This post is in response to a YouTube video posted by the LDS church found here.
If prophets are such a
key part of LDS theology, the current day prophet is set up as God's mouthpiece
on the earth today for the whole earth. The presumption is that this status (of
being the "one" prophet for the whole earth) is acceptable because
the LDS church has the means and technology to potentially reach all people
throughout the earth. Ok. Well, what about in past times?
The Book of Mormon is claimed to be a record of prophets, and their dealings, following a people who came from ancient Jerusalem to the American continent. The record starts out by following a man named Lehi who is claimed to be a prophet, called of God, to preach to the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem and warn them of their pending invasion and enslavement by the Babylonians.
Since the people in
Jerusalem would not listen to Lehi, he was commanded to take his family and
leave the area. They eventually made their way to the American continent where
the Book of Mormon proceeded to come forth as the record of that people and their
history.
It is presumed that
Lehi and his successors represented God as his chosen prophets throughout the
history of that book.
It also could be
presumed that, since the LDS church teaches that the Bible also contains words
of prophets which lived in the ancient Mediterranean region, that prophets
lived there until there was a falling away when the words of the Bible stopped
being added to.
This would mean that
there were, simultaneously, two or more prophets speaking to groups of
inhabitants, in different locations of the world, based on the region that
people would have access to hear them?
Is it possible that
there could have been other prophets that lived in other remote regions at the
same time throughout history based on the assumption that God will continue to
speak to people who are isolated geographically from hearing the words imparted
by His chosen prophets in different regions of the world?
If so, this lends
credibility to the idea that there could be (or have been) other prophets to
other peoples of the world at different times historically.
Could this explain
that Buddha or Mohammed were actually prophets in their times that spoke for
God to the people in the regions where they lived?
If that is possible,
what should be said of their writings?
Does that mean that
there could actually be other books of scripture on the planet besides the
Bible and Book of Mormon?
If that is so, why
is there not at least some recognition given by the LDS church of the potential
for truth to be found in these other books of scripture? I know the LDS church
says that there is much good in other religions and that people should bring
their good from their heritage and join the LDS church. However, should people
be expected to absolutely forsake their closely held religious teachings which
may have come from actual prophets of God?
The whole idea of
having a chosen prophet of God seems pretty ridiculous and does not stand up to
any kind of scrutiny when you begin to ask what should happen when two people
both claim to be true prophets of God at the same time.
The LDS church would
say that God will reveal which prophet is the true prophet of God if He is
sincerely asked in prayer. It is interesting that the LDS church did have to
answer this very question in their own history.
After the death of
Joseph Smith, several men came forward and declared that they should be
Joseph's rightful successor. Each had their own ideas based on what they felt
were good reasons for being such. The modern LDS church says that their leader
(Brigham Young) was the "real" successor to Joseph Smith. However,
each of those men that claimed a right to succession of Joseph Smith, and be
recognized as the current prophet, took many followers - and those followers
sustained those men as their chosen leaders (and prophets) for their churches.
In this case, at
least two different people, within communication range of each other, claimed a
different man to be "their" prophet and recognized that leader to be
God's chosen mouthpiece for them and their mutually recognized adherents.
To this day, many of
these offshoots from the original LDS church, founded by Joseph Smith, remain.
To this day, each member of each of these differing churches believes that
their sect's founder was the legitimate successor to Joseph Smith. Many of them
will also say that they prayed and asked God whether or not their church (as
informed by their chosen prophet) is the "one true church on the
earth" and they will each tell you that God answered their sincere prayer
to that end.
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