R.C. Evans, a former member of the RLDS Church, wrote the following which proves the truth of the French saying, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” ("the more things change, the more they remain the same"):
Paul informs us in 1
Timothy 2, 5: “For there is one God and ONE MEDIATOR between God and man, the
Man, Jesus Christ.” The teaching of the Mormon church is, that Joseph Smith has
gone to heaven to assist Christ in this work. See the above hymn, “Pleading
with God in behalf of his brethren.” The Bible plainly teaches that Christ shed
His blood to seal the Covenant by which man may be saved, but J. Smith again
comes to the rescue, and we are told that J. Smith shed his blood to bring forth
the Book of Mormon, for the salvation of a ruined world. Doctrine and Covenants
113. Shall we place J. Smith and his Book of Mormon on a par with Christ
and the Bible. Is the blood of Christ sufficient? Will His pleadings prevail or
do we require J. Smith to go to heaven to help Him as a mediator? (R.C. Evans, Forty
Years in the Mormon Church: Why I Left It! [1920], 21)
For responses to these arguments about the
role and status of Joseph Smith in Latter-day Saint theology as well as the nature
of the sufficiency of Christ, see:
Full Refutation of the Protestant Interpretation of John 19:30
