FALSE PROPHECIES

1. September 21, 1823. Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith 2:40-41. Joseph Smith claimed that the angel Moroni told him that the prophecies in Isaiah, Chapter 11 were about to be fulfilled and that the prophecies in Joel, Chapter 2:28-32 were soon to be fulfilled.

158 years have now gone by since this was received and the prophecies that Joseph Smith referred to have not been fulfilled. We know that these prophecies will be fulfilled in the future, but not in Joseph Smith's (or Moroni's) timing.

2. July, 1828. Doctrine & Covenants, Section 3, verse 3. "Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men;".

This particular verse is going to come back time after time and haunt Joseph Smith. If this verse is accepted as scripture by Mormons (which it is) then all we have to show is that if whatever is promised or prophesied by Joseph Smith is frustrated then it is the work of men.

Verses 16-20 of Section 3 prophesy that the Lamanites will be converted. To Mormons the Lamanites are the Indians. Well, the Mormon church has been trying to convert the Indians for 153 years and they have not done it yet. In fact a large majority of the Indians that they have converted are totally inactive. This is especially true in Latin America and South America. The Indians go in the front door and very soon go out the back door.

There is another interesting scripture in the Book of Mormon regarding the Indians. 2 Nephi 30:6 includes a prophecy that the Lamanites (Indians) would turn "white and delightsome" in a few generations after accepting the gospel. It is interesting to note that the handwritten manuscript of 2 Nephi 30:6 has "white and delightsome". In 1840 Joseph Smith directed that it be changed to "pure and delightsome". Brigham Young directed that it be changed back to "white and delightsome". It has remained "white and delightsome" until 1981 where it has now appeared as "pure and delightsome" with no footnote indicating why it was changed. Is it possible that now that sufficient time has gone by to see that the Lamanites are not going to turn "white and delightsome" after several generations of being members of the Mormon church, that it is prudent to change the verse to "pure and delightsome" which is easier to defend? Honest editing would at least place a footnote by the change to explain why the change had been made.

3. Winter 1829-1830. An Address To All Believers In Christ, David Whitmer, pages 30-31. Joseph Smith sent Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery to Toronto, Canada to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon in response to a revelation that he claimed to have received from God.

The mission and the revelation was a total failure as recorded by David Whitmer. When Joseph Smith was asked why the revelation had failed he answered that he did not know how it was. David Whitmer records that Joseph Smith "...enquired of the Lord about it, and behold the following revelation came through the stone: 'Some revelations are of God: some revelations are of man: and some revelations are of the devil. So we see that the revelation to go to Toronto and sell the copy-right was not of God, but was of the devil or the heart of man."

Mormon Historian and Apostle B.H. Roberts records the following regarding this Toronto revelation. "...May this Toronto incident and the Prophet's explanation be accepted and faith still be maintained in him as an inspired man, a Prophet of God? I answer unhesitatingly in the affirmative. The revelation respecting the Toronto journey was not of God, surely; else it would not have failed; but the Prophet, overwrought in his deep anxiety for the progress of the work, saw reflected in the 'Seer Stone' his own thought, or that suggested to him by his brother Hyrum, rather than the thought of God...in this instance of the Toronto journey, Joseph was evidently not directed by the inspiration of the Lord." (A Comprehensive History of the Church, vol. 1, p. 165)

There is no way that a reasonable, rational person can escape the reality that this was a false prophecy. Remember, Deuteronomy 18:22 records that all you need is one false prophecy to have a false prophet,

3. September, 1830. Doctrine & Covenants, Section 29:10-11. In these two verses Joseph Smith prophesied that the "...hour is nigh..." for Christ to return.

151 years have gone by since Joseph Smith stated that the hour was nigh. Only by performing mental gymnastics can this prophecy be accepted as one that can be fulfilled.

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52. Journal of Discourses, vol. 12:204.

"How long will it be before the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith will be fulfilled? He said if the Constitution of the United States were saved at all it must be done by this people. It will not be many years before these words come to pass."

If Joseph Smith really said the above, and I have no reason to doubt Brigham Young, then at least 137 years have gone by since Joseph Smith said it (he died in June, 1844). Of course the time element was added by Brigham Young, but he is another false prophet entirely.