195 years later, the witnesses of the Book of Mormon are receiving more attention than ever

(deseret.com June 28, 2024)

It was 195 years ago Friday, on June 28, 1829, in Fayette, New York, that three individuals testified to have “seen the plates which contain” the Book of Mormon record and the “engravings which are upon the plates” by assistance of a heavenly messenger and confirmed by the voice of God.

Four days later, July 2, 1829, another eight witnesses were shown the plates by Joseph Smith — the future leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — in Palmyra, New York, “witness(ing) unto to the world” that they “hefted” them, did “handle” with their hands the pages, and “saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship.”

This was front page news not only in their lives, but also in the lives of more than 20 million other men and women who came into the faith since Joseph Smith first baptized Oliver Cowdery in the late spring waters of the Susquehanna River on May 15, 1829. Another estimated 200 million people have been given the chance to read these same words in the preface to the Book of Mormon in the nearly two centuries since it was published.

Yet as celebrated as these events are by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they have been remarkably easy for some to overlook or minimize. In the absence of hundreds of data points across repeated studies, modern minds sometimes assume little can be known from a small sample of observations, which are much more likely to be written off as merely “subjective” or “anecdotal.”

All of this makes a resurgence in attention to the historical details of what took place especially impactful — starting with the new 2018 history of the Church, Saints, (drawing upon extensive scholarship in the two-decades long Joseph Smith Papers project).

More recently, a well-received 2021 film “Witnesses” was directed by Mark Goodman and produced by Russell Richins, in partnership with The Interpreter Foundation. And two weeks ago, a new documentary focused on these same events, produced by James Dalrymple and Jonathan Farrell, and released by Scripture Central, a non-profit organization dedicated to “making the Book of Mormon and other Restoration scripture accessible, defensible, and comprehensible to people everywhere.”

Farrell, who enjoyed working in Hollywood feature animation for many years at Dreamworks and Pixar, said that earlier experience “pales” in comparison to this documentary work focused on a book that has “literally changed my life.” In sharing his approach, Darymple said, “I wanted to ask what would it have been like to be there, to see the plates, to hear the voice of God or see Moroni?”

“The witnesses, all of them, were real people. Too often, I think, we gloss over their humanity. They had families to feed and friends who questioned their actions and their beliefs. How would I have dealt with that? How do I deal with it today?”

Reliable process for verifying truth

The desire for a reliable confirmation of truth has understandably grown in a world saturated with distortion and deceit. And through recent human history, scientific processes that attempt to control and simplify conditions in order to identify clear patterns have been invaluable in learning more about the world.

Surrounded by seemingly endless data points, however, it can be easy to shrug off the report of one or a group of eye-witness(es) — even if that’s been the long-standing basis for verifying facts across many centuries of human jurisprudence.

Historian William Blackstone dated the earliest incarnation of the modern jury system back to 829 A.D in England, with trial by a jury of peers becoming the English norm by the late 800s. Ever since, when serious allegations arise, determining what truly happened (and what should be done in response), requires 12 independent jurors to unanimously agree on the evidence placed before them.

Evidence laid before them

These Book of Mormon witnesses testified to evidence that was likewise laid before them. After kneeling in prayer near the woods close to the Whitmer farm, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer recounted seeing an angel appear above them with brilliant light. As summarized in Saints, the angel turned the plates “over one by one,” showing the men the engraved symbols on every page. On a table beside him, were also laid out artifacts mentioned in the Book of Mormon, including the interpreters, the breastplate, a sword and the Liahona compass.

Even before these men had witnessed the evidence, Mary Whitmer was approached by another angel after exhausting herself providing meals for her family and their many visitors. “You have become pretty tired with all the extra work you have to do,” she recounted being told, before the messenger likewise held the plates in front of her, turning their pages so she could examine the engravings.

“You have been very faithful and diligent in your labors. It is proper, therefore, that you should receive a witness that your faith may be strengthened.”

Sharing the responsibility to witness

Having had the evidence laid before them, these individuals took away a great sense of responsibility. “These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God,” Whitmer and Cowdery recounted hearing. “The translation of them, which you have seen, is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear.”

The young prophet returned home to the Whitmer home later that afternoon to find his parents there visiting. “Father! Mother! You do not know how happy I am!” he said, kneeling beside his mother. “The Lord has caused the plates to be shown to three more besides me.”

“They know for themselves that I do not go about to deceive the people.”

A tangible burden seemed to have been lifted. “They will now have to bear a part. I am not any longer to be entirely alone in the world.”

That felt a joyful responsibility to these other witnesses too. When Martin Harris finally had his own chance to see the plates, he exclaimed. “‘Tis enough! ‘Tis enough! Mine eyes have beheld! Mine eyes have beheld!”

He was overjoyed, expressing to others afterward, “I have now seen an angel from heaven! I bless God in the sincerity of my soul that he has condescended to make me — even me — a witness of the greatness of His work!”

Witnessing despite s and suffering Cowdery said of his first time witnessing angelic instruction.s “Twas the voice of an angel from glory ... earth, nor men, with the eloquence of time, cannot begin to clothe language in as interesting and sublime a manner as this holy personage.”

Witnessing despite separation

Severe testing would come to them all, as the early Church faced significant trials as a community, including strain from the financial crisis of 1837. Within eight years after publishing their testimony to the world, each of these men had become embittered and estranged from fellowship with the Saints.

This would have been an ideal time to recant their witness had it been fabricated. “Each of the three had ample reason and opportunity to renounce his testimony if it had been false, or to equivocate on details if any had been inaccurate,” taught President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Yet to the end of their lives,” he continued, “not one of these witnesses deviated from his published testimony or said anything that cast any shadow on its truthfulness.”

Each of these witnesses bore repeated testimony throughout their lives of what they had experienced in interviews, published statements, and private conversations. “As sure as you are standing there and see me,” Martin Harris said on one occasion, “just as sure did I see the angel with the golden plates in his hand.”

50-year-old Zach Sibio of Saratoga Springs described experiencing moments of doubt throughout his life, alongside his faith in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon’s authenticity. “But one fact that always shined through the gloom of doubt was the immovability of the three and the eight witnesses,” he said.

“There was so much pressure to decry the nascent church, and especially to denounce Joseph,” Sibio continued. “It would have been so much easier for any of them to just throw their hands in the air and say it was all fake, or that they had been deceived.”

“But none of them did so ... Not ever. Not even those who later abandoned Joseph and their church membership.”

Witnessing despite suffering

It wasn’t just estrangement that tested these and the other witnesses. William McLellin writes about an 1833 mob attack on Hiram Page, one of the eight witnesses, when “some young men ran down” the 33-year old man in the woods, “and commenced beating and pounding him with whips and clubs.”

Page, who had been a member of the church for only three years, “begged” for mercy but found none — with the gang insisting “they meant to beat him to death” because of his faith.

“But finally, McLellin writes, “one of them said to him, ‘If you will deny that damned book, we will let you go.’”

“How can I deny what I know to be true?” Page responded, which led them to “pound him again.”

When the mob thought he was almost dead, they mocked him, “Now what do you think of your God, and when he don’t save you?”

“Well, I believe in God,” said the severely wounded man. “The fool will stick to it though we kill him,” said one of the mobsters. “Let him go.”

Page was confined to his bed for a length of time, but to the end of his life, never denied his witness of what he had seen.

What does it mean when eye witnesses continue to attest to something, despite personal strong incentives to do otherwise? And what does it mean when their willingness to testify outlasts even serious agony — or in the case of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, death itself?

A cloud of witnesses

Along with these 12 main witnesses (three men and Mary Whitmer shown the plates by an angel, and eight others shown them directly by Joseph Smith), there were “many more” informal witnesses of the plates — who hefted the box and felt the leaves incidentally.

About these family members and friends, Daniel C. Peterson, an Emeritus Professor of Islamic Studies at BYU, says in the documentary, “it would have been easy for one of them to look and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute. I looked at the so-called plates and they were a brick, or it was a rock in there, or something like that.’”

Even though the young prophet took very seriously the overall safety of the plates, he’s struck at how unconcerned Smith was about others he knows, he says — which “impresses” him.

“If I were faking it, had a con going and had some mystical object, I’d make sure people never saw it when I wasn’t around. I would want to control the circumstances all the time. He doesn’t.”

These words of these early witnesses converge in a unity that constitutes another well-known sign of validity — both in modern scholarship and throughout sacred history. Rather than single individuals bearing witness on their own, prophets point to the words of other prophets throughout scripture. New Testament apostles frequently cite the words of Isaiah and Moses. And Alma calls upon the words of Zenos, Zenock and Moses to back up his own witness of the Savior.

If anyone could have seemingly borne an independent, authoritative witness, it would have been Christ himself. But in ministries in both the Old and New Worlds, Jesus likewise points to the words of prophets consistently to bolster and corroborate his own witness.

And, of course, many others point to him — from John the Baptist and early apostles, to the 500 witnesses of his resurrection in Palestine and 2500 more in ancient America. Witnesses remain a constant part of modern Latter-day Saint life today, from witnesses to every baptism and sealing ordinance that takes place, to pairs of missionaries bearing testimony throughout the world, to modern apostles who lead the faith as “special witnesses of Christ.” The faith also declares the Book of Mormon as a second witness, alongside the Bible, to the “precious” truth about Jesus Christ and his message of redemption.

Enough physical evidence but not too much

Wouldn’t all of this be easier if the angel had allowed the plates to remain and they were on display to the world in a special exhibit at the Church History Museum?

Documentary host Scott Christopher highlights this very question — suggesting that if the Lord wanted to, he could have said, “Joseph, here are the plates. Go show them to anyone who wants to see them.”

“People assume that there would be more believers if he did,” remarks BYU professor of Church History and Doctrine, Steven Harper. “That’s not true.”

According to scripture, it’s not “perfect knowledge” that grows Christ-followers, but faith — a faith that could be undermined if too much evidence was initially provided.

“Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen,” writes Moroni in ancient America. “Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”

That faith, or “assurance” (or “confidence” or “substance”) of what is hoped for, is relished by believers as a kind of evidence as well — the inner “evidence of things not seen” but “which are true.”

Drawing together all these different kinds of evidences (the witnesses, the text itself, the inner assurances, the outer fruits in people’s lives), what exists is enough, as many believers will attest. As Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified to those who are unsure just over 1500 years after Moroni sealed the book and almost 180 years after Joseph Smith translated the same record: “You don’t know everything, but you know enough!”

In particular, “Martin and others’ testimonies of what they saw and heard and touched, what they hefted, the plates, the angels, the voice of God,” could be “entered as evidence” in a court of law, concludes the host, Scott Christopher.

“Their testimonies under sacred, solemn oath, corroborate Joseph’s claims” — with these united testimonies published all around the world attesting to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. “They knew it, they knew that God knew it, and they would not deny it.”

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2024/06/27/witnessing-the-witnesses/

These historians spent years studying the prophet Joseph Smith’s life. Here’s what they learned about him

(deseret.com June 27, 2024)

For Latter-day Saints across the globe, Thursday marks the 180th anniversary of a tragedy — on June 27, 1844, an armed mob stormed into Carthage Jail and took the lives of the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith.

Smith and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were in Illinois due to religious persecution and violence they had experienced. The martyrdom of both Joseph and Hyrum Smith led to the Saints trekking further westward to live their faith.

From the fateful day where Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees to the weeks he spent translating the golden plates with scarce formal education, he recorded accounts of miracles and revelations mixed in with human moments and experiences.

All written records that remain from Smith’s 38 years on earth can be found stretched across the 27 volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers. It’s a static account of the legacy he’s left behind that has inspired millions of people. To better understand what can be learned about Smith from the Papers, the Deseret News spoke with four historians who worked on the papers.

These historians shared stories about Smith, but also qualities and characteristics that they saw he had after countless hours reading his words. While the papers didn’t necessarily yield many facts unknown to historians about Smith, historians felt like they now know Smith better after the papers helped contextualize his life.

Relating to Joseph Smith

Sometimes it can be hard to relate to Smith, said Matthew Godfrey, general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers. “I think when you read his journals and his correspondence, his discourses and minutes of meetings, you get more at his humanness and who he was as he navigated life.”

Smith was cheerful and optimistic, even when he encountered trials, observed Godfrey. His perspective was such that he always believed things would get better.

Giving one example of this, Godfrey recounted a letter Smith wrote to his wife Emma after he had faced a brutal mob attack and lost his adopted son Joseph Murdock. In the letter, he spoke about how Hyrum Smith had lost his daughter Mary around the same time as well.

“Joseph says to Emma in there, I think we can in some degree sympathize with him,” said Godfrey. “And then he says, but we all must be reconciled to our laws and say the will of the Lord be done.” It’s one of several instances Godfrey said he could point toward Smith trusting God.

Godfrey said Smith underwent a wide variety of trials — in addition to facing mob violence and suffering in jail, he knew death well. Smith lost his father, his brother and children.

“I didn’t really think too much about how Joseph had to deal with those kinds of trials as well and with sickness, the sicknesses of his family,” said Godfrey. “And with having friends turn their backs on him and feeling betrayed and left alone at times.”

There are other moments that reveal something about Smith’s personality. Godfrey said as he has studied the papers, he’s learned that Smith had a sense of humor and would joke around with others.

Godfrey’s own favorite story of Smith comes from a letter he wrote to Edward Partridge on Dec. 10, 1833.

At the time, the Saints had been expelled from Jackson County and were living in Clay County. Partridge had asked Smith what he should do in his capacity as a bishop living in Missouri while Smith was in Kirtland. The Saints were struggling to feel like God was protecting them due to their circumstances.

In the letter, Smith asked God why he let the Saints be expelled from Jackson County and how they were supposed to rebuild Zion, said Godfrey. And Smith didn’t feel like his questions were directly answered. Instead, God told Smith to be still and know that he is God.

“That gave me a new perspective on Joseph as a prophet,” said Godfrey. “That perhaps in his prophetic role, it didn’t mean that he always had all the answers, but sometimes he had to struggle along and do the best that he could before God would give him the additional light he needed.”

There’s another moment Godfrey is touched by, and it happened in 1834. There’s a boy named Lyman Littlefield, and he was left out of a military parade because he was too young. Godfrey said Lyman sat down on a rock and was watching the parade.

Smith was hurrying by, but made a point of stopping to talk to Lyman and placed his hand on his head. Godfrey said this small moment may not seem like much, but it reveals something deeper about Smith.

“That, I think, gave me a little more insight into Joseph’s character — that he tried to bring in people who felt like they didn’t belong and maybe one reason he did this is because he had many moments in his life where he felt like an outsider,” said Godfrey.

Knowing Joseph Smith as husband, father, and friend

Sharalyn Howcroft, project archivist for the papers, traveled all over to acquire documents for the project. She’s spent more than two decades doing so.

While Howcroft ran into some obstacles with collecting documents, it became easier over time as the project established a website and started gaining traction. She said people have gone the extra mile to help out on the project.

Through her capacity as an archivist, Howcroft has read countless documents about Smith and come to know him in a deep way. She didn’t have a historian there to interpret the documents.

“I was confronting and encountering Joseph Smith through his own words, and that was a phenomenal experience,” said Howcroft. Most of her knowledge about Smith had come from the Church Education System. This time, in addition to encountering Smith as a prophet, she was encountering him as a husband, as a father and as a friend.

“I wish everyone could get to know him this way,” said Howcroft. “He was incredibly kind and compassionate and willing to give everything for that inner circle of people, those people who know him well, his dear friends, he would do anything for them.”

One example Howcroft gave of Smith’s kindness was with John C. Bennett.

After Bennett betrayed him, Smith extended a hand of friendship to him. Bennett refused, but Howcroft said it stuck with her because it showed that Smith was willing to believe people could turn their lives around.

Howcroft said reading stories like this about Smith helped her understand his character.

Another story she read came from a court case where Smith presided as a judge. A man came before Smith who was trying to keep his family afloat, and to do so, he stole some items from a store for his children, said Howcroft. “And Joseph, at that point, tells him that (and I’m paraphrasing) this is the hardest thing that I have ever had to do — if you would have come to me, I would have cared for you. I would have provided you means.”

At this time of his life, Smith had already been to Liberty Jail and experienced several hardships, said Howcroft.

“I think it speaks volumes about the depth of compassion Joseph Smith had for the suffering and difficulties of those around him.”

Joseph Smith played different roles in his life

With the Joseph Smith Papers completed, associate managing historian Spencer McBride said Smith in his life wore many hats: He was a prophet, a president of the church, a father, a businessman, a mayor, and the papers show how he fulfilled all his responsibilities.

The papers also reveal a bit about Smith’s personality, said McBride. “Joseph Smith was a person, to use a modern term, who wore his emotions on his sleeve. He would express love and gratitude freely, but when he was frustrated or angry, he would also express those emotions.”

Smith was also the kind of person to forgive people and reinstate trust after betrayal, said McBride.

One facet of Smith’s life McBride knows well is when Smith ran for president. Presidential campaigns were a bit different back then than they are today. Candidates would send surrogates to canvas the country, often with a pamphlet like the one Smith had — “General Smith’s Views on the Government.”

“It really is a magnificent political document because we get Joseph Smith, with the help of William W. Phelps, expressing where he stood on some of the most pressing issues in American society at the time,” said McBride.

Smith called for the abolition of slavery, federal reform, the reform of the justice system with an emphasis on rehabilitation.

“In this pamphlet, we see Joseph Smith, who was very connected to the pressing issues of his time, and in presenting solutions to those issues, express this care for the marginalized in society who were the people not being helped or served as well as they might be by the government of the United States,” said McBride. While Smith was killed before the election, McBride said the ideas he put forward were taken seriously.

“He saw religious freedom as one of the most important civil freedoms or civil liberties,” said McBride, adding that Smith didn’t distinguish between religious freedom and civil liberties — he was deeply concerned about whether or not people were protected.

One of McBride’s favorite stories about Smith is when he met a boat of people who arrived from Nauvoo, Illinois.

Smith is riding by and stops to chat with them, and as McBride tells it, “He says, you must not expect me to be perfect. If you expect perfection of me, I shall expect perfection of you. But if you will bear with me and the brethren in our infirmities, we shall bear with you in yours.”

McBride also expressed admiration for the love Smith had for his family.

When Smith traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Martin Van Buren, he found it difficult to leave behind his wife and children, especially with a couple of kids who were sick.

“We get this sense of Joseph Smith’s worry for his children and for his wife in this difficult moment, but we also get the reality of their relationship,” said McBride. “They loved and respected each other.”

Latter-day Saints and embrace our history

Matthew Grow, general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers, said one of the most compelling aspects of the papers is how it lays out every early document associated with Smith in any way, so people can study and research them.

“We’re not afraid of scrutiny,” said Grow. The papers have also yielded additional understanding and context on aspects of Smith’s life including his revelations.

“As you study the revelations and you look at what he’s being told to do in the revelations and you look at the other documents, the letters and everything else from his life, those mandates that he’s receiving from heaven are really shaping everything else that he’s doing,” said Grow.

In the weeks leading up the martyrdom, Grow said it’s clear that Smith knew the revelations came from God.

When Smith is in Carthage and reading from the Book of Mormon to receive personal comfort, he and the others with him knew they were in danger. But they still were comforted by the Book of Mormon.

“He knew that the revelations or the Book of Mormon weren’t from him, they were divine,” said Grow.

Grow said the papers also show how much Smith cares about the people around him.

It’s clear Smith understood he had to choose between putting himself in danger by going to Carthage and submitting to an unjust arrest, or if he didn’t go, the Saints would face mob violence.

Zooming out more broadly from specific instances, Grow said the completion of the papers can help contextualize what historians know about Smith.

Pointing toward the 2013 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, Grow explained there were some small changes made as well as significant ones that put the revelations into more context.

“We understand the revelations much better when we understand the context in which they were given,” said Grow. “What was the question that led to the revelation?” This context can clarify what the revelations meant.

Then, there’s also minutes from the Council of Fifty, which Grow said the papers made accessible for the first time.

The context of these minutes is Smith speaking confidentially to a council of people oriented toward finding temporal solutions for Latter-day Saints. Something Grow said struck him is how much Smith spoke about religious freedom.

“Sometimes people might suppose that the church’s emphasis on religious liberty is a recent phenomenon or something like that, but it’s been fundamental since the very beginning,” said Grow.

Thinking about an even bigger picture, Grow said “the Joseph Smith Papers really declares that the history of the church, that the history of Joseph Smith can withstand the most intense scrutiny.”

“We don’t need to be ashamed of our history,” said Grow. “It’s a history that’s centered around faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a history that’s centered around people making tremendous sacrifices because they hear the word of God and want to obey and want to follow.”

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2024/06/27/joseph-smith-martyrdom-anniversary/