Under a section entitled “Joseph Smith A Sinner,” Colleen Ralson, in reference to passages such as D&C 3:6, 9, 10; 5:21 concludes that:
Yes, the prophets in the Bible
sinned. But they did not continue to do so year after year. The first example
of Joseph as a sinner was given in 1827 and the last in 1843. If my math is
correct that is 15 years Joseph, the LDS Prophet, continued to sin. This might
be a good place to ask a Mormon if they think it wise to follow this man. (Colleen
Ralson, The Christian Companion to The Triple Combination: A Guide to Using
Mormon Scripture for Witnessing to Latter-day Saints [St. Louis, Miss.:
Personal Freedom Outreach, 2003], 66)
A comment like this shows that Ralson is ignorant of even her own
Protestant theology. Latter-day Saints and Protestants agree that we will only
become perfectly sanctified in the hereafter, and everyone, no matter their
position in the Church, will still have sinful tendencies and commit sin. Note
the following from the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith:
This sanctification is throughout
the whole man, yet imperfect in this life; there abideth still some remnants of
corruption in every part, whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war;
the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. ( 1
Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 7:18, 23; Galatians 5:17; 1 Peter 2:11)
It appears that Ralson believes that believers, in mortality, can
become sinless and perfectly sanctified. In order to attack a true prophet of God,
she must shoot herself in her own Protestant foot.
As an aside, it should come as no surprise that the "Foreword" was written by none other than Bill McKeever, who himself produces low IQ arguments against the Church too. See, for e.g.,
Top 17 Reasons Bill McKeever Doesn't Understand the Latter-day Saint Faith
