When Joseph Smith was a young man he was
told by an angel that his 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. And it's true. When you claim
that angels talk to you, that's what
happens.
To some people Joseph Smith is a
diabolical, treasure-hunting, conman. To
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints,
he's a prophet of God. You'll probably
see both sides even right under this
video in the comment section. In future
videos, we'll address some of the more
controversial things about Joseph Smith
but if you really have no idea who he is
or why he's significant, this video is
for you. Joseph Smith was a farm boy who
lived in the eastern United States in
the early 1800s. When he was 14 years old,
he claimed to have seen a vision of God
the Father and Jesus Christ. They
appeared to him in response to a
question Joseph had been praying about.
"Which church should I join?" Similar to
the religious world today, Joseph had
noticed how the denominations of his day
all used the same Bible to teach very
different doctrines. He didn't know what
was true and what wasn't. The heavenly
response was shocking but their actual
response to his question was also
shocking. They told him not to join any
of the existing churches because none of
them was God's authorized church and in
one way or another they were all in
error.
Joseph shared his experience with some
people and the persecution, especially
among religious leaders from other
faiths, hit hard.
Joseph later wrote, "I had actually seen a
light and in the midst of that light I
saw two personages and they did in
reality speak to me and though I was
hated and persecuted for saying that I
had seen a vision, yet it was true. And
while they were persecuting me, revealing
me, and speaking all manner of evil
against me falsely for so saying, I was
led to say in my heart, "Why persecute me
for telling the truth? I have actually
seen a vision and who am I that I can
withstand God or why does the world
think to make me deny what I have
actually seen? For I had seen a vision. I
knew it and I knew that God knew it and
I could not deny it,
neither dared I do it. A few years later,
Joseph was again visited by a heavenly
messenger. This time it was an angel
named Moroni. The angel told Joseph about
an ancient book engraved on metal sheets
buried in a hill in the next county
over. It was written by and told the
story of some of the ancient inhabitants
of the Americas. Most importantly, it told
the story of Christ's post resurrection
ministry to the people there. Joseph
would eventually retrieve the record and
miraculously translate it into what we
now know as the Book of Mormon. another
testament of Jesus Christ. Latter-day
Saints believe that during Christ's
mortal ministry, he established his
gospel and his church on the earth but
both his gospel and his church were
distorted during the centuries after his
death. We believe that Christ used the
young Joseph Smith to restore that
ancient church. Correct doctrines,
theology, and authority were restored
through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Now,
latter-day saints do not worship Joseph
Smith. He simply filled the same role as
ancient prophets like Moses, Jeremiah, or
Peter. So the question is, is Joseph's
story true or not? If it's not then it's
nothing more than an elaborate hoax. If
it is true, well that changes everything.
if you're interested in knowing the
answer, take it to God. Read The Book of
Mormon and ask God if it's true. If you
truly seek an answer, it'll come. Or if
you'd rather just casually learn more
about Latter-day Saint beliefs, that's
cool too. Subscribe to the channel, leave
a comment, check out the links in the
description below to learn more and
we'll see you next time.
