The Gospel for Apologia Church
The Apologia Church teaches a message that sounds so similar to Christianity, but is fundamentally a different Gospel that cannot save.
The Apologia Church has taken upon itself the need to confront members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and tell them that the doctrines of the Restoration do not "correspond" to the teachings of the bible. The tactics the Apologia Church takes is by confronting members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at LDS gathering places. They then pretend to be their friend to open a dialogue with the member of the Church and then proceed to practice as the apostle Paul taught and warned "cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Ephesians 4:14). Read more here....
Apologia - The Anti-Bible Club
An organized group of people that have formed a club to do biblical studies in order to understand how to fight against the teachings of the bible. They then (as modern day Nehor's Alma chapter 1) approach those that believe in the bible to convince them in their error in believing God who has spoken in past dispensations and in this dispensation. The philosophical structure of this club was born out of apostasy from the Catholic church. These Catholic apostates reject the apostolic succession of the Catholic church and yet want people to believe that they have the true faith while in a state of heretical division. Who wants to listen to a group of heretics that have no authority from God and who don't even believe in the bible and in what it says about God, His Church, ordinances and authority? No intelligent person should give any credence to these bible haters. The poisonous fruit of their core belief is in believing the Greek philosophical notion of God which is not biblical and surely isn't sola scriptura as they declare their ideology to be. Read more here...
"I Was in the Beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn."
"I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn." Is not that "Firstborn" incompatible with the idea of the eternity of the Christ-Intelligence? Who from the beginning was with God, and was God? Why "Firstborn"? It can be no other than this: That mighty, self-existent, Intelligence, which was the "Word," and was in the beginning with God, the Father, was begotten a spirit; and in the order of our earth, and the spirit intelligences connected and associated with it, was the "firstborn" of the spirits the "firstborn" of many brethren; (Romans 8:29) and the Christ illustrates what takes place with all intelligent entities of the divine human species. Intelligences are begotten spirits, and these spirits no doubt are more definite personalities, and of greater tangibility, and possessed of higher powers than many suppose them to be. It is written in Hebrews that God had revealed himself to men through the Son, "who was the bightness of his glory, and the express image of this person...by whom also he made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:2-3). This making of worlds, was previous to the earth life of the Christ, and hence was a work accomplished when he was a spirit personage, in which spirit life he was the "Firstborn." See Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:6; Romans 8:29; Acts 17:26-28
B. H. Roberts
The Truth, The Way, and The LIfe
B. H. Roberts
The Truth, The Way, and The LIfe
Jurassic Dark
Jurassic Park are films that condition the viewers mind to believe that man is inferior to nature and promotes atheism. The producers of the films intend to condition the mass mind into believing that they are minuscule microbes on the globe of life that are to be chewed up and spit out by nature. These anti-God films are in defiance to the revealed knowledge that God has imparted to his children, that man is the crowning achievement of all creation. The films lack enlightened intellectual contributions and should be properly named Jurassic Dark. The films leave the viewers in a bewildered darkened state of disillusionment about who they are as the offspring of God.
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Joel Kramer's Slander of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon (Refuted)
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First off, it should be pointed out that Joel Kramer as a Protestant believer, does not believe in the bible alone or Sola Scriptura. He believes in Greek philosophy and the Hellenization of the New Testament. Greek philosophy has corrupted the Christian concept of God and has turned the God of the bible into a false god. It is this belief that Kramer is defending in producing this film. Which is the first proof that Joel Kramer does not believe in the bible alone and is misleading the viewer. |
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Joel Kramer begins by turning to the Old Testament and a test of a prophet found in Deuteronomy 18:21. Joel then turns to 1 Nephi chapter 13 of the Book of Mormon and points out passages referring to the loss of plain and precious truths from the bible.
Kramer then proceeds to argue that Joseph Smith fails the test of a prophet, along with some of the Book of Mormon prophets and gives examples of why he believes that. In addition, Kramer argues that the bible is perfectly intact and that there was no loss of "plain and precious truths" that the Book of Mormon teaches took place.
One of Kramer's arguments has to do with comparing manuscripts from antiquity with our current bible to prove the Book of Mormon wrong. Kramer's abecedarian biblical understanding is sophomoric and embarrassing. He interviews a linguist to point out that there are thousands of manuscripts from antiquity that prove that the bible is the same today as it was when it was first given by the apostles and prophets themselves in the first instance. However, the manuscripts being referred to are only copies. Not one is the original writing either by the hand of the apostle and/or prophet or the original writing that was commissioned by the apostle and/or prophet to be written in their name. Even Joel Kramer's supposed expert admits that the best they can do in coming up with an original text for the New Testament is Papyrus 66, which Rico claims dates to 150 A.D. A date that is well after the death of the apostles of the New Testament and is not an original writing of theirs at all. Thus there is no way to compare the original writing of the New Testament apostles with what we have recorded in our bibles today and no way of proving Joseph Smith's translation of the bible wrong for the same reason.
In the case of the letters and books of the New Testament what does Kramer and Rico mean by "antiquity?" In stating "antiquity" are they referring to after the Jewish and Roman persecutions of the Christian church or before? If before, what about the doctrinal attack and influence by Hellenized/Jewish Gnostics? The false teachings that had such an adverse affect upon the New Testament church of which the apostles of the New Testament so adamantly warned against and of which had influence upon the early church fathers.
If after the Jewish and Roman persecutions, then what about the Roman Gentile influence that false teachers had upon the remains of the New Testament church that Christ organized and setup upon the earth? Anyone that reads the New Testament knows that the church that Christ organized and setup upon the earth was destroyed during these persecutions. Even non Latter-day Saint scholastics like Bart D. Ehrman have written extensively on how the New Testament text has been tampered with.
Both the apostle Paul and Peter taught that individuals were corrupting the doctrines and scriptures of Christ in their own day. "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:28-30). Peter taught, "even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in [to the church] damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction" (2 Peter 2:1). Why would Joel Kramer omit this from his video? Is it because Joel Kramer intends to mislead the viewer?
Putting aside any examination of specific verses in the biblical texts themselves for errors, let's look at what the bible itself tells us about the words and writings that are forever missing from the bible. These are books and epistles mentioned in the bible that are not part of or included within the bible. In most cases they are forever gone. Reference is made in both the Old and New Testaments of books and epistles that are now missing. These include: Book of the Covenant (Ex. 24:4, 7); Book of the Wars of the Lord (Num. 21:14); Book of Jasher (Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18); A Book of Statutes (1 Sam. 10:25); Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41); Books of Nathan and Gad (1 Chron. 29:29; 2 Chron. 9:29); Prophecy of Ahijah and Visions of Iddo (2 Chron 9:29; 12:15; 13:22); Book of Shemaiah (2 Chron. 12:15); Book of Jehu (2 Chron. 20:34); Acts of Uzziah, written by Isaiah (2 Chron. 26:22); Sayings of the Seers (2 Chron. 33:19); an epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:9); an epistle of Paul to the Ephesians (Eph. 3:3); an epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans (Col. 4:16); Epistle of Jude (Jude 3); and the Prophecies of Enoch (Jude 14).
Then to try to back up his claim that the bible has no missing parts and is complete and whole, he turns to the Dead Sea scrolls to give a authoritative sanction to his false claims about the bible. His argument is that the Dead Sea scrolls which were discovered during the 1940s date back to the time before Christ. Which is false. There are a number of manuscripts of the Dead Sea scrolls that are contemporary with the New Testament period. These scrolls have to do with the Essenes confronting and corresponding with the Pharisaic leadership in Jerusalem during the New Testament period. It's the Old Testament books of the Dead Sea scrolls that date prior to Christ. The books in particular that Kramer uses for his argument is Isaiah and the Psalms. The Isaiah scroll is older than what is known as the New Testament period.
If one is to use Kramer's logic in determining whether a prophet is false or not, then Kramer is asserting that even the prophet Isaiah is a false prophet. Kramer quotes Isaiah chapter 16 verse 5, "In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it-one from the house of David." Kramer asserts that this passage is concerning the Christian Messiah which is Jesus Christ. However, Christ never sat upon a throne during his earthly ministry. So according to Kramer's logic Isaiah fails the test of a prophet and is a false prophet. Which is not true. Isaiah was a true prophet of God. This just shows how Kramer is misusing Deteuronomy.
And yet, Kramer then proceeds to use Isaiah and in particular the Isaiah scroll of the Dead Sea scrolls, which he states dates to 125 B.C. to prove the prophet Joseph Smith wrong. Kramer does this by showing that the prophet Joseph Smith's translation of the book of Isaiah does not match the Dead Sea scroll of Isaiah. Thus, Kramer argues that Joseph Smith fails as a prophet.
The problem that Joel Kramer does not address is that the prophet Isaiah was born in the 8th century B.C. The Dead Sea scroll of Isaiah that Kramer uses doesn't exist until approximately 600 years after Isaiah even wrote down his prophecy. Joel Kramer does not have the original manuscript that the prophet Isaiah possessed of his own prophecy. Thus, Kramer can not test whether or not the translation of Isaiah that the prophet Joseph Smith received by revelation from the God of Isaiah matches Isaiah's original writings. All he can do is compare it to a copied manuscript of Isaiah's prophecy some 600 years later.
What happened within those 600 years. Mass apostasy of the children of Israel multiple times. First beginning in Isaiah's own day which lead to the Assyrian invasion and the taking of the northern tribes of Israel into captivity. The murder of Isaiah by apostates because of his book of prophesy which was hated by the establishment. Then the mass apostasy of the kingdom of Judah which led to the Babylonian captivity. There were only small currents of righteous Israelites that were even concerned with preserving the words of the prophets. That apostasy didn't abate. It was still extant at the time of the Essenes and the New Testament period of which Christ preached so ardently against and of which even he was put to death by.
Joel Kramer asserts that there are no ancient texts that speak of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Then he declares that non Mormon scholars have concluded that Joseph Smith created the Book of Mormon out of his imagination. If Joseph Smith created the Book of Mormon out of his imagination then Joseph Smith is a theological genius. And yet, the bible itself prophesies of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon that Joel Kramer either is unfamiliar with or purposely chooses to ignore. In Psalms 85:11 "Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven." Besides Isaiah chapter 29 speaking of the Book of Mormon, Ezekiel chapter 37 speaks in detail about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and it's being joined hand in hand with the bible. Even John the Revelator in the New Testament prophesied that the angel Moroni would come from heaven to bring forth the Book of Mormon, "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people" (Rev. 14:6).
Joel Kramer turns to Alma 7:10 and quotes that Christ shall be born "at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers" claiming it to be a false prophecy because the New Testament claims that Christ was born at Bethlehem. Daniel C. Peterson and Kerry Shirts are quoted in Kramer's video and do a good job answering this perceived discrepancy. Kramer then uses a supposed "historical geographer" who compares the modern municipal and zoning outlay of the state of Israel and presents it as the geographical outlay that existed over 2,000 years ago or 80 B.C. when Alma uttered the statement. Kramer is comparing apples to oranges and not apples to apples. Alma specifically uses the phrase "land of." Turn to Luke 2:4 in the New Testament and it gives the perspective that Alma was using. For Kramer to claim that he interviewed an "historical" geographer, who doesn't speak on the geographical outlay of the ancient land of Judea but only on the modern equivalent, is very telling indeed. There seems to be nothing "historical" about Kramer's "historical geographer."
Kramer then goes on to claim that section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants proves that Joseph Smith was a false prophet because the temple of Jackson county, Missouri was not built during the generation the prophecy was given. Even though section 124 explains the extenuating circumstances that caused the postponement of that prophecy. There is a similar incident in the bible with the prophet Jonah. The Lord God of Israel prophesied through Jonah that the city of Nineveh would be destroyed and yet that prophesy was not fulfilled (Jonah ch. 3). Which in turn troubled Jonah. According to Kramer's irreligious logic, he would condemn Jonah as a false prophet too.
Kramer looks at the Joseph Smith Translation of the bible and points out the first chapter of John in the New Testament and claims that Joseph Smith is removing Christ's deity. In a revelation to the church through the prophet Joseph Smith Christ declares, "Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made" (D&C 38:1). Joel Kramer and Christophe Rico admit that the most earliest copy of the Gospel of John dates back to 150 A.D. which is 50 years after the Gospel of John was originally written down. This copy is known as Papyrus 66 which is not an original version from the hands of the apostle John himself, but another "copy" of the apostles writings. Thus Joseph Smith's inspired translation from God concerning John 1:1 can not be compared to any original primary source document that stem from John himself to compare it for accuracies sake. Joel Kramer can only compare it to a copy of the Gospel of John. Joel Kramer's arguments against the Prophet Joseph Smith fails again. It is clear that Joel Kramer does not know Joseph Smith or understand the scriptures if he interprets them in that way. It is Christ that Kramer is opposing by his attacks upon his chosen servant Joseph Smith.
Kramer then moves to Romans 4:16 a passage about salvation where Paul teaches, "It is of faith, that it might be by grace..." and then compares the Joseph Smith translation which reads, "Ye are justified of faith and works, through faith..." Which doesn't "corrupt" the bible as Joel Kramer claims but actually conjoins the teachings of the apostle Paul with the teachings of the apostle James (see James 2:17-18). Christ commanded Joseph Smith to translate the bible. Christ is restoring the original meaning of these passages. The meaning Christ himself intended his chosen servants the apostles to be teaching. The restoration of these passages brings harmony to the gospel of Christ. It unifies the New Testament of which Joel Kramer can not allow, because Paul and James are two major contentions in the Protestant movement that has divided the Christian world. This division has caused uninspired men to create false belief systems. Churches that are based on their interpretation. Interpretations that accept parts of the New Testament and reject other parts. Joel Kramer and his cohorts can't allow there to be harmony between James and Paul. Because in doing so their false belief system that is based upon an interpretation of the bible would then be exposed as a fraud. A counterfeit of Christ's church. Resembling nothing of the Church that Christ organized during the New Testament period.
Then to cement his false witness (Ex. 20:16) against the prophet Joseph Smith, Kramer quotes the apostle Paul in Galatians where in Paul teaches, "though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:8). Simple minded Christians like to use this verse to condemn the Restoration of the Gospel of Christ. However, people like Joel Kramer never finish quoting Paul. The apostle Paul goes on to certify that "the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:11-12). This is exactly how Joseph Smith received the gospel, "by the revelation of Jesus Christ" and it is the same gospel that the apostle Paul preached, the only difference is the dispensation in which it is being preached and taught in.
This statement by Orson Pratt seems appropriate. "To believe that a revelation or message, sent from God, is false, is attended with the most fearful consequences, involving the present and future happiness of the soul. So likewise, to believe human creeds and articles of religion, invented by uninspired men, to be of divine origin, is equally dangerous and fatal in its consequences." Orson Pratt
Joel Kramer and his cohorts are theologically dishonest.
Kramer then proceeds to argue that Joseph Smith fails the test of a prophet, along with some of the Book of Mormon prophets and gives examples of why he believes that. In addition, Kramer argues that the bible is perfectly intact and that there was no loss of "plain and precious truths" that the Book of Mormon teaches took place.
One of Kramer's arguments has to do with comparing manuscripts from antiquity with our current bible to prove the Book of Mormon wrong. Kramer's abecedarian biblical understanding is sophomoric and embarrassing. He interviews a linguist to point out that there are thousands of manuscripts from antiquity that prove that the bible is the same today as it was when it was first given by the apostles and prophets themselves in the first instance. However, the manuscripts being referred to are only copies. Not one is the original writing either by the hand of the apostle and/or prophet or the original writing that was commissioned by the apostle and/or prophet to be written in their name. Even Joel Kramer's supposed expert admits that the best they can do in coming up with an original text for the New Testament is Papyrus 66, which Rico claims dates to 150 A.D. A date that is well after the death of the apostles of the New Testament and is not an original writing of theirs at all. Thus there is no way to compare the original writing of the New Testament apostles with what we have recorded in our bibles today and no way of proving Joseph Smith's translation of the bible wrong for the same reason.
In the case of the letters and books of the New Testament what does Kramer and Rico mean by "antiquity?" In stating "antiquity" are they referring to after the Jewish and Roman persecutions of the Christian church or before? If before, what about the doctrinal attack and influence by Hellenized/Jewish Gnostics? The false teachings that had such an adverse affect upon the New Testament church of which the apostles of the New Testament so adamantly warned against and of which had influence upon the early church fathers.
If after the Jewish and Roman persecutions, then what about the Roman Gentile influence that false teachers had upon the remains of the New Testament church that Christ organized and setup upon the earth? Anyone that reads the New Testament knows that the church that Christ organized and setup upon the earth was destroyed during these persecutions. Even non Latter-day Saint scholastics like Bart D. Ehrman have written extensively on how the New Testament text has been tampered with.
Both the apostle Paul and Peter taught that individuals were corrupting the doctrines and scriptures of Christ in their own day. "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:28-30). Peter taught, "even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in [to the church] damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction" (2 Peter 2:1). Why would Joel Kramer omit this from his video? Is it because Joel Kramer intends to mislead the viewer?
Putting aside any examination of specific verses in the biblical texts themselves for errors, let's look at what the bible itself tells us about the words and writings that are forever missing from the bible. These are books and epistles mentioned in the bible that are not part of or included within the bible. In most cases they are forever gone. Reference is made in both the Old and New Testaments of books and epistles that are now missing. These include: Book of the Covenant (Ex. 24:4, 7); Book of the Wars of the Lord (Num. 21:14); Book of Jasher (Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18); A Book of Statutes (1 Sam. 10:25); Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41); Books of Nathan and Gad (1 Chron. 29:29; 2 Chron. 9:29); Prophecy of Ahijah and Visions of Iddo (2 Chron 9:29; 12:15; 13:22); Book of Shemaiah (2 Chron. 12:15); Book of Jehu (2 Chron. 20:34); Acts of Uzziah, written by Isaiah (2 Chron. 26:22); Sayings of the Seers (2 Chron. 33:19); an epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:9); an epistle of Paul to the Ephesians (Eph. 3:3); an epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans (Col. 4:16); Epistle of Jude (Jude 3); and the Prophecies of Enoch (Jude 14).
Then to try to back up his claim that the bible has no missing parts and is complete and whole, he turns to the Dead Sea scrolls to give a authoritative sanction to his false claims about the bible. His argument is that the Dead Sea scrolls which were discovered during the 1940s date back to the time before Christ. Which is false. There are a number of manuscripts of the Dead Sea scrolls that are contemporary with the New Testament period. These scrolls have to do with the Essenes confronting and corresponding with the Pharisaic leadership in Jerusalem during the New Testament period. It's the Old Testament books of the Dead Sea scrolls that date prior to Christ. The books in particular that Kramer uses for his argument is Isaiah and the Psalms. The Isaiah scroll is older than what is known as the New Testament period.
If one is to use Kramer's logic in determining whether a prophet is false or not, then Kramer is asserting that even the prophet Isaiah is a false prophet. Kramer quotes Isaiah chapter 16 verse 5, "In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it-one from the house of David." Kramer asserts that this passage is concerning the Christian Messiah which is Jesus Christ. However, Christ never sat upon a throne during his earthly ministry. So according to Kramer's logic Isaiah fails the test of a prophet and is a false prophet. Which is not true. Isaiah was a true prophet of God. This just shows how Kramer is misusing Deteuronomy.
And yet, Kramer then proceeds to use Isaiah and in particular the Isaiah scroll of the Dead Sea scrolls, which he states dates to 125 B.C. to prove the prophet Joseph Smith wrong. Kramer does this by showing that the prophet Joseph Smith's translation of the book of Isaiah does not match the Dead Sea scroll of Isaiah. Thus, Kramer argues that Joseph Smith fails as a prophet.
The problem that Joel Kramer does not address is that the prophet Isaiah was born in the 8th century B.C. The Dead Sea scroll of Isaiah that Kramer uses doesn't exist until approximately 600 years after Isaiah even wrote down his prophecy. Joel Kramer does not have the original manuscript that the prophet Isaiah possessed of his own prophecy. Thus, Kramer can not test whether or not the translation of Isaiah that the prophet Joseph Smith received by revelation from the God of Isaiah matches Isaiah's original writings. All he can do is compare it to a copied manuscript of Isaiah's prophecy some 600 years later.
What happened within those 600 years. Mass apostasy of the children of Israel multiple times. First beginning in Isaiah's own day which lead to the Assyrian invasion and the taking of the northern tribes of Israel into captivity. The murder of Isaiah by apostates because of his book of prophesy which was hated by the establishment. Then the mass apostasy of the kingdom of Judah which led to the Babylonian captivity. There were only small currents of righteous Israelites that were even concerned with preserving the words of the prophets. That apostasy didn't abate. It was still extant at the time of the Essenes and the New Testament period of which Christ preached so ardently against and of which even he was put to death by.
Joel Kramer asserts that there are no ancient texts that speak of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Then he declares that non Mormon scholars have concluded that Joseph Smith created the Book of Mormon out of his imagination. If Joseph Smith created the Book of Mormon out of his imagination then Joseph Smith is a theological genius. And yet, the bible itself prophesies of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon that Joel Kramer either is unfamiliar with or purposely chooses to ignore. In Psalms 85:11 "Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven." Besides Isaiah chapter 29 speaking of the Book of Mormon, Ezekiel chapter 37 speaks in detail about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and it's being joined hand in hand with the bible. Even John the Revelator in the New Testament prophesied that the angel Moroni would come from heaven to bring forth the Book of Mormon, "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people" (Rev. 14:6).
Joel Kramer turns to Alma 7:10 and quotes that Christ shall be born "at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers" claiming it to be a false prophecy because the New Testament claims that Christ was born at Bethlehem. Daniel C. Peterson and Kerry Shirts are quoted in Kramer's video and do a good job answering this perceived discrepancy. Kramer then uses a supposed "historical geographer" who compares the modern municipal and zoning outlay of the state of Israel and presents it as the geographical outlay that existed over 2,000 years ago or 80 B.C. when Alma uttered the statement. Kramer is comparing apples to oranges and not apples to apples. Alma specifically uses the phrase "land of." Turn to Luke 2:4 in the New Testament and it gives the perspective that Alma was using. For Kramer to claim that he interviewed an "historical" geographer, who doesn't speak on the geographical outlay of the ancient land of Judea but only on the modern equivalent, is very telling indeed. There seems to be nothing "historical" about Kramer's "historical geographer."
Kramer then goes on to claim that section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants proves that Joseph Smith was a false prophet because the temple of Jackson county, Missouri was not built during the generation the prophecy was given. Even though section 124 explains the extenuating circumstances that caused the postponement of that prophecy. There is a similar incident in the bible with the prophet Jonah. The Lord God of Israel prophesied through Jonah that the city of Nineveh would be destroyed and yet that prophesy was not fulfilled (Jonah ch. 3). Which in turn troubled Jonah. According to Kramer's irreligious logic, he would condemn Jonah as a false prophet too.
Kramer looks at the Joseph Smith Translation of the bible and points out the first chapter of John in the New Testament and claims that Joseph Smith is removing Christ's deity. In a revelation to the church through the prophet Joseph Smith Christ declares, "Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made" (D&C 38:1). Joel Kramer and Christophe Rico admit that the most earliest copy of the Gospel of John dates back to 150 A.D. which is 50 years after the Gospel of John was originally written down. This copy is known as Papyrus 66 which is not an original version from the hands of the apostle John himself, but another "copy" of the apostles writings. Thus Joseph Smith's inspired translation from God concerning John 1:1 can not be compared to any original primary source document that stem from John himself to compare it for accuracies sake. Joel Kramer can only compare it to a copy of the Gospel of John. Joel Kramer's arguments against the Prophet Joseph Smith fails again. It is clear that Joel Kramer does not know Joseph Smith or understand the scriptures if he interprets them in that way. It is Christ that Kramer is opposing by his attacks upon his chosen servant Joseph Smith.
Kramer then moves to Romans 4:16 a passage about salvation where Paul teaches, "It is of faith, that it might be by grace..." and then compares the Joseph Smith translation which reads, "Ye are justified of faith and works, through faith..." Which doesn't "corrupt" the bible as Joel Kramer claims but actually conjoins the teachings of the apostle Paul with the teachings of the apostle James (see James 2:17-18). Christ commanded Joseph Smith to translate the bible. Christ is restoring the original meaning of these passages. The meaning Christ himself intended his chosen servants the apostles to be teaching. The restoration of these passages brings harmony to the gospel of Christ. It unifies the New Testament of which Joel Kramer can not allow, because Paul and James are two major contentions in the Protestant movement that has divided the Christian world. This division has caused uninspired men to create false belief systems. Churches that are based on their interpretation. Interpretations that accept parts of the New Testament and reject other parts. Joel Kramer and his cohorts can't allow there to be harmony between James and Paul. Because in doing so their false belief system that is based upon an interpretation of the bible would then be exposed as a fraud. A counterfeit of Christ's church. Resembling nothing of the Church that Christ organized during the New Testament period.
Then to cement his false witness (Ex. 20:16) against the prophet Joseph Smith, Kramer quotes the apostle Paul in Galatians where in Paul teaches, "though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:8). Simple minded Christians like to use this verse to condemn the Restoration of the Gospel of Christ. However, people like Joel Kramer never finish quoting Paul. The apostle Paul goes on to certify that "the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:11-12). This is exactly how Joseph Smith received the gospel, "by the revelation of Jesus Christ" and it is the same gospel that the apostle Paul preached, the only difference is the dispensation in which it is being preached and taught in.
This statement by Orson Pratt seems appropriate. "To believe that a revelation or message, sent from God, is false, is attended with the most fearful consequences, involving the present and future happiness of the soul. So likewise, to believe human creeds and articles of religion, invented by uninspired men, to be of divine origin, is equally dangerous and fatal in its consequences." Orson Pratt
Joel Kramer and his cohorts are theologically dishonest.