False Prophecy of Joseph Smith
D&C 112:15; “Exalt not yourselves; rebel not against my servant Joseph; for verily I say unto you, I am with him, and my hand shall be over him; and the keys which I have given unto him, and also to youward, shall not be taken from him till I come.”
Deut. 18:20-22; “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”
It only takes one false prophecy to prove the prophet to be false. Clearly Smith isn’t holding the keys today and Jesus hasn’t returned. And if you don’t think this rule applies to the next prophet in charge, think otherwise. The Church is clear when it teaches the living prophet holds all the keys to the kingdom (kinda like owning all the properties of a Monopoly game). They’ve set up a fail proof system in Mormonism.
“The Living Prophet Possesses All the Keys of the Holy Priesthood…As God’s presiding high priest upon the earth, the living prophet holds the keys to direct the Lord’s work…“He is the one man on earth at a time who can both hold and exercise the keys of the kingdom in their fulness. (D. & C. 132:7)…The same keys and authority given to Joseph Smith have been passed to each succeeding President of the Church…”
http://institute.lds.org/manuals/teachings-of-the-livings-prophets/tlp-3-3.asp
So…Joseph is gone and Jesus hasn’t returned yet = false prophecy.
(So…Joseph is gone and Jesus hasn’t returned yet = false prophecy.)
You do like to take part of our teachings and beliefs, and forget to mention other parts of our teachings and beliefs when you back up your conclusions.
Remember, we believe and teach that the afterlife is just another part of our being. Brother Joseph is still working with those keys, just not on the earth.
fred
Fred – You are stating “assumed semantics” on this subject.
You assume that Joseph is still working with the keys… The subject is that he would still have the keys until Jesus comes back. Are there more than one set of keys? What are the keys anyways?
The only key that I know of is that “Jesus is the only way. Believe in Him and follow Him”. That is all anybody ever needs… Just in case somebody was breezing by here, I am posting the contents of the link Michelle left up in the body of the blog post…
(3-3) The Living Prophet Possesses All the Keys of the Holy Priesthood
As God’s presiding high priest upon the earth, the living prophet holds the keys to direct the Lord’s work.
“These keys are the right of presidency; they are the power and authority to govern and direct all of the Lord’s affairs on earth. Those who hold them have power to govern and control the manner in which all others may serve in the priesthood.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, in Conference Report, Apr. 1972, p. 98; or Ensign, July 1972, p. 87 .)
The prophet has the powers, gifts, and blessings which enable him to officiate in any office or function pertaining to the Church (see D&C 46:29 ; 107:91–92 ).
“Upon the President of the Church the Almighty bestows the highest office and the greatest gifts that mortal man is capable of receiving. He is the earthly head of the kingdom of God, the supreme officer of the Church, the President of the High Priesthood of the Church; Or, in other words, the Presiding High Priest over the High Priesthood of the Church.’ ( D. & C. 107:65–66 .) His duty is ‘to preside over the whole church, and to be like unto Moses—Behold, here is wisdom; yea, to be a seer, a revelator, a translator, and a prophet, having all the gifts of God which he bestows upon the head of the church.’ ( D. & C. 107:91–92 ; 21:1 .)
“He is the one man on earth at a time who can both hold and exercise the keys of the kingdom in their fulness. ( D. & C. 132:7 .) By the authority vested in him, all ordinances of the gospel are performed, all teaching of the truths of salvation is authorized, and through the keys which he holds, salvation itself is made available to men of his day.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 591–92.)
The keys of the priesthood have come down to modern prophets from ancient prophets. Adam, our great progenitor and the first father here on earth, was the first to hold the keys of the holy priesthood. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “the Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation” ( Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 157). Adam in turn passed his authority to his posterity (see Wilford Woodruff, in Journal of Discourses, 16:264), and as a result “there has been a chain of authority and power from Adam down to the present time” ( Teachings, p. 191).
The priesthood and its keys have come down to us today in proper order. Joseph Smith received keys from Jesus’ Apostles, Peter, James, and John, who received them directly from Jesus (see Matthew 16:19 ; 18:1, 18 ; D&C 27:12–13 ). Other ancient holders of priesthood keys also came to Joseph Smith and bestowed their authority (see D&C 110:11–16 ; 128:20–21 ).
The same keys and authority given to Joseph Smith have been passed to each succeeding President of the Church.
“That same authority which Joseph held, those same keys and powers which were the very essence of his divinely given right to preside, were by him conferred upon the Twelve Apostles with Brigham Young at their head. Every president of the Church since then has come to that most high and sacred office out of the Council of the Twelve. Each of these men has been blessed with the spirit and power of revelation from on high. There has been an unbroken chain from Joseph Smith, Jr., to Spencer W. Kimball. Of that I bear solemn witness and testimony before you this day. This Church is built upon the sure word of prophecy and revelation—built, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, ‘upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.’ ( Eph. 2:20 .)” (Gordon B. Hinckley, in Conference Report, Apr. 1981, pp. 27–28; or Ensign, May 1981, p. 22 .)
Elder Mark E. Petersen pointed out that possession of the keys of the priesthood is an infallible sign of a true prophet: “Joseph Smith made it clear that the KEYS of the priesthood are essential to any man who serves as a prophet of God. Such an individual must have divine authority or his words are not valid. He must have been divinely called and given a legal commission, for otherwise he could not qualify.
“False prophets have appeared over the ages, and do so even now. None has possessed the KEYS of divine authority, and lacking those keys such individuals are as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. . . .
“True prophets of God have divine keys and the right to use them. . . .
“. . . an infallible sign of the true prophet is that he holds divine KEYS of appointment, given to him in the way the scripture stipulates.” ( For Righteousness Sake, pp. 59–60.)