The 3 Witnesses – Can We Trust Their Testimonies?

I was talking with some LDS missionaries on my back porch as we were finishing up dinner. I said something along the lines of, “I want to follow the evidence wherever it leads.” Then one of them challenged me and asked, “Well what evidence is there for the atonement?” I generally listed off a few pieces of evidence relating to the death and resurrection of Jesus, one of the pieces being the eyewitness testimonies of the disciples and them being willing to suffer for what they knew was true and saw with their own eyes. One of the missionaries laughed as he said, “Well that sounds familiar.” The claim he was making here is that the eyewitnesses of the resurrection were mocked and persecuted in a similar way as the eyewitnesses of the gold plates. This inspired me to take a closer look into this claim and see just how similar these two groups really are. Their were 3 specific witnesses who worked more closely with Joseph Smith, similar to Peter, James and John being in the “inner circle” of Jesus’ ministry.

According to LDS Church history, Smith already had possession the gold plates in his house when the first 3 witnesses “saw” the gold plates. But instead of leading them inside to see the gold plates, Smith chose to lead them into the woods to somehow show them the gold plates there. It’s described in The History of the Church 1:55 that Smith, Cowdry, Whitmer and Harris went into the woods to pray. Cowdry and Whitmer both saw an angel holding the gold plates, but Martin Harris had a “lack of faith” which was preventing him and oddly enough, was also preventing Smith from seeing the same vision. Harris leaves that area, then kneels down elsewhere and starts fervently praying. Smith finds Harris and only after this, the same vision then opened up to Smith and Harris. So the plates were not shown to all 3 of the witnesses at the same time as commonly believed. It is also important to note that this was a spiritual experience through prayer, not a physical one. And remember: Smith allegedly had the gold plates in his house the whole time and could have easily invited them in, lifted up the cloth to show them but chose not to for whatever reason.

Let’s examine the testimony of each of these men and decide if their testimonies are ones that should be trusted.

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#1 – David Whitmer

Summary:

• He left the LDS Church because he received a revelation from God telling him to leave
• He believed that Smith was intentionally changing God’s revelations
• He received another revelation saying that the Mormons have polluted God’s name.
• Admits that he did not physically see or touch the gold plates
• He never returned to the LDS Church

Details:

David Whitmer left the church 8 years after it was established because he saw Smith changing divine doctrines. He believed that God had given the restored Church clear and true revelations. It concerned him when he saw the direction that Smith was taking the LDS Church as he started changing revelations as Whitmer states below:

“Some of the revelations as they now appear in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants have been changed and added to. Some of the changes being of the greatest importance as the meaning is entirely changed on some very important matters; as if the Lord had changed his mind a few years after he give the revelations…The revelations were printed in the Book of Commandments correctly! This I know,… Joseph and the church received it as being printed correctly. This I know. But in the winter of 1834, they saw that some of the revelations in the Book of Commandments had to be changed, because the heads of the church had gone too far, and had done things in which they had already gone ahead of some of the former revelations. So the book of ‘Doctrine and Covenants’ was printed in 1835, and some of the revelations changed and added to.” (Letter written by David Whitmer, published in the Saints’ Herald, February 5, 1887)

In 1838, Whitmer left the Mormon Church and claimed that God Himself told him to: “If you believe my testimony to the Book of Mormon; if you believe that God spake to us three witnesses by his own voice, than 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.” (An Address To All Believers In Christ, by David Whitmer).

Other witnesses (part of the “eight”) who were still alive left the LDS Church during this time as well. Whitmer later gave a revelation in which the Lord told him that the Mormons have “polluted my name, and have done continually wickedness in my sight.”(The Ensign of Liberty, August 1849, pp. 101-4). This is incredibly similar to the first vision when God allegedly told Smith that, “All of the churches and their creeds are an abomination to me.” Was Whitmer attempting to copy and reproduce what Smith had previously done? In any case, there are two possibilities regarding Whitmer’s revelations that both leave Church members in a difficult position:

A. If his revelations truly are from God, then they demonstrate that Mormonism is false. After all, why would God command one of his followers to leave the true church?

B. If his revelations are false, then they demonstrate that David Whitmer gave either man-made or satanic revelations in the name of the Lord. And if this is the case, how can we trust his revelation of the Book of Mormon to be valid and trustworthy?

The LDS Church asks us to accept David Whitmer’s testimony to the Book of Mormon, but they reject different revelations from the exact same man stating that the LDS Church has “polluted” God’s name. This inconsistency is both concerning and confusing.

David Whitmer stated in the Saints Herald publication, “these hands handled the plates, these eyes saw the angel.’ Later on however, a leader in the church named Zenus Gurley interviewed Whitmer and asked him, ‘did you touch them (the gold plates)?’ David’s answer was, ‘We did not touch nor handle the plates.'”

John Murphy was another faithful latter day saint who also wrote about an interview he had with David Whitmer. Murphy asked Whitmer if his experience of the gold plates was similar to the experience as a quaker when they feel the spirit move or when a Methodist is having a happy experience. Whitmer’s response was, “Just so.” Meaning that “yes, my experience of the gold plates is just like when people of other religions have a spiritual experience.” It was a NOT physical experience where he literally saw and handled the gold plates.

Whitner went to his grave denying his testimony of Joseph Smith as a true prophet of God, but still affirmed his testimony of the book of Mormon. He never returned to the LDS Church, nor did he ever take back what he said about the LDS Church polluting God’s name and having done continually wickedness in His sight.

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#2 – Martin Harris

Summary:

• Changed religion over a dozen times over his lifetime
• Sold his farm for funds in order to publish the Book of Mormon
• He was ex-communicated from the LDS Church
• Joseph Smith condemns him, saying that Harris has given into all kinds of lying, abominations and other sins
• Other leaders in the early church attest that Harris admitted that the testimony of the gold plates was false and never physically occurred
• Harris later returned to the LDS Church before his death

Details:

Martin Harris was known for changing religions. Over his lifetime, he changed his religious affiliation 13 times. Prior to joining Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church, Harris was a Quaker, a Universalist, a Restorationist, a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and then a Latter Day Saint. This gives off the vibe of someone who is very insecure in their beliefs, easily gullible, and always changing their mind. After his excommunication in 1837, he changed his religion 8 more times and then finally converted back to the LDS Church.

After Harris joined the Strangites, the Mormon leaders stated of Harris’ new religious group, “A lying deceptive spirit attends them… they know that they are of their father, the devil.” Apparently, Harris was part of a lying and deceptive religious group which would greatly discredit the validity of his testimony.

At another point, Harris joined the Shakers who believed that “Christ has made his second appearance on earth in a chosen female known by the name of Anna Lee, and is to be acknowledged by us as our Blessed Mother in the work of redemption.”

Martin seemed to have a habit of hopping from one “prophet” to another and also claimed to have a great testimony of the Shakers being the most true religion. Phineas H. Young [Brigham Young’s brother] wrote a letter to Brigham Young stating: “Martin Harris is a firm believer in Shakerism, says his testimony is greater than it was of the Book of Mormon.”

In August 1838, Joseph Smith denounced Martin Harris as “so far beneath contempt that to notice him would be too great a sacrifice for a gentleman to make. The Church exerted some restraint on him, but now he has given loose to all kinds of abominations, lying, cheating, swindling, and all kinds of debauchery.” 

Martin Harris later testified that he did not see the plates literally with his physical eyes: He said he saw the plates with “the eyes of faith and not with the natural eyes”, that is, with spiritual eyes. He also stated, “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.” (John H. Gilbert interview, 1838)

Warren Parrish was an LDS leader, baptized by Prophet Brigham Young and also assisted Joseph Smith in translating the Book of Abraham. Parrish states, “Martin Harris has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision; and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted.” (Letter From Warren Parrish, 1838)

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: “he (Harris) 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.”

Although Martin Harris changed his mind about religion many times, when he was eighty-eight years old, he did ultimately return to the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City.

#3 – Oliver Cowdry

Summary:

• Was one of Smith’s scribes who wrote the translated Book of Mormon
• Accused Joseph Smith having an affair with 17 year old housemaid, Fanny Alger
• Smith ex-communicated Cowdry, calling him a thief, liar and scoundrel of the deepest degree
• Cowdry is ashamed of his former connection with Mormonism
• Rejoined the LDS Church before his death
• Still rejected much of the Doctrines & Covenants that came from Joseph Smith and viewed him as a fallen prophet

Details:

Oliver Cowdery was sometimes referred to as the Second President because of how much influence he had in the LDS Church. He worked very closely together with Joseph Smith and was a scribe for the BOM.

He was one of the first people to become aware of Smith’s relationship with Fanny Alger (17 year old house maid living with Joseph and Emma), which he called a “dirty, nasty, filthy affair.” Smith responded by calling Cowdry a “a thief, liar, perjurer, counterfeiter, adulterer and leader of scoundrels of the deepest degree.” Fanny Alger was later accepted as being Smith’s first plural wife. This leaves us with the impression that Cowdry may have been speaking the truth and Smith was trying to cover it up by throwing Cowdry under the bus.

Because Cowdry called out Smith for his alleged affair with Fanny, this was the primary reason that led to his excommunication. Cowdry then became a member of a Methodist Protestant Church. At this time, he “admitted his error and implored forgiveness, and said he was sorry and ashamed of his connection with Mormonism.” (Affidavit of G. J. Keen, 14 April 1885, in Charles A. Shook, The True Origin of the Book of Mormon (Cincinnati, OH: Standard, 1914), 58-59.)

There is evidence to suggest that for a time, that he even denied the Book of Mormon. Here is written in a poem in the “Times and Seasons – Mormon publication, pg 482”

“Or prove that Christ was not the Lord Because that Peter cursed and swore? Or Book of Mormon not his word Because denied, by Oliver? Or prove, that Joseph Smith is false Because apostates say tis so?”

After Joseph Smith’s death, Oliver Cowdery was rebaptized into the Mormon Church. David Whitmer, however, maintained that Cowdery died believing Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet and also believed that Smith’s revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants must be rejected:

“I did not say that Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer had not endorsed the Doctrine and Covenants in 1836. They did endorse it in 1836; I stated that they “came out of their errors (discarded the Doctrine and Covenants), repented of them, and died believing as I do to-day,”…Now, in 1849 the Lord saw fit to manifest unto John Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself nearly all the remaining errors in doctrine into which we had been led by the heads of the old church. We were shown that the Book of Doctrine and Covenants contained many doctrines of error, and that it must be laid aside;.” (An Address to Believers in The Book of Mormon, 1887, p. 1-2)

This is a very big statement considering that Joseph Smith was the author of the vast majority of revelations and doctrines that are contained in the Doctrines and Covenants. That last quote is important as we see that David Whitmer, John Whitmer and Oliver Cowdry all rejected the D&C and ended up losing faith in Joseph Smith as well.

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Additionally, on December 16^th, 1838 after a number of the 11 witnesses left the LDS Church, Joseph Smith made known his disgust for them when he stated that “John Whitmer, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdry, Martin Harris are too mean to mention and we liked to have forgotten them.” (History of the Church, vol. 3:232)

The Mormon Church also classified both David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdry as “a gang of counterfeiters, thieves, liars and blacklegs of the deepest dye to deceive, cheat, and defraud the saints out of their property, by every act and stratagem which wickedness could invent, using the influence of the vilest.” (Senate Document 189, Feb. 15, 1841, 6-9)

To put it simply: with witnesses like these, who needs enemies?

Is it wise for us to trust the testimonies of these kinds of witnesses who the founding prophet has labeled as being liars and thieves? Not to mention that Martin Harris sold his farm in order to raise funds to publish 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon. If anyone had a financial motive to lie and make sure that this book succeeded, it was Harris. All 3 of these primary witnesses were excommunicated from the LDS Church. At one point or another, all 3 denied the truthfulness of the LDS Church and converted to other religions. While, 2 of the 3 witnesses later returned to the LDS Church prior to their death, 2 of the 3 also believed Joseph Smith to be a fallen prophet.

Imagine Peter, James and John having these kinds of testimonies. You would be right to have questions and doubts if these people were some of your primary witnesses as the credibility of their testimonies are severely lacking. Thankfully, the apostles of Christ never waivered on their testimony that they physically saw the risen Christ. After the resurrection, they never left Christ, never doubted Christ, and never changed their testimony of what they saw. It wasn’t a visionary experience…it actually happened in reality. To learn more about the other group of 8 witnesses, check out the article: The 8 Witnesses: Can We Trust Their Testimonies?” (https://jllds.org/2023/12/22/the-8-witnesses-can-we-trust-their-testimonies/)

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Invitation for you: Get a Bible that has the words of Jesus written in red. Read all of the red letters and trust the words of Jesus.

For physical evidence that supports why we can trust the Bible as a historical document, check out this article: https://jllds.org/2023/12/22/geographic-evidence-the-bible-vs-the-book-of-mormon/

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!