Questions 3&4

I finished The Book of Mormon! I reached my goal and finished before the new year, I was just too busy to post about it! Today, I'll post questions 3 and 4, then we'll finish up the last 3 throughout the week.

Question 3 Who else saw the golden plates?

In addition to Joseph Smith, several other men and women saw the plates and testified of their existence. Eleven men in particular, known as the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses, recorded their testimonies of seeing the plates and , in the case of the Eight Witnesses, of holding the plates. Their testimonies are included at the front of each copy of the Book of Mormon.

These men stand as powerful witnesses of the Book of Mormon, perhaps even more so because some of them became "for a time hotile to Joseph," affirms Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Nevertheless, they "testified to their death that they had seen an angel and had handled the plates. They have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man," they declared. "Wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true."

Question 4 Is there physical evidence that the Book of Mormon is true?

Although we don't base our faith on physical evidence, there is linguistic, historical, and archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon. For example, the idea of writing on metal plates was once ridiculed, but in recent years numerous examples of sacred writings on metal plates-some hidden in stone boxes-have been found.

Linguists have noted Book of Mormon words and phrases that sound awkward in English but make perfect sense in Hebrew and related languages that would have been known by the people of the Book of Mormon-languages young Joseph Smith did not know.

But these kinds of evidences are not what convince us of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It is a matter of faith and personal revelation.