Joseph Smith - Prophet
or Pretender?
One of the
biggest objections that people have with our claim that the true Church of
Jesus Christ has been restored again on the earth is they have a problem with
Joseph Smith and his claim of seeing God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. While
no one can prove what we in the LDS Church call “The First Vision” because no
one else was there to witness it, we can nonetheless look at other fruits of
Joseph Smith. The Lord Jesus Christ said:
Ye
shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth
forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth
good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall
know them. (Matthew
7:16-20)
First let’s take
a look at what Joseph said about that vision with God and Jesus Christ. At age
fourteen, Joseph and his family attended many of the religious revival meetings
that where being held at that time. Joseph indicated that the ministers of the
different churches claimed that their church was the true church. This was
confusing to the boy Joseph. He said:
While I was laboring under the extreme
difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one
day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse,
which reads: If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Never did any passage
of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did
at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of
my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person
needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I
could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of
religion of the different sects understood the same passages of
scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question
by an appeal to the Bible.
At length I came to the conclusion that I must
either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James
directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of
God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and
would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture. (Joseph Smith –
History 1:11-13)
Joseph Smith did
decide to ask God for help. He went into a grove of trees near his home and
knelt down and offered up his prayer to God. While he was praying he said he
saw a light over his head that descended gradually until it fell on him. He
then said:
When the light rested upon me I saw
two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description,
standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by
name and said, pointing to the other—This
is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (Joseph Smith –
History 1:17)
The personages
that appeared to Joseph were God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. The first
thing Joseph learned that day was that God and Jesus were two distinct
individuals and not part of a trinity that the religions of his day taught and
most still believe today. The purpose of Joseph’s prayer was to know what
church he should join. When he asked God his question, Joseph said:
I was answered that I must join none of them,
for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their
creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were
all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but
their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the
commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny
the power thereof.” (Joseph Smith –
History 1:19)
What an amazing
experience that must have been for a fourteen year old boy? Is it hard to
believe that such an experience could really have happened? If it were not for
the many scriptures in the Old and New Testaments that tell of experiences of
other prophets, some old and some very young, that had similar experiences it
would be hard to believe. The scriptures say that God is the same yesterday,
today and forever. If God appeared to prophets anciently then he could and
would do it today.
Now let’s look
at a small sampling of the fruits of the Prophet Joseph Smith. In a April 2014
General Conference address Elder Lawrence Corbridge, of the Seventy, testified
that we could know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God because of the many
revelations that he received that challenged the teachings of today. He said:
“The revelations poured out upon Joseph Smith
affirm that he was a prophet of God. Let’s just look at some of them—just look
at some of the light and truth revealed through him that shines in stark
contrast to the common beliefs of his day and ours:
• God is a personal, exalted being, an Eternal
Father. He is our Father.
• God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Ghost are separate beings.
• You are more than human. You are a child of God
the Eternal Father and may become like Him6 if
you will have faith in His Son, repent, receive ordinances, receive the Holy
Ghost, and endure to the end.
• The Church of Jesus Christ today is
fundamentally the same Church He organized during His mortal ministry, with
prophets and apostles, Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods, elders, high
priests, deacons, teachers, bishops, and the seventy, all as described in the
Bible.
• Priesthood authority was withheld from the
earth following the deaths of the Savior and His Apostles and was restored
again in our day.
• Revelation has not ceased, and the heavens are
not closed. God speaks to prophets today, and He will speak to you and me as well.
• There is more after this life than only heaven
and hell. There are degrees of glory, and it matters a great deal what we do in
this life.
• More than having a mere passive belief in
Christ, we should “look unto [Him] in every thought,” “do
all that [we do] in the name of the Son, and “always remember him and keep
his commandments … that [we] may always have his Spirit to be with [us].”
• The billions who live and die without the
gospel and the ordinances necessary for salvation are not lost. “Through the
Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and
ordinances of the Gospel,” administered for both the living and the dead.
• Everything did not begin at birth. You lived
before in the presence of God as His son or daughter and prepared for this
mortal life.
• Marriage and family are
not conventions of men until only death do us part. They are intended to be
made eternal through covenants we make with God. The family is the pattern of
heaven.”
“And this is only a part of the flood of
revelation poured out upon Joseph Smith. Where did it all come from, these
revelations which give light to darkness, clarity to doubt, and which have
inspired, blessed, and improved millions of people? Which is more likely, that
he dreamed it all up on his own or that he had the help of heaven? Do the
scriptures he produced sound like the words of man or the words of God?” (“The
Prophet Joseph Smith”, Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge, General Conference,
April 2014)
There are only
two possible answers to the question if Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, one
answer is yes and the other no. Either he was telling the truth about his first
vision with God and Jesus Christ or he was not. There is no partial truth. As
you examine the fruits of his teachings and revelations the answer is yes he
was a true Prophet of God. The other important thing to consider is if he was a
true prophet then all of his revelations and teachings are true whether we
understand or believe them or not. If Joseph Smith was a true prophet, you
cannot disregard some teaching or principle because you don’t like it or
understand it.
The same is true
about the prophet that is leading the church today. If Joseph Smith was a true
prophet and he did restore the true Church of Jesus Christ on the earth again,
then all of the prophets since are true prophets including the current Prophet,
Thomas S. Monson. What he teaches today is God’s will no matter how much the
world disagrees or others try to persuade us otherwise. There is no middle
ground. Either the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true
Gospel of Jesus Christ or it isn’t.
To the honest
seeker of truth the promise is the same as it was for the young boy Joseph
Smith, if you want to know the truth, ask God and he will give you the answer
if you ask in sincere prayer. Not only
does the promise in James 5:1 apply to use today, so also does the promise that the
Prophet Moroni gave us:
I would exhort you that ye
would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these
things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart,
with real intent, having faith in Christ, he
will manifest the truthof it unto you, by the power of the Holy
Ghost. (Moroni
10:4)
I have tested
the promise and can tell you that I know that Joseph Smith did see God the Father
and His Son Jesus Christ, that he did receive the priesthood authority to
restore the true Church of Jesus Christ again on the earth, that President
Thomas S. Monson is God’s Prophet today, that Joseph Smith translated the Book
of Mormon by the power of God and it is another witness of Jesus Christ and
that revelation continues from God to his prophets today.
Joseph Smith was
not a pretender, what he said and did are true. He was and is the prophet of
the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that Gospel and priesthood
authority is in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Your comments
and questions are welcome.
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