Replies

Normandy, To continue with the FALSE CLAIMS of the mormon witnesses, as recorded in history... PLEASE read this carefully and more than once.

"I have reflected long and deliberately upon the history of this church & weighed the evidence for & against it loth (sic) to give it up - but when I came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver [Cowdery] nor David [Whitmer] & that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave way, in my view our foundation was sapped & the entire superstructure fell in heap of ruins.
"I was followed by W Parrish, Luke Johnson & John Boynton [Boyington] all of who concurred with me, after we were done speaking M Harris arose & said he was sorry for any man who rejected the Book of Mormon for he knew it was true, he said he had hefted the plates repeatedly in a box with only a tablecloth or 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, if it had not been picked out of [him/me?] but should have let it passed as it was...
(Stephen Burnett letter to Lyman E. Johnson dated April 15, 1838. Typed transcript from Joseph Smith Papers, Letter book, April 20, 1837 - February 9, 1843, microfilm reel 2, pp. 64-66, LDS archives.)

Dear ampu,

Whether you choose to accept these testimonies or not is your affair, but evidence is clear that none of the three witnesses ever denied their experience of witnessing the Book of Mormon plates presented to them by the angel.

Here are just some examples of what the three witnesses said regarding their testimonies:

Martin Harris:

“It is not a mere belief, but is a matter of knowledge. I saw the plates and the inscriptions thereon. I saw the angel, and he showed them unto me” (quoted in Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, 116).

“I tell you of these things that you may tell others that what I have said is true, and I dare not deny it; I heard the voice of God commanding me to testify to the same” (quoted in Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, 118).

Oliver Cowdery:

Oliver Cowdery’s Final Testimony Reported by David Whitmer and John C. Whitmer, Son of Jacob Whitmer

I was present at the deathbed of Oliver Cowdery in 1850 . . . Oliver died the happiest man I ever saw . . . His last words were, “Brother David, be true to your testimony to the Book of Mormon, for we know that it is of God and that it is verily true.” After shaking hands with the family and kissing his wife and daughter, he said, “Now I lay me down for the last time, I am going to my Savior,” and died immediately, with a smile on his face. (David Whitmer)

David Whitmer:

Unto all Nations, Kindreds, Tongues and People, unto whom these presents shall come: . . . I wish now, standing as it were, in the very sunset of life, and in the fear of God, once for all to make this public statement: That I have never at any time denied that testimony or any part thereof, which has so long since been published with that book, as one of the Three Witnesses. Those who know me best well know that I have always adhered to that testimony. And that no man may be misled or doubt my present views in regard to the same, I do again affirm the truth of all my statements as then made and published ( Richmond, Missouri, Conservator on March 25, 1881)