Name: Uriel Jesferdil Ingod Date:

Subject: Revelation & Inspiration

Validity of Joseph Smith Inspiration & Prophetic Gift

Introduction

This position paper discusses about the validity Joseph Smith’s works in His ministry, we’ll

delve deep if Joseph Smith was truly inspired in establishing a Church (Jesus of Latter-Day

Saints) and we’ll know if His bible works are really the result of inspiration. Was Joseph truly

inspired? Or it is just some sort of delusion. In this position, we will know if Joseph Smith’s

prophetic ministry was truly valid & inspired.

Views

During a conference with a small number of believers in Fayette, New York, Joseph Smith, the

founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormon

Church), forms the Church of Christ. Smith, who was born in Vermont in 1805, said in 1823 that

he had been visited by a Christian angel named Moroni who told him about a 1,500-year-old

Hebrew manuscript. The holy text detailed the account of ancient Israelite peoples who dwelt in

America. Smith dictated an English translation of this document to his wife and other scribes

during the next six years, and The Book of Mormon was published in 1830. In the same year,

Smith established the Church of Christ in Fayette, which ultimately became known as the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Smith established LDS colonies in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois as the faith gained popularity.

However, the Christian church was fiercely chastised for its unconventional practices, like as

polygamy, and Smith and his brother were murdered in a jail cell by an anti-LDS mob in

Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. Brigham Young, Smith's successor, led an exodus of

persecuted Latter-day Saints from Nauvoo, Illinois, over the western wagon roads in quest of

religious and political liberty two years later. The first 148 LDS pioneers arrived in Utah's Great

Salt Lake Valley in July 1847. "This is the place," 1 Young proclaimed after seeing the valley,

and the pioneers began making plans for the tens of thousands of LDS migrants who would

follow them and settle there.

My Position

According to my research, Joseph Smith’s inspiration & prophetic gift for the church has not

fitted well to the identifying marks mentioned in Revelation 12 as being the true Church established

by God through the inspiration & prophetic gift. In Revelation 12:17 it is written: “And the dragon was

enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with rest of her offspring, who keep the

commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” In this segment of verses, the pretext

talks about a woman having pain in deliver a child, and then a dragon came prowling to destroy the child

and the rest of her offspring. The woman symbolizes as God’s people or the visible Church of God, and

the dragon signifies as Satan. The first identifying mark we can find in Revelation 12:17 is “The one who

keep the commandments of God” this means is that the true church is the church who recognizes the

Bible as the supreme cornerstone of Faith and belief, and also being obedient to the inspired Word of God

from cover to cover including the “Sabbath”. The second identifying mark is “The one who has the

testimony of Jesus Christ” this implies that the true church is the church who has the legitimate Spirit of

1
Prophecy, or the prophetic gift in their midst through a prophet or prophetess, additionally, being also

qualified with the principles of the testing of prophets. Joseph’s early ministry was filled with unfruitful

acts, like polygamy, and thereafter being exterminated in Carthage, Illinois due to such illegal act. This

story itself is a great objection of being the true inspired prophet of God.

Conclusion

Thus, in my researched position paper, Joseph Smith’s ministry was not valid as truly inspired

and prophetic because he and his church had not shown the identifying signs as true remnant

church of God. Besides, Joseph Smith also had not passed the “testing of prophets” for him to be

called a legitimate appointed prophet of God.

Bibliography

 Intellectual Reserve, Inc (1981). Church of Latter-day Saints, The Pearl of Great Price

 Intellectual Reserve, Inc (1981). Church of Latter-day Saints, The Book of Mormon

 Gerhard P. (1997). Biblical Research Institute, Remnant Church