PURE SPECULATION:

As we know, Joseph Smith was heavily influenced by both reformed and restoration movements in 19th Century American society. He was also shaped by popular political and populists issues of his time. For fun, if Joseph Smith was revealing the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants THIS century, what would Mormonism look like: (Remember, his family would be part of the Presbyterian Church USA, and he would apply to the United Methodist Church for membership. He would also weave in 21st Century populist culture into his church).

Old Book of Mormon: "14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou? 15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins. 16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God? 17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh."

New 2016 Book of Mormon: "14 Looky there, Nephi, what do you see? 15. Like a virgin,Touched for the very first time,Like a virgin,When your heart beats Next to mine. 16 Gonna give you all my love,boy; My fear is fading fast,Been saving it all for you,'Cause only love can last. 16.You're so fine , And you're mine, Make me strong, yeah you make me bold. 17 Oh your love thawed out; Yeah, your love thawed out, What was scared and cold."

D&C 20: "38 The duty of the elders, priests, teachers, deacons, and members of the church of Christ—An apostle is an elder, and it is his calling to baptize..."

New D&C: 38 "The duty of the elders, priests, teachers, deacons, and members of the church of Christ—An apostle is an elder, and it is his OR HER calling to baptize..."

D&C 132: 15 "Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world."

New D&C 132: 15 "Therefore, if a man marry him a husband or a wife in the world, and he marry him or her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with him or her so long as he is in the world and he or she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world."

D&C 25: "11 And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church. 12 For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads."

New D&C 25: "11 And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of metal tunes, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church.12 For my soul delighteth in the song of Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax; yea, the song of the metalhead is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads."

If Joseph Smith Revealed the Gospel in the 21st Century....

He would have funded it with identity theft, stolen gift cards, psychic hotlines, freight, car and plane hijacking, and gang violence.

As opposed the way he actually did....Money digging, fortune telling, swindling, bank fraud, and counterfeiting, and mob violence.

Can you imagine??? I am having fun with it, I can see you are too!!

He would be outed for promoting his inane quackery, similar to the way people tried to In the 19th century. Today it would just be more successful.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2016 09:47AM by midwestanon.

He'd have been committed for psychiatric custody by the age of 18.
And justifiably so -- to prevent him from harming himself and others.

D&C 89-- 9 And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly. 10 And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man— 11 Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving

New D&C 89-- 9 And again, caramel frappachinos taste good but are not good for the body or belly

10 And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs and their buds God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man—

11 Every edible herb bud in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.

¿ who was Jim Jones ?



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones





in b 4 ~ 20th century ~ whatever ~

One word: Waco

61: Forget every law I have ever given you governing marriage, including the 10 Commandments. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. If you want to fuck your followers wives and teenage daughters, feel free. Disregard their solemn vows they made before Me and Man, what is more important is you spreading your seed. Forget
common human decency, its over rated. Disregard your wifes objections, after all, what are her options? Feel free to grab as much action as you can handle. After all, you are the MF'ing man!

To be honest... I think the "Plan of Salvation", "Mormon Creation", etc... would change. During Joseph's day, the theory of the universe was that it was a "stable" (no Big Bang) and no E=mc2. That's why Joseph said that this Earth was created from other world matter. That matter was eternal and the stars were fixed in their positions and movements. He did have the great epiphany that other churches and pastors were preaching that hell as eternal fire and brimstone doesn't exist. The whole Hell fire and Brimstone wasn't brought back until Billy Sunday. So the whole "rapture" of people being taken up into heaven before armegaddon and such was not taught or known. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sunday

Joseph would probably also give escape clauses to those who end up in the Telestial and Terrestrial kingdoms on progression and the chance to move up to the Celestial. It seems wrong that eternal progression would just be stopped for the majority of God's children. So he might make up some sort of reincarnation where the intelligences can either be reborn and retrained and tested on another world...or at the end of the eternity, people can move up kingdoms. Outer Darkness was just invented as a worse kind of hell for Joseph's personal enemies because he never taught that prior to Nauvoo.

Now the Word of Wisdom as written and practiced by Joseph and the Pioneers would probably be widely accepted by many, since we know that moderate use of alcohol, coffee, tea, marijuana could be used to make the spirit light and for medical purposes. Meat used sparingly and corn and high fructose corn syrup would be totally taken out of the Mormon diet.

The Adam/God theory would never be called anti-Mormon, especially after the discovery, translation of the gnostic gospels (mostly the Gospel of Judas) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5327692

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Judas

Also, Joseph would have a tendency to "Discover" or be inspired by more and more ancient writings. Yes he predicted the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph meant the Bible and The Book of Mormon; but in D&C 88: 51-141, Joseph obviously has the idea that prophets and their acts and writings are available for a Prophet, Seer and Revelator to provide even more of God's Words. He probably couldn't claim translations, but he'd probably suggest divine inspiration. Look how many people believe in "Ancient Aliens" and "The Ark of the Covenant in America" or "UFOs" and "Bigfoot". He'd pull it off.

It has been rightly observed he would have been referred to mental health professionals.

Looking back on Smith as a whole person, there is a very strong case for believing he had narcissistic personality disorder. (Actually, a similar case cxould be made for Brigham Young).

Both very dangerous individuals.