 Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon was “the most correct of any Book on earth & the keystone of our religion & a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other Book.” 1 The Book of Mormon came into the world through a series of miraculous events. Much can be known about the coming forth of the English text of the Book of Mormon through a careful study of statements made by Joseph Smith, his scribes, and others closely associated with the translation of the Book of Mormon. The young man, however, had very little formal education and was incapable of writing a book on his own, let alone translating an ancient book written from an unknown language, known in the Book of Mormon as “reformed Egyptian.”4 Joseph’s wife Emma insisted that, at the time of translation, Joseph “could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter, let alone dictat[e] a book like the Book of Mormon.”5 
 
 Joseph received the plates in September 1827 and the following spring, in Harmony, Pennsylvania, began translating them in earnest, with Emma and his friend Martin Harris serving as his main scribes. For example, it includes errors that suggest the scribe heard words incorrectly rather than misread words copied from another manuscript.9 In addition, some grammatical constructions that are more characteristic of Near Eastern languages than English appear in the original manuscript, suggesting that the base language of the translation was not English.10 
 
 Unlike most dictated drafts, the original manuscript was considered by Joseph Smith to be, in substance, a final product. Oliver Cowdery is known as the primary scribe for the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, but many others took up a quill to assist Joseph during the translation, according to Jensen. One instrument, called in the Book of Mormon the “interpreters,” is better known to Latter-day Saints today as the “Urim and Thummim.” Joseph found the interpreters buried in the hill with the plates.16 Those who saw the interpreters described them as a clear pair of stones bound together with a metal rim. The Book of Mormon referred to this instrument, together with its breastplate, as a device “kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord” and “handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages.”17 
 
 The other instrument, which Joseph Smith discovered in the ground years before he retrieved the gold plates, was a small oval stone, or “seer stone.”18 As a young man during the 1820s, Joseph Smith, like others in his day, used a seer stone to look for lost objects and buried treasure.19 As Joseph grew to understand his prophetic calling, he learned that he could use this stone for the higher purpose of translating scripture.20 
 
 Apparently for convenience, Joseph often translated with the single seer stone rather than the two stones bound together to form the interpreters. In addition to the Urim and Thummim, the Bible mentions other physical instruments used to access God’s power: the rod of Aaron, a brass serpent, holy anointing oils, the Ark of the Covenant, and even dirt from the ground mixed with saliva to heal the eyes of a blind man.23 
 
 The Mechanics of Translation 
 
 In the preface to the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith wrote: “I would inform you that I translated [the book], by the gift and power of God.” When pressed for specifics about the process of translation, Joseph repeated on several occasions that it had been done “by the gift and power of God”24 and once added, “It was not intended to tell the world all the particulars of the coming forth of the book of Mormon.”25 
 
 Nevertheless, the scribes and others who observed the translation left numerous accounts that give insight into the process. Most of the accounts speak of Joseph’s use of the Urim and Thummim (either the interpreters or the seer stone), and many accounts refer to his use of a single stone. The Mormon church... (Associated Press) 
 
 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints historian Steven E. Snow displays the third volume of the Joseph Smith Papers, which includes the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon, during a news... (Associated Press) 
 
 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints historian Steven E. Snow rests his hand on the third volume of the Joseph Smith papers, which includes the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon, during... (Associated Press) 
 
 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints historian Steven E. Snow displays the third volume of the Joseph Smith Papers, which includes the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon, during a news... (Associated Press) 
 
 People look at pictures of the smooth, brown, egg-sized rock shown in the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon following a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, at the Church of Jesus Christ of... (Associated Press) 
 
 A picture of a smooth, brown, egg-sized rock is shown in the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon following a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... (Associated Press) 
 
 People look at pictures of the smooth, brown, egg-sized rock shown in the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon following a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, at the Church of Jesus Christ of... (Associated Press) 
 
 Pictures of smooth, brown, egg-sized rocks are shown in the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon following a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... (Associated Press) 
 
 Pictures of a smooth, brown, egg-sized rock are shown in the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon following a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... (Associated Press) 
 
 Flowers bloom in front of the Salt Lake Temple Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, at Temple Square, in Salt Lake City. Cowdery then painstakingly copied the original manuscript for the printer to set in type. As Joseph dictated the translation to the scribes, he “did not call for punctuation.” Therefore, both the original manuscript and the printer’s manuscript were devoid of it, according to the topic page.
– To most people, it just looks like a smooth, egg-sized rock, but it was part of the founding of the Mormon church and photos of it have now been published for the first time. The images of the "seer stone" that Mormons believe founder Joseph Smith used to translate buried gold plates he said he found in upstate New York 185 years ago were released as part of what the church says is an effort to be more transparent about its past, the AP reports. The photos have been published in a book that also includes pictures of the "printer's manuscript" of the Book of Mormon—a handwritten copy of the original manuscript that was produced by one of Smith's scribes. The book, which Smith said he translated from "reformed Egyptian" with the stone, recounts a visit from Jesus Christ to North America, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. As for the translation, the church has this to say: "Joseph placed ... the seer stone in a hat, pressed his face into the hat to block out extraneous light, and read aloud the English words that appeared on the instrument." It says the translation occurred over three months in 1829 as part of a "a series of miraculous events." Indeed: In March, the Deseret News reported that the church says it takes roughly five years to translate and then produce the Book of Mormon in another language. The church says it is trying to make its history more "tangible" with the release, but Terryl Givens, professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond, tells the AP that the church is also trying to show skeptics it has nothing to hide. "Other churches' origins are concealed by the mist of history. Mormonism is the first world religion in which the origins were exposed to public view, to documentation, to journalists, and newspaper reporting." (Last year, the church admitted that Smith had up to 40 wives.)