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Patrick Powell, one of the video's hosts, proclaims at the very beginning that "Today we're going to investigate two of the world's most prominent and influential men to determine once and for all which one holds the truth."
There are several immediate problems with such a statement, and these problems form a sandy foundation on which to build everything else presented in the video.
First, Patrick sets up a false dichotomy—he proposes to compare Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ. As any practicing Mormon knows, there is no comparison between the two. One is a prophet of God and the other is the Son of God. To compare the two of them is to compare apples and oranges, and to imply that Mormons equate Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ is to imply a falsehood. Mormons don't make the comparison; only our critics attempt to assert that we do.
Second, the statement creates a false sense of competition between Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith and presupposes that there are disparities in their teachings such that if one is right, the other is wrong. Certainly this is part and parcel of the type of message the film is trying to create, but it is not accurate. Joseph Smith was a witness for the divinity of Jesus Christ, bearing strong testimony for the efficacy of Christ's atoning sacrifice, and the reality of Christ's resurrection. Such a witness would be expected, of course, from a prophet of God.
Third, another faulty premise is to state that "men" are being compared. It seems disingenuous for Patrick to state that Jesus was a man while a later commentator in the video states that He was not a man. According to Dr. Phil Roberts, president of the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, "[Jesus] was God in the flesh. He was eternal with God, co-equal, uncreated." This is obviously not a man, as Patrick asserts.
Is Patrick unsure of what Christian theology is concerning Christ when he states that Jesus is one "of the world's most prominent and influential men," or is he purposefully misstating his beliefs to make the false comparison between a prophet and the Son of God even more compelling?
Fourth, Mormons never equate Joseph Smith with Jesus Christ, despite what this video asserts. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God, the only perfect and sinless person to ever be born on earth. Mormons believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, subject to the same imperfections as other men; he did not live a sinless life. Indeed, in the LDS view it would be more accurate to compare Joseph with Peter, with Abraham, with Moses, or with any of the other biblical prophets. It would appear that the video's producers don't want to draw this correct comparison, but would rather set up a false dichotomy—an improper, fallacious comparison—to mislead the viewer.
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The video contrasts "Joseph Smith's teachings" in the Book of Mormon, and then mentions "Jesus' teachings" in the Holy Bible. This creates the false impression that Latter-day Saints do not believe the Bible. The LDS consider both the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon to be holy scripture which contains the teachings of Christ. The producers wish to make the "Mormons" appear different from Christianity, instead of a part of it.
Said Elder Neal A. Maxwell, a modern apostle of Jesus Christ:
- So when we read and turn the pages of the precious New Testament, there is a barely audible rustling like the quiet stirrings of the Spirit, something to be 'spiritually discerned.' (1 Corinthians 2꞉14.) The witnessing words came to us—not slowly, laboriously, or equivocally through the corridors of the centuries, but rather, swiftly, deftly, and clearly. Upon the wings of the Spirit these words proclaim, again and anew, "JESUS LIVED. JESUS LIVES!"
- —Neal Maxwell, "The New Testament—A Matchless Portrait of the Savior," Ensign (December 1986): 20., italics in original. off-site
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