Martin Harris had a series of experiences which led him to fund the Book of Mormon. One experience was meeting Charles Anton and showing him the characters from the gold plates. While there are conflicting accounts as to what happened, we know that Martin Harris came away convinced:
According to Martin Harris, Joseph Smith copied some of the Book of Mormon characters and Martin took them to New York. There he met with Charles Anthon, who certified to him that they were correct. Completely reassured, Harris returned to Harmony, told his friends about it, and later mortgaged his property to finance the publication of the Book of Mormon. This is very early concrete evidence that Martin Harris’s version of his meeting with Anthon is accurate and that Anthon’s later retraction was an attempt to save face, if not an act of downright dishonesty.
– Robert F. Smith, Gordon C. Thomasson, and John W. Welch, “What Did Charles Anthon Really Say?,” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1992), Chapter 19
Why would Martin Harris agree to fund the Book of Mormon after his experience with Charles Anton? What happened to make him more convinced the book was true?
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