page_title: Criticism of the Book of Mormon
section_title: Translation
hierarchical_section_title: Criticism of the Book of Mormon / Text and language / Translation
caption_attribution_description: English: 21st century artistic interpretation of Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon
context_page_description: The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2200 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi, who claimed that it had been written in otherwise unknown characters referred to as "reformed Egyptian" engraved on golden plates. Contemporary followers of the Latter Day Saint movement typically regard the text primarily as scripture, but also as a historical record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas.
  Adherents have defended the book despite the many scholarly claims of its inauthenticity. The oldest, and most significant, defense of the Smith's story comes from the testimonies of the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses, which are published in every copy of the book. More contemporary adherents have also sought to rebut scholarly claims. For instance, identification of reformed Egyptian with a known ancient Egyptian dialect has been proposed.
context_section_description: The only thing Joseph Smith ever said about the translation process was "through the medium of the urim and thummim I translated the record, by the gift and power of God." Martin Harris, Joseph's second scribe, and David Whitmer, a witness of Joseph translating the plates to Oliver Cowdery, both describe the process as an exact word-for-word translation.
  Modern LDS scholars tend to fall into two schools: tight control and loose control. Those who believe in tight control interpretation believe Joseph had very little leeway in the words used in dictating the Book of Mormon (but without being restricted to exact word-for-word). Those who believed in loose control interpretation believe that "'ideas were revealed to Joseph Smith' and he put them 'into his own language.'"
caption: A depiction of Joseph Smith dictating the Book of Mormon by peering at a seer stone in a hat.
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