I once had a friend who stated that starting a religion was the greatest scam ever. I am somewhat inclined to agree with him. Think about it, what better way to get people to do what you want them to do or to give you what you want than to tell them that you are either a god or a messenger from a god? Somewhere in the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) is a verse where the Lord is speaking and he says that whether it comes form God's mouth or from his servants the prophets it is the same. Wow! Disobeying the prophet is the same as disobeying God! All the prophet has to do is to threaten you with God's wrath, which could include eternal damnation, and you will do almost anything that he says! Who wants to have a god angry with him? Obviously, disobeying the true prophet of the true God would have some consequences which could be serious, but how do you tell the true prophets from the false ones?
I have met some Christians who claim that prophecy and revelations ceased when the last apostle died almost 2000 years ago. I don't believe that! I don't believe that Mohamed was a prophet either! There is no doubt in my mind that parts of the Bible are missing and that the Roman Catholic church went astray over a thousand years ago! It only makes sense that a true prophet would be needed to restore the true church to the Earth. The only question is this one, is Joseph Smith the true prophet of the restoration as the Mormons believe or are we still waiting for the true prophet and restoration? The majority of evidence available to me indicates that Joseph Smith was a flawed man, but still could have been a true prophet. I believe that the restoration has taken place and that is why we have an explosion of new knowledge and technology taking place now. I believe that this explosion started around 1830 when the LDS church was officially organized and will continue until the Second Coming of Jesus the Christ.
