Joseph Smith

My wife, Kendra Lindsay, wanted to discuss Ether 5 with me a few days ago. She was intrigued by Moroni’s statement after discussing the witnesses of the Book of Mormon that would be called. Rather than simply affirming that what he wrote was true, Moroni declares that his statement was made with divine authority:

“And now, if I have no authority for these things, judge ye; for ye shall know that I have authority when ye shall see me, and we shall stand before God at the last day. Amen.” (Ether 5:6)

We then reviewed this brief chapter and wondered what about it might make Moroni wish to give it special emphasis by appealing to divine authority. Here are the five verses before his statement on authority:

“1 And now I, Moroni, have written the words which were commanded me, according to my memory; and I have told you the things which I have sealed up; therefore touch them not in order that ye may translate; for that thing is forbidden you, except by and by it shall be wisdom in God.

2 And behold, ye may be privileged that ye may show the plates unto those who shall assist to bring forth this work;

3 And unto three shall they be shown by the power of God; wherefore they shall know of a surety that these things are true.

4 And in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established; and the testimony of three, and this work, in the which shall be shown forth the power of God and also his word, of which the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost bear record — and all this shall stand as a testimony against the world at the last day.

5 And if it so be that they repent and come unto the Father in the name of Jesus, they shall be received into the kingdom of God.”

Perhaps it was the command given to Joseph Smith in verse 1 that he must not work with the forbidden, sealed part of the record. Perhaps it was the sweeping importance of the Book of Mormon and the Three Witnesses, and the role of the Book of Mormon as a testimony against the world at the last day. Declarations about such sweeping, monumental issues might call for an appeal to Moroni’s role as an authorized messenger of God.

But as we read these verses, what really impressed us was the specific and very “risky” prophecy made in verses 2 and 3. Moroni prophesies that after the plates were shown to the Three Witnesses “by the power of God,” that “they shall know of a surety that these things are true.” Then verse 4 compounds the risk, going far beyond the momentary impact of their encounter with the divine, pointing rather to a lasting impact of their witness: “these things” (the reality of the sacred gold plates and the authenticity of the Book of Mormon) would “be established” and their witness “shall stand as a testimony against the world at the last day”—implying that they would make a powerful statement as witnesses that they would never retract.

While we have not yet reached “the last day,” the bold testimony of the Three Witnesses regarding their miraculous experience still stands, unrefuted and undenied, establishing the truth of the Book of Mormon. Meanwhile, the prophecy of verses 2 and 3 may be the most rapidly fulfilled prophecy in the Book of Mormon, based on the time from the dictated translation to complete fulfillment.

Ether 5 was likely dictated by Joseph around May 20, 1829, according to Edwin Watson’s detailed timeline for the translation of the Book of Mormon. The Three Witnesses event would occur at the end of June 1829, likely June 28, over a month after that translation of Ether 5 that spoke of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. The words in Ether 5 offer not just the idea that Joseph might wish to find some witnesses, but that there would be an event for three witnesses in which the unmistakable power of God that would lead to absolute “surety” that the gold plates were real and divine, and that the Book of Mormon is true.

Ridiculous, Dangerous, and Foolhardy If the Plates Were a Fraud

Imagine how utterly foolish the prophecy of Ether 5 would be if Joseph were the fraudulent author just pretending to have golden plates. Coming up with low-budget fake plates is problematic enough, but how could any conman deliver a divine experience that could fool anyone? Ensuring that the plates would be “shown by the power of God” seems to be an impossible burden, even if Joseph had access to the best stage effects available in big-city theaters of his day. The performance had to actually be life-changing, leading the intended audience to be willing to boldly declare that they knew “of a surety” that the record was true and divine, and then stick to that testimony, even though they might eventually differ with and leave the Church.

For such a difficult challenge, the only reasonable thing for a fraudster intent on staging a “miracle” of some kind would be to wait until it successfully impressed the target(s), and then slip in a prophecy about its success. If it failed, dismiss it as a joke or trial of faith and move on. But don’t make your entire project depend on a wild longshot that was just forecast in newly written scripture.  

Faced with the obvious fact that the Three Witnesses repeatedly affirmed their miraculous experience, skeptics have tried to imagine how Joseph convinced them (or at least Martin Harris) with a fraudulent miracle. Speculations on hypnotism or a bizarre hallucination whipped up by peer pressure are simply unsatisfactory and don’t fit the specifics of their accounts. One creative theory is that Sidney Rigdon played the role of the Angel Moroni, either viewed from a distance or just speaking while hidden behind a tree, perhaps using the yellowed paper pages of the Solomon Spalding Manuscript to create the appearance of gold plates. An early version of this theory was offered by William H. Whitsitt, Professor in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Kentucky, in “Sidney Rigdon, The Real Founder of Mormonism,” unpublished manuscript, 1886, p. 392:

“It is suspected that Mr. Rigdon was somewhere present in the undergrowth of the forest where the little company were assembled, and being in plain hearing of their devotions he could easily step forward at a signal from Joseph, and exhibit several of the most faded leaves of the manuscript, which from having been kept a series of years since the death of Spaulding would assume the yellow appearance that is well known in such circumstances. At a distance from the station which they occupied the writing on these yellow sheets of paper would also appear to their excited imagination in the light of engravings; Sidney was likewise very well equal to the task of uttering the assurances which Smith affirms the angel was kind enough to supply concerning the genuineness of the “plates” and the correctness of the translation.”

Have you ever seen an old yellowed newspaper in a pile of trash and cried out “We’re rich!” because it looked so much like gold?

Imagine Sidney Rigdon wrapped in bright white sheets, if such were even available, free of mortal stains or unheavenly wrinkles, hiding behind a tree, then on cue stepping forth suddenly but carefully, trying not to get his robe snagged by branches, speaking with a powerful angelic voice while waving around some paper in hopes that it might look like gold. Of course, there is the problem that stepping out from behind a tree does not quite fit the Three Witnesses’ statement that “an angel of God came down from heaven,” but maybe Rigdon jumped from a very low branch or from a stump shielded by a bush.  Then came an impressive voice trick in which Sidney, perhaps a skilled ventriloquist, had to use a different voice to make it sound as if God were speaking from above. Or was there another cast member with a resonant voice secretly hiding in the branches of a nearby tree?

This all may have been entertaining, but is there any chance you’d believe that you were experiencing the power of God? Could this lead Martin Harris and his associates to make the following statement and stick to it throughout their lives?

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record…. And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes….

Oliver Cowdery

David Whitmer

Martin Harris

Even if Joseph had access to good stage lighting and a rope and pulley system for someone to heft the angel up and down for added gravitas, making this backwoods skit seem to be divine is a bit of stretch. Indeed, there are quite a few things that could have gone wrong in performing a purely man-made “divine experience,” ranging from wardrobe malfunctions to Sidney Rigdon being recognized as a mortal on the spot or being recognized as the Angel Moroni when he joined the Saints in late 1830 (“Say, Sidney, you look a lot like an angel I once met. Any relation?”). If the goal was to convince a skeptical Martin Harris into thinking he had seen an angel, viewed engravings on plates of gold, and heard the voice of God, would there be any chance of success? Could that explain Harris’s role as a witness of the Book of Mormon, as summarized in “Martin Harris: Book of Mormon Witness” (PDF from FAIRLDS.com)?

If you were running this con, would the chances of success be so great that you would risk the entire success of your book and your entire scheme by “prophesying” about the extreme success and convincing power of the upcoming “divine experience” experiment in the dictated pages of the book before the attempt was even made? One can imagine that it might have taken quite a few tries to finally have the show go smoothly. Having it work perfectly on the first try without Martin erupting in laughter and disgust at the obvious deception would really be something of a miracle.

In fact, there’s no way of excising the miraculous from the story of the Three Witnesses: it was either a divine experience with a real angel and gold plates, or a low-budget fraud that was miraculously lucky in fulfilling a dangerous “prophecy” with life-changing impact.

A prophecy of a fake divine experience that was successfully carried out with Sidney Rigdon acting as the Angel Moroni (without real gold plates) and also speaking as the voice of God seems to require too much blind faith to accept. It’s much easier to understand that three intelligent and sincere men with good reputations really did see the gold plates and knew “of a surety” that the Book of Mormon is true. 

It’s also more reasonable to believe that the prophecies of Ether 5 were written by a prophet translating a genuine ancient work of scripture than to think that a conman unnecessarily risked his entire scheme by putting into scripture his guess that he could conjure up a fake divine experience with lasting convincing power for each of the Three Witnesses — and then pull that miracle off without a hitch. The moving statement of the Three Witnesses still stands today as powerful evidence for the Book of Mormon.