| ChurchBeat | | Wednesday, June 26, 2024 |
A 195-Year Look Back at the Men and Women Who Saw and Held the Plates That Became the Book of Mormon Friday, June 28, is the 195th anniversary of the day three witnesses experienced a vision of the angel Moroni with the golden plates that Joseph Smith would translate into the Book of Mormon. A new 53-minute video makes great use of the historical sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as it explores the evidence for the Book of Mormon provided by the histories of more than a dozen witnesses to the plates. The video includes reenactments of events in 1829 as well as visits to church history sites by host Scott Christopher and three scholars: Dan Peterson, an emeritus professor of Arabic Studies and producer of the 2021 feature-length film “Witnesses.” Casey Griffiths, a religious studies professor at Brigham Young University and co-host of the podcast, “Church History Matters.” Steven Harper, a BYU professor of church history and doctrine and editor-in-chief of BYU Studies. The group talks about the history on location in Palmyra and Fayette, New York; Harmony, Pennsylvania; and Kirtland, Ohio. The video was published recently by Book of Mormon Central as episode 5 of its series, “A Marvelous Work.” Book of Mormon Central is a division of Scripture Central, a non-profit organization founded in 2008 that describes its mission as “building enduring faith in Jesus Christ by illuminating the Book of Mormon and other restoration scripture, making them more accessible, defensible and comprehensible to people everywhere.” Every copy of the Book of Mormon includes “The Testimony of the Three Witnesses,” who saw the plates when Moroni appeared to them, and “The Testimony of the Eight Witnesses,” whom Joseph Smith showed the plates and who handled and held them. The group also talks about what they call unofficial or informal witnesses who saw or touched the plates, people like Josiah Stowell and Mary Whitmer and Joseph Smith’s mother and sisters. Latter-day Saint history is replete with stories of how the three witnesses separated from the church at times but were never separated from their testimonies about what they saw. “It’s interesting you can have that sense of spiritual conviction coexisting with very human slights and perceived insults and being overlooked and damaged ego, financial difficulties, that sort of thing,” Peterson says. “That can not overwhelm your witness because you maintain it, but it can separate you from the community. It can literally disfellowship you, in a way.” “The work of the witnesses isn’t to persuade or not, it’s to stand as a witness,” Harper says. “All of us have to decide, ‘What will I do with that witness?’” Christopher notes that the three witnesses all experienced tremendous challenges, but “regardless of their circumstances, none of them ever denied what they saw,” which for some of them included testifying in courts of law, under oath, about their experiences holding the plates, talking with angels and hearing God’s voice. “These are what lawyers call xwitnesses,” Christopher says, “meaning they perceived through their senses, sight, hearing, touch, the things Joseph Smith claimed to be real and true. Their testimonies, under sacred, solemn oath, corroborate Joseph’s claims. These percipient testimonies become evidence published worldwide — in fact, over 200 million times — that the Book of Mormon is true.” Here is a list of links to the first five episodes of “A Marvelous Work”: Episode 1: The Greatness of the Evidence. Episode 2: The Allegory of the Olive Tree. Episode 3: Is There A God? Episode 4: The Book of Mormon is a Literary Masterpiece. Episode 5: The Witnesses of the Book of Mormon |
FROM OUR SPONSOR UTAH SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL Save on Tickets to the Utah Shakespeare Festival 63rd Season The Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 63rd season runs June 17 through October 5 with a thrilling lineup: Henry VIII, The Winter's Tale, The Taming of The Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, The 39 Steps, and more. Save $10–use code DesNews24 at bard.org or call 800-PLAYTIX. Theatre under the stars in beautiful Cedar City awaits! |
About the Church Church leaders conducted the 2024 mission leaders seminar over the weekend. You can read summaries of the talks from the rich, annual event and see photos here. Speakers included: President Russell M. Nelson, who said “The truths of the Book of Mormon are filled with power.” President Dallin H. Oaks, who advised leaders to teach young people to use Jesus Christ as their perfect role model.” President Henry B. Eyring, who asked mission leaders to treat each missionary “as a sacred trust for whom you were personally prepared.” President Jeffrey R. Holland, who taught mission presidents how to help missionaries become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.” The church announced a new missionary training center for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The First Presidency announced the site location for the Springfield Missouri Temple and the groundbreaking date for the Santiago West Chile Temple. Ground was broken for the Ribeirão Preto Brazil Temple. Take an early look at which Latter-day Saint athletes will compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics. My colleague Trent Toone wrote a look at the history and relationship between Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). He shares a scene that happened when Nancy Cervi, a Community of Christ pastor, was removing items from the Kirtland Temple as it was being transferred to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sister Sue Grow, a Latter-day Saint missionary, embraced Cervi and wept with her. “I was deeply moved and taught,” Elder Kyle S. McKay said. “Here was Sue Grow with a historic reason to rejoice, setting it aside so that she could mourn with a dear friend whose cause to mourn was on some level Sue’s cause to rejoice. It was beautiful, even sacred.” |
Copyright © 2024 Deseret News Publishing Company, All rights reserved. |
