FALSE PROPHECIES OF JOSEPH SMITH

- HOW MANY FALSE PROPHECIES ARE NEED TO BE A FALSE PROPHET?
     The Bible warns us about false prophets (Matt 24:11, 7:15-20) and tells us how to judge them.

Should we be afraid of false prophets?  Now let us see what a Mormon apostle said. This LDS leader has the right idea, it is evil for a person to profess to speak for God and not have the prophecy come to pass.  It is sad that Mormons do not apply this to Joseph Smith. How many people does a person have to kill to be branded a killer? How many false prophecies does a person have to make to be a false prophet? The answer for both questions is - "Only one".

- WICKED IN THE UNITED STATES TO BE DESTROYED
     In 1833 and May 1843 Joseph Smith prophesied the destruction of the United States in preparation for the return of the lost tribes and if the wrongs committed against the Mormons went unpunished.

At another time Joseph Smith said; Now note the timing for the above and scope of the destruction - "for there are those now living upon the earth whose eyes shall not be closed in death until they see all these things", "you will live to see and know that I have testified the truth to you", "in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left". It should be self evident that these destructions did not happen. Some might say that the Civil War was the fulfilling of Smith's prophecies, and while it was convulsive, the worst war the United States ever had, it did not result in "in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted" or "sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land." The government did not "redress the wrongs", nor "punish the crimes". In reality federal laws and enforcement followed the LDS to their new home in the west (Utah) and caused them to drop the practice of polygamy.

- SOME OF THE FIRST APOSTLES WOULD NOT DIE
     The following was recorded at an official Mormon Church meeting which took place on February 14 and 15, 1835:

At this same meeting on February 14-15, 1835 twelve apostles (D&C 18:27) were named (History of the Church, 2:180-186) and nine men (1) (this is an end note) were ordained and given blessings (ibid, 2:187-191 and Comprehensive History of the Church 1:374-375).  Heber C. Kimball, one of the nine men ordained by Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris (three of the witnesses that allegedly saw the gold plates), relates how those ordained then had hands laid upon them by the First Presidency (Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Frederick Williams) to confirm the blessings (2) and ordinations they had previously received (Comprehensive History of the Church 1:375; Times and Seasons 6:868).  Three of these blessings were: Lyman E. Johnson was excommunicated from the Mormon Church April 13, 1838 and he died December 1856 at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin at age 45.
  John F. Boynton was excommunicated 1837 and died in 1890 at the age of 79 in Syracuse, New York. William Smith became involved with some of the off-shoots of Mormonism after his brother was killed and was excommunicated October 19, 1845.  He died in 1893 at the age of 82 at Osterdock, Iowa.

- SOME IN RISING GENERATION SHALL NOT TASTE DEATH

Some Mormons might say the above items by Joseph Smith were recorded incorrectly, are not understood or they were isolated incidents, but members also heard Joseph Smith teach the same thing. Two members recorded the following in their journals: There is no evidence that any of the people above ever saw the face of the Lord and obviously the Lord did not return.  The Bible warns us about people that would set dates for the Lord's Second Coming (Matt 25:13).

- JOSEPH SMITH'S CIVIL WAR PROPHECY

The potential of a civil war was general knowledge at the time this revelation was allegedly given. The State of South Carolina had passed a tariff nullification ordinance on November 24, 1832. This and northern anti-slavery agitation (Encyclopedia Britannica, 21:86-87, 1956 edition.) led to talk of armed conflict at this time.  Newspapers quickly carried this information all over the country, one even before the actual passing of the tariff nullification ordinance on November 24, 1832 . Five examples of these are found in a New York City paper, "Weekly courier and New York Enquirer", in three separate publications dated September 8, December 8 and December 22, 1832. All three were front page articles and expressed concern about a civil war, the union and treason. The "Painesville Telegraph", located only about ten miles from the center of Mormon operation in Kirtland, OH on December 21, 1832, four days before Smith's alleged prophecy, in an article titled, "The Crisis" made it very clear how concerned many were about actual war and the preservation of the union. Even a Mormon newspaper, "Evening and Morning Star" of January, 1833, page 64, published in Independence, MO, featured an article titled "Rebellion In South Carolina". It described the political problems then occurring in South Carolina.
     It is worth noting that this revelation, which is dated December 25, 1832, was  not made scripture until after the Civil War. If one author is correct about individual Mormons spreading Smith's prophecy then such enthusiasm did not show up in official Mormon publications. The alleged revelation was not in the 1833 Book of Commandments or in the 1835 and 1844 editions of the Doctrine and Covenants. It was included in the 1876 edition. It was also included in the first publication of the Pearl of Great Price, by F.D. Richards in England in 1851.  However the Pearl of Great of Price and the 1876 D&C were not canonized until 1880.
 Note that Smith's prophecy says that war would be poured out on all nations.  This did not happen in the Civil War nor in any of the wars that followed for more than the next 100 years. There also has not been "a full end of all nations".

- DAVID W. PATTEN WAS TO GO ON A MISSION - BUT HE DIED

David W. Patten was killed on October 25, 1838 at the age of 38 at the Battle of Crooked River, Missouri.  Obviously he never went on his mission "next spring". Some Mormons might say he went on his mission in the "spirit world".  But note that the alleged revelation says "next spring, in company with others,....to bear glad tidings to all the world."  This must be the world we live in, not alone to the "spirit world".

- JOSEPH SMITH PROPHESIED THAT A TEMPLE WAS TO BE BUILT

This temple has not been built even to this day, and the land is not owned by the Mormon Church (of Salt Lake City) or the RLDS Church.  Historical evidence (5) shows that Mormons of Joseph Smith's day, and after his death, expected the temple to be built in their life time.
     Some would say, in his defense, that Joseph Smith used "in this generation" as in Matthew, "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." (Matthew 24:34).  They say that because the Lord has not come, "this generation" must have another meaning in the Bible and in Smith's temple prophecy. But Joseph Smith's translation of this verse in Joseph Smith - Matthew 1:34 (which some Bible scholars agree with (6)) shows that Smith knew when to qualify what "this generation" means. This verse says, As Smith did not qualify "this generation" in the temple prophecy  he must have been speaking about his own generation, which was also what his contemporaries testified (5), even well after the following revelation was published. Doctrine & Covenants 124:49-54 (Jan. 19, 1841) also says the same thing. This alleged revelation, from the same God that told the Mormons to build the temple, lets the Mormons out of their responsibility. They are now told they do not have to build the temple. Why is it that the God that gave the original commandment to build the temple missed seeing that it could not be done? What happened to 1 Nephi 3:7, It is clear that God allegedly gave the Mormons a commandment to build a temple in "this generation" (D&C 84:1-5). But he did not give them a way to accomplish it in "this generation". This doesn't say much for the God of Mormonism. He gives commandments that cannot be kept, he does not seem to know it ahead of time and he does not help his people accomplish  them. But we should not be surprised at this, as it has happened many times, as shown in the above six examples of false prophecies.

END NOTES:

1. The remaining three apostles were ordained later, Parley P. Pratt on Feb. 21, 1835, and Orson Pratt and Thomas B. Marsh on April 26, 1835.
2.A sample of 560 LDS blessings in the 1839-1899 period showed that 6 were told they would not taste death and 57 were told they would remain until the Second Coming ("Patriarchal Blessings and the Routinization of Charisma", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, by Irene M. Bates; Vol.26, No. 3, Fall 1993, pages 9-11, 20, 21).
3. This group is the roots of the present day Watchtower Society and Seventh Day Adventists.
4. The "Temple Lot" as it is called, is in Independence, Missouri.
5.  Journal of Discourses, 6:190; 10:344; 13:138, 362; 17:111; Answers to Gospel Questions, by Joseph Fielding Smith, 4:11-115.
6. The Complete Biblical Library, New Testament Study Bible, Matthew; Springfield, Missouri, 1989; pages 531, 706.
 

John Farkas, Berean Christian Ministries; P.O. Box 1091; Webster, NY 14580

E-mail: bcmmin@frontiernet.net    Web page: http://www.bcmmin.org
 

art/Falsprop.htm
4-29-95, 12-28-97 for the Internet