Editing Three Witnesses (section)

{{Short description|Early members of the Latter Day Saint movement}}
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{{Book of Mormon}}

[[File:Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon Depiction by Edward Hart, October 1883.jpg|thumb|The Three Witnesses as depicted by Edward Hart, 1883: [[Oliver Cowdery]] (top), [[David Whitmer]] (left), and [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] (right)]]

The '''Three Witnesses''' is the collective name for three men connected with the early [[Latter Day Saint movement]] who stated that an [[angel]] had shown them the [[golden plates]] from which [[Joseph Smith]] translated the [[Book of Mormon]];<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=78}}</ref> they also stated that they had heard God's voice, informing them that the book had been translated by divine power. The Three are part of twelve [[Book of Mormon witnesses]], who also include Smith and the [[Eight Witnesses]].

The joint statement of the Three Witnesses—[[Oliver Cowdery]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and [[David Whitmer]]—has been printed (with a separate statement by the Eight Witnesses) in nearly every edition of the Book of Mormon since its first publication in 1830. All three men eventually broke with Smith and the church he organized, although Harris and Cowdery were eventually rebaptized into the church after Smith's death.<ref>{{cite web|last=Oaks|first=Dallin H.|title=The Witness: Martin Harris|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1999/04/the-witness-martin-harris?lang=eng|access-date=14 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Faulring|first=Scott H.|title=The Return of Oliver Cowdery|url=http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=973&index=1|work=The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarshup|access-date=14 February 2014}}</ref> Whitmer founded his own [[Church of Christ (Whitmerite)|Church of Christ]]. All three men upheld their testimony of the Book of Mormon at their deaths.<ref>{{Citation |last=Givens |first=Terryl |title=The Book of Mormon: a very short introduction |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=99}} ("the three witnesses all defected from Smith and his church, (only Whitmer permanently), though all maintained until death the truth of the affidavits.")</ref><ref>In 1838, Joseph Smith called Cowdery, Harris, and Whitmer "too mean to mention; and we had liked to have forgotten them." [[B.H. Roberts]], ed. ''[[History of the Church (Joseph Smith)|History of the Church]]'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1905), 3: 232. Technically, Whitmer resigned before the [[High council (Latter Day Saints)|High Council]] decided that he "be no longer considered a member of the Church of Christ of Latter day Saints." Ronald E. Romig, "Faithful Dissenter, Witness Apart," in [[Roger D. Launius]] and Linda Thatcher, ''Dissenting Visions: Dissenters in Mormon History'' (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, p. 36; Michael Marquardt, "David Whitmer: His Evolving Beliefs and Recollections," in ''Scattering of the Saints, Schism within Mormonism,'' eds. Newell G. Bringhurst and John C. Hamer, (Independence, MO: John Whitmer Books, 2007) p. 50.</ref>