Why is the alleged existence of Nephi's brass plates significant for believers in the Book of Mormon?
by Mike Clark © 2026
Note that this essay is written in accordance with my understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I am a member. The contents of the article are my own work, and does not necessarily represent the view of the Church.
The website Quora.com was created as a kind of Q&A site where people can ask questions and be answered by those are interested to answer. There are a lot of rather disingenuous questions about the topic of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The following is one such that I answered. To see my answer on Quora itself, follow this link: Quora.com
The Question
Why is the alleged existence of Nephi's brass plates significant for believers in the Book of Mormon?
My Answer
I answered the question on 25 July, 2026
This is a bit of an oddly-worded question, since to non-believers the gold plates of the Book of Mormon are likewise “alleged.” But nevermind.
The First Book of Nephi in the Book of Mormon tells the story of the family of Lehi, a prophet of Judah during the period just before the Babylonian conquest. Because he has prophesied certain things the leaders of Israel find problematic, Lehi’s life is in danger. He is directed by the Lord to flee Israel into the wilderness with his family, and they travel for three days. The Lord then directs him to send his sons back to Jerusalem to obtain a certain record inscribed upon brass plates, which contains scriptures, and other writings. His sons do so after some difficulty and return to the family encampment
When Lehi examined the plates, he found that they contained the five books of Moses, a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, as well as the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; and also many of Jeremiah's prophecies. Lehi also found a genealogy of his fathers.
Why is this important? Because the family is about to embark on a journey which will take them to unknown lands, from which they will never return. To remain faithful to God and His laws they will need to have those laws and the corresponding history.
Nephi wrote: “And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children. Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us, as we journeyed in the wilderness towards the land of promise.”
Why are the brass plates significant? Because they contained the cultural and religious essence that these people belonged to, and this was needed in order to maintain a viable culture. Without that they would eventually lose their distinctiveness and their connection to God. Portions of what were found on those plates were later transcribed onto the gold plates of the Book of Mormon, which is how that book was found to contain passages from Isaiah. About 280 years after the people of Lehi arrived in the New World, they discovered another group whose ancestors had fled Israel to the New World about the time Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians. These Israelite descendants did not bring any records from their home, and had consequently lost all connection with their religion, culture, and language. Which is what would have happened to the descendants of Lehi without the brass plates.
JOSEPH'S MYTHolgy's Comment
‘His sons do so after some difficulty and return to the family encampment.’ At least you are a master of understatement because as you know they had to cut the head off of a man called Laban, then somehow ignoring his blood soaked clothes dressed in them, mimicked his voice -which any of us can do- all of which supposedly convinced his close servant that this totally different looking unknown guy was actually him. I mean how dumb was his servant to think, ‘Hey this much taller extra ripped guy certainly is Laban for sure and maybe he worked out at the gym overnight and the blood all over him is obviously from a shaving accident.’ And all of this before Mission Impossible masks and electronic voice altering technology was imagined. All obviously so true but this is the kicker, Smith didn't even use the plates because he used his glowing Peep Stone instead so what a bummer for all of those involved in not only the plates preparation but for those who retrieved them. But hey, people actually believe this stuff!
My Answer to the Comment
I was simply answering a question about the Book of Mormon. Why don’t you address the answer instead of chiming in to argue an entirely different aspect of the matter? You could answer the original question and put your mockery out there for all to see — who reads comments? Nobody. So you’re wasting your own time. Are you aware of Brandolini’s Law? It states that the amount of energy needed to refute bullcrap is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it. That means that I need 1820 words to refute your 182 words. Do I really think this would make a difference? Certainly not to you. But maybe to someone else. So, I shall answer.
To start with, you are using the logical fallacy called “Appeal to Ridicule” to make your point. You can use the same fallacy against the Bible, the Quran, the US Constitution, or even Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace. The problem is, mockery or ridicule is not argument; it is a demonstration of not having a real argument. As such, it’s a very weak argument, and only weak intellects fall for it.
You say that Laban’s clothes would be blood soaked due to the decapitation. How do you know that Nephi didn’t remove Laban’s clothes before decapitating him? Nephi wasn’t an idiot; he’d know that unless he removed the clothes first, they’d get bloody. Laban was dead drunk; undressing him would have been quite easy. And then: CHUNK!
You imply that it was unlikely for Laban’s servant not to recognize that Nephi wasn’t Laban. Ever watch the TV series Band of Brothers? Do you remember the scene where a member of Easy Company imitates a superior officer’s voice and manages to get arrogant Captain Sobel to do something he shouldn’t have done? Nephi and Zoram were interacting at night, in an ancient city with doubtful lighting. You don’t think that a man dressed in his master’s clothing and armor, armed with his master’s sword, and sounding like his master could fool a man used to taking orders without question from his master, at night? OK, if that’s your position, but it’s been done in reality by many people.
Your problem is that you think this kind of thing is only possible with 21st century technology. It’s not.
As for your mocking of the book’s translator, you don’t know what you’re talking about. It wasn’t all “peep stone.” It started out with the “interpreters,” the two transparent stones that were found with the plates, using them to look at the inscriptions on the plates. Later it all went with the stone, without even looking at the plates. Come on, get it right, it’s not that hard.
The funny part of this is that while you mock the means of translation, you ignore the claim that Joseph did this by the gift and power of God. Joseph didn’t know even know how to translate a modern language, let alone one a thousand years old. If you don’t believe in God, that’s fine, but in either case, explain the Book of Mormon! Where did the text come from? Joseph with his 3rd grade education couldn’t have done it by himself. And no theory ever propounded has managed to credibly explain where the book came from. So explain the Book of Mormon! Or are your powers of mythology not up to the task?
Well, I guess Brandolini’s Law doesn’t work in this instance. My reply only took 585 words, not 1820.
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