{"id":83676,"date":"2020-03-19T23:55:15","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T05:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=83676"},"modified":"2020-03-20T17:41:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T23:41:08","slug":"of-what-value-are-the-book-of-mormon-witnesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/03\/of-what-value-are-the-book-of-mormon-witnesses.html","title":{"rendered":"Of what value are the Book of Mormon witnesses?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
The Eight Witnesses, by Dale Kilbourn (LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I published this article on 18 October 2018 in the print edition of the Deseret News<\/em> and online in LDS Living<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s assume, for the sake of discussion, that the declarations of the official witnesses to the Book of Mormon are true. (I\u2019m happy to argue for their truth, but that\u2019s not today\u2019s topic.) What, if anything, would they establish?<\/span><\/p>\n

Some critics correctly observe that the testimonies of the witnesses don\u2019t, by themselves, demonstrate that ancient Nephites existed or that the plates were ancient. The\u00a0Eight Witnesses<\/a>\u00a0admittedly testify that the plates and the engravings that they had seen had \u201cthe appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship.\u201d But none of the witnesses was expert in ancient metallurgy, and, thus, their testimony on this point isn\u2019t decisive.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, we would be misguided if we were to conclude that the witnesses\u2019 testimonies establish nothing of pivotal importance. The overall secular case for the Book of Mormon is a cumulative one. No single piece of evidence demonstrates everything, by itself, that believers in the Book of Mormon affirm. Many strands of data must be combined. In that cumulative case, though, the official witnesses \u2014whose testimonies can and should be supplemented by the accounts of several unofficial but significant corroborating witnesses \u2014 are of fundamental importance<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe declare with words of soberness,\u201d say the\u00a0Three Witnesses<\/a>, \u201cthat an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon.\u201d And the Eight Witnesses testify that Joseph Smith \u201chas shown unto us the plates \u2026 which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands.\u201d \u201cWe have seen and hefted,\u201d they said, claiming thereby to \u201cknow of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At a minimum, these declarations seem to establish that Joseph Smith had a thoroughly solid set of metal plates in his possession in the late 1820s. Moreover, the witness testimonies demonstrate that the plates had a real, tangible, objective, material existence beyond Joseph Smith\u2019s subjective imagination. Accordingly, they challenge critics to provide a plausible explanation for the origin of those plates. Who made them? When? Where? Why?<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, they prove that Joseph wasn\u2019t lying when he claimed to possess literal, physical plates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lucy Mack Smith later recalled her son Joseph\u2019s return, between 3 or 4 in the afternoon, after the experience of the Three Witnesses. He threw himself down and exclaimed,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFather, mother, you do not know how happy I am; the Lord has now caused the plates to be shown to three more besides myself. They have seen an angel, who has testified to them, and they will have to bear witness to the truth of what I have said, for now they know for themselves, that I do not go about to deceive the people, and I feel as if I was relieved of a burden which was almost too heavy for me to bear, and it rejoices my soul, that I am not any longer to be entirely alone in the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, as we have already seen twice in this column alone, the Three Witnesses testified that an angel descended before their eyes and exhibited the plates to them. As such, that doesn\u2019t demonstrate that there were ancient Nephites or\u00a0that the plates were ancient. However, it does demonstrate something even more important. Visible angelic involvement in the recovery of the Book of Mormon far transcends merely antiquarian interest, as does their united testimony that God\u2019s voice had \u201cdeclared\u201d to them that the account engraved on the plates had been \u201ctranslated by the gift and power of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

These are not small things. If Joseph Smith had plates that appeared to be gold, they must have come from somewhere. If a glorious and seemingly angelic being displayed the plates to them, his existence demands explanation. If an apparently divine voice testified to the accuracy and truth of the English translation of the Book of Mormon, that fact must be very seriously considered. The witness statements enhance the plausibility of Joseph Smith and the book he dictated. Eyewitness testimony to the existence of angels and of God himself is scarcely of trivial importance.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this light, niggling criticisms that the testimonies of the Book of Mormon witnesses don\u2019t prove the plates ancient and don\u2019t rigorously demonstrate the existence of an ancient Nephite civilization plainly miss the point. The witness statements enhance the plausibility of Joseph Smith and the book he dictated. And eyewitness testimony to the existence of angels and of God himself is scarcely of trivial importance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I published this article on 18 October 2018 in the print edition of the Deseret News and online in LDS Living: \u00a0 Let\u2019s assume, for the sake of discussion, that the declarations of the official witnesses to the Book of Mormon are true. (I\u2019m happy to argue for their truth, but that\u2019s not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[56,259,1809,5691,1812,1815,55,5688,921],"class_list":["post-83676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-book-of-mormon","tag-book-of-mormon-witnesses","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-eight-witnesses","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-lds","tag-mormonism","tag-three-witnesses","tag-witnesses"],"yoast_head":"\nOf what value are the Book of Mormon witnesses?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I published this article on 18 October 2018 in the print edition of the Deseret News and online in LDS Living:   Let\u2019s assume, for the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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