[Paragon Defender]

You thought you had to have faith in Joseph Smith? You didn’t pay very close attention in church then. Perhaps you should discuss this with your home teachers.

You aren’t the first person to be misled away.

[reaganaut]

Actually he probably did pay close attention. I was taught that as well, ironically BY my home teachers and there are plenty of LDS leadership quotes to back that up. I will let elsie post the quotes...

A testimony of Joseph Smith is required for Mormonism, that means faith in him.

[ejonesie22]

So how does that work exactly, not having to have faith in Smith. If he is a liar then the whole of Mormonism falls like a shoddy house of cards...

(oh wait...)

[SZonian]

If you have “faith” that JS was a prophet, then all that he and subsequent prophets claim will be perceived and interpreted as true. His testimony and the first vision account(s) are based upon JS’s truthfulness. The entire religion is based upon this.

If you don’t have “faith” in JS, then the opposite is true.

Mormons believe (have faith) that JS was a prophet, ergo, their faith is built upon JS.

Once I learned that JS did not meet the biblical criteria for a prophet and most especially, when I learned that men can become gods, my faith in mormonism crumbled.

How can one continue to believe in tenets of a faith, if the founder of the faith was not credible?

And as far as home teachers are concerned, they only read the latest article in the Ensign designated for home teaching (The 1st Presidency message) and then offer some commentary on how it applies to them. That’s all they’ve ever done.

I have faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible. The only things I should have faith in.

[Vendome]

I am under that impression and that you will have a passport that Joseph Smith will inspect to determine if you are worthy to enter heaven.

[Elsie]

 

You thought you had to have faith in Joseph Smith? You didn’t pay very close attention in church then. Perhaps you should discuss this with your home teachers.

You aren’t the first person to be misled away.Indeed!  we agree on something!

 

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"He (Joseph Smith) is the man through whom God has spoken... yet I would not like to call him a savior, though in a certain capacity he was a god to us, and is to the nations of the earth, and will continue to be."

 - Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:321

 

 

"You call us fools; but the day will be, gentlemen and ladies, whether you belong to this Church or not, when you will prize brother Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the Living God, and look upon him as a god..."

- Herber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 5:88

 

 

"If we get our salvation, we shall have to pass by him [Joseph Smith]; if we enter our glory, it will be through the authority he has received. We cannot get around him [Joseph Smith]"

- (as quoted in 1988 Melchizedek Priesthood Study Guide, p. 142)

 

 

There is "no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth...no man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God"

- Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p.190

 

 

"I tell you, Joseph holds the keys, and none of us can get into the celestial kingdom without passing by him. We have not got rid of him, but he stands there as the sentinel, holding the keys of the kingdom of God; and there are many of them beside him. I tell you, if we get past those who have mingled with us, and know us best, and have a right to know us best, probably we can pass all other sentinels as far as it is necessary, or as far as we may desire. But I tell you, the pinch will be with those that have mingled with us, stood next to us, weighed our spirits, tried us, and proven us: there will be a pinch, in my view, to get past them. The others, perhaps, will say, If brother Joseph is satisfied with you, you may pass. If it is all right with him, it is all right with me. Then if Joseph shall say to a man, or if brother Brigham say to a man, I forgive you your sins, "Whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them;" if you who have suffered and felt the weight of transgression—if you have generosity enough to forgive the sinner, I will forgive him: you cannot have more generosity than I have. I have given you power to forgive sins, and when the Lord gives a gift, he does not take it back again."

 - Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p.154-155

 

 

 

"It is because the Lord called Joseph Smith that salvation is again available to mortal men.... If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation,"

 - Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 396, 670

 

 

[Elsie]

 

You thought you had to have faith in Joseph Smith? You didn’t pay very close attention in church then.

For starters; but that was then; and this is NOW!

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from the mouth of a late Prophet of MORMONism:

 

In conclusion let us summarize this grand key, these “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet”, for our salvation depends on them.

1. The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.
2. The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works.
3. The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.
4. The prophet will never lead the church astray.
5. The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.
6. The prophet does not have to say “Thus Saith the Lord,” to give us scripture.
7. The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.
8. The prophet is not limited by men’s reasoning.
9. The prophet can receive revelation on any matter, temporal or spiritual.
10. The prophet may advise on civic matters.
11. The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.
12. The prophet will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.
13. The prophet and his counselors make up the First Presidency—the highest quorum in the Church.
14. The prophet and the presidency—the living prophet and the First Presidency—follow them and be blessed—reject them and suffer.

I testify that these fourteen fundamentals in following the living prophet are true. If we want to know how well we stand with the Lord then let us ask ourselves how well we stand with His mortal captain—how close do our lives harmonize with the Lord’s anointed—the living Prophet—President of the Church, and with the Quorum of the First Presidency.

Ezra Taft Benson

(Address given Tuesday, February 26, 1980 at Brigham Young University)