Book of Mormon

A volume of scripture Joseph Smith attributed to his translation of a set of metal plates. The plates were originally written by aboriginal inhabitants of the Americas, then buried by the last contributing author approximately A.D. 421. Originally written by a prophetic family from the tribe of Joseph, who fled Jerusalem in 601 B.C., prior to the Babylonian destruction. The high point of the text is the post-resurrection visit of the Messiah—or Jesus Christ—to the Americas. Smith claimed the location of these buried plates was revealed to him by an angel, and the translation was accomplished by “the gift and power of God.” The original account was abridged by a man or prophet named “Mormon” and the book takes its name from him.