The Importance of Joseph Smith vs. the Bible in Mormon Church 2

05 December

Luke 21:33; “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

One might think the very words of Christ would be enough to deter people from trying joseph smith 3their hand at inventing their own version of God’s word. Today however, we’re the unfortunate witness of many who’ve rejected our dear Lord’s promise, and Joseph Smith was case in point.

Endowed with an inner longing to take God’s place on the throne, his lack of self discipline took a back seat to nothing; truth included. He went so far as to not only reject God’s holy writ, but to write himself into an ‘updated’ version of it as well.

The biggest issue when it came to what Joe Smith had done, is the discovery of most, if not all other LDS leaders who’ve placed the importance of Smith ahead of God’s word. As a reminder, we’re looking at an article the Church published, Ensign, ‘Joseph Smith: Restorer of Truth,’ December 2003.

Here’s a couple more comments from leaders of the Church, and how their love and adoration of Smith overshadowed the importance of the Bible.

Joseph F. Smith, was the 6th Mormon prophet, and son of Hyrum Smith (Joseph Smith’s brother). He wrote that when Jesus’ name is mentioned, Joseph’s name will mentioned alongside it as the one who was chosen and set apart in laying the foundation of Jesus’ church… Oh dear…

Whatever happened to Matthew 16:18 when Jesus told us the gates of hell won’t prevail against His church? Why would He need Joseph Smith’s help?

 ““The day will come—and it is not far distant, either—when the name of the Prophet Joseph Smith will be coupled with the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God, as his representative, as his agent whom he chose, ordained and set apart to lay anew the foundations of the Church of God in the world, which is indeed the Church of Jesus Christ…”

If that wasn’t bad enough, Harold B. Lee, the Church’s eleventh prophet stated the following –

“No man can accept Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, no man can accept this as His church, the Church of Jesus Christ, unless he can accept Joseph Smith as God’s mouthpiece and the restorer of His work in these latter days” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, ed. Clyde J. Williams [1996], 371).”

Now that we have a pretty good idea of where the Church places its priorities, we have a couple of questions, along with some historical data on why you can trust God’s word!

1.Why would Jesus need Joseph Smith to introduce His gospel when His own name tells the story?

2.Joseph Smith wasn’t an eyewitness to what took place when Jesus lived on earth, so how would he know what to testify of regarding Jesus?

3.Smith admitted several times to not believing God’s word, so how could he be of benefit for the gospel today?

Here are just a few of the reasons we can truth God’s word, and place more weight on it, instead of Joseph Smith. Tomorrow we’ll provide an extensive list of other reasons so be sure to check back!

Reasons Why We Know God’s Word is True: The Evidence

Manuscripts

There are over 5,000 manuscripts, and pieces of manuscripts that have been found and catalogued which match up perfectly with the Bible we have today. (God’s Word, Final, Infallible, and Forever’, pp. 39-40, Floyd McElveen.

Additionally, there are more manuscripts from the Bible than there are for ancient authors like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?

Keepin’ It Real

The fact that there’s far more biblical manuscripts than there are writings of the ancient philosophers, doesn’t mean the Bible is true. However, it’s interesting to see how naysayers will try to discredit the Bible because of its age and supposed lack of integrity in authentication    sources, yet have no problem with blindly accepting the writings of early philosophers.

Archaeological

Several  years ago I read an article in Biblical Archaeology stating that archaeological discoveries cannot prove the Bible is true. The reason for this, they said, is that only God’s Holy Spirit can convict a person’s heart to accept God’s word.

Archaeology, as they further stated, can and does provide valuable insight for believers and helps put biblical events in perspective for believers and nonbelievers alike – aka, putting names, and dates on maps. It’s probably better said that archaeology helps authenticate historical events in the Bible, which in turn builds strong reasons favoring why we can trust the Bible.

Referring to Pastor McElveen’s book again, ‘God’s Word, Final, Infallible, and Forever, on p. 23, he wrote,

‘As Paul E. Little points out in his book, Know Why You Believe, there are over 25,000 sites showing some connection with the Old Testament period located in Bible lands’.

As the pastor noted, this doesn’t include anything in the New Testament! Furthermore, while quoting other experts he also said, ‘No discovery has ever controverted anything the Bible has ever said’.

It’s safe to say archaeological discoveries continue to verify the accuracy of historical events found in our Bibles. As one author pointed out, the more they dig, the more evidence they find confirming the Bible is reliable, and can be trusted.

Tomorrow we’ll be looking at even more evidences showing why we can trust God’s word, which in turn we pray will help strengthen your walk with the Lord, and put questions into the minds of the Mormon people we care for and love so dearly.

When you have an opportunity, be sure to share these facts with a Mormon, and gently ask if their leaders have any such proof for the authenticity of Smith’s claims and calling.

With Love in Christ;

Michelle

1 Cor. 1:18

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