Mormons publish photos of 'seer stone' used by founder

[trotsky]

http://www.oaoa.com/people/religion/article_9c6e2de1-a80b-510f-b461-68a204a9a4e5.html

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Mormon church for the first time is publishing photos of a small sacred stone it believes founder Joseph Smith used to help translate the story that became the basis of the religion.

The pictures of the smooth, brown, egg-sized rock are part of a new book that also contains photos of the first printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon. Officials with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unveiled it Tuesday at a news conference in Salt Lake City.

It's the religion's latest step in a push to be more transparent about its history and tenets. The church's effort in recent years to be more open about its past was triggered by the religion's increasing prominence as its membership tripled over the past three decades to 15 million worldwide today. Questions emerged about the burgeoning faith, with some criticizing it for being secretive about its beliefs and practices.

Mormons believe that 185 years ago, Smith found gold plates engraved with writing in ancient Egyptian in upstate New York. They say that God helped him translate the text using the stone and other tools, which became known as the Book of Mormon.

Sadly there are no photos at the link. But if you punch "Mormon seer stone" into the Google, you can see a few candidates.

[arcane1]

1. What, no pictures of the gold plates?

Gee, I wonder why...?

[Curmudgeoness]

6. My first thought as well.

We all know that if there were gold plates, they would have been more cherished than the seer stone. But what gets saved???? The fucking stone.

[deucemagnet]

16. Here's the thing about the gold plates:

Description of the Plates

Joseph Smith said that the ancient records were engraved on plates which had the appearance of gold, each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian Characters, and bound together in a volume as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction, and much skill in the art of engraving.

http://www.mormonwiki.com/Gold_Plates

So the gold plates were approximately 6" x 8" x 6" (15.24 cm x 20.32 cm x 15.24 cm). This works out to a volume of 288 cubic inches or about 4720 cubic centimeters. Gold has a density of 19.32 g/cm3 making Joseph Smith's gold tablets about 91 kilograms or 200 pounds. That's a pretty fucking heavy book to be lugging around, unless, of course it was a magical book with "the appearance of gold" or those who touched the book were imbued with incredible strength by the Divine. Or I suppose the whole story could be horseshit.

[arcane1]

17. Wait, are you saying their bullshit is horseshit??

[Brainstormy]

24. and Smith supposedly

ran away from pursuers with these gold plates in a sack. Or I suppose the whole story could be horseshit.

[Solly Mack]

2. Did they publish photos of the hat too?

He put the rock in a hat first.

So, uh...he pulled a religion out of his, er...hat.

LMAO.

[BillZBubb]

3. I, too, would like to see that hat!

A hat, a stone and some really gullible people. Voila a "religion" is born!

[Solly Mack]

4. I'm betting it was a top hat.

Rabbits weren't good enough, I guess.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. He pulled it out of his hat,

or someplace.

[Solly Mack]

8. I bought a worry stone in Ireland. All I got was a callus.

Now I know I should have put it in a hat.

[Curmudgeoness]

9. Sounds like you worry too much!

No hat will help you though....without gold plates. All I have is Corelle.

[Solly Mack]

10. Fiestaware for me. No gold color though.

I'm destined to never start a religion.

[bvf]

12. Don't sell yourself short.

"First Church of Fiestaware" has a nice ring to it.

[Solly Mack]

13. Oooo! That does sound nice!

And colorful!

[bvf]

14. And if Homer Laughlin

gives you any grief in court, you could always countersue under one religious freedom statute or another.

[Solly Mack]

15. I'll just cut them in on the profits.

[OriginalGeek]

21. OMFSM I love fiestaware

From the time I was 3 or 4 I remember visiting grandma and she served every meal on fiestaware. My wife gets annoyed when we're walking through a flea market or even a store (they still sell it) and I see some Fiestaware and holler "GRANDMA'S DISHES!"

I don't care - it was fun times. I tried to get some of hers when she died but all her stuff was already sold or divvied up by my mom and aunt. I keep thinking of just getting some of my own but I kinda wanted Grandma's and not sure it would be the same. But I love seeing it in stores and antique shops.

[Solly Mack]

22. It's been a lifelong love for me too.

I've got some old pieces but most of it is newer.

Fiestaware is just fun!

[OriginalGeek]

26. my first cup of coffee

grandma drank coffee all day every day but she was old by the time I knew her and she didn't like brewing it because it was just too much trouble so she used instant. She drank hers black but for me she basically counted out about 10 grains of instant coffee and put it in the hot water with enough milk and sugar that you could barely tell it was no longer white. I just loved that sweet drink in the little fiestaware mug on the little saucer. The clink as you put it back down, the dribble of coffee that ran down the side of the cup and settled in the saucer ring...

yep, I'm gonna get some. Even if it's just one set for me. (Wife has big decorating plans in the near future and I'm not sure the happy pastel colors of Fiestaware fit in with her plans. lol)

[Solly Mack]

27. Love the story! You should do it. You can buy separate pieces, so a coffee mug

and saucer is possible without purchasing an entire set or even a place setting. I buy mine by the place setting because I like my table to be colorful. I keep an old set of restaurant style white plates and bowls that I've collected over the years for family who insist on matching china. The heavy stuff found in diners years ago.

[awoke_in_2003]

35. Joseph Smith

The original asshat.

[AlbertCat]

5. They say that God helped him translate the text using the stone and other tools,

Other tools....

Google translate?

That would explain a LOT!



So.... why didn't god just translate it in the 1st place? I guess god never studied in Ancient Egyptian class in High School

[Arugula Latte]

18. If there is one thing we've learned about God

it is that God sure likes to fuck with people.

[Binkie The Clown]

20. Don't forget that god only loves you if you wear a funny hat.

From Tibetan Buddhists



to Catholic Popes



to Pastafarians

[olddots]

11. I have some white gravel that the sacred Mother Mary's

breast milk dripped on .It comes in two size bags at a very reasonable price and if you buy it today we will throw in a genuine E Meter signed by Babe Ruth and Elvis .

[Binkie The Clown]

19. I wonder if they keep their magic stones in their magic underwear? n/t

[vanamonde]

23. I think it's a coprolith n/t

[trotsky]

25. Ha!

Wouldn't that be appropriate in its own special way?

[Solly Mack]

28. lol!

That would be great.

[mr blur]

29. Always think that the angel Moroni was unfortunately, but accurately, named. Also,

why didn't Gawd just carve them in early 19th Century American English, so that Smith wouldn't need help understanding them?

Is this just him moving in mysterious ways again?

[Arugula Latte]

31. God's movements are indeed unpredictable,

but seem to have gotten more regular now that He's added more fiber to His diet.

[NeoGreen]

30. The sad thing, for me, is...

...every time I go to my brother's for a family visit, I have to drive past that small hill where they stage their annual love fest known as the Hill Cumorah...




where they wear their Cecil B. DeMille inspired garb...



If you have ever completed a minimal level of inquiry/research into the origins of what is now known as the CoLDS

...O...M...G...

These people are soooo gullible (IMHO) and not far removed from scientologists.

Insanity is not the word to describe it.

Look up the "White Toad" or "White Salamander" letter.

BTW, jury....

Insert the Standard A&A Safe Haven Disclaimer...(here)....

oh..and the "G" above in my drawn out "OMG" is short for Goodness, not that imaginary sky "g" thingy people are always talking about.

[LiberalAndProud]

33. I have two sisters-in-law, one a Mormon and one an atheist.

Guess which one needs to be converted according to the family? Hint: it's not the one who believes really crazy shit with no evidence whatsoever.

[mountain grammy]

32. Very funny thread.. Dum dum dum dum dum.

[Capt. Obvious]

34. God is very angry at you

he's now given me a new sacred text to transcribe.