Does the church have a position on the rumor that someone translated the sealed portion of the plates?

Question

Dear Gramps,

I have to admit that no matter how difficult and or profound, you always manage to give answers to all those various questions from all around the world.

Several months ago I sent a question about the sealed portion of the plates. There are several claims that “someone” somehow translated it.  Do you know of any position that the Church took on this matter?  Hope you find time to answer this.

Francis

Answer

Francis,

There would be great difficulty in translating the sealed portion of the golden plates. First of all, the plates themselves were taken back by Moroni once Joseph Smith was finished translating the open portion. Further, Joseph was forbidden any attempts at translating the sealed portion. To my knowledge, the plates have not yet been returned to the earth for further translation. As such, anyone claiming to have translated them would clearly be a suspicious individual in that regard. What is more fascinating, however, is that the majority of the plates were sealed. Said another way, the Book of Mormon represents far less than half of what was recorded on the plates by Moroni. We are assured the time will come for the sealed portion to be translated, but that day is not yet here. Once we have lived up to the revelations we have now, it is far more likely we will be given more from those plates.

In response to your question about an official position the Church has taken.  At this time, I’m unaware of any.

Gramps