Testimonies of the Book of Mormon
by Robert Rosskopf
Here are the testimonies of those who were witness to the events surrounding the translation of the Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith testified that he had a vision and saw God. He also testified that years later an angel appeared by his bed and showed him where an ancient book lay hidden. He recovered the book, and translated it by the gift and power of God.
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/js_h/1
His mother Lucy testified:
"That book was brought forth by the power of God, and translated by the gift of the Holy Ghost; and, if I could make my voice sound as loud as the trumpet of Michael, the Archangel, I would declare the truth from land to land, and from sea to sea, and the echo should reach every isle, until every member of the family of Adam should be left without excuse."
His wife, Emma testified:
“I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired. For when [I acted] as his scribe, [Joseph] would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals or after interruptions, he would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him. … It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this, and for one so … unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible.”
"The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen tablecloth, which I had given him to fold them in. I once felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book."
Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris all testified that they saw the angel Moroni, and the Book of Mormon, and heard the voice of God declare the translation to be correct.
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/thrwtnss
"I know of a surety that the work is true. For did I not at one time hold the plates on my knee an hour-and-a-half, whilst in conversation with Joseph, when we went to bury them in the woods, that the enemy might not obtain them? Yes I did. And as many of the plates as Joseph Smith translated I handled with my hands, plate after plate."
-Martin Harris
Martin Harris was accused of denying his previous testimony, but he publically refuted the rumors and maintained that he had seen the plates. This is his dying testimony:
"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."
Lucy Harris was very skeptical until she had a dream:
“She said that a personage appeared to her who told her that as she had disputed the servant of the Lord, and said his word was not to be believed, and had also asked him many improper questions, she had done that which was not right in the sight of God. After which he said to her, ‘Behold, here are the plates, look upon them and believe.’ ” She soon returned to her skepticism though.
Mary Whitmer reported seeing the angel Moroni, who appeared to her and said:
“You have been very faithful and diligent in your labors, but you are tired because of the increase of your toil; it is proper therefore that you should receive a witness that your faith may be strengthened.”
Then he showed her the gold plates.
The very day that Joseph Smith received the Book of Mormon from the angel Moroni, Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, not yet having met Joseph Smith, and with their wives and family witnessed a vision. They lived about 45 miles apart, and each testified to seeing a great army march across the sky and then engage some enemy in battle. They watched this amazing vision for hours.
The church was formed and missionaries were sent out to declare the news. One early convert, Newel K. Whitney, prayed that the Prophet Joseph Smith would come and visit him. A short time later, a stranger came into his store and said:
“I am Joseph the Prophet. You’ve prayed me here, now what do you want of me?”
John Taylor was a Methodist preacher who entertained Mormon missionaries one night, but he was very skeptical.
“If I find his religion true, I shall accept it, no matter what the consequences may be; and if false, then I shall expose it.” He did receive a spiritual witness to the truth of the Book of Mormon, and joined the church, eventually becoming the third president of the church.
Sidney Rigdon was a Baptist preacher when missionaries first handed him a Book of Mormon. His daughter Nancy later testified: "He read it and examined it for about an hour and then threw it down, and said he did not believe a word in it." He struggled with the Book of Mormon for some time, but eventually gained a testimony of its truthfulness. His congregation was building him a new home at the time. Realizing that by accepting Mormonism, he would lose his livelihood, he asked his wife:
"My dear, you have followed me once into poverty, are you willing to do the same again?"
Phebe Rigdon replied, "I have weighed the matter, I have contemplated on the circumstances in which we may be placed, I have counted the cost, and I am perfectly satisfied to follow you; it is my desire to do the will of God, come life or come death."
Sidney did join the church with his wife, and exhorted as many of his former flock as would listen to investigate the Book of Mormon. Many members of his former congregation were eventually baptized.
George Schweich,David Whitmer's grandson reported:
"I have begged him to unfold the fraud in the case and he had all to gain and nothing to lose but to speak the word if he thought so-but he has described the scene to me many times, of his vision about noon in an open pasture-there is only one explanation barring an actual miracle and that is this-If that vision was not real it was HYPNOTISM, it was real to grandfather IN FACT."
Hugh Nibley is one scholar who has spend a great deal of time studying the Book of Mormon and placing it in its real world context.
“There is no point at all to the question: Who wrote the Book of Mormon? It would have been quite as impossible for the most learned man alive in 1830 to have written the book as it was for Joseph Smith. And whoever would account for the Book of Mormon by any theory suggested so far—save one—must completely rule out the first forty pages.” (P. 139.) Hugh Nibley, "Lehi in the Desert"