Book of Mormon witnesses
Contents |
[edit] Testimony of the three witnesses
"The Three Witnesses, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris and David Whitmer, all initially describe their experience with the angel and the plates as subjective and visionary rather than objective and concrete. Their elaborations on the encounter, their departure from the LDS Church, as well as other 7 events in their lives, raise questions about their level of discernment and their credibility as witnesses." [1]
[edit] Testimony of the eight witnesses
"The testimony of the Eight Witnesses is more objective but is plagued by its own set of problems. All eight had close personal ties to Joseph Smith's family — four were David Whitmer's brothers, a fifth was married to a Whitmer sister, and Joseph's father and two brothers made up the remaining three. These close ties to Joseph Smith, coupled with discrepancies between the witnesses' published Book of Mormon statement and later personal statements, as well as the question of coercion on the part of Joseph Smith, all raise questions of their credibility as well." [2]
[edit] Mormon response
Mormons say that they "never denied their testimony of the Book of Mormon."
[edit] Quotes
- "If you believe my testimony to the Book of Mormon, if you believe that God spake to us three witnesses by his own voice, then I tell you that in June, 1838, God spake to me again by his own voice from the heavens and told me to 'separate myself from among the Latter Day Saints, for as they sought to do unto me, so it should be done unto them.'" - David Whitmer
- I did not see the plates "as I do that pencil case, yet I saw them with the eye of faith.... though at the time they were covered up with a cloth." - Martin Harris
- "[Martin Harris] had been, if I mistake not, at one period, a member of the Methodist Church, and subsequently had identified himself with the Universalists. At this time, however, in his religious views he seemed to be floating upon the sea of uncertainty. He had evidently quite an extensive knowledge of the scriptures, and possessed a manifest disputatious turn of mind. As I subsequently learned, Mr. Harris had always been a firm believer in dreams, and visions, and supernatural appearances, such as apparitions and ghosts, and therefore was a fit subject for such men as Smith and his colleagues to operate upon." - John A. Clark[1]
- "There were also three other men, who in open day saw the vision; saw the angel of the Lord descend from heaven; heard his voice bear record of the plates and of their correct translation, and were commanded by him to bear testimony to the world. Their testimony is also published in full in said book." (The Essential Parley P. Pratt, Ch.14, p.159 - p.160)
[edit] External links
[edit] Non-Mormon
- Facts On The Book Of Mormon Witnesses: Part 1, Part 2 (Institute for Religious Research)
- Book Of Mormon Witnesses (ExMormon.org)
- Can I get a Witness to the book of Mormon Translated? (LetUsReason.org)
- The "Three Witnesses" to the Book of Mormon, by Richard Packham
- Witnesses The Witnesses (UTLM.org)
[edit] Mormon
- Comments on the Book of Mormon Witnesses: A Response to Jerald and Sandra Tanner, by Matthew Roper
- Book of Mormon Witnesses, by Richard Lloyd Aanderson
- Book of Mormon Witnesses, by Michael R. Ash (PDFs)
- Testimonies of the Book of Mormon Witnesses, by Richard L. Anderson (Quicktime)
- The Testimony of Eight, by Scott Gordon
- The three witnesses and the reality of the Book of Mormon, by Daniel Peterson
- Brodie Revisited: A Reappraisal: No Man Knows My History by Faun Brodie, by Marvin Hill
