Diversions from Biblical Doctrine

            Occasionally a false prophet might perform a miracle or be very compelling in some other way.  In order to tell a true prophet from a false prophet in this situation, the Lord gives us a second test:

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).

In other words, if someone appears to be a prophet, but his teachings are not in line with those of previous prophets, then you can know that he is a false prophet.  The God of the Bible is completely unique (Isaiah 43:10, 44:6), has been God from all eternity (Psalm 90:2), created absolutely everything (Genesis 1:1, John 1:3), and is invisible to everyone except Jesus (John 6:46, 1 Timothy 1:17, Colossians 1:15).  The God that Joseph Smith taught is not unique, was not God from all eternity, is himself a created being, only made this little corner of the universe, and that he, Joseph Smith, had seen Him.  Could this be one of the “other gods” that the Lord is warning us about?

            Joseph Smith presents a different epistemology than the Bible.  According to him, we are supposed to discern the truth through our feelings (Moroni 10:4-5, D&C 9:8-9).  The only thing the Bible says about listening to your feelings is that “the heart is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9).  Appealing to feelings in order to convince people to join a religion is not unique to Mormonism.  For example, while I was in Jordan, I walked into a park to do my daily speaking assignment.  I found a young man sitting on a bench and decided to sit with him and talk to him.  He was from Syria, and he was around 20 years old.  As we conversed, the topic of religion came up very quickly, as it often does with Muslims.  He asked me if I had ever read the Qur’an, and I said I had read most of it.  His follow-up question sounded strangely familiar: “And how did you feel when you read the Qur’an?”  I thought to myself, “Okay, I’ve played this game before …” Mormons feel good when they read their scriptures, Christians feel good when they read the Bible, Muslims feel good when they read the Qur’an, and Atheists feel good when they read Richard Dawkins.  This isn’t evidence that the book is true.  It’s just evidence that you like what you’re reading.  I had a similar experience while visiting a Scientologist church in Taiwan.  The main floor was sort of a visitor’s center with big screen TVs to watch informational videos on, and there were sister missionaries who were eager to talk to you.  I asked one missionary what made her so sure that Scientology was true.  She said that she had read the books, undergone dianetic interviews and had a peaceful feeling about it.  Feelings can tell you important truths about yourself, such as whether or not you love someone, whether or not you believe something, or whether or not something makes you happy.  However, it stops there.  Feelings cannot tell you objective truths, and the Bible has never claimed that they could.