The 8 Witnesses – Can We Trust Their Testimonies?

I am going to start by repeated my opening statement that I made in my article pertaining to the 3 Witnesses:

“When talking about the reliability of Joseph Smith’s testimony of the gold plates and the Book of Mormon, a big pillar of truth for LDS members is what is written in the first couple pages of the Book of Mormon: the testimony of the 3 witnesses and the testimony of the 8 witnesses. Bible based Christians will often claim that one of the best reasons to believe in the resurrection is the fact that we have eyewitnesses who saw the risen Christ and then wrote about it. These written testimonies are in our Bible today. Latter Day Saints like to draw the same comparison in regard to the witnesses of the gold plates. Let’s compare these two groups and see where the evidence leads. Let’s start by listing the witnesses of the gold plates and their relation to Joseph Smith:

1. Martin Harris – JS’s business associate (sold his farm to publish BOM. Would have lost everything if the BOM plan failed. Very financially motivated for it to succeed)
2. Oliver Cowdry – JS’s cousin
3. Jospeh Smith Sr – JS’s father
4. Samuel Smith – JS’s brother
5. Hyrum Smith – JS’s brother
6. John Whitmer – Brother of David Whitmer.
7. Jacob Whitmer – Brother of David Whitmer.
8. Christian Whitmer – Brother of David Whitmer.
9. Peter Whitmer – Brother of David Whitmer.
10. David Whitmer – Close friend with Cowdry.
11. Hiram Page – David Whitmer’s brother in-law

First thing right off the bat that we have to recognize is that all of these people are related to Joseph Smith either by blood or by business. Because of these tight connections, a skeptic might call out the obvious possibility of collusion.”

__________________________________________________________________________

In a nutshell, there are a number of statements given by the 8 witnesses that indicate they only saw the angel and the plates in a visionary experience. But this begs the question: If the gold plates were real, why would these witnesses need to see them in a vision when the gold plates were physically here on earth in Joseph Smith’s possession?

There are also several statements of the witnesses saying that they only saw the plates when they were covered with a cloth. It is also important to note that by 1847, not a single one of the surviving eleven witnesses was part of the LDS Church. Of the 8 witnesses, we only have clear quotations from 2 of them that we can glean from. Let’s begin examining their statements:

John Whitmer. “I now say, I handled those plates; there were fine engravings on both sides. …they were shown to me by a supernatural power.” (History of the Church, Vol. 3, p. 307) Again, why would a supernatural power be necessary if the plates physically existed in Joseph Smith’s house? Why wouldn’t Smith simply invite them inside to take a look at the gold plates?

Marvin Hill (faithful LDS historian) commented on a letter written by Hiram Page to the Ensign of Liberty in 1848. In it, Page defended his belief that the Book of Mormon was a work of the Lord. However, Hill conceded that Page did not actually say he saw the plates:

“With only a veiled reference to ‘what I saw,’ Page does not say he saw the plates but that angels confirmed him in his faith. Neither does he say that any coercion was placed upon him to secure his testimony. Despite Page’s inconsistencies, it is difficult to know what to make of Harris’ affirmation that the eight saw no plates in the face of John Whitmer’s testimony.”

This last one is related to Martin Harris. I know Harris isn’t in the category of the 8 witnesses, but the importance of this detail makes it worth mentioning. Stephen Burnett was ordained an elder by John Whitmer and ordained a high priest by Oliver Cowdry. Burnett wrote a letter to Lyman E. Johnson in 1838 and makes mention of Martin Harris. In this letter, Burnett reported that Harris once told him that,

“he had hefted the plates repeatedly in a box with only a tablecloth or a handkerchief over them, but he never saw them only as he saw a city through a mountain. And said that he never should have told that the testimony of the eight was false.”

Burnett went on to say,

“I am well satisfied for myself that if the witnesses whose names are attached to the Book of Mormon never saw the plates as Martin admits that there can be nothing brought to prove that any such thing ever existed.”

Needless to say, Burnett apostatized and was excommunicated from the Church. But I think I think it is super important to note why he left. It was because of the very topic we are discussing. Being very close to Martin Harris, listening to the things he said, and realizing that the 11 witnesses are nothing more than a group of people who claim to have had a spiritual visionary experience of seeing gold plates. He realized how shady that is and it understandably broke his faith.

When latter day saints today grow up with the visualization that the witnesses physically handled the plates as the Book of Mormon testimonies state, and that the 8 witnesses saw the gold plates on a tree stump and each turn turns flipping the gold pages, it can be a very brutal wake up call when they realize that this is not at all how it happened. Yet there are pictures on the LDS Church website depicting that this is how it happened.

This similar situation is applicable to Joseph Smith translating the gold plates. Many Latter Day Saints grew up believing what is portrayed on the Church website today: a picture of Smith sitting down at a desk and diligently examining the gold plates. We know that this isn’t how it happened. Emma Smith attests that the gold plates weren’t even in the room while other close testimonies say that they were occasionally in the room but were covered with a cloth. Either way, the portrayal that this picture gives us never happened.

These examples can be viewed as the LDS Church leaders being intentionally misleading and dishonest by allowing these pictures to be portrayed on their website, when they know full well that it is not the case.

Did the eyewitnesses of the risen Christ ever change their testimony?

They did not and that is one primary difference between the eyewitnesses of the risen Christ and the eyewitnesses of the gold plates. I encourage you to study and dig deeper the New Testament gospels of Jesus. I assure you that we can trust the words of Jesus and his apostles.

Please let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!