Doniphan on an affidavit attesting to his honesty and integrity, with plans to have it published in the local paper richmond, missouri with a statement refuting that he had denied his witness that an angel had shown him the gold plates from. Testimony of three witnesses, late june 1829, page 589. 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. Three witnesses mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. Lesson 41 the testimony of three witnesses book of. Book of mormon, 1830, page 589 the joseph smith papers.
Testimony of the three witnesses book of mormon central. The three witnesses of the book of mormon were oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris. These witnessesoliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harristestified that they had heard gods voice declare. Book of mormon 1830three witnesses wikisource, the. 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, their brethren, and also of the people of jared, which came. Testimony of eight witnesses church of jesus christ. This video also depicts how the three men remained true to their testimonies. 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. Richard lloyd anderson, did oliver cowdery, one of the three special book of mormon witnesses, express doubt about his testimony. Book of mormon the testimony of three witnesses awitness4jesuschrist michael corbett. With duane ryan, sherwood keith, ron frederickson, zan winn.
Two solemn declarations the testimony of three witnesses and the testimony of eight witnesses have been published with the book of mormon since 1830. See the full list here the church of jesus christ of latterday saints editors note. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses deseret book. A recently discovered circa 1871 manuscript written by william mclellin, an early mormon apostle and, later, apostate, includes a passage that narrates how, in 1833, he engaged two of the three and one of the eight witnesses of the book of mormon about the nature of their experiences as witnesses. In this segment, truman madsen explains the power of the testimony of the three witnesses of the book of mormon. Since its publication in 1830, the book of mormon has been accompanied by the testimony of three witnesses claiming to have seen the an angel with the plates and the testimony of eight witnesses. The eight witnesses of the book of mormon lds blogs. The testimony of three witnesses be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come. The book of mormon is a sacred, ancient record that was translated by the gift and power of god into english in 1830 through joseph smith jr. The solemn testimony of these three additional witnesses has appeared in every edition of the book of mormon from the beginning. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1994. The three and eight witnesses to the book of mormon. 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. Theyre distinctly different both in their tone and in what they describe.
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. In the introductory pages of the book of mormon, there is a page that contains the testimony of three witnesses and the testimony of eight witnesses. That we, through the grace of god the father, and our lord jesus christ, have seen the plates which contain this. The three witnesses receive their witness gospel doctrine.
At the beginning of the book of mormon, we have the testimony of joseph smith, the testimony of three witnesses, and the testimony of eight witnesses. The following is their testimony that can be found in the first pages of the book of mormon. When moroni finished the record of the nephites he closed with the prophetic words which formed our last lesson. 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 testimony of the eight witnesses was first published at the end of the 1830 edition of the book of mormon and has been printed in nearly every edition since, although most subsequent editions moved the statement to the front of the book and included minor grammatical corrections. All three men upheld their testimony of the book of mormon at their deaths. The first edition of the book of mormon featured two testimonials. 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.
By providing the testimonies of witnesses and including them at the end of the book of mormon, joseph smith was following not only the ancient pattern called for by nephi, but also the. The first, the testimony of three witnesses, is given by oliver cowdery, 2 david whitmer, 3 and martin harris. David whitmers final testimony of the book of mormon. This press release was originally published on may 7, 2020. Even though the vision given to cowdery, whitmer, and harris fulfilled the scriptural promise in the book of mormon that the record would be shown to three witnesses by the power of god, two passages in the sacred text suggested that additional witnesses might also have a view of the plates. Number of temples opened for husbandwife sealings grows from 17 to 34. 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. Each of the three had ample reason and opportunity to renounce his testimony if it had been false, or to equivocate on details if any had been inaccurate. The three witnesses, unlike the eight witnesses, were shown the plates by.
The three men chosen as witnesses of the book of mormon were oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris. 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. Proximity searches boolean searches browse the book of mormon main page. 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. Harmon, made in about 1885, cited in vogel, emd, 2. The american scripture that launched a new world religion new york. In the first, oliver cowdery, david whitmer and martin harris affirm that theyve seen the plates from which the book of mormon was translated by. All three witnesses eventually broke with smith and were excommunicated from the church. It is inconclusive if the witnesses actually saw plates or if they only claimed to see them.
A passage in the book of mormon similarly indicated that the testimony of the witnesses and the book of mormon would come forth at the same time. Janis hutchinson the three witnesses to the gold plates. Oaks, first counselor in the first presidency, has said. More than five decades after the book of mormon was published, david whitmer recalled how he. Book of mormon witnesses the encyclopedia of mormonism. Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come. After departing mormonism, he later declared, if you believe my testimony to the book of mormon. However, within the pages of the book of mormon itself are the combined testimony of three ancient witnesses. The testimony of the eight witnesses gospel doctrine. I wish now, standing as it were, in the very sunset of life, and in the fear of god, once and for all to make this public statement.
Our lesson today is the testimony of three men that the prophecy of the coming forth and translation of the book of mormon had been fulfilled. As church membership mushroomed, and it became clear the book of mormon is pretty. The objective of this restoration edition has been to recover the text of the book of mormon back to what joseph smith intended it to be before his death. Book of mormon witnesses all later denied its truthfulness. The testimonies of the three and eight witnesses were published in the first edition of the book of mormon and every edition since. Attacks against the book of mormon have experienced a kind of mission creep since its publication in 1830. To the inside front cover are affixed four clippings of descriptions of different versions of first edition copies of the book of mormon and of an 1854 edition of the doctrine and covenants, along with a clipping describing the origin of the text of the book of mormon and a bookplate of the shepard book company of salt lake city, utah. Johnson reflected the sentiments of the community by writing a poem attempting to reflect the fact that men may be untrue to the truth.
Why are there two sets of official book of mormon witnesses. The witnesses were also told in a revelation that they should testify that ye have seen them even as my servant joseph smith jr. Book of mormon central archive testimony of the three witnesses. According to this revelation, there would only be three witnesses. Why were three key witnesses chosen to testify of the book. Oxford university press, 2003, 4142, emphasis added. Critics began by labeling the book bungling and stupid, joe smith a perfect ignoramus, and they claimed any blunderhead, with the bible at his side, might have written it. David whitmer, one of the book of mormons three witnesses, said if you believe my testimony to the book of mormon. Three witnesses monument mormon historic sites foundation. The three witnesses, utah genealogical and historical magazine, october 1927october 1929, vol.
But, oliver cowdery, according to the mormon publication times and seasons, did deny. The case against the 3 witnesses of the book of mormon duration. Richard lloyd anderson, testimonies of the three witnesses, provo, ut. The book of mormon contains two sets of joint statements written by joseph smith for those who claimed to have seen the gold plates. The three witnesses were oliver cowdery, martin harris, and david whitmer, whose joint testimony, in conjunction with a. We also talk about the testimony of the three witnesses, three men who were allowed to see an angel and the physical gold. Witnesses of the book of mormon church of jesus christ. Book of mormon audiobook podcast of the book of mormon. The mormon church, of course, claims that none of the three witnesses ever denied their testimony. 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. Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto. 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. The testimony of these three prophets interlink in order to establish the veracity and power of each others witness of christ.
For the story of the three witnesses we will turn to josephs record in history of the church. 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. 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 every edition of the book of mormon since its first publication in 1830. 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 author, richard lloyd anderson, gives many historical details about the statements of such critics and the sources and background of their statements. The testimony of three witnesses in the 1830 edition of the book of mormon was originally included at the end of the book, as a final seal of its veracity. The names of oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris are familiar to most of us, notably because of their role as witnesses to the reality of the book of mormon.
It is recorded in the american cyclopedia and the encyclopedia britannica, that i, david whitmer, have denied my testimony as one of the three witnesses to the divinity of the book of mormon. The testimony of the three witnesses to the book of mormon stands forth in great strength, president dallin h. Book of mormon the testimony of three witnesses youtube. On may 11, 2020, the first presidency of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints updated the list of temples in the first phase of reopening. Three witnesses of the book of mormon department of. All the mormon witnesses are as worthless as they are unreliable who recanted their testimony. 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 testimony of the three witnesses to the book of mormon. That i have never at any time denied that testimony of the book of mormon or any part thereof, which has so long since been published with that book, as one of the three witnesses.