For Mormons. On the gold plate witnesses.?

Question

Mormons will say they saw the plates. others say that the account given was that they testified to seeing some plate like things covered by a cloth. Another account I read was that only he was able to see the plates. Sight of the actual plates would cause death. Can any mormons tell me what they know from Mormon accounts? Mormons don't seek information that is not faith promoting, but this is importatant. There seem to be so many problems with these whitnesses. excommunication, fights over money land (that information is out there, I'll give a link). It seems like the only thing those whitnesses were good at was being Mormon, so they came back. I think the stigma really hurt them from what I read. anyways, can someone tell me what a "true" account of the whitnessing was...and I'm not talking about seeing a light in the woods...what did he show them?

Deepfire. around that time he was caught pawning off services as a glass looker to help a guy find hidden treasure, but he was a good looking guy. No cornholeing of any animal was needed. He was able to find many wives.

Should I dig up links that show the same people saying different?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_plates#Translating_the_plates

Peter, brainwashing organizations often use semantics to their favor. If I learn as much as you "know" I would be brainwashed. You are not the first or the last to correct my use of the word "excommunicate"

thanks dion.

7 of 9...I don't buy or read anti-mormon literature, but thanks for the link. All of my anti-mormon thoughts can be found by reading FAIR and using an encyclopedia.

Hey why did Emma talk smack about them? She was Smith's wife?

Gumby, his wife thought they were fake. If they were sitting on the table in her home, do you think her opinion would be important?

Do you think any of these actions of the whitnesses are important. No get out the broom and sweep them away...it's mind boggleing.

Answer 1

Joseph showed them to 11 people.

In the book of Mormon it talks about the 3 witnesses and the 8 witnesses.


Sight of the actual plates would NOT cause death.

I'm a Mormon and I DO seek information that is faith promoting, and this subject is important.

Just because those people saw the plates does not mean they were automatically perfect. All people have their faults...so who am I to judge the early saints because they were greedy?

You really need to learn what you're talking about before judging others for things that your opinions "the only thing these *witnesses* were good at was being Mormon, so they came back" for example. LDS don't practice excommunication, they practice disfellowship. You can still come to the church services and learn, but you can't participate. And when the church feels you've changed your ways, you're allowed to partake of the sacrament, etc. again.

Answer 2

Chad don't mix egyptian mythology and Mormon accounts. No one ever said they would die if they saw the plates.

3 Witnesses testify that they saw the plates with an angel holding them telling them this is a record of God.

8 Witnesses testify said they saw the plates and held them in their hands.

Read the Book of Mormon yourself.

Also 80% of LDS don't live in Utah. Only 10% now live in Utah, there are 13 million LDS members worldwide.

Answer 3

The accounts of the three witnesses was more complete than the eight. The former held and examined the plates, the latter looked at them.

My favorite witness was Mary Whitmer. In 1829, probably during June, she was caring for three boarders in addition to her large household while the Book of Mormon was being translated. She said she was often overloaded with work to the extent she felt it quite a burden. During this time, the male boarders and members of her household were speaking of being shown the Golden Plates. One evening when she went to milk the cows, she said that a stranger with a knapsack spoke to her, explained what was going on in her house, comforted her, then produced a bundle of plates from his knapsack, turned the leaves for her, showed her the engravings, exhorted her to faith in bearing her burden a little longer, then suddenly vanished with the plates. She always called the stranger Brother Nephi.

Answer 4

Here is a link to the testimony written by the three witnesses. Clearly, they not only saw the plates, but they saw the engravings on the plates.

http://scriptures.lds.org/bm/thrwtnss


Here's the testimony of the eight witnesses:
http://scriptures.lds.org/bm/eghtwtns

Both are in the Doctrine and Covenants.


EDIT: The wiki article doesn't contradict what it says in Doctrine and Covenants. Did you read it closely? He never recanted, other people recanted his statement for him. He then said he had doubts but he took that back. At the end of his life, he actually testified to the truth of the Book of Mormon.

Answer 5

It's intersting that even though some of the witnesses left the church, they never denied thier testimony of what they saw.

In the front of the Book of Mormon you can read the testimonies of the 3 and the 8 witnesses.

No, seeing the plates wouldn't kill you. That's false info.

Answer 6

There were three and then there were 8 as well:
Here are the 8.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Witnesses
I am glad to see you already have the mormon site, so here is the anti-mormon site on the 3 witnesses, it helps to have both sides of the story:
http://www.christiandefense.org/LDS%20Three%20Witnesses.htm
Below is the original freemason story that Joseph Smith copied from the FREEMASONS

Answer 7

Their were never any plates Martin Harris one of the witness to the book of Mormon stated that he never saw the plates. No man could carry the plates gold weights allot. Utah foot Ball players carry copper form of what the plates would have look like. they barley carry it.

Answer 8

There were 11 witnesses all together

3 of them saw more than the other 8

All 3 of the "3 Witnesses" had issues but never denied their testimonies.

Links to their signed testimonies and an other scriptural reference below.

Have a nice day

D

Answer 9

I am not a Mormon but I knew some one who was
He had a high position in the temple in Utah and he started to doubt his beliefs so he went to where the plates were and photo graphed them .
he sent the pitches to linguistics expert .
the writing was not of any historical language
the results were that the writing was nothing but babble on some gold plated plates (60 micro plates of plating to be exact) so Hence the plates are fake
Joseph Smith was a free Maison at one time and he was band because of his immoral ways he was a treasure forger and this info can be confirmed
and among other things he was a chronic lire so lire forger
religion
Put them together and you got a faults religion