Book of The Law of The Lord
James J. Strang, one of many contenders to succeed Joseph Smith during the 1844 succession crisis, asserted that he had been given the "Plates of Laban" in fulfillment of Lehi's prophecy. His purported translation of them was published in 1851 as The Book of the Law of the Lord: Being a Translation from the Egyptian of the Law Given to Moses in Sinai. In its preface, Strang clearly identifies the "Plates of Laban" as the source for most of his book.
Strang's tome contains none of the material Lehi described in I Nephi 5:11-14, except for a somewhat-revised version of the Ten Commandments. Rather, it embodies a constitution for a Mormon monarchy, wherein the Prophet-leader of the Latter Day Saint church equally rules as king over God's kingdom on earth. It also contains other revelations and teachings unique to Strang. It is possible that Book of the Law was seen by Strang as making up only a portion of the Plates of Laban, rather than the whole.
Seven witnesses testified to having seen and handled the plates Strang claimed to possess. They described the plates as being eighteen in number, each measuring approximately seven and three-eighths inches wide, by nine inches long. The plates themselves were "occasionally embellished with beautiful pictures," and all appeared to be of "beautiful antique workmanship, bearing a striking resemblance to the ancient oriental languages."
The subsequent history of Strang's "Plates of Laban," and their current whereabouts, is a mystery.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Community of Christ churches, the two largest factions of the Latter Day Saint movement, both reject James Strang's claims to prophetic leadership and his Book of the Law of the Lord.
Read more about this topic: Laban (Book Of Mormon)
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