The Miraculous Timing of the Translation of the Book of Mormon

This Bookshelf Single is an excerpt from the book Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820–1844, Second Edition.

John W. Welch discusses the miraculous three-month translation of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith. He seeks to answer some of the following questions through analysis and the inclusion of extensive historical documentation: How was this book written? Where did it come from? Joseph Smith testified that he translated the Book of Mormon miraculously, by the gift and power of God. Is that testimony credible? In addition to several contemporaneous references in the Doctrine and Covenants to the translation as it was underway, accounts were left by many of the participants, eyewitnesses, or observant people who were closely associated with the unfolding translation. Welch includes over 200 of these accounts, which, taken together, coalesce into a clear picture of the miraculous time of translation of the Book of Mormon.