Today we know very little pertaining to the specifics of the translation of the Book of Mormon. Many have studied this subject deeply and we seem to still not have a better idea. Some claim it was a word for word translation from the Reformed Eqyptian, while others claim it must have been an idea for idea translation instead. To be clear, I do hold the Book of Mormon as scripture and the word of God. However, we do have to admit that we know very little about the book itself.
Translation
Before I look at the translation, I first want to mention that this is not an attack piece on Joseph or the Book of Mormon. I hold Joseph as a prophet with a unique connection to God. I also hold the Book of Mormon as scripture and genuinely find Christ in its pages. I read it daily, personally and with my family. However, the more that I read it, the more I understand the deviations from it and the LDS church. If I could stress one thing, then it would be that the Book of Mormon is not the LDS church. You can be a Mormon without belonging to the Salt Lake church.
As far as the translation of the Book of Mormon is concerned though, we do have very little information about how the translation itself happened. Certainly, almost none directly from Joseph. From several contemporary accounts we do know that Joseph used a seer stone in a hat to receive the wording of the Book of Mormon. However, for the specifics we don’t have much else. Some accounts are vague, and some are very specific considering the wording given to Joseph. For instance, David Whitmer wrote a book, An Address to All Believers in Christ, in 1887 which mentioned that Joseph was given a word-by-word translation. His statement reads:
Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely 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.
David Whitmer – An Address to All Believers in Christ
In this account, David Whitmer claims Joseph would visualize a piece of paper which contained the character from the plates along with the wording for the piece of text in English. This would support the idea that the text was given to Joseph literally word for word exactly as God wanted it. In another account, published in the 1882 edition of the Latter-Day Saints’ Millennial Star, Edward Stevenson mentioned that Joseph saw the text directly and then this is what he would read aloud. The account reads:
By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin and when finished he would say “Written,” and if correctly written that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used.
Edward Stevenson – February 6th, 1882
This account largely agrees with the account from David Whitmer in that Joseph received the language of the Book of Mormon directly from God. In this account though it is mentioned that no deviations could occur because the translation could not continue if it wasn’t written correctly. The issue with this concept is that we have the original manuscript from the Book of Mormon, and it seems to directly contradict this statement.
For instance, the original manuscript includes frequent misspellings and crossed out words which indicates errors and changes. Many concepts are also incomplete with a huge number of abbreviated words or phrases. This would certainly imply that there was not a formal check before moving on to the next sentence as Stevenson seems to suggest.
Parallels
In looking at the actual translation of the Book of Mormon, then it is not entirely clear whether Joseph was given a direct word for word translation of the Reformed Eqyptian, or whether he was given an idea that he then used his personal experience to fill in with the actual text. As mentioned, those that have deeply studied this subject seem to disagree and take whatever side of the argument that suits their conclusion at the time. Maybe some parts are word-for-word, and some are Joseph’s words through the idea Mormon was trying to convey. It is really impossible to know until God or Joseph tells us how it was done.
It does seem to make sense to me that if I was communicating with someone else when they couldn’t understand my language, then I would use an idea-based communication mechanism. This would let them pick the specific wording however it would still be my own ideas. This would imply then a partnership between God and Joseph instead of Joseph just being a passthrough for the text itself.
We can see this partnership concept in several cases in the Bible and Book of Mormon. For instance, we see several cases of people being filled with the spirit and then putting this feeling into their own words. This feeling into literal words then becomes scriptures to us today. We even see this in the first chapter of the Book of Mormon itself. Lehi is filled with the spirit, because of a vision he had, and then he put these thoughts and ideas into his own words by speaking about it. This was then written down and we have it today.
This partnership between God and man is what makes scripture uniquely divine and uniquely a work of the author. This partnership concept can help us understand many aspects of scripture. However, for the translation of the Book of Mormon itself we still don’t have much information as to how it specifically happened. We simply know that God used Joseph to bring the book forth.
However, we really don’t know much beyond that. Was Joseph a pass through? Was Joseph an interactive participant? We don’t know at all. If Joseph was an interactive participant, then this would help explain the huge number of parallels that exist between the Book of Mormon and contemporary works which were easily available to Joseph Smith. These parallels should not be alarming to us today. However, we should seek to understand their meaning. Are they by mere chance or is there a deeper meaning concerning a prophet’s interactions with God?
Parallels are sometimes inevitable when writing a story and they aren’t necessarily a problem. However, the amount and closeness of the parallels certainly increases the likelihood of an earlier work being a source of inspiration. It is this amount and closeness which we really need to judge when analyzing literary works like this. Some acknowledge the parallels and then discount them because there are deviations as well. Certainly, unless two works are exact matches then there is going to be deviations as well. These deviations are not important, but the parallels are. Simply, the more parallels there are, and the closeness of them, strengthens the argument that one was a source text for the other.
Again, I want to stress for what feels like the 1000th time. This is not an attack on Joseph or the Book of Mormon. This is simply an interesting observation which I think requires more study. We don’t really understand the specifics of how God works with humans to produce what we call scriptures. We likely never will until God tells us directly or we experience it ourselves. God very often works in ways that we don’t understand until after the fact. This results in a beautiful partnership between God and man which we can see in our own lives and the lives of those in the scriptures, which includes the Book of Mormon.
Pilgrim’s Progress
One of the contemporary works which shares a number of parallels with the Book of Mormon is Pilgrim’s Progress which was first published in 1678 and written by the prolific writer, John Bunyan. The work was very popular and reprinted a number of times in several different languages. The book itself is divided into two parts and details the long and arduous journey from the “City of Destruction” to the “Celestial City” which always seems to be in the distance. It has been regarded by many as the most significant work of theological fiction in the English language. Therefore, it would be safe to assume that most people of Joseph’s time would have been well acquainted with the work.
To be fair, there are several aspects of Pilgrim’s Progress that have no direct correlation to anything similar in the Book of Mormon. However, there are other things that seem to have a direct one to one correlation between the two. The Book of Mormon is also a much larger work than Pilgrim’s Progress itself. It may be the case that Joseph simply used a number of different works as literary inspiration. However, just because a work may have been used as inspiration doesn’t mean that every element of it needs to be represented in the other work as well. Inspiration means taking ideas from, it doesn’t mean copying literally.
This parallel between Pilgrim’s Progress and the Book of Mormon was also raised in 1834 during the printing of the antagonistic work, Mormonism Unvailed, by Eber Howe. Mormonism Unvailed asked the question as to why names and thematic elements should match so closely between the two works and John Bunyan’s works in general. The connection between John Bunyan’s works overall and the Book of Mormon seems to be staggering according to Dr. William L. Davis who has studied this question. In his look into this subject, he says:
Smith’s text reveals an active, creative engagement with the stories; even as Bunyan pulled from multiple sources to construct his unique narrative formulations, so too did Smith absorb and rework these narrative templates into new configurations, but even in such instances, Smith’s forms nevertheless remain indebted to Bunyan. … The parallel narratives are ubiquitous and systemic, appearing with sustained consistency throughout the entire narrative of the Book of Mormon. Indeed, reading the Book of Mormon is tantamount to reading John Bunyan’s many works condensed into a single volume.
William L. Davis – Hiding in Plain Sight: The Origins of the Book of Mormon
We can look at one specific example of this correlation between Pilgrim’s Progress and the Book of Mormon to get a better understanding of how they seemingly relate to each other. Pilgrim’s Progress describes a man named Faithful, who enters a city, teaches against the leaders, participates in a mock trial, and then is put to death. However, there is another character that witnesses this and then flees the city in order to start a new religious group. This new character then becomes pivotal to the story.
Interestingly this story matches the Book of Mormon story of Abinadi and Alma in 14 distinct ways. In the Book of Mormon this story begins in Alma 12 and changes the entire course of the rest of the book. Interestingly, this story in Pilgrim’s Progress also describes a narrative that changes the entire course of that book as well. The matching parallels between the two accounts are described as follows:
| Count | Book of Mormon | Pilgrim’s Progress |
| 1 | Abinadi enters the wicked city of Lehi-Nephi and is bound and thrown into prison | Faithful enters the wicked city Vanity Fair and is bound and thrown into prison |
| 2 | The town leader assembles a group to examine Abinadi | The town leader assembles a group to examine Faithful |
| 3 | Abinadi is “brought before” the leaders and put on trial | Faithful is “brought before” the leaders and put on trial |
| 4 | The leaders accuse Abinadi of being “mad” | The leaders accuse Faithful of being a “madman” |
| 5 | The leaders accuse Abinadi of stirring up contention among the people | The leaders accuse Faithful of stirring up contention among the people |
| 6 | The leaders accuse Abinadi of slandering the town leaders | The leaders accuse Faithful of slandering the town leaders |
| 7 | Abinadi speaks “boldly” in his own defense, without effect | Faithful speaks “boldly” in his own defense, without effect |
| 8 | Town leader condemns Abinadi and decrees that he will be “slain” and “put to death” | Trial leader condemns Faithful and decrees that he will be “slain” and “put to […] death” |
| 9 | Abinadi is “scourged” | Faithful is “scourged” |
| 10 | Abinadi is burned to death | Faithful is burned to death |
| 11 | Abinadi “seals” his “testimony” with his “blood” | Faithful “seals” his “testimony” with his “blood” |
| 12 | Abinadi’s teaching and martyrdom converts a witness, named Alma. Alma flees the city and becomes a significant part of the narrative | Faithful’s teaching and martyrdom converts a witness, named Hopeful. Hopeful flees the city and becomes a significant part of the narrative. |
| 13 | Many converts flee the city to join with Alma | Many converts flee the city to join with Hopeful |
| 14 | Converts join Alma by “entering into” a “covenant” to follow Christ | Converts join Hopeful by “entering into” a “covenant” to follow Christ |
As we can see here with the 14 exact thematic elements between both stories, then it certainly seems that the widely distributed Pilgrim’s Progress played a role in the creation of the Abinadi story as well as some of the overall themes of the Book of Mormon itself. This is not to suggest that Joseph copied Pilgrim’s progress or anything to that magnitude.
However, it certainly seems to suggest that Pilgrim’s Progress had to have been an inspiration in this case and other cases. If I was writing a story and it shared significant overlap in parts with another popular story, then wouldn’t it be a natural assumption to suggest that maybe the earlier story was an inspiration for my story?
For some that think parallels are inevitable in different works, then how many parallels are needed before you would claim a link? 20? 30? 50? If 30 parallels are required, then 29 parallels signify no correlation between the two works and 30 parallels do? Again, I hold the Book of Mormon as scripture and the word of God. However, these parallels are remarkable and shouldn’t just be assumed to be random chance.
View of the Hebrews
Another source of extensive parallels with the Book of Mormon is an 1823 book by Pastor Ethan Smith titled, View of the Hebrews. Interestingly, Oliver Cowdrey was likely a member of Ethan Smith’s congregation, in the small town of Pultney, Vermont, while he was writing View of the Hebrews. It is hard to tell with specifics, however Oliver Cowdrey’s family were recorded members and while Oliver was living with them, he would have likely attended as well.
Ethan Smith’s book describes a group of Israelites that flee the old world due to religious persecution. Over the course of a long sea journey, they eventually land in America. Once in America the group breaks into two factions which simplifies to a civilized group and an uncivilized one. There are many wars between the groups. The civilized group quotes extensively from Isaiah and other scripture and looks forward to a time of restoration.
Eventually the civilized group changes their government from a monarchy to a republic and enjoys bouts of peace and war. The Messiah visits the people and describes his gospel which ushers in a time of peace. The civilized group is eventually overpowered by the uncivilized one. A record is preserved and buried for future generations. This uncivilized group engages in atrocities and becomes the Native Americans we know today.
As anyone who had read the Book of Mormon knows, this sounds exactly like the story we find there. It actually shares a remarkable number of similarities and is hard to overlook. Again, no one is suggesting that Joseph copied it directly. However, with the vast number of parallels then it certainly becomes a point of significant interest when studying the translation of the text. It is also possible that for whatever reason, Ethan Smith was also inspired to write his text. It is fundamentally impossible to say either way.
This significant correlation didn’t go entirely unnoticed by the leaders of the LDS church. In 1922, B.H. Roberts, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy was asked to study the View of the Hebrews and report back to the church leaders. Over the course of several years, he undertook his study and reached the conclusion that the parallels between the Book of Mormon and View of the Hebrews were too numerous to overlook. In addition, according to his research various aspects of the Book of Mormon seemed to be non-historical and likely the creation of Joseph Smith directly.
B.H. Roberts produced a confidential report of his findings, however according to a March 14th, 1932, letter to Elizabeth Skolfield he had difficulty getting an audience with the First Presidency who didn’t seem interested in his studies anymore. His report was never taken seriously by the leadership and languished until 1985 when it was published as Studies of the Book of Mormon. The book is likely the most in-depth analysis of the Book of Mormon every performed and is incredibly detailed. B.H. Roberts is careful to not come to any kind of overall conclusion, however he repeatedly mentioned the parallels were unlikely to be by accident. In his report he mentioned:
Did Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews furnish structural material for Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon? It has been pointed out in these pages that there are many things in the former book that might well have suggested many major things in the other. Not a few things merely, one or two, or half dozen, but many; and it is this fact of many things of similarity and the cumulative force of them that makes them so serious a menace to Joseph Smith’s story of the Book of Mormon’s origin.
B.H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon
In another case B.H. Roberts was analyzing the many internal similarities in the Book of Mormon itself concerning major characters and concluded they could not have been an accident. The similarities across time and space suggested to him, that they were not in fact literal historical people, but were instead creations in order to help the overall narrative. This certainly sounds alarming however it shouldn’t be if the Book of Mormon was a translation of ideas instead of a translation of words. In B.H. Roberts analysis of the major characters in the Book of Mormon, he stated:
I shall hold that what is here presented illustrates sufficiently the matter taken in hand by referring to them, namely that they are all of one breed and brand; so nearly alike that one mind is the author of them, and that a young and undeveloped, but piously inclined mind. The evidence I sorrowfully submit, points to Joseph Smith as their creator. It is difficult to believe that they are the product of history, that they come upon the scene separated by long periods of time, and among a race which was the ancestral race of the red man of America.
B.H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon
In comparing the View of the Hebrews with the Book of Mormon, B.H. Roberts noted 33 distinct similarities between the two texts. Some of the similarities are relatively minor, however others are substantial and numerous. The similarities are also not in a specific order. Roberts described the similarities as follows:
| Count | Book of Mormon | View of the Hebrews |
| 1 | Published in 1830 | Published in 1823 |
| 2 | Oliver Cowdrey lived in Pultney, Vermont and was likely a member of Ethan Smith’s congregation as his family were already | Written in Pultney, Vermont by Ethan Smith |
| 3 | Record begins with the theme of the destruction of Jerusalem | Record begins with the destruction of Jerusalem |
| 4 | Describes the American Indians as being Jewish descendants | Describes the American Indians as being Jewish descendants |
| 5 | Overall theme is the gathering of Israel “in the last days” | Overall theme is the gathering of Israel “in the last days” |
| 6 | Describes a future gathering of Israel and the restoration of the Ten Tribes | Describes a future gathering of Israel and the restoration of the Ten Tribes |
| 7 | Extensively quotes from Isaiah including entire chapters | Extensively quotes from Isaiah including entire chapters |
| 8 | Describes the Gentiles of America as nursing fathers and mothers of Israel in the New World and as their latter-day savior | Describes the Gentiles of America as nursing fathers and mothers of Israel in the New World and as their latter-day savior |
| 9 | Describes a group of people who left the Old World to settle in the New World, “that quarter where there never had man been” | Describes a group of people who left the Old World to settle in the New World where “never man dwelt” |
| 10 | Describes a group of people that flee northward for religious reasons, to a valley and great river and encounter “seas” of “many waters” over a long journey | Describes a group of people that flee northward for religious reasons, to a valley and great river and encounter “seas” of “many waters” over a long journey |
| 11 | Ether records this great exodus | Ethan records this great exodus |
| 12 | Describes a group of people landing in the New World and separating into two groups. An industrious group and a wild and indolent group | Describes a group of people landing in the New World and separating into two groups. An industrious group and a wild and indolent group |
| 13 | Industrious and indolent group have long drawn-out battles over a lengthy time span | Industrious and indolent group have long drawn-out battles over a lengthy time span |
| 14 | Indolent group exterminates the industrious group through the many battles and leaves vast ruins | Indolent group exterminates the industrious group through the many battles and leaves vast ruins |
| 15 | Industrious group are experts in language, metal smithing, and sea navigation | Industrious group are experts in language, metal smithing, and sea navigation |
| 16 | Describes how all people brought to America (after Jaredites, Hebrew didn’t exist then) were Hebrew in origin | Describes how all people brought to America were Hebrew in origin |
| 17 | Describes the source language of the American inhabitants to be Hebrew | Describes the source language of the American inhabitants to be Hebrew |
| 18 | Describes the ancient Americans as using a language composed of hieroglyphics called reformed Egyptian which originated from Egypt | Describes the ancient Americans as using a language composed of hieroglyphics that “had been transmitted from Egypt, its original source” |
| 19 | Describes how the people covered the entire American continent | Describes how the people covered the entire American continent |
| 20 | Joseph Smith described finding a breast plate with two attachments which he described as a Urim and Thummim. | Ethan Smith described finding a breast plate with two white attachments, “in imitation of the precious stones of the Urim” |
| 21 | Describes the indolent people as engaging in idolatry and human sacrifice | Describes the indolent people as engaging in idolatry and human sacrifice |
| 22 | Teaches in favor of generosity to the poor and the denunciation of pride | Teaches in favor of generosity to the poor and the denunciation of pride |
| 23 | Teaches against polygamy | Teaches against polygamy |
| 24 | Describes the Book of Mormon itself being given to the Indians and more records to be given and the promise of its restoration to the Indians when they correctly worship the Great Spirit (God) | Describes Indian traditions of a “Lost Book of God” and the promise of its restoration to the Indians when they correctly worship the Great Spirit (God) |
| 25 | The source sacred book was buried by Moroni (a high priest?) who was the last of the sacred tradition of his people | The source sacred book was buried with a “high priest” who was the “keeper of the sacred tradition”. |
| 26 | Describes extensive military fortifications over a wide area including watch towers for defense | Describes extensive military fortifications over a wide area including watch towers for defense |
| 27 | Describes sacred spaces or high places of worship devoted to true worship | Describes sacred spaces or “high places” devoted to true worship |
| 28 | Civilized people decide to change their government from a monarchy to a republic | Civilized people decide to change their government from a monarchy to a republic |
| 29 | Describes a group of people with seers and prophets who can foretell the future as long as the people obeyed God and his sacred laws. They passed along sacred records to their descendants. | Describes a group of people with seers and prophets who can foretell the future as long as the people “obeyed the sacred laws annexed to it”. They passed along sacred records to their descendants. |
| 30 | In republic, civil and ecclesiastical power is concentrated in a single person | In republic, civil and ecclesiastical power is concentrated in a single person |
| 31 | Teaches about the need for opposition in all things. Good vs bad, life vs death. | Teaches about the need for opposition in all things. Good vs bad, life vs death. |
| 32 | Teaches that the true gospel was taught among the ancient Americans | Teaches that the true gospel was taught among the ancient Americans |
| 33 | Describes the Messiah (Christ) visiting the people and teaching truth. His reign ushered in an unparalleled time of peace. | Describes the Messiah (Quetzalcoatl) visiting the people and teaching truth. His reign ushered in an unparalleled time of peace. |
This list of parallels is extensive to say the least. The parallels are actually so vast and deep that it is very hard to imagine they were the result of mere chance. The parallels also involve entire thematic elements involving key figures, places and events across the entire work. Certainly, they differ in key areas. However, this doesn’t mean that View of the Hebrews couldn’t have been an inspiration for the Book of Mormon or used by Joseph in some regard. If they are not identical, which they are not, then they necessarily must differ in some way. This difference shouldn’t be used as an argument to say there is no link between them at all.
Of course, there are also some viable explanations that don’t involve the View of the Hebrews as a source text for the Book of Mormon. However, it does make sense, considering their overall similarity, to suggest that View of the Hebrews could in fact be a source text as well and likely was. This is because of its prior publication and publication in the same area as Joseph was living at the time. Oliver with his background would, very likely also have been familiar with Ethan Smith and his new book. This naturally shouldn’t diminish the Book of Mormon or Joseph’s role. However, it certainly should change our understanding of things.
Conclusion
The Book of Mormon may have been given to Joseph word for word using the seer stone. However, based on the extensive parallels with Pilgrim’s Progress and View of the Hebrews this seems highly unlikely. Again, I want to stress that this doesn’t mean the book is not scripture or couldn’t have originated from God. To me, scripture is a divine partnership between a prophet and God. It doesn’t have to be given literally for it to be scripture. Divine ideas can be given and then the prophet fills in the details. Describing anything connected to God with words is going to fundamentally be inadequate.
Whether Nephi existed as a literal person or not, doesn’t change the fact that the struggle of Nephi against an oppressive force is an example to all of us. Whether Enos existed as a literal person or not, doesn’t change the fact that we can approach God in mighty prayer. Whether Abinadi existed as a literal person or not, doesn’t change the fact that his example of courage is pertinent today.
Whether King Benjamin existed as a literal person or not, doesn’t change the fact that he was a leader worthy of our emulation. Whether Captain Moroni existed as a literal person or not, doesn’t change the fact that we can rely on God in our darkest moments. There are so many lessons we can learn from the Book of Mormon which can help us approach God more fully that it seems a little shortsighted to argue over details of a process that Joseph never described.
Joseph may also have used various sources as an inspiration unintentionally. Over the course of my life, I have read stories that have fundamentally reshaped how I have thought of things and how I have seen others. If God impressed in my mind a story of righteous heroic love and devotion, then I would model it after a character that deeply affected me in my childhood. If God impressed in my mind a story of unbridled ambition, then I would model it after a different character that deeply affected me. So many things have fundamentally changed me that if God wanted me to write scriptures, then there would inevitably be parallels with the many things that have changed me.
The Book of Mormon is scripture to me, because it testifies of Christ and is profitable for learning. The Book of Mormon is scripture to me, because there are many examples, I can learn from, where people are yearning for a deeper connection with God. The Book of Mormon is scripture to me, because I can feel the truth of the plain and simple words. I will honestly never be able to verify whether things are 100% historically accurate. However, I can know that I am a better person by studying the words of the Book of Mormon. This is what makes it scripture to me.
