FALSE PROPHECIES of Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism)

“False prophets-the curse and scourge of the world! How awful and awesome and evil it is when one pretends and professes to speak for God in leading men to salvation, but in fact has a message that is false, a doctrine that is not true, and a prophecy that will not come to pass!” (Bruce R. McConkie, [Mormon Apostle] “The Mortal Messiah”, 2:168-169)

Introduction.
It just takes one false prophesy to prove that a prophet is not from God. Below are two are the most famous “prophesies” of the Mormon religion, both of which have failed utterly to come to pass. They both come from the “Doctrine and Covenants”, which Mormons hold to be revelation on a par with the Book of Mormon itself.

False Prophecy #1: Temple in Independence

On September 22 and 23, 1832, Joseph Smith prophesied of an LDS temple to be built in the city of Independence, Missouri. This is the wording of the prophecy:

�(1)A revelation of Jesus Christ unto his servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and six elders, as they united their hearts and lifted their voices on high. (2)Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his church, established in the last days for the restoration of his people, as he has spoken by the mouth of his prophets, and for the gathering of his saints to stand upon Mount Zion, which shall be the city of New Jerusalem. (3)Which city shall be built, beginning at the temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith, Jun., and others with whom the Lord was well pleased. (4)Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation. (5)For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord…�(D&C: Section 84:1-5)

Response

The prophecy specifies that not just a temple, but a whole city, the city of “New Jerusalem”, was to be built. The passage is quite specific as to the location of the new temple (verse 3) and the timeframe for its completion (verses 4 & 5) . This prophecy was made in 1832 and it is quite clearly an unfulfilled, and therefore false, prophecy. There is no LDS temple on the site mentioned, and certainly no-one alive today who was alive in 1832, yet the prophecy states �For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord..�

While there is an RLDS temple in Independence, Missouri, this is on the wrong site, and was not built in that generation. As an aside, the RLDS church is a breakaway sect of the LDS church. Mormon missionaries are unlikely to reveal that the Mormon religion suffers the same problem as Protestantism, that is, a proliferation of sets. The main Mormon religion, the LDS Church, is the one headquartered at Salt Lake City, Utah, but there are numerous smaller sects, including the RLDS church, mentioned above.

Note also the wording of the prophecy: “A revelation of Jesus Christ unto his servant Joseph Smith” , “the word of the Lord concerning his church”, “Verily this is the word of the Lord..” This wording ought to be noted because often Mormons of today try to sidestep the false prophecies of Joseph Smith by referring to a quote Joseph Smith once made : “…I told them that a prophet was a prophet only when he was acting as such.” (History of the Church, volume 5, page 265.) However, it should be quite clear that the wording of the above prophecy shows that Joseph Smith was indeed “acting as such”. And his prophecy failed. There is no way out of this for Mormon apologists.

False Prophecy #2: Civil War Prophecy

This is one of the more popular Mormon prophecies, one which Mormons like to point to as proof that Joseph Smith was indeed a true prophet. Mormons like to make much out of the statement that it would begin with South Carolina, and hence that the prophecy came to pass. In actual fact, the prophecy did notcome to pass, and much detail of the prophecy is ignored (or else not read) by Mormons who cite this prophecy in support of Joseph Smith.

An understanding of the political background of the prophecy tells an interesting story.

As early as July, 1832, South Carolina had shown itself to be a somewhat rebellious member of the Union, and had even threatened to secede from the union (this was because of a tariff act Congress had passed which South Carolina had rejected). . . In the interim between the events of July 1832 and the December 1832 prophecy of Smith, the Mormon leader had been to New York city, where there was was general concern that South Carolina would secede from the Union. After Smith�s return to Ohio, South Carolina threatened secession if the tariff act was enforced. The date of Joseph Smith’s prophecy is December 25, 1832, five months after the beginning of the turmoil in South Carolina, during which time Smith had been exposed to the rumours of secession and war while in New York.

This news reached Ohio in due course and on December 25, l832, Joseph prophesied of a war that would originate in South Carolina. The point to note is this: since the news about the threat of war was public knowledge before Dec.25, l832, Smith had good material for his prediction. All the statement of South Carolina shows is that Joseph Smith knew the political situation of the time, and of course he would have known it, it was common knowledge that South Carolina had threatened secession over the tariff act.

So it is not simply a case that Joseph could not have known anything in advance; on the contrary, he surely knew that South Carolina was very likely going to secede and start a war. The details of the prophecy, as recorded below, show that Smith was very much in error about the details of the war, and hence his credibility as a “prophet” is destroyed.

Below is the text of the prophecy from Doctrine and Covenants (emphasis mine). It is well to read the prophecy with the political background in mind.

“Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place. For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations. And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war. And it shall come to pass also that the remnants who are left of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceedingly angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation. And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations“

(D&C: Section 87:1-6) Also RLDS Church History, Vol. l, pp. 262-263)

Response:
Although the Civil War did occur, it was never “poured out upon all nations” and did not lead to “a full end of all nations.” Also, slaves did not rise up in rebellion against their masters. In other words, a lot of this prophecy never in fact came to pass. And the part that did aparently come to pass, the starting of the Civil War in South Carolina, and the Southern States fighting the Northern States, was something that could easily have been discerned as early as 1832, as the political situation was indeed very volatile at that time in South Carolina. The war was certainly not “poured out upon all nations”, and we still have nations in the 21st century, and had them after the Civil War too, so there was no “full end of all nations”. Therefore the prophecy is false.

Again, as with the first prophecy discussed above, the wording of this prophecy makes it quite clear that Joseph Smith was indeed acting as a prophet when he made this prophecy, so there is no recourse for Mormons to say now that Smith was not acting in his capacity as prophet. The language of the prophecy (especially the introductory statement. “Verily, thus saith the Lord”, ) makes it quite clear that Smith was acting in his capacity as prophet. It is also well to point out that the trueprophets of the Old Testament never made a false prophecy, and did not need recourse to the type of excuses Mormon missionaries come up withtoday. Why should the same standard not apply to Joseph Smith? (The answer of course is because he fails as a prophet.)

Conclusion:
We see from an analysis of two prophecies of Joseph Smith, that this supposed prophet of God was not a prophet at all , but a false prophet. There are in fact numerous other prophecies of Joseph Smith which could be examined and found wanting, but that is not really necessary. Just one false prophecy is enough to make one a false prophet. We have presented two such false prophecies in this paper. No amount of wrangling by Mormon apologists will undo the stark facts: these prophecies failed to come true!

 

Joseph Fielding Smith [Mormon Prophet] stated: “Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground.”
“If Joseph Smith was a deceiver, who wilfully attempted to mislead the people, then he should be exposed; his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false, . . .” (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, p. 188-9.)

 

“But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him.” Deuteronomy 18:20-22.