Was Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, a complete fraud and licentious criminal, a brilliant but uninspired leader, or the real thing?
There are some who, in an attempt to tear down the LDS Church, point to the shortcomings and faults of those who manage the Church, particularly the prophets and apostles. Their reasoning seems to be that the true church of God must be run by perfect or near perfect men. I can accept this logic … Read more
One of the older criticisms of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith is that the Book of Mormon was plagiarized, or at least inspired, by the 1825 book View of the Hebrews by Ethan Smith…hey, they’ve even both got the last name! One more suspicious circumstance… From Wikipedia: View of the Hebrews is an 1823 … Read more
This question was recently put to me by a reader DMT on this website: In 2 Nephi 3:24 it reads: “And there shall rise up one mighty among them”.. The Book of Mormon today has in the footnote for this verse “Joseph Smith” as being the one who will rise up, however, earlier versions of … Read more
There’s an interesting story in the Deseret News entitled A simple explanation works best for the Restoration. I’ve included the first bit here, but read it in its entirety and let me know what you think. We left off last week with the notion that the Book of Mormon was plagiarized from a manuscript written … Read more
In responding to comments on another post I did quite a bit of research on the question of whether Mormons worship Joseph Smith, so I thought it was worthy of it’s own post. The question seems to arise due to the amount of praise and attention heaped on Joseph Smith by Mormons. I won’t deny … Read more
This question is sparked in response to a statement from Church President Brigham Young, who said “that no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of … Read more
Many have interpreted Matthew 7:15 which read “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” as applying to Joseph Smith, the alleged “prophet” of the Mormons. This scripture is often coupled with others mentioning false prophets, such as: Mark 13:22 – For false Christs and false … Read more
Critics say the Book of Mormon is not the word of God, that it is a fraud and false. So then what is your explanation for the existence of the book? It must have come from somewhere. Joseph Smith had an elementary school education and wasn’t known for having great writing skills. Did he write … Read more
Prophet prophesy, right? So if Joseph Smith were a real prophet, couldn’t we verify that by looking at his prophecies and seeing if they came true. Well yes, you can. However, far be it from me to do the research when somebody else already has, which is why I’ll refer you to Jeff Lindsay’s Fulfilled … Read more
Q: There are the many false prophecies of Joseph Smith. A: Which prophecies of Joseph Smith are you referring to as false? I can argue specifics but not general statements. Q: Joseph Smith said “that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and … Read more