TIME OCCUPIED IN TRANSLATING THE BOOK OF MORMON.
Objection has been made to the divinity of the Book of Mormon on the
ground that the account given in the publication of the Church, of
the time occupied in the work of translation is far too short for the
accomplishment of such a labor, and consequently it must have been
copied or transcribed from some work written in the English language,
most probably from Spaulding's "Manuscript Found." But at the outset it
must be recollected that the translation was accomplished by no common
method, by no ordinary means. It was done by divine aid. There were
no delays over obscure passages, no difficulties over the choice of
words, no stoppages from the ignorance of the translator; no time was
wasted in investigation or argument over the value, intent or meaning
of certain characters, and there were no references to authorities.
These difficulties to human work were removed. All was as simple as
when a clerk writes from dictation. The translation of the characters
appeared on the Urim and Thummim, sentence by sentence, and so soon as
one was correctly transcribed the next would appear. So the enquiry
narrows down to the consideration of this simple question, how much
could Oliver Cowdery write in a day? How many of the printed pages of
the Book of Mormon could an ordinary clerk transcribe from dictation in
a day? When that is determined, divide the total number of pages in the
Book of Mormon by that number and you have the answer in days.
It now becomes important to discover when the translation was commenced
and when it was finished. This cannot be determined to a day, but
enough is known for our purpose.
When Oliver first visited Joseph some little had been translated,
exactly how much is not known. The next question is: When did that
visit occur? We will let Oliver answer. He writes (_Times and Seasons
Vol. I., page_ 201): "Near the time of the setting of the sun, Sabbath
evening, April 5th, 1829, my natural eyes, for the first time,
beheld this brother. He then resided in Harmony, Susquehanna county,
Pennsylvania. On Monday, the 6th, I assisted him in arranging some
business of a temporal nature, and on Tuesday, the 7th, commenced to
write the Book of Mormon."
In the history of Joseph Smith, we read: "During the month of April I
continued to translate and he (Oliver) to write with little cessation,
during which time we received several revelations." And again: "We
still continued the work of translation, when, in the ensuring month
(May 1829) we, on a certain day went into the woods to pray." Oliver
also states: "These were days never to be forgotten--to sit under
the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven awakened
the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued,
uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated with the Urim
and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, 'Interpreters,' the
history or record called the Book of Mormon."
Thus we see these two young men bent the whole energy of their souls
towards the accomplishment of this most important work. They united
their youthful zeal "day after day, uninterrupted" and "with little
cessation" to the labor of translation. It requires very little
imagination to understand how diligently and earnestly they toiled,
how they permitted nothing to interfere with their labor of love, how
they devoted every hour, until fatigue overcame them, to the divinely
imposed task (and young and vigorous as they were it was not a little
that would tire them out), while curiosity and other far worthier
feelings would give zest and inspiration to their labors; as they
progressed we can well imagine how their interest in the narrative
increased until they could scarcely tear themselves away from their
inspired labors even when their minds and bodies called for food and
rest. The enthusiasm with which Oliver speaks of those days shows
plainly that this was the case, and we cannot reasonably think that
Joseph was any less interested than he.
Now let us examine when these two brethren commenced their marvelous
work. Two series of dates have been given. Oliver's given above, and
another in the history of Joseph Smith, which gives the dates as the
15th and 17th of April, or ten days later. Oliver's has this evidence
of its correctness, that, as he states, the 5th, 6th and 7th of April,
1829, fell on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, which, of course, those ten
days later would not. Again, the event being of more importance in his
life than in Joseph's, he was more likely to recollect the details,
besides, being a better scholar and penman, it is more probable that if
any record of the circumstance was made at that time he made it. But
really there is no discrepancy. The dates 15th and 17th in the Pearl of
Great Price, in Joseph's history, etc., are unfortunately typographical
errors, or mistakes in printing. In the original manuscript in
the Historian's Office the dates are the same as those of Oliver
Cowdery--the 5th and 7th. But the mistake having once been printed it
has been copied out of one journal or book into another until nearly
all our works have perpetuated the blunder. Of course it is impossible
to tell now whether the mistake was first made by a copyist in the
Historian's Office or by a compositor at the printer's.
From Joseph's and Oliver's narrative we learn how far they had
progressed in the work of translation at the time of the visit of the
angel, John the Baptist, and their baptism. This took place on May 15th
of the same year. It was because they found in the teachings of the
risen Redeemer to the Nephites certain instructions regarding baptism
that they were led to enquire of the Lord regarding this ordinance,
and their inquiry led to the angel's visit. Where are these teachings
found? In the third book of Nephi; some, probably the very ones that so
deeply impressed the minds of these young men, on page five hundred and
three of the Book of Mormon (latest edition). Then it is evident that
between April 7th and May 15th they had translated as much as makes
five hundred and three pages of the printed Book of Mormon. How much
is this a day? Between these two dates, including April 7th but not
May 15th, there are thirty-eight days, which would make about thirteen
pages a day, if we allow nothing for what was previously transcribed. A
swift writer copying from dictation could write four such pages in an
hour, as we have demonstrated experimentally, an ordinary writer about
three. But allowing that Oliver Cowdery might be a very slow writer,
and that he only copied at the rate of a page in half an hour, even
then he would only have had to work six and one half hours each day to
accomplish the task; and if they rested entirely on Sundays about one
hour more. So we see, making no allowance for the work already done,
allowing Oliver Cowdery to be a slow penman for his profession--a
schoolmaster--and admitting that they ceased from their labor on the
Sabbath, still it was only necessary for them to do a short day's work,
especially for two young men in the prime and vigor of life; and yet
allow ample time for the reception of revelations (which were given
through the Urim and Thummim) and the performance of other duties that
possibly occasionally called for their attention.
To show how easy such an effort would be we will state that President
George Q. Cannon has informed us that when he translated the Book of
Mormon into the language of the Sandwich Islanders, he frequently
translated as many as eight or ten pages a day. This was far heavier
work to do alone, and without the assistance of the Urim and Thummim,
than it was for Joseph and Oliver together to translate from twelve to
fifteen pages with the all-important assistance of the "Interpreters."
After the date of their baptism, the brethren appear to have worked
more leisurely. Early in June they moved to Mr. Peter Whitmer's, at
Fayette, Seneca county, New York, who had kindly offered them a house.
Here the work was continued, John Whitmer, one of the sons, assisting
them very much by writing. Joseph states: "Meanwhile our translation
was drawing to a close, we went to Palmyra, Wayne county, New York,
secured the copyright and agreed with Mr. Egbert Grandin to print five
thousand copies for the sum of three thousand dollars." The copyright
was secured on June 11th, so it appears that between May 15th and the
last-named date, or twenty-six days, they had not quite translated
one hundred and twenty pages--not five pages a day--or they would
have finished their work. The exact date the translation was entirely
completed is not known, at least we have not been able to discover it.
Thus we see between the dates given, Joseph and Oliver had ample time
to do the work claimed by and for them, the objection falls to the
ground, and the truth is again vindicated.