Do Mormons Worship the Prophet Joseph Smith?

Last week I wrote an article that was viewed about 300,000 times within about 5 days. To date, there are 233 comments from people that took an interest in the topic. When I wrote the article, my goal was to simply analyze why people think the Mormon church is so crazy and to clear up some common misconceptions. I found a pattern that seemed to repeat itself over and over again in the comments that were made on the blog…

People are obsessed with destroying the character of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith.

Many people actually think that Mormons worship Joseph Smith? So… do they? The quick answer is… heck no…and if you’re patient with me, I’ll explain who it is Mormons do worship and what Joseph Smith has to do with it.

I have been in the LDS church for a long time, and never in a million years have I been compelled to or even desired to worship Joseph Smith. Everything in this Church leads me to love, believe in, and worship Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is referred to or mentioned on average every 1.7 verses in the Book of Mormon. The subtitle to the Book is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ”. The official name of the “Mormon” Church is one of the few Christian denominations that actually bear’s the actual name of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith was a man, subject to all of the other tendencies and temptations of other men. He admitted his own weaknesses over and over again publicly. He made many mistakes, even to the degree that he was rebuked by the Lord repeatedly in the Doctrine & Covenants. If Joseph Smith didn’t do what the Lord had commanded him, the Lord would have raised up another in Joseph’s stead.

It’s funny when you think about it. One guy… with such diametrically opposed opinions of him. A person will say he was lazy and indolent, and then others label him as one of the hardest workers they have ever seen. Some say he was a liar and a cheat…and yet others describe him as the most honest man they have met. Some say he was inspired by the devil to write one of the most influential Christian books in human history, and yet the Bible says that a house divided against itself will fall. The list goes on. 

joseph-smithI can’t sit here and act like I knew the man. I’ve read accounts from both sides. But this much I do know. I have never heard of a well liked prophet. Ever! Prophets have always created a stir. They’ve always made bold declarations and incurred the wrath of the mainstream. From Christ to Peter to Jeremiah and Ezekiel… list them all out and you’ll find that the masses always threw everything they had at them…and because I am unable to make a real time personal judgement, I can only take the advice of the Bible and “know them by their fruits”.

The Book of Mormon has changed my life. I’ve read it many times and am convinced that no man could have written it from scratch, especially an uneducated teenager. I have read and heard all of the theories about its inception, and have never heard the Book disproved. It exists and it must always be reckoned with as a fruit of Joseph Smith.

While on a mission, I encountered a few men whose livelihood it was to prove Joseph Smith was a fraud. I loved these guys and we had some great discussions. I asked them one day as we sat down to discuss some things…if we could just leave the character of Joseph Smith out of it. I said, “Let’s just focus on the doctrine and not bring up the character of Joseph Smith…just this once.”  For the next hour we discussed the various doctrines of the Mormon church and I learned something very important that day. The doctrine is irrefutable in the context of the Bible. We focused on the Book of Mormon and the evidences of apostasy, the need for a restoration, the nature of God and the important work of preparing for the second coming of Christ. We looked at the gospel being preached to those that had passed, and the need for temples. We left Joseph Smith alone for a few minutes and the result was amazing.

It is understandable that one might want to focus on Joseph Smith when disproving Mormonism. After all, he is the one that Mormons look to as the founding prophet of their church. You’d expect for him to have a perfect record and a sinless past. But why? None of the other prophets that were called were sinless. In fact, many of them were weak and simple and rebellious.

Is it logical to try and learn about Joseph Smith from the people that hate him the most? No way. Would you want people to shape their perceptions of you based on what your enemies have to say. It would be futile to ask the Pharisee’s about the character of Christ. You would get a wholly twisted idea of who He was and what he did. Christ has been painted as a lunatic by contemporary Jewish historians citing phycological issues and a troubled childhood…and yet we love Him and revere Him and worship Him for being the Savior of the world.

The point I’m trying to make is this; don’t make up your mind about someone based on biased opinions. Make sure you go to the source. If you can’t get to the source then get the truth from the people that were closest to the person in question. Don’t ask someone’s enemy what they think about a person. There is no way you’ll get an accurate depiction. Many people don’t like Joseph Smith because they’re inundated with false reports. And what a shame because his claim is incredible and worth investigation. That is why members of the Mormon church revere Joseph Smith. However, they don’t worship him. They look at him as one of the major prophets in human history and a servant of the Lord. Mormons worship the Lord Jesus Christ as found in the New Testament and that is the truth. They are grateful for the sacrifices that Joseph Smith made on the church’s behalf.

If you haven’t met the man, its hard to say he’s bad… especially with so many conflicting reports. Read the Book of Mormon and then decide if you think a bad man could have brought forth such a work.

 

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15 thoughts on “Do Mormons Worship the Prophet Joseph Smith?

    • Jeff

      The best book at this point of time on the life and culture of Joseph Smith is Rough Stone Rolling by Richard L. Bushman

      Bushman is a well respected U.S. Historian, he is currently teaching at Harvard. He is a former Bishop, Stake President, Patriarch, and Temple Sealer. Has written extensively on Mormon History, with a large focus on the life of Joseph Smith. His approach to the Joseph is honest and looks into all aspects of his life. Although I’m a huge fan of Truman Madsen, he only has a faithful/feel good approach to Joseph’s life.

      Good luck with your worthy endeavor here, it’s needed.

  1. JordanAdams

    Glad to see you spreading accurate information on what Mormons believe. I’m interested to see what kinds of things people still come up with even with you giving it from the horse’s mouth.

  2. Brian

    What a great explanation and description of the truth. I’m sending this to my son on his mission. You make some really great points about how prophets have been viewed over time. Especially about asking the Pharisee’s or the Jews (or even Muslims for that matter) about Christ.

    Keep up the great posts!

  3. cyndi172003

    Lyrics
    1. Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
    Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
    Blessed to open the last dispensation,
    Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.
    (Chorus]
    Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
    Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
    Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
    Death cannot conquer the hero again.
    2. Praise to his mem’ry, he died as a martyr;
    Honored and blest be his ever great name!
    Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins,
    Plead unto heav’n while the earth lauds his fame.
    3. Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
    Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
    Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
    Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.
    4. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
    Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
    Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
    Millions shall know “Brother Joseph” again.
    Nothing in this song states that we worship him. It is simply praising and thanking him for a job well done.

  4. Morgan

    It’s not unlike hymns about Paul and Peter and Moses that acknowledge that they were great men who served in a high and holy capacity in leading the Lord’s people.

  5. Timothy Peacock

    I completely left the LDS church 2 years ago. They don’t worship Smith though they do talk about him often and way more often than Jesus, in fact their entire testimony is of Smith and his “Restablishment of the LOST CHURVH OF CHRIST). The members are good people or at least trying their best to be good. I am seriously the only person in my family history in America besides the Jewish side on my mothers, to completely leave the LDS church. Early Mormons were litterally chased out of their homes when Smith was alive. Yes they were totally breaking the law living polygamous marriages etc. Even when they entered Utah after Smiths death, it was considered Mexico territory and even there it was breaking the law but believed they were living God’s law which is their entire belief even today about temple sealed marriages. The entire doctrine of D and C 132 had to do with multiple wives and nothing to do with individual husband and wife sealing, yet many are so ignorant of their own Doctrine they don’t even know. It is very sad.. They learned to rely on themselves and have literally made their own branch of government since those days. Always remember “what you believe to be true may be true to you but not everyone else.” Jesus compared people to sheep without a Sheppard because most people need to be lead. The sad thing is there are so many said leaders and NONE OF THEM seem to be right and ALL ARE LEADING PEOPLE ASTRAY!!! Mormons for the most part aren’t bad and they don’t worship Joseph. They just don’t have their priorities or history straight.

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