How do Christians know that Joseph Smith of the Mormon book is a false prophet?

Question

Is it because of what Jesus said about beware of false prophets in sheeps clothing? That you can tell them by their fruits?

How can you tell that Joseph Smith is a false prophet scripturally?

alexm, A Christian wouldn't question if Jesus was a false prophet.

Answer 1

Because he teaches that Jesus is satan's brother. His message is twisted, he is definitely a false prophet.

The Bible teaches about the testing prophets that God provided 2 main tests for Israelites to determine whether a self-proclaimed prophet was legitimate.

1st, he must represent the true God of the Hebrews; prophets who introduced false Gods were to be immediately rejected ( Deut 13:1-3 ).

2nd, they were to reject professing prophets who incorrectly foretold the future ( Deut 18:20-22 ).

They were also commanded not to add to or to take away from the revelations God had given them ( Deut 4:2, Prov 30:6 )

According to 10th LDS president Joseph Fielding Smith, "Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was on of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground"

The Bible says it is a serious offense to claim God said something when He actually did not.

Mormonism claim that the whom Christians call " Our Heavenly Father " is one God among many Gods stretching into eternity past.

The Bible teaches God has been always eternally God in Psalms 90:2.

Answer 2

God knows which is His prophets. How come no one even suggested going and asking Him? Do you Christians think he stopped answering prayers too, just as you think he stopped talking to prophets? Of course not. Your life is focused entirely around prayer. So, ask God himself. Read the Book of Mormon, and live it's commandments. Then see for yourself why Joseph Smith is a prophet.

As for that verse in Revelations about not adding or taking away, you perhaps should consider that same verse can be found in Deuteronmy 4. And that Revelations was written before a large portion of the New Testiment. And that there's a reason why it's called "The BOOK of Revelations." That's because before the Bible was compiled into what we know it to be today, every book in the Bible were separate parchements on a shelf. Revelations was one book. Each of the gospels were another. Acts was yet another book. The thought of compiling them all together didn't occure until much later in Christianity's history.

Answer 3

Jesus was a false prophet according to the Jews.

Martin Luther was a false prophet according to the Catholics.

Joseph Smith was a false prophet according to the Protestants.

Do we not see a pattern? Just because the scriptures warn us about false prophets does not mean that every person who comes after that warning is a false prophet.

You need a better argument than that.

Answer 4

Anyone who says that they are a prophet of God but lead others away from Jesus and His teachings is a false prophet ( 2 Peter 2:1 ).

Answer 5

Lex's comments are right on. In addition- there were 8 other witnesses to the Golden Plates, so there were others who saw them. If you get a copy of the Book of Mormon, in the front you will see the testimony of The three Witnesses, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris. After that there is the testimony of the Eight Witnesses. It is important to note that even though some of the witnesses left the church, none of them ever denied their testimony of the Golden Plates.

Answer 6

Because you can compare what Joseph Smith preached with what is in the Bible. It conflicts terribly. Also, when Jesus was crucified and resurrected, it eliminated the need for a go-between us and God. But in the Mormon church they have resurrected the hierarchy. We are also told that we may not add to or take away from the gospel of Jesus, but Joseph Smith added and changed a lot. All of this adds up to a false prophet.

Answer 7

Joseph Smith replaced right into a charlatan and had a court docket date and located information to teach it. He replaced right into a verifiable polygamist that still married the countless different halves of his adult men from the church that he sent away to missionary. He even "married" some 14 365 days olds, yet did not shelter them or furnish for all of them. they'd hint 34 different halves to him, and definitely the church admits he replaced right into a polygamist, so do not say he wasn't. you will locate extra at mormonhelp dot info to examine extra approximately this guy and his doctrines.

Answer 8

As others have noted, "by his fruits (words and deeds)"

J. Smith, Jr. claimed to be directly inspired by God in his "translations" and LDS scriptures he wrote.

But one directly inspired by God, claiming to be perfect in presenting God's truth to others, could not make the thousands of errors Smith made.

Among the most egregious are:

(1) claiming the 'Book of Mormon' to be from God and perfectly translated. Besides the hundreds of grammatical and spelling errors (most of which have been corrected over the years), the things written in that book of "scripture" are provably false.

The natives of the new world are provably of Mongolian descent (including "tooth-shoveling," and "Mongolian spot") and not Israelite!

The artifacts of all the great civilizations in the New World show that the inhabitants here did not know Hebrew, had a completely different number and calendar system, did not wear the traditional Israelite garb (as commanded by the law), ate foods forbidden to law-abiding Israelites, did not have the all-important olive or the holy anointing oil made from it. They did not have lamps, wheat, barley, cattle, horses, donkeys, steel weapons, plows, chariots, etc.

(2) Another book of 'Scripture' is the 'Pearl of Great Price' which includes the 'Book of Abraham.'

The 'Book of Abraham' was produced when an ancient Egyptian papyrus was obtained by Joseph Smith. He "translated" it into the 'Book of Abraham.'

Now that Egyptian hieroglyphs and hieratic writing can be translated, all Egyptologists who have examined the papyrus (or the drawings of it in the 'Book of Abraham') recognize it as a part of the Egyptian "Book of the Dead" and has absolutely nothing to do with anything Joseph Smith translated into the Book of Abraham!!

By his fruits you will know him.

Answer 9

DEUTERONOMY 13
1 "If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder which he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and cleave to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.


Note Verses 1,2 "if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams;"

If a "prophet" says to go after "other gods" then we are not to listen to him. Mormonism says that there could be millions of gods, but the bible says there is only 1 God.

This is one of many things. The best way to prove that Joseph Smith is a false prophet is to simply compare his writings to the bible. He says "thus says the lord" so as to speak for the Lord. There are many resources online that do just that. If someone is REALLY speaking for GOD, then every word should hold up perfectly under intense examination. If not, then that person is not a prophet, nor is he speaking for God. The bible says God Can Not Lie. (Titus 1:2)

These are just a few examples. Check out the website below.

Answer 10

It isn't about scripture. It's about credibility. As I understand it, no one has ever seen the golden tablets, and there is no evidence other than those very possibly fictional tablets to suggest anything in the Book of Mormon is true. If you have faith in it in spite of a remarkable dearth of evidence, that doesn't mean others have the burden of proof to tell you it is not true. If you want to convince others that it is true, the burden of proof is on you. But we'll go easy on you and accept the civil law standard of "more likely than not" or "preponderance of evidence" and not hold you to the criminal law standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt."

Even though, come to think of it, fraud is a criminal offense. The statute of limitations has run out on Smith's fraud.