ACCUSATION: "Mormons believe that Joseph Smith got his powers from a pair of Magic spectacles."

First off, any critic of the Restored Gospel, by using the word "magic" to describe things we believe, is only proving that he is full of falsehoods. Since we do not believe in magic, rest assured that anyone who uses the "M" word regarding our beliefs is intentionally trying to deceive you, because only those who hate us have ever done so after actually studying the matter.

As for the "magic spectacles," it is interesting to me that so many critics, claiming to be Biblical experts, fail to recognize the fact that what Joseph Smith possessed (or claimed to possess, as they would say) was in fact the Urim and Thummim of Biblical origin. The Bible does not give much physical detail, but it is clear that, according to the Biblical account, the Urim and Thummim were a breastplate given to the priests of Israel and whatever other items were associated with it. There are several instances in the Old Testament where it clearly shows that the Urim and Thummim was/were used to receive revelation from God.

According to Joseph Smith's account, what he had was a metal breastplate with a frame that came out from it and held two stones or crystals, such that he could gaze through them. This he received when he received the Golden Plates, and he used it to aid in his translation. There are other accounts that suggest that Joseph also took the actual stones or crystals and put them into a hat or some other item that offered an enclosed space in which he could put his face and see the stone without the interference of outside light. He used this method to receive revelation from God.

Now, according to the prejudices of a primarily Protestant culture, many would look at this as something laughable and very un-Christian. However, as I said, it is actually very Biblical. In Exodus 28:11, the Lord commands the Israelites to craft two stones and set them into "settings of gold." Then, in 28:30, the Lord says:

And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually.

This and other verses of the Bible (Lev. 8:8, Deut. 33:8, Ezra 2:63, and Neh. 7:65) show that the Urim and Thummim were held by one with priesthood power and the authority to stand as the Lord's mouthpiece.

Many people would still suggest that the idea of channeling the power of God through an object is strictly occult, and completely opposed to the Judeo-Christian tradition. However, let's not forget the staff of Moses, the bronze serpent, the cloak of Elijah, the Arc of the Covenant, and various other physical items with which the Lord endowed heavenly powers. And this is not all. Let's not forget John 9:1-7:

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,

And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

Yes, that's right: Jesus Christ healed a man of blindness by spitting in the dirt, wiping the "magic" clay (or mud) made with that saliva in the man's eyes, and telling him to go wash in a "magic" pool.

Joseph Smith used the Holy Priesthood of God to miraculously heal hundreds of people, and he did it primarily by laying his hands on their heads, perhaps anointing them with oil, and pronouncing a blessing. There are numerous eye-witness accounts of this. However, if any of these witnesses had related a story of him using a similar spit-and-mud method, I'm sure many sectarians would post the account all over the Internet to discredit him, saying that he claimed to use "magic saliva" and "magic mud" to work miracles. Nevermind that Christ did that very thing.

Yes, Joseph Smith did use "sorcerer's stones," "magic spectacles," or whatever incorrect name the critics want to give them as a means of receiving prophetic revelation from Heaven. But before sectarians dismiss that claim as ludicrous, they should remember all of the other "magical" items spoken of in the Bible, and remember that all Christians believe that Jonah spent three days in the belly of a "fish," Moses made water stand up straight and made an army win a battle by holding his hands up in the air, and Jesus turned water into wine, walked on water, and arose from the dead...all after having been born of a virgin.

All equally unbelievable.