I have a theory that I’ve written about before, which I would like to expand upon.  This is conjectural, not doctrinal, but is pieced together from hints given in the scriptures.

Whenever the ancient prophets mention “the records,” or talk about something they’ve written that we don’t have, I come to a point.  I want those records.  I want to read what they thought was so important for us to know that they took the time to write it down.

My thoughts all key around two statements made by Abraham:

…for the records have come into my hands, which I hold unto this present time.  (Abraham 1:28).

But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day, and I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this record, for the benefit of my posterity that shall come after me.  (Abraham 1:31).

Where did Abraham get the records?  Who started them?  What did he do with them?  Where are they now?  What is on them?  When will we get to read them?

As I’ve pondered these questions I’ve realized many things which I’ll enumerate:

Abraham’s immediate fathers were idolatrous, and therefore, probably didn’t have possession of the records.

Melchizedek, Shem, and even Noah were all contemporaries of Abraham.  He could have been given the records by any one of them.

The Lord’s pattern in dealing with records is that they were passed from one prophet to his successor.

Adam was a writer.  “And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration.”  (Moses 6:5).

The Lord is very jealous of records, safeguards them, and would not permit them to be destroyed.

Therefore, Adam’s “book of remembrance” is still somewhere.

Adam’s book of remembrance is the oldest material thing on earth.  It is also the most valuable.  It is his only possession that still survives.

Was Adam’s book of remembrance the beginning of the records that came into Abraham’s hands?

If so, it would have been passed from Adam to each successive patriarch.  Each would have also written thereon.  It would have been passed to Noah, who would have brought it through the flood, eventually putting it into the hands of Abraham.

The Book of Mormon pattern is that no prophet seems to have ever hidden records away unless there was no worthy person to pass them to.

The Book of Mormon carefully notes every passing of the Nephite record from one prophet to another all the way from Nephi to Moroni.  In every case but one, the handover was made by the dying prophet to his successor, who was usually his son.  The one exception is Helaman the First.  He apparently died without conferring the records upon anyone.  His brother, Shiblon, being “a just man,” and walking “uprightly before God,” took possession of the records.  Four years later Shiblon conferred the records upon Helaman’s son, Helaman the Second.

If the same pattern was followed with the Old World records, although we’re not specifically told, Abraham would have passed the records to Isaac.  Isaac would have passed the records to Jacob.  Jacob would have given the records to Joseph.

According to Nephi, Joseph did a good deal of writing.  A small sample of his writings is found in 2 Nephi, chapter 3.  Those words were copied by Nephi from the Brass Plates into the Nephite record.  Mormon included them in his abridgement on the Gold Plates.

If Joseph was in possession of the records handed down by the patriarchs, and since his writings were included on the Brass Plates, the possibility exists that the Brass Plates are actually the records that Abraham received from the fathers.

Adam, or one of his successors, might have been the original maker of the Brass Plates.

As Joseph was preparing to die, he made his family promise to carry his bones to Canaan when the Children of Israel would leave Egypt.  He was embalmed in Egypt and put in a coffin.  (Genesis 50:26).  Three or four hundred years later they carried out his wishes.

Someone had to have been in charge of Joseph’s coffin for all of those years.  It’s most likely that he would have originally given that assignment to his firstborn son, Manasseh.  Manasseh would have passed the responsibility to one of his sons, and so on.

Since a succession of Joseph’s descendants faithfully cared for Joseph’s coffin through those centuries, they might also have been charged with the keeping of the records.

It is significant that in the time of Lehi the Brass Plates were in the keeping of Laban, a descendant of Manasseh.  (1 Nephi 5:16).

Laban was a wicked man, and not a proper caretaker for the records.  Therefore, the precious records had to be forcibly taken from him.

Lehi prophesied that the “plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed.  Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time.”  (1 Ne. 5:18-19).

In a vision, an angel showed Nephi the future Bible and explained that it would be a record “like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many…”  (1 Ne. 13:23).

Someday the Brass Plates will be given to the world, and then I’ll find out the answers to my questions.  I’m eager to read the record, but I expect to have to wait until after the Lord’s Second Coming to get them.

(See also, “The Brass Plates” in Random Writings)