MORMON, THE BOOK OF. The sacred book of the Mormons, in addition to the Bible. It is regarded as divinely inspired, and as in perfect harmony with the Bible. It is claimed that the second inspired work is alluded to in the Bible itself in the Book of Ezekiel (xxxvii. 15-19). The " stick of Judah " there referred to is the Bible: the " stick of Ephraim " is the other record, the Book of Mormon. It is said that an angel named Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Mormons, and told him that in A.D. 420 he had buried a sacred record in the hill Cumorah in the northern part of the State of New York. The plates of the work, with a Urim and Thummim, were committed to the care of Joseph Smith for translation. " Each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite as thick as common tin. They were tilled with engravings in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches
in thickness, a part of it being sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction, and much skill in the art of engraving. The Urim and Thummim consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate. The unsealed portion of the plates was translated, and the whole were again taken charge of by the angel " (James H. Anderson). The part translated was published in 1830. This Book of Mormon purports to be an abridgment of the records of his forefathers made by the Prophet Mormon, father of Moroni. See J. H. Blunt; James H. Anderson, " The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," in R.S.W.