Book of Mormonwitnessesspiritual eyesplatesmartin harris

Did the Witnesses Only See with “Spiritual Eyes”?

Didn’t the Book of Mormon witnesses later admit they only saw the plates in a vision, not with their real eyes?

Bible

The Bible answers

Bible · 2 Kings 6:17

KJV + NRSVUE

Elisha prays, and the young man sees the mountain full of horses. Vision is not fraud.

King James Version
And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

NRSVUE
Then Elisha prayed, ‘O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the LORD opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Book of Mormon

Also restored

The Testimony of Three Witnesses
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.

Faithful answers

FAIR

Book of Mormon witnesses and ‘spiritual eyes’

FAIR Latter-day Saints

Hostile reporters wanted ‘only a vision.’ The witnesses themselves kept signing, restating, and dying by the printed testimony. Martin Harris said he saw with the same eyes he used to see a city. David Whitmer was interviewed to death and did not recant. If eleven men will not take it back, the ‘spiritual eyes’ phrase is not the kill shot it is sold as.

The Eight hefted. The Three saw an angel. Hostile secondhand quotes do not outrun their own affidavits.

Several witnesses left the Church and still would not deny the plates.
Physical descriptions of size, weight, rings, and engravings are not ‘a dream I had.’
Luke’s Emmaus disciples had their eyes opened. That did not make Easter a metaphor.

Read the original

Keep going

Rate this answer

Be the first to tell us if this case is strong.