In Mormonism, any kind of critical examination of Joseph Smith, or his statements, is almost immediately met with an accusation of being a “Joseph hater”. Today, many simply cherry pick statements from Joseph in order to demonstrate him being a true or false prophet according to their slant. Why is it not possible to recognize Joseph for who he was, and what he was, while also understanding that he was a flawed human that shouldn’t be above reproach?
Prophecy
In looking at the prophecies of Joseph, or prophecy in general, it can be a difficult endeavor because the goal posts can be very easily moved. Things that we want to be true can be interpreted exactly while things that we don’t want to be true can be interpreted symbolically, or even just moved to a future time. It is incredibly easy to rationalize away any line of thinking that we want.
When applied to a belief system like Mormonism, then this means we can unevenly interpret the prophecy according to whatever conclusion that we want to obtain. We should however instead evenly interpret them for those that we use to demonstrate Joseph as a true prophet or for those that demonstrate that he was a false prophet. A prophecy should be a prophecy. However, this is sadly not reality.
Typically, in excusing failed prophecies then we can use some very common techniques to hand wave them away. For instance, we can:
- Claim that if Joseph didn’t explicitly say it, or write it himself, then it didn’t happen. This would be completely ignoring the source.
- Claim that the source may have misquoted Joseph or that if Joseph didn’t respond personally then it was just a blatant attack.
- Claim that if Joseph didn’t use specific language like “Thus saith God” then it was just his opinion, and we should ignore it as such.
- Claim that it may have been intended to be figurative instead of literal.
- Claim that the fulfillment was meant to be open ended and wasn’t expected at a specific time.
- Claim that the prophecy has certain specific conditions that must be fulfilled.
- Claim that the prophecy has certain specific unstated conditions that also must be fulfilled.
- Claim that there are many possible fulfillments instead of a specific one.
- Claim that the fulfillment is still in the future.
Based on this list then it is frankly almost impossible to say something is a true prophecy or a false prophecy. It really is all determined by what we want the outcome to be. If we don’t like the outcome, then we can just change the definitions so that our truth claim is now valid. We should however be honest about what we are doing and recognize it for what it is. We also shouldn’t adapt extreme explanations just so that we don’t have to admit the obvious.
One other point is that in looking at these prophecies, which certainly appear to be false according to normal definitions, then this is in no way an attack against Joseph or anything else. This is just a way to show that we really should be more discerning of what we accept as truth. Just because Joseph said it, and we like it, then we shouldn’t accept it as truth. Everyone is a mixture of truth and falsehoods. It is spiritually dangerous to accept everything from one person without any kind of discernment. This person becomes an idol to us, and we become spiritually dependent on them for our understanding of God.
Congress Dismantled
In 1843 Joseph wrote a petition to the United States Congress seeking a redress for the wrongs which had been enacted against the church and asked Congress for help. In the petition Joseph asked for federal protections for Nauvoo because he feared that the Missourians were going to attack him and the city. Missouri had long tried to extradite Joseph, for his earlier crimes, and he feared they would escalate into open violence.
During the council discussion of the petition, Joseph however claimed that if Congress didn’t hear the petition, and grant it, then the United States government would be broken up. Joseph said:
I prophe[s]y by virtue of the holy Priesthood. vested in me. in the name of Jesus Christ. that if congress will not hear our petition. and grant us protection. they shall be broken up as a governme[n]t and God shall damn them, and there shall nothing be left of them, not even a grease spot.
Joseph Smith, Journal, December 16, 1843
We know historically that Congress didn’t hear the petition and didn’t grant it. Joseph however was dead just 7 months later and the church had to leave the United States for their safety. It is now almost 200 years after that prophecy was made, and the United States Congress has not been broken up. In fact, America has continued to gain strength and dominance worldwide. As of today, they are well above the level of “grease spot” as Joseph mentioned they would be reduced to for not listening to him.
Government Overthrown
About 6 months earlier in May 1843, Joseph again mentioned that the United States would face the wrath of God if they didn’t give the church redress for the wrongs committed against them in Missouri. During a dinner party, Joseph said:
I prophecy in the name of the Lord God of Israel, unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the Saints in the state of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by her officers that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left for their wickedness in permitting the murder of men, women and children, and the wholesale plunder and extermination of thousands of her citizens to go unpunished
Joseph Smith, May 18, 1843
It should be noted again that this never happened and certainly more than “a few years” have passed by now. The United States wasn’t destroyed. However, Joseph was killed a year later, and the church was forced to leave for its survival. Nothing in the prophecy happened at all in any form.
Temple in Missouri
In September 1831, Joseph received a revelation known today as D&C 57 which stated Independence, Missouri as the gathering spot for the church. This caused a lot of excitement and consequently a sizable migration to the area. In about a 2-year time period, approximately 1,200 Mormons relocated to the area. During the height of the excitement in September 1832, Joseph received a revelation stating that the church was now to build a temple in Independence, Missouri and it would even be built during that generation. The revelation mentioned:
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.
Revelation, September 22, 1832, D&C 84
As we know historically, the temple was never built and wasn’t built in that generation or any other generation. The members were actually forced to leave the area about a year later. Joseph spent the next few years trying to reclaim the member’s lost property, through Zion’s Camp and other efforts. However, the church was never able to redeem Zion even though several revelations from Joseph stated that they would.
Queens to Honor
During 1842, Nauvoo was at the height of its glory, and the church was prospering in numerous ways. Things must have looked incredibly good with the Nauvoo temple well underway, the city of Nauvoo itself was becoming very prosperous, and the church was growing beyond anyone’s imagination. It was during this time that Joseph delivered a simple prophecy that the Queens of the world would very soon pay homage to the Relief Society. During a Relief Society meeting, Joseph said:
I now deliver it as a prophecy that before ten years shall roll round, the queens of the earth shall come and pay their respects to this Society— they shall come with their millions and shall contribute of their abundance for the relief of the poor
Joseph Smith, Relief Society meeting, April 28, 1842
Ten years after that point would be 1852. Therefore, for this to be valid then the “queens of the earth” would have to have visited Nauvoo and contributed “millions” to the cause of the church. Historically, we know this didn’t happen. Not even close. The relief society was actually disbanded by Brigham just 3 years later and wouldn’t be reorganized until 1867. This was 15 years after the cutoff date that Joseph gave. Even to this day it would be hard to say that “queens of the earth” have visited the Relief Society and “contribute[d] of their abundance for the relief of the poor”.
Nauvoo Greatest City
In 1840, shortly after the members had started to buy land in the area, Nauvoo, Illinois quickly became a very prosperous city and was starting to rival Chicago in its size and influence. During this time of prosperity then it must have seemed like things would continue to improve and expand indefinitely. It was during this time of great prosperity, for the church, that Joseph mentioned Nauvoo would not only rival Chicago in size and influence, it would actually become the biggest city in the world. Joseph mentioned:
I prophecy in the name of the Lord that the state of Illinois shall become a great and mighty mountain, as a city set upon a hill that cannot be hid, and a great candle that giveth light to the world. And the city of Nauvoo also shall become the greatest city in the whole world.
Joseph Smith, July 19, 1840
Just 5 years after this prophecy, the members had to leave Nauvoo, and it quickly shriveled in glory, power, and influence. At the time it must have felt like nothing could interrupt their prosperity, however that quickly changed in just a few years with the church forced to abandon almost everything they knew and relocate to a desert wasteland. Nauvoo today is far from the “greatest city in the whole world”. According to the 2020 census, Nauvoo itself is a very small city with only about 1000 people living in it. It would be safe to say instead that Nauvoo is actually one of the least cities in the world.
Greatest Bank
On January 2nd, 1837, Joseph and others opened the Kirtland Safety Society which was to be a private bank. They had hoped that it would elevate the members financially and enable the church to be in a much more favorable economic position. Joseph had incredibly high hopes for the bank and stated numerous times that it was God’s will to start the bank, and God wouldn’t let it fail. In the eyes of the members, it was God’s bank, and they were told to act accordingly. Many put all their money into the bank so when it failed just 1 years later, they were spiritually and financially devastated.
According to multiple accounts, Joseph received a revelation instructing him to start the bank and that it would become the greatest of all the banks in the world. Joseph also repeatedly told the members that they were to invest in the bank, even when it was looking financially unwise. It was God’s will that they invest their money in the failing bank. According to Wilford Woodruff, Joseph even heard the literal voice of God instructing him to start the bank. He wrote:
I also herd President Joseph Smith jr. declare … that he had receieved that morning the Word of the Lord upon the Subject of the Kirtland Safety Society. He was alone in a room by himself & he had not ownly the voice of the Spirit upon the Subject but even an audable voice. … May the Lord bless Brother Joseph with all the Saints & support the above named institution & Protect it so that every weapen formed against it may be broaken & come to nought while the Kirtland Safety Society shall become the greatest of all institutions on EARTH.
Wilford Woodruff, Journal, January 6, 1837
Warren Parish, who was at the initial founders meeting, according to Wilford Woodruff, confirmed many of the mentioned details. Warren Parish published his account in a local newspaper which mentioned:
I have listened to [Joseph] with feelings of no ordinary kind, when he declared that the audible voice of God, instructed him to establish a Banking-Anti Banking institution, which like Aaron’s rod should swallow up all other Banks … and grow and flourish and spread from the rivers to the ends of the earth, and survive when all others should be laid in ruins.
Warren Parish, Painesville Republican, February 5, 1838
Historically, we know the bank failed and didn’t swallow all the other banks of the world. The Kirtland Safety Society was founded almost immediately before the financial panic of 1837. In reality, it was the absolute worst time for Joseph to have started a bank. The failure of the bank further depressed the struggling members and showed that the members should have been far more decerning of Joseph’s revelations. The allure of financial gain was too much for many of the members and they explicitly trusted Joseph more than their own discernment.
Fill the World
According to Wilford Woodruff, in 1833, Joseph held a small meeting with many of the leading brethren of the church. During the meeting, the brethren spoke about the church and their feelings towards it. Afterwards, Joseph stood up and commended the brethren and then said that they couldn’t comprehend what the church would eventually become. The church would grow so large that it would fill the entire world. Joseph said:
This Church will fill North and South America—it will fill the world.
Joseph Smith according to Wilford Woodruff, Conference, April 8, 1898
This is honestly a late recollection so who really knows what was actually said at the meeting. However, there is little doubt that Joseph felt this way. We have recorded accounts of Joseph saying Kirtland was going to be the biggest city in the world. Then different ones saying Nauvoo was. We also have accounts of Joseph saying kings and queens would honor the church and bow before them. Joseph truly felt that he was starting something that was going to change the world in fundamental ways.
Today there are many people, including the church itself, that feel this prophecy has been fulfilled by the growth of the church. It is remarkable how the church has grown to say the least. However, to say this is fulfilled or even remotely close to being fulfilled is to completely misunderstand what the word fill actually means.
Of course, Joseph may not have meant ‘fill’ in the traditional sense. It is impossible to say. However, according to almost everyone, the word ‘fill’ doesn’t mean an incredibly small spattering here and there, like the church currently is worldwide. If this was true, then it would be like scattering a few rocks in the ocean and then saying the ocean is full of rocks. It just simply doesn’t work that way. Of course, the LDS church still has time to grow and “fill the world”. However, things are just frankly not looking good for the LDS church or really any other church for that matter. People are currently leaving organized religion faster than they are flocking to it.
Rising Generation
In 1843, Joseph held a special conference of the church which marked the beginning of the church’s 14th year. This was marked, by Joseph, as a Jubilee year and was heralded by a special 4-day conference held at the Nauvoo temple while it was still under construction. This conference focused on practical issues such as the governance of the church, rampant theft in Nauvoo, and discipline trials for members. However, it also focused on the Second Coming of Christ as well. Many at the time felt the Second Coming was very soon, with some, like William Miller, the popular Baptist minister, prophesying it would be that year or the next year in 1844.
During the conference, Joseph mentioned that those prophecies were incorrect, however they would be correct pertaining to the next generation. It was during this conference, that Joseph made the conditional statement that Christ wouldn’t return until Joseph was at least 85 years old. This statement was conditional, so it is easily debunked by apologists. However, Joseph did remark that there were those of the next generation that would live to see Christ return. This account is confirmed by Willard Richards, and William Clayton. Joseph is recorded as saying:
I would procpesy the end will not come in 1844. or 5— or 6. or 40 years. there are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till christ come. … I prophecy in the name of the Lord God.— & let it be written. <that the> Son of Man will not come in the heavns till I am 85. years old 48 years hence or about 1890.
Joseph Smith, Conference, April 6, 1843
Historically, we know that Christ didn’t return in the late 1800’s, even though some claim that he did spiritually. However, we also know that the “rising generation”, that Joseph spoke of, all died without Christ having returned. Many have used twisted logic to claim this was fulfilled by John the apostle who was supposedly immortal. However, there is no hint of Joseph meaning anything convoluted like this in the conference minutes. Anyone claiming this as a fulfilled prophecy is simply admitting they can twist statements until they become meaningless.
Second Coming
In February 1835, Joseph organized a meeting in Kirtland, for all the high priests and elders in the church. The meeting was for Joseph to instill in the minds of the leaders the solemn responsibility of their positions in the church. He even informed them that councils like this were so solemn anciently, that the participants weren’t allowed to whisper, get tired, leave, or get uneasy at all, until a consensus was reached. Joseph didn’t require that level of commitment of them but did want them to be aware that he could if he wanted.
Joseph began the meeting by informing the participants that he called them together because God had asked him to do it and that it was in answer to a vision that Joseph had. Joseph had been pondering the church’s recent expulsion from what they considered Zion and how some, in the church, felt that the entire endeavor was a waste of time and effort. Joseph informed them that it wasn’t a waste, because the second coming was extremely close. Most in fact, would live to see the day of Christ’s return. Joseph said:
God had not designed all this for nothing, but he had it in remembrance yet, and those who went to Zion, with a determination to lay down their lives, if necessary, it was the Will of God, that they 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.
Joseph Smith, Kirtland council meeting, February 14, 1835
56 years from 1835 would be 1890, which Joseph strongly felt would be the return of Christ. Joseph continued to hold this date, as Christ’s return, even in the 1840’s as we have previously seen. At that time, Joseph felt that he was organizing a missionary force to prune the vineyard for the last time, and that Christ would shortly return. We are now almost 150 years past 1890, and Christ still hasn’t returned. It would be safe then to say, that 1890 wasn’t the year and the members in 1835 weren’t pruning the vineyard for the last time like Joseph said that God told him they would be.
Phelp’s Immortality
According to church history, there are several accounts of Joseph promising W. W. Phelps that he would live to see Christ return. This would fit into the pattern where Joseph felt Christ’s return would be in 1890. If Phelps lived that long then he would of course be extremely old, however it wouldn’t be impossible. Concerning the prophecy, several people mentioned that Phelps would often repeat it and wore it like a badge of honor. To him this elevated him far beyond a common person. According to one of these accounts, they mentioned:
Joseph once told W. W. Phelps and wife that they should never taste death.
Oliver B. Huntington, History of the Life of Oliver B. Huntington Written by Himself, 1900
W. W. Phelps did however die in 1872, which was before the second coming. However, many have employed very creative logic in trying to twist the prophecy from failure to success. For instance, they have concluded that since Phelps lost almost all of his mental abilities, including his sense of taste, then when he died, he couldn’t taste his death in a literal sense, so the prophecy was therefore valid. This is very creative however, doesn’t match at all what Phelps personally said or the other numerous accounts that Phelps had “the promise of living till Jesus comes again”. Twisting statements doesn’t make them true, just because we want them to be.
William Smith
In 1835, William Smith, the brother of Joseph, was called to be an apostle of the church. For many, in the church, this was simply a bridge too far. Oliver Cowdrey and David Whitmer had originally selected Phineas Young, the brother of Brigham, however Joseph insisted that his brother William was selected instead. This selection caused uneasiness in the leadership, as William was seen as completely unworthy and seriously lacking of the skills necessary to be in a leadership role in the church. In addition, William was almost constantly at odds with Joseph over all sorts of different opinions. It seemed the two of them could not get along about anything at all.
In one of William’s usual disagreements, he resigned his apostleship and travelled all over Kirtland speaking against Joseph. Many in the church, including the other apostles, wanted him excommunicated, however Joseph couldn’t possibly do that to his brother. Joseph begged the other apostles to give William another chance and then received a November 3rd, 1835, unpublished revelation that said that William would eventually become the greatest of all the apostles in the church. The revelation mentioned:
As for my Servant William let the Eleven humble themselves in prayer and in faith and wait on me in patience and my servant William shall return, and I will yet make him a polished shaft in my quiver, in bringing down the wickedness and abominations of men and their shall be none mightier than he in his day and generation
Revelation, November 3, 1835
After William’s readmittance into the Quorum of the Twelve, the negative feelings between Joseph and William didn’t end. In fact, in many ways William felt more emboldened than before. Things continued tensely, until William physically attacked Joseph which caused Joseph to be incapacitated for several days. Most of the apostles wanted William excommunicated for this, however he was able to escape punishment by simply admitting his crimes before the High Council.
This pattern of violence and lashing out continued until the death of Joseph. After Joseph’s death, William was excommunicated from the church, with most of the church membership in full support, since the dislike of William was almost universal. William of course had flaws like we all do, however there certainly were a lot of people “mightier than he in his day and generation” contrary to what Joseph claimed would happen.
Conclusion
In looking at the prophecies of Joseph, there are naturally many that remain unfulfilled and would seem to be false prophecies. Of course, we can always twist meanings of words so that we don’t admit the obvious. However, this really doesn’t help anyone except to confirm our own bias. Joseph was a human and naturally spoke out of turn or out of his own desires. This shouldn’t shock anyone, however it seems to shock those that refuse to admit the obvious.
Admitting that Joseph was wrong sometimes does however open the door to Joseph being wrong about critical points, which is another bridge too far for many. Instead, many like to double down on the concept that Joseph couldn’t possibly be wrong about anything. Everything has to have a fulfillment even if that fulfillment makes absolutely no sense or would even directly contradict the rest of the statements of Joseph. In this way Joseph is no longer a prophet, but an idol that must be obeyed for our belief in God to remain valid. This is an incredibly dangerous place to be in spiritually.
The prophecies themselves being wrong, or remaining unfulfilled, is really not the problem. The problem here is that Joseph, as the leader of what he called the only true church of God, clearly stated that these prophecies were directly from God himself. According to Joseph, these were not his thoughts and ideas, these were the thoughts and ideas of God. This is the problem here. When the prophecies didn’t happen, then they didn’t diminish faith in Joseph or the church, they diminished faith in God. In the minds of the members, God was now repeatedly wrong. Joseph had interjected himself between the people and God, which is a fatal flaw with any kind of religious teacher.
If every single prophecy is seen as being conditional on an unknown condition, then how can we have valid faith in God? If every single statement can be easily weaseled out of, then how can we possibly know the true statements from the false ones? If we can simply say the fulfillment was meant symbolically instead of literally, then the prophecies themselves become almost worthless. We really have to be honest with ourselves and simply admit that Joseph was right sometimes and wrong other times. Joseph however shouldn’t have declared false things in the name of God. This is a line that no one should ever cross. In looking at the prophecies we can see that Joseph said many false things in the name of God:
- Congress never heard Joseph’s petition and wasn’t destroyed like Joseph claimed they would be.
- The wrongs of Missouri were never made right and the government wasn’t overthrown like Joseph claimed it would be.
- A temple in Missouri wasn’t built in Joseph’s generation. In fact, the members were forced out of Missouri shortly after Joseph’s prophecy.
- The queens of the world didn’t honor the Relief Society like Joseph said they would.
- Nauvoo didn’t become the greatest city in the world like Joseph said would happen.
- The Kirtland Safety Society didn’t become the greatest bank in the world. It was actually one of the biggest failures.
- The church didn’t grow to fill up North and South America or to fill the world.
- The rising generation didn’t live to see Christ return in 1890 like Joseph repeatedly said would happen.
- The elders of 1835 didn’t prune the vineyard for the last time, prior to Christ’s return in 1890.
- W. W. Phelps didn’t live until Christ’s return. Phelps died in 1872.
- William Smith didn’t become the mightiest person of his day. He was always short tempered and hard to deal with.
These things simply didn’t happen, regardless of how much we want to twist them to say that they did. We shouldn’t automatically assume that because Joseph said or did something, then it was true and God’s will. We should have far more spiritual discernment than this. There should however be consequences when someone declares something in the name of God and God didn’t tell them to do so. Jeremiah the prophet, repeatedly speaks against the people who believed in the false prophets of his day, and refused to believe the simple doctrines of God which he taught. Today this is no different at all. We would much rather believe in the words of false prophets than true ones.
