This is very personal for me. That being said, I also welcome comments, being in agreement, or disagreement with what I am about to write, I will not be offended.
Everything I believe can be traced back to one man. Everything I believe about God, life, my employment, the way I view my family, the standards to which I hold myself, can be traced back to one man. Joseph Smith Jr.
"Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it."
That is a very, very bold claim. And it is my intent to defend that claim in this posting.
First of all, I wish to make something very clear. I do not worship the man. My worship is reserved for my God only. Joseph Smith was nothing more, or less than His messenger. I hold a very deep reverence for the man, but he was a man just like you or me. It is through his work I am able to know my Savior and use the gift he so freely gave mankind.
Just as there can be no neutrality on whether or not Jesus is the Savior, or just a man who taught pretty things; there can be no neutrality on whether or not Joseph Smith was His messenger for our time.
When he was just 17 years old he was told by an angel "that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people."
Why? Why didn't this man simply fade into obscurity after his martyrdom? Why didn't the movement he started just fizzle out as so many had that started the same time as "Mormonism"? Why do people try so vehemently to discredit the man, as people try so vehemently to share his glorious message?
Simply put, if he's right they are wrong. It is as black and white as that. If Joseph Smith was God's messenger, then every other church is lacking the power to save souls. If he is wrong, then the LDS Church is one of the biggest cons and frauds of all time.
I have made some bold claims, I better start to back them up.
Let me start first with his claim to the power and authority to act in the name of God. Let that set in for a moment. The power and authority to act in the place of God. That's huge. Who has this power, or is it something that everyone who believes gets?
Let me illustrate this point. If I were a better person, I would keep a diary, or journal. If someone were to read this, they would learn a lot about me. They would learn what I like, what I dislike, much of my history (maybe not a bad idea that I don't keep one on second thought). Just based on the fact that someone could learn everything about me, would that authorize them to grab my check book and write checks in my name, even if they thought it would be something they thought I would approve of? No, that's ridiculous.
Let me carry this into a real world setting. God does have a journal of sorts, many would know it as the Bible. So would reading this Bible, learning it very well even, authorize me to start doing things in the name of God? No, of course not.
So here's the problem, who then, if anyone has this authority? And how does this relate to Joseph Smith?
During His mortal ministry, Jesus gave his Apostles the power to act in His name. "I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" Basically, Peter whatever you say and do, Heaven will recognize, full Power of Attorney. (Matthew 16:19) And before His Ascension "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" So, one needs the power to act in God's name to baptize.
Jesus, explicitly gave Peter this power. It wasn't something that was just assumed. This point is important, and I will return to it later. That it was His intent this pattern continue is evident in the first chapter of Acts. In this chapter, the 11 apostles are trying to figure out who God intended to replace Judas Iscariot, after his death, among the 12 apostles. After prayer, they chose a man named Matthias (Acts 1:24-26).
Shortly after, these 12 apostles realized that the Church was growing to large for just the 12 of them to manage. They then choose 7 men to assist them in managing the Church so they could dedicate themselves to preaching. And these men, too were given power to act in the name of God. The New Testament records others, like Paul and Stephen.
However, the Church continued to grow. Due to the limitations in transportation, it was difficult to keep the doctrine pure. Paul had even prophesied of a falling away of the Church. In his epistle to the Thessalonians Paul writes to calm fears that the 2nd Coming of Jesus was imminent. To them he writes "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, expect there come a falling away first..." Jesus was not to return until the Church had fallen away. And with the Church being gone, so was this authority to act in the name of God. With no authority to act in the name of God, there could be no baptisms.
Suddenly, around 90 AD the Bible ends. God had been revealing his word since the days of Adam, and suddenly stops? Or did his authority disappear as prophesied?
So if it disappeared, what claim does Joseph Smith have to any? The answer is simple, God had to restore it, or authorize people again to act in His name.
While translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and his scribe, Oliver Cowdry, came across passages about baptism and the authority needed for it. They naturally wondered about this, and decided to ask the Lord about it. On May 15, 1829 they prayed on the banks of the Susquehanna River, near Harmony Pennsylvania. In answer to their prayer, John the Baptist, the very same person who baptized Jesus Christ, only know a resurrected being, came down from Heaven and said
Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.
A few weeks later they received the Higher Priesthood (priesthood is the power to act in God's name, not necessarily a group of clergy) and the power to bestow the The Gift of the Holy Ghost or baptism by fire as referred to in the New Testament. This power was then given to others, and today, every worthy male in the Church is given this power.
So here is the black and white part. Either the events happened as he described and these beings visited him, or they did not. There is no gray. If they did, he had this authorization to act in God's name, and this power is found no other place. If he didn't, then he is a fraud.
So, how do we know this happened? After all, Jesus warns "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." However, in the next verse He states "Ye shall know them by their fruits...even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."
What fruit does Joseph Smith have? The biggest and most obvious is the Book of Mormon. If it be true, then he was God's messenger. Again, another black and white. That Book cannot be God's word and be of the devil. It is one or the other.
So how does this shape who I am or what I believe? I understand I do not have all of the answers. However, if I know that Joseph Smith was God's prophet, and restored His Church, I know that God continues to call prophets even today. I know that what I am taught is true. Some would call this blind faith, but I have put much study, much prayer to know that of what I speak, and it is not blind. I have knowingly placed my trust where it is.
The best part of this message is you do not have to take anyone's word for it. You can find out and receive your own witness. The job of the Holy Ghost is to testify of truth. You can receive your own witness, it requires study and prayer, but you can learn for yourself. If you wish to here more of my experiences with this, ask me, and I will be happy to talk one on one with anyone.
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