We know that ancient cultures had ways to write things down, even if they didn't have paper, or even parchment. They could use wax tablets. They could carve letters in clay. They could carve letters in wood and bark. They could write on rock. They could write on pottery. Instead of ink they could use things like berry juice and animal blood. Why didn't BOM people use any of that, as far as we know? Did they only know how to write on plates?

If the people needed to know what the prophets taught, was there a way to read the teachings? If there was no way to read them, they would have had to commit them to memory. Were plates mass produced? Did each person have his/her own set of scripture plates? Did the leaders hand out scriptures written on wax tablets, etc.?

The BOM makes a big deal about the leaders having plates, as if plates were so expensive that only rich kings could afford them. It talks about handing down plates from one generation to the next, but it says nothing about copying those plates so they would have spare copies if the original was lost. Nobody other than Joseph Smith has found plates, so they must have been very rare indeed.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2022 10:29PM by behindcurtain.

E-mail, silly.

But the Nephites never backed anything up, foolishly.

The BoM translated from the plates contains nothing that is both ancient and scientifically plausible. Joseph Smith made his own dime novel, couldn't sell it, and started a religion based on it.

Could the story of golden plates be true? Sure, maybe. Maybe a pathological liar and horn dog could be telling the truth this one time regarding the most implausible story ever. I'd bet 10% of my income, wouldn't you?

The Nephites had special PDF plates that couldn't be edited unless you paid extra money to Adobe, to unlock the plates. Adobe was the only alternate writing surface. Bake it in the sun. Not great, but it worked. The main problem was that gold plate Adobe would then pester you every other week forever to install updates so they could force you to see their ads during the update.

LDS Inc was so cheap they refused to pay the extra money for edit capability for over a hundred years so they could edit "white and delightsome". They finally had to bite the bullet.

LOL

They are hoping people won't actually read the PDF and they can install oral updates from the pulpit directly into people's minds.
It's always best if the masses don't have access to the computer at all.

Alma 10:2 refers to writing on a temple wall.

Don't forget papyrus, parchment and vellum.

Painting on skins and the ever popular knot writing of south america.

My favorite....writing on human skin.

Funny thing about the Book of Mormon...it's almost like it was written in the 1800s or something.

Have you noticed that the only things explained in it are things that we wouldn't already know?

For example, Nephi talks about how they broke their steel bows and he had to make a new wooden one.
But, he didn't explain what a bow WAS.
How did he know people 2,600 years in the future would still know about bows and arrows?

There's a big explanation of the Nephite currency system, but no explanation of why you need currency in the first place.
How did they know we would still understand capitalism?

There is a whole chapter on grafting fruit trees, assuming we would still be eating fruit that grows on trees.
How would that information be relevant to people who live in tropical areas?
Can you graft a tree that doesn't have branches, like coconut trees or banana trees?

If you were writing something for people that far in the future, how would you decide what to explain?
Would they know what a car was?
Would they know what an iphone was?
Would they understand the concept of medical insurance?

Somehow, the Book of Mormon never accidentally explains things that we already know. It's quite an amazing coincidence.

Precisely!

We'll put...

It's like it was made up 200 years ago TODAY,
Because, it was.

Money needs to be explained because it is so important. Why else would Jesus need 100 billion?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2022 11:08AM by Elder Berry.

Spirit wives.

To answer the OP's question, it's necessary to think about it from the author's (Joseph Smith) perspective. He had limited (zero) knowledge of ancient writing methods and also had to plan for questions about how the ancient records survived over the centuries. He decided to have his BoM written on gold plates and not let anyone see it, except for with their spiritual eyes. Problem solved!