History of the Church 5:372, 377; “Comment of the Prophet on the Kinderhook Plates. I insert fac-similes of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook, in Pike county, Illinois, on April 23, by Mr. Robert Wiley and others, while excavating a large mound. They found a skeleton about six feet from the surface of the earth, which must have stood nine feet high. The plates were found on the breast of the skeleton and were covered on both sides with ancient characters.
I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth.
Wishing that the world might know the hidden things as fast as they come to light, I was induced to state the facts, hoping that you would give it an insertion in your excellent paper; for we all feel anxious to know the true meaning of the plates, and publishing the facts might lead to the true translation.” – Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., May 1, 1843
Proverbs 18:7; “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.”
This time around Smith fulfilled one prophecy, found in the Proverb above.
Our short history lesson for the day tells us of a hoax played on Joseph by locals who wanted to show he was no prophet at all.
Two local citizens (Bridge Whitten & R. Wiley, mentioned above) purchased some common tin, flattened it out with hammers, and cut it into six pieces resembling bells.
They scribbled stupid markings on them making it look like hieroglyphics, buried them in a hole along with some animal bones, and called the Mormons to come help them dig up what they believed might be buried treasure.
After digging up the faux booty they asked if Smith could translate them, and boy did he ever.
The Church took out ads in the local papers declaring they had proof the Book of Mormon was true, and while the Church has diligently tried to prove Smith never attempted to translate the fake plates, their own documentation shows otherwise.
Pray for the Mormons who believe the lies that the Church keeps spinning about this topic and they’ll receive truth!
The funny (sad) thing about this whole incident, is that the Mormon Church did not admit that the Kinderhook plates were false until sometime in the early 1980s. You have these two guys (Whitten and Wiley), who admitted at the time, that they had played a hoax on Joseph Smith and yet, the Mormon Church refused to believe them. To me, this speaks volumes about the church leadership (General Authorities). The church has a large number of apologists that will use every truth, half truth and outright lie to keep members faithful to the church. To most Mormons, it is about steadfastness of faith in the LDS organization than it is about Faith in God through Jesus Christ