Mark’s comment is perfect for proving the point I am about to make, that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will tell you that The Book of Mormon is true while others may tell you that it is not. In other words, you can’t always rely on others for knowledge of what is true. There is only one source that you can go to that will tell you the truth, the only Source that literally “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2).

You must therefore go to the Source of Truth, to God Himself. This is possible through sincere prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. You can ask Him anything, and “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).

“Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened” (3 Nephi 27:29).

I guess I’d better reply to Mark’s comment as well.

Mark is mistaken. First, the early Christians did not use and compare “what they were being told with bible doctrine” as you have stated. In fact, the early Christians did not even have the Bible as we have it today. True, they had some books of scripture that are available in our current Old Testament (and even some that are not), but for the most part, they relied on the testimonies of the living prophets and apostles to teach them the doctrine of Christ.

In addition, there is more than ample evidence from a study of the Holy Scriptures that there is more scripture than what we have available to us. See, for example, John 21:25; Ezekiel 37:15-19; John 10:16; and 2 Corinthians 13:1 as a beginning to your study of scriptures that exist someplace but that we do not currently have. Ezekiel 37:15-19 is an explicit reference to the coming forth of The Book of Mormon. See also Isaiah 29:1-4, 11, 13-14).

But even if there were no scriptures in the Bible that testified of The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, that would still not be enough to reject it.

God Himself has asked rhetorically, “Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also” (2 Nephi 29:7-8).

Like all principles of the gospel, we put things that we do not understand to the test of faith. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). In other words, things of God will pass the test of faith. All else will fail.

You ask valid and intelligent questions. Someone once told me that the best questions are the ones that take a long time to answer. Needless to say, this is going to be a long reply.

Allow me to start with where you left off. Then I’ll ask a few questions of my own.

The problem with saying that “anything that is not Biblical is MAN and cannot be trusted” is that the Bible was written by men–men who were inspired by the Holy Ghost. (This is what scripture is–a person speaking under the influence of the Spirit.)

The next logical question is, How do you (or anyone, for that matter) know that the Bible is true? How do you know that Peter and Paul and Moses and Isaiah wrote under the influence of the Holy Ghost?

I can’t answer these questions for you, because I don’t know how you know that they were prophets. But I can tell you that I know. And I can tell you that your answer (whatever it is) to my question is the beginning of the answer to your own question, “How do you really know that Thomas S M[o]nson is the prophet of God (or any of the others)?”

In addition, by saying “any of the others” puts Thomas S. Monson and Joseph Smith on the same epistemological level as John and James and Jeremiah–if you know that Biblical prophets are true, you use that same reasoning of how you learned of their veracity to find out if the modern prophets are true. (This same reasoning also works for other prophets, including those of the Book of Mormon.)

Let’s go to your second question, “If they [the prophets] are the only ones who can interpret the Bible, what is the point of reading the Bible if someone else is going to tell me how to interpret it?”

A logical question, and difficult to answer. First, the prophets explain and expound on the scriptures the same way they always have. Paul, for example, taught the ancient Saints in an epistle (Hebrews) that Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses. In this epistle, Paul gives the interpretation of the Law of Moses and applies it to the Saints in his day. Paul created scripture by interpreting scripture. By reading Paul, you read interpretation. Modern prophets work the same way.

Peter said, “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:20). Because of the imperfections of language as a medium of communication, a reader must have the Spirit with him or her to know what the ancient prophets and apostles meant when they wrote by the Spirit. Yes, we can interpret scripture, if we have the Spirit. This point brings us full circle. Does Thomas S. Monson have the Spirit? What about Joseph Smith? What about us? Do we have the Spirit? This is one of the fundamental questions of theology. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
There are so many different churches on the earth because sometimes people read scripture without the Spirit and get a strange interpretation. You’ve seen this as much as I have. Hence the conflicting churches. Paul said, there is “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5).

The main purpose of scripture is taught to us by Paul, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16). This is why we read the scriptures. This is also why we need modern prophets. We need leaders guided by the Holy Ghost to teach us, to correct us, to instruct us in righteousness.

This “doctrine, . . . reproof, . . . correction, . . . [and] instruction” can come differently to individual people. Prophets interpret and teach the general principles so that the body of the Church does not go astray. Individuals receive personal guidance and inspiration from the spirit as they study and ponder the Word of God.

One more point needs to be made.

The main question of this reply (or should I say, article?) is “Does [insert prophet under scrutiny] have the Holy Ghost?” A prophet is either true or false. They either have the Spirit or they do not. Because this question will yield a yes/no answer, a further question must be asked: “How does one know whether or not [insert prophet under scrutiny] has the spirit?” The answer to this ultimate question will answer all of the above questions. The answer is simple: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering” (James 1:5-6).

To find the answer, you go to the source of knowledge–God Himself. You ask. He answers.

This is how I know. I’ve received an answer. The answer was yes. But do not take my word for it. Find out for yourself. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).

The prophets are not the only ones to interpret the Bible. In fact, their responsibility is to only help guide us in understanding what is in it. We have to find our own interpretations through personal revelation. This is also how we gain a knowledge that Thomas S. Monson is a real prophet of God.

Paul taught of 3 levels of heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. And there are many early Jewish and Christian writings that show multiple levels of heaven were believed by them. Jesus even mentioned that in “my Father’s house, there are many mansions.”

The Bible contains just some of the inspired words of God. Not all of them. Even the Dead Sea Scrolls contains dozens of books not found in the Old Testament, but were considered holy and sacred by early Jews. The New Testament quotes the Book of Enoch 39 times, but it isn’t in our Bible today. Clearly, there are many inspired books of God outside the Bible. And with living prophets, we gain the advantage of those who receive direct revelation to guide us today, just as Moses guided ancient Israel.

I do understand the basic math of Mormonism. I really do. I have been visiting with some Mormon missionaries for the past few months. They have helped me understand your beliefs more and debunk some of the false things I have heard.

My questions about the Prophets are A) How do you really know that Thomas S Munson is the prophet of God (or any of the others)? B) If they are the only ones who can interpret the Bible, what is the point of reading the Bible if someone else is going to tell me how to interpret it?

Furthermore, my arugments about the levels of heavens and whether or not God was a man were to show that those are not BIBLICAL ideas, and anything that is not Biblical is MAN and cannot be trusted. Many ideas taught come from the commandments of men, from what I see.

However, the argument is not whether God used to be a man or how many heavens there are. With all due respect, you’re trying to do calculus before you understand the basic math of Mormonism, which can (and will) cause problems–especially in theology (Cf. 1 Cor. 3:2, 1 Pet. 2:2, Heb. 5:12).

One of these basic axioms of Mormonism is in the oft quoted Amos 3:7–”Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” This axiom (as we may as well call it) solves the great problem of scriptural interpretation stated in 2 Peter 1:20, “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

Prophets have authority to interpret scripture. This is one of the reasons why we need prophets on the earth today. We believe (and I personally know) that there is a prophet on the earth and twelve apostles. God has restored His church because of His great love for His children. He will guide us in these times of turmoil through prophets and apostles, ancient and modern.

There is much that simply cannot be proven; even you have said you cannot prove certain things. We are asked to accept much on faith. Faith is what religion is based on. But that doesn’t mean we can’t eventually, through our seeking, receive a personal witness, because in fact, we can. “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10).