CONCLUSION. After carefully
examining the evidence, we have come to the conclusion that the “Defence” is probably
a spurious work, written sometime after 1887—i.e., after David Whitmer’s
pamphlet appeared. Until an original copy or a contemporary reference to it is
found, we must regard it as spurious. (Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, A
Critical Look: A Study of the Overstreet “Confession” and the Cowdery “Defence”
[Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1967], 31)
We feel that the author of the “Defence” was
probably a believer in the Book of Mormon who had become disillusioned by David
Whitmer’s pamphlet and was not sure what to believe. (Ibid., 27)
