Joseph Smith was brought up being praised for a “gift.” What gift is that? The gift his father practiced and saw in him. The practice was condemned by Benjamin Franklin 100 years earlier. The practice appears in church history, in the doctrine and covenants, and even the Book of Mormon. This practice is easily ridiculed today as superstition or folk magic, but apologists excuse it as harmless.
Joseph Smith was a bonafide treasure digger. He would look into his seer stones or peeping stones, perform what was called glass-looking, and see buried treasure. He would direct others where to dig, and as they approached this treasure for one reason or another, the treasure would slip away. The guardian spirits would pull the treasure deeper into the earth. There are multiple statements to contemporaries showing that this was how Joseph and his family practiced treasure digging. They would use the seer stone in his hat, find the treasure, dig for it, and as they allegedly approached the treasure, it would “slip” away.
Interestingly enough, after Joseph was tried for using his seer stone while digging for treasure and being found a fraud, he allegedly found the gold plates with his seer stone, and translated then with his seer stone. The text of the Book of Mormon includes multiple references to this concept of slippery treasures. It seems Joseph could have easily written in this as a nod to his digging for treasure. Maybe to give validation to the practice or even make it God sanctioned.
I will tell you a wonderful thing that happened after Joseph had found the plates. Three of us took some tools to go to the hill and hunt for more boxes of gold or something, and indeed we found a stone box. We got quite excited about it and dug carefully around it, and by some unseen power it slipped back into the hill. We stood there and looked at it and one of us took a crow-bar and tried to drive it through the lid and hold it, but the bar glanced off and broke off one of the corners of the box. Sometime that box will be found and you will see the corner broken off, and then you will know I have told you the truth.
The Last Testimony of Martin Harris, The Instructor, October 1930, Vol 65, No 10, E. Cecil McGavin, page 589
https://archive.org/details/instructor6510dese/page/588/mode/2up
https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/086ca053-37cb-4180-9b85-e02dbfba5234/0/0?lang=eng
The Smith family and other treasure seekers believed that enchantments on buried treasure had the power to move the location of the treasure under the earth so that those seeking the hidden valuables could not acquire them. Joseph Smith and his family were hired by farmers and landowners to locate buried treasure and break the enchantments that guarded the treasure… Porter Rockwell, a childhood friend of Joseph’s, recalled that: “the spades often struck the iron sides of the treasure chest, and how it was charmed away, now six inches this side, now four feet deeper, and again completely out of reach.”
In one instance, Joseph’s father eagerly jumped into the pit that they were digging and allegedly struck his pick a chest, breaking a piece of the lid off. The Smiths claimed the chest itself slipped away deeper into the ground and could not be retrieved, but Joseph Smith Jr. would later show this piece of the treasure chest as proof of how close they had come on that single occasion. From a modern, logical perspective, “slippery treasure” is a highly suspect reason failing to find anything on these treasure digs.
Slippery Treasure, Lost Mormonism
https://www.lostmormonism.com/slippery-treasure/
Not only was there religious excitement, but the phantom treasures of Captain Kidd were sought for far and near, and even in places like Cumorah where the primeval forest still grew undisturbed the gold finders sought for treasure without any traditionary rumor even to guide them. Rockwell said his mother and Mrs. Smith used to spend their Saturday evenings together telling their dreams, and that he was always glad to spend his afternoon holiday gathering pine knots for the evening blaze on the chance that his mother would forget to send him to bed, and that he might listen unnoticed to their talk. The most sober settlers of the district he said were “gropers” though they were ashamed to own |up to] it; and stole out to dig of moonlight nights, carefully effacing the traces of their ineffectual work before creeping home to bed. He often heard his mother and Mrs. Smith comparing notes, and telling how Such an one’s dream, and Such another’s pointed to the same lucky spot: how the spades often struck the iron sides of the treasure chest, and how it was charmed away, now six inches this side, now four feet deeper, and again completely out of reach. Joseph Smith was no gold seeker by trade; he only did openly what all were doing privately; but he was considered to be “lucky”.
Kane, Elizabeth Wood, 1836-1909: A Gentile Account of Life in Utah’s Dixie, 1872-73, Page 74
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=328033
These stories were even corroborated by church president Brigham Young in the Journal of Discourses.
When General Conner came here, he did considerable prospecting; and in hunting through the Cottonwoods, he had an inkling that there was gold there. Porter, as we generally call him, came to me one day, saying, “They have struck within four inches of my lode, what shall I do?” He was carried away with the idea that he must do something. I therefore told him to go with the other brethren interested, and make his claim. When he got through talking, I said to him, “Porter, you ought to know better; you have seen and heard things which I have not, and are a man of long experience in this Church. I want to tell you one thing; they may strike within four inches of that lode as many times as they have a mind to, and they will not find it.” They hunted and hunted, hundreds of them did; and I had the pleasure of laughing at him a little, for when he went there again, he could not find it himself. (Laughter.)
Sometimes I take the liberty of talking a little further with regard to such things. Orin P. Rockwell is an eyewitness to some powers of removing the treasures of the earth. He was with certain parties that lived nearby where the plates were found that contain the records of the Book of Mormon. There were a great many treasures hid up by the Nephites. Porter was with them one night where there were treasures, and they could find them easy enough, but they could not obtain them.
I will tell you a story which will be marvelous to most of you. It was told me by Porter, whom I would believe just as quickly as any man that lives. When he tells a thing he understands, he will tell it just as he knows it; he is a man that does not lie. He said that on this night, when they were engaged hunting for this old treasure, they dug around the end of a chest for some twenty inches. The chest was about three feet square. One man who was determined to have the contents of that chest, took his pick and struck into the lid of it, and split through into the chest. The blow took off a piece of the lid, which a certain lady kept in her possession until she died. That chest of money went into the bank. Porter describes it so [making a rumbling sound]; he says this is just as true as the heavens are. I have heard others tell the same story. I relate this because it is marvelous to you. But to those who understand these things, it is not marvelous.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 19, Discourse 8 (pages 36-45): Trying to Be Saints—Treasures of the Everlasting Hills—The Hill Cumorah—Obedience to True Principle the Key to Knowledge—All Enjoyment Comes From God—Organization—Duties of Officers—Final Results | June 17, 1877
https://journalofdiscourses.com/19/8
Starting a Church
Then Joseph is led to some buried treasure of gold which is protected by a guardian angel and he uses these same seer stones (the same with which he sought buried treasure) to translate ancient reformed Egyptian writings on the gold plates into a book of scripture called the Book of Mormon. This is the story of the founding of the Mormon church.
Interestingly, Joseph was lambasted for seeking treasures. He even denied that the seer stones worked on one occasion, and another time that his treasure-seeking days were not profitable.
His church-establishing days were somewhat better financial return. Interestingly though, we find terms and concepts from treasure digging in this book of scripture which he reportedly used his treasure-seeking seer stones to translate. Was this to give credibility to his own history and his own occult folk magic practices? The term ‘slippery’ does not appear to be found in other scriptures, and this concept is new to the Book of Mormon.
Helaman
In the book of Helamen, when the people reject the prophet Samuel (the Lamanite), their riches become cursed and slippery and they are encircled by demons! This sounds exactly like a precursor or explanation to why there would be hidden treasures in the ground for people to find with their folk magic, and why they are so elusive.
29 O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye stiffnecked people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you? Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides? Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather than light?
30 Yea, behold, the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity.
31 And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them.
32 And in the days of your poverty ye shall cry unto the Lord; and in vain shall ye cry, for your desolation is already come upon you, and your destruction is made sure; and then shall ye weep and howl in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts. And then shall ye lament, and say:
33 O that I had repented, and had not killed the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out. Yea, in that day ye shall say: O that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that he gave us our riches, and then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches are gone from us.
34 Behold, we lay a tool here and on the morrow it is gone; and behold, our swords are taken from us in the day we have sought them for battle.
35 Yea, we have hid up our treasures and they have slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land.
36 O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them.
37 Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls. Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us? And this shall be your language in those days.
Helaman 13:29-37
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/hel/13?lang=eng&id=p29-p37#p29
Mormon
Then in the first chapter of Mormon, we see that wickedness, unbelief, sorceries, and witchcraft prevail in the land. The people hide their treasures in the earth and they become so “slippery” that they are lost because of the curse on the land.
17 But I did remain among them, but I was forbidden to preach unto them, because of the hardness of their hearts; and because of the hardness of their hearts the land was cursed for their sake.
18 And these Gadianton robbers, who were among the Lamanites, did infest the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof began to hide up their treasures in the earth; and they became slippery, because the Lord had cursed the land, that they could not hold them, nor retain them again.
19 And it came to pass that there were sorceries, and witchcrafts, and magics; and the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land, even unto the fulfilling of all the words of Abinadi, and also Samuel the Lamanite.
Mormon 1:17-19
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/morm/1?lang=eng&id=p17-p19#p17
Slippery
The notion of slippery treasure, guardian spirits, and curses reflects early American folklore. These beliefs infuse the Book of Mormon text and descriptions of its discovery and translation. There are too many similarities to ignore. The prophet Mormon describes a problem in ancient America with language that is very much in line with nineteenth-century American treasure seekers.
Mormon Stories: Examining Mormon Truth Claims: Joseph Smith: Folk Magic / Treasure Digging
https://www.mormonstories.org/home/truth-claims/joseph-smith/treasure/
Some apologists struggle to find related concepts in ancient times. After clearly stating the obvious here:
Critics have suggested that these passages reflect beliefs prevalent in Joseph Smith’s day. One such belief was that guardian demons moved buried treasures to different locations when people dug for them. Because the general idea of slippery treasures appears in the Book of Mormon, critics see it as evidence of the book’s supposed 19th-century origin.
FARMS UPDATE Number 135, “Slippery Treasures” in the Book of Mormon: A Concept from the Ancient World (Based on research by Kevin L. Barney)
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1461&context=insights
This BYU FAMRS research paper claims that “slippery treasures” is a concept form the ancient world using the Instructions of Amenemope, and Egyptian text from between the 11th and 13th centuries B.C. It states this as the source for a portion of the book of Proverbs and uses the comparison to claim the concept of slipper treasure can be attributed to ancient times and even scripture. The problem is, there is no mention of buried treasure or slippery treasure, but of riches that grow wings and fly away to the heavens. This feels like a very large stretch to relate this to slippery treasure, or to prove that it is a concept beyond what the proverb states: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich.”
Proverbs: Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist. When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
Amenemope: Do not strain to seek an excess, when thy needs are safe for thee. They have made themselves wings like geese and are flown away to the heavens.
Even if this concept was found in ancient cultures, it doesn’t prove that it wasn’t a contemporary influence on Joseph Smith, or that it isn’t an anachronism. Swords, chariots, and horses, and the like are all ancient concepts and found in the bible, but not found in the New World. They are however found in the Book of Mormon and that is the problem. In these supposed historic and ancient writings from the New World, we have animals, foods, technologies and concepts that were not a part of that world. They were however part of the old world and most importantly, part of the contemporary world of Joseph Smith. It makes it clear that he has a lot of influence on the text, at the very least, if not complete influence. The slippery treasure references in the Book of Mormon look more like an apology for Joseph’s criminal glass-looking practices.
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More reading:
- https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/ato09w/joseph_smith_justified_his_treasure_seeking_using/
- https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/insights/vol20/iss6/3/
- https://www.thechurchnews.com/2008/10/4/23231194/slippery-treasure/
- Joseph Smith’s Treasure Digging In Doctrine and Covenants
- Joseph Smith Confirms His Seer Stone Is Nonsense
- The Problems with Joseph Smith and Peep Stone Translations
- Church Historians Attempt Normalizing Strange Seer Stone In Hat Translation Method
- Joseph Fielding Smith Taught The Seer Stone Was Not Used for Book of Mormon Translation
- Defiant Apologists Challenge the New Seer Stone Narrative
- Joseph Smith’s Peep Stone Translation Method Renders The Gold Plates Useless
- Elder Uchtdorf Compares Peep Stone to His Smartphone
- Benjamin Franklin on Treasure Seeking Seers
- Book of Mormon Horses: Real or Myth? Or Tapirs?