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Paul, however, was not believed by Christians to have become an apostate. Yet
David Whitmer was excommunicated in April 1838, about the same time as Oliver
Cowdery, the first of the three witnesses. Oliver Cowdery we recall was later
rebaptized after the death of Joseph Smith. But David Whitmer never came back to
the Church. He died fortynine years later as an apostate. One must again ask why
the chief witnesses waver like this. Two fell away and came back. One fell away
and never came back. Their wavering from this initial position of commitment to
the revelations is not exactly the thing that will inspire confidence. Mormons
point out that these three witnesses never denied their initial testimony even
when they were excommunicated from the church.
The Church History Timeline even includes a positive testimony from David
Whitmer for the record. Whitmer said that although it is recorded that he had
denied his testimony as one of the three witnesses, neither he nor the other two
had at any time denied that testimony or any part thereof. Yet actions speak
louder than words. The fact that these men relinquished their commitment to the
revelations reduces the weight of their testimony. Two of the witnesses repented
and were baptized, and this makes them obviously better witnesses than David
Whitmer who never came back. Yet their many years of being out of the church
makes us wonder how firmly they believed their own testimony. Mormons will say
that the important thing is not the witness of men but the witness of God. They
will advise the inquirer to pray about the Book of Mormon to find out whether or
not it is true.
But, obviously, the publishers of the Book of Mormon considered the testimony
of the men to be worthy of note. Prayer is important. Investigation is also
important. Once the witnesses are presented, they should be examined. If the
Mormon message says that the witness of men is not important why then do they
print the list of witnesses in the book? When we turn to the list of eight
witnesses we notice three significant things. First, the list is not as diverse
as the number would apparently suggest. The eight witnesses are four from the
Whitmer family, three from the Smith family, and one Hiram Page. As for the
Whitmers, we noted already how the best of them, David Whitmer received the
distinction of being one of the elite group of three witnesses.
We have also seen how he fell away permanently and died an apostate.
Nevertheless, his brothers kept up their commitment to the revelations. The
Smiths were Joseph Smith's father and two of his brothers. One of the brothers,
Hyrum, was martyred together with Joseph, and the other, Samuel, died a month
later. The father had died some years before that. The second significant thing
is that this Hiram Page also claimed revelations for himself. He also, like
Joseph Smith, had a seer stone which enabled him to write revelations from God.
But God declared in theDoctrine and Covenants that those revelations are not
from him but from Satan (D&C 28: 11). What then is the value of Hiram Page as a
witness about revelations from God?
The third significant fact about the eight witnesses is that their testimony
is not as important as the testimony of the three. The three had borne witness
not only that they saw the plates but also that they saw the angel and that they
heard the voice of God who said that the book was authentic and the translation
was accurate. The eight witnesses, on the other hand, only said that they had
seen the plates which have the appearance of gold (preface to the Book of
Mormon).
They also handled the plates and saw the engravings which has the appearance
of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. The eight witnesses did not say
anything to assure readers that they knew the origin of the plates, or the
accuracy of the Book of Mormon. What their testimony bears out is that Joseph
Smith showed them some plates which had the appearance of gold and the
engravings which they could not decipher. But they believed that Smith was
translating those engravings to produce the Book of Mormon. Could we call them
expert witnesses?
More Fall Away Not only did many of the chief witnesses of the Book of Mormon
fall away. We find in Mormon literature that many others who were close
confidants and associates of Joseph Smith could not stick with his mission after
they once professed belief in it. William was the only brother of Joseph Smith
who lived on for a long time after him. William was loyal to Joseph and remained
a believer until 1845 at which time he was excommunicated from the church.
Thirtythree years later he joined a splinter group which broke off from the
Mormon Church (Church History Timeline, p. 3). Federick G. Williams was one of
the first high priests of the Church, and the second counsellor in the initial
First Presidency (1833).
Before joining the Church he was a prosperous and respected physician. He
became a close friend of Joseph Smith, and played an active role in building the
temple at Kirkland in Ohio. He helped to select the revelations to be included
in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants. His list of accomplishments go on. Yet he
was rejected as second counsellor in 1837 and excommunicated in 1838. He was
restored to fellowship a year later, and died two years after that (Church
History Timeline, p.9). One wonders why a man who was so close to Joseph Smith,
and so highly placed in the Church, should be excommunicated ever.
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