Difference between revisions of "Source:John Whitmer handled the plates - "Theodore Turley's Memorandums""
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:...all I know, you have published to the world that an angel did present those plates to Joseph Smith." Whitmer replied "I now say I handled those plates. there was fine engravings on both sides. I handled them." and he described how they were hung and they were ''shown to me by a supernatural power''. he acknowledged all. Turley asked him why the translation is not now true, & he said "I cannot read it, and I do not know whether it is true or not.<ref>"Theodore Turley's Memorandums," Church Archives, handwriting of Thomas Bullock, who began clerking in late 1843; cited in {{EarlyMormonDocs1|vol=5|start=241}}; see also with minor editing in {{HoC|vol=3|start=307|end=308}}</ref>
 
:...all I know, you have published to the world that an angel did present those plates to Joseph Smith." Whitmer replied "I now say I handled those plates. there was fine engravings on both sides. I handled them." and he described how they were hung and they were ''shown to me by a supernatural power''. he acknowledged all. Turley asked him why the translation is not now true, & he said "I cannot read it, and I do not know whether it is true or not.<ref>"Theodore Turley's Memorandums," Church Archives, handwriting of Thomas Bullock, who began clerking in late 1843; cited in {{EarlyMormonDocs1|vol=5|start=241}}; see also with minor editing in {{HoC|vol=3|start=307|end=308}}</ref>
  
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So, the apostate Whitmer insists that he physically handled the plates, and attests to having seen fine engraving "on both sides." The critics grasp at straws, and ignore the very clear implication that Whitmer (here a bitter enemy of Joseph Smith) claims to have actually seen and handled the plates.  The "supernatural power" citation seems to be the imposition of the interviewers' bias (it appears in none of Whitmer's first person accounts or in the Testimony of the Eight Witnesses&mdash;see further discussion in main article above).
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So, the apostate Whitmer insists that he physically handled the plates, and attests to having seen fine engraving "on both sides."
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It is also possible that Whitmer was insisting that Joseph Smith could not have showed him the plates without divine aid; this perspective is not present in any of his other statements, however.  The Three witnesses likewise insisted on the [[Book_of_Mormon_witnesses:Spiritual_or_literal|physical reality]] of their experience with the angel, despite the supernatural trappings of their witness experience.
 
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Why, then, did Whiter apostatize?  He rationalized his choice to disbelieve the ''translation'' of the Book of Mormon (despite knowing that the plates were literal and physical) thusly:
 
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:I cannot read it, and I do not know whether it is true or not.<ref>"Theodore Turley's Memorandums," Church Archives, handwriting of Thomas Bullock, who began clerking in late 1843; cited in {{EarlyMormonDocs1|vol=5|start=241}}; see also with minor editing in {{HoC|vol=3|start=307|end=308}}</ref>
 
  
 
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==Endnotes==
 
==Endnotes==
 
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Revision as of 14:57, 30 August 2014

John Whitmer handled the plates

John Whitmer said:

...all I know, you have published to the world that an angel did present those plates to Joseph Smith." Whitmer replied "I now say I handled those plates. there was fine engravings on both sides. I handled them." and he described how they were hung and they were shown to me by a supernatural power. he acknowledged all. Turley asked him why the translation is not now true, & he said "I cannot read it, and I do not know whether it is true or not.[1]

So, the apostate Whitmer insists that he physically handled the plates, and attests to having seen fine engraving "on both sides."


Endnotes

  1. ↑ "Theodore Turley's Memorandums," Church Archives, handwriting of Thomas Bullock, who began clerking in late 1843; cited in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 5:241.; see also with minor editing in Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 3:307–308. Volume 3 link
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