I was very excited to see that Pastor Jeff was going to continue with additional commentary and critique of the LDS Standard Works. Now, he’s moving on to the Pearl of Great Price, which is excellent.
I don’t know the person speaking with Pastor Jeff—his name is Dr. Kerry Muhlestein from BYU. I’m sure everyone else knows him, but I don’t. I’m about five minutes into the video, and so far, he seems to be doing well.
I really like how Dr. Muhlestein compares Joseph Smith to Moses. The first thing I thought was, ‘Well, of course.’ Then I thought, I bet Pastor Jeff doesn’t like that comparison. I can imagine him thinking that Moses was one of the greatest prophets, and now you’re comparing Joseph Smith to Moses? In the LDS world, though, that comparison seems fitting. Why not? It’s a great comparison.
If God wanted Joseph Smith to bring forth mountains of writings, He could have unsealed the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon or put another record into Joseph Smith’s hands. But He didn’t. He gave us what we needed to prepare for the millennium. While living prophets speak for God on earth, they…
Question: Do we worship Joseph Smith? No, that’s a very simple, straightforward answer. That said, we revere and honor him as the prophet of this dispensation. There should be nothing wrong with that. I bet the children of Israel (the Jews) still sing songs about Moses and the Exodus to this day.
1- Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.2 – Praise to his mem’ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins,
Plead unto heav’n while the earth lauds his fame.Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.3 – Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.4 – Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know “Brother Joseph” again.Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.
Dr Muhlestein even used the word reveer. We sing about him because he communed with Jehovah. We worship Jesus Christ.
1 – Oh, how lovely was the morning!
Radiant beamed the sun above.
Bees were humming, sweet birds singing,
Music ringing thru the grove,
When within the shady woodland
Joseph sought the God of love,
When within the shady woodland
Joseph sought the God of love.2 – Humbly kneeling, sweet appealing—
’Twas the boy’s first uttered prayer—
When the pow’rs of sin assailing
Filled his soul with deep despair;
But undaunted, still he trusted
In his Heav’nly Father’s care,
But undaunted, still he trusted
In his Heav’nly Father’s care.3 – Suddenly a light descended,
Brighter far than noonday sun,
And a shining, glorious pillar
O’er him fell, around him shone,
While appeared two heav’nly beings,
God the Father and the Son,
While appeared two heav’nly beings,
God the Father and the Son.4 – “Joseph, this is my Beloved;
Hear him!” Oh, how sweet the word!
Joseph’s humble prayer was answered,
And he listened to the Lord.
Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,
For he saw the living God,
Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,
For he saw the living God.
This song, in particular, is one of my favorites. Why wouldn’t we sing about the miraculous vision Joseph Smith had? That vision—the First Vision—is foundational to all our beliefs. It establishes that God the Father is a separate being from Jesus Christ, but that both of them visited this young prophet. Even though the song is about the vision Joseph Smith experienced, every word of it glorifies how great God is.
Pastor Jeff changes gears here and asks about Hebrews.
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
I’m going to answer this before listening to Dr. Muhlestein’s reply [00:10:00].
- Yes, God spoke to Israel in times of old through prophets.
- Yes, God then spoke to Israel through His Son.
- Yes, God left the apostles to act as His messengers to both the Jews and Gentiles.
However, they fail to recognize that Jesus Christ established an order before He left—an order built upon prophets and apostles.
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
And that Peter (Simon) “the rock” was the prophet that Jesus Christ called to lead the apostles.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
It becomes very clear when you consider a priesthood line of authority. Jesus Christ gave the keys of the kingdom—the power to act in the name of God—to Simon Peter.
Dr. Muhlestein’s response was that Christ was the apex, but Joseph Smith and President Nelson were successors to Paul. That would be true, as Peter, James, and John gave Joseph Smith the same priesthood.
They then dive into some history of the Pearl of Great Price.
At [00:16:40], they begin discussing the inspired translation of the Bible, from which Joseph Smith—Matthew comes. Dr. Muhlestein makes a big point of the fact that Protestants don’t like the idea that someone translated the Bible. He acknowledges, however, that there were many versions of the Bible and that Joseph Smith helped clarify it. We believe a prophet can do that.
Something really interesting happened at that point. Pastor Jeff said that Protestants actually like the variance in translations, as it helps triangulate the correct meaning. What they agree on emerges—kind of like having multiple witnesses. Interestingly, that’s what the Book of Mormon is: a second witness of the Bible. But it also supports the need for a prophet, because with multiple translations, the message isn’t always clear without one. This is why God calls prophets.
They have a problem with Joseph Smith because he claims revelatory authority to make those claims or changes. I could understand that perspective if you didn’t believe he was a prophet. And they validated that.
All in all, it was a very good and cordial conversation. Great video.