Replies

Harris later recanted and, under pressure, admitted that he had seen the plates with "the eyes of faith" under a cloth.

Martin Harris never denied his testimony of the Book of Mormon, even after he was excommunicated.

This is from an account of Harris affirming his testimony of the book and the angel that appeared to the 3 witnesses:

“On one occasion several of his old acquaintances made an effort to get him tipsy by treating him to some wine. When they thought he was in a good mood for talk they put the question very carefully to him, ‘Well, now, Martin, we want you to be frank and candid with us in regard to this story of your seeing an angel and the golden plates of the Book of Mormon that are so much talked about. We have always taken you to be an honest good farmer and neighbor of ours but could not believe that you did see an angel. Now, Martin, do you really believe that you did see an angel, when you were awake?’ ‘No,’ said Martin, ‘I do not believe it.’ The crowd were delighted, but soon a different feeling prevailed, as Martin true to his trust, said, ‘Gentlemen, what I have said is true, from the fact that my belief is swallowed up in knowledge; for I want to say to you that as the Lord lives I do know that I stood with the Prophet Joseph Smith in the presence of the angel, and it was the brightness of day.’”

Harris re-joined the Church in 1870. On his deathbed he bore testimony to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and his experience in witnessing it and the angel:

‘The Book of Mormon is no fake. I know what I know. I have seen what I have seen and I have heard what I have heard. I have seen the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon is written. An angel appeared to me and others and testified to the truthfulness of the record, and had I been willing to have perjured myself and sworn falsely to the testimony I now bear I could have been a rich man, but I could not have testified other than I have done and am now doing for these things are true.’

So much for your misinformation about Martin Harris.

Cowdery (the former school teacher and transcriptionist) and Whitmer later gave out statements that the LDS were "not a true church."

Oliver Cowdery, even after being excommunicated from the Church, even testified in a court of law of his experience with the angel and the Book of Mormon:

The opposing counsel thought he would say something that would overwhelm Oliver Cowdery, and in reply to him in his argument he alluded to him as the man that had testified and had written that he had beheld an angel of God, and that angel had shown unto him the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. He supposed, of course, that it would cover him with confusion, because Oliver Cowdery then made no profession of being a “Mormon,” or a Latter-day Saint; but instead of being affected by it in this manner, he arose in the court, and in his reply stated that, whatever his faults and weaknesses might be, the testimony which he had written, and which he had given to the world, was literally true.

Cowdery quit his law practice and rejoined the Church in 1848. He had this to say before that event:

I wrote, with my own pen, the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph, as he translated it by the gift and power of God, by the means of the Urim and Thummim, or as it is called by the book, Holy Interpreters. I beheld with my eyes, and handled with my hands, the gold plates from which it was transcribed. I also saw with my eyes and handled with my hands the Holy Interpreters. That book is true. ...It contains the everlasting gospel, and came forth to the children of men in fulfillment of the revelations of John, where he says he saw an angel come with the everlasting gospel to preach to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. It contains principles of salvation; and if you, my hearers, will walk by its light and obey its precepts, you will be saved with an everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God on high.

On his deathbed, Cowdery's last words reaffirmed his testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

So much for your misinformation about Oliver Cowdery.

Whitmer published a tract that called Joseph Smith a "false prophet."

David Whitmer was quoted in no less than 72 interviews after he left the Church concerning his experience with the angel and the plates. He never denied the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

When another misinformed anti-Mormon claimed that Whitmer and the other 3 witness had denied their testimonies, Whitmer published a rebuttal in which he testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. He wrote:

It is recorded in the American Cyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica, that I, David Whitmer, have denied my testimony as one of the Three Witnesses to the divinity of the Book of Mormon: and that the two other witnesses, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris, denied their testimony to that book.

I will say once more to all mankind, that I have never at any time denied that testimony or any part thereof. I also testify to the world, that neither Oliver Cowdery nor Martin Harris ever at any time denied their testimony. They both died affirming the truth of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

Further, the Chicago Tribune published the following about Whitmer's deathbed testimony of the Book of Mormon's authenticity and truthfulness:

David Whitmer, the last one of the three witnessed to the truth of the Book of Mormon, is now in a dying condition at his home in Richmond. Last evening he called the family and friends to his bedside, and bore his testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon and the Bible.

So much for your misinformation about David Whitmer.

Despite leaving the Church or being excommunicated at one time or another, NONE of the three witnesses recanted their testimony. All of them reaffirmed their testimonies on their deathbeds - it was that important to them.

Whatever anti-Mormon site you're quoting is, like the others, spreading information of a highly questionable nature. If it was this WRONG about the testimonies of the three witnesses, it is just as wrong about most other things.