Book of Mormon witnesses

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Overview: Summary Three Witnesses: Character/stability Faithful? Real gold plates? Hypnosis? Strangite parallels? God told David Whitmer to leave? View of the plates: Literal? "Eye of faith"? "Spiritual eye"? Eight Witnesses: Eight witnesses Supernatural power? Other Witnesses: Other witnesses
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Joseph Smith, Jr. Book of Mormon

This page is a summary or index page. More detailed information on this topic is available on the sub-pages below.

The world was not left with Joseph Smith's testimony alone. The Book of Mormon provided multiple official and unofficial witnesses who corroborated aspects of Joseph's account.

Critics have long tried to dismiss or destroy the witnesses' witness. This page links to subpages which discuss various attacks in detail:

1. Did some of the witnesses recant their story later?
2. Were the witnesses of unreliable mind or character?
3. The witnesses did not claim literal experiences, but only 'spiritual' ones, suggesting that the experience was merely mental or imaginary.
4. Joseph Smith was capable of inducing mass hypnosis in the witnesses, making them believe they saw the plates merely at Joseph's suggestion.
5. Critics claim that break-off sects like James Strang's produced eyewitnesses of buried records, so Joseph's ability to do so is neither surprising nor persuasive.
6. David Whitmer said that the same voice which told him the Book of Mormon was true told him to leave the Church.
7. The Eight witnesses had only 'spiritual' or 'visionary' views of the plates, not real, physical ones.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Further reading 2.1 FAIR wiki articles 2.2 FAIR web site 2.3 External links 2.4 Printed material

Summary

Evidence amply demonstrates that the formal witnesses of the Book of Mormon were men of good character and reputation, and were recognized as such by contemporary non-Mormons. They were all faithful to their testimonies to the end of their lives, even though many of them had personal disagreements with Joseph Smith that caused them to leave the Church.

Likewise, the witnesses left concrete statements regarding the physical nature of the plates. There were others besides the eleven who saw and felt the plates, and testified that they were real.

The accusation that Joseph Smith was somehow able to hypnotize the witnesses—not individually, but en mass—is simply too preposterous to be true. This accusation vastly overstates the nature of hypnotism and the abilities of those able to practice it. It demonstrates the critics' desperation, and their awareness that their abilities to negate the witnesses' testimonies have not succeeded.

The Strangite witnesses were not all faithful, and some recanted and described the nature of the fraud perpetuated by Strang.

Finally, critics distort the historical record to make it appear that David Whitmer left the Church because he was told to, when it fact he was excommunicated prior to claiming any revelation to do so. The command to leave, if it was a true revelation, involved David's physical safety and not his membership in the Church, which he had already renounced.

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Book of Mormon witnesses wiki articles

• Book of Mormon witnesses (Summary page)

Three Witnesses

• "Mass hypnosis" of the witnesses?
• Character and mental stability of witnesses
• Faithfulness of witnesses to testimony
  • Did Oliver Cowdery admit to a hoax?
• "Eye of Faith"/"Spiritual Eye" statements by Martin Harris
• Literal nature of witness experience
• Strangite parallels for witnesses?
• David Whitmer told to leave the Church?

Eight Witnesses

• Eight witnesses
  • "shown to me by a supernatural power"

Other Witnesses

• Other witnesses ^{[needs work]}

Book of Mormon authorship theories

• Authorship theories (Summary page)
  • Abnormal psychology ^{[needs work]}
  • Automatic writing
  • Epilepsy
  • Joseph Smith as "author and proprietor"
  • Joseph Smith, Sr.'s dream and Lehi's vision
  • Mysticism  ^{[needs work]}
  • Seer stones, use of
  • Wordprint studies

Book of Mormon plagiarism accusations—wiki articles

• Plagiarism accusations (Summary page)
  • Apocrypha
  • The King James Bible
  • The Golden Pot
  • The Westminster Confession
  • The Wonders of Nature and Providence Displayed by Josiah Priest  ^{[needs work]}
  • The Spalding manuscript
  • View of the Hebrews
  • North American place names  ^{[needs work]}
  • The Comoros Islands and Moroni

FAIR web site

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

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

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.