But that's not what Joseph Smith told Helen Mar Kimball. From the wikipedia article on Helen Mar Kimball, which seems to be based on Todd Compton's book:
"Helen took 24 hours to respond to this request, and consented after Smith explained to her that it would ensure her eternal salvation along...
Begging the question: If God is making the claims, He'll provide His own evidence.
I didn't know God posted here. ;-)
Seriously, I don't believe God is making the claim that Joseph Smith is a prophet. And I've given him lots of chances to provide the evidence.
Do I have a problem with your great-grandmother choosing to marry Joseph Smith, assuming she made that choice of her own free will? No.
Do I have a problem believing that polygamy as Joseph Smith practiced it was sanctioned by (let alone commanded by) God? Yes. I find it impossible to believe...
Yes, but why was it important for Helen Mar Kimball's family to be connected by marriage to Joseph Smith? Why wouldn't their exaltation be the same if she married a regular righteous Mormon man?
The best source on polygamy as practiced by Joseph Smith (and to some extent by Brigham Young, since he married a number of Smith's wives after JS died) is Todd Compton's book In Sacred Loneliness. The whole book is fascinating, but the intro highlights many of the issues with polygamy in the...
I count it as a major fruit because it was important to the early Mormon church. It was central to their beliefs.
Joseph Smith married other men's wives. He coerced a teenager into marrying him by telling her that her family would obtain exhaltation if she did. He married women behind his...
That's an extremely narrow and selective piece with which to judge (see my statement above). Also if that's your judging criteria then Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses and several other would also be eliminated from prophethood.
Polygamy is just one example, but it is a major "fruit" of Joseph...
If he was a true prophet then the doctrines and authority that he restored are pure and true.
If he was not a true prophet...
- either the major fruits of his labor must be evil
- or somehow good fruit came from a corrupt tree despite what Christ taught
So where do you stand?
First...