The Kinderhook Kinder-Surprise
In Kinderhook, Illinois, about 50 miles south of Nauvoo, six bell-shaped brass plates were allegedly found when digging up a burial mound on a farmer’s land. He said he’d dreamt about finding treasure in the mound and organized a dig. A couple Mormons were present when some small plates with ancient-looking inscriptions were found and word spread quickly to Nauvoo. Soon the plates were presented to Joseph Smith who pronounced them as genuinely ancient. He claimed many similarities to the writing on the gold plates, and compared them to the papyri he claimed to have translated, he translated done and said they contained the writings of a descendant of Ham. He never fully translated them though, as he only had them for a few days, but everyone expected a full translation soon. The church stood by his story and hoped these plates would be translated, giving the saints further light and knowledge and offering further proof of Joseph’s gifts and vindication for his story of the gold plates.
Later these Kinderhook plates were lost, and then admitted to be fake, but the church didn’t believe the confession and continued to use the story as proof of Joseph’s prophetic gift to translate. Then a single Kinderhook plate was found and tested multiple times to discover authenticity. Science proved the plate a modern creation, and the Church was forced to change the story. They denied Joseph has translated them out that he had been filled, since he never fully translated them. They even questioned why the scribe and other contemporary saints would have said Joseph had translated them. Today the Kinderhook plates, similar to the Mark Hofmann forgeries show that church leaders have little discernment and are not capable of identifying truth and thus while they claim prophetic per and authority, can be led astray.