Joseph Smith's status in LDS belief

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Contents

Criticism

Critics charge that since Joseph claimed (or it was claimed in his behalf) the right to "approve whether or not someone gets into heaven," this arrogates to a mortal a right properly reserved for God and Jesus Christ.

Source(s) of the Criticism

Response

The criticism originates with statements made by Brigham Young and Orson Hyde that are recorded in the Journal of Discourses. Statements made by these early church leaders are removed from their context in order to make it appear that a belief in Joseph Smith rather than Jesus Christ is the key to salvation.

When read in context, Brigham Young's statement and intent become clear:

Joseph Smith holds the keys of this last dispensation, and is now engaged behind the vail in the great work of the last days...no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith.... I will now tell you something that ought to comfort every man and woman on the face of the earth. Joseph Smith, junior, will again be on this earth dictating plans and calling forth his brethren to be baptized for the very characters who wish this was not so, in order to bring them into a kingdom to enjoy...he will never cease his operations, under the directions of the Son of God, until the last ones of the children of men are saved that can be, from Adam till now.... It is his mission to see that all the children of men in this last dispensation are saved, that can be, through the redemption.[1]

Clearly, Joseph's role is to function under the "direction...of the Son of God," and the primary goal is the salvation of all who will accept any degree of Christ and Joseph's witness of Him.

Similarly, critics extract the second sentence of the following quote from Brigham Young, while ignoring the sentence preceeding it (emphasis added):

I have taught for thirty years, and still teach, that he that believeth in his heart and confesseth with his mouth that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is his Prophet to this generation, is of God; and he that confesseth not that Jesus has come in the flesh and sent Joseph Smith with the fulness of the Gospel to this generation, is not of God, but is antichrist.[2]

It is not a novel idea to have mortal prophets involved in the post-mortal judgment. At the Last Supper, Jesus himself taught that:

Ye [the apostles] are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Luke 22:28-30; see also Matthew 19:28.)

A similar promise to participate in the judgment of those among whom they were called to serve was given to the twelve Nephite Disciples (see 1 Nephi 12:9-10). This principle is also reiterated in modern revelation (see D&C 29:12).

Since the Latter-day Saints accept the witness that Joseph was called as an apostle and prophet (see D&C 21:1) with the same authority as that given to Peter, James, John, and others, they do not think it strange that he will likewise play a role in judgment. The witness of a prophet will always be brought against those who did not accept his witness of Christ (see Matthew 10:40; John 5:45-47).

Conclusion

Joseph's participation in the judgment (at the command and sufferance of Jesus) is no more or less than the role assigned to the Lord's apostles at the Last Supper.

No mortal's role in the judgment supercedes the role given to Jesus, as the Book of Mormon bears witness:

...the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.(2_Ne. 9:41.)

Those who condemn Joseph on these grounds must also condemn Peter and the rest of the Twelve.

Endnotes

  1. [back]  Brigham Young, "Intelligence, etc.," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt, J.V. Long and others, (9 October 1859), Vol. 7 (London: Latter-day Saint's Book Depot, 1860), 289. off-site wiki
  2. [back]  Brigham Young, "The Kingdom of God," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt and J.V. Long, (13 July 1862), Vol. 9 (London: Latter-day Saint's Book Depot, 1862), 132. off-site wiki

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Joseph Smith, Jr. wiki articles
Joseph Smith and legal issues wiki articles
Prophecy wiki articles
First Vision wiki articles
Claims about the 1832 First Vision account
Claims about other members and the First Vision
Joseph Smith other visionary issues wiki articles
God wiki articles

FAIR web site

Joseph Smith FAIR articles
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Joseph Smith FAIR link
    • FAIR Topical Guide: Character FAIR link
    • FAIR Topical Guide: Consent for others to enter heaven? FAIR link
    • FAIR Topical Guide: Family and Background FAIR link
    • FAIR Topical Guide: Status of Joseph Smith FAIR link
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Prophets: Infallibility FAIR link
Joseph Smith other visionary issues FAIR links
  • Craig Ray, "Joseph Smith's History Confirmed," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, August 2002) FAIR link

External links

  • Stephen R. Gibson, "Can People Go To Heaven Without Joseph Smith's Consent?," One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 2005) ISBN 0882907840. off-site

Printed material

Joseph Smith, Jr. printed materials
  • Richard L. Bushman, "Joseph Smith's Family Background," in The Prophet Joseph: Essays on the Life and Mission of Joseph Smith, ed. Larry C. Porter and Susan Easton Black (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988), 1–18. ISBN 0875791778. GospeLink
  • Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Knopf, 2005), 1. ISBN 1400042704
  • Mark L. McConkie, Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Company, 2003) (print version). ISBN 978-1570089633. GospeLink (Key source)
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