#5 Zenas Gurley Quote

This quote is from a copy: "Questions asked of David Whitmer at his home in Richmond[,] Ray County[,] Mo--Jan 14--1885. relating to Book of Mormon, and the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of L.D.S. by Elder Z[enas] H. Gurley," Zenas Gurley Collection, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.  The CES Letter excerpt is in red:

Question:         Do you know that the plates seen with the Angel on the table were real metal, did you touch them?

Answer:           We did not touch nor handle the plates

Question:         Was the table literal wood? Or was the whole a vision such as often occurs in dreams &c.

Answer:           The table had the appearance of literal wood as shown in the vision, in the glory of God.

All three witnesses agree that the plates were shown to them in a vision that was presented by an angel during the daytime. 

Oliver Cowdery described it: “It was a clear, open beautiful day, far from any inhabitants, in a remote field, at the time we saw the record, of which it has been spoken, brought and laid before us, by an angel, arrayed in glorious light, ascend out of the midst of heaven.”

David Whitmer testified many times of what he experienced:

I saw this apparition [the angel] myself and gazed with awe on the celestial messenger and heard him say, "Blessed is the Lord and he that keeps his commandments." Then, as he held the plates and turned them over with his hands so that we could see them plainly, a voice that seemed to fill all space was heard, saying: 'What you see is true. Testify to the same." Oliver Cowdery and I, standing there, felt, as the white garments of the angel faded from view, that we had received a message from God, and we have so recorded it. Two or three days later the same angel appeared to Martin Harris while he was in company with [Joseph] Smith, and placed the same injunction upon him. He described the sight and his sensations to me, and they corresponded exactly with what I had seen and heard.^[66]

Oliver Cowdery described it: “It was a clear, open beautiful day, far from any inhabitants, in a remote field, at the time we saw the record, of which it has been spoken, brought and laid before us, by an angel, arrayed in glorious light, ascend out of the midst of heaven.”

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.”

68 separate references to the testimonies of the Three witnesses have been accumulated. There are no denials but there are six denials that they ever denied their testimonies. Click here.

This is an example of one of the more egregious misrepresentations in The CES Letter. It quotes a few statements from 9 of the 68 accounts and ignores the rest. Virtually all of them affirm that the Three Witnesses did see and angel and the plates. Click here.