“What were the Kinderhook Plates?”

Last updated on: January 21, 2025 at 1:19 pm by Dan Peterson

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“What were the Kinderhook Plates?” 2025-01-21T13:19:06-07:00 Dan Peterson

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A Latter-day Saint sacrament meeting in an unidentified location, most probably either Iceland, Ireland, or Korea (photograph from LDS.org)

Perhaps I just forgot to mention it. (I recall that I once forgot something, but now I can’t remember what it was.) Or perhaps I wanted to wait to announce it until the first full day of America’s Golden Age had arrived. Which it now has. Today! In either case, this article of mine — focused on the significant (and quite unexpected) Nephite element in the Restoration — appeared yesterday in Meridian Magazine: “Exploring the Ancient Origins of Sacrament Prayers in the Book of Mormon”

It’s available in DVD and Blu-ray at Deseret Book outlets and via the Deseret Book website.

I received the image above yesterday, via email. It came from Deseret Book Company. Perhaps you also received one? If you haven’t yet seen Six Days in August, you really should. In case you’re worried, by the way, in case you’re feeling secret Angst or harboring a crippling existential dread, I understand. But I wasn’t the cinematographer on Six Days — no hand-held Super-8 movie cameras or cellphone cameras were employed during the making of the film — and I don’t appear in it. Not even in a brief Hitchcock-style cameo role.

The front and back of facsimiles of four of the six “Kinderhook plates” (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

The Interpreter Foundation series of free Witnesses-related short-video features will, I think, be helpful for students and teachers of the Come, Follow Me curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, especially when that curriculum focuses on the recovery of the Book of Mormon and on the Book of Mormon Witnesses during the month of February. But, of course, the series will also be beneficial for the human race more generally. All should watch it. Meet the latest to be reemphasized, which weighs in at just under twelve minutes: “Episode 10: What were the Kinderhook Plates?”

Witnesses of the Book of Mormon—Insights Episode 10: In 1843, six men claimed to have unearthed ancient metal plates from a burial mound. They were eventually brought to Joseph Smith. Critics have claimed Joseph was fooled by what was ultimately revealed to be a fraud. What is the truth of this claim? This is Episode 10 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. . . . These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. This week we feature Gerrit Dirkmaat, Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. For more information, go to https://witnessesofthebookofmormon.org/. Learn about the documentary movie Undaunted—Witnesses of the Book of Mormon at https://witnessesundaunted.com/.

And don’t forget that Undaunted is now available for free streaming at The Witnesses Initiative.

And we shouldn’t overlook this item, which — thanks to the generosity of Jonn Claybaugh, is also newly available from the aways dying but never quite dead Interpreter Foundation: Come, Follow Me — D&C Study and Teaching Helps (2025): Doctrine and Covenants 3–5: January 27–February 2: “My Work Shall Go Forth”

The theatrical poster (fair use)

My wife and I went out to dinner last night with friends. Obviously, they’re all my wife’s friends: Given the latently violent, perpetually angry, rage-fueled, and callously cruel personality that the expert psychologists over on the Peterson Obsession Board claim to have discerned in me, I can scarcely be expected to have any friends of my own! And then we proceeded with those friends on to a performance of Ragtime at the new Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater in Pleasant Grove (aka “The Ruth”). There, as usual, we ran into our friends Jack and Jeannie Welch.

Although it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of its sibling theater to the north, The Ruth is a beautiful new facility and a major step forward for arts and culture in Utah Valley.

Ragtime is very far from the light comedies that are commonly offered at the Hale theaters. Further, I have some reservations about its implicit politics and economics, and I’m not a fan of Emma Goldman as either a person or a thinker. But it’s a powerful musical that raises troubling issues, and I think it’s very good for people in Utah Valley to be exposed to such theater and such issues. The performance last night was a good one. It had some slight weak points, and there was one pause when the actors were asked to leave the stage for perhaps five or ten minutes on account of an unidentified technical issue. (Perhaps it’s not surprising that there are still bugs to be worked out in a brand new theater.) But the cast was, on the whole, quite strong. Some were very strong. And the play offers excellent subjects for discussion.

There were a few empty seats last night. The new theater has much more audience capacity than its Orem predecessor — not hard to manage that! — and I hope that even more people in the community will take advantage of this great new entertainment venue. Live theater is a very different thing than movies. (Although, as should be fairly obvious, I think highly of movies, too.)

Jana Dahmer as Miriam Works Young with John Donovan Wilson as Brigham Young, in the 2024 Interpreter Foundation theatrical film “Six Days in August”

I was delighted by the first part of this first item, which, of course, I’ve drawn from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™.

“Serbia’s University Hospital names center after Brigham Young in response to Church donation: Also, donations in Ghana inspire parliament member to investigate the Church, medical assistance in Bolivia decreases infant mortality rates”

It puts me in mind of my little presentation to the 2024 FAIR conference back in August, which I gave under the title of “Appreciating Brother Brigham.”

But back to the Hitchens File. Here are some additional theistic crimes to feed any gratifying sense of indignation that a simmering secularist may feel:

“The Church of Jesus Christ and Seventh-day Adventists Continue Humanitarian Collaboration: The organizations have worked together on more than 330 projects since 1995”

“How the Church continues to respond to December’s earthquake in Vanuatu: Powerful earthquake killed 14, injured 200 and displaced thousands”

“How this stake humanitarian group has helped mend ‘loneliness, heartache and trials’: ‘We laugh and love and try to build the kingdom of God as we love those around us,’ said Karen Lewis”

“Thousands Gather to Package 1 Million Meals for Utah Food Bank: Around 10,000 people to volunteer”

“A thousand hands; a million meals: Youth, single adults, families and friends pack the Salt Palace Convention Center to pack 1 million meals for those experiencing food insecurity in Utah”

“The Church Donates Medical Equipment to Regional Clinic in Ghana: Over 12,000 Residents to Benefit”

Amazing: Theists even exploit children in their continuing crimes against humanity. Don’t believe me? Consider this chilling example: “This church is organizing 1 million kids under age 11 to join service projects in 2025: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a Primary organization for children in each of its 31,500 congregations worldwide. Its international Primary leaders are inviting each to participate in a service project this year.”

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