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. Book of mormon the testimony of three witnesses youtube. May 21, 2014 this is the first half of an old byu film depicting the story of the three witnesses of the book of mormon. Joseph smith gave this account of of when he, whitmer, cowdery and.
Formal witneses the three witnesses the eleven witnesses informal witnesses david b. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses kindle edition. Dec 05, 2009 book of mormon the testimony of three witnesses awitness4jesuschrist michael corbett. David whitmer never returned to the church, but left an extensive record validating his testimony. The witness of the book of mormon, part 3 by study and faith. As the director of the church history library, where we hold the churchs official archival. The author, richard lloyd anderson, gives many historical details about the statements of such critics and the sources and background of their statements. Mar 22, 2017 by june 1829 martin harris, oliver cowdery, and david whitmer had verbalized a desire to be the special three witnesses alluded to in 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. Former the book of mormon costars cody jamison strand and jacob ben widmar stop by to chat about broadways high school throwback concert at.
Somewhere in every book of mormon that has ever been printed one may read the testimony of eleven men who saw the gold plates 1 from which it was printed. Martin harris, one of the three witnesses of the book of mormon, bears testimony of the book while on his deathbed. The witnesses of the book of mormon lds scripture teachings. Joseph smith gave this account of of when he, whitmer, cowdery and harris were shown the golden plates by the angel. We can compare the witnesses for the book of mormon to the witnesses of manuscript found.
Testimony of the three witnesses book of mormon central. The official youtube channel of the book of mormon musical. The witnesses to the book of mormon the witnesses to the book of mormon have always been extremely impressive to me. Testimony of three witnesses, late june 1829, page 589. Answers to questions about the witnesses to the book of mormon. In this video, i discuss how relying on the published testimony of eight witnesses has led many to incorrectly assume the experience of the eight men was completely natural and physical. 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.
Some of the most important evidence for the reality and divine nature of the book of mormon comes from detailed scholarship about the witnesses to the book of mormon. While this was a late recollection on cannons part, anderson justifies using it by stating that cannon had a remarkable intellect and a. 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. This remarkable statement was in fulfillment of prophecy in the book of mormon itself, given by nephi, the son of lehi. Today chris and clay join me again for a roundtable discussion about the eleven witnesses to the book of mormon. Primary documents concerning their testimonies appear in preston nibley, witnesses of the. The witnesses of the book of mormon by preston nibley. Evaluating the book of mormon witnesses book of mormon central. Events surrounding the translation of the book of mormon, 18271828. Questions about the witnesses to the reality of the. All three men upheld their testimony of the book of mormon at their deaths. The testimony of three witnesses be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come.
Evaluating the book of mormon witnesses book of mormon. Three witnesses shall behold it, by the power of god, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered. We are working on a featurelength documentary on the miracle of the book of mormon that will be available soon at deseret book and. 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. The story of the church the book of mormon witnesses. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses paperback april 3, 1989. The second video is now available oct 2014 that focuses on the eight witnesses.
Book of mormon the testimony of three witnesses awitness4jesuschrist michael corbett. This video also depicts how the three men remained true to. This is the first half of an old byu film depicting the story of the three witnesses of the book of mormon. For the witnesses testimonies, and their lives outside the church, see richard lloyd anderson, investigating the book of mormon witnesses corr. The names signed there include the names of almost every man over twenty connected with the giving to the world of that mysterious book. 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. In todays episode, we talk about the three witnesses to the golden.
By june 1829 martin harris, oliver cowdery, and david whitmer had verbalized a desire to be the special three witnesses alluded to in the book of mormon. The three witnesses are shown the golden plates by the angel, moroni. From the fourtime emmy awardwinning creators of south park comes this hilarious broadway musical about a pair of mismatched mormon the book of mormon on vimeo join. An additional eight witnesses members of the smith and whitmer families 1 declared that joseph smith himself showed them the plates and allowed each to heft the ancient artifact and examine its engravings. The three witnesses of the book of mormon were oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris. Facts on the book of mormon witnesses part 1 mormons in. It is very interesting how the lord decided to have those special witnesses of his work of the last days.
Book of mormon spiritual and temporal witnesses presentation. Haight emma smith harrison burgess john henry smith joseph f. Did the book of mormon witnesses really see what they claimed. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading investigating the book of mormon witnesses. Believers in the book of mormon heard the witnesses declare that the plates were real and that the book of mormon was true. The three and eight witnesses to the book of mormon. He removed with his parents to new york state when a boy, and married elizabeth schott, september 29, 1825.
All three witnesses eventually broke with smith and were excommunicated from the church. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. 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 eight witnesses of the book of mormon lds blogs. In my personal experience, and as a member of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints sometimes mistakenly called the mormon church, i have heard it described as everything from interesting, false, uplifting, or contrary to the bible. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses kindle edition by anderson, richard lloyd. One of the eight witnesses to the book of mormon, was the second son of peter whitmer, sen.
We talk at length about our assumptions that the three witnesses has a spiritual event, that the eight witnesses had a physical event, whether their experience was consistent, and how the institutional church may have. Unless otherwise indicated, individuals may post material from the gospel media portion of this site to another website or on a computer network. Marsh, an excommunicated apostle, approached whitmer and cowdery to learn the real truth about the book of mormon since they, like him, were now excommunicated and hostile to it marsh reported. Here are some critics thoughts on that thanks to gary porter and craig criddle for these. Witness to the book of mormon 9 july 2018 lds daily. Oliver cowdery, martin harris, and david whitmer were appointed to be three special witnesses of the book of mormon in june 1829.
The testimony of the eight witnesses gospel doctrine. The question of the book of mormon witnesses is extremely significant. Primary documents concerning their testimonies appear in preston nibley, witnesses of the book of mormon salt lake city, 1953. The statement of the 3 witnesses for the book of mormon was a single statement signed by all three men. The three men chosen as witnesses of the book of mormon were oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris. In the course of the work of translation of the book of mormon, we joseph smith and oliver cowdrey ascertained that three special witnesses 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 hearsay accounts show that ones faith in the book of mormon witnesses or lack thereof is based not simply on hearing the witnesses testimonies but on how one chooses to receive and understand their testimonies.
The following is their testimony that can be found in the first pages of the book of mormon. Several others had direct experiences with the plates or otherwise witnessed joseph smith s translation of the book of mormon. 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 three witnesses see the golden plates and the angel moroni. Smith lorenzo snow lucy mack smith mary whitmer oscar mcconkie william smith richard lloyd anderson analyzes the witnesses to the book of mormon. Witnesses of the book of mormon it seems to me that any member of this church would never be satisfied until he or she had read. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses deseret book. The testimony of the three witnesses is consistent, impressive, and reliable. 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. The bible prescribe at least two or three witnesses for everything. The witness of the book of mormon, part 3 standard as latterday saints we believe that the book of mormon is a collection of the writings and teachings of prophets who lived in the americas over a span of a few thousand years.
Richard anderson investigating the book of mormon witnesses, 1981 admits the third handnature of this account, but still uses it as evidence, attributing its most accurate telling to george q. The work of the translation was proceeding nicely in harmony, pennsylvania for quite a while. The history of when david whitmer, oliver cowdery and martin harris saw the golden plates of the book of mormon. Edward stevenson, the thirteenth witness to the plates of the book of mormon, ms 55 1893. The three witnesses monument photo courtesy steve mortensen. Smith lorenzo snow lucy mack smith mary whitmer oscar mcconkie william smith richard lloyd anderson analyzes the witnesses to. Some people seem to deal with them by simply waving them aside. We also talk about the testimony of the three witnesses.
The witnesses of the book of mormon the millennial star. 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 case against the 3 witnesses of the book of mormon duration. Mar, 2008 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. 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. Three witnesses mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. The book of mormon contains two sets of joint statements written by joseph smith for those who claimed to have seen the gold plates. New video on evidence for book of mormon plates book of. 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, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. Ancient documents often needed the signatures of witnesses in order to be considered authentic or legally binding.
The testimonies of the three and eight witnesses printed in each copy of the book of mormon are some of the most compelling evidence in favor of its miraculous. The testimonies of the three and eight witnesses were published in the first edition of the book of mormon and every edition since. 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 guidance and inspiration of the lord. 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.
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