Question for the mormon- Could you please tell me who is JOSEPH SMITH? is he a real prophet??

Answer 1

Who was Joseph Smith?

Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont to Joseph Smith, Sr., a struggling farmer and sometime treasure hunter who descended from an early American family of more than average means and influence. Lucy Mark Smith, Joseph's mother, was a highly mystical woman who was given to unimaginable tales of exaggeration. Lucy's father claimed experiences of divine visions from God.

At the age of 14, Joseph Smith, Jr. claimed he was visited by God the Father and Jesus Christ. In 1823, according to his account, he was visited by an angel who told him of thin golden plates containing an ancient record of God's dealings with the early American inhabitants. During this same time, Smith was enamored of the "seer stones" used in occult practices and gained some small reputation as a clairvoyant able to locate lost objects.

In 1827, Joseph Smith began translating the golden plates using what he claimed as the "gift of God." Three years later, the Book of Mormon was published. In that same year (1830), Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president. He continued to claim receipt of various prophecies and revelations, earning him the title "The Prophet" until his death in 1844 when he was arrested for treason and murdered by a mob.

Joseph Smith's writings are the foundation of Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The influences from the occult, Shakers, Quakers, Seekers, teachings of William Miller which formed the basis of the Seventh Day Adventist church, as well as Jewish cabalistic traditions and the Masonic order can all be found throughout Smith's writings. Most of these came out of the nineteenth century religious environment of western New York during his lifetime.

In 1833, ten years before Joseph Smith's death and three years after the publication of the Book of Mormon, the Smith family men were described in an affidavit signed by several prominent citizens of Manchester, New York, as "lazy, indolent, intemperate, destitute of moral character and addicted to vicious habits."

Answer 2

Joseph Smith was the first prophet in this Last Dispensation. He restored the Gospel of Christ to this earth after it had been lost with the death of the apostles. He prayed to find out what Church on the earth was true, and the Lord and His Son Jesus Christ came to him in a vision and told him that none of the churches were true. They then told him that he had been chosen to bring the true church of God back to this earth. He later received the Gold Plates, from which he translated the Book of Mormon, which is a record of Lehi and his family who left Jerusalem, as well as his descendants and their lives on this the American continents.

I believe with all my heart that he is and was a true and living prophet of God. I have prayed and have received and answer to know that this is true. There is no doubt in my mind about it.




EDIT: jeffd_57, one I know off the top of my head is when Joseph Smith prophesied of the Civil War, and exactly how it would start. Even said who would start it.

Answer 3

Joseph Smith, Jr. was the first prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born in a small farming town during a time when evangelists were on every street corner and Joseph wanted to know which of the churches were right to join. As he pondered this, he came upon a scripture in the bible in James challenging any person who lacked wisdom to ask of God and it would be given to them. He went to the woods to pray where he was visited by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. They informed him the gospel had been corrupted since the time of Jesus' death and was in need of restoration and that he would be the prophet to usher in this last dispensation.
There is much more and you can read his personal account of the vision and much more at LDS.org.
He was an ordinary man with an extraordinary task, to bring about the restoration of the fulness of the gospel. It was said of him, that his name would be know for good and bad throughout the whole world, and it is. Those of us who know the gospel is true, love him. Those who fight against the church despise him.
One thing is for sure, when he was martyred, those who killed him thought the church would cease to exist and yet it has grown to over 12 million members world wide and will continue to grow until the Second Coming of the Savior.

Answer 4

I think he is a true prophet.

http://www.lds-mormon.com/jsmith.shtml this is his biography

There is also a movie(probably would be easier to watch than to read....it's very violent) called "Praise to the Man"

Go to "Joseph Smith Jr. - The Prophet" there is a series of 5(I think) videos that are like 5-9 minutes each, and they tell the story of Joseph Smith.

Answer 5

J Smith was an imaginative and superstitious boy born of religious and superstitious parents. In his youth he searched for 'lost Spanish treasure' on various farms in New England and got the reputation of being a diviner or money-digger. Curiously right after he announced he gave up money-digging, he announce he found "gold plates" in a hill buried by an ancient Israelite hundreds of years ago. Later on Smith mentioned that, "Oh, yeah, I had a visit from God and Jesus who told me not to join any churches..." he was either 14, 16, or 18 years old at the time, depending on when he was recalling the episode. Seems he forgot that little detail initially.

He's a complex person who also had a narcissic attitude, a known penchant for story-telling, and little regard for 'truth', but he was no more a prophet than your cat.

Answer 6

The Bible says the test of a prophet is that:
(a) His prophecies are specific

(b) His prophecies all come true (100% strike rate, no failures allowed)

and

(c) His prophecies must agree with what God has previously revealed.

If Joseph Smith was a genuine prophet of God, does the LDS church have a list of his prophecies so we can check how many of them met those three conditions?

Answer 7

I am not a mormon but i can tell u he definatley wasnt a prophet and he is just someone who invented a faith and ran with it, the true prophets are listed in the bilble, king james version or the niv... read it u will see who the real prophets are and arent. like the bible says we will not bear false witness and there is no other god before me....