How do we know if a prophet has truly been sent from God? Was Marshall Applewhite, the Heaven’s Gate cult prophet, speaking from God when he encouraged his followers to commit suicide to join the Hale–Bopp Comet in 1997? Or what about the Branch Davidian cult prophet David Koresh, whose followers perished in the Waco Texas fire in 1993?

There is no lack of false prophets who have proclaimed revelations supposedly from God but that turned out destructive in the lives of their followers.  So how can we test if Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God? When potential converts are considering joining the Mormon Church, LDS missionaries encourage them to “pray” about the Book of Mormon to see if it true. They are often told that if they receive a special feeling, this proves that Mormonism is true.

But are feelings the proper way to test the truth about a religion or a prophet?  I’m sure all of the people who died in these other cults had “feelings” that their prophets were from God, but obviously those feelings were given to them by false spirits.  The Bible says, “…believe not every spirit, but try (or test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

So how can we test the spirit of Mormonism and the claims of the prophet Joseph Smith? The Bible says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20)

There’s nothing wrong in praying for truth (John 8:32), but the answer to truth is never based on feelings. Scripture tells us “the heart is deceitful” and cannot be trusted (Jeremiah 17:9). Truth is based upon facts and the facts prove that the teachings of Joseph Smith do not agree with the “law” and the “testimony” of biblical prophets. So Joseph Smith cannot be considered a prophet of God. Consider this chart:

JOSEPH SMITH VS. THE BIBLE:

NOTE: Background Instrumental Music is by Jason [email protected].