Prophets and Prophecy in Mormonism/Part 2

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Mormon scripture in Doctrine & Covenants 115:4 declares, “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” The “Latter-day Saints” portion of that name reflects Joseph Smith’s teaching that his generation was living just prior to Christ’s return. The following predictions by Joseph Smith express that belief.

Joseph Smith said, “Were I going to prophesy, I would say the end [of the world] would not come in 1844, 5, or 6, or in forty years. There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes. I was once praying earnestly upon this subject, and a voice said unto me, ‘My son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years of age, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man.’ I was left to draw my own conclusions concerning this, and I took the liberty to conclude that if I did live to that time, He would make His appearance. But I do not say whether He will make his appearance or I shall go where He is. I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written—the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty-five years old” (Minutes of the LDS General Conference on April 6, 1843 in History of the Church, vol. 5, p. 336). Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805, so he would have been 85 years old in 1890. Smith concluded that if he lived until he was 85, Christ “would make His appearance.” But he didn’t live until 1890 and Christ hasn’t returned 110 years after that date!

LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie realized that some might see the above message by Smith as false prophecy since Smith said in 1843 that “There are those (plural) of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ Comes.” So McConkie explained:

The rising generation is the one that has just begun. Thus, technically, children born on April 6, 1843 would be the first members of the rising generation, and all children born, however many years later, to the same parents would still be members of that same rising generation. It is not unreasonable to suppose that many young men had babies at the time of this prophecy and also had other children as much as 50 or 75 years later, assuming for instance that they were married again to younger women. This very probable assumption would bring the date up to, say, the 2nd decade of the 20th century—and the children so born would be members of that same rising generation of which the Prophet spoke. Now if these children lived to the normal age of men generally, they would be alive well past the year 2000 A.D. (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 692-693).

It appears that McConkie was trying to define “the rising generation” so that Smith’s prophecy could still be true. First, he said that as long as all the children were born to the same parents they would be included in the rising generation of 1843. Then he said if the men “mar­ried again to younger women” they could have children as much as 50 or 75 years after 1843! But if the man married a younger woman and fathered another child, that woman would not be the “same parent” that bore the first child! (How many men father children for 75 years?) In McConkie’s explanation, the man is the only parent that matters, which probably reflects the LDS view of women.

Using McConkie’s most liberal explanation, his “very probable assumption” would look like this: A 20 year old man fathered a child 157 years ago in 1843 and then married a younger woman and fathered at least one other child 75 years later in 1918 (when he was 95), so that child would be 82 years old in the year 2000 A. D. McConkie said “ if these children lived to the normal age of men generally, they would be alive well past the year 2000 A.D.” A few people do live to be 82 or a little older, but that is older than “the normal age of men gener­ally.” And it is highly unlikely that any 82 year old person has a brother or sister who was born 157 years ago in 1843! But, even if such a person can be found, Christ has not returned, so the prophecy is still false!

Joseph Smith also added the above prophecy to Mormon scripture in Doctrine & Cov­enants 130:14-17 where he wrote,

I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following: “Joseph my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice and trouble me no more on this matter.” I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face. I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time.

Smith said he was “praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man” even though Jesus said in Matthew 24:36: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Jesus even told His disciples, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” Apparently Smith thought he was an exception to all men and even the angels!

On February 14,1835 Joseph Smith said, “It was the will of God that those who went to Zion, with a determination to lay down their lives, if necessary, should be ordained to the ministry, and go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, or the coming of the Lord, which was nigh—even fifty-six years should wind up the scene” (History of the Church, vol. 2, p. 182). The next three pages lists the names of over 200 people who went to Zion, but they have all been dead for a century or more, so they can’t prune the vineyard for the last time or the com­ing of the Lord. Smith said that “the coming of the Lord” was nigh, even “fifty-six years should wind up the scene.” Fifty-six years added to the year 1835 would be 1891 when the scene should have been all wound up! But Christ didn’t come in 1891, so this is another false proph­ecy.

For more about false prophecy in Mormonism see our book entitled Mormon Claims Answered. Our next article will continue the discussion of false prophecy in Mormonism.