Emma Smith, wife of Joseph Smith "In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us." (History of the RLDS Church, 8 vols. Herald House, 1951, Volume 3, page 356, "Last Testimony of Sister Emma.") David Whitmer, one of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon "I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man." (David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887, p. 12) Martin Harris, one of the witnesses and scribes to the Book of Mormon "Martin Harris related an incident that occured during the time that he wrote that portion of the translation of the Book of Mormon which he was favored to write direct from the mouth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He said that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone, Martin explained the translation as follows: By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin and when finished he would say "Written," and if correctly written that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used." (Edward Stevenson, "One of the Three Witnesses," originally Deseret News, Nov. 30, 1881, later in the Millennial Star, Feb. 6, 1882, pp. 86-87. Stevenson would later become a member of the First Council of Seventy). Oliver Cowdery, principal scribe for the Book of Mormon "These were days never to be forgotten — to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated, with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, 'Interpreters,' the history, or record, called 'The book of Mormon." (Messenger and Advocate, 1834, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 14; Note that at that time among the members of the Church, the term "Urim and Thummim" was synonymous with the seer stone that Joseph worked with). Joseph Knight, Sr., early Church member, and close friend to Joseph "Now the way he translated was he put the urim and thummim into his hat and Darkened his Eyes then he would take a sentance and it would appear in Brite Roman Letters then he would tell the writer and he would write it[.] then that would go away the next sentence would Come and so on But if it was not Spelt rite it would not go away till it was rite[,] so we see it was marvelous. thus was the hol [whole] translated." (Joseph Knight, Sr., "Joseph Knight, Sr., Reminiscence, circa 1835-1847"; see Dan Vogel's Early Mormon Documents, Volume 4, pp. 17-18.) Michael Morse, Emma Smith's brother-in-law "When Joseph was translating the Book of Mormon [I] had occasion more than once to go into his immediate presence, and saw him engaged at his work of translation. The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face, resting his elbows upon his knees, and then dictating word after word, while the scribes — Emma, John Whitmer, O. Cowdery, or some other wrote it down." (Saints' Herald, June 15, 1879, pp. 190-191). Isaac Hale, father of Emma Smith "The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret, was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with a stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods." (Affidavit of Isaac Hale, March 20, 1834, see Rodger I. Anderson's book Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reexamined, Signature Books, pp. 126-128) The Plates of Gold were never in the room when Joseph Smith translated them.

To answer your question: Yes. He used all of those things.

According to Martin Harris, the Nephite Interpreters (what are today often referred to as "Urim and Thummim") were used for much of the very initial translation work (the 116 lost pages). However, analysis of other witnesseses/sources from that time seems to indicate that A) the seer stone was used for most, if not all, of the remaining translation, and B) many of the earliest uses of the word "Urim and Thummim" in the historical record are actually referring to the seer stone, not the Nephite Interpreters. The term "Urim and Thummim" was actually never used to refer to either of those items until a few years *after* the book was published -- that term does not even exist in the Book of Mormon itself; it was borrowed from the Old Testament. The important thing is, of course, that method(s) were provided for the translation to be accomplished. Interestingly, the First Presidency still owns the seer stone; it resides in the First Presidency's vault. Wilford Woodruff carried it in his pocket for the dedication of the Manti Temple. One could even say that the Church still has the "Urim and Thummim" in its posession (although though the term "Urim and Thummim" has come to refer exclusively to the Nephite Interpreters in modern usage). There was a very fascinating and well-researched article about this topic in Dialogue magazine in 1982, including an analysis of witnesses' statements about the translation and a history of the seer stone itself. It is available online. ("Joseph Smith - the Gift of Seeing"). http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=16574&REC=16

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

SHORT VERSION: He used a seer stone in his hat. The terms "Urim and Thummim" were used synonymously by Smith and others to describe Joseph Smith's seer stones (he owned several) throughout Mormon History. The plates were not used at all. And I will left it to the reader to determine if this qualifies as "through the power of God" or not. LONG VERSION: It is well documented that Joseph Smith used seer stones (again, he owned several) and a hat in the "translation" of the Book of Mormon. And to prove this one need only refer to Mormon Friendly and official sources. The most popular account of this is Richard Bushman's classic book, "Rough Stone Rolling". Another popular source is Grant Palmer's Award Winning Book, "An Insider's View of Mormon Origins". Further if you do a search on the Church's Official Website (www.lds.org) you will find this addressed in a number of Ensign articles as well as other official church sources - including some of the CES training curriculum on Church History. You must dig and read but they ARE there - buried underneath the spin-doctored, white washed "faithful" (but less than totally honest) history that CES is so well known for! However, the quickest way to get up to speed on this is via the Internet. For example, I have compiled a list of validating references using only Mormon Friendly sources here: http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=73901&catid=520#73901 that also includes photographs of the two best known Joseph Smith seer stones. Finally, if you're willing to wander outside of official and Mormon friendly sources Mormon Studies Scholar, Bill McKeever has done a superb video on the topic which can be viewed here via this portal page: http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&catid=520&id=74081#74081 Please note that the references that I have provided here ALSO answer the, "How did it work?" question as too. And if you need additional resources and references on this question or other Mormon History questions please feel free to contact me via email. I am a Mormon Studies Scholar specialized in Mormon History and Culture. LEFT IMAGE: Photograph of Joseph Smith's "Peyote Seer Stone". It's about the size of a quarter but has been carved and shaped like a sliced piece of Peyote Cactus fruit. You can read more about the Peyote Seer Stone via this link http://www.mormonelixirs.org/index.php. (note: this article on the Peyote Seer Stone was well researched and well written but some Latter Day Saints may find it disturbing) RIGHT IMAGE: SEER STONE OF JOSEPH SMITH, handed down through private hands to the present day (1991). Apparently acquired by Joseph Smith in the 1820s before translating the Book of Mormon in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Greyish-ivory-colored stone of irregular oval shape, approximately 5 cm. in length by 4 cm. thick. Marked with small irregular dark grey indentations and green deposits. With a large hole extending through the stone, terminating in three small apertures created by embedded stone particles. The apertures function like primitive lenses when held close to the eye. THE FAMOUS BELCHER-SMITH-DIBBLE-PIERCE STONE, said originally to have been found at Salina, New York, taken to Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, and there purchased from the owner by Joseph Smith before he translated the Book of Mormon. Near the time of the martyrdom, this stone was acquired by a survivor of the Missouri mobs, Philo Dibble, who also made the death masks of Joseph and Hyrum. Dibble later exhibited the stone, death masks and other historical objects on lecture tours which he conducted in Utah Territory. Early Mormon seer stones are of the greatest rarity and importance. The lure and lore of "magic stones" have of course fascinated people throughout history. According to Brigham Young, Joseph Smith had three seer stones during the early part of his life. Judging from numerous other accounts, these would have been the white, opaque stone, of which nothing has been heard since 1900, the present "green" stone now offered here, and the brown stone which, according to David Whitmer and other friends of the Prophet, was used to translate much of the Book of Mormon and which is kept in the First Presidency's vault in Salt Lake City. Modern studies based on writings by faithful early members of the Church suggest that Joseph Smith took his seer stones very seriously, and sometimes used them to receive revelations. For documentation and analysis of the above, see Quinn (below, citing statements by Brigham Young and others in the Church Archives), and David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ . . . (Richmond, Missouri, 1887), p.12. (Link To Source = http://www.rickgrunder.com/HistoricalArchive/belchersmithdibble.htm)

Actually, he used all three. For the first 116 pages with Martin Harris, he used the Urim and Thummim. Then when Martin lost those pages, Moroni came and took the Plates and the Urim and Thummim back for a time. Then later brought them back, keeping the Urim and Thummim. And the present Book of Mormon we have today was translated with the Seer Stone, in Joseph's hat. Even though the Plates were nearby, they were not used directly. Joseph didn't need them, he couldn't read them anyway, but the Lord knew what they said and it he who was giving Joseph Smith the translation, that was to be written. The bottom line is we have the Book of Mormon, produced by a young man with a 3rd grade education, in just a about 63 days, and no one has been able to prove anything written there is wrong or false. They think it is a fake, a copy of some other book or books, but they can not prove what they say. whew4

From what I understand, the term Urim and Thumim wasn't used until years after the publishing of the book. The Book of Mormon only calls the instruments of translation, "interpreters" but later someone put the connection together between the U&T and what Smith used. The seer stone was also used for receiving revelation, but there is no first hand account of Smith using it for the Book of Mormon translation, and the old "stone in a hat" story is simply incomplete and third hand. It may have been the way Smith receieved revelations of the Pearl of Great Price, but not necessarily the Book of Mormon. The U&T were returned with the plates in 1829, and the PoGP was translated (revealed) years later. so it makes sense that Smith used a new interpreter (seer stone) after 1829

Look at both sides http://www.apologeticspress.org/rr/reprints/Book-of-Mormon.pdf http://www.pfo.org/bomchllg.htm