Jerry C. Brewer
The Book of Mormon contains the following statement:
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, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens.. And the honor be to the Father, & to the Son, & to the Holy Ghost, which is One God. Amen.’
Signed: Oliver Cowdery & David Whitmer & Martin Harris
These were the three witnesses who originally testified to the authenticity of Joseph Smith’s writings in The Book of Mormon. Compare these men and their testimony to the testimony of Jesus Christ’s witnesses.
Christ was God manifest in the flesh (John 1:1-3, 14). As such, He was empirically observed by his witnesses (1 John 1:1-3). Their seeing and hearing were done with fleshly eyes and ears. There was nothing visionary about it. When Thomas observed and felt the nail prints in Christ’s hands and thrust his hand into His side, it was done with physical eyes and hands. The apostles were eyewitnesses of Christ’s glory (2 Pet. 1:16), and performed miracles to establish their credibility (Heb. 2:1-4).
Now, consider Joseph Smith’s witnesses. He conveniently received a “revelation” recorded in Doctrine And Covenants saying three witnesses would be selected to testify to the authenticity of The Book of Mormon.
Behold, verily I say unto you, I have reserved those things which I have entrusted unto you, my servant Joseph, for a wise purpose in me, and it shall be made known unto future generations; But this generation shall have my word through you; And in addition to your testimony, the testimony of three of my servants, whom I shall call and ordain, unto whom I will show these things, and they shall go forth with my words that are given through you (Doctrine And Covenants, Sec. 5, vv. 9-11).
Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris all lobbied to be Smith’s witnesses, according to the following account by Smith:
In the course of the work of translation, we 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; and that these witnesses should bear record of the same, as will be found recorded, Book of Mormon, page 581 [Book of Ether, chapter 5, verses 2, 3 and 4, p. 487, edition 1920], also page 86 [II Nephi, chapter 11, verse 3, p. 73, edition 1920]. Almost immediately after we had made this discovery, it occurred to Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and the aforementioned Martin Harris (who had come to inquire after our progress in the work) that they would have me inquire of the Lord to know if they might not obtain of him the privilege to be these three special witnesses; and finally they became so very solicitous, and urged me so much to inquire that at length I complied; and through the Urim and Thummim, I obtained of the Lord for them the following:
Revelation to Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, at Fayette, Seneca County, New York, June, 1829, given previous to their viewing the plates containing the Book of Mormon.
1. Behold, I say unto you, that you must rely upon my word, which if you do with full purpose of heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim, which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face, and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on the borders of the Red Sea.
2. And it is by your faith that you shall obtain a view of them, even by that faith which was had by the prophets of old.
3. And after that you have obtained faith, and have seen them with your eyes, you shall testify of them, by the power of God;
4. And this you shall do that my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., may not be destroyed, that I may bring about my righteous purposes unto the children of men in this work.
5. And ye shall testify that you have seen them, even as my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., has seen them; for it is by my power that he has seen them, and it is because he had faith.
6. And he has translated the book, even that part which I have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true.
7. Wherefore you have received the same power, and the same faith, and the same gift like unto him;
8. And if you do these last commandments of mine, which I have given you, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; for my grace is sufficient for you, and you shall be lifted up at the last day.
9. And, I, Jesus Christ, your Lord and your God, have spoken it unto you, that I might bring about my righteous purposes unto the children of men. Amen.
Smith then provides the following concerning the so-called “eyewitness accounts” and the subsequent testimony of these three men:
Not many days after the above commandment was given, we four, viz., Martin Harris, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself, agreed to retire into the woods, and try to obtain, by fervent and humble prayer, the fulfilment of the promises given in the above revelation—that they should have a view of the plates. We accordingly made choice of a piece of woods convenient to Mr. Whitmer’s house, to which we retired, and having knelt down, we began to pray in much faith to Almighty God to bestow upon us a realization of these promises.
According to previous arrangement, I commenced prayer to our Heavenly Father, and was followed by each of the others in succession. We did not at the first trial, however, obtain any answer or manifestation of divine favor in our behalf. We again observed the same order of prayer, each calling on and praying fervently to God in rotation, but with the same result as before.
Upon this, our second failure, Martin Harris proposed that he should withdraw himself from us, believing, as he expressed himself, that his presence was the cause of our not obtaining what we wished for. He accordingly withdrew from us, and we knelt down again, and had not been many minutes engaged in prayer, when presently we beheld a light above us in the air, of exceeding brightness; and behold, an angel stood before us. In his hands he held the plates which we had been praying for these to have a view of. He turned over the leaves one by one, so that we could see them, and discern the engravings thereon distinctly. He then addressed himself to David Whitmer, and said, “David, blessed is the Lord, and he that keeps His commandments” when, immediately afterwards, we heard a voice from out of the bright light above us, saying, “These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God. The translation of them which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear.”
I now left David and Oliver, and went in pursuit of Martin Harris, whom I found at considerable distance, fervently engaged in prayer. He soon told me, however, that he had not yet prevailed with the Lord, and earnestly requested me to join him in prayer, that he also might realize the same blessings which we had just received. We accordingly joined in prayer, and ultimately obtained our desires, for before we had yet finished, the same vision was opened to our view, at least it was again opened to me, and I once more beheld and heard the same things; whilst at the same moment, Martin Harris cried out, apparently in an ecstasy of joy, “ ‘Tis enough; ’tis enough; mine eyes have beheld; mine eyes have beheld;” and jumping up, he shouted, “Hosanna,” blessing God, and otherwise rejoiced exceedingly. (History of The Church, Vol. 1, Chapter 6, pp. 52ff).
Their testimony in the Book implies they had empirical evidence of the plates. But consider the following:
But, what people are not told is that the experience was visionary in nature. While Joseph Smith was dictating the Book of Mormon to Oliver Cowdery, he read off a section that declared there would be three special witnesses who would be allowed to see the plates and then “bear witness” to the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith’s History states, “Almost immediately after we had made this discovery, it occurred to Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and the aforementioned Martin Harris (who had come to inquire after our progress in the work) that they would have me inquire of the Lord to know if they might not obtain of him the privilege to be these three special witnesses; and finally they became so very solicitous, and urged me so much to inquire that at length I complied” (History of the Church, Vol. 1, pp. 52-53). Joseph then produced a revelation for Oliver, David and Martin which stated that if they relied upon God’s word and did so with a full purpose of heart they would “have a view of the plates, and also the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim & Thummim, … and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi” (Ibid, p. 53). It would only be by their faith that they would be able to obtain a view of them.
Is this providence or convenience? Joseph dictates the part of the Book of Mormon that mentions three special witnesses while all three are there with him. They beg Joseph to ask God if maybe they aren’t the ones. When he finally gives in, Joseph immediately gets a revelation that says, if they have faith, rely on God’s word and have full purpose of heart, they will see not only the plates but numerous other wonderful things. So they go to the woods and first spend a prolonged time in prayer. Nothing happens. They pray more. Nothing happens. Martin Harris volunteers to leave the group because he senses the others think he was the reason nothing was happening. As soon as Harris leaves, the others see the angel and plates, though there is no mention of any of the other items that had been promised. According to Joseph Smith’s history, Joseph then goes to find Harris, and while praying together, Harris cries out, “Tis enough, tis enough; mine eyes have beheld; mine eyes have beheld;” (Ibid, p. 55). Even in this there is a conflict of testimony, for according to Harris, “I never saw the gold plates, only in a visionary or entranced state. …In about three days I went into the woods to pray that I might see the plates. While praying I passed into a state of entrancement, and in that state I saw the angel and the plates.” (Anthony Metcalf, Ten Years Before the Mast, n.d., microfilm copy, p. 70-71). Once again, in spite of the revelation that claimed they would see the plates as well as many other marvelous things, all they testified to seeing was an angel holding the plates. However, later in life, in an interview with Zenas Gurley, David Whitmer would testify that he saw “the Interpreters in the holy vision.”) When Harris was asked if he saw the plates with his naked eyes, he would later admit he only saw the plates with a spiritual eye. (Wilford C. Wood, Joseph Smith Begins His Work, Vol. 1, 1958, introduction. This is a photomechanical reprint of the first edition [1830] of the Book of Mormon. It also contains biographical and historical information relating to the Book of Mormon.)
It becomes apparent from Harris’ testimony and that of others, that this was a “visionary experience” (www.exmormon.org).
When Christ sent forth the apostles with His revelation, He provided them with miraculous powers to establish their credibility and that of their message. Compare that with these three “visionaries” who signed an affidavit claiming to have seen these plates. There was no need for an apostle to have men swear that their word was true. They proved it by their apostolic powers (2 Cor 12:12). Cowdery, Whitmer and Harris worked no miracles. Their testimony regarding the authenticity of the Book of Mormon is as reliable as a con man who says, “trust me.”
Judas betrayed Christ and Peter denied him before he was crucified. But after witnessing his resurrection, no apostle ever afterward recanted his testimony. Their utter devotion to the cause of Christ—even to the point of death—is a powerful testimony to the truth of what they taught. They did not recant their eyewitness testimony, but steadfastly maintained its truth. They would certainly have done so in the face of death if it had been untrue. Consider the following accounts of the deaths of Christ’s witnesses from Fox’s Book of Martyrs:
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James was beheaded by Herod Agrippa.
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Philip was scourged, thrown into prison and later crucified.
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Matthew was slain with a halberd (a weapon in the form of a battleaxe. with a pike at the end) in the city of Nadabah in A.D. 60.
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James the Less was beaten and stoned by the Jews and had his brains dashed out with a fuller’s club.
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Matthias was stoned and beheaded at Jerusalem.
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Andrew was crucified at Edessa.
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Peter was crucified, head downward.
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Paul was beheaded by Nero.
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Jude was crucified at Edessa.
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Bartholomew was beaten and crucified by idolaters
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Thomas was thrust through with a spear by pagan priests.
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Simon Zelotes was crucified in Britain.
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Only John escaped a violent death.
On the other hand, the later lives and statements of Joseph Smith’s witnesses impeach their credibility and prove them worthless.
Martin Harris was known for being very unstable religiously. Over his whole lifetime he changed his affiliation over 13 times. He signed his name to a statement: “Testimony of three witnesses: We Cheerfully certify…The Lord has made it known to me that David Witmer is the man. David was then called forward, and Joseph and his counselors laid hands upon him, and ordained him to his station, to succeed him…He will be prophet, seer, Revelator and Translator before God.” Signed Martin Harris, Leonard Rich, Calvin Beebe. Of course this never came to pass as Brigham young became Joseph Smith’s successor.
The Mormons stated of Martin Harris and a few other men within the pages of the church’s official newspaper at the time, “a lying deceptive spirit attend them…they are of their father, the devil…The very countenance of Harris will show to every spiritual-minded person who sees him, that the wrath of God is upon him.” (Latter-Day Saint’s, Millennial Star, Vol. 8, pp. 124-128.)
Martin Harris is also said to have rejoined the Mormon church and died in full fellowship, affirming his commitment to the Book of Mormon. Yet sources contemporary with Martin Harris referred to him as “feeble both in body and mind” (Des Moines Daily News, Oct. 16, 1886, cited in Case, p. 31). In fact, Anthony Metcalf who interviewed Harris wrote, “Harris never believed that the Brighamite branch of the Mormon church, nor the Josephite church, was right, because in his opinion, God had rejected them; but he did believe that Mormonism was the pure gospel of Christ when it was first revealed, I believe he died in that faith” (Ten Years Before the Mast, Anthony Metcalf, p. 73, microfilm copy).
Mormon writers have also acknowledged that Harris was religiously unstable, saying, “Martin Harris was an unaggressive, vacillating, easily influenced person” (E. Cecil McGavin, The Historical Background for the Doctrine & Covenants, p. 23, cited in Case, Vol. 2, p. 33). In his 1955 BYU thesis on Martin Harris, Wayne C. Gunnell wrote, “Martin’s motives in being baptized at that time are not known, but the data of later events would indicate a lack of sincerity.” Gunnell goes on to quote a letter written in 1844 by Phineas Young to Brigham Young, “Martin Harris is a firm believer in Shakerism, says his testimony is greater than it was of the Book of Mormon” (Martin Harris – Witness and Benefactor to the Book of Mormon, Wayne C. Gunnell, BYU thesis, 1955, p. 52).
One of the problems with relying on the Witnesses for the authenticity of Mormonism is the testimony of David Whitmer, given later in life. In his Address to All Believers in Christ, page 27, Whitmer declares,
If you believe my testimony to the Book of Mormon; if you believe that God spake to us three witnesses by his own voice, then I tell you that in June, 1838, God spake to me again by his own voice from the heavens, and told me to ‘separate myself from among the Latter-day Saints, for as they sought to do unto me, so should it be done unto them.’ In the spring of 1838, the heads of the church and many of the members had gone deep into error and blindness. I had been striving with them for a long time to show them the errors into which they were drifting, and for my labors I received only persecutions.
This quote creates a quandary. If we accept Whitmer’s testimony regarding his experience with the angel and the gold plates, then we must also accept his testimony that God also declared the current Mormon church is in a fallen state. To disavow the revelation he received stating that the Mormon church since 1838 has “gone deep into error and blindness” means we must hold as suspect his testimony to the Book of Mormon. Whitmer inseparably links the two events (McGavin, Ibid).
Oliver Cowdery did later become a member of the “Methodist Protestant Church” in Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio. “Before joining, it appears he made a complete and full renunciation of Mormonism. He later served as a Superintendent of the Sabbath-School, and Secretary of a church meeting and was recognized as a charter member” (Affidavit quoted in The True Origin of Mormonism by Charles A. Shook, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1914, pp. 58-59, cited in Case Against Mormonism, Vol. 2, p. 16; also The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, by D. Michael Quinn, Signature Books, 1994, p. 545).
Oliver Cowdery did return to the Mormon church and was rebaptized in October of 1848, but there are questions as to his motivation for joining and how long he remained a member after rejoining. Some Mormons were suspicious of his motives and against his rebaptism. There is interesting evidence that indicates Cowdery was never completely reconciled to the Mormon church. The Gospel Herald of Nov. 1, 1849 carried the following comments:
You will observe also that they make no mention of Oliver Cowdery filling up their organization. The truth is, he is not the sort of man for them. It was a singular fit of mania by which he was led off after them, and seems to have lasted him but a few weeks . . . they would not trust power in his hands a single moment (Cited in Case Against Mormonism, by Jerald & Sandra Tanner, 1968, p. 28).
Oliver Cowdery died, not in Utah, but at the home of fellow witness David Whitmer, who had also left the Mormon church. Whitmer makes it clear that Cowdery ‘died believing as I do to-day,’ which included a belief that Joseph was a fallen prophet, and that the Doctrine and Covenants contained false revelations (An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887, pp. 1-2).
The testimony of Joseph Smith’s three witnesses is as false as the Book of Mormon. Their testimony and Joseph’s book are figments of their imagination and concoctions devised to delude men. Joseph Smith was a false prophet and his witnesses were liars. (Gal. 1:6-9; Rom. 3:4).
