The Gold Plates Never Physically Existed In Reality

Posted bypendo43Posted inLDS Church HistoryTags:, , , ,

The Three Witnesses

When reading this testimony statement of the three witnesses, it is very ambiguous and often leads the reader to an inaccurate perception of what actually happened. For example, all it says is: we three witnesses saw an angel and we saw the plates…and that’s it! It fails to mention what these witnesses independently stated. Things like Joseph taking the 3 of them into the woods to fervently pray to see the gold plates…and their prayers failed. Nothing happened. Then they fervently prayed a second time…and again, nothing happened. Martin Harris thought it was his fault due to his lack of faith and he walks away from the group. Shortly after that happened, the 3 of them (David, Oliver, and Joseph) have a vision of seeing the angel and the gold plates. Joseph then finds Martin, they pray together and Martin finally sees the angel and the gold plates. People often state how different this story actually is compared to how they imagined it was based on reading the witness statement.

  1. It’s important to note that in the witness statement in front of the Book of Mormon, the three witnesses do not claim that they saw AND handled the plates…but only that an angel appeared and showed them the gold plates. Some might argue with the wording, “that we beheld and saw the plates…” that this means that they held the plates. If we keep reading, the next sentence states that, “we beheld and bear record that these things are true.” Similar to when John the Baptist said of Jesus, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John isn’t telling people to go and physically hold Jesus. It’s a dramatic way of saying, “Look at that!” Or in the witnesses’ case, “We were amazed as we saw the plates!” When reading their independent testimonies, it becomes abundantly more clear that they never claimed to physically handle the gold plates.
  2. David Whitmer – An Address to All Believers (1887): “In June, 1829, the Lord called out to Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and myself as the three witnesses, to behold the vision of the Angel, as recorded in the fore part of the Book of Mormon, and to bear testimony to the world that the Book of Mormon is true.” – David states that testimony of the three witnesses in the front of the Book of Mormon was a vision of the angel who showed them the plates. (https://witnessesofthebookofmormon.org/three-witnesses/david-whitmer/statements/)

3. Zenas Gurley interviewed David Whitmer (1885) – Gurley was an elder and leader in early LDS Church who always believed in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. In this interview, he asked David a number of questions: “Gurley: Do you know that the plates seen with the Angel on the table were real metal, did you touch them?   Whitmer: “We did not touch nor handle the plates.” – David is clarifying that none of the 3 witnesses ever physically touched the gold plates. (https://whitmercollege.com/interviews/zenas-h-gurley-1885/)

4. It’s important to note that Oliver Cowdery was Joseph’s scribe when translating the Book of Mormon in 1829 and was also the one who penned both of the witness statements (the 3 and the 8). Just two months prior to him writing these statements, he tried to translate Scripture by using a stick (D&C 8 / BofC 7). There’s no way around it: this is absurd and an obvious warning sign that we should be very skeptical of anything this man claims as divine truth.

5. Martin Harris: After Joseph Smith died, James Strang rose up and claimed to be the next prophet, seer, and revelator of the Lord’s Church. He even claimed to have found ancient plates of Lehi, he had witnesses, and he was able to translate the plates into new Scripture. I hope we can all see how James Strang flat out copied Joseph Smith’s template of Mormon origins…yet Martin Harris didn’t seem to care and ended up joining Strang’s movement and believed his story and claim of being the next prophet. If Martin was duped this easily following a false prophet now, what does this speak to how credible or gullible of a witness he actually was? (https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/a-witness-in-england-martin-harris-and-the-strangite-mission)

The Eight Witnesses

To start, the statement of the 8 witnesses does appear to be much more blunt in claiming to have handled the gold plates, but again, this statement was written by Oliver Cowdery who has lost a lot of credibility in my opinion after discovering that just two months prior, he tried to translate Scripture with a stick. Additionally, if the account of the three witnesses was misleading, there’s a good chance that this account is misleading as well.

1. John Whitmer interviewed by Theodore Turley, who was an early member and pioneer at the time of this discussion: John Whitmer stated, “I now say, I handled those plates; there were fine engravings on both sides. I handled them…they were shown to me by a supernatural power;” – John says that they were shown to me by a supernatural power just like when David Whitmer said he the gold plates by the power of God in a vision. If any of these witnesses talk about seeing something by the power of God or by a supernatural power, that is the clue that this is a visionary experience. The 3 witnesses constantly state that the gold plates were shown to them by the power of God, and not of man. We also read that some of the eight witnesses previously hefted a box that they were told contained the gold plates. The most likely explanation is that the 8 witnesses were physically hefting a box while having a vision of the gold plates…and remember: to these people, seeing something with their “spiritual eye” was just as real and compelling as seeing something with their natural eye. (https://witnessesofthebookofmormon.org/eight-witnesses/john-whitmer/statements/)

2. Marvin Hill (faithful LDS historian) on Hiram Page – “Hiram Page does not say he saw the plates, but that angels confirmed him in his faith.” Additionally, we read in D&C 28 that Hiram discovered a seer stone of his own and attempted to use it to receive revelations for the church in 1833. Some later sources say that Hiram recorded 16 pages of revelation in that one sitting. When Joseph Smith caught wind of this, he became concerned with the prophetic competition and snuffed it out by claiming that Hiram’s seer stone and his revelations were from the devil. So Joseph had Hiram’s stone and his revelations destroyed. But this also raises a question: if Hiram was wrong about his seer stone, should we believe his testimony about the gold plates? If he couldn’t even tell the difference between revelations from God and revelations from Satan, does that make him a credible witness? (“Brodie Revisited: A Reappraisal” – Marvin Hill)

3. Here is the scenario we are left with: the three witnesses never physically handled the gold plates, but then the eight witnesses do claim to have physically handled the gold plates. This presents an obvious problem, but let’s start with the question of: which people had the most direct access to the gold plates and were most intimately involved in the translation process?

A. Emma Smith: she was around the gold plates just about all day long but never physically saw or touched them. She did move something that looked like plates covered by a cloth, but she never verified and claimed to see the gold plates.

B. The three witnesses: Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer were Joseph’s closest associates in translating the gold plates.

These 4 people with the most direct access never claimed to physically touch the gold plates. But then you have these 8 other people who were much less involved and had far less access to the gold plates claiming that they did physically touch the gold plates. Are we really supposed to believe that the people on the inside of this operation never got to physically touched them…but the people on the outside who were far less involved did?

To form this into a statement: if the gold plates truly were a physical item, it does not make sense for Joseph to show them to the less involved witnesses, but not to his closest collaborators. That’s why from a logical perspective, it must first be demonstrated that the people on the inside who were closest to Joseph physically touched the gold plates. Only after doing so can we then seriously consider whether or not the people on the outside touched the gold plates as well.

The Unofficial Witnesses

  • Mary Whitmer: Claimed that a man with a large face and a beard showed her the plates one day while she was doing chores on the farm. She referred to this man as brother Nephi then returned to tell Joseph Smith and the others about this experience. Then Joseph decided for Mary that this man was actually Moroni. First off, why would Joseph be correct over Mary when Joseph wasn’t even there to see the man? And secondly, if you look at any pictures or previous descriptions of Moroni, he does not have a large face with a beard. This description sounds nothing like him. This testimony also comes from a second-hand source 50 years later. Overall, this testimony is very shaky and inconsistent. (https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/another-account-of-mary-whitmers-viewing-of-the-golden-plates)

At the end of the day, we are left with very inconsistent statements from uncredible witnesses. Yes, they never denied their testimonial experience of seeing the gold plates…but again, this doesn’t mean much coming from a group of people who believe in the gift of “second sight.” Seeing something in a vision with their “spiritual eye” is just as real/compelling as seeing it in reality with their natural eye.

Even though the gold plates never physically existed, Christ is still king and the rock that cannot be moved. I invite you to read through the 4 Biblical gospels and reconstruct your faith so that it is built on the direct teachings of Jesus and his apostles as found in the New Testament.

Thank you for reading, God bless and remember to never stop chasing after Jesus!

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