Elder James E. Talmage testified: “The translation of the Book of Mormon was effected through the power of God manifested in the bestowal of the gift of revelation. … Joseph Smith received from the angel other sacred treasures, including a breastplate, to which were attached the Urim and Thummim … and by the use of these he was enabled to translate the ancient records into our modern tongue” (Articles of Faith, 273).
Elder Talmage also wrote: “There will be, there can be, no absolutely reliable translation of … scriptures unless it be effected through the gift of translation, as one of the endowments of the Holy Ghost. The translator must have the spirit of the prophet if he would render in another tongue the prophet’s words; and human wisdom alone leads not to that possession” (Articles of Faith, 241).