What Do We Know About the Book of Mormon Witnesses?

LDS Perspective

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the Book of Mormon is accompanied by the divine witness of both heavenly and earthly testimonies. In accordance with the biblical law that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1; see also Deuteronomy 19:15; D&C 6:28), the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that “the testimony of three of my servants, whom I shall call and ordain” would stand alongside the Prophet’s own testimony (D&C 5:11; see also 2 Nephi 27:12–13; Ether 5:2–4). These Three Witnesses—Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris—were shown the gold plates by an angel in June 1829 near Fayette, New York. In their published testimony, they declared that they “have seen the plates which contain this record” and “t

Historical Perspective

The historical record documents multiple categories of witnesses to the Book of Mormon gold plates, beginning with the Three Witnesses (Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer) and the Eight Witnesses (consisting of the Whitmer and Smith families). These eleven men provided formal testimonies published in every edition of the Book of Mormon, claiming to have seen or handled the plates. According to Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith experienced profound relief following the Three Witnesses experience, reportedly throwing himself down and expressing that he no longer had to carry the burden alone, surrounded as he was by "doubt and intense skepticism" in his community. Beyond these official witnesses, historical accounts identify at least seven additional individuals who claimed