TrendZion

Passages drawn from the sermons and published works that carry this theme forward.

1. 1838·Joseph Smith·Prophet
   62 By this timely aid was I enabled to reach the place of my destination in Pennsylvania; and immediately after my arrival there I commenced copying the characters off the plates. I copied a considerable number of them, and by means of the Urim and Thummim I translated some of them, which I did between the time I arrived at the house of my wife’s father, in the month of December, and the February following.
   Joseph Smith—History — scripturecopy citation
2. 1854·Jedediah M. Grant·Apostle
   Pass on, and look at affairs in the days of Solomon—how uniform that mighty king was in his course, with his seven hundred wives, and a legion of concubines. How uniform he was in his passions and feelings. He was not contented with the fair daughters of Israel, but the queen of Sheba, and the women of nations afar off, captivated this wise king—by whom he was led astray, and desecrated the altars of God, the sanctuaries of Israel, and the Urim and Thummim, by introducing the idolatrous worship of the strange gods of his wives and concubines.
   Uniformity — jodcopy citation
3. 1860·Orson Pratt·Apostle
   Joseph Smith, jun., could not be deceived himself; for it was by an angel that he was commanded to go to the place where the records were deposited; it was by an angel he was told to take them from the place of their long deposit, together with the Urim and Thummim; and it was by the Urim and Thummim, connected with prayer, that he was enabled to translate the plates into the English language: consequently, he could not be deceived.
   Evidences of the Bible and Book of Mormon Compared — jodcopy citation
4. 1875·Orson Pratt·Apostle
   But it seems that, before the coming of Christ, for some reason, probably through wickedness, the Urim and Thummim were taken away from the children of Israel, and a prophecy was uttered by one of the ancient Prophets, before Christ, that they should be many days without a Priest, without the Urim and Thummim, without the ephod, and without many things that God blessed them with in the days of their righteousness; but that in the latter days God would again restore all his blessings to the people of Israel, including their counselors and their judges as at the first.
   Book of Mormon—Urim and Thummin—Appearance of a Holy Angel in 1829 to Four Persons—Their Testimony to the Truth of the Book of Mormon—Also Eight Other Witnesses—Isaiah’s Prophecy Relates to that Book—Ezekiel’s Prophecy — jodcopy citation
5. 1907·B.H. Roberts·Seventy
   To answer the matter in the above quotation, it is nec- essary to ask : What is the Manual theory of translating the Nephite record? It is a theory based upon the only state- ment made by the Prophet Joseph Smith on the subject, ms., "Through the medium of Urim and Thummim / translated the record by the gift and power of God ;"-y and the Lord's
   Defense of the Faith Vol 1 — apostle_bookcopy citation
6. 1907·B.H. Roberts·Seventy
   Moreover, the theory that the interpreters did the trans- lating, not the seer aided by them, is in conflict with the Lord's description of translation by means of Urim and Thummim ; and if old conceptions respecting the part per- formed by Urim and Thummim are in conflict with God's description of translation, then the sooner we are rid of such conceptions the better.
   Defense of the Faith Vol 1 — apostle_bookcopy citation