{"id":107406,"date":"2024-10-13T14:46:23","date_gmt":"2024-10-13T20:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=107406"},"modified":"2024-10-13T14:46:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T20:46:47","slug":"today-would-be-a-wonderful-day-for-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2024\/10\/today-would-be-a-wonderful-day-for-it.html","title":{"rendered":"Today would be a wonderful day for it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Martin's<\/a>
The rebaptism of Martin Harris, in a still photograph (by James Jordan) from the filming of the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s \u201cWitnesses\u201d movie project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s the Sabbath, so I won\u2019t be hounding you to go see Six Days in August<\/em><\/a> today. \u00a0In fact, I hope that you don\u2019t<\/em> go today. \u00a0Go twice tomorrow, instead. \u00a0Go every day next week. \u00a0Take friends. \u00a0Take family. \u00a0Buy tickets for your children and grandchildren who live far away from you.<\/p>\n

Now, having encouraged you not<\/em> to attend a showing of Six Days in August<\/em> on the Sabbath . . . \u00a0Since our 2021 film Witnesses<\/em><\/a> is temporarily available for free, today is a really good and appropriate day to watch that<\/em>. \u00a0Go to the official Six Days in August<\/em> website<\/a> and find out how to gain access to the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s 2021 film about the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon.<\/p>\n

In connection with the making of Witnesses<\/em> and at my request, Professors Thomas G. Alexander, James B. Allen (d. 2 September 2024), Richard Lloyd Anderson (12 August 2018), and Richard L. Bushman provided the following endorsements of the importance of th0se Book of Mormon witnesses:<\/p>\n

Imagine the publication and distribution of the Book of Mormon without the testimony of the witnesses.\u00a0 If there were none, Joseph Smith would have had to reply on his own word that he translated the plates.\u00a0 Many, perhaps most, people would probably have rejected the word of an uneducated farm boy. \u00a0Joseph had enough difficulty even with the witnesses convincing others of the truthfulness of his story.\u00a0 Other people including the eight witnesses saw the plates, but only the three witnesses saw them in the possession of the heavenly messenger who delivered them to Joseph.\u00a0 \u00a0The Lord asked them to testify to the truthfulness of Joseph\u2019s ministry, which they did.\u00a0 Most important, during their lifetimes all three witnesses left the church.\u00a0 Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris returned to the fold, but David Whitmer remained in Richmond, Missouri, estranged from Mormonism<\/a> throughout the remainder of his life.\u00a0 Nevertheless, in spite of rumors to the contrary, all three continued to insist on the truth of their witness.<\/span><\/p>\n