The following are actual pages from the final annotated book of mormon. The book of mormon tells that moroni served under his father, the commander in chief of 23 groups of about 10,000 nephites each, who battled against the lamanites. I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for. This segment depicts the coming forth of the book of mormon and the testimony to its veracity by the three witnesses. The testimony of the eight witnesses was first published at the end of the 1830 edition of the book of mormon and has been printed in nearly every edition since, although most subsequent editions moved the statement to the front of the book and included minor grammatical corrections. The names of oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris are familiar to most of us, notably because of their role as witnesses to the reality of the book of mormon. While writing about the prophet ethers ministry, moroni adds his own comments about faithhe explains that faith relates to things that are hoped for, but not seen, and that witnesses are not received until after a trial of faith. 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 book of mormon infamously draws heavily on the bible, including the new testament, which its supposed ancient authors would never have seen. This is a great day to think about the book of mormon. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses deseret book. I believe the book of mormon is the word of god and joseph smith is and was a prophet and most events of the book of mormon happened.
In this carefully researched, thoughtprovoking book, dr. It is also possible that moronis epistle was more accurate regarding pahoran than we generally thinkthat is, that pahoran actually did deserve some of the generalized condemnation moroni. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading investigating the book of mormon witnesses. Book of mormonwitnessessignatures on their testimonies. Latter day saints believe the plates were the source material for the book of mormon. With a single draft completed in 65 days, joseph smith, an unschooled man of 23, produced a book of over 500 pages with hundreds of unique names and complex story lines.
That was of necessity the lord had to reveal himself to one man alone when moroni came to him in the beginning, the prophet was alone. Moronis guide to surviving turbulent times deseret book. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses kindle edition by richard lloyd anderson. On march 26, 1830, the wayne sentinel a newspaper in palmyra, ny, published an announcement. Modern mormon spin doctors write all kinds of articles claiming that the witnesses may have denied the mormon church but they never the book of mormon. Earthquake knocks moronis trumpet from his hand life. 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. Remember we have interspersed paintings, maps, pictures, archaeology, etc throughout the actual text of the book of mormon.
Together, the testimony of both the three and the eight witnesses are difficult to explain away. It is very interesting how the lord decided to have those special witnesses of his work of the last days. Witnesses film an interpreter foundation production. The book of mormon compared with the bible watchtower. President nelson grandfathers visit from the other side of the veil and family history work duration. Moronis age likely played a crucial role in the nephites military successes. 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 and they heard the voice of the lord pronounce that joseph smiths translation had. The law of witnesses in 2 nephi religious studies center. At the beginning of the book of mormon, we have the testimony of joseph smith, the testimony of three witnesses, and the testimony of eight witnesses. This website is not endorsed by the church of jesus christ of laterday saints. To members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints the book of mormon is the word of god and is considered to be in complete harmony with the bible.
Some mormons will agree that all three witnesses denied the book of mormon. Before mormons death in battle, he passed the golden plates to moroni. Oxford university press, 2010, 176, 177, and kindle location 6815. 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. We can compare the witnesses for the book of mormon to the witnesses of manuscript found.
First john in the book of mormon moronis new testament. Similarly, younger leaders today may have an advantage in using. Donofrio, a critic of the restoration and the book of mormon, accused joseph smith of plagiarism by listing comparisons between moroni and other patriots in the book of mormon with george washington and other. According to smith, the angel was the guardian of the golden plates, buried in the hill cumorah near smiths home in western new york. The book of mormon contains two sets of joint statements written by joseph smith for those who claimed to have seen the gold plates. When researching book of mormon fashions, i noticed in much of the male nephites when researching book of mormon fashions, i noticed in much of the male nephites their extra wide belts really stood out. We also talk about the testimony of the three witnesses. 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. Book of mormon videos behind the scenes mosiahalma. He sealed the record with his testimony and called upon god as his primary witness of the truth of the records he was sealing up. Posted march 26, 2020 jonathan neville leave a comment.
The witnesses of the book of mormon by preston nibley. Isaiah spends much time in chapter 44, waxing satirical about the folly of manmade idols. The solemn testimony of these three additional witnesses has appeared in every edition of the book of mormon from the beginning. Here are some critics thoughts on that thanks to gary porter and craig criddle for these. The book of mormon in no case contradicts the bible. He gave joseph like first witness, but one according to the scriptures is not enough so god provided three new witnesses. At the head of the nephite armies at a pivotal time was one moroni, who took the command of all the armies of the nephites at the age of 25.
And now, i, moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things. To read more from larry, visit lds365 the church video compelling witness depicts a mock trial that witnesses of the truthfulness of the book of mormon. I give moronis america the north american setting for the book of. Investigating the book of mormon witnesses kindle edition. He was particularly open to applying and adapting the latest military technology.
An interesting case study in point is the occurrence of two clear parallels to 1 john in moroni 78, as shown in the table below. The world was not left with joseph smiths testimony alone. In the closing chapters of the book of mormon we discover a wonderful formula for surviving todays turbulent times. Some mormons will agree that all three witnesses denied the book of mormon but came back to deny their denial. But, what never seems to go away for book of mormon critics are those pesky witnesses. Richard lloyd anderson presents evidence from original sources on each of the eleven witnesses and concludes. He is later known as the angel moroni, who presented the golden plates to joseph smith, who translated the plates upon which the book of mormon was originally written. Several others had direct experiences with the plates or otherwise witnessed joseph smith s translation of the book of mormon. As christians, we always want to use the bible and its timeless truths as our primary tool in witnessing the love of god and salvation through christ. The virtue of captain moroni june 1, 2012 dan campbell 73 comments perhaps like me, you read the book of mormon as a youngster and wondered at the greatness of captain moroni, the indefatigable defender of liberty and christianity. According to the book of mormon, moroni was the son of mormon, the prophet for whom the book of mormon is named. The evidence left by the book of mormon witnesses is rich, varied, and uneven, including the following. Moroni shares a name with captain moroni, a much earlier book of mormon figure, of whom mormon wrote highly. Nowhere is this more evident than in the writings attributed to moroni toward the end of the book of mormon.
For nearly 200 years, skeptics and critics have been trying to explain away what many book of mormon witnesses statedthat they had seen angels and hefted golden metal plates containing ancient inscriptions. He exhorted his brethren, the lamanites see moroni 10. There is a lot you can do to personalize your tribal wear with a. This video explores the history behind the witnesses to the book of mormon and explains why their combined testimony strongly indicates that joseph smith did in fact possess plates which he translated by the gift and power of god.
The earliest documented statement of the three witnesses oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harrisis their statement in the handwriting of oliver cowdery subsequently published in the 1830 edition of the book of mormon. One point he made was that idols tip over and must be picked up and placed back on the stand man made for it. As a preface to this answer, please see our article on mormonism and what mormons believe. The statement of the 3 witnesses for the book of mormon was a single statement signed by all three men. The first edition of the book of mormon featured two testimonials. Bofm witnesses presentation provides a spiritual and temporal witness of the realities of the book of mormon. Did george washington quote captain moronis title of. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Some pages are in low resolution on purpose to save space. Book of mormon witnesses pt 1 the three dan vogel duration. Book of mormon the testimony of eight witnesses youtube. Nephi included another application of the law of witnesses in 2 nephi 29, when he wrote of at least three sets of scriptures that the lord will bring forth. Moroni was the last to write on the plates of mormon. The author, richard lloyd anderson, gives many historical details about the statements of such critics and the sources and background of their statements. Moronis america the north american setting for the. Every page from the book of mormon is included in the 600 page volume. Some mormons see a message in the angel moronis fallen.
Their view was concisely expressed by brigham young in journal of discourses of july, 1862. It is claimed that no document exists of the testimonies of the three and eight witnesses which contain their actual signatures, and that this somehow invalidates their testimonies as printed in the book of mormon, and that the witnesses statements in the book of mormon manuscript are written and signed only by oliver cowdery. Statements clearly traced to the witnesses verify the testimonies printed in the book of mormon. The three men chosen as witnesses of the book of mormon were oliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harris.
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. You try spraying, scrubbing, and still were left with so many persons whose testimonies of the physicality of the golden plates, angels, and other artifactsnever wavered. The book of mormon provided multiple official and unofficial witnesses who corroborated aspects of josephs account. 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.
The eight witnesses of the book of mormon lds blogs. Book of mormon witnesses all later denied its truthfulness. Book of mormon central why is david whitmers witness of. Moroni may have been named after captain moroni, an earlier book of mormon figure. To their dying days, these witnesses defended their testimonies even in the face of cruel mobs, the ridicule of society, and betrayal by. The three witnesses, unlike the eight witnesses, were shown the plates by a heavenly messenger, not joseph smith. Book of mormon central evidences of the book of mormon. Book of mormon the testimony of three witnesses youtube. In this book, bestselling author john bytheway suggests that moronis last words were both intensely personal and universally applicable.
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