The Three Witnesses is the collective name for three men—Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris—in the early Latter Day Saint movement who stated that an angel showed them the golden plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. They also stated that they heard God's voice, informing them that the book had been translated by divine power.
Their joint statement, along with the Eight Witnesses statement, has appeared in every edition of the Book of Mormon since its publication in 1830. They are collectively known as the Book of Mormon witnesses.
All three men eventually broke with Smith’s church, although Harris and Cowdery were later rebaptized into the church after Smith's death. Whitmer founded his own Church of Christ. All three men upheld their testimony of the Book of Mormon at their deaths. ("the three witnesses all defected from Smith and his church, (only Whitmer permanently), though all maintained until death the truth of the affidavits.")In 1838, Joseph Smith called Cowdery, Harris, and Whitmer "too mean to mention; and we had liked to have forgotten them." B.H. Roberts, ed. History of the Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1905), 3: 232. Technically, Whitmer resigned before the High Council decided that he "be no longer considered a member of the Church of Christ of Latter day Saints." Ronald E. Romig, "Faithful Dissenter, Witness Apart," in Roger D. Launius and Linda Thatcher, Dissenting Visions: Dissenters in Mormon History (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, p. 36; Michael Marquardt, "David Whitmer: His Evolving Beliefs and Recollections," in Scattering of the Saints, Schism within Mormonism, eds. Newell G. Bringhurst and John C. Hamer, (Independence, MO: John Whitmer Books, 2007) p. 50.
Testimony and early role in the movement The Three Witnesses were early adherents to the Latter Day Saint movement, and had aided Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon through various means: Harris made a significant financial contribution to the printing of the Book of Mormon;In Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005, p. 80, Richard Bushman notes: "Martin Harris mortgaged his farm for $3,000 as security in case the books did not sell." Oliver Cowdery served as a scribe, while the Whitmer family home hosted the translation, at the request of Cowdery.
On June 28, 1829,Vogel, Dan, ed., Early Mormon Documents, Signature Books, 2003, Vol. V, p. 421. Joseph Smith and the three men went into the woods near the home of Peter Whitmer Sr.Vogel, p. 9.Bushman, Richard Lyman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005, p. 78.Manuscript History, A-2:26, in Selected Collections, Vol. 1, DVD #1, MH8_29.History of the Church, 1:54. and prayed to receive a vision of the golden plates. After some time, Harris left the other three men, believing his presence had prevented the vision from occurring. The remaining three again knelt and said they soon saw a light in the air overhead and an angel holding the golden plates. Smith then went after Harris, and after praying at some length with him, Harris said he also saw the vision.Bushman, 78.
The three men provided a single written statement titled "Testimony of Three Witnesses", published at the end of the first edition of the Book of Mormon:
The testimony was moved to the beginning of the Book of Mormon in later editions, with standardized spelling.
Oliver Cowdery
Early association with Smith Oliver Cowdery was a schoolteacher and an early convert to Mormonism who served as scribe while Smith dictated the Book of Mormon.
Cowdery had been offered a teaching position in the Palmyra area in 1828. Cowdery rented a room from Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, possibly because of fellow teacher Hyrum Smith’s connection with the teacher’s committee.
In early 1829, his growing interest in the stories circulating about the golden plates led him to "deep study all day, and it had been put into [his] heart that [he] would have the privilege of writing for Joseph." Cowdery left Palmyra for Harmony, Pennsylvania in spring of 1829 to meet Joseph Smith, stopping in Fayette to meet with his long-time friend, David Whitmer. Cowdery would write several letters to Whitmer to report on the translation. He eventually requested to use the Whitmer family home to finish the translation.
Cowdery wrote down the dictation of the Book of Mormon in about three months; additionally, he would copy nearly the entire manuscript to prepare for publication later that fall.
Cowdery would later recount that he had experienced two other important visions before his Three Witness testimony; Cowdery said that he and Smith were ordained by laying of hands by John the Baptist in May 1829, after which they had baptized each other in the Susquehanna River.Messenger and Advocate (October 1834) pp. 14–16; Bushman, 74–75. Later that year, Cowdery and Smith had gone into the forest and prayed "until a glorious light encircled us, and as we arose on account of the light, three persons stood before us dressed in white, their faces beaming with glory." They identified the three persons as apostles Peter, James and John, who similarly ordained them to the Melchizedek priesthood.Charles M. Nielsen to Heber Grant, February 10, 1898, in Dan Vogel, ed., Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998) 2: 476.
Cowdery, like Joseph Smith, was also a treasure hunter who had used a divining rod in his youth . Cowdery asked questions of the rod: if it moved, the answer was yes; if not, no.Palmer, 179: "Oliver Cowdery came from a similar background. He was a treasure hunter and 'rodsman' before he met Joseph Smith in 1829. William Cowdery, his father, was associated with a treasure-seeking group in Vermont, and it is from them, one assumes that Oliver learned the art of working with a divining rod. Joseph told Oliver that he knew the 'rod of nature' Oliver used 'has told you many things.'" See Vogel EMD, 1: 599-621. Cowdery also told Smith that he had seen the golden plates in a vision before the two ever met.Palmer, 179; Dean C. Jessee, ed., The Papers of Joseph Smith: Autobiographical and Historical Writings (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1989), I: 10.
Kirtland and Missouri Shortly after the publication of the Book of Mormon, Cowdery was instrumental in the nascent church’s missionary efforts. In 1830, Cowdery and Parley P. Pratt were called to serve a mission primarily aimed at Native Americans, which expanded the church into areas like Kirtland and Jackson County. Cowdery settled in Jackson County in 1831, but moved to Kirtland after the 1833 expulsion of the Mormons from the county.
In Kirtland, he served as the editor of the church's newspaper, Messenger and Advocate, and was ordained Assistant President of the Church, a largely ceremonial role. In 1835, Cowdery was designated to serve a mission to Canada.
Split with Smith By 1838, Cowdery and Smith had a number of disagreements, including doctrinal differences about the role of faith and works,Cowdery and Smith publicly argued about the wording of what is now Doctrine and Covenants 20:37. The dispute arose partially in part because as Second Elder in the Church of Christ, Cowdery had received parts of the revelation and was part author of the D&C 20. (see Articles of the Church of Christ). Cowdery's version of the revelation was worded differently than the version that was prepared for publication in 1835. Smith's version reads: "All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church." Cowdery's version reads: "Now therefore whosoever repenteth & humbleth himself before me & desireth to be baptized in my name shall ye baptize them ... if it so be that he repenteth & is baptized in my name then shall ye receive him & shall minister unto him of my flesh & blood but if he repenteth not he shall not be numbered among my people that he may not destroy my people." The discussion of how works and faith are intertwined in the repentance process proved to be a dividing factor between Smith and Cowdery during the printing of the Book of Commandments and later the Doctrine and Covenants. Bushman, 323, 347–48. the Kirtland Safety Society,See excommunication charges against Cowdery in History of the Church, 3: 16. and what Cowdery called Smith's "dirty, nasty, filthy affair" with Fanny Alger.Brodie, 182. The Cowdery quotation is from a letter to his brother. B. H. Roberts, New Witnesses for God, 2: 308–09; Encyclopedia of Mormonism "Book of Mormon Witnesses"; Oliver Cowdery and History of the Church, 3: 14–17. Smith's growing reliance on Sidney Rigdon as his first counselorAlthough Rigdon was Smith's counselor in the First Presidency, Cowdery was still an "associate president" or "assistant president" of the church and had more authority than Rigdon. However, David Whitmer was President of the Church in Zion, and Smith led the First Presidency and was president of the church outside of Zion. It is apparent that Cowdery had a difficult time with the rising influence of Rigdon and the authority of Whitmer. Encyclopedia of Mormonism, "Cowdery, Oliver"; D. Michael Quinn, BYU Studies, 16: 193. and differences over the management of finances and land in Missouri and Kirtland.Encyclopedia of Mormonism, "Cowdery, Oliver" Nine excommunication charges were brought against him in April, but Cowdery refused to attend the disciplinary session.History of the Church 3: 16: "Wednesday, April 11, —Elder Seymour Brunson preferred the following charges against Oliver Cowdery, to the High Council at Far West: To the Bishop and Council of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I prefer the following charges against President Oliver Cowdery. "First—For persecuting the brethren by urging on vexatious law suits against them, and thus distressing the innocent. Second—For seeking to destroy the character of President Joseph Smith, Jun., by falsely insinuating that he was guilty of adultery. Third—For treating the Church with contempt by not attending meetings. Fourth—For virtually denying the faith by declaring that he would not be governed by any ecclesiastical authority or revelations whatever, in his temporal affairs. Fifth—For selling his lands in Jackson county, contrary to the revelations. Sixth--For writing and sending an insulting letter to President Thomas B. Marsh, while the latter was on the High Council, attending to the duties of his office as President of the Council, and by insulting the High Council with the contents of said letter. Seventh—For leaving his calling to which God had appointed him by revelation, for the sake of filthy lucre, and turning to the practice of law. Eighth—For disgracing the Church by being connected in the bogus business, as common report says. Ninth—For dishonestly retaining notes after they had been paid; and finally, for leaving and forsaking the cause of God, and returning to the beggarly elements of the world, and neglecting his high and holy calling, according to his profession." Cowdery also refused a high council decision that he not sell lands in Jackson County.Bushman, 323, 347–48.
After Cowdery's excommunication on April 12, 1838, he taught school, practiced law, and became involved in Ohio political affairs. He joined the Methodist church in Tiffin, Ohio. He was chosen as editor for the Democratic paper in Seneca County, a position he lost as his association with Mormonism was discovered.