The Small Plates

From time to time you will hear someone say that they would love to have the contents of the 116 pages of manuscript that were lost when Joseph Smith allowed Martin Harris to take them to show to his wife. Of course, we mourn the loss of the writings of a prophet like Mormon. But, it may be that we got exactly what the Lord wanted us to have. Consider these three passages of scripture from Nephi, Mormon and Joseph Smith (the three prophets involved in the first part of the Book of Mormon.

About 30 years after leaving Jerusalem, Nephi created a record of the ministry among his people. Unlike the larger plates that included a more comprehensive history, these plates contained the more sacred portions of Nephi’s experience and teaching. He creates them because he is commanded of the Lord to do so, as described in 1 Nephi 9:

  4 Upon the other plates should be engraven an account of the reign of the kings, and the wars and contentions of my people; wherefore these plates are for the more part of the ministry; and the other plates are for the more part of the reign of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people.
  5 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not.
  6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words.

These plates passed on through Nephi’s family until they were delivered to King Benjamin and then kept with the other records of the Nephite people.

Now, fast forward to Mormon. He was commanded to create an abridgement of the large plates (the more complete historical record of his people). About the time that he got to King Benjamin in his abridgement, he rummaged around in the records and found the small plates of Nephi. This is described in the Words of Mormon:

  3 And now, I speak somewhat concerning that which I have written; for after I had made an abridgment from the plates of Nephi, down to the reign of this king Benjamin, of whom Amaleki spake, I searched among the records which had been delivered into my hands, and I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi.
  4 And the things which are upon these plates pleasing me, because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that many of them have been fulfilled; yea, and I also know that as many things as have been prophesied concerning us down to this day have been fulfilled, and as many as go beyond this day must surely come to pass—
  5 Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record upon them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people.
  6 But behold, I shall take these plates, which contain these prophesyings and revelations, and put them with the remainder of my record, for they are choice unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.
  7 And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.

Having found these small plates of Nephi he discovers that they contain precious prophecies of his people. And, he finds that all of the prophecies up to his time have been fulfilled. Mormon is thrilled to realize how much his distant fathers knew of God’s dealings with his people. So, Mormon decides to include the small plates, verbatim, in his record and to base the rest of his record upon them. As he said in verse 5, he “chose these things, to finish my record upon them.” He seems to say that he will use the rest of his record to, among other things, show the fulfillment of the prophecies of Nephi, Jacob and others, up to Mormon’s day. He does this so that we will have confidence that the rest of their prophecies will be fulfilled.

As with Nephi, Mormon does this for a “wise purpose” that he does not know. But, once again, the Lord makes sure that what He wants us to know is written by Nephi and being included and expanded upon by Mormon.

Now we jump to Joseph Smith’s day. Joseph lost 116 pages of Book of Mormon manuscript. He lost everything up to the time of King Benjamin. But, the Lord has provided the solution. The small plates of Nephi cover the same timeline and they include a more particular account of what the Lord wants us to know. Joseph is taught about this, by the Lord, in D&C 10:

  38 And now, verily I say unto you, that an account of those things that you have written, which have gone out of your hands, is engraven upon the plates of Nephi;
  39 Yea, and you remember it was said in those writings that a more particular account was given of these things upon the plates of Nephi.
  40 And now, because the account which is engraven upon the plates of Nephi is more particular concerning the things which, in my wisdom, I would bring to the knowledge of the people in this account—
  41 Therefore, you shall translate the engravings which are on the plates of Nephi, down even till you come to the reign of king Benjamin, or until you come to that which you have translated, which you have retained;
  42 And behold, you shall publish it as the record of Nephi; and thus I will confound those who have altered my words.

Verse 40 is quite clear. The small plates of Nephi are a better telling of what the Lord wants us to know than were the large plates or Mormon’s abridgement from the large plates.

Nephi wrote what the Lord wanted us to know on the small plates. Mormon found the small plates and completed his record based upon those. Neither knew why this was important, but they were inspired to do what they did. Finally, Joseph was told that this is a better version of what the Lord wanted us to know than what Joseph had lost. I may be wrong, but it appears that the first 116 pages that Joseph translated may have been practice for Mormon as an abridger and practice for Joseph as a translator. And, we have received just what the Lord wants us to know. I am amazed by the power and wisdom of God and grateful for the Book of Mormon.

The Parable of the Diamond

A wonderful parable from Hugh Nibley. This was quoted, with commentary, by Richard L. Bushman in an article about Hugh Nibley and Joseph Smith. The article can be read on the Maxwell Institute web site.

A young man once long ago claimed he had found a large diamond in his field as he was ploughing. He put the stone on display to the public free of charge, and everyone took sides. A psychologist showed, by citing some famous case studies, that the young man was suffering from a well-known form of delusion. An historian showed that other men have also claimed to have found diamonds in fields and been deceived. A geologist proved that there were no diamonds in the area but only quartz: the young man had been fooled by a quartz. When asked to inspect the stone itself, the geologist declined with a weary, tolerant smile and a kindly shake of the head. An English professor showed that the young man in describing his stone used the very same language that others had used in describing uncut diamonds: he was, therefore, simply speaking the common language of his time. A sociologist showed that only three out of 177 florists' assistants in four major cities believed the stone was genuine. A clergyman wrote a book to show that it was not the young man but someone else who had found the stone. 

Finally an indigent jeweler named Snite pointed out that since the stone was still available for examination the answer to the question of whether it was a diamond or not had absolutely nothing to do with who found it, or whether the finder was honest or sane, or who believed him, or whether he would know a diamond from a brick, or whether diamonds had ever been found in fields, or whether people had ever been fooled by quartz or glass, but was to be answered simply and solely by putting the stone to certain well-known tests for diamonds. Experts on diamonds were called in. Some of them declared it genuine. The others made nervous jokes about it and declared that they could not very well jeopardize their dignity and reputations by appearing to take the thing too seriously. To hide the bad impression thus made, someone came out with the theory that the stone was really a synthetic diamond, very skilfully made, but a fake just the same. The objection to this is that the production of a good synthetic diamond 120 years ago would have been an even more remarkable feat than the finding of a real one.

To know if the Book of Mormon is from God, read it and find out for yourself. You will learn more about Joseph Smith's prophetic work through the Book of Mormon, than by focusing on Joseph directly.

Source of the parable: Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert; The World of the Jaredites; There Were Jaredites (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1988), 121—22.