Are Mormons Christians?
Was Joseph Smith a Prophet of God?
By Douglas K. Hollen
Recently,
I asked a Mormon young man this question, “Would you agree that if Joseph Smith
is a true prophet we should heed every word he said?”
“Yes,”
was his reply, without hesitation.
I
then asked, “If he was a false prophet, we should run from his teaching,
correct?”
Again,
“Yes,” was his reply.
So
the question is, was Joseph Smith a true prophet?
What I find most interesting is the biblical test for a prophet and
the Mormon test for a prophet are very similar.
The biblical test we find in Deuteronomy
18:18-
|
22: “I will
raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and
will put my words in his mouth; and he shallspeak unto them all
that I shall command him. And
it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words
which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, which
shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded
him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that
prophet shall die. And if thou
say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath
not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which
the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:
thou shalt not be afraid of him.”
The Mormon test is outlined here from excerpts from three addresses
by President Wilford Woodruff regarding the Manifesto:
“The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as
President of this Church to lead you astray.
It is not in the programme.
It is not in the mind of God.
If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my
place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children
of men astray from the oracles of God |
 Joseph Smith |
“It matters not who lives or who dies, or who is called to lead
this Church, they have got to lead it by the inspiration of Almighty God. If they do not do it that way, they cannot do
it at all…” This can also can be found
in Journal of Discourses; No. 19, Vol. 1X p. 289.
The
biblical test is simple: Does the
prophecy come true, or not? That which
is of the Lord will come true. The
Mormon test is also simple: God will not
let your leader lead you astray. If they
were to try, He will sweep them from the earth.
Simply put – Does the prophecy come true?
To
answer our question, “Was Joseph Smith a true prophet?” we need to see if there
are any prophecies that did not come true. For the sake of time and space,
let’s take a look at just one example outlined in Doctrine and Covenants
(D&C) 84:1-5.
“A revelation of Jesus Christ unto his servant Joseph Smith, Jun.,
and six elders, as they united their hearts and lifted their voices on high. Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his
church, established in the last days for the restoration of his people, as he
has spoken by the mouth of his prophets, and for the gathering of his saints to
stand upon Mount Zion, which shall be the city of New Jerusalem. Which city shall be built, beginning at the
temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western
boundaries of the State of Missouri, and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith,
Jun., and others with whom the Lord was well pleased. Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the
gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple,
which temple shall be reared in this generation. For verily this generation shall not all pass
away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon
it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the
house.”
This
prophecy is that the New Jerusalem will be built by the Mormon people in
Independence, Missouri; and there they will build a temple. More importantly, this temple would be built
in Joseph Smith’s generation. The
Mormons would also teach this is the place of the Garden of Eden and this is
where Christ will return at the Second Coming; but those are both for another
day and time. Let’s get back to the
temple in Independence.
Last
Fall, I took a trip to Independence, Missouri to see
this great temple. Guess what I
saw? A cornerstone and
a grassy lot. After inquiring
about Joseph Smith’s temple and asking what happened to it, I was informed it
was never built. My next question was, “Why?”
The
Mormon story is that the Missouri settlers were jealous of the Mormons’ success
and drove them out of Missouri. This is
about the same time Joseph Smith decided to move to Nauvoo and build a temple
there instead.
Another
version of the story is the Mormon people, who believe they are direct
descendents of the Jews, entered into Missouri similarly to the way the Jews
entered Canaan, to claim their “Promised Land.”
The Christian settlers did not take kindly to this idea and drove them
out!
Whichever
story you choose to follow, the result is still the same. There was never a temple built in the place
Joseph Smith prophesied one would be built in
his generation. This leaves one
wondering. Was God wrong? Did God not understand that the Mormons would
not be able to build a temple in Independence, Missouri? Did Joseph Smith die before God was done with
him?
A
“yes” answer would imply that God is not all-powerful, or all-knowing. As a Christian, I cannot go there, so the
alternative conclusion is Joseph Smith was a false prophet. Based on the Mormon standard set by Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President, Prophet and Seer of
the Mormon church, the Lord “removed” him. More importantly, Joseph Smith fails the
biblical standard set in Deuteronomy
18:18-22. If the Lord removed Joseph Smith; or based on verse 22, if Joseph
Smith is to be disregarded, then everything he ever said, or did is a lie.
Now, back to your Mormon friend. If Joseph Smith is a false prophet, what
should you do? Run! You should run from the Mormon Church, and
run back to God. You will find Him in
the Bible (and only in the Bible!)
Witnessing Point: Allow your
Mormon friends to build Joseph Smith up as a prophet. The more they praise him, the greater the
impact. You see, the whole of the Mormon
Church rests on the shoulders of Joseph Smith.
That’s okay, because when you test him as a prophet and he fails, the
whole of the Mormon Church crumbles before them.
Then
take them to the Scriptures and explain how the Bible was written over a span of 1500 years by dozens of men
inspired by God. It is totally reliable
and has been preserved through the ages.
We can have total confidence that the Bible does not contradict itself, nor teach error in any way. It contains hundreds of prophecies of the
Messiah and Jesus Christ fulfilled every last one of them. The Bible
is the inerrant Word of God and in it you will find the truth: “All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness:….” (II Timothy 3:16)
Once
you have established Scripture as the authoritative Word of God, use it to show
them the loving truth of the Gospel that your Mormon friend might meet Jesus
and enter into a personal relationship with Him.
Douglas K. Hollen
is a financial consultant and is attending Midwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary. God is in the process of using
Doug’s investment planning business to support and underwrite his “eternity
planning” business – serving our Lord…building His kingdom…taking the Gospel of
Christ to the front lines. He is available to speak at your church or small Bible study group about the dangers of
Mormonism. Please contact him at (314)
691-5418 for scheduling.