Approximate length: 15-20 minutes
Topics: Book of Mormon, obtaining a testimony, the Restoration
Talk given: May 2000

THE THREE WITNESSES OF THE BOOK OF MORMON

This month’s topic is on obtaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon. In the front of the Book of Mormon, we find several testimonies of the truthfulness of the book, of its divine origin, and inspired translation.

I would like to focus today on the testimony of the Three Witnesses. Those 3 witnesses were Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer. In order to completely appreciate the testimony of these men, it helps to understand these men and their relationship to the Book of Mormon.

Martin Harris

Except for Joseph Smith, no man played a more varied role in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon than Martin Harris. Martin Harris was a prominent citizen of Palmyra – a prosperous businessman and farmer who had met the Smith family when they first settled in Palmyra.

After Joseph had just received the plates, Martin Harris provided money so that Joseph and Emma could get rid of their debts and make a move to Harmony, Pennsylvania.

Martin received a revelation that the Lord had an important work for him to do. In 1827, the same year that Joseph Smith received the plates, Martin Harris had received confirmation through various manifestations that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he should help Joseph in bringing forth the Book of Mormon.

As such, Martin traveled to Harmony and obtained from Joseph a copy of some of the characters from the plates, to show several distinguished linguists of the time. This experience is recorded in Joseph Smith – History verses 63-65.

READ Joseph Smith – History 1:63-65

As many of you are aware, Martin Harris was the central figure in a very discouraging time for Joseph Smith. Martin Harris had served as scribe during the earliest days of translation. In June 1828, they had translated 116 legal-size pages, and Martin asked if he could take this manuscript home to show his unbelieving wife and friends. He wanted to convince them that the work was legitimate and stop their opposition. Joseph asked the Lord if this was acceptable, but the answer was no. Martin was not satisfied and persisted until Joseph asked the Lord again. The answer was still no. Martin continued to plead, and Joseph wanted to satisfy this man who had been his benefactor. Martin was older and more mature than Joseph, and he relied on him heavily. Additionally, Martin was the only one Joseph knew that was willing to work as a scribe AND finance the publication of the book. So, he asked the Lord again. He was finally given conditional permission – Martin would only be able to show them to four or five people (his wife, father, mother, sister-in-law, and brother).

Martin lost the manuscript, and as such, Joseph had the privilege of translating taken away from him temporarily. Some time later, Joseph received a revelation that chastised him for negligence and for “setting at naught the counsels of God” but also comforted him that he was still chosen to perform the work of translation if he repented. He did repent, and eventually received the plates once again, along with a promise that the Lord would send a scribe to help him.

Oliver Cowdery

After translation had temporarily ceased, Joseph was introduced to his new scribe and assistant, Oliver Cowdery.

Oliver took a teaching job in Manchester, New York and was a boarder at the house of Joseph Smith Sr. Oliver eventually learned about the plates. Oliver prayed privately and felt impressed that he would have the privilege of writing for Joseph, who he hadn’t yet met.

Following the school term, he went to Harmony, Pennsylvania to meet the Prophet. When he arrived, Joseph Smith recognized him as the assistant that he had been promised by the Lord. Two days later, Oliver Cowdery was helping Joseph Smith with the translation process.

They worked almost without stopping through the month of April, and, with Oliver’s help, Joseph proceeded faster than ever before. Over the next 3 months, they translated approximately 500 printed pages. These were glorious days in their lives.

Oliver said: “These were days never to be forgotten – to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven….Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated, with the Urim and Thummim…the history, or record, called the Book of Mormon.”

Oliver Cowdery received significant revelations via Joseph Smith. The first one is in Doctrine and Covenants 6. Oliver had prayed for a further witness of the truthfulness of the work, and he received the following answer in verse 14 and 22-23:

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, blessed art thou for what thou hast done; for thou hast inquired of me, and behold, as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time.

Verily, verily, I say unto you if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning this matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?”

After receiving this revelation, Oliver explained to Joseph that one night while staying with the Smith family, he had prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet, and he had received the peaceful assurance that he was.

During this period, the priesthood was restored and the ordinance of baptism was taught by heavenly messengers such as John the Baptist, Peter, James and John. Oliver and Joseph were the first to be baptized in this dispensation as well as receive the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods.

David Whitmer

David Whitmer, a friend of Oliver Cowdery, received letters from Oliver asking if he and Joseph Smith could move to Fayette, New York to live with the Whitmers for a time. Peter Whitmer, Sr., David’s father, invited Joseph to stay at his home as long as he needed to finish the work of translation. The entire family was enthusiastic to learn more about the work.

However, it was May, and it was necessary for crops to be planted in order to insure a successful fall harvest, so David Whitmer had to plow and prepare the soil before he could take his wagon to pick up Joseph Smith and Oliver in Pennsylvania. At the end of a day of plowing he found he had accomplished in one day what normally would have taken two days to do. David’s father was likewise impressed by this miracle, and told David to head for Pennsylvania as soon as he finished sowing the plaster of paris. Plaster of paris was used to reduce the acidity of the soil. However, the next day, when David went to the fields to begin to sow the plaster, he found that the work was already done. His sister, who lived near the field, said that her children had called her to watch three strangers the day before spread the plaster with remarkable skill. She assumed they were men that David had hired.

Grateful for this divine intervention, David got in his two-horse wagon and started on the three-day trip to Harmony. As he arrived in town, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery met him. Although David had not told them exactly when he was coming, Joseph Smith had seen the details of David’s trip in a vision. These three miracles that David had witnessed helped him solidify his early testimony of the Prophet’s calling.

David and Joseph became fast friends. Soon they were on their way back to Fayette, 100 miles away. On this occasion, Moroni took the plates to avoid danger while transporting them. Also on this trip, they had an unusual experience while they were riding in the wagon:

David said: “A very pleasant, nice-looking old man suddenly appeared by the side of our wagon and saluted us with ‘Good morning, it is very warm,’ at the same time wiping his face or forehead with his hand. We returned the salutation, and …I invited him to ride if he was going our way. But he said very pleasantly, ‘No, I am going to Cumorah.’ This name was something new to me; I didn’t know what Cumorah meant. We all gazed at him and at each other, and as I looked around inquiringly of Joseph, the old man instantly disappeared…. “

David goes on to explain that this messenger was Moroni.

The Whitmer family graciously took care of Joseph, Emma and Oliver, and the entire family became involved in the work. All of these activities were not easy on the Whitmers, especially Mary Whitmer, David’s mother. She didn’t complain about the visitors and extra work, but she felt overwhelmed. One day she was met by the barn on her way to milking the cows by (Moroni) the old man seen earlier by David who said to her: ‘You have been very faithful and diligent in your labors, but you are tired; it is proper therefore that you should receive a witness that your faith may be strengthened.’ He then showed her the gold plates. This event strengthened Mary and her family as they continued to support Joseph Smith and the work he was engaged in.

Three Witnesses

While Joseph Smith was translating the writings of Nephi, he learned about the need for witnesses. In 2 Nephi 27:12, it says:

“Wherefore, at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the world, that the eyes of none shall behold it save it be that three witnesses shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein.”

Martin Harris came to visit from Palmyra to ask about the progress of the work. At this time, Martin, Oliver, and David Whitmer asked Joseph if they could be the promised witnesses. Joseph Smith prayed and received a revelation containing their answer in D&C 17:2-3,5:

“And it is by your faith that you shall obtain a view of them, even by that faith which was had by the prophets of old. And after that you have obtained faith, and have seen them with your eyes, you shall testify of them, by the power of God;

And ye shall testify that you have seen them, even as my servant Joseph Smith Junior has seen them; for it is by my power that he has seen them, and it is because he had faith.”

As soon as the translation was completed, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris retired to the woods and prayed as a group for the fulfillment of the revelation. They were unsuccessful until Martin Harris withdrew a distance and privately prayed. After he had left, Moroni appeared, holding the plates in his hands. He showed them the leaves of the plates, the engravings on the pages, and they heard a voice that manifested that this book had been translated correctly by the power of God.

Joseph Smith then left to join Martin Harris in prayer, after which they received the same vision that the others had received.

So the revelation was fulfilled, and these special men were called to be special witnesses of the Book of Mormon. None of these men was perfect – in fact, all three fell away from the Church at one point or another. Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery eventually returned to full fellowship. But none of them ever denied what they saw and heard, and bore record of. Together they state in their testimony:

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record…and we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God…wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true.

The amazing thing about this witness is that each one of us, you and I can obtain as strong a witness as these men obtained. In order to do so, we must have one thing in common with these three witnesses – the desire to receive it.

“And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”

I personally want to bear my testimony that I know the Book of Mormon indeed testifies of Christ. Jesus does live and his teachings will lead us to eternal happiness. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.