Voices From the Dust

Description

Paul the Apostle would write, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty 1 Corinthians 1:27. Perhaps never more was that true than in the case of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma said,

Joseph Smith could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter; let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon. And though I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates, and had cognizance of things as they transpired, it is marvelous to me, ‘a marvel and a wonder’ as much so as to anyone else

She along with others sat and watched the Book of Mormon come forth from Joseph’s dictation. They knew him and knew what he was saying and without doubt knew that the Book of Mormon came from God. It could not have come from Joseph. David Whitmer added the following from what he witnessed for himself. “Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat and put his face in the hat, drawing it close 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.”

Joseph Knight Sr. was also a witness to the translation process and recorded this in his history.

“He put the Urim and Thummim into his hat and darkened his eyes. A sentence would appear in bright Roman letters, then he would tell the writer and he would write it. And then that would go away. And the next sentence would come, and so on. But if it was not spelled right, it would not go away until it was right. And so we see it was marvelous.”

The Book of Mormon to us is marvelous work and a wonder because of what it says and the effect is produces on us, but to that founding generation there was another dimension. They marveled and wondered at the Book and how it came forth. How could an ignorant and unlearned farmer dictate before their very eyes such marvelous words as they heard Joseph speak? They knew the Book was true by the miracle of its production. Emma Smith said,

“I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscript unless he was inspired; for when acting as his scribe, [Joseph] would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him. This was a usual thing for him to do. It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this; and for one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible.”

The Book of Mormon is a miracle—voices of witness from the dust declaring the truth. The voices of Nephi, Samuel, Mormon and others, but also speaking from the dust—Joseph, Emma, David, Martin, Oliver, and so many others—voices from the dust telling us that the Book itself came from God.

Source: The Miracle of the Book of Mormon (DVD) by History of the Saints.