Liz writes:
Why has there been so much confusion regarding the teachings of the seer stones and the Urim and Thumim? For years, I thought they were the same thing because they are used interchangeably.
Some years ago, I discovered the account of Eilley Orrum Bowers. She was born in Scotland in 1826. 15 years later, she married a Mormon missionary and emigrated to the US. After two divorces (one out of a polygamous marriage), she eventually married a non-Mormon, and the two of them discovered one of the first and richest silver lodes in Comstock. She attributed the discovery to her seeing the silver with her seer stone - the one that had come to her from her mother and which she brought with her from Scotland.
Now, what does this have to do with your question? Well, we have this challenge. In the formative years of the church, the notion of seer stones was wide spread (even if they were often viewed with some disdain). The Urim and Thummim were viewed as seer stones (and they were called this more than once). The early LDS church on the other hand, as part of a "restoration movement" saw the connection in reverse. It wasn't so much that the Urim and Thummim were seer stones, rather they saw seer stones as Urim and Thummim. This is kind of the foundation for parts of Section 130 in the D&C (and here is a little bit of it):
The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim. This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ’s. Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known; And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word.
Now Section 130 is a bit of a hodgepodge from multiple sources, but, I think you can get the idea here. Everyone was to get a Urim and Thummim - a "white stone" (and let's not forget as was already mentioned, Joseph found his white stone in a well). This gets translated into the LDS Bible Dictionary entry as "An instrument prepared of God to assist man in obtaining revelation from the Lord and in translating languages." And so on.
Joseph's understanding eventually changed a bit as this note from Pratt suggests:
Elder Pratt said he was present when this revelation was given. No great noise or physical manifestation was made; Joseph was as calm as the morning sun. But he noticed a change in his countenance that he had never noticed before, when a revelation was given to him. Joseph's face was exceedingly white, and seemed to shine. The speaker had been present many times when he was translating the New Testament, and wondered why he did not use the Urim and Thummim, as in translating the Book of Mormon. While this thought passed through the speaker's mind, Joseph, as if he read his thoughts, looked up and explained that the Lord gave him the Urim and Thumim when he was inexperienced in the Spirit of inspirtation. But now he had advanced so far that he understood the operations of the Spirit, and did not need the assistancce of that instrument. (Millennial Star 36 [August 11, 1874]:498–99)
Now my commentary. I think that in general terms, early LDS developed what we might call a syllogism: all seer stones were also Urim and Thummims. At least initially this was seen as part of the restoration, and perhaps even that every saint should have one. This got a little out of control after a bit (as we see in some of the stories right? Remember Hiram Page?) That combined with the notion that the seer stone and even the Urim and Thummim was more of a prop for Joseph Smith, the use of seer stones faded relatively quickly. However, in their literature the blending had already been completed. The literature of the early LDS will on occasion use the terms interchangeably, even when we wish they wouldn't. We don't have the same sense of being a restorationist movement. And the fusing of the two becomes problematic when we understand that the original mechanism of the Urim and Thummim was likely a matched pair of black and white stones which were pulled from the pouch made by the breastplate to answer a yes or no question. (Our understanding of all this is quite limited and is probably partially inaccurate on all fronts). At any rate, this is the source of the confusion. It is why we all learned that they were interchangeable. And I suspect that my line of thinking also explains why we tend to describe them but then generally ignore them afterwards - particularly since Joseph himself, once he decided he could do without, simply did without. The seer stones and perhaps even the Urim and Thummim became an unused relic in the church (but it took some time due to cultural influences as we see with the Washoe Seeress Eilley Orrum Bowers).
Ben M.