Book of Mormon witnesses/Eight witnesses

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Contents

Criticism

Critics have tried to argue that the Eight witnesses only claimed a 'spiritual' or 'visionary' view of the plates, not a literal, physical one.

Source(s) of the criticism

Criticisms of Book of Mormon witnesses

Response

The critics' attempt to argue that the witnesses only 'saw' the plates in a spiritual state, and then were allowed to heft a covered box. This flatly contradicts their own reports, and those of others.[1]

John Whitmer

Critics rely on one report from then-apostate John Whitmer and attempt to use this as the 'smoking gun' for a "visionary only" experience:

...all I know, you have published to the world that an angel did present those plates to Joseph Smith." Whitmer replied "I now say I handled those plates. there was fine engravings on both sides. I handled them." and he described how they were hung and they were shown to me by a supernatural power. he acknowledged all. Turley asked him why the translation is not now true, & he said "I cannot read it, and I do not know whether it is true or not.[2]

So, the apostate Whitmer insists that he physically handled the plates, and attests to having seen fine engraving "on both sides." The critics grasp at straws, and ignore the very clear implication that Whitmer (here a bitter enemy of Joseph Smith) claims to have actually seen and handled the plates. The "supernatural power" citation seems to be the imposition of the interviewers' bias (it appears in none of Whitmer's first person accounts or in the Testimony of the Eight Witnesses). It is also possible that Whitmer was insisting that Joseph Smith could not have showed him the plates without divine aid; this perspective is not present in any of his other statements, however. The Three witnesses likewise insisted on the physical reality of their experience with the angel, despite the supernatural trappings of their witness experience.

Why, then, did Whiter apostatize? He rationalized his choice to disbelieve the translation of the Book of Mormon (despite knowing that the plates were literal and physical) thusly:

I cannot read it, and I do not know whether it is true or not.[3]

Whitmer also published his witness to the plates:

I have most assuredly seen the plates from whence the Book of Mormon is translated, and that I have handled these plates.[4]

Richard Anderson has collected eight accounts of John Whitmer's that confirm the reality of his handling of the plates.[5] The critics ignore much documentary evidence in Whitmer's case alone, simply because his witness is inconvenient for their speculations.

Whitmer's final interview is impressive:

I said: I am aware that your name is affixed to the testimony in the Book of Mormon, that you saw the plates? He–It is so, and that testimony is true. I–Did you handle the plates with your hands? He–I did so! I–Then they were a material substance? He–Yes, as material as anything can be. I–They were heavy to lift? He–Yes, and you know gold is a heavy metal, they were very heavy. I–How big were the leaves? He–So far as I recollect, 8 by 6 or 7 inches. I–Were the leaves thick? He–Yes, just so thick, that characters could be engraven on both sides. I–How were the leaves joined together? He–In three rings, each one in the shape of a D with the straight line towards the centre. . . . . I–Did you see them covered with a cloth? He–No. He handed them uncovered into our hands, and we turned the leaves sufficient to satisfy us.[6]

Lucy Mack Smith

Lucy Mack Smith wrote:

In a few days we were follow by Joseph and Oliver and the Whitmers who came to make us a visit and also to make some arrangements about getting the book printed soon after they came They all that is the male part of the company repaired to a little grove where it was customary for the family to offer up their secret prayers. as Joseph had been instructed that the plates would be carried there by one of the ancient Nephites. Here it was that those 8 witnesses recorded in the Book of Mormon looked upon the plates and handled them of which they bear witness in the [title page of the Book of Mormon]. . . . After the witnesses returned to the house the Angel again made his appearance to Joseph and received the plates from his hands.[7]

Hyrum Smith

Multiple writers recalled Hyrum's testimony:

  • [W]ee wass talking about the Book of Mormon which he is one of the witnesses he said he had but too hands and too eyes he said he had seen the plates with his eyes and handled them with his hands.[8]
  • "[Mary Fielding Smith] bears testimony that her husband [Hyrum] has seen and handled the plates, &c."[9]
  • Another writer heard Hyrum "declare, in this city in public, that what is recorded about the plates, &c. &c. is God's solemn truth."[10]

After being in Liberty Jail, Hyrum wrote:

  • I felt a determination to die, rather than deny the things which my eyes had seen, which my hands had handled, and which I had borne testimony to, wherever my lot had been cast.[11]

Samuel Smith

Daniel Tyler reported hearing Samuel Smith:

He knew his brother Joseph had the plates, for the prophet had shown them to him, and he had handled them and seen the engravings thereon.[12]

Conclusion

William Smith summarized the matter well when he said of all the Eight witnesses

that they not only Saw with their eyes but handled with their hands the said record . . . nor has either or any one of these witnesses ever to my knowledge Counteracted the testimony as given above Concerning the real existence of these Mormon tablets.[13]

The Eight witnesses consistently affirmed the accuracy of their published testimony, and the physical reality of their experience. The critics will have to seek elsewhere to support their speculations.

Endnotes

  1. [back]  Many of the quotes collected here are found in Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Attempts to Redefine the Experience of the Eight Witnesses," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005): 18–31. off-site PDF link wiki (Key source)
  2. [back] "Theodore Turley's Memorandums," Church Archives, handwriting of Thomas Bullock, who began clerking in late 1843; cited in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996-2003), 5 vols, 5:241.; see also with minor editing in Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 3:307–308. GospeLink
  3. [back] "Theodore Turley's Memorandums," Church Archives, handwriting of Thomas Bullock, who began clerking in late 1843; cited in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996-2003), 5 vols, 5:241.; see also with minor editing in Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 3:307–308. GospeLink
  4. [back] John Whitmer, "?," Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 2:{{{num}}} (March 1836): 286–287. off-site
  5. [back]  Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Attempts to Redefine the Experience of the Eight Witnesses," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005): 18–31. off-site PDF link wiki. See especially Anderson's discussion of Dan Vogel's tendency to ignore contrary witnesses from Whitmer that do not fit his thesis here.
  6. [back]  Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996-2003), 5 vols, 5:247–249., original in Deseret News, 6 August 1878.
  7. [back] Lucy Mack Smith's history, preliminary manuscript, Family and Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  8. [back] Letter to John Kempton, 26 August 1838, Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, microfilm no. 840025.
  9. [back] Joseph Fielding, "Letter to Parley P. Pratt," Millennial Star 4/{{{num}}} (August 1841): 52.
  10. [back]  "Mr. J. B. Newhall's Lecture," signed by "A Hearer," Salem Advertiser and Argus, 12 April 1843, some also in Times and Seasons 4 (15 June 1843): 234–235;
  11. [back] Hyrum Smith,"To the Saints scattered abroad," Times and Seasons 1/{{{num}}} (November 1839): 20, 23. off-site GospeLink
  12. [back] Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1981), 148. ISBN 0877478465.
  13. [back]  William Smith, "Notes Written on 'Chambers' Life of Joseph Smith,'" 15; transcribed by Richard L. Anderson.

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Metal and gold plates wiki articles
Book of Mormon witnesses wiki articles

Three Witnesses

Eight Witnesses

Other Witnesses

FAIR web site

Metal and gold plates FAIR articles
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Book of Mormon witnesses FAIR link
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Metal and metal plates FAIR link
  • Michael R. Ash, "Metals and Metallurgy" FAIR link
Book of Mormon witnesses FAIR articles
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Book of Mormon Witnesses FAIR link
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Testimonies of the Book of Mormon FAIR link
  • Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Explaining Away the Book of Mormon Witnesses," paper given at the 2004 FAIR Conference FAIR link (Key source)
  • Scott Gordon, "The Testimony of Eight" FAIR link

External links

Metal and gold plates on-line articles
  • Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Attempts to Redefine the Experience of the Eight Witnesses," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005): 18–31. off-site PDF link wiki (Key source)
  • Anonymous, "Of What Material Were the Plates?," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (2001): 21–21. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
  • Mike Ash, "Weight of Gold Plates," mormonfortress.com, 1998. off-site
  • William J. Adams Jr., "Lehi's Jerusalem and Writing on Metal Plates," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 3/1 (1994): 204–206. off-site PDF link wiki
  • William J. Adams Jr., "More on the Silver Plates from Lehi's Jerusalem," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 4/2 (1995): 136–137. off-site PDF link wiki
  • John Gee, "Epigraphic Considerations on Janne Sjodahl's Experiment with Nephite Writing," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (2001): 25–25. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
  • John Gee, "Two Notes on Egyptian Script," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5/1 (1996): 162–176. off-site PDF link wiki
  • William J. Hamblin, "An Apologist for the Critics: Brent Lee Metcalfe's Assumptions and Methodologies (Review of Apologetic and Critical Assumptions about Book of Mormon Historicity by Brent Lee Metcalfe)," FARMS Review of Books 6/1 (1994): 434–523. off-site PDF link
  • William J. Hamblin, "Sacred Writing on Metal Plates in the Ancient Mediterranean," FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 37–54. off-site PDF link wiki
  • William J. Hamblin (research), "Metal Plates and the Book of Mormon," F.A.R.M.S. Update (July 1994), number 95. off-site
  • Kirk B. Henrichsen, "How Witnesses Described the "Gold Plates"," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (2001): 16–21. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
  • Janne M. Sjodahl, "The Book of Mormon Plates," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (2001): 22–24. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
  • Sidney B. Sperry, "Some Problems of Interest Relating to the Brass Plates," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 4/1 (1995): 185–191. off-site PDF link wiki
  • John A. Tvedtnes, "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5/2 (1996): 156–163. off-site PDF link wiki
Book of Mormon witnesses on-line articles
  • Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Book of Mormon Witnesses," farms.byu.edu off-site (Key source)
  • Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Attempts to Redefine the Experience of the Eight Witnesses," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005): 18–31. off-site PDF link wiki
  • Kenneth W. Godfrey, "David Whitmer and the Shaping of Latter-day Saint History," in The Disciple As Witness: Essays on Latter-Day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, edited by Richard Lloyd Anderson, Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2000), 223–256. ISBN 0934893454. ISBN 978-0934893459. off-site direct off-site
  • Kirk B. Henrichsen, "How Witnesses Described the "Gold Plates"," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (2001): 16–21. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
  • Jeff Lindsay, "Circumstantial Evidence and the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon: Can They Be Ignored Any Longer?", jefflindsay.com off-site
  • Matthew Roper, "Comments on the Book of Mormon Witnesses: A Response to Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2/2 (1993): 164–193. off-site PDF link wiki

Printed material

Metal and gold plates printed materials
  • C. Wilfred Griggs, "The Book of Mormon as an Ancient Book," in Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins, edited by Noel B. Reynolds and Charles D. Tate (eds.), (Provo, Utah : Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University ; Salt Lake City, Utah : Distributed by Bookcraft, 1996 [1982]), 75–94. ISBN 0884944697 GospeLink GL direct link
  • Read H. Putnam, "Were the Plates of Mormon of Tumbaga?," Improvement Era (September 1966): 788—789, 828–831. GospeLink; also appears in Ross T. Christensen, ed., Papers of the Fifteenth Annual Symposium on the Archaeology of the Scriptures (Provo, Utah: Extension Publications, BYU Division of Continuing Education, 1964), 101–109.
  • Robert E. Smith, "The 'Golden' Plates," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1992), 275–{{{end}}}. ISBN 0875796001 off-site FAIR link GospeLink GL direct link
Book of Mormon witnesses printed materials
  • Richard Lloyd Anderson, "The Credibility of the Book of Mormon Translators," in Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins, edited by Noel B. Reynolds and Charles D. Tate (eds.), (Provo, Utah : Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University ; Salt Lake City, Utah : Distributed by Bookcraft, 1996 [1982]), Chapter 9, 213–232. ISBN 0884944697 GospeLink GL direct link
  • Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1981), 1. ISBN 0877478465. (Key source)
  • Richard L. Anderson, "Personal Writings of the Book of Mormon Witnesses," Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins, edited by Noel B. Reynolds, (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1997), Chapter 3 ISBN 093489325X ISBN 0934893187 ISBN 0884944697. off-site GospeLink GL direct link
  • Milton V. Backman, Jr., Eyewitness Accounts of the Restoration (Orem, Utah: Grandin Book, 1983).
  • John W. Welch and Larry E. Morris, editors, Oliver Cowdery: Scribe, Elder, Witness (Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2006). ISBN 978-0-8425-2661-6.
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