Comments on the Book of Mormon Witnesses: A Response to Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Authors

Matthew Roper, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Book of Mormon, Witnesses, Modern Church, B. H. Roberts, Brigham Young, David Whitmer, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery

Abstract

Critics of the Book of Mormon frequently claim that some of the Book of Mormon witnesses later doubted or denied their testimony of the Book of Mormon. They also claim that the activities of the Three Witnesses while out of the church cast doubt upon the reliability of their earlier written testimony. I review evidence for these claims and also discuss the issue of what may constitute a witness of the Book of Mormon and whether the witnesses ever doubted or denied their testimony of the Book of Mormon. Evidence for later disbelief in the Book of Mormon by the witnesses is unpersuasive. I detail several miscellaneous issues relating to Jerald and Sandra Tanner’s criticisms of the Book of Mormon.

BYU ScholarsArchive Citation

Roper, Matthew (1993) "Comments on the Book of Mormon Witnesses: A Response to Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 2: No. 2, Article 11.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol2/iss2/11