UTC Let s start from the beginning and move towards what we have There was a boy who was born in 1805 who founded a religion That in and of itself isn t that special Lots of people started their own religions and churches But he is different He isn t just any religionist because he claims that he actually speaks with God face to face like prophets anciently He claims that he received Golden Plates and he translated them by the power of God into the Book of Mormon He claims to hold the keys to salvation He claims that his is the only church that acts with real authority from God and that all the other churches are imposters Aren t you interested in what arguments have been made about whether or not he is a real prophet If Joseph Smith merely claimed to be able to predict a few things that would be one thing But when a young boy claims incredible visions and revelations comparable only to a handful of previous prophet s experiences that is something else 30 June 2005 00 45