![FairMormon Logo](https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021_fair_logo_primary.png)
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
(Created page with "{{FME-Source |title=Question: Is someone unreliable because they practiced "treasure hunting" and believed in the use of see stones to find lost objects? |category=Book of Mor...") |
(→Question: Is someone unreliable because they practiced "treasure hunting" and believed in the use of see stones to find lost objects?) |
||
Line 18: | Line 18: | ||
How exactly does the belief that one can locate buried treasure by means of a seer stone speak to one's character or honesty? | How exactly does the belief that one can locate buried treasure by means of a seer stone speak to one's character or honesty? | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===All Three Witnesses left the Church after disagreements with Joseph Smith, yet they never denied having seen the plates and the angel=== | ||
+ | |||
+ | One must also consider this: The Three Witnesses all left the Church after serious disagreements with Joseph Smith, and yet never denied that they had seen the plates and the angel, even near the end of their lives. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The fact that three different men allowed their name to be printed below a statement saying that they saw an angel, and then continued to affirm that they had seen the angel in public statements (some of them even published in newspapers) until the end of their lives, tends to tip the scale more toward "it really happened" than "it didn't happen." That's the ''point'' of a signed statement after all. | ||
</onlyinclude> | </onlyinclude> | ||
{{endnotes sources}} | {{endnotes sources}} |
Some of Joseph Smith's associates practiced "treasure hunting" and believed in the use of seer stones to locate lost objects. Some claim that many of these individuals believed in "second sight." Do these characteristics make these men unreliable witnesses?
Those who accuse people of being unreliable witnesses because they believed in "treasure hunting" or "second sight" are employing what is known as a "ad hominem" attack on the witnesses' character. The term "ad hominem" is defined, according to Merriam-Webster, as:
One can see that this accusation applies both of these definitions:
How exactly does the belief that one can locate buried treasure by means of a seer stone speak to one's character or honesty?
One must also consider this: The Three Witnesses all left the Church after serious disagreements with Joseph Smith, and yet never denied that they had seen the plates and the angel, even near the end of their lives.
The fact that three different men allowed their name to be printed below a statement saying that they saw an angel, and then continued to affirm that they had seen the angel in public statements (some of them even published in newspapers) until the end of their lives, tends to tip the scale more toward "it really happened" than "it didn't happen." That's the point of a signed statement after all.
Notes
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We are a volunteer organization. We invite you to give back.
Donate Now