[Footnote A: History of the Church, vol. 1, p. 12.]
[Sidenote: The Book of Mormon was translated by such aids—the Urim and Thummim.]
When the actual work of translation began, the Urim and Thummim were found indispensable, and in various places the statement is made that the translation was made, "by means of the Urim and Thummim."[A] On one occasion, when the Prophet, through the defection of Martin Harris, lost a portion of the manuscript translation the Urim and Thummim were taken from him, and the power of translation ceased. Upon the return of the instruments the work was resumed.[B] While it is very probable that the Prophet was required to place himself in the proper spiritual and mental attitude, before he could use the Urim and Thummim successfully, yet it must also be true that the stones were essential to the work of translation.
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants, 10:1.]
[Footnote B: History of the Church, vol. 1, p. 23.]
[Sidenote: Revelations were received by such aids.]
The Urim and Thummim were not used alone for translation, but most of the early revelations were obtained by their means. Speaking of those days, the Prophet usually says: "I enquired of the Lord through the Urim and Thummim, and obtained the following."[A] The "stones in silver bows" seemed, therefore, to have possessed the general power of converting manifestations of the spiritual world into terms suitable to the understanding of Joseph Smith.
[Footnote A: History of the Church, vol. 1, pp. 33, 36, 45, 49 and 53.]
The doctrine of the use of the Urim and Thummim is in perfect harmony with the established law of modern science, that special media are necessary to bring the unknown world within the range of man's senses. To believers in the Bible, the use of the Urim and Thummim can offer no obstacles, and to those who possess a rational conception of God—that he is the Master of the universe, who works his will by natural means—it cannot be more difficult to believe that God's will may appear through the agency of special "stones in silver bows," than to concede that invisible ether waves, become luminous when they fall upon a piece of uranium glass. The virtue possessed by the latter glass is no more evident than is the virtue claimed by Joseph Smith to be possessed by the Urim and Thummim.
It is a noteworthy fact that the Prophet does not enter into an argument to prove the necessity of the use of the Urim and Thummim. Only in an incidental way, as he tells the straightforward story of his life, does he mention them; and with a simplicity that argues strongly for his veracity, does he assume that, of course, they were necessary and were used as he recounts. A shrewd imposter, building a great theological structure as is the Church founded by Joseph Smith, would have appreciated that difficult questions would be asked concerning the seer stones, and would have attempted to surround them with some explanation. Joseph Smith offers no defense for the use of these instruments; neither does the scientist excuse himself for using uranium glass, in the study of certain radiations.