Joseph Smith received a revelation that Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery should travel to Canada to sell the copyright to the Book of Mormon in order to raise money for the church. They were unsuccessful. Upon returning, they asked Joseph why they failed when it was the Lord who revealed to him that they should do it. Joseph didn't know why their mission failed, so he went alone to his room and inquired of the Lord. The Lord responded to Smith that "some revelations are of God: some revelations are of men: and some revelations are of the devil." David Witmer, who was a firsthand witness of this event, concludes: "So we see that the revelation to go to Toronto and sell the copy-right was not of God, but was of the devil or of the heart of man." (David Witmer: An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887, page 31 http://latterdaytruth.org/pdf/100023.pdf)
If Joseph Smith (a prophet) couldn't tell that a revelation came from man or the devil, then why should I believe any person who claims their spiritual impressions came from God? How can they know it wasn't just something they wanted to feel or believe?
People from fundamentalist LDS churches, Islam, Evangelical churches, and others all testify that their church is true. If God is not a god of confusion, then why would he give all these people contradictory answers to the same question? Isn't it more likely that each person is feeling what they want to believe is true rather than God telling them all something different?
Here's a link to the revelation to sell the copywrite to the book of mormon in Canada recorded in two different places
My god is also a god of love. Revelation is difficult and would you have god punish every person who claims they have received revelation but did not actually?
ReplyDeleteAlso everyone is weak and stupid from time to time. I believe church leadership is not immune to this reality.