O Livro de Mórmon/Testemunhas/Assinaturas em seus depoimentos

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Será que as Três e as Oito Testemunhas assinalaram seus testemunhos?

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Pergunta: Será que as três testemunhas cada adicionar sua própria assinatura ao manuscrito original do Livro de Mórmon?

David Whitmer (1878): "Yes, we each signed his own name"

According to David Whitmer, each of the Three Witnesses added their signatures to the original Book of Mormon manuscript:

In September, 1878, in company with Apostle Orson Pratt, the writer visited David Whitmer, at Richmond, Ray County, Missouri. In the presence of David. C. Whitmer, the son of Jacob, Philander Page, David J. Whitmer, son of David Whitmer, George Scheweich, Col. James W. Black, J. R. B. Van Cleave and some others, Father David Whitmer was asked if the three witnesses signed their own names to their testimony to the Book of Mormon? Father Whitmer unhesitatingly replied with emphasis:

"Yes, we each signed his own name."

"Then," said the questioner, "how is it that the names of all the witnesses are found here, (in D. W's manuscript) written in the same hand writing?"

This question seemed to startle Father Whitmer, and, after examining the signatures he replied:

"Oliver must have copied them."

"Then, where are the original documents?" was asked.

He replied, "I don't know."

David Whitmer (1885): they "were present and ordered Oliver Cowdry [sic] to sign for them"

By 1885, in an interview with James Henry Moyle, Whitmer seems to have been clearer on how his copy of the manuscript came to be:

"The witnesses did Dav not sign the original manuscript though [they] were present and ordered Oliver Cowdry to sign for them."

It is telling that this material is in an account cited by the CES Letter, but the author does not include it. A footnote which accompanies this section reads:

Moyle himself noted in his diary, "The statement that the three witnesses did not sign the manuscript but that Oliver Cowdery signed for them and at their request is doubtless true as to the copy which David Whitmer had. The writing itself indicates that. Joseph Fielding Smith, church historian, says his father said that in his interview and that of Orson Pratt, David Whitmer admitted that the three witnesses signed the original manuscript." Whitmer was unaware that two manuscript copies of the Book of Mormon had been made and that the manuscript in his possession was the second copy that Cowdery had prepared for the printer.

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Pergunta: O que aconteceu com o manuscrito original do Livro de Mórmon?

The original manuscript was placed in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House

Frederick Kessler stated that he observed Joseph Smith placing the manuscript in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House:

Further facts in relation to the manuscript of the Book of Mormon. I saw the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., hide up the above manuscript unto the Lord in the south-east corner of the Nauvoo House, Illinois. I stood within eight or ten feet of him, heard and saw what he said and did, on that important occasion, which I freely testify to all the world.

[Signed] FREDERICK KESSLER, SEN., Bishop of the Sixteenth Ward, Salt Lake City, Utah. October 12, 1878.

The contents of the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House were the following:

The corner stone of the Nauvoo House was laid by President Joseph Smith on the 2nd of October, 1841, and the following articles were deposited therein by the President, to-wit:

A Book of Mormon; a revelation given January 19, 1841; The Times and Seasons, containing the charter of the Nauvoo House; Journal of Heber C. Kimball; the memorial of Lyman Wight to the United States Senate; a book of Doctrine and Covenants, the first edition; No. 35 of the Times and Seasons; The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon; The Persecutions of the Church in the State of Missouri, published in the Times and Seasons; the Holy Bible. Silver coins as follows: one half-dollar, one quarter-dollar, two dimes, two half-dimes, and one copper coin.

Only 28 percent of the original manuscript survived

Additional photos of the fragments of the original manuscript that survived may be viewed in Dr. Royal Skousen's presentation "Restoring the Original Text of the Book of Mormon" (5 August 2010).

Royal Skousen describes what happened to the original manuscript,

28 percent of the original manuscript is extant. (In calculating this percentage, I exclude the 116 pages that were lost by Martin Harris in 1828.) In 1841 Joseph Smith placed the original manuscript in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House, a hotel being built in Nauvoo. And the manuscript lay there in the cornerstone for the next 41 years until in 1882 Lewis Bidamon, the second husband of Emma Smith’s, after her death, retrieved the manuscript. Most of it was severely damaged by water that had seeped in as well as by mold that ate away a lot of the manuscript. Bidamon gave most of the larger manuscript portions to LDS people, and so 25 of that 28 percent has ended up in the archives of the LDS Church. There is half a leaf at the University of Utah. And the equivalent of a leaf in fragments is held privately. Most important for this project has been the discovery of two percent of the text that Wilford Wood bought from Charles Bidamon, the son of Lewis Bidamon, in 1937....[Showing photos of the original manuscript] This is one of the fragments from 2 Nephi 7-8, all rolled up. First, it was unraveled, and you can see on the edges where the mold had eaten away parts of the leaf. You can also see the large water stain in the center, from water that had originally gotten into the cornerstone. After the fragment was leveled and photographed, you can see basically what it is. The text is in the hand of Oliver Cowdery; the ink was originally black and has turned brown over time.

Fragment of original manuscript of the Book of Mormon showing Helaman 15 9-14. Photographs of original manuscript as presented in Royal Skousen's presentation are courtesy of David Hawkinson and Robert Espinosa reproduced by permission of the Wilford Wood Foundation. This image was used in Sarah Petersen, "BYU professor Royal Skousen concludes his discussion on changes to the Book of Mormon original text," Deseret News (19 March 2013). off-site

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Pergunta: O que é o Livro de Mórmon "manuscrito da impressora" e por que é inteiramente na caligrafia de Oliver Cowdery?

The printer's manuscript was copied from the original manuscript by Oliver Cowdery, including the witness statements

The printer's manuscript was created by Oliver Cowdery to carry to the printer so that the original manuscript would not be lost. This second manuscript is entirely in the handwriting of Oliver Cowdery.

Most critics who make the claim that none of the witnesses signed their testimonies fail to note that one of the witnesses signatures on the printer's manuscript is genuine: that of Oliver Cowdery himself.

Critics of the Church also fail to note that David Whitmer, in fact, made a point of affirming that his testimony was true just as it was printed in the Book of Mormon.

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Witness signature page from the Printer's Manuscript. This was a copy of the original manuscript made by Oliver Cowdery in order to take pages to the printer without the risk of losing the original pages. These signatures appeared at the back of the 1830 Book of Mormon rather than the front as they do in modern editions. Image from the Joseph Smith Papers. off-site

David Whitmer (1881): "eu agora novamente afirmo a verdade de toda minha declaração (ões), tal como feita e publicada"

David Whitmer:

Eu nunca, em qualquer época, neguei aquele testemunho ou qualquer parte dele, o qual tem sido, há muito tempo publicado com esse livro como uma das três testemunhas. Aqueles que me conhecem melhor bem sabem que eu professei aquele testemunho. E para que nenhum homem seja enganado ou duvide de meu atual ponto de vista em relação ao mesmo, eu agora novamente afirmo a verdade de toda minha declaração (ões), tal como feita e publicada.

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John Whitmer (1876): "I have never heard that any one of the three or eight witnesses ever denied the testimony that they have borne to the Book as published in the first edition of the Book of Mormon"

In 1876, John Whitmer, one of the Eight Witnesses, wrote a lengthy letter to Mark Forscutt, which included the following:

Oliver Cowdery lived in Richmond, Mo., some 40 miles from here, at the time of his death. I went to see him and was with him for some days previous to his demise. I have never heard him deny the truth of his testimony of the Book of Mormon under any circumstances whatever. . . . Neither do I believe that he would have denied, at the peril of his life; so firm was he that he could not be made to deny what he has affirmed to be a divine revelation from God. . . .

I have never heard that any one of the three or eight witnesses ever denied the testimony that they have borne to the Book as published in the first edition of the Book of Mormon. There are only two of the witnesses to that book now living, to wit., David Whitmer, one of the three, and John Wh[itmer], one of the eight. Our names have gone forth to all nations, tongues and people as a divine revelation from God. And it will bring to pass the designs of God according to the declaration therein contained.

John Whitmer's character

"Mr. [John] Whitmer is considered a truthful, honest and law abiding citizen by this community, and consequently, his appointment [to preach] drew out a large audience. Mr. Whitmer stated that he had often handled the identical golden plates which Mr. Smith received from the angel...."

Pergunta: Será que as testemunhas discordam de seu testemunho tal como foi impresso no Livro de Mórmon?

As testemunhas não refutou seu testemunho no Livro de Mórmon. David Whitmer, de fato, fez questão de afirmar que o seu testemunho era verdade "tal como foi impresso no Livro de Mórmon"

A alegação de que as testemunhas, de alguma forma, não concordavam com o seu testemunho tal como foi impresso no Livro de Mórmon durante todo o período de suas vidas é absurda.

O manuscrito da impressora é uma cópia do manuscrito original do Livro de Mórmon. Esta cópia foi feita por Oliver Cowdery e levado para a impressora. Portanto, todo o documento é a letra de Oliver. O manuscrito original foi colocado na pedra fundamental do Templo de Nauvoo. Anos mais tarde, ele foi removido e encontrado em grande parte destruído por danos causados ​​pela água. Como resultado disto, nós não temos a parte do manuscrito original do Livro de Mórmon, que contém as declarações das testemunhas. Deve-se notar que na edição do Livro de Mórmon de 1830, as declarações das testemunhas foram incluídas no final do livro, em vez de na parte da frente como elas são hoje.

A maioria dos críticos que fazem a alegação de que nenhuma das testemunhas assinaram seus depoimentos deixar de notar que uma das testemunhas assinaturas em manuscrito da impressora é verdadeira: a do próprio Oliver Cowdery.

Os críticos da Igreja também deixaram de notar que David Whitmer, de fato, fez questão de afirmar que o seu testemunho era verdade "tal como foi impresso no Livro de Mórmon".

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The printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon is entirely in Oliver Cowdery's handwriting, including the witness statements

The printer's manuscript is a copy of the original Book of Mormon manuscript. This copy was made by Oliver Cowdery and taken to the printer. Therefore, the entire document is in Oliver's handwriting. The original manuscript was placed in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House. Years later, it was removed and found to have been mostly destroyed by water damage. As a result of this, we do not have the portion of the original Book of Mormon manuscript containing the witness statements. It should be noted that in the 1830 Book of Mormon, the witness statements were included at the end of the book, rather than at the front as they are today.

Pergunta: Será que as testemunhas fizeram declarações claras sobre seus testemunhos?

Vamos deixar que as Três Testemunhas falem por si sobre esta questão. Em cada caso, elas fizeram declarações que confirmam seus testemunhos perto do fim de suas vidas.

• David Whitmer afirma o seu testemunho, em 1881, tal como impresso no Livro de Mórmon, anos depois que se afastou da Igreja:

Eu nunca, em qualquer época, neguei aquele testemunho ou qualquer parte dele, o qual tem sido, há muito tempo publicado com esse livro como uma das três testemunhas.

Aqueles que me conhecem melhor bem sabem que eu professei aquele testemunho—

E para que nenhum homem seja enganado ou duvide de meu atual ponto de vista em relação ao mesmo, eu agora novamente afirmo a verdade de toda minha declaração (ões), tal como feita e publicada.

• Oliver Cowdery, em 1829, pouco depois de sua experiência como testemunha:

Era um belo e claro dia, longe de quaisquer habitantes, em uma área remota, no momento em que vimos o registro do qual se tem falado, trazido e colocado diante de nós por um anjo, envolto em gloriosa luz, [que] subiu [desceu, suponho] ao céu. Agora, se isso é trapaça humana - julgai vós.

• Oliver Cowdery, em 1848, anos depois de sair da Igreja:

Eu escrevi, com minha própria pena, todo o Livro de Mórmon (salvo algumas páginas), tal como saíram dos lábios do Profeta Joseph, tal como ele traduziu pelo dom e poder de Deus, por meio do Urim e Tumim, ou como são chamados pelo livro, os Intérpretes Sagrados. Vi com os meus olhos, e manuseei com minhas mãos, as placas de ouro de onde foi transcrito. Eu também vi com os meus olhos e manuseei com minhas mãos os Intérpretes Sagrados. Esse livro é verdadeiro.

• Martin Harris, pouco antes de sua morte:

O Livro de Mórmon não é falso. Eu sei o que eu sei. Eu vi o que vi e ouvi o que ouvi. Eu vi as placas de ouro das quais o Livro de Mórmon foi escrito. Um anjo apareceu para mim e para os outros e testemunhou a veracidade do registro, e se eu tivesse sido capaz de ter cometido perjúrio ou jurado falsamente, eu admito agora que eu poderia ter sido um homem rico, mas eu não poderia ter testemunhado diferente do que fiz e agora testifico, porque estas coisas são verdadeiras.