The following PDF attachment is an exploration into Joseph Smith meeting the criteria of an authentic prophet. It was originally part of my review of Joel Kramer’s anti-Mormon DVD The Bible vs. Joseph Smith. Upon the wise suggestion of Greg Smith, a fellow FAIR volunteer, I excised this portion of my review and rewrote parts of it to stand alone as a separate article. As you may discover upon reading, this article does have a sort of devotional flavor to it. But I hope that the main point behind this article is easily recognizable.
With that in mind, I offer for the reader’s consideration Joseph Smith: The Profile of a Prophet for those interested. Feel free to download and keep a copy if you wish.
A devout believer, I can’t help but wrestle a little with this list. How many of these criteria do Pres. Monson or Pres. Hinckley meet?
BH –
That is a good question that I have not been able to adequately explore. The only thing off the top of my head that Presidents Hinckley and Monson seem to not qualify for would be number 5, a prophet beginning with “thus saith the Lord”. The others are open for exploration and probing.
There is also “Biblical Keys for Discerning True and False Prophets”, for more discussion.
http://www.fairlds.org/Bible/prophettestsfv5.pdf
Kevin Christensen
Pittsburgh, PA
Kevin –
Thanks for stopping by!
I mentioned your paper in my own article, and I can also recommend it to those interested in finding out more about this subject.