You call Joseph Smith crazy...but what about?

or jonah, who claimed to have lived inside of a whale for x amount of time.

~.^

or pinocchio who was there with him...

well, just for some perspective, the people who didn't follow the prophets of the olden times thought the prophets were crazy too, but that didn't stop them from doing their work.

You used Noah as an example, EVERYONE thought he was crazy, only his family followed him onto the ark. And all the Egyptians thought Moses was insane, and a lot of the Israelites weren't completely convinced of his sanity either, even after all the miricles he performed.

I mean, look at our history, we don't really seem to do a good job of judging people. People thought Einstein was slow. Joan of Arch was burned alive for heresy and there were a lot of people who thought she was crazy. No body bought a Van Gogh painting until after he died. As far as that goes, Mozart didn't do all that well while he was alive either.

People can call Joseph crazy cause he's a part of recent history. They don't call the others crazy cause they can see how they're actions worked out.

Maybe in a couple thousand years, people will think Joseph saw two shiny guys in the woods, but until then, those who believe will just have to accept the fact that not everyone believes the same as us.

Joseph Smith was as much a prophet or more than Moses, Abraham, or Noah. He brought back the Church from the great apostacy, reinstituted the ordinances of the Gospel, and taught the true nature of the Godhead and what is expected of each and every other person on the planet.

Plus, he was responsible for the translation of the Book of Mormon, another Testament of Christ, and other scriptures that were revealed through him.

I know he was a prophet, and it behooves each person to find out for themselves!

It's easier to believe when it happened so long ago, and since a lot of people think the heavens are closed, and there is no more revelation given, then J.S. couldn't possibly be right. What they fail to realize is that God never said that revelation would stop.

Whoever it was that said that when Christ said "it is finished" meant that there was no need for more revelation was wrong."It is finished" meant that His life and mission were done, not that revelation was finished.

*edit*

Jeanmarie doesn't know what she's talking about. We don't believe a lot of the stuff she says. If you really want to know what we beleive, let me know, or another of us LDS people on here! Don't take what you have heard as fact.

I never called Joseph Smith crazy. I'm not all that interested in Joseph Smith. Why would I be concerned about his mental state? The guy's dead.

In seminary yesterday we were learning about Abraham. Our teacher asked each of us what we would do if our fathers said "hey, Jehhova says that I need to kill you". Almost every single person said that they would run away as fast as they could. It doesn't seem as incredible when you speak of olden date prophets, but people automatically assume that miracles and occurances such as these can't happen in todays world. To fix this, people just need to change their frame of mind and realize that God still cares about His children and intervenes in our lives. Just have FAITH! It's a marvelous thing! :D

While I appreciate your frustration with the antis in this forum, trying to reason with them in this manner is not likely to accomplish anything.

Yes, the heavens are still open, or are open again. God speaks to man now as in times past. Samuel was but a little boy when God first called to him. Joseph, sold into Egypt, was a young man highly favored of God. Mormon was visited by the heavenly messengers while still a young man. The fact that Jesus would choose a young man, not jaded by adult scepticism, is not surprising. Rather, it is according to his pattern to use the innocents of the world to accomplish His work.

It's easy to dismiss others' beliefs as crazy.

But where most Christians accept Moses', Noah's, and Abraham's experiences as divine....

Joseph's experiences aren't accepted by "most" Christians....

I don't think any one of them were crazy. It only seems crazy to us because we have never been that close to the presence of our God. How do you think you'd act in the presence of God?

Don't forget Paul, whose "call" came via a vision that no one else saw, and then taught things that Jesus never said about himself.