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| ==Question: How can a Latter-day Saint reconcile alleged failed prophecies made by prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?== | | ==Question: How can a Latter-day Saint reconcile alleged failed prophecies made by prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?== |
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| {{Seealso|Question: How can one reconcile unfulfilled promises in patriarchal blessings?|Question: How can one reconcile alleged unfulfilled prophecies of Jesus Christ’s Second Coming given in patriarchal blessings?}} | | {{Seealso|Question: How can one reconcile unfulfilled promises in patriarchal blessings?|Question: How can one reconcile alleged unfulfilled prophecies of Jesus Christ’s Second Coming given in patriarchal blessings?}} |
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| This article will outline principles and procedures that a faithful Latter-day Saint can remember and follow when encountering claims of false prophecies made by past presidents of the Church. This article draws on the work of Matthew Roper and John Tvedtnes in formulating said principles and procedures.<ref>John A. Tvedtnes, "The Nature of Prophets and Prophecy," ''FAIR Publications'', accessed November 3, 2022, https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/archive/publications/the-nature-of-prophets-and-prophecy-2.</ref>
| | A set of article on the FAIR wiki discuss claims of Joseph Smith making false prophecies. |
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| These principles can be used to evaluate the prophecies of both modern and ancient prophets. We hope that this article will be helpful for all claims of false prophecies.
| | {{Seealso|Joseph Smith/Alleged false prophecies}} |
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| ===Response to Question===
| | Yet another article talks about how to reconcile failed personal spiritual impressions. |
| ====1. Ensure that the account of the prophecy does not misrepresent or misinterpret what the prophet actually said.====
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| ====2. Ensure that the account of the prophecy is authentic and is not based on hearsay====
| | {{Seealso|Question: Why might someone not be able to see their spiritual impressions come to successful, obvious, and/or beautiful fruition?}} |
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| ====3. Verify that the source claims that the prophecy came by revelation from God====
| | This article will outline principles and procedures that a faithful Latter-day Saint can remember and follow when encountering claims of false prophecies made by past presidents of the Church. This article draws on the work of Matthew Roper and John Tvedtnes in formulating said principles and procedures.<ref>John A. Tvedtnes, "The Nature of Prophets and Prophecy," ''FAIR Publications'', accessed November 3, 2022, https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/archive/publications/the-nature-of-prophets-and-prophecy-2.</ref> We strongly encourage reading the cited piece. It is thorough, enlightening commentary on this issue. |
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| ====4. Remember that most prophecies are contingent on conditions being met—even if that contingency is not made clear by the explicit text of the prophecy====
| | These principles can be used to evaluate the prophecies of both modern and ancient prophets. We hope that this article will be helpful for all claims of false prophecies. |
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| ====5. Remember the commandment "shall" and the predictive "shall"==== | | ===Response to Question=== |
| | ====1. The Two Models of Prophecy: Film Reel and Weather Forecast==== |
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| ====6. Make sure that there aren't other circumstances that fulfilled the prophecy==== | | ====2. God's Foreknowledge May Not be Absolute==== |
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| It is claimed that Joseph Smith made [[Joseph Smith/Alleged false prophecies|failed prophecies]], and as such must be a "false prophet." When critics charge Joseph Smith with uttering a "false prophecy" they are generally making one or more errors:
| | ====3. Commentary on Deuteronomy 18==== |
| | If the critics used their own standards, then they'd condemn the Bible as inauthentic. |
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| # they rely on an inaccurate account of what Joseph actually wrote or said, or they misrepresent Joseph's words;
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| # they ignore or remain unaware of circumstances which fulfilled the prophecy;
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| # they ignore or deny the clear scriptural principle [{{s||Jeremiah|18|7-10}}] that prophecy is contingent upon the choices of mortals;
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| ===Many LDS critics attempt to condemn Joseph Smith using a standard that would, if applied to Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Nathan, an angel of God, and Jonah, also condemn the Old Testament as a fraud=== | | ====4. Ensure that the account of the prophecy does not misrepresent or misinterpret what the prophet actually said.==== |
| | | *Check sources |
| No reasonable or biblical application of Deuteronomy 18 condemns Joseph Smith. Like the prophets of the Bible, Joseph's prophetic claims cannot be tested by looking for a failure in "fore-telling"—we must, as with the biblical prophets, decide if Joseph "knew God in the immediacy of experience," by weighing "the moral and religious content" of his message as he "challeng[es] his hearers to respond to the divine standards of spirituality through acts of cleansing and renewal of life,"<ref>Harrison, 755.</ref> which may only be ultimately judged by the source of prophecy—God himself. Every prophet is an invitation to enter into a "prophetic" relationship with God for ourselves, to communicate with him, and obtain the testimony of Jesus for ourselves.
| | *Check interpretation of sources |
| | | *Vision or prophecy |
| Confusion on this point arises from one or more errors:
| | *prophetic language |
| | | *Is there only one possible interpretation? |
| # prophecy may be fulfilled in ways or at times that the hearers do not expect;
| | *Can the prophecy be fulfilled in multiple ways at different times |
| # most prophecies are contingent, even if this is not made explicit when the prophecy is given—that is, the free agent choices of mortals can impact whether a given prophecy comes to pass
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| # sectarian critics may apply a standard to modern LDS prophets whom they reject that they do not apply to biblical prophets. This double standard condemns Joseph unfairly.
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| ===Prophecy may be fulfilled in ways or at times that the hearers do not expect=== | |
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| Deuteronomy doesn't exactly say that one mistake makes a false prophet.<ref>This wiki article was originally based on Jeff Lindsay, "If any prophecy of a so-called prophet proves to be wrong, shouldn't we reject him? Isn't that the standard of Deut. 18:22?," {{link|url=http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/response/qa/false_prophesies.htm}} Due to the nature of a wiki project, the text may have been modified, edited, and had additions made.</ref> James L. Mays, editor of ''Harper's Bible Commentary'' writes:
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| :Prophecy in the names of other gods is easily rejected, but false prophecy in God's name is a more serious matter. This dilemma requires the application of a pragmatic criterion that, although clearly useless for judgments on individual oracles, is certainly a way to evaluate a prophet's overall performance.<ref>James L. Mays (editor), ''Harper's Bible Commentary'' (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988), 226.</ref>
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| The problem with applying Deut. 18:22 to a single, individual prophecy is that some prophecies can be fulfilled in complex ways or at times much later than anticipated by the hearers. As one conservative Bible commentator noted:
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| :As far as external considerations were involved, therefore, there would appear to have been [in Old Testament times] virtually no means of differentiating the true from the false prophet....While the popular view current in the seventh century B.C. distinguished a true prophet from a false one on the basis of whether their predictions were fulfilled or not, this attitude merely constituted an inversion of the situation as it ultimately emerged, and not an absolute criterion of truth or falsity as such. As Albright has pointed out, the fulfilment of prophecies was only one important element in the validation of a genuine prophet, and in some instances was not even considered to be an essential ingredient, as illustrated by the apparent failure of the utterances of Haggai [{{b||Haggai|2|21}}] against the Persian empire.<ref>{{Book:Harrsion:Introduction to the OT|pages=755–756}}</ref>
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| ===Most prophecies are contingent, even if this is not made explicit when the prophecy is given===
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| The Bible contains many examples of God choosing to reverse or revoke certain prophecies, as He says He is free to do in Jeremiah:
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| :7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
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| :8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
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| :9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
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| :10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.{{s||Jeremiah|18|7-10}}
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| This principle is also illustrated in {{s||1Sam|2|30}} where, because of the wickedness of the priests, the Lord revokes his promise that the house of Aaron will forever serve him:
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| :30 Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
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| ===Sectarian critics may apply a standard to modern LDS prophets whom they reject that they do not apply to biblical prophets===
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| Many Bible prophets would not survive the critics' hostile application of Deuteronomy 18 as Jewish and Christian commentators have long realized. The reading which the critics wish to apply to modern day prophets does not match how scholars of Judaism have understood Deuteronomy in its Old Testament context.
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| Wrote one author:
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| :"The true prophet, as intercessor, was ready to risk a confrontation with God, in contrast to his counterpart, the false prophet. The problem of distinguishing between them was indeed perplexing, as shown by two separate passages in Deuteronomy...The answer given is that if the 'oracle does not come true, that oracle was not spoken by the Lord; the prophet uttered it presumptuously.' ''This, however, cannot serve as an infallible criterion, because there are several occasions when an oracle delivered by a true prophet did not materialize even in his own lifetime.'' Such unfulfilled prophecies include Jeremiah's prediction of the ignominious fate of Jehoiakim ({{b||Jeremiah|22|19}}), which was belied by {{b|2|Kings|24|6}}, and Ezekiel's foretelling the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar ({{b||Ezekiel|26|7-21}}), which was later admitted to have failed but was to be compensated by the Babylonian king's attack on Egypt ({{b||Ezekiel|29|17-20}})"<ref>Shalom M. Paul, "Prophecy and Prophets" a supplemental essay in ''Etz Hayim, a Torah/Commentary published by the Jewish Publication Society'', 1411, {{ea}}.</ref>
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| We will see examples in the next section of biblical prophets who would be labeled as "false prophets" if the critics were consistent in their application of Deuteronomy.
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| The ''Jewish Study Bible'' observed:
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| :Having established an Israelite model of prophecy, the law provides two criteria to distinguish true from false prophets. The first is that the prophet should speak exclusively on behalf of God, and report only God's words. Breach of that rule is a capital offense ({{b||Jeremiah|28|12-17}}.) The second criterion makes the fulfillment of a prophet's oracle the measure of its truth. That approach attempts to solve a critical problem: If two prophets each claim to speak on behalf of God yet make mutually exclusive claims- ({{b|1|Kings|22|6}} versus {{b|1|King|22|17}}; {{b||Jeremiah|27|8}} versus {{b||Jeremiah|28|2}})- how may one decide which prophet speaks the truth?
| | ====5. Ensure that the account of the prophecy is authentic and is not based on hearsay==== |
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| :The solution offered is not free of difficulty. If a false prophet is distinguished by the failure of his oracle to come true, then making a decision in the present about which prophet to obey is impossible. Nor can this criterion easily be reconciled with {{s||Deuteronomy|13|3}}, which concedes that the oracles of false prophets might come true. Finally, the prophets frequently threatened judgment, hoping to bring about repentance ({{b||Jeremiah|7||}}, {{b||Jeremiah|26|1-6}}). If the prophet succeeds and the people repent and thereby avert doom ({{b||Jonah|3-4||}}), one would assume the prophet to be authentic, since he has accomplished God's goal of repentance. Yet according to thee criteria here (but contrast {{b||Jeremiah|28|9}}), the prophet who accomplished repentance is nonetheless a false prophet, since the judgment oracle that was proclaimed remains unfulfilled. These texts, with their questions and differences of opinion on such issues, reflect the vigorous debate that took place in Israel about prophecy."<ref>''Jewish Study Bible'' (published by the Jewish Publication Society), commentary on Deu. 18:20-23.</ref>
| | ====6. Verify that the source claims that the prophecy came by revelation from God==== |
| | A prophet is not always a prophet |
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| ===Prophecy or Commandment?=== | | ====7. Remember that most prophecies are contingent on conditions being met—even if that contingency is not made clear by the explicit text of the prophecy==== |
| As John Tvedtnes [https://www.fairmormon.org/archive/publications/the-nature-of-prophets-and-prophecy-2 wrote]:
| | Are there any possible unstated conditions to the prophecy? |
| :The vast majority of Joseph Smith’s supposed “false prophecies” listed by critics are not prophecies at all, but “commandments” or “counsel” (see D&C 104:1; 115:1, 7-9, 12) which were not obeyed. If the person receiving the instructions failed to comply, then the “prophecy,” according to the critics, is proven false. By this reasoning, even God himself is a false prophet, for Lot’s wife disobeyed him and looked back at the city of Sodom (Genesis 19:17, 26). Cain sinned even after the Lord had told him, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door” (Genesis 4:7).
| | Are there any stated conditions to the prophecy? |
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| :If true prophetic statements are conditioned upon the sins or the repentance of those upon whom they are pronounced, then the same principle must apply to commandments. The Lord explained it this way: “Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled? I command and men obey not; I revoke and they receive not the blessing. Then they say in their hearts: This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled. But wo unto such, for their reward lurketh beneath, and not from above” (D&C 58:30-33). A similar statement is found in D&C 82:10: “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise” (compare with verse 4).
| | ====8. Remember the commandment "shall" and the predictive "shall"==== |
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| :Let’s examine one of Joseph Smith’s revelations often listed as a “false prophecy” by critics. In D&C 114, David W. Patten was commanded to “settle up all his business as soon as he possibly can” and prepare to leave on mission the next spring with the rest of the Twelve Apostles (cf. D&C 118:5-6). Due to circumstances beyond his control (i.e., mob attacks), Patten did not settle his business “as soon as he can,” as the Lord commanded and died before he could go on the mission the Lord had for him. Some have objected that, since God is all-knowing, he would have been aware that Patten would die, so why give such a commandment. In response, we ask, Didn’t God know that Nineveh would repent upon hearing Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:5)? Why, then, did he tell Jonah to prophesy doom to the inhabitants of the city (Jonah 3:4)? And didn’t God know that Hezekiah would live another fifteen years? So why give two conflicting prophecies through the prophet Isaiah (2 Kings 20:1-6)? Didn’t God know that Pharaoh would reject Moses’ words? Then why bother to send the prophet to the Egyptian king to ask that he let Israel go free?
| | ====9. Make sure that there aren't other circumstances that fulfilled the prophecy==== |
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| :But there is more to the David Patten story than meets the eye. Latter-day Saints believe that when a commandment is given to a man because of the office he holds, the commandment can apply to his successor. Thus, while David W. Patten did not fill the mission to England, the new apostles called to fill vacancies in the quorum did. There are biblical precedents for this. For example, the Lord commanded Elijah to anoint Hazael king of Assyria and Jehu king of Israel and Elisha as prophet in his stead (1 Kings 19:15-16). Elijah did, indeed, call Elisha (1 Kings 19:19-21). But it was Elisha, after Elijah was taken to heaven, who sent one of the prophets to anoint Jehu (2 Kings 9:1-10), and Elisha himself announced to Hazael that he would be king (2 Kings 8:7-13). In other words, Elijah did not accomplish two of the three tasks assigned to him by God. Does this make him a false prophet? In the LDS view, he did the right thing by designating his successor, who followed through on unfinished business. In the same manner, some of the things the Lord commanded the early Latter-day Saints to accomplish (such as to settle in Zion, Missouri) will be fulfilled by their descendants and successors. Likewise, the blessings pronounced on each of the tribes of Israel by Jacob (Genesis 48-49) and Moses (Deuteronomy 33) are to be understood as blessings for their future generations, not only for the men to whom the words were addressed.
| | ====10. Make sure to note whether or not the prophecy has a definite timeframe for when it is supposed to be fulfilled==== |
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| :We must also note that sometimes God’s commandments are designed as tests of obedience. For example, he didn’t really want Abraham to kill his son, Isaac, though this is what he told him to do (Genesis 22). The same is true of the Lord’s commandment to send an armed group (“Zion’s Camp”) to redeem the land of Zion in Missouri (D&C 101, 103, 105).
| | ====11. There are perhaps little to no prophecies that can be considered "unreasonable" |
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| ===Prophecy Vs. Vision=== | |
| Again from Tvedtnes:
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| :Visions are often highly symbolic and hence require interpretation. They cannot, therefore, necessarily be taken as “prophecy” in the sense of predictions of precise future events. As an example, we may consider Joseph Smith’s vision of the celestial kingdom (''History of the Church'' 2:380-381). It has been highly criticized because in it he saw the twelve apostles of his day in the celestial kingdom. Of the twelve, however, five were excommunicated and never returned to the Church. This, the critics say, is evidence of a false prophecy. More likely, it is an indication of what the Lord intended for them, had they all remained faithful.
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| :If Joseph Smith is to be condemned as a false prophet on the basis of this vision, then we must condemn Jesus as a false prophet for similar reasons. Christ promised his twelve apostles that, when he returned to reign in glory, they would sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). And yet Judas, who was one of the twelve at the time, later fell away and, losing his place as an apostle, was replaced by Matthias (Acts 1:15-26).<ref>According to John 6:70-71, Jesus knew well in advance that Judas would betray him.</ref> If we take Jesus’ words literally, then either Judas will receive the reward (which makes the account in Acts wrong), or Jesus lied. On the other hand, if we do not hold Jesus to every word, should we not extend the same courtesy to Joseph Smith who, after all, was far less perfect than the Savior?
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| ===Important Steps in Evaluating Prophecy===
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| Matthew Roper has given a good list of steps to take in evaluating each prophecy. The author will add some things to this list:
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| *Is the source authentic or is it hearsay?
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| *Is the statement accurately quoted?
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| *Does the statement claim to be a direct revelation from God?
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| *Does the quote claim to be a prophecy, or is it [a vision], statement of commandment, instruction, etc.?
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| *Is it clearly intended to be literal (not poetic, a figure of speech, etc.)?
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| *Is there a definite time limit set for its fulfillment, not simply “shortly,” “nigh,” “soon,” etc.?
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| *Are there any stated conditions to the prophecy?
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| *Are there any possible unstated conditions to the prophecy?
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| *Is there only one possible interpretation?
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| *Can it be shown beyond dispute that the time of fulfillment is past?
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| *[Can the prophecy be fulfilled in multiple ways and/or at different times?]
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| ===Conclusion=== | | ===Conclusion=== |
