The Know

The Book of Mormon was first published on March 26, 1830—194 years ago today. Book of Mormon prophets, from Nephi to Moroni, looked forward to that day, when their record would “speak unto [modern readers] out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; … and their speech shall whisper out of the dust” (2 Nephi 26:16). Furthermore, the words of the Book of Mormon would be “like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust” (Moroni 10:27).

This language is based on Isaiah 29, and these expressions employ “strong resurrection overtones” to describe the coming forth of the Nephite record in the last days.1 Such Christological overtones and allusions appear to have been especially deliberate. As George Mitton explained, “the Book of Mormon has been brought about by the power of God through a miraculous procedure that causes it to exemplify the pattern set by the life and mission of Christ, including His burial and resurrection.” Such similarities include “[1] its rejection [by naysayers], [2] burial, and subsequent resurrection out of the ground; [3] the attestation of its reality by eleven special witnesses chosen of the Lord; and [4] with angelic assistance, the ascension to heaven of the golden plates on which the book was written, with promise of their future return.”2

John Tvedtnes similarly observed that many ancient cultures would bury sacred writings, sometimes written on metal plates, with their dead or occasionally by themselves “in a coffinlike box.” Behind this ritual action was the belief that “just as the dead will be resurrected, so too the records will come forth to future generations.”3 In a very real way, then, the Book of Mormon could be described as a resurrected book, having been buried and miraculously brought forth unto future audiences.

In light of these similarities, comparing these two miracles can provide illuminating insights for modern readers.4 In fact, as Joshua Gehly has recently observed, many of the evidences observed by New Testament scholars that enhance the historical validity of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ can likewise be employed to evaluate the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. These evidences range from the reality of an empty box on a hill to the types of witnesses called to establish the reality of the miracles.5

The Empty Stone Box

The evidence of an actual, empty stone box (or tomb) from which Jesus and the plates arose is attested both by believers and unbelievers. Just as Jesus’s tomb was within walking distance for anyone in Jerusalem to confirm, the hill from which Joseph obtained the plates was well known, and anyone in the vicinity could confirm whether any hole or stone box ever existed.6

Indeed, before Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer met the Prophet Joseph Smith, each had seen the empty stone box or talked with individuals who had—many of whom were deeply opposed to the Book of Mormon yet still believed that the plates were an actual treasure worth their attention. For example, David Whitmer recalled, “I had conversation with certain young men, who said that Joseph Smith certainly had golden plates.” When David asked how they knew Joseph Smith had the plates, these individuals replied, “We saw the place in the hill that he [Joseph] took them out of, just as he described it.”7

Likewise, as Oliver Cowdery traveled to Harmony, Pennsylvania, he encountered individuals who had threatened to harm Joseph Smith if he did not hand over the plates. “When asked how they knew such a treasure had been found,” it was later reported, “several asserted that they had seen the receptacle from which it had been taken by Smith.”8

David even reported visiting the hill himself, where he also saw the stone box. Summarizing an interview with Whitmer, a reporter for the Chicago Times stated, “Three times he has been at the hill Cumorah and seen the casket that contained the tablets and seer-stone [Nephite interpreters]. Eventually the casket has been washed down to the foot of the hill, but it was to be seen when he last visited the historic place.”9 That pieces of the stone box washed downhill is also attested by others in the area who found the remnants of the stone box.10 Martin Harris was also said to have visited the hill and seen the stone box with two other individuals.11

Many who could easily verify that an empty stone box existed ultimately tried to steal the plates from Joseph, causing him and Emma to relocate to Harmony, Pennsylvania, in order to translate the Book of Mormon (see Joseph Smith—History 1:60–61).12 As Gehly observed, “the aggressive reaction from the community makes sense if the hill contained an exposed, empty stone box. The hill in question was available to any curious person to investigate for themselves,” just as the reality of Jesus’s empty tomb was clearly recognized by various detractors or enemies of the early Christian church.13

Unlikely Witnesses

Moreover, just as a multitude of people testified of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, many witnesses testified of the reality of the plates. In both cases, some of these witnesses would have been considered unreliable or unlikely at the time.

Of most prominence would, of course, be the three and eight witnesses to the Book of Mormon. These two groups together served as eleven special witnesses called to view the plates. This is not unlike the New Testament Apostles, who were eleven in number following the Crucifixion. Furthermore, “in the New Testament, Thomas was a belated witness separated from the others, as was Martin Harris with the Book of Mormon.”14 None of these eleven witnesses to the Resurrection or the Book of Mormon ever recanted their testimony, even when faced with bitter persecution as a result.15

In addition to the official groups called as witnesses, there are some who have been called “unofficial witnesses” to the Book of Mormon, including women who saw or handled the plates. Gehly observed, “New Testament women represent a highly unlikely testimony source of the empty tomb. Although the world had progressed by the 1800s, sexism still remained,” and many of the justifications for the exclusion of women from matters such as jury duty, voting, and owning real estate “echoed quotations from centuries before.” While the women surrounding Joseph Smith—including Lucy Mack Smith, Katharine Smith, Emma Hale Smith, and Mary Whitmer—“might not be unlikely testimonies in the same way as women at the tomb, … these women do offer substantial supportive testimony about the reality of the plates.”16 Lucy, Emma, and Katharine all hefted or handled the plates and were witness to the fact that some ancient metal plates did exist, while Mary Whitmer was one of the first besides Joseph Smith to be shown the plates by an angel.17 Other witnesses, such as Josiah Stowell, actually saw the plates as they were being moved and protected, and Josiah testified of his experience seeing the plates in a court of law.18

The Why

The Book of Mormon’s purpose, as stated on its Title Page, is “to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.” This purpose can be demonstrated through the book’s coming forth in addition to its message, which was carefully written by generations of Nephite prophets. Because knowing the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is crucial, it makes sense that the Lord would supply the same types of evidence for both the Resurrection and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon as “a marvelous work and a wonder” (2 Nephi 27:26). Indeed, “time after time,” the evidence for the Book of Mormon “surpasses the standard established by historians for the resurrection.”19

The evidences for the Book of Mormon are not, of course, limited in any way to those discussed above. Throughout the continuing Restoration, additional witnesses have repeatedly testified of the truthfulness of the book.20 This call to testify of the Book of Mormon is likewise extended to all members of the Church, having ourselves received a testimony through the Holy Ghost. As Elder Richard G. Hinckley explained, “the most important” witness we can ever receive of the Book of Mormon and the Resurrection “is the testimony of the Holy Ghost when it speaks to our own spirit.”21 The need for the Holy Ghost’s witness of the gospel is just as needed in modern times as it was anciently, and it serves as the greatest evidence anyone can have of either miracle. “We need faith,” Elder Hinckley continued, “faith in the Restoration and in our current prophet, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His teachings and in His atoning sacrifice. And we need Him.”22

Above all, the Book of Mormon is an especially powerful tool in gaining the witness of the Spirit for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Joshua Gehly observed:

If the Book of Mormon is a modern miracle and inspired from heaven, then Jesus Christ is definitively alive and ascended into heaven. The truth of the Book of Mormon would overwhelmingly strengthen the veracity of New Testament proclamations. It would document a cross-continental, independent attestation of the risen Christ. The Book of Mormon … holds the keys to the strongest evidence in support of Jesus Christ ever offered to mankind.23

The Prophet Joseph Smith testified, “The Book of Mormon [is] the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”24 So as modern readers continue to treasure, cherish, and carefully ponder and study the Book of Mormon, all can especially find their testimonies of Jesus Christ and His Atonement and Resurrection strengthened day by day.

• 1. George L. Mitton, “The Book of Mormon as a Resurrected Book and a Type of Christ,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 42 (2021): 375.
• 2. Mitton, “Book of Mormon as a Resurrected Book,” 372.
• 3. John A. Tvedtnes, The Book of Mormon and Other Hidden Books: “Out of Darkness unto Light” (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies [FARMS], 2000), 24–25.
• 4. Richard Lloyd Anderson has also found interesting parallels between early Church history, especially through Joseph Smith’s ministry, and the early New Testament Church. See Richard Lloyd Anderson, “Probing the Lives of Christ and Joseph Smith,” FARMS Review 21, no. 2 (2009): 1–29.
• 5. For a discussion on some of the evidence for the historical reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, see Book of Mormon Central, “Why Are the Gospel Accounts of the Resurrection Credible? (Luke 24:5–6),” KnoWhy 665 (April 4, 2023). Additional in-depth studies can be found in Michael R. Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2010); Gary R. Habermas, On the Resurrection, vol. 1, Evidences (Brentwood, TN: B&H Academic, 2024). Gehly’s analysis of the Resurrection and the Book of Mormon can be found in Joshua Gehly, Witnessing Miracles: Historical Evidence for the Resurrection and the Book of Mormon (Monongahela, PA: The Church of Jesus Christ, 2022).
• 6. This hill would later be known as Cumorah to early Latter-day Saints, who connected it to the hill named Cumorah in Mormon 6:6. For a discussion on the identity and location of this hill in the Book of Mormon, including many early Latter-day Saint conclusions, see Book of Mormon Central, “Where Is the Location of the Hill Cumorah? (Mormon 6:6),” KnoWhy 489 (November 29, 2018).
• 7. “Mormonism,” Kansas City Daily Journal, June 5, 1881, as cited in Ebbie L. V. Richardson, David Whitmer, a Witness to the Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon (masters thesis, Brigham Young University, 1952), 25. Another similar account was later reported in David Whitmer, “The Last Man,” Chicago Times, October 17, 1881.
• 8. “Special Correspondence to the Chicago Tribune, Dec. 15,” Deseret News, December 24, 1885, p. 1.
• 9. “The Golden Tables,” Chicago Times, August 7, 1875, as cited in Richardson, David Whitmer, 158.
• 10. See, for example, Edward Stevenson, Reminiscences of Joseph the Prophet, and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, UT: printed by the author, 1893), 13.
• 11. See Ole A. Jensen, “Testimony of Martin Harris,” MS 5569, folder 1, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, UT.
• 12. Lorenzo Saunders, another individual who was antagonistic toward Joseph Smith, also recorded how he visited the hill in 1827 and saw the hole, but he discounted Joseph’s story because he did not see “fresh dirt” where Joseph would have dug. Coincidentally, Saunders’s account actually coincides with Joseph’s account of having found the box three years previously. For a discussion on this event, see Gehly, Witnessing Miracles, 89–90.
• 13. Gehly, Witnessing Miracles, 87–88. For a full discussion on the empty stone box, see pp. 75–102.
• 14. Mitton, “Book of Mormon as a Resurrected Book,” 388.
• 15. For a study on the witnesses to the Book of Mormon as a whole, see Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1981). For a discussion on the witnesses’ loyalty to their testimonies even in the face of persecution and even later excommunication from the Church in some cases, see Gehly, Witnessing Miracles, 33–74.
• 16. Gehly, Witnessing Miracles, 93–94. For more on the important testimonies of these and other women, see Amy Easton-Flake and Rachel Cope, “A Multiplicity of Witnesses: Women and the Translation Process,” in The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, ed. Dennis L. Largey, Andrew H. Hedges, John Hilton III, and Kerry Hull (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2015), 133–153; Janiece Johnson and Jennifer Reeder, The Witness of Women: Firsthand Experiences and Testimonies from the Restoration (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2016), 25–35.
• 17. For a discussion on this manifestation, see Book of Mormon Central, “What Does Mary Whitmer Teach Us about Enduring Trials? (2 Nephi 27:14),” KnoWhy 455 (August 2, 2018). For a discussion on the role of these women as testators of the Book of Mormon, see Gehly, Witnessing Miracles, 93–96.
• 18. See “Trial Report, 28 August 1832 [State of New York v. JS–C],” p. 2, The Joseph Smith Papers.
• 19. Gehly, Witnessing Miracles, 119.
• 20. For a discussion of many of these witnesses, including Presidents Joseph F. Smith, David O. McKay, Russell M. Nelson, and others, see Richard G. Hinckley, “Witnesses of the Restoration and the Resurrection,” in He Was Seen: Witnessing the Risen Christ (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2024), 1–16. See also Gehly, Witnessing Miracles, 155–162.
• 21. Hinckley, “Witnesses,” 13.
• 22. Hinckley, “Witnesses,” 14.
• 23. Gehly, Witnessing Miracles, 15.
• 24. “Remarks, 28 November 1841,” p. 112, The Joseph Smith Papers, as cited in the Introduction to the Book of Mormon.