Investigating the book of mormon witnesses deseret book. List of denominations in the latter day saint movement. Joseph smith receiving the nephi plates from angel moroni. Many instances of many more credible witnesses to improbable events e. The book of mormon is the sacred history of the ancient inhabitants of the american continent, and contains the predictions of their prophets, the commandments of the lord to them, and the history and destiny of those ancient peoples. Johns testimony is recorded in the front of the book of mormon. The book of mormon, translation, errors, and even the. He left the church in 1838, but continued to affirm his witness of the book of mormon. The book of mormon is a religious and secular history of the inhabitants of the western hemisphere from about 2200 bc to about 421 ad. It is inconclusive if the witnesses actually saw plates or if they only claimed to see them. All of the star archeological witnesses of the book of mormon are either flat out rejected as forgeries, fakes, frauds and fabrications the 4 fs. When the church of jesus christ of latterday saints was formally organized on april 6, 1830, john was one of the people of whom six were required by new york law to organize a new church who was blessed to become an. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses kindle edition by anderson, richard lloyd.
The three men chosen as witnesses of the book of mormon were oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris. Half way down the first page marks the beginning of the testimony of the 3 witnesses and concludes on. Testimony of the eight witnesses to the book of mormon. Check out the viewpoint on mormonism podcast series 15 witnesses to the book of mormon part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 february 1518, 2016 joseph smith claimed that in 1823 he was visited by an angel named moroni and that this angel told him that there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the. The case against the three witnesses to the book of mormon. This is the changing mind of the god of mormonism or of joseph smith doctrine and covenants 5. The book of mormon witnesses are a group of contemporaries of joseph smith who claimed to. Did the eleven witnesses actually see the gold plates. It tells the reader that three groups of immigrants settled the uninhabited americas.
The three are part of twelve book of mormon witnesses. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director witnesses. Ufos, bigfoot, virgin mary apparitions, entire congregations testifying they witnessed angels in nonlds churches. All three witnesses were eventually excommunicated from the mormon church. After being a witness to the reality of the gold plates, david whitmer left the church and. Soon after josephs arrival at fayette from pennsylvania the summer of 1829, peter became a zealous friend of the prophet and an able assistant in the translation of. Who hath a believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the lord revealed 2 for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. The mormon story is that the nephite military commander and prophet moroni buried a history of his people, written on gold plates, in the hill cumorah in ad 421. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The evidence left by the book of mormon witnesses is rich, varied, and. The book of mormon witnesses and their challenge to secularism.
David whitmer, one of the book of mormons three witnesses, said if you believe my testimony to the book of mormon. Gods word is to be established by two or more witnesses 2 cor. In chapter 27 nephi describes the book of mormon in detail. The world was not left with joseph smiths testimony alone. Most witnesses left the church, were very gullible and believed in magic, followed false prophet james strang with little evidence. When i was a member of the church i honestly never thought about checking up on the witnesses of the book of mormon. Became the first missionary of the mormon church, remained faithful, and died in 1844. Three witnesses oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris declared an angel of god appeared to them and showed them the book of mormon plates. Their written testimony of three witnesses has been included in all of the almost 100 million copies of the book of mormon the church has published since 1830. Darkness and apostasy will cover the earth in the last daysthe book of mormon will come forththree witnesses will testify of the bookthe learned man will say he cannot read the sealed bookthe lord will do a marvelous work and a wondercompare isaiah 29. Oliver would later return to the church and seek rebaptism. The story of the church the book of mormon witnesses. Ive only begun to scratch the surface of the case that can be made for the reliability of the book of mormon witnesses. Although many of the witnesses left the church, none of them ever denied their testimony regarding seeing the plates.
Lds church leaders and student manuals note that none of the witnesses ever denied his testimony as it was printed in the book of mormon nor. None of strangs witnesses claimed to have seen an angel who showed them the plates. The book of mormon provided multiple official and unofficial witnesses who corroborated aspects of josephs account. The first edition of the book of mormon featured two testimonials. The author, richard lloyd anderson, gives many historical details about the statements of such critics and the sources and background of their statements. Youve suggested at times that he suffered for his testimony which is a charge i believe to be false. The question before us is how david whitmers testimony of the book of mormon affected his life, and in particular after he was excommunicated from the lds church. The only bible that joseph smith relied on was the king james version. The contrasts work very much in joseph smiths favor. Leaving the church, part 9 book of mormon witnesses by. An evidence of the book of mormon because it is a burial place of ishmael and the name of the area was already established and a. A baptist minister named sidney rigdon decides to join the lds and.
Richard lloyd anderson presents evidence from original sources on each of the eleven witnesses and concludes. This was confirmed by brigham young who, in 1859 said, some of the witnesses of the book of mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of god, were afterward left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. All of the three witnesses and three of the eight witnesses left the church in 1838 and were hostile, at least for a time, against joseph smith. Its not like they become catholic but still held true to. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading investigating the book of mormon witnesses. Book of mormon witnesses all later denied its truthfulness. The three witnesses is the collective name for three men connected with the early latter day saint movement who stated that an angel had shown them the golden plates from which joseph smith, jr. I began to feel like somebody was pulling back the curtain in oz, lynn k. None of the book of mormon witnesses ever claimed to have assisted joseph in creating a set of plates. Nephis message to the gentiles religious studies center.
Book of mormon the testimony of eight witnesses youtube. Evaluating the book of mormon witnesses book of mormon. Taught that smith was not a prophet, and the book of mormon was not scripture. Though each of the three witnesses was eventually excommunicated from the church two returned, none ever denied or retracted his published testimony. Richard lloyd anderson, investigating the book of mormon witnesses salt lake city. He left activity in the church in 1838 and in 1847 wrote to william mclellin. The three are part of twelve book of mormon witnesses, who also include smith and the.
Witnesses of the book of mormon church of jesus christ. Some of the witnesses left the brighamite branch of the church but joined or helped lead other branches. Bofm witnesses presentation provides a spiritual and temporal witness of the realities of the book of mormon. Brigham young said, some of the witnesses of the book of mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of god, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. Brigham young, want of governing capacities among menelements of the sacramentapostasy. William was a fierce defender of his family and his brother joseph. William smith was born march, 1811, in royalton, vermont. We also talk about the testimony of the three witnesses, three men who were allowed to see an angel and the physical gold. As with the three witnesses, the fact that several left mormonism is not so much a comment on mormonism as it is a comment on humanity and peoples power of choice. The three witnesses is the collective name for three men connected with the early latter day. The translation was published in 1830 as the book of mormon, now revered by mormons as scripture, along with the bible. Many of the witnesses later provided testimony that contradicted smiths claims and their own testimonies. Did the witnesses who left the church continue to maintain their witness of the book of mormon.
While the most perfect book states only three witnesses eight more men are able to give their testimony in the book of mormon, found directly under the testimony of three witnesses. All three witnesses eventually quarreled with joseph and left his church. Three witnesses oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris declared an angel of god appeared to them and showed them the book of mormon plates and they heard the voice of the lord pronounce that joseph smiths translation had been accomplished. Start studying book of mormon brad wilcox midterm 1byu. The historical narrative surrounding the book of mormon witnesses presents a labyrinth of conflicting statements, many provided decades after the fact by those not present during the events. The eight witnesses of the book of mormon lds blogs.
Witnesses to the book of mormon david whitmer general. Here are some critics thoughts on that thanks to gary porter and craig criddle for these. For this purpose the book of mormon will always be the main pillar upon which the latterday saints build their testimony of christ. Cannon, the abundant testimonies to the work of god, etc. The lord god shall bring forth unto you the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered v.
Still, the book of mormon must be accepted as a divinelyinspired record, prophetic of the restoration of christs church by joseph smith, despite the two previous churches which had been. Eldin ricks, the case of the book of mormon witnesses salt lake city. Evaluating the book of mormon witnesses religious studies center. Joseph smith translated the book of mormon from gold plates. Thus, we find every living book of mormon witnesses, except oliver cowdery, accepting strang as their prophet, at least for a time. Perhaps most strikingly, unlike the witnesses to the book of mormon, at least some of strangs witnesses later denied their testimonies. Yet, they clung to their witness and continued to affirm it three witnesses oliver cowdery. I grew up believing that i belonged to the only true church on the face of the earth and even though there were teachings about the church i didnt agree with, it never occurred to me they didnt have physical proof for the book of mormon. One of the eight witnesses to the book of mormon was the fifth son of peter whitmer, sen.
The video is the third in book of mormon centrals evidence video series, the two previous videos being one on the archaeological evidence for the place called nahom, mentioned by nephi 1 nephi 16. He left the church in 1838, and stayed in missouri until his death. By 1847, not a single one of the surviving eleven witnesses were affiliated with the mormon church. We can compare the witnesses for the book of mormon to the witnesses of manuscript found. Many critics of the book of mormon witnesses say that the witnesses of the book of mormon denied their written testimonies in statements to different people over the years. Book of mormon brad wilcox midterm 1byu flashcards quizlet. Whitmer founded his own church of christ whitmerite. During his estrangement from the church, he insisted upon his witness as true.
Its only correct to say that they fell away looking in hindsight with the brighamite branch becoming the dominant branch. Three witnesses oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris declared an angel of god appeared to them and showed them the book of mormon plates and they heard the voice of the lord pronounce. The names signed there include the names of almost every man over twenty connected with the giving to the world of that mysterious book. The book of mormon witnesses are a group of contemporaries of joseph smith who claimed to have seen the golden plates from which smith translated the book of mormon. But though their testimonies are still printed at the beginning of every copy of the book of mormon, all three of these men left the church at some pointonly two. Oliver cowdery top, david whitmer left, and martin harris right. In studying the history of joseph smith and the the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, referred to as the mormons, we emphasize joseph smiths own testimony of the book of mormon, that book of additional scripture that is another testament of jesus christ. The descendants of mulek at zarahemla become nephitesthey learn of the people of alma and of zeniffalma baptizes limhi and all his peoplemosiah authorizes alma to organize the church of god. Home true book of mormon geography lands western new.
Three witnesses the three witnesses are david whitmer, oliver cowdery, and martin harris, who mortgaged his farm to finance the first printing of the book of mormon. The book of mormon is a sacred record that contains the everlasting gospel and bears witness of jesus christ. As the above logo depicts, we do respect this mandate, and our model is. The evidence left by the book of mormon witnesses is rich, varied, and uneven. Statements clearly traced to the witnesses verify the testimonies printed in the book of mormon. The most significant witnesses are the three witnesses and the eight witnesses, all of whom allowed their names to be used on two separate statements included with the book of mormon. Witnesses of the book of mormon the church of jesus christ of. Twelve beliefs the mormon church might not want you to. Left church because of failing of bank but came back. The missionaries taking the book of mormons message to the indians in ohio and missouri have stopped in kirtland, ohio. For example, critics of mormonism have shown convincing proof that the book of mormon is a synthesis of earlier works written by other men, of the vivid imaginings of joseph smith, and of plagiarisms from the king james bible. Journal of discourses, vol 7, page 164, 1859, brigham young. William smith witnesses of the golden plates and book of. The book of mormon contains two sets of joint statements written by joseph smith for those who claimed to have seen the gold plates.
Book of mormon witnesses continued to assert that they had seen the angel and the plates even after they had disagreed with joseph and left the church. A christian professor and evangelist said that after 30 years in the mormon church, she came to a unique realization the bible is more accurate than the book of mormon, and god is bigger than the transcendent man worshipped by the latter day saints lds. Critics have long tried to dismiss or destroy the witnesses witness. Book of mormon witnesses encyclopedia of mormonism, pg. In this carefully researched, thoughtprovoking book, dr. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.