Divine Authority; Or, the Question: Was Joseph Smith Sent of God? — John Shaqi
Divine Authority; Or, the Question: Was Joseph Smith Sent of God?Pratt, Orson
Religion
Divine Authority; Or, the Question: Was Joseph Smith Sent of God?
Pratt, Orson
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Doctrines; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
There is one thing connected with Joseph Smith's message which will
at once prove him to be an impostor or else a true prophet. It is a
certain promise contained in a revelation which was given through him
to the apostles of this Church in the year 1832. It reads as follows:
"Go ye into all the world, and whatsoever place ye cannot go into,
ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into all the world
unto every creature. And as I said unto mine apostles, even so I say
unto you, for you are mine apostles, even God's high priests; ye are
they whom my Father hath given me--ye are my friends; therefore, as
I said unto mine apostles, I say unto you again, that every soul who
believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of
sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost. And these signs shall follow them
that believe. In my name they shall do many wonderful works; in my name
they shall cast out devils; in my name they shall heal the sick; in
my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of
the deaf; and the tongue of the dumb shall speak; and if any man shall
administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them; and the poison of
a serpent shall not have power to harm them. * * * Verily, verily, I
say unto you, they who believe not on your words, and are not baptized
in water in my name, for the remission of their sins, that they may
receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and shall not come into my
Father's kingdom, where my Father and I am. And this revelation unto
you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon all the
world." (Doctrine and Covenants, page 86. [Sec. 84:62-75]) Here, then,
this great modern prophet has presented himself before the whole world
with a bold unequivocal promise to every soul who would believe on
his message--a promise, too, that no impostor would dare to make with
the most distant hope of success. An impostor might indeed make such
a promise to his followers, but they never would realize a fulfilment
of it. If these miraculous signs have not followed according to the
above promise, then the tens of thousands who have complied with the
conditions would know Joseph Smith to be an impostor, and with one
accord would turn away, and that would be the end of the imposition.
But the very fact that vast multitudes are annually being added to
the Church, and continue therein year after year, is a demonstrative
evidence that the promise is fulfilled--that the Holy Ghost is given,
and the miraculous signs also. Dare any other societies in all the
world make such a promise unto the believers in their respective
systems? No, they dare not; they know full well that it would be the
speedy downfall and utter overthrow of their vain, unauthorized, and
powerless religions. O, what a wide and marked difference between
the religion of Joseph Smith and that of Protestant and Catholic
religion--between his authority and that of sectarian divines! The one
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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