Yearly Archives: 2023
(Page 30)Adam was Mormon, an Exmormon Story Spotlight
Adam saw the church as providing a guilt-driven narrative aimed only at keeping him in control. This isn’t a healthy environment, let alone a church, and now he’s enjoying his freedom and a life of exploration, while at the same time admitting there is still a struggle. He’s found that communities that understand his journey …
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Church Historians Attempt Normalizing Strange Seer Stone In Hat Translation Method
Mason Allred and Mark Ashurst-McGee discuss the various historical accounts of the Book of Mormon translation process, including accounts of Joseph Smith using a Seer Stone to translate the ancient record and accounts of Joseph Smith using the Urim and Thummim in a video posted on the “Church History/Latter-day Saint History” YouTube account, the official …

!["Yeah, that's an image [Joseph Smith looking at a stone in a hat] that we are unfamiliar with, but actually, it's not that strange. He's just trying to block out light – that's the point. So it's like, on a really sunny day, if you get a text message and you pull out your cell phone and you can't see it because of the sun, you make shade. You block out light so you can see what it says. That's the same kind of idea." Mark Ashurst-McGee, a Senior Historian in the Church History Department | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Mark-Ashurst-McGee-02-Unfamiliar-image-not-that-strange.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
!["[The Urim and Thummim are] described as two clear stones in a rim like glasses, and the Book of Mormon says that these stones are what constitutes seers. Having and using these stones are what constitutes Seers. So, the Urim and Thummim actually is this special pair of seer stones and we have these descriptions of the Urim and Thummim connected to the breastplate, and that they're large, and that they don't fit on Joseph Smith's face. We even have accounts that he takes the lenses out of the rim and puts them in a hat, which is the way he used his seer stone. So, if he uses his own seer stone rather than the Urim and Thummim, he can put the Urim and Thummim and the breastplate away somewhere safe, and just use his seer stone–and that's more convenient." Mark Ashurst-McGee, a Senior Historian in the Church History Department | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Mark-Ashurst-McGee-01-on-Urim-and-Thummim.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)

Joseph Fielding Smith Taught The Seer Stone Was Not Used for Book of Mormon Translation
The New Narrative We have many statements and posts from current church leaders trying to normalize Joseph’s seer stone translation. We have Elder Uchtdorf and Brother Brad Wilcox discussing the rock in a hat and independently comparing it to a mobile phone of all things. We even have President Nelson demonstrating the rock-in-hat procedure Joseph …