Summary: <br> An Alleged Prophet <br> <br> Art Bulla has been claiming for almost 3 decades to be the successor of Joseph Smith holding the highest priesthood keys, being the Lord's annointed and even superior to Joseph Smith and his successors, claiming to be One Mighty and Strong, to set an apostate LDS Church in order.After many years of discussion on the air and in person with Art Bulla I have decided to address his claims directly by talking about some basic principles of Mormonism introduced by Joseph Smith and endorsed by his successors, but ignored or denied by Bulla. I have tried hard to understand his claims. <br> <br> Basically, he claims that his having been ordained a 70 gives him the highest priesthood keys, eventhough he was excommunicated from the Church. He argues that a person need not be a member of the Church to hold the highest priesthood keys. In fact, he claims that the highest keys are held by a council known as the Council of 50, organized by Joseph Smith in 1844. However, to be a member of this Council, according to Bulla, holding the highest priesthood keys, a person did not need to believe in Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, the Bible, Jesus or God. <br> <br> Bulla claims he received the highest priesthood keys from the Church, which he asserts has been in apostasy for some time. I have asked him a number of times to trace the highest keys, those to be held only by one man at a time on the earth, from Joseph Smith to himself. He has never gone beyond Joseph Smith, Brigham Young or John Taylor. He weaves a claim of revelation; a pre-existent foreordination; ordination to a 70 before his excommunication; extension of the priesthood to the blacks in 1978, resulting, as he alleges, to a latter-day apostasy of the Church; a total disregard for the vision of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, of great success and expansion of the Church worldwide, diminishing this vision to that of one prophet holding the keys, with one disciple, no Church or priesthood quorums. <br> <br> I discuss such Mormon Basics as: <br> The highest priesthood keys were to be invested in the Church. <br> <br> The President of the Church is the President of the High Priesthood. <br> <br> All who leave the Church or are excommunicated hold no priesthood keys or authority. <br> <br> There is to be no modern-day apostasy of the Church. <br> <br> The meaning of D&C 85 on the "one mighty and strong." <br> <br> <br>
