Emma Smith,
who assisted her husband Joseph Smith at times in the translation of the Book
of Mormon by acting as a scribe, bore this testimony:
“I am
satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless
he was inspired; for, when I acted as his scribe, Joseph would dictate to me
hour after hour; and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he
would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript
or having any portion of it read to him. … It would have been improbable that a
learned man could do this; and, for one so … unlearned as he was, it was simply
impossible.
“Joseph …
could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter; let alone
dictating a book like the Book of Mormon. And, though I was an active
participant in the scenes that transpired, … it is marvelous to me, ‘a marvel
and a wonder,’ as much so as to anyone else” (“Last Testimony of Sister Emma,”
The Saints’ Herald, Oct. 1, 1879, 290).
