Posted by:
Uncle Dale
(
)
Date: February 16, 2013 02:53AM
sam Wrote:
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> "I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I
> am the only man that has ever been able to keep a
> whole church together since the days of Adam. A
> large majority of the whole have stood by me.
> Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it.
> I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The
> followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the
> Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet"
> (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol. 6, pp.
> 408-09).
I'm not entirely certain what being "a true prophet" would
necessarily entail. Probably telling the truth, even in the
face of opposition. Probably standing up for justice and
fairness. Possibly predicting the outcome of current acts,
motivations, law-breaking, etc.
I don't know that a "prophet" would have much reason to
talk a lot about himself or herself. Why a prophet would
say much about a church, I'm not informed. Perhaps to
admonish the members, or its leaders, or some such thing.
In Smith's own day there were numerous schisms and many
defections. Even the great Heber C. Kimball admitted
that by the end of 1837, Smith had lost the support and
trust of just about everybody in Kirtland. That is why
he fled that place, escaping to Missouri.
Once he reached Missouri, Smith oversaw the dissolution
of the Church leadership in that place, and soon after
became involved in difficulties that caused abandonment
of his group by the Whitmers, the Cowderys, Phelps,
Marsh, Hyde, William Smith, John Corrill, and many others.
If that demonstrates "keeping together" a church far
better than Peter did, then I'd say that Smith was not
only a narcissistic liar, but a deluded monomaniac as well.
Strange that he did not then compare himself to Moses --
whom the Bible calls the meekest man on the earth. Perhaps
Holy Joe was not quite sure how to boast of a prophetic
meekness outstripping that of Moses himself... eh?
UD