First-time readers of the Book of Mormon may be puzzled as they quickly pass through 290 years of Nephite history, as contained in three, relatively insignificant books (Enos, Jarom, Omni - each offering only one chapter a piece with the latter featuring five different authors), and arrive at a curious interruption in the Nephite narrative known as “The Words of Mormon.” In effect, the prophet, Mormon, inserts this “literary timeout” to set the stage for events that would occur in 1828, when the first hand-written manuscript for the Book of Mormon (116 Pages) would be lost by scribe, Martin Harris.

    Mormon’s subtle but poignant message is that neither the Lord nor His purposes can be frustrated. Martin Harris’s monumental blunder had been foreseen and a divine plan had been laid as early as the 6th century BC, beginning with Nephi’s creation of a second set of plates and continuing with Mormon’s inspired decision to include them with his abridgement a thousand years later.

   Mormon explains:

“I searched among the records which had been delivered into my hands, and I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi… Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record upon them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi (Large Plates of Nephi). But behold, I shall take these plates (Small Plates of Nephi), which contain these prophesyings and revelations, and put them with the remainder of my record, for they are choice unto me…” (Words of Mormon 1:5, 6)

    Rather fortuitously for Joseph Smith, these Small Plates of Nephi would cover the exact time period of the 116 pages that were lost by Martin. Interestingly, Mormon explains that he included this smaller stack of plates “for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.” (v. 7) But in truth, it would seem that Mormon knew a little more than his words would indicate. It’s curious how his last words engraved on the Small Plates inadvertently and most conveniently provided Joseph with a seamless transition into the next phase of translation, the Book of Mosiah. It was as though Mormon could see in his mind’s eye the exact spot in the plates where Joseph would begin translation again after the loss of the 116 pages:

“Wherefore, with the help of these, king Benjamin, by laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul, and also the prophets, did once more establish peace in the land." (last verse of Words of Mormon)

" AND now there was no more contention in all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people who belonged to king Benjamin, so that king Benjamin had continual peace all the remainder of his days (First verse of Mosiah 1).”

   Was this an example of deadly accurate inspiration 1400 years before Martin made the most careless mistake of his life? To the skeptic, it appears to be only another example of Joseph retrofitting history in order to bolster, or in this case, salvage his prophetic career. To an outsider looking in, it’s difficult to see the loss of the 116 pages as anything other than an unmitigated disaster for Joseph. He could not have known if they would be found and altered, found and destroyed, or found and preserved just they way they were. If by chance the latter, then surely those holding the manuscript were intending to put the young prophet to the test. If he truly were a prophet and had access to the “gift and power of God,” would he not be able to return to the plates (upon receiving them from the Angel again) and retranslate the missing content? If he were an imposter, then surely he would never dare attempt to reproduce the same material.

    But if one assumes for a moment that Joseph was, indeed, a true prophet, retranslation clearly represented the best of all options for everyone involved, including Nephi and Mormon. In this scenario, there would have been no need for Nephi to keep two sets of plates covering the same time period - no need for Mormon to waste countless hours making an abridgement that would only be discarded and replaced by an altogether more valuable record. Joseph could have been rebuked by the Lord and punished for a time, as he was. He could have wallowed in the depths of humility and learned the lesson of his life, as he did. History could have maintained its course and still have allowed Joseph to translate the stolen portion over again. 

    So why, then, was it not undertaken? The official answer is found in a revelation from the Lord in the D&C 10:

“And, behold, Satan hath put it into their hearts to alter the words which you have caused to be written, or which you have translated, which have gone out of your hands. And behold, I say unto you, that because they have altered the words, they read contrary from that which you translated and caused to be written… For he hath put into their hearts to do this, that by lying they may say they have caught you in the words which you have pretended to translate… For behold, he has put it into their hearts to get thee to tempt the Lord thy God, in asking to translate it over again. And then, behold, they say and think in their hearts—We will see if God has given him power to translate. And if God giveth him power again, or if he translates again, or, in other words, if he bringeth forth the same words, behold, we have the same with us, and we have altered them; Therefore they will not agree, and we will say that he has lied in his words, and that he has no gift, and that he has no power; Therefore we will destroy him, and also the work…”

    But the Lord isn't through! The rant continues as the Lord insists that these would-be destructors “are corrupt, and full of wickedness and abominations…” and that “Satan has great hold upon their hearts…” He reiterates that Satan has “laid a cunning plan, thinking to destroy the work of God” and that his earthly minions “lie in wait to catch, that (they) may destroy…” He even goes so far as to call Martin a “wicked man.” The Lord reminds Joseph yet again that “they have altered these words” and that if he should “bring forth the same words they will say that (he has) lied and that (he has) pretended to translate, but that (he has) contradicted (him)self.” He then reassures Joseph that He “will not suffer that they shall destroy (His) work” and that His “wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.”

    Judging from the revelation above, it would appear that the Lord was quite beside himself, or at least someone was. But judging from a historical perspective, was Joseph really in serious trouble? Perhaps the question should be asked: If such an altered manuscript did exist and were published against a retranslated 116 pages, how damaging would it really be? 

    It would seem that all Joseph would need to do is to declare the altered manuscript a forgery. This move would put pressure on his supposed enemies to produce the original stolen manuscript to bolster their case. If they did so, they would not be able to hide their deception as the alterations would be obvious and the evidence of forgery clear; if they refused to produce it, their credibility would invariably suffer. In the absence of further evidence against Joseph, the whole affair would devolve into a spitting match – their word against Joseph’s. 

    Was this the best the devil could do? Truly, this kind of controversy would have been ordinary fare for Joseph Smith. Any honest study of the life of Joseph Smith would show that such adversity was his common lot. As Joseph put it, he was accustomed to swimming “in deep water,” and there were times he nearly drowned in controversies far more dangerous than any doctored manuscript.

   In the years that followed, neighbors and other Palmyra area citizens would undermine him in numerous affidavits, insiders would accuse him of adultery, witnesses to the Book of Mormon would leave him, and even his closest associates in Kirtland would consider him a fallen prophet. These were real threats to Joseph’s authority and the stability of his fledgling church, and yet in these cases there were no elaborate plans put into place to protect him. But according to the word of the Lord in D&C 10, the ills caused by an altered Book of Mormon manuscript were so potentially devastating that the remedy required a divinely manipulated chain of events going back 2400 years.

    If an objective reader were examining the historical record for the first time, what scenario would offer the most plausible explanation for the introduction of a new and improved record of Nephi in the place of a second translation of the original? Would that scenario involve a crafty adversary, an altered manuscript, a stinging rebuke, a painful repentance process, a dutiful Nephi, an inspired Mormon, a revelation from the Lord, and over 2400 years of combined history? Or, perhaps, would a much less complicated scenario prove to be more believable – one that simply involves a careless scribe, a suspicious wife (Lucinda Harris), and a panicked young Joseph? The answer to this question, of course, is a matter of perspective. For those irretrievably committed to the belief that Joseph was a prophet called of God, the first scenario is the only scenario, however convoluted it may be.