Try the Spirits

[Lilli]

This was interesting in Joseph's teachings:

The Apostles in ancient times held the keys of this Priesthood—of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and consequently were enabled to unlock and unravel all things pertaining to the government of the Church, the welfare of society, the future destiny of men, and the agency, power and influence of spirits; for they could control them at pleasure, bid them depart in the name of Jesus, and detect their mischievous and mysterious operations when trying to palm themselves upon the Church in a religious garb, and militate against the interest of the Church and spread of truth. We read that they "cast out devils in the name of Jesus," and when a woman possessing the spirit of divination, cried before Paul and Silas, "these are the servants of the Most High God that show unto us the way of salvation," they detected the spirit. And although she spake favorably of them, Paul commanded the spirit come out of her, and saved themselves from the opprobrium that might have been heaped upon their heads, through an alliance with her, in the development of her wicked principles, which they certainly would have been charged with, if they had not rebuked the evil spirit.
-TPJS pg. 206

If this quote is true, then it appears true Apostles and Prophets can't be deceived by false spirits, false persons or false doctrine.

[TZONE]

Goes along with ignorance and spirits,

Now every man is filled either with the holy or with the unclean spirit; and it is not possible to avoid the one or the other, unless they can receive opposite spirits. For the Comforter hates every lie, and the devil hates all truth. But every one that is baptized agreeably to the truth is separated from the diabolical spirit, and is under the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit remains with him so long as he is doing good, and fills him with wisdom and understanding, and suffers not the wicked spirit to approach him, but watches over his goings. Thou therefore, O woman, if, as thou sayest, in the days of thy separation thou art void of the Holy Spirit, thou art then filled with the unclean one; for by neglecting to pray and to read thou wilt invite him to thee, though he were unwilling. For this spirit, of all others, loves the ungrateful, the slothful, the careless, and the drowsy, since he himself by ingratitude was distempered with evil mind, and was thereby deprived by God his dignity; having rather chosen to be a devil than an archangel.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/007/0070457.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[inquirringmind]

But wasn't Oliver Cowdery. a true prophet, and wasn't he deceived?

Section 28
DC 28 Biographical Sketch: Hiram Page

"It began with a curious, small, flat stone that Hiram Page wore on a chain around his neck. He believed that the stone held special powers and used it to seek inspiration. Foolish as the practice may now seem, Hiram lived at a time when many devout Christians believed in the use of such objects as rocks and tree branches to divine hidden truths or to learn the will of God. Folk superstition supported Hiram's claim to have a spiritual gift that enabled him to use his stone for inspiration, causing some to comment on his supposed gifts.

"Hiram Page spent his early years learning folk medicine in preparation for a career as a physician. His travels took him to Fayette, New York, where he met the Peter Whitmer Sr. family. In November 1825 he married Peter's daughter Catherine and made his new home with the Whitmers. Through his association with the Whitmer family he met Oliver Cowdery and the Prophet Joseph Smith. Hiram became an avid supporter of the young Prophet and was invited to be one of the Eight Witnesses of the gold plates. For the rest of his life he testified that he had actually seen the plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.

"Hiram learned of the Urim and Thummim and the part it played in the translation of the Book of Mormon. He knew that Joseph possessed a seerstone and used it in his prophetic calling. Hiram assumed that his own gift of seership, exercised through the stone he wore around his neck, was of divine origin. He continued to use his stone as a source of 'inspiration,' even after he joined the Church.

"Before the September 1830 conference of the Church, Oliver Cowdery and the Whitmers became interested in Hiram's supposed spiritual gift and encouraged him to use his stone to seek information about Zion and the government of the Church. (Dennis A. Wright, The Doctrine and Covenants, a Book of Answers: The 25th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, ed. by Leon R. Hartshorn, Dennis A. Wright, and Craig J. Ostler, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1996], 86-87)
DC 28 Historical Background

Newell Knight

About the last of August, 1830 (the time was probably mid-September, see footnote in History of the Church, 1:110), I took my team and wagon to Harmony to move Joseph and his family to Fayette, New York. After arranging my affairs at home, I again set out for Fayette to attend our second conference, which had been appointed to be held at Father Whitmer's, where Joseph then resided. On my arrival I found Brother Joseph in great distress of mind on account of Hiram Page, who had managed to get up some dissension of feeling among the brethren by giving revelations concerning the government of the Church and other matters which he claimed to have received through the medium of a stone he possessed. He had quite a roll of papers full of these revelations, and many in the Church were led astray by them. Even Oliver Cowdery and the Whitmer family had given heed to them, although they were in contradiction to the New Testament and the revelations of these last days. Joseph was perplexed and scarcely knew how to meet this new exigency. That night I occupied the same room that he did, and the greater part of the night was spent in prayer and supplication.

Joseph Smith

As a conference meeting had been appointed for the 26th day of September, I thought it wisdom not to do much more than converse with the brethren on the subject until the conference should meet. Finding, however, that many, especially the Whitmer family and Oliver Cowdery, were believing much in the things set forth by this stone, we thought best to inquire of the Lord concerning so important a matter. (History of the Church 1:110)

Newell Knight

After much labor with these brethren, they were convinced of their error and confessed the same, renouncing the revelations as not being of God, but acknowledging that Satan had conspired to overthrow their belief in the true plan of salvation. In consequence of these things, Joseph inquired of the Lord before conference commenced and received a revelation in which the Lord explicitly stated His mind and will concerning the receiving of revelation. (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 14)
DC 28:1 Behold, I say unto thee, Oliver

Interestingly, this entire revelation is directed to Oliver Cowdery. Although the problem started with Hiram Page and involved a number of other church members, the Lord directs his comments to Oliver. Why would this be?

As the second elder in the church, witness to the Book of Mormon, and personal recipient of the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, Oliver has been given more spiritual gifts than any other individual save Joseph Smith. Since Joseph can't be in all places at all times, he needs other church officers who can preside and exercise good judgment. Unfortunately, Oliver believes some of Hiram's revelations. Understandably, the church is young and the order of heaven poorly understood by the membership, but Joseph can't yet rely upon Oliver to keep things under control. Oliver's inability to spiritually discern Hiram's revelations as a fake and a fraud must have been disappointing to the Prophet-especially, since Oliver "took the Prophet to task for not accepting what Hiram Page had given." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:125)

http://www.gospeldoctrine.com/content/section-28

And what about this?

On 6 April 1830 the Lord instructed the Saints about the channel through which revelation would come to build Zion. He said, speaking of the President of the Church, “Him have I inspired to move the cause of Zion in mighty power” (D&C 21:7). This instruction was difficult for some of the Saints to follow. Many had come from religious backgrounds that permitted any member of the congregation to proclaim doctrine for the entire assembly. Yet on the day the Church was organized, the Lord taught the principle that only one person has the right to receive revelation for the entire Church. Even by September 1830 the Saints had not fully learned this lesson, for many believed in the revelations of Hiram Page.

In February 1831 it became necessary for the Lord to further instruct the Saints on this matter. Section 43 was given in response to the activity of a Mrs. Hubble, who “came making great pretensions of revealing commandments, laws and other curious matters” (History of the Church, 1:154). John Whitmer recorded the following about Mrs. Hubble: “She professed to be a prophetess of the Lord, and professed to have many revelations, and knew the Book of Mormon was true, and that she should become a teacher in the church of Christ. She appeared to be very sanctimonious and deceived some who were not able to detect her in her hypocrisy; others, however, had the spirit of discernment and her follies and abominations were manifest.” (History of the Church, 1:154n.)

Mrs. Hubble was one of many who falsely claimed revelations to guide the Church or to correct the Prophet. In a discourse in Ogden, Utah, Elder George A. Smith gave several examples of the problem and said: “There was a prevalent spirit all through the early history of this church, which prompted the Elders to suppose that they knew more than the Prophet. Elders would tell you that the Prophet was going wrong.” (In Journal of Discourses, 11:7.) Many members became confused and bewildered by the different claims. Under these circumstances the Prophet went to the Lord for guidance and received the revelation recorded as Doctrine and Covenants 43.

https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and ... n?lang=eng

[Lilli]

But wasn't Oliver Cowdery. a true prophet, and wasn't he deceived?

Well if he was, then the above quote can't always be true.

[inquirringmind]

Here's some more on Mrs. Hubbell.

As with Hiram Page in New York, some of the Ohio converts, convinced that God was pouring down spiritual gifts upon all the Saints, believed that revelation for the church could be received by anyone with the gift. Some would claim to receive letters from heaven containing revelations that had to be copied down before they disappeared. The issue became particularly confusing when a woman named Laura Fuller Hubbell claimed to have received revelations that qualified her to be an official teacher in the church.She was apparently sincere in her belief in the Book of Mormon, and Sidney Rigdon seems to have believed her claims. Smith himself could not immediately detect falsehood, writing that "a woman came with great pretentions to revealing commandments, laws and other curious matters; and, as every person, (almost) has advocates for both theory and practice, in the various notions and projects of the age, it became necessary to inquire of the Lord."

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... us&strip=1