Examining the Gold Plates by John P. Pratt

The following is an excerpt from Dr. John P. Pratt’s logical, scientific and spiritual testimony of the authenticity of the plates of Mormon which were translated by the gift and power of God by the seer, Maurício A. Berger. Dr. Pratt is a descendant of Parley P. Pratt. The full article can be read at: https://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/2020/witness.html

Engravings. The plates were engraved with well-spaced characters on both sides. Mauricio showed us many details about the engravings (see Figure 3), turning several pages for us in various sections of the unsealed plates, showing us how different writing styles indicated different authors. Two things surprised me about the engravings. First was their large size and wide spacing. They are definitely larger than the artists’ conceptions which I have seen, which try to cram as many characters on a plate as possible. If the reader clicks on Figure 4 to enlarge it, the size of the characters and the space between them can be seen on the back side of the plate by my left hand side.

Secondly, the engravings were not as deep as expected. They hardly made any indentation at all, as if made with a special delicate tool, rather than a crude stylus. No attempt was made on my part to try to remember nor recognize any characters.

Rings. As can be seen in the photos, the plates are secured by three well-made “rings”, each of which consist of two vertical posts with a curved top. They appear to be made of steel. The strong magnet showed the posts to be highly ferromagnetic. Mauricio showed us where the two ends of each ring meet near the center of the plates. The joint was not joined (as by welding), but the two ends met so closely that my fingernail was many times too thick to insert between them. The rings demonstrated advanced skills in metalwork…”

Dr. John P. Pratt

Read Dr. John P. Pratt’s entire article “Examining the Gold Plates” by clicking here.