Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Seer_stones_and_the_Latter_Day_Saint_movement".

Early Latter Day Saints used seer stones to receive revelations from God, especially by translating otherwise unknown written languages. Therefore, seer stones played a significant role in the early history and theology of the church. Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, owned several seer stones from his earlier career as a "money digger."¹ Other early Mormons such as Hiram Page, David Whitmer and Jacob Whitmer also owned seer stones.² Seer stones are mentioned in the Book of Mormon and in other Latter Day Saint scriptures. James Strang, who claimed to be Joseph Smith's designated successor, also unearthed what he said were ancient metal plates and translated them using seer stones.

History

Some early nineteenth-century Americans used seer stones in attempts to gain revelations from God or to find buried treasure.³ Beginning in the early 1820s, Joseph Smith was paid to act as a "seer" in (mostly unsuccessful) attempts to locate lost items and find precious metals hidden in the earth.⁴ Smith's procedure was to place the stone in a white stovepipe hat, put his face over the hat to block the light, and then "see" the necessary information in the stone's reflections.⁵ His favored stone, chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,⁶ was found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors.⁷ In the words of Richard Bushman, there is ample evidence that Smith never "repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."⁸

Seer Stones and the Urim and Thummim

Main article: Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)

Joseph Smith dictated the Book of Mormon while examining seer stones or "Urim and Thummim" in his hat.

In translating the Book of Mormon from the Golden Plates, Smith said he used "Interpreters", a pair of crystals joined in the form of a large pair of spectacles, which he later referred to as the "Urim and Thummim." In 1823 Smith said that an angel told him of the existence of Golden Plates, along with which would be found "two stones in silver bows" fastened to a breastplate, which the angel called the Urim and Thummim and which he said God had prepared for translating the plates.⁹ (His mother, Lucy Mack Smith, described them as crystal-like: "two smooth three-cornered diamonds.")¹⁰ Smith and his early Mormon contemporaries seem to have used the terms "seer stone" and "Urim and Thummim" interchangeably. Although Smith always referred to the Book of Mormon "interpreters" as the Urim and Thummim, he may or may not have intended to make a distinction between that device and the seer stones that he used in scrying.¹¹

In 1827 Smith was revisited by the angel who revealed the location of these objects buried in a hillside. After translating the Book of Mormon Smith returned the plates and the Urim and Thummim to the angel, whom he identified as the resurrected Moroni. Joseph Smith reportedly told Orson Pratt that the Lord gave him the Urim and Thummim when he was an inexperienced translator, but that as he grew in experience he no longer needed such assistance.¹²

Seer Stones and the contemporary LDS Church

The LDS Bible Dictionary defines the Urim and Thummim as "an instrument prepared of God to assist man in obtaining revelation from the Lord and in translating languages." In the Book of Mormon, the prophets the Brother of Jared and Mosiah both used devices called "interpreters" to receive revelation for their people, and the Doctrine and Covenants declares that these "interpreters" were Urim and Thummim.¹³

Mormons believe that the Urim and Thummim of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon were the functional equivalent of the Urim and Thummim mentioned in the Old Testament, but there is no indication in the Old Testament that the Urim and Thummin were used to translate documents.¹⁴ Some Mormons believe that there were three different Urim and Thummim: the one of the Old Testament and two mentioned in the Book of Mormon, one used by the Jaredites and the other by King Mosiah.¹⁵ (LDS members believe that the one used by Smith is the one originally possessed by the Jaredites.)¹⁶

One of the official titles of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator". The LDS church still owns one of Joseph Smith's seer stones, but since the nineteenth century, no President of the Church has openly used such a stone in his role as "seer and revelator."¹⁷

See also

• Book of Abraham
• Crystal gazing

Notes

References

1. Van Wagoner, Richard S. (Summer 1982), "Joseph Smith: The Gift of Seeing", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 15 (2): 48–68, <http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=16574&REC=16>.

v • d • e The Latter Day Saint movement Fundamental ideas Mormonism · Latter Day Saint · Mormonism and Christianity · Latter Day Saint denominations History Church of Christ · Succession crisis · History of the LDS Church · Community of Christ history · History of The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) Sacred texts Bible · Book of Mormon · Doctrine & Covenants (Book of Commandments) · Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible · Pearl of Great Price · Founders & leaders Joseph Smith, Jr. · Oliver Cowdery · Sidney Rigdon · Brigham Young · Joseph Smith III · James Strang · William Bickerton · Granville Hedrick Doctrines & practices Views on Godhead · Views on Jesus · Priesthood · Articles of Faith · Restoration · Mormonism and Judaism · Temples Controversies Criticism · Joseph Smith, Jr. and polygamy · Book of Abraham · Blacks and the Latter Day Saint movement · Oath of vengeance · Mountain Meadows Massacre · Historicity of the Book of Mormon · See also Latter Day Saints Portal – Category Mormonism