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Difference between revisions of "Question: Did Martin Harris tell people that he only saw the plates with his "spiritual eye"?"
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<ref>Pomeroy Tucker, ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in "Pomeroy Tucker Account, 1867," ''Early Mormon Documents'', 3: 122.</ref> | <ref>Pomeroy Tucker, ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in "Pomeroy Tucker Account, 1867," ''Early Mormon Documents'', 3: 122.</ref> | ||
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| + | ===Martin elsewhere emphasized that the vision was also with the "natural eye," to enable them to "bear testimony to the world"=== | ||
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| + | In 1875, Martin said: | ||
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| + | :"The Prophet Joseph Smith, and Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer and myself, went into a little grove to pray to obtain a promise that we should behold it with our <strike>eyes</strike> '''natural eyes, that we could testify of it''' to the world {{ea}}."<ref>Martin Harris Interview with Ole A. Jensen, July 1875 in Ole A. Jensen, "Testimony of Martin Harris (ONe of the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon)," undated (c. 1918), original in private possession, photocopies at Utah State Historical Society, LDS Church Archives, and Special Collections of BYU's Harold B. Lee Library; cited in {{EMD|vol=2|pages=375}}</ref> | ||
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| + | Harris did not, then, see "spiritual eye" and "natural eye" as mutually exclusive categories. Both described something about the witness experience. | ||
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{{endnotes sources}} | {{endnotes sources}} | ||
Revision as of 12:07, 1 May 2015
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Contents
- 1 Question: Did Martin Harris tell people that he only saw the plates with his "spiritual eye"?
- 1.1 John H. Gilbert, who printed the Book of Mormon, reported that Harris said that he saw the plates with his "spiritual eye"
- 1.2 Pomeroy Tucker told of Harris using the phrase "seeing with the spiritual eye"
- 1.3 Martin elsewhere emphasized that the vision was also with the "natural eye," to enable them to "bear testimony to the world"
Question: Did Martin Harris tell people that he only saw the plates with his "spiritual eye"?
John H. Gilbert, who printed the Book of Mormon, reported that Harris said that he saw the plates with his "spiritual eye"
John H. Gilbert:
Martin was in the office when I finished setting up the testimony of the three witnesses,—(Harris—Cowdery and Whitmer—) I said to him,—"Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" Martin looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, "No, I saw them with a spir[i]tual eye."[1]
Pomeroy Tucker told of Harris using the phrase "seeing with the spiritual eye"
Pomeroy Tucker in his book Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism (1867) also refers to Harris using the phrase "spiritual eye":
How to reconcile the act of Harris in signing his name to such a statement, in view of the character of honesty which had always been conceded to him, could never be easily explained. In reply to uncharitable suggestions of his neighbors, he used to practise a good deal of his characteristic jargon about "seeing with the spiritual eye," and the like. [2]
Martin elsewhere emphasized that the vision was also with the "natural eye," to enable them to "bear testimony to the world"
In 1875, Martin said:
- "The Prophet Joseph Smith, and Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer and myself, went into a little grove to pray to obtain a promise that we should behold it with our
eyesnatural eyes, that we could testify of it to the world (emphasis added)."[3]
Harris did not, then, see "spiritual eye" and "natural eye" as mutually exclusive categories. Both described something about the witness experience.
Notes
- ↑ John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, Early Mormon Documents, 2: 548.
- ↑ Pomeroy Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in "Pomeroy Tucker Account, 1867," Early Mormon Documents, 3: 122.
- ↑ Martin Harris Interview with Ole A. Jensen, July 1875 in Ole A. Jensen, "Testimony of Martin Harris (ONe of the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon)," undated (c. 1918), original in private possession, photocopies at Utah State Historical Society, LDS Church Archives, and Special Collections of BYU's Harold B. Lee Library; cited in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 2:375.