Oliver Cowdery's Testimony of the Book of Mormon and Angelic Visitation

While estranged from the Church and practicing law in Michigan (and later Ohio), Oliver Cowdery faced frequent inquiries regarding his testimony of the Book of Mormon. When a gentleman in his law office challenged him, asking if he still believed the book was true, Cowdery replied that he was 'past belief,' explaining, 'I know that it is true as well as I know that you now stand before me.' When further pressed if he still testified that he saw an angel, Cowdery affirmed, 'Yes, as certainly as I now see you.' This account, reported by Brigham Young in the Journal of Discourses, underscores Cowdery's unwavering public witness to the divine origin of the plates despite his period of separation from the Church.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, pp. 257-258):

I will tell you what I heard from the lips of Oliver Cowdery. He was in a law office in Michigan, and a gentleman came in and said, 'Mr. Cowdery, what do you think of the Book of Mormon now; do you believe that it is true?' He replied, 'No, I do not.' 'Well,' said the gentleman, 'I thought as much, and concluded you had seen your folly and resolved to renounce what you once declared to be true.' 'Sir,' was the reply, 'you mistake me, I do not believe the Book of Mormon to be true; I am past belief on that point, for I know that it is true as well as I know that you now stand before me.' 'Do you still testify that you saw an angel?' was the inquiry. 'Yes,' said he, 'as certainly as I now see you.'