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Did Joseph Smith restore the gospel? Let’s take a look. The apostle Paul describes the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4,

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

From the time of Paul’s writings until today, no piece of manuscript has come up missing, lost, or stolen. There is nothing that needs to be restored! Jesus authenticated all of the Old Testament with His life, even quoting from it. During His day there were no disputes about deleted, missing, or added text.

The apostles wrote the New Testament by 100 A.D. and the canon of scripture was closed. In order to be an apostle, you must have been a eyewitness to Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection.

One of God’s requirements for a prophet is outlined in Deuteronomy 18:20-22,

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him”

If someone claims to speak for God as a prophet, God says it only takes one false prophecy to label that person as a false prophet.

Joseph Smith made several false prophecies. The following is just one example. In 1835 prophet-president Joseph Smith predicted: “… the coming of the Lord, which was nigh—even fifty-six years should wind up the scene” (History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 2, page 182). The Lord did not return by 1891. This prophecy did not come to pass.

The Bible warns us in Mathew 24:24,

“False christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

Does the Gospel need to be revised or restored? Read Galatians 1:6-8,

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”

2 Timothy 2:15 encourages us to study the Bible:

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Using the Bible as our standard, it’s easy to conclude that Joseph Smith is a false prophet. While there are many books written, only one meets the requirements for God’s word and is completely trustworthy—the Holy Bible.

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