Fun Fact: The Urim and Thummim wasn't used to "translate" a single page of the current Book of Mormon. After Martin Harris lost the 116 pages the gold plates and the Urim and Thummim were taken back up into heaven. After Joseph repented ONLY the plates were returned where he used his seer stone in a hat to "translate" the entire rest of the Book of Mormon.
Anyone who claims they’ve known this all along is a liar. From the CES letter response to fairmormon:
“Okay, so let’s take a step back here and look at the numbers:
- Out of 9 (adding in Church's new December 2013 essay) sources spanning nearly 40 years, only 7 (adding in Church's new December 2013 essay) are official.
- Out of those 7 official articles, only 3 articles clearly explain the rock in the hat Book of Mormon translation process to the members.
The Church officially brings up the rock in the hat Book of Mormon translation process in the Ensign in September 1977 and July 1993 as well as in its new December 2013 Book of Mormon Translation essay.
- Prior to December 2013, The Church has only officially mentioned – a single sentence each time – the peep stone in the hat Book of Mormon translation process twice in 40 years. That’s one peep (no pun intended) every 20 years.”
