In studying the history of Joseph Smith and the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, referred to as the Mormons, we emphasize Joseph Smith’s own testimony of the Book of Mormon, that book of additional scripture that is another testament of Jesus Christ. We also talk about the testimony of the Three Witnesses, three men who were allowed to see an angel and the physical gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.

Additionally, there were eight other men who were privileged to see the gold plates. But unlike the Three Witnesses, these Eight Witnesses had a somewhat less dramatic experience. B. H. Roberts explained:

“The difference between the testimony given the Three Witnesses and that given to the Eight, is that the former was attended by a splendid display of the glory and power of God and the ministration of an angel, while the latter was attended by no such display but was a plain matter-of-fact exhibition of the plates by the Prophet to his friends, and they not only saw the plates, but handled them and examined the engravings upon them.” (History of the Church 1:58n)

WHY THE WITNESSES?

Even without the angel and a voice from heaven, seeing the gold plates would be something wonderful. Of course we are not so much concerned with the material upon which a message was written, but the message itself. That is why Mormons are so enthusiastic about the Book of Mormon—it is a crucial second witness of Christ and His gospel.

And that it why it is important to have Joseph Smith’s account, and the accounts of the Three and Eight Witnesses. They testify to the reality and physicality of the gold plates. The Book of Mormon had to come from somewhere, and their deposition answers that question. We need this foundational question settled before we can go to the next set of questions, such as "What is the message of the Book of Mormon?" "Why is it important to have a second witness of Christ?" "How can the Book of Mormon help me with my practical, day-to-day problems?"

But first thing first.

THEIR TESTIMONY

This is the testimony of the last group, the Eight Witnesses:

THE TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.

CHRISTIAN WHITMER
HIRAM PAGE
JACOB WHITMER
JOSEPH SMITH, SEN.
PETER WHITMER, JUN.
HYRUM SMITH
JOHN WHITMER
SAMUEL H. SMITH

TWO WORDS

In this testimony, two things impress me. Actually, it is two words: “curious” and “heft.”

Curious. Nowadays, we associate curious with a certain mischievous chimpanzee, or with Alice tumbling into Wonderland. However, in the archaic sense curious means "accomplished with skill or ingenuity." What they meant to say was that the engravings on the plate were minutely detailed and skillfully carved.

If you look at artifacts similar to the Book of Mormon, such as the two Roman plates currently on display at the Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library, you see that they are rather exquisite. (Click here for images of the Roman Plates)

This exquisiteness, or curiousness, is an impressive detail. These witnesses used words which imply that they looked over the plates with microscopic precision. I get the impression that they were actually describing something that saw, but did not quite understand, given their academic background.

Heft. Then there is the word “heft.” This odd word is related to the words “hefty," heavy," and “heave.” Instead of a visual detail, this is a tactile detail. It emphasizes the plate’s weight. As all eight testify, the plates were rather heavy, so they had to heave them to each other after holding and examining them.

Joseph Smith said that the plates were gold, and that they were six inches by six inches by eight inches. Given the density of gold (and assuming that they were a solid block for guesstimation purposes), they should be about 200 pounds. The consensus of witnesses was that they weighed about 60 pounds. Since we do not know how alloyed the gold was, and they did not actually weigh them with scientific instruments, this is all we can go on.

SCIENCE, FACTS, FAITH

But the salient point is that the testimony of the Eight Witnesses has both internal and external consistency. They agree that the plates were finely engraved, and then make special note of their weight. This corresponds to both archaeological evidence and the physical properties of gold.

Of course this does not prove that Mormonism is true. It does, however, weed-out frivolous objections, and makes what they said scientifically and historically possible and plausible.

I say plausible because if you eliminate two miracles—the angel and the miraculous translation process—Joseph Smith’s story is no different than the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Someone digs up an unexpected archaeological find, and then ... !

(By the way, we have a better account of the origins of the Book of Mormon that we do of the Rosetta Stone.)

But this is something that we all need to find out for ourselves. There is nothing I could say to persuade anyone that the Book of Mormon is true any more than I can drop a box full of artifacts and say “Artifact A plus artifact B plus artifact C. Thus, Q.E.D, the Book of Mormon is true.”

All I can suggest is that a person read the book on their own and pray about it. This eliminates any mortal (and therefore fallible) middleman.

THE LIVES OF THE EIGHT WITNESSES

Like the lives of the Three Witnesses, the lives of the Eight Witnesses are rather tortuous. Some remained true to Mormonism, some fell away, but none ever denied their testimony.

Here is the breakdown:

Christian Whitmer. Remained faithful, died 1835.
Hiram Page. Excommunicated in 1838, died in 1852.
Jacob Whitmer. Excommunicated in 1838, died in 1856.
Joseph Smith, Sr. Remained faithful, was the first Church Patriarch, and died in 1840.
Peter Whitmer, Jr. Remained faithful, and died of tuberculosis in 1836.
Hyrum Smith. Remained faithful, was the Associate President of the Church and second Church Patriarch. Martyred with Joseph Smith in 1844.
John Whitmer. He left the church in 1838, and stayed in Missouri until his death.
Samuel H. Smith. Became the first missionary of the Mormon Church, remained faithful, and died in 1844.

As with the Three Witnesses, the fact that several left Mormonism is not so much a comment on Mormonism as it is a comment on humanity and people’s power of choice. The key point is that though they were disaffected and estranged, they never retracted their testimony.

CONCLUSION

Joseph Smith did not stand alone in regards to the Book of Mormon. He gave consistent testimony about the angel, the plates, and the translation. Additionally, he allowed two separate groups of several men to see the plates. They, in turn, confirmed his claims. And not one of the witnesses ever retracted or denied their testimony, including the men who later left Mormonism.

Joseph Smith, the Three Witnesses, and the Eight Witnesses are a twelve-man jury in affirming the reality of the gold plates and the Book of Mormon. And I find that rather impressive.

I travel across America speaking on a variety of topics, some religious, some not. But this year, I've been scheduled to speak about Joseph Smith and his beloved wife, Emma to several wards in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, referred to as Mormons. Last night was one of those nights.

I am almost 45 years old. For the first 42 years of my life I'd been taught many negative things about Emma Smith. Not by my mother, and I cannot identify who taught this to me, but I know that throughout the years I developed a very negative attitude toward her. As I began an indepth study of her life I came to the realization that she was a horribly misunderstood woman. It wasn't long before I was on my knees to my Heavenly Father begging forgiveness for my attitude and asking that He pass on my most profuse and abject apologies to Emma. It is my hope that she has forgiven me.

In D&C 25: 2-3 we read,

A revelation I give unto you concerning my will; and if thou art faithful and walk in the paths of virtue before me, I will preserve thy life, and thou shalt receive an inheritance in Zion.

Behold, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called.

The Lord Himself described her as an elect lady, and indeed she was.

Joseph called her "My beloved Emma—she that was my wife, even the wife of my youth, and the choice of my heart." (History of the Church, 5:107)

There is no question in my heart and mind that the Lord would not have chosen a lackluster woman to be the helpmeet of the Prophet of the Restoration. The Lord chose a woman of equal stature in life, heart, mind and spirituality to walk this mortal path with His chosen prophet.

Born July 10th of 1804, Emma Hale grew up in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Somewhat of a tomboy, she enjoyed canoing on the Susquehanna River amongst other activities common to children at the turn of the 19th century:

“Emma was well educated for a girl of her day, and was also a skilled horsewoman. She was well accomplished in the arts of spinning, weaving and sewing. She was fond of her brothers and sisters, throughout her tempestuous life she tried to maintain contact with them. She and her father had enjoyed an especially close bond since she was a little girl. According to Michael Bartlett Morse, husband to Emma’s sister, Tryal, Isaac overhead six-year-old Emma praying for him and was moved by her childish faith, that he forsook deism and embraced Christianity.” (Anderson, Ancestry and Posterity of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale, pp. 300-304)

Even at the early age of six, Emma knew that salvation could be found in the following the path of Jesus Christ, not the path of deism or atheism. By the time she met Joseph she was a knowledgeable student of the scriptures who could read and write, not a common accomplishment of women in her day. She was skilled in all the arts of cooking, cleaning, weaving, sewing, gardening and more. She had a cheerful and helpful disposition and was the apple of her father's eye. The day Joseph met her was the day her life took a turn toward mortal horror and eternal salvation.

She was true to her prophet-husband until the day she died, which is not common knowledge amongst Mormons. Yes, after Joseph's assassination, she did eventually marry another man. But she loved Joseph until she died and was anxious to be reunited with him.

This time of year always comes with mixed emotions for me. I love that Spring begins to win out over Winter. I don’t love the thoughts in the back of my mind that another year is almost in full bloom, and my kids are getting so much older.

I love that flowers begin to bud, purple and yellow crocuses pop out of the ground, and tulips are well on their way to blooming. I don’t love that birds think it’s okay to nest in the eaves of our house and lay droppings all over the place. Ewww.

I love that with the coming of Spring we are reminded of the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love the peace and knowledge we are blessed with because of it. I don’t love that I had to lose a son for Easter time to become so much more meaningful to me. I don’t love it, but I am grateful for it.

During the month of March several years ago my husband and I watched as our little boy, then barely over an hour old, drew his last breath. He’d been born with some major defects within his body, and he was unable to sustain life. Before he died my husband, my father, and my older brother all stood around me as I held this precious baby. These three worthy men of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nicknamed the Mormon Church, laid their hands on his head and gave him a priesthood blessing.

Only a few weeks later I sat in church listening to fellow members bear their testimony about what the Atonement means to them. It struck me all of a sudden of how much more I appreciated the sacrifice our Lord made. I had lost family members and friends before, but there’s something different about losing a child. I dearly hope none of you ever have to experience it.

Over the next several posts I hope to share with you a little of what I’ve come to learn about the Atonement and the Resurrection. I know there are others who could cover the subject so much more thoroughly than I can hope. I know there are others who could recite scripture and prophetic proclamations with precision I could never accomplish at this time.

I also know that Heavenly Father gives us certain tasks, trials, tests so that we can learn, grow, and become closer to Him and His ways. I know He wishes for us to share these experiences for the benefit of others. I know my son was given to me for a reason, and I really have learned so much since then. The experience of losing my son at times felt like too much to bear, and yet I have been so blessed in my life because of it.

Two of my favorite scripture verses that really bring this home come from the Book of Mormon, another testament of Christ.

“For I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day” (Alma 36:3).

"I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).

I have not witnessed the Atonement. I was not there when Christ was crucified and rose again. But because of what I have experienced with my son, I have such great faith that both things occurred.

Granted I was older when all this happened. This does not mean the Atonement and Resurrection cannot mean just as much to you as teens. If you wish to gain a closer relationship with the Lord, begin by studying His words and His life. Even if it’s just by reading a few words of testimony this blogger has to give.

I do have a testimony. I know that the Lord sacrificed Himself so that we might be forgiven of our sins. I know that not only did He endure the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane once, but went back twice more knowing full well the pain He would continue to endure. I know that after this excruciating experience He willingly allowed Himself to be taken, beaten, and crucified for us. I also know that three days later He rose, triumphant.

I do not love that He had to go through all of that, but I am grateful He did.