long ago ideas

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago." - Friedrich Nietzsche. Long ago, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery conquered false claims that the Book of Mormon was fiction or that it came through a stone in a hat. But these old claims have resurfaced in recent years. To conquer them again, we have to return to what Joseph and Oliver taught.

Thursday, July 31, 2025

New podcast from France, etc.

People are asking about the new "Gospel Answers" on Book of Mormon translation, which I'll address in the next post in connection with the FAITH model.

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Recently I was a guest on Mormon Book Reviews. Check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phdk7bCOagw


Steve titled the podcast, "Mormon Godhood Revealed in France?" One of the topics we discussed is how so much art in France depicts the Godhead consistent with Doctrine and Covenants 130:22.

The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

During the conversation, we discussed this piece of art by Reubens:


The English wikipedia article gives only a brief explanation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Dominic_and_Francis_Saving_the_World_from_Christ%27s_Anger

The French wikipedia article goes into far more depth, but if you don't know French you need to translated it into your own language.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Dominique_et_Saint_Fran%C3%A7ois_pr%C3%A9servant_le_monde_de_la_col%C3%A8re_du_Christ

Yesterday I took photos of another piece painted in the late 1400s that depicts God the Father with a tangible body separate from Christ.



People in France have been viewing these pieces for hundreds of years. We find that many people, once they hear what our missionaries are teaching, think it makes sense that God has a body, as taught in D&C 130. 

We are reminded of another passage, because people around the world "are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it."

(Doctrine and Covenants 123:12)

Related to this is the doctrine of the pre-existence, which most people intuitively believe but never hear taught, but that's a topic for another day.
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BTW, during the conversation I pointed out that no one has produced any physical evidence that Hyrum Smith attended More's school (affiliated with Dartmouth) for more than one quarter in 1814. Lucy Mack Smith recalled that Hyrum attended, but she didn't say when or for how long.

And yet some people assume Hyrum attended for several years. 

This is another example of why the FAITH model is so important. Let's start with facts first, then make assumptions, draw inferences, articulate theories, etc.

I'm eager for more evidence on this point if anyone has some. Email it to me at lostzarahemla@gmail.com.


Monday, July 28, 2025

End of M2C-media edition

Before discussing the end of M2C, some comments.

- I posted more evidence to support Joseph Smith's claim that he translated the plates. See the annotations to Alma 41 and 42 here:

 https://www.mobom.org/jonathan-edwards

- On the Letter VII blog, we discussed why the plates were preserved.

https://www.lettervii.com/2025/07/why-were-plates-preserved.html

- Many interactions with scholars (and their followers) who promote M2C and SITH boil down to them referring to the Gospel Topics Essays to support their positions. These same scholars wrote the essays in the first place, so they are basically citing themselves. 

These essays were never intended to replace the scriptures, the teachings of the prophets, or authentic historical records. The essays are subject to change at any time without notice, as they have been in the past. Obviously, this is the opposite of reliable authority. The essays are merely useful references.

We can all hope that the essays will continue to be improved. I posted a page on that topic here:

https://www.ldshistoricalnarratives.com/p/gospel-topics-essays-do-not-supersede.html 

______

Now, back to the end of M2C.

People often ask why the dominant LDS scholars and media, including podcasters, do not report about, interview, or feature Latter-day Saints who still believe what Joseph and Oliver taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon. 

We can all understand why it would be difficult for people to explain that maybe they erred in repudiating what Joseph and Oliver taught. 

Imagine an M2Cer going through the process of even considering the possibility that the Hill Cumorah/Ramah is in New York after all. It is extremely difficult for them.

We should all be empathetic, supportive and encouraging as they jump on the "end of M2C" train.

The "end of M2C" train

A lesson from the NY Times:

NY Times Pulitzer winner Jeff Gerth: "The media isn't looking for Russiagate scoops nor will they fairly present the ones others get if they reflect poorly on their prior reporting. They're in a defensive posture & aren't inclined to report deeply on anything that helps Trump"

These LDS scholars and their media have a psychological barrier that prevents them from discussing anything that "reflects poorly on their prior reporting." 

Eventually the right thing happens.

Sooner or later, most Latter-day Saints will reach the conclusion that Joseph and Oliver taught the truth after all, despite what critics and certain LDS scholars say.




Monday, July 21, 2025

End of M2C - Daniel Peterson edition

Daniel Peterson is the well-known editor of the FARMS journals (33 volumes from 1989-2011) and the Interpreter (66 volumes from 2012-2025). He is also a regular and popular speaker at FAIRLDS. Dan is a thoughtful scholar, a great guy, and a faithful Latter-day Saint. 

To his credit, his newfound openness suggests he may be jumping on the "end of M2C" train.

M2Cers jumping onto the "end of M2C" train

[Note: to understand what "end of M2C" means, see 

https://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2025/06/end-of-m2c-what-we-mean.html]

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(click to enlarge)
As editor, Dan has promoted M2C (the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory) adamantly and exclusively in all of these journals. 

The FARMS journals he edited featured the infamous M2C logo that portrays the Book of Mormon with a Mayan glyph. 

(If you enlarge the image, you can see the explanation that the Hebrew character represents the Old Testament, the Greek character represents the New Testament, and the Egyptian represents the Pearl of Great Price.)

Of course, we all know that the actual language of the Book of Mormon is English. To represent the plates, maybe Egyptian could represent "Reformed Egyptian," but using a Mayan glyph is a not-at-all-subtle declaration about geography.

For decades, the FARMS M2C logo imprinted M2C on the minds of LDS students, scholars, and everyone else. That contributed to the wide-spread assumption that the M2C paradigm was quasi-official, having been the "consensus" among faithful LDS scholars, having been published in the Ensign, and having been depicted throughout Church-produced media.

The M2C logo made its way to Book of Mormon Central for several years until recently, when it was replaced by its much-improved starburst logo.


Amazingly, the M2C logo is still featured on Royal Skousen's books, including the one published in 2024.

On the other hand, that makes sense. Royal Skousen famously teaches that Joseph and Oliver intentionally misled everyone about the translation by claiming Joseph used the Urim and Thummim. M2C teaches that they intentionally misled everyone about the New York Cumorah. So what better logo to feature on Skousen's books than the M2C logo?

_____

Back to Dan.

Recently Dan wrote "Am I myself fundamentally committed to a Mesoamerican geographical model for the Nephites and the Jaredites?  I am not.  I’m open to alternative proposals."

After his decades of promoting M2C, this is a welcome change. I discussed it here: 

https://interpreterpeerreviews.blogspot.com/2025/07/dan-and-m2c-blowin-in-wind.html

Then, Dan wrote a piece about applying Ockham's Razor, which I discussed here:

https://interpreterpeerreviews.blogspot.com/2025/07/dan-and-occams-razor.html

That one is particularly interesting because my post about Ockham's Razor is one of the most popular on this very blog. 

https://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2016/05/simplicity.html

In my view, Ockham's Razor is a solid argument in favor of accepting what Joseph and Oliver taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.

Reasonable people can disagree, of course. People can believe whatever they want. 

But it is nice to see Dan attract attention to the Occam's Razor principle.

Let's all encourage Dan and other M2Cers to join the pursuit of clarity, charity and understanding, all with the objective of encouraging people to make informed decisions.

This is a big step forward in achieving "no more contention" and establishing Zion...



Wednesday, July 16, 2025

SITH, Skousen, Early Modern English, etc.

Readers of this blog know that I think Joseph actually translated the characters on the plates. After all, he said he did, as we can all read in Joseph Smith-History.

Some modern LDS scholars, including Royal Skousen but many others, reject what Joseph (and Oliver) taught in favor of the theory articulated in Mormonism Unvailed that instead of using the plates, Joseph merely read words that appeared on the stone-in-the-hat (SITH), the stone being one that he found while digging a well years earlier.

Last fall I posted comments about Royal Skousen's declaration, based on his "Early Modern English" theory, that 

"Joseph Smith’s claim that he used the Urim and Thummim is only partially true; and Oliver Cowdery’s statements that Joseph used the original instrument while he, Oliver, was the scribe appear to be intentionally misleading."

https://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2024/11/thank-you-royal-skousen.html

I've been surprised at how many people seem to have embraced Skousen's "Early Modern English" theory. Maybe some of them did not realize the inevitable implications of that theory, which Skousen finally announced in the quotation above. 

But apparently many of Skousen's followers agree with his conclusion about the credibility and reliability of Joseph and Oliver as well.

That is predictable because many of those same people also reject what Joseph and Oliver said about the Hill Cumorah.

I had been skeptical of Skousen's theory because of the logical and factual fallacies he employed to develop and promote it. In my view, it makes more sense, and is more consistent with the historical record, to conclude that Joseph and Oliver told the truth when they said Joseph translated the plates.

But people will believe whatever they want to believe.

_____

I bring this up because William Davis recently published an article in Dialogue, which is also on academia.edu:

https://www.academia.edu/130179615/Joseph_Smiths_Spiritual_Language_The_Presence_of_Early_Modern_English_in_the_Book_of_Mormon?email_work_card=title

I like having multiple working hypotheses to consider. Although I don't agree with all of Davis' assumptions and inferences, I highly recommend his paper because he carefully and precisely explains some of the flaws that led to Skousen's conclusion that Joseph and Oliver misled everyone.

Davis' first paragraph sets the stage:

The question of whether or not Joseph Smith participated in the translation of the Book of Mormon as an actual translator, or merely as a transcriber, remains a point of debate in Mormon studies. Did Joseph receive spiritual impressions and visionary experiences by means of a translation device (seer stone, interpreters, and/or Urim and Thummim) and then articulate them into English by tapping into his own mental storehouse of English vocabulary, phraseology, and conceptualizations (the theory of “loose control”)? Or did Joseph simply read the words of a preexisting translation that appeared to him on the surface of the translation device, without any significant contributions of his own (the theory of “tight control”)? As Richard Bushman aptly observes, “Latter-day Saints themselves cannot agree on how the writings engraved on the gold surfaces relate to Joseph Smith’s oral dictation to his secretaries.”1

Davis addressed several specific claims made by Skousen (and his co-author, Stan Carmack). He pointed out that much of what Skousen claims was "Early Modern English" was actually readily available in Joseph Smith's own time, place and culture.

Which is basically my point when I discuss the influence of Jonathan Edwards.

(See https://www.mobom.org/jonathan-edwards and my book Infinite Goodness.) 

At one point, Davis mentioned the "ceremony" controversy:

When we expand the scope of analysis to include the possibility of scribal flaws and the pressures of a rapid dictation process, in which Joseph sought unsuccessfully to find the precise language to express an idea in the moment of performance, then such factors can further account for additional idiosyncratic or allegedly archaic usages, such as using “ceremony” instead of the more specific description of a council of peace, parley, or peace ceremony (Mosiah 19:24).

I discussed the "ceremony" issue here, showing that Jonathan Edwards used the term the same way it is used in the Book of Mormon:

https://scripturecentralpeerreviews.blogspot.com/2025/07/ceremony-in-mosiah-1924.html

To me, this evidence supports and corroborates what Joseph said from the beginning when he claimed he translated the plates. 

It also corroborates what Moroni told him the first time they met:

He said this history was written and deposited not far from that place, and that it was our brother’s privilege, if obedient to the commandments of the Lord, to obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record.

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/69

_____

Davis also made an important point that corroborates my findings regarding the influence of Jonathan Edwards. Pay particular attention to footnote 42, which addresses a common claim by SITH sayers and others that Joseph was illiterate and/or uninterested in books and reading.

Joseph Smith’s New England and New York dialects, coupled with the language of the KJV and the registers of contemporary revivalism and religious discourse, have provided obvious locations of investigative research to identify possible sources of the archaic biblical-style language in the Book of Mormon. Meanwhile, another prominent resource remains neglected: the popular reading material of the day.

When we look into the family libraries of early nineteenth-century farmers and artisans, we find that they owned and read the works of a number of influential authors from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Yet, with regard to Joseph, the availability of such materials and their popularity in working-class homes rarely receives attention, presumably due to his alleged illiteracy and purported lack of interest in reading.42 In the early American republic, however, regular reading—silent and aloud, by individuals, families, or groups in various gathering places (from literary and debate societies to local inns and taverns)—was a common and popular pastime.

42. Lucy Smith famously said that Joseph “seemed much less inclined to the perusal of books than any of the rest of our children,” which commentators often use to assert Joseph’s lack of interest in reading. See Lavina Fielding Anderson, ed., Lucy’s Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith’s Family Memoir (Signature Books, 2001), 344. [Note: here I would have cited the Joseph Smith Papers instead, including both versions of her statement.] Lucy’s comment does not, however, state that Joseph did not like to read. She simply makes a comparison of Joseph’s reading habits in relation to his siblings. Thus, without knowing how much the other Smith children were inclined to read, the comment remains an observation without a reference point. (comment and emphasis added)

To Davis' point I add that if (as I propose) Joseph was reading books at the T. C. Strong bookstore, Lucy would not have known about that unless Joseph told her. 

_____

Hopefully, Davis' conclusion may encourage Skousen and his followers to reconsider Skousen's claim that Joseph and Oliver deliberately misled everyone about the translation.

While this essay does not provide a comprehensive survey of every textual phenomenon that Skousen and Carmack employ to assert their theory of “tight control,” the information presented here nevertheless offers more than sufficient evidence to demonstrate that Joseph Smith’s participation in the translation work was far more involved than a simple process of transmitting a preexisting, pretranslated work to his scribes.





Ever learning... Shiz, M2C, etc.

Like Shiz, M2C seems to be making a last gasp effort to stay relevant. 

The usual suspects who promote M2C are at it again. The Interpreter has published Brant Gardner's 13-part series. Dan Peterson has promoted it. Meridian Magazine has republished it. FAIR LDS will probably incorporate it somehow, along with the other M2Cers. 

Nevertheless, I'm optimistic that things are changing.

Dan Peterson even expressed some openness about the topic.

Maybe the day will come when the Interpreter will (i) host a 13-part article that explains the Heartland position and (ii) allow a Heartlander to control the comments and editorial response.

Does that sound likely?

We all know it will never happen.

Which tells us all we need to know about the ongoing viability of M2C.

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Brant's series has generated a bit of earnest discussion about M2C. Brant deserves a lot of credit for publishing that series, which was probably about as good a defense of M2C as anyone has produced. But as usual, Brant avoided the core issues and resorted to mingling facts with his assumptions, inferences and theories to produce his overall hypothesis.

Some people apparently don't realize these debates have been going on for over 100 years. With some people, the topic generates contention, which is both foolish and unproductive. Church leaders have been wise to avoid the topic ever since it became contentious.

Arguments about this topic (like most arguments) arise from insecurity. Some people need others to agree with them as a sort of social proof; i.e., because they don't trust their own choices, they need others to validate their choices by agreeing with them. That creates the compulsion to convince or persuade, which leads to contention and all that follows.

A better course that leads to "no more contention" is the pursuit of clarity, charity and understanding. This both eliminates any compulsion to convince or persuade and enlightens everyone about how people think and view the world.

That's the spirit in which this post is written. We assume everyone is acting in good faith. We encourage people to understand one another, recognizing there are multiple working hypotheses.

The difficult element is that of clarity.

_____

It's a very simple debate, really. 

We can all see the actual facts. We all agree on the facts. And we can all see the ensuing assumptions about those facts. These assumptions constitute a bias that people then seek to confirm.

For example, everyone (M2Cers, critics, Heartlanders, and everyone else) agrees on the fact that Oliver Cowdery wrote that it is a fact that the hill in New York where Joseph found the plates is the very Hill Cumorah/Ramah described in the Book of Mormon. That fact is not in question. 

Where people diverge is with their assumptions about that fact. People assume either that Oliver was correct or that Oliver was wrong.

(click to enlarge)

One of the first problems with Brant's analysis is that he glides over the fundamental difference between the M2Cers and the Heartlanders. He jumps ahead to his interpretations of the text and what he considers extrinsic evidence that supports those interpretations. That is, he seeks to justify his assumption that Oliver was wrong.

This is problematic because every one of Brant's interpretations of the text relies on assumptions and inferences. None of those interpretations are facts. This is true of every interpretation of the text, of course, but this basic reality is at the core of the debates. 

When people such as Brant are so fixated on their own interpretations, they are blind to the reality that they are engaging in bias confirmation. But it's obvious to everyone who does not share his bias.

The same is true of Heartlanders, of course, as well as critics. 

Naturally, everyone seeks to confirm their biases. Otherwise they would change their biases. Actually, many people do change their biases. This happens when people are able to overcome the psychologically powerful confirmation bias so they can consider and evaluate evidence in a new way. People can "reframe" the evidence to reach entirely different conclusions. In a missionary context, we call that "conversion."

Having been an M2Cer for decades, I realize this may not be an easy or immediate process. Lots of former M2Cers have followed the same process I have. And no doubt there are some who have shifted toward M2C after being Heartlanders. That's all part of the process.

But it is essential to realize that people who have different assumptions and inferences end up creating different theories and hypotheses. This is axiomatic. There is nothing complicated about this.

What remains complicated, for many people, is clarity.

_____

Brant's series demonstrates both (i) the advantages of the FAITH model of analysis and (ii) the reasons why M2Cers (and SITH sayers) refuse to employ it.

Everyone interested in the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon wants to see all the facts laid out, separate from the various assumptions, inferences, and theories. The FAITH model enables everyone to understand the ancestry of the various models. It enables people to make informed decisions.

But M2Cers refuse to employ this model. And they don't want anyone else to, either. Which is why they oppose posts such as this:

https://www.lettervii.com/p/oliver-was-truthful-except.html 

_____

As we always say, people can believe whatever they want.

And we are fine with multiple working hypotheses.

But we encourage people to make informed decisions, and Brant (and the other M2Cers) provided more heat than light because they consistently refuse to allow other interpretations to surface.

Think of this debate from the perspective of an outside observer. What academic (or other) organization would even dream up a process that purports to be academic, analytical and objective by which the author of an article in an online journal is also the webmaster who controls the comments that are allowed on that journal?

It is a patently ridiculous process that demonstrates the intensity of the bias confirmation underway at the Interpreter, Meridian Magazine, etc.

But as I said at the outset, maybe that is changing.

What do you think?

_____


_____

A few scriptures come to mind.

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:7)

22 ¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To the Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. (Acts 17:22–23)

a scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued—priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions. (Joseph Smith—History 1:6)

It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; (Alma 12:9–11)

Friday, July 11, 2025

End of M2C: Brant's series concludes

I posted a peer review of Brant's part 13 here:

https://interpreterpeerreviews.blogspot.com/2025/07/brants-part-13.html

I keep the peer reviews on that blog for easier reference.

_____

In a related post, I discussed the treatment of Cumorah in some recent curriculum, here:

https://www.ldshistoricalnarratives.com/2025/06/improving-church-websites-cumorah.html

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Here's the intro to my peer review:

Brant Gardner finished his series of blog posts comparing M2C with the Heartland. Brant is a fine scholar, a great guy, and a faithful Latter-day Saint. 

The series is a good candidate for a FAITH model analysis if/when I get the time. Hopefully someone else will take the opportunity to separate the facts we all know from the various assumptions, inferences and theories that lead to the multiple working hypotheses found throughout the community of Latter-day Saints.

So in that sense, kudos to Brant.

But hopefully in the future he will consider employing the FAITH model.


_____







Thursday, July 10, 2025

Beyond Parody-SITH in seminary

[Note: This is an older post that I forgot to publish, but it's still useful in the pursuit of clarity, charity and understanding.]

Recently I was conversing with a seminary teacher about how to teach the translation of the Book of Mormon. I explained that I stick with the scriptures, authentic historical sources, and the teachings of the prophets. He agreed. Then he said,

"But I have to teach what's in the manual," he said.

He had a good point. So I looked at the manual. 

As expected, the manual follows the SITH (stone-in-the-hat) teachings of the authors of the Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon Translation. This means the manual does not quote what Joseph and Oliver said about the translation, apart from the ubiquitous short excerpt (the "gift and power of God") which, removed from its context, is misleading. 

The section of the Seminary manual to which he referred is here:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-seminary-teacher-manual-2025/062-the-translation-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng

The manual depicts SITH.

SITH in the seminary manual

Then it says this:

This lesson is intended to help students strengthen their testimony that God provided means and power for Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Mormon for us.

But instead of informing students about what Joseph and Oliver said about the translation, the manual teaches what others claimed years later. 

Basically, the manual teaches what Mormonism Unvailed claimed in 1834; i.e., that Joseph didn't use the plates or the Urim and Thummim, as he and Oliver claimed, but instead read words off a stone he found in a well.

Maybe that "inoculates" students against claims from the critics, but another idea might be to teach students what Joseph and Oliver taught. After all, they faced the SITH narrative too, which is why they repeatedly, and in print, refuted SITH by affirming that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates.

My suggestions for improvement to the manual are here:

https://www.ldshistoricalnarratives.com/2025/02/2025-improvements-seminary-manual.html

These are simple fixes to the problem. 

_____

Let's look at why I say SITH is beyond parody. 

According to the seminary manual:

1. We're supposed to believe that God placed a special stone deep in the earth for Joseph to find while digging a well.

2. We're supposed to believe that Joseph used this stone instead of the Nephite interpreters (the Urim and Thummim) which the Lord

(i) created specifically for the purpose of translating sacred records, 

(ii) directed Moroni to include in the stone box with the plates, and 

(iii) said Joseph's gift to translate was based upon.

3. We're supposed to believe that Joseph did not even use the plates or the Urim and Thummim after all.

4. We're supposed to believe that the stone-in-the-hat (SITH) worked just as well as (and was more "convenient than") the Urim and Thummim.

5. We're supposed to believe Royal Skousen's claim that Joseph and Oliver deliberately misled everyone about the translation because they repeatedly and formally claimed that Joseph translated the plates by means of the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates.

Maybe students are fine with all of this. 

But anyone who knows what Joseph and Oliver said can see the inconsistency of teaching people to believe what Joseph and Oliver taught without teaching what Joseph and Oliver taught.

_____

There are four basic ways to address the historical record regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon.

1. Conclude that Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Samuel Smith and John Whitmer told the truth about the translation. This is the Urim and Thummim narrative of which the earliest known explanation was published in 1832 in Boston describing what Orson Hyde and Samuel Smith were teaching. https://www.mobom.org/urim-and-thummim-in-1832

This means that the SITH witnesses either (i) observed something else, such as a demonstration, and assumed they were witnessing the actual translation, or (ii) adopted SITH as an apologetic explanation to refute the Spalding theory. 

2. Conclude, as Royal Skousen and other LDS and non-LDS scholars have, that Joseph and Oliver deliberately misled everyone about the translation because Joseph didn't really use the Urim and Thummim or even refer to the plates, and he was embarrassed about the seer stone. This is the SITH narrative promoted by Mormonism Unvailed in 1834. For a discussion of the "embarrassed" narrative, see https://www.ldshistoricalnarratives.com/2024/09/the-embarrassed-narrative-and-sith.html

3. Conclude that Joseph used both the U&T and SITH by disregarding what everyone involved with the translation actually said (they all distinguished between the two--even Mormonism Unvailed did). Some scholars even claim that when Joseph and Oliver referred to the Urim and Thummim, they meant both the Nephite interpreters and the seer stone. This despite Joseph specifically explaining that he used the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates. See references here: https://www.mobom.org/church-history-issues

4. Conclude that we just don't know how it was done, that Joseph and Oliver were vague, that their successors in Church leadership were mistaken, and it doesn't matter because the words in the text by themselves testify of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

For Latter-day Saints and their friends to make informed decisions, they should at least know what Joseph and Oliver taught. Then they can choose among these alternative interpretations, pursuant to the FAITH model, which differentiates among

Facts

Assumptions

Inferences

Theories

Hypotheses