Hey, I’m Hannah and this is Firm Foundations.
Thanks for watching.
In this series we are learning how to discern
the truth about LDS history and doctrine.
In our last video we learned more about Oliver
Cowdery, one of the three witnesses of The
Book of Mormon.
This episode, we’ll dive into the life of
Martin Harris, another of the three witnesses.
Martin Harris was a farmer and served in the
militia during the war of 1812.
Martin’s neighbors referred to him as an
“honest but superstitious man.”
By the time Martin met Joseph Smith, he has
already joined and left several churches,
seeking answers to life’s existential questions.
After hiring Joseph Smith Sr. to construct
a cistern, Martin Harris also met Joseph Smith
Jr. Martin was impressed by Joseph’s abilities
as a seer, after Joseph used a seer stone
to locate lost items for Martin.
Martin began to help with the translation
of the gold plates.
After the first 116 pages were completed,
he pestered Joseph to allow him to show the
pages to his wife, but the pages went missing
under Martin’s care.
The work of translating was temporarily halted
by this blow, and when Joseph resumed translating,
he mainly used other scribes, especially Oliver
Cowdery.
Martin also sought to have the translation
of the plates authenticated.
At one point, Joseph wrote down characters
and their translation on a piece of paper,
and Martin took the transcription to Charles
Anton, a professor of linguistics at Columbia.
According to Martin, Professor Anton authenticated
the translation as correct to the best of
his knowledge and provided a written statement
validating the translation.
But when Martin explained the origin of the
characters and translation, Professor Anton
took the authentication certificate back and
ripped it up.
Professor Anton also wrote about this interaction,
stating that he told Martin he was a victim
of fraud.
Martin financed the publishing of The Book
of Mormon, by mortgaging his family farm.
Martin and his wife Lucy Harris dealt with
a great deal of marital conflict during this
time.
Lucy was concerned about their finances and
Martin’s association with Joseph Smith.
Lucy also claimed that Martin abused her and
had an affair with a neighbor.
These claims were not validated.
Joseph invited Martin to be one of the three
Book of Mormon witnesses.
Martin, Oliver, David and Joseph gathered
one day in the woods near Joseph’s house
and prayed for a witness of the Book of Mormon.
After a while of nothing happening, Martin
said that he was the reason the group was
not receiving revelation and left.
After that, Joseph, Oliver and David record
witnessing a vision of an angel named Moroni
appearing to them with the gold plates and
testifying of their truth and origin.
After the vision, the three men returned to
the house, but Joseph stopped when he came
upon Martin still in the woods praying.
Joseph and Martin prayed and received a similar
vision.
Several years later, Martin was part of the
group of Saints who gathered in Kirtland.
Weary of financial devastation, Martin was
suspicious of the Kirtland Safety Society
Bank, and called it a fraud.
Martin was part of a group of dissenters who
left Joseph’s church and formed their own
Church, The Church of Christ.
He left the Church of Christ in 1849 because
the Church of Christ rejected the Book of
Mormon and Martin refused to refute his testimony.
He continued to shift his loyalties between
various leaders of the reformation offshoots
of the LDS church for many years.
During this time, other former-LDS church
members claimed that Martin retracted his
witness of the Book of Mormon, this caused
some members, including apostles to leave
the church.
However, no first-hand accounts back this
claim, suggesting it could have been a rumor,
or a mis-communication of Martin’s statement
that he, “never saw the plates with his
natural eyes, only in vision or imagination.”
At the age of 87, Martin decided to return
to the LDS faith then led by Brigham Young.
He immigrated to present day Utah, where he
was rebaptized.
Martin died 3 years later, at the age of 91.
Throughout his life, Martin is frequently
quoted and often wrote himself about his testimony
of the Book of Mormon and his vision of the
angel Moroni.
Overall, Martin Harris is a fascinating man.
What interested me about his life story is
that he was constantly seeking answers and
explanations to what he felt and believed
to be true.
Martin was willing to risk everything, his
retirement, home, and marriage to do what
he believed to be right.
Living such a bold life is never easy or mistake-free,
but it is a perspective that is admirable.
Thanks for joining us!
Firm Foundations is created by me, Hannah.
We are produced and funded by the More Good
Foundation, with special thanks in this episode
to Rachel Grant.
Don’t forget to subscribe, and we’ll catch
you next time.
