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Question: Did David Whitmer believe his witness experience was "only a vision"?
- REDIRECTTemplate:Test3
Question: Did David Whitmer believe his witness experience was "only a vision"?
Zenos H. Gurley reported an interview in which David Whitmer described his witness of the plates as occurring “in the holy vision.”
Some have attempted to make this an admission that the experience was not “literal” because there was a visionary aspect to it.
A more complete look at the text lets us discern Whitmer’s meaning:
1[Q] — Do you know that the plates seen with the Angel on the table) were real metal, did you touch them?Ans We did not touch nor handle the plates 2 Q — Was the table literal wood? Or was the whole a vision such as often occurs in dreams &c.
Ans—The table had the appearance of literal wood as shown in the vision, in the glory of God.[1]
Whitmer makes the distinction clear—this is not “as often occurs in dreams,” things have the literal appearance. This does not mean, however, that it was not also a “vision,” however, since they were “in the glory of God.”
This corresponds closely to the description offered by Whitmer in other interviews
Notes
- ↑ Zenas H. Gurley, 14 January 1885; in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols.