The Truth According to the Mormon church

MODERN DAY MORMON PROPHETS

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints places unconditional trust and employs valued reverence to its leaders, beginning with Joseph Smith.  John Taylor, a member of the Council of the Twelve, wrote,

“Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.  In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instruction for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain.  He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum.  In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated” (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3)!

The following citations can be seen displayed at Temple Square on various plaques throughout its visitor center: We revere Joseph Smith as a prophet who testified of Jesus Christ and taught us to worship Christ as our Savior…Just as prophets before him, Joseph Smith and his successors received revelation from the Lord that became scripture.  Some of these revelations are found in two books of modern-day scripture called the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.  These books of scripture show us that God continues to give revelation to guide His children…Just as in Bible times, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led today by living prophets and apostles.  They receive revelation from God, perform His work, and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ…God continues to call prophets.  God continues to guide followers of Jesus Christ in our day through modern-day prophets.  The Lord chose Joseph Smith to be a prophet and revealed to him the plan for His children.  Like Moses, Isaiah, and other biblical prophets, Joseph Smith also saw God and was called by Him to preach His word. Should a member of the Mormon Church do their honest research, such words of praise would surely never be used to describe the real Joseph Smith.  He was recorded as being a money digger (treasure hunter) and a troublemaker, he had pending lawsuits and warrants for his arrest because of swindling, and he was arrested and tried for his disorderly conduct by the state of New York.  Peter Ingersoll, a close acquaintance of Joseph Smith, appeared before Judge Thomas P. Baldwin of Wayne Country Court in Palmyra, Wayne County, New York on December 9, 1833.  He testified in a sworn affidavit and affirmed under oath: One day he [Joseph Smith] came and greeted me with a joyful countenance. Upon asking the cause of his unusual happiness, he replied in the following language, ”As I was passing, yesterday, across the woods, after a heavy shower of rain, I found, in a hollow, some beautiful white sand, that had been washed up by the water. I took off my frock, and tied up several quarts of it, and then went home. On my entering the house, I found the family at the table eating dinner. They were all anxious to know the contents of my frock. At that moment, I happened to think of what I had heard about a history found in Canada, called the golden Bible; so I very gravely told them it was the golden Bible. To my surprise, they were credulous enough to believe what I said. Accordingly I told them that I had received a commandment to let no one see it, for, says I, no man can see it with the naked eye and live. However, I offered to take out the book and show it to them, but they refuse to see it, and left the room.” Now, said Joe, ”I have got the damned fools fixed, and will carry out the fun.” Notwithstanding, he told me he had no such book and believed there never was any such book, yet, he told me that he actually went to Willard Chase, to get him to make a chest, in which he might deposit his golden Bible. But, as Chase would not do it, he made a box himself, of clapboards, and put it into a pillow case, and allowed people only to lift it, and feel of it through the case. (Ingersoll) Eventually Joseph and his brother Hyrum ended up in jail in Carthage, Illinois.  On June 27, 1844 an angry mob stormed where they were held and murdered both of them.  It is difficult to convince those grounded in their Mormon beliefs of accepting Smith’s controversial past.  Most of them consider it as merely propaganda.  Instead they choose to believe an edited history. Through the years Mormons have appointed different Prophets.  Each generation has one who speaks for the Mormon Church.  When he dies, another is chosen to take his place.  He is recognized as the Prophet over the whole earth.  He is the only one “authorized” to speak for God to all God’s people.  He is viewed the same as the prophets that can be found in the Bible.  Those who assist him are called the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve, also known as modern day apostles.  When there is not a prophet on the earth, the Mormon Church calls it an apostasy.  It is a time of darkness, and God must call a prophet to restore His church.  Joseph Smith was called just like Moses was called. In order to determine whether there are prophets living today it is imperative to evaluate the purpose of a prophet and if any more revelations from God are needed today.  Moses writes, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him” (Deut. 18:18-19).  Obviously back then people needed prophets to reveal God’s message, as God spoke through them.  Hosea writes, “I have also spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witnesses of the prophets” (Hos. 12:10, NKJV).  God used Prophets to guide His people in the right direction.  A Prophet was a forthteller and foreteller.  They prophesied during the time of the old covenant, as well as in the first century under the new covenant. Prophecy was a miracle, and its purpose was to confirm the word (Heb. 2:1-4).  Under New Testament, the apostles had the ability given by God to lay hands on people in order to impart a miraculous gift.  Miracles such as prophecy are like scaffolding to a building.  Once the building is complete, there is no more need for scaffolding.  Such was the case with prophets (Cates 27-29).  Paul talked about wanting the best gifts (1 Cor. 12:31).  However, there was coming a time when all of it would end.  Paul wrote, “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Cor. 13:8).  Notice that prophecy would fail.  Tongues would cease.  A supernatural type of knowledge would vanish away.  The only thing still in effect would be love.  Paul continued, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away” (1 Cor. 13:9-10).  That which is “in part” refers to the sharing of imperfect knowledge and includes prophecy, tongues, and miraculous knowledge.  That which is “in part” will be done away.  It would be the end of the miraculous gifts.  Why?  It is because they would no longer be needed.  It does not mean that they only had part of the truth.  If that were the case, then when the “perfect” came then part of the truth would be done away.  What was “done away” was the “in part” system of delivering truth.  The “perfect” (complete) word of God would be revealed and completely delivered.  The “perfect” in this text is not the Christ, as Christ had already come and ascended back to heaven.  Paul said that there would not always be a need for prophets.  He then offered an analogy: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11).  He put away childish things as the church would put away the needs of a prophet and miraculous gifts.  “For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12). The apostles were walking New Testaments.  When power from the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost, they were brought to know “all things” (Joh. 14:26; cf 2 Pet. 1:3).   They had the knowledge, even though they did not fully understand it all yet [for instance, Peter said that the promise was for “all that are afar off” (i.e. Gentiles, cf. Act. 2:39), but it was a matter of years before the early Christians comprehended this fact (Act. 10)].  God gave the knowledge to mankind, but there was only so much that the apostles could share at any one time.  Consider that a teacher cannot teach everything that he knows on a subject in a given day, week, or semester.  Likewise it took time for all of the information that God shared with the apostles to be shared and applied, which was done against the backdrop of first century events which the church faced.  That which was “in part” was not the information being shared, but the method of delivery and distribution.  That which was “perfect” was the method of delivery that would endure through the ages: the written Word of God By the time Jude wrote that Christians must “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3), the faith had been delivered.  It was complete.  There was no room for any other doctrine, including Mormonism, to be integrated with it.  The time of the last person living able to prophesy was at the end.  There were no apostles after that to impart any more.  The world had what it needed to live faithfully.  Anything beyond that would be nothing more than recycled principles. Joseph Fielding Smith (Joseph Smith, Jr.’s nephew) wrote, “Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith.  He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen.  There is no middle ground” (J. F. Smith).  How close he was to the truth, as Biblical research along with secular evidence and testimonies would corroborate the latter part of his statement. The Mormon system of faith is a maze of principles and guidelines.  Their books contain many commandments on which a Mormon’s hope to reach the Celestial Kingdom (the highest level of their depiction of Heaven) is contingent.  Among these are some unique doctrines, which if proven unsound, would begin to unravel their religious tapestry.