THE TESTIMONY OF THREE WITNESSES: 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, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld an! d bear record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.
Oliver Cowdery
David Whitmer
Martin Harris
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
Jacob Whitmer
Peter Whitmer, Jun.
John Whitmer
Hiram Page
Joseph Smith, Sen.
Hyrum Smith
Samuel H. Smith
Joseph Smith is not the author, per se, but rather the translator of the Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844), was the founding prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the spring of 1820, when Joseph was 14 years-old, he was much disturbed by the competing claims of the ministers in the area, and frustrated that “the teachers of religion....understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. Upon reading James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him,” he determined to appeal to heaven for guidance. “So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
“After I had retired to the place where I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God.
After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
“But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair...just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
“It no soon appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spoke unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other – This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!
“...No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself...than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right....and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong...”
Joseph found that repeating the experience of this vision subjected him to persecution and ridicule. “It caused me serious reflection then, and often has since, how very strange it was than an obscure boy, of a little over fourteen years of age....should be thought a character of sufficient importance to attract the attention of the great ones of the day, and in a manner to create in them a spirit of the most bitter persecution and reviling. But strange or not, so it was, and it was often the cause of great sorrow to myself....I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true...I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.”
Several years later, in 1823 and at the age of 17, Joseph was visited by an angel, who told Joseph “that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.
“He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the...fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it.”
Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from the gold plates by the gift and power of God, translating the entire volume in approximately 60 working days. It was published in 1830 in Palmyra, New York.
Joseph Smith later wrote many additional revelations, founded several cities, including Nauvoo, the largest city in Illinois, and became one of the most controversial and celebrated personalities of the nineteenth century. Esteemed by his people as a holy prophet of God in the tradition of the Old and New Testaments, he was murdered by a mob at Carthage, Illinois, in 1844. He was 38.
