An Anchor To Our Souls

Intro -nature of prophets (acknowledging the imperfect) -God's divine orchestra 1. Eye-Witnesses 2. Historical Correspondences 3. Doctrines of the Plan of Joy 4. Fruits of Goodness 5. A Spiritual Witness

Personal Revelation: A Spiritual Witness The first four evidences already discussed are based on human reasoning and logic. Although these evidences for Mormonism are compelling, people can always find compelling evidence on both sides of any issue. With regard to religion, God has allowed this so that we are not forced to choose something, but get to use our freedom to choose. Of course evidence can compel us in a certain direction, but the final stamp of approval about spiritual truths can only come from the Holy Ghost. (hence the scripture, they are ever learning, but unable to come to the knowledge of truth) Principles About Spiritual Revelation A confirmation from God by The Holy Spirit is the only way to have a complete surety if a religious belief is true. Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed  it  unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (I’m sure there were learned...

Credibility of Joseph’s Revelations Before beginning this chapter, let me add one more nugget of evidence to the mountain of evidence already amassed thus far in this paper for Joseph’s prophetic calling. Through Joseph Smith, God has revealed more scripture than the 10 the most prolific prophetic penmen of the past combined (including Moses, Isaiah, Paul, John etc.) Think about that! Try to pretend to be a prophet and publish even one revelation that millions of noble and intelligent people will deem to be from God for centuries to come! I don’t think it would be very easy to do that. Authenticity of Scripture (revelations about the past) Joseph revealed scripture that purports to describe real events among God’s people in the old and new world’s. If those scriptures are true, the more we find out about the ancient civilizations those scriptures describe, the more we should find connections between the two. But if more contradictions are found between the two as more discove...

Sound Doctrine Although the foundational doctrines of Mormonism are very different from what mainstream Christians believe. There are two compelling evidences that doctrines of Mormonism are nevertheless true: #1 Many of the teachings of the early Christian father’s that have been uncovered in just the last 100 years are found to be closer to the teachings of Joseph Smith than they are to those of mainstream Christianity. (As shown by Barry Bickmore in Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity) #2 Another impressive evidence that the foundational teachings of Mormonism are true is that many prominent mainstream Christian scholars of recent decades are starting to espouse ideas that are closer and closer to the doctrines taught by Joseph Smith. David Paulsen, the former chair of the philosophy department of BYU wrote a great paper, Are Christians Mormon? In it he outlines 7 Mormon doctrines that Joseph taught almost 200 years ago, and shows how ...