Gold Plates and Other Extraordinary Things

Mormonism’s beginnings are based on Joseph Smith’s remarkable claims that he saw God and angels and then retrieved golden plates from a hill near his home. The debate between believers and nonbelievers over the truthfulness of Smith’s claims has followed well-worn paths ever since. In recent years, however, new interpretations have emerged that attempt to make sense of the gold plates and translation of the Book of Mormon from a secular academic perspective. In this episode Patrick talks with Ann Taves, one of the nation’s most distinguished scholars of religion, to consider new ways of thinking about gold plates and other extraordinary things.