What is a Prophet?

Jan. 14, 2017

Well, I’m pretty new to this – sharing personal thoughts about the things that mean most to me is a bit intimidating! But I’ve been challenged to create a blog in one of my college classes to share my thoughts on one of my favorite things: the Book of Mormon. Not a bad way to start 2017, if I do say so myself. So, without further ado, I present: Post 1.

“Do you have a testimony of Joseph Smith the farmboy or Joseph Smith the Prophet?” – Brother Griffin in class this week, as we discussed the “miraculous coming forth of the Book of Mormon.”

These words send me on a montage of flashbacks from my mission. I served in the Bible Belt, and the biggest problems I faced dealt with Joseph Smith and what a prophet truly was. Drunk men mocked us as we walked by, making fun of our worship of a man with “magical goggles.” Another man shouted us off his property whilst making me fume on the inside because he’d claimed to have read the whole Book of Mormon and couldn’t believe that we’d be stupid enough to put faith in a book that was “clearly written by a man on ‘shrooms.” When we tried to explain what a miracle the Book was, people would only grasp what they wanted it to be: they took it as yet ANOTHER translation of the Bible. Had I not had a testimony of it before, I sure was going to need to study what had happened to know what I believed. 

It wasn’t until class this week, however, that all the unfinished thoughts about what I had read and felt and seen during that time seemed to culminate into coherent thoughts of what I had learned – especially when phrased like THIS. It had never occurred to me to separate the terms when referring to Joseph. Any other prophet that you read about in the scriptures seems to be only that: a holy man of God who doesn’t seem to have too much personality beyond that. Sure, we know that Elijah was a bit sassy and Moses did NOT like crowds when it came to public speaking, but there isn’t much else to them besides being a chosen mouthpiece of the Lord, delivering rich doctrine straight from heaven. However, we have the wonderful opportunity of getting to know our modern-day prophets – we live in a time where history is very well documented. And because of that, we get to know just how marvelous and miraculous it is that we have prophets. We get to learn just how involved God is at helping us hear words from Him because he loves us so much.

There is no way that a farmboy, with 3 years of “rural” education under his belt, could plausibly write such a book. There are several that worked with him that give very convincing details of how it wasn’t Joseph that did these things. But those details aren’t really what matters – because what truly matters is whether or not I believe the things that came from God through him. And THAT’S where the difference lies. I could give you logical facts all day that prove him a prophet, or I can pay attention to the spirit I feel when I read the Word. It’s a separation of someone being human and the pure truth delivered. I have a testimony of Joseph the prophet, not the man. We all have testimonies of the Prophets, not the men they were and are. I’m excited to continue to make this connection in my reading with all the prophets I encounter – so far, I can already see more humanity in Lehi and have the greater opportunity to appreciate what came through him just by understanding what a prophet is. I implore you all to ponder what it means to be a prophet, because it’s helping me think about the men behind the words – and, more importantly, the Man that delivers the words. They truly do come from the “gift and power of God.”

Painting taken from the fabulous Walter Rane