Mormon Scripture – The Articles of Faith/Part 21

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The ninth Article of Faith for Mormonism declares, “We believe all that God has re­vealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” This Article of Faith says that Mormons believe in revelation from God in addition to their four books of scripture. They believe that any male member of their Church who holds the Priesthood can receive revelation for himself, his family and those under his authority. But, only the President of the LDS Church can receive revelation for the LDS Church and the world.

Mormons believe current revelation is necessary to know God’s will for today, but such revelation can also be a problem for them as it was for Joseph Smith in 1830 soon after he organized the LDS Church. At that time Hiram Page, one of the eight witnesses of the Book of Mormon, claimed he received “revelations” through a stone in the same way Smith did. When several Mormons believed him, Smith said he had another “revelation” in which the Lord said, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, no man shall be appointed to receive command­ments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun. for he receiveth them even as Moses” (Doctrine & Covenants 28:2). Later, Smith claimed the Lord said of him, “There is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and rev­elations until he be taken, if he abide in me” (Doctrine & Covenants 43:3). Most of the com­peting “revelators” stopped having revelations, but the problem did not go away entirely.

Since Mormonism began in 1830, more than 200 schisms have occurred and nearly allof them have been led by a “prophet” claiming to be God’s true revelator on the earth. EvenBrian Mitchell, who recently kidnapped Elizabeth Smart and made her his plural wife, was arenegade Mormon who claimed he was just obeying a “revelation” he received from God.

How does anyone who believes in current revelation determine whether or not a revela­tion came from God? Most of those who answer that question say that they had a certain “feeling” about it, which is very subjective.

In order to keep from having chaos, Joseph Smith limited those who could receive revelation to only himself and those who succeeded him as President of the LDS Church. But in doing that he limited revelation much more than what is found in the Bible. In both the Old and New Testaments there were often two or more prophets receiving revelation at the same time. Furthermore, no Old Testament prophet ever served as “President of the Church” like LDS Prophets do. No prophet in the Bible ever became a prophet because he was the senior member of the quorum of Twelve Apostles at the time the previous prophet died as Mormon Prophets do in the LDS Church.

The first six LDS Presidents prophesied a little, but their predictions often failed to come true! Since then, the LDS Church has had nine more “Prophets” who have not prophesied. Some have quoted or paraphrased Bible prophecies, but that doesn’t make them Prophets unless everyone else who quotes the Bible is a Prophet too! Why is the LDS President called a Prophet if he never prophesies? Isn’t his title of “Prophet” meaningless unless he prophesies at least once?

Joseph Smith and other LDS leaders sent a petition to Congress requesting redress for the loss of Mormon property during their conflicts in Missouri. It was that petition that Smith referred to on December 16, 1843 when he wrote, “I prophesied, by virtue of the holy Priesthood vested in me, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that, if Congress will not hear our petition and grant us protection they shall be broken up as a government, and God shall damn them, and there shall nothing be left of them—not even a grease spot” (Millennial Star, vol. 3, p. 116).

All of the Mormons who lost property in Missouri died more than a hundred years ago without receiving redress for their losses. Congress did not give Mormons the special protection requested in their petition. Yet, Congress was not broken up as a government and there is certainly much more than a grease spot left of Congress today!

Even though Smith prophesied in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, it did not happen as he predicted, so was he a true prophet? Joseph Smith was killed only six months after this prophecy. LDS historians copied this prophecy into the History of the Church, in vol­ume I, page 116, but they deleted everything after the word “government.” Why was part of a “revelation” deleted?

On June 15, 1901 the Salt Lake City Deseret News printed a sermon by Lorenzo Snow, the fifth LDS Prophet, in which he said, “Many of you will be living in Jackson County (MO) and there you will be assisting in building the temple; and if you will not have seen the Lord Jesus at that time, you may expect to see Him very soon.” Snow’s message was addressed to Mormons in Utah 102 years ago, but they did not move to Jackson County Missouri and build a temple. None of them are alive now, but even if they were they would not be able to help build a temple, so Snow’s prophecy was false.

The Bible is very clear about the need for prophets today. In Luke 16:16 Jesus said, “The law and the prophets were until John (the Baptist); since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.” Heb. 1:1-2 declares, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son….” Jesus also said in John 12:48, “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him (man) in the last day.” Notice: it is what Jesus has already said that will judge men, not future “revelation.”

For those who want to read more about Mormon “revelations,” we suggest chapter five in my book, Mormon Claims Answered. Next time we will continue our discussion of this subject.