The three witnesses of the book of mormon sawmill

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come, that we, through the grace of god the father and our lord jesus christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of nephi, and also of the lamanites, his brethren, and also of the people of jared, who came from the tower of which. You try spraying, scrubbing, and still were left with so many persons whose testimonies of the physicality of the golden plates, angels, and other artifactsnever wavered. That we, through the grace of god the father, and our lord jesus christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of nephi, and also of the lamanites, their brethren, and also of. 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. After joseph smith dictated the book of mormon text, oliver cowdery. Martin harris saw the plates uncovered as one of the three witnesses. When joseph smith first obtained the gold plates, he was told to show them to no one. The three men chosen as witnesses of the book of mormon were oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris. The three special witnesses saw the angel moroni and the plates. They also heard the voice of god declaring the accuracy of smiths translation.

First, he specifically mention 3 witnesses, then a few, and also as many witnesses as seemeth the lord good. 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. Each of the first three witnesses saw the plates in a vision for the first time in a different place and time. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates. Today, ive been thinking about the people who saw the golden plates containing the original text of the book of mormon. Book of mormon witnesses all later denied its truthfulness.

Modern mormon spin doctors write all kinds of articles claiming that the witnesses may have denied the mormon church but they never the book of mormon. The three witnesses were oliver cowdery, martin harris, and david whitmer, whose joint testimony, in conjunction with a separate statement by eight witnesses, has been printed with nearly every edition of the book of mormon since its first publication in 1830. 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 returned. Three witnesses of the book of mormon department of. The testimonies of these lists of witnesses is included in the introduction to the book of mormon, in which they explain what they saw and experienced from the testimony of the three witnesses. Three of these men admitted the experience was subjective and visionary. More than five decades after the book of mormon was published, david whitmer recalled how he first heard of the book of mormon. These distinctions appear to reflect the three witnesses who saw the plates and the angels, the eight witnesses who saw and handled the plates. In the course of the work of translation, we ascertained that three special witnesses 1 were to be provided by the lord, to whom he would grant that they should see the plates from which this work the book of mormon should be translated. The second copy, known as the printers manuscript, is missing only three lines of text. The three witnesses are shown the golden plates by the angel, moroni. Commenting on the three witnesses, founder of the mormon religion joseph smith said in 1838, such characters as mclellin, john whitmer, david whitmer, oliver cowdry, and martin harris are too mean to mention. Their experiences differed from one another dramatically, and i think we can learn a lot from those differences.

Beginning with the first edition of 1830, the book of mormon has generally contained two sets of testimoniesthe testimony of three witnesses and the testimony of eight witnesses. The bible prescribe at least two or three witnesses for everything. Find out what happened to the three witnesses after they signed their names to their testimonies. The printer, john gilbert, asked him if he had seen the plates with his naked eye. More than five decades after the book of mormon was published, david whitmer recalled how. 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. Printers manuscript of the book of mormon the joseph smith papers. The 11 witnesses were all good, honorable men and regarded as upstanding members of the community. That we, through the grace of god the father, and our lord jesus christ, have seen the plates which contain this. Here is their formal statement, which is present in every copy of the book of mormon. The earliest documented statement of the three witnessesoliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harrisis their statement in the handwriting of oliver cowdery subsequently published in the 1830 edition of the book of mormon.

The three witnesses of the book of mormon, part 1 youtube. According to their testimonies, the three witnesses saw the angel, the plates and the engravings on the plates. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses deseret book. 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. The testimony of the eight witnesses gospel doctrine. The book of mormon is an additional set of sacred prophetic writings adopted by the the church of jesus christ of latterday saints as well as it many offshoots, collectively referred to as the mormonism as both holy scripture and another witness of the divinity of jesus christ an important element to proving the divine authenticity of this scripture is the testimony of latterday witnesses. An ongoing series of articles on some common and recurring weak arguments that christians make against mormonism. In every copy of the book of mormon is the signed statement by the witnesses of the bom. Some of the major events in the coming forth of the book of mormon are dramatized, including the loss of the 116 pages of the original manuscript. There are eleven socalled witnesses to the existence of the gold plates mentioned in the foreword of the book of mormon. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses brigham young. Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come.

David whitmer is one of the three witnesses of the book of mormon. During the printing of the first edition of the book of mormon, he harris was in the print shop while the type was being set for the testimony of the three witnesses. Did the book of mormon witnesses really see what they. Its a common misconception by people outside the church that joseph smith was the only person who ever saw the golden plates. The three witnesses oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harrisall participated in the translation of the book.

Three witnesses mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. There were two formal groups whose witness buttressed joseph smiths account of the gold plates. The joint statement of the three witnesses oliver cowdery, martin harris, and david whitmer has been printed with a separate statement by the eight witnesses in nearly every edition of the book of mormon since its first publication in 1830. Witnesses of the golden plates and the book of mormon. Who are the few who were permitted to see the plates. He gave joseph like first witness, but one according to the scriptures is not enough so god provided three new witnesses. The three witnesses of the book of mormon lds blogs.

Likely given that three of the eight witnesses were either excommunicated or left the church and as with the three witnesses, they never recanted their testimony as published in the book of mormon to explain the testimony of the witnesses, something that joseph smith fabricated a set of 10 or led plates they used to trick them with. Like the three witnesses, the book of mormon prophecies that there will be others which will testify of this work, and there is none other which shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of god, to bear testimony of his word unto the children of men. This is the first half of an old byu film depicting the story of the three witnesses of the book of mormon. Monument to three witnesses to the book of mormon has stood 100.

Joseph smith, the three witnesses, and the eight witnesses are a twelveman jury in affirming the reality of the gold plates and the book of mormon. That we, through the grace of god the father, and our lord jesus christ. Evaluating the book of mormon witnesses book of mormon. The fact is, it was just as though joseph, oliver and i were sitting right here on a log, when we were overshadowed by a light. Oliver cowdery, martin harris, and david whitmer were appointed to be three special witnesses of the book of mormon in june 1829. Were familiar, of course, with oliver cowdery as one of the official three witnesses to the book of mormon. Christian whitmer, jacob whitmer, peter whitmer, jr. All three men upheld their testimony of the book of mormon at their deaths. A granite monument in a pioneer cemetery here memorializing the three witnesses to the book of mormon was celebrated saturday for its 100. But, what never seems to go away for book of mormon critics are those pesky witnesses.

The three witnesses monument photo courtesy steve mortensen. It is inconclusive if the witnesses actually saw plates or if they only claimed to see them through a visionary experience. The combined testimonies of the three and eight witnesses of the book of mormon provide powerful evidence of the restoration. By richard packham at the front of every copy of the book of mormon you will find the testimony of three witnesses, as signed by oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come. The book of mormon relies not only on the record of an ancient people, but also on the separate testimonies of three and eight witnesses published in the back of the book s original 1830 edition and in the front of its more recent editions. But his role in the early events of the restoration, and his experiences with the. The history of when david whitmer, oliver cowdery and martin harris saw the golden plates of the book of mormon. The eight other witnesses just saw and handled the golden plates. Nephi prophesied that there would be multiple groups of people who would see the plates upon which the book of mormon was written. The suggestion that the eight witnesses never actually saw or hefted the plates and that the three witnesses viewed them solely supernaturally leads some to wonder if the witnesses saw anything substantive at all, opening to question the plates existence and the book of mormon s truthfulness. For the story of the three witnesses we will turn to josephs record in history of the church.

Oliver cowdery was a distant cousin to joseph smith. Book of mormon witnesses the encyclopedia of mormonism. Eleven men claimed to witness the existence of plates they believed were the source for the book of mormon. The testimony of three witnesses be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come. Published in every edition of the book of mormon are the testimonies of eight witnesses who saw the metal plates from which the prophet joseph smith translated the ancient scriptural account and of three witnesses who not only saw the plates but who were shown them by an angel. Some, unable or unwilling to take the witnesses to the book of mormon at their word, question their claims of seeing and hefting the golden plates, insisting instead that the witnesses saw only with spiritual eyes which means, effectively, in their imaginations. 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. All three witnesses eventually broke with smith and were excommunicated from the church. Book of mormon witnesses the three part 1, dan vogel book of mormon witnesses the eight part 2, dan vogel institute for religious research book of mormon witnesses, joel groat. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses the book of mormon are the testimonies of eight witnesses who saw the metal plates from which the prophet joseph smith translated the ancient scriptural account and of three witnesses who not only saw the plates but who were shown them by. Some mormons will agree that all three witnesses denied the book of mormon but came back to deny their denial. Note also that the date assigned to these comments places them prior to the publication of the book of mormon, yet clarks statement appears to include elements from both before and after harris viewed the plates as a witness.

However, not a single one of them was ever allowed to look at the plates for fear of being struck dead. It is very interesting how the lord decided to have those special witnesses of his work of the last days. The three witnesses see the golden plates and the angel moroni. None of the eleven book of mormon witnesses ever signed their testimonies. Joseph smith gave this account of of when he, whitmer, cowdery and harris were shown the. We the three witnesses not only saw the plates of the book of mormon, but the brass plates, the plates containing the record of the wickedness of the people of the world, and many other plates. The three are part of twelve book of mormon witnesses, who also include smith and the eight witnesses. Book of mormon central evidences of the book of mormon. The three witnesses receive their witness gospel doctrine. Did the eleven witnesses actually see the gold plates. The three witnesses of the book of mormon were oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris. The eight witnesses of the book of mormon lds blogs.