. But how exactly did this translation take place? Why do critics and believers debate various theories? In this episode, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat, associate professor of Church history and doctrine, discusses his book Let’s Talk about the Translation of the Book of Mormon, coauthored with Dr. Michael Hubbard MacKay. He explains why conflicting theories exist, demystifies the translation process by analyzing witness and scribe accounts, and details the Prophet Joseph’s own depiction of the miraculous translation of the Book of Mormon.

Publications:

Let’s Talk about the Translation of the Book of Mormon (Deseret Book, 2023)

· From Darkness unto Light: Joseph Smith’s Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon (Religious Studies Center, 2015)

· “Firsthand Witness Accounts of the Translation Process” (in The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon, Religious Studies Center, 2015)

· “Joseph Smith’s Negotiations to Publish the Book of Mormon” (in The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon, Religious Studies Center, 2015)

· “Lost Teachings of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and Other Church Leaders” (in The Council of Fifty, Religious Studies Center, 2017)

Click here to learn more about Professor Gerrit Dirkmaat

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before being called to the Korm of the 12, Elder David A Bednar was a university professor.
0:05.9	While working as a professor, he and a colleague wrote a textbook together.
0:10.7	On one occasion, he shared how writing this book deepened his understanding of how Joseph Smith could not have written the Book of Mormon.
0:18.0	He said, one of the books I authored with a colleague is 650 pages long, contains 17 chapters and took
0:26.8	us two years to write.
0:29.0	The colleague with whom I wrote this book also as a PhD, which means that we have more than 16 years of formal higher
0:35.8	education between the two of us. It is a remarkable experience to receive a box of
0:41.4	these brand new books from the publisher.
0:44.0	I opened up the box and thumbed through one of the books.
0:48.0	As I did so, I looked out the window of my office and asked myself the question,
0:52.0	why did you write this book?
0:54.8	When you really think about it, investing so much time and effort in a project that so quickly
0:59.8	becomes obsolete is rather foolish.
1:03.3	As I was pondering that question, the thought came to me,
1:06.6	because now you know by experience that Joseph Smith could not
1:10.5	have written the Book of Mormon. With eight years of university training, with two years of very dedicated work within
1:17.0	editorial staff, personal computers, spell checkers, and the Thoris is online with the internet and the other resources that are so readily available.
1:25.7	When I picked up the book that I had written and opened it up, I still found mistakes.
1:30.9	And within a matter of 12 months, this book upon which I had worked so hard and so long was obsolete and had to be revised.
1:39.0	Elder Bednar concludes saying,
1:41.0	I know as an author and by personal experience that Joseph Smith could not and did not write the Book of Mormon.
1:50.0	In my own life, the more I've learned about the translation process of the Book of Mormon,
	...

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