The legitimacy and validity of the entire Mormon church rested squarely upon its declaration that Joseph Smith was a genuine prophet of God. If he was not, then the Mormon church has been guilty of promoting a false prophet to the world for over 170 years.

Mormons themselves freely confess that upon the authority of Joseph Smith the church stands or falls. If he was a false prophet, the church cannot be genuine. This is why the issue of prophecy is so vital. Apostle James Talmage said of Smith, "If his claims to divine appointment be false, forming as they do the foundation of the church in this last dispensation, the superstructure cannot be stable."¹ Given this, Mormon authorities have no choice but to perpetuate the claim that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that his hundreds of prophecies were "literally fulfilled," and are therefore the "marvelous proof" of his divine appointment. For example, the late leading doctrinal theologian Bruce McConkie argues:

Joseph Smith himself emphasized that one who claims to be a true prophet of God must have his prophecies evaluated by the standard of God’s Word. By his statement "the ancient Word of God" he clearly referred to biblical standards in part:

By Joseph Smith’s own words, then, he is proven to be a false prophet. And by the very words of Mormon authorities the Mormon religion also is proven to be fraudulent. Not only do the many prophecies given by Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants deny every biblical doctrine they comment upon, but Joseph Smith’s specific predictions of future events have also characteristically proven wrong. While we have not studied every alleged prophecy Mormons claim for Smith, every one we did study proved false.

In 1844, while in jail, Smith was killed by an angry group of townspeople. By that time, he had uttered scores of prophecies "in the name of the Lord." But according to biblical standards, anyone who claims to be a prophet must prove himself so by establishing a perfect record of prediction. Again, the biblical requirement is for absolute accuracy in prophetic revelation. What this means is that a single false prophecy—just one—is sufficient to establish a person as a false prophet. God Himself warned all men:

In other words, if anyone spoke in the name of the Lord (Joseph Smith), but spoke presumptuously (Joseph Smith), or in the name of other gods (Joseph Smith), and if the prophecy did not come true (Joseph Smith), that prophet was to die—as, unfortunately, Joseph Smith did in 1844. When Mormon authorities claim that Smith’s prophetic record is infallible and that this proves him a true prophet, they are regrettably only continuing the well-established tradition of Mormon distortion in religious matters.

Mormons have in fact devised various ways to "explain" Smith’s many false prophecies. There are so many different rationalizations that one wearies of reading them. For example, they may claim, as Smith himself did, that a prophet is only a prophet when he is acting as such—that is, presumably, when he claims to speak in the name of the Lord and is therefore under divine inspiration. Mormons claim that any errors which do exist were, therefore, given when Smith was not "acting" as a prophet.

However, since many of Smith’s false prophecies were given "as a prophet," when he was speaking in the name of the Lord, the explanation is irrelevant.

For anyone who lets words mean what they say, the inescapable conclusion is that, according to biblical standards, Joseph Smith was a false prophet. Just as the single act of marital infidelity or a single premeditated killing makes a person an adulterer or a murderer, so a single false prophecy makes one a false prophet.⁴ Joseph Smith himself agreed to that standard.

In the following cases, we include examples where Smith clearly prophesied "in the name of the Lord," so there can be no mistake that the prophecy was being claimed as divine.

David Whitmer (one of the three principal witnesses to the Book of Mormon) tells a highly relevant story which not only reveals Smith to be a false prophet, but sprouts seeds of doubt about any purported prophecy or revelation Smith claimed to receive. Just as the Mormon scriptures, in particular Doctrine and Covenants, contain the "feel" of occult revelation, here we also sample the flavor of spiritistic "humor."

Here is the story in Whitmer’s own words:

Whitmer concludes his discussion with a warning to every living Mormon:

Let’s consider this account carefully. Smith and the other Mormons were obviously convinced of the divine authority of the initial revelation—or else they would never have taken the difficult journey to Canada. When the prophecy inexplicably failed, they naturally sought an answer from God (by occult means)—and what happened? They received a reply that could not help but strike dread into their hearts: "Some revelations are of God; some revelations are of man; and some revelations are of the devil." Apparently, then, there was no way to distinguish a true prophecy from a false one!

Thus, if this false revelation was indistinguishable from the genuine revelations of Smith, how can Mormons today know that any of Smith’s revelations were legitimate? And what does this fact do to the credibility of the revelations given by any Mormon president and prophet? What is worse, such revelations will never be objectively verified or invalidated. Why? Because the Bible itself is rejected by Mormonism as a reliable authority. This means that the only "Scripture" left to test such revelation by is Mormon scripture, which is itself contradictory and perpetually "open." New revelations can come at any time and be added to the canon of scripture. Whether or not they contradict earlier revelation is irrelevant. In the end, we see that no Mormon should logically place trust in any of Smith’s prophecies (or any of his other revelations) because 1) they could just as easily be false as true, and 2) there is no way to tell the difference until it is too late.

Nevertheless, we will proceed to document some of the false prophecies of Joseph Smith. Let us begin with the alleged scripture. Doctrine and Covenants. The first false prophecy is found in chapter one, where "God" Himself promises that the prophecies in the book are all true and will come to pass:

Note that this section of Mormon scripture claims first, that the commandments "are true" and that the prophecies and promises "shall all be fulfilled"; second, that the Mormon deity is placing his own authority on the line when he says, "I excuse not myself" (for having spoken them), and third, that the prophecies "shall all be fulfilled" whether by God’s own voice "or by the voice of my servants"—which is the same thing.

These claims leave no room to maneuver: A single indisputable false prophecy anywhere in Doctrine and Covenants will completely invalidate the entire book. Obviously, then, the existence of dozens and scores of false prophecies in Doctrine and Covenants means that Mormons who trust this book are being deceived. If 1) the Mormon God has spoken falsely, and 2) "some revelations are of God, some revelations are of men, and some revelations are of the devil," and 3) there is no way of knowing which are which, then the logical conclusion is that 4) Mormons should not place their trust in any of them. We will now prove that Doctrine and Covenants contains false prophecies.

In a revelation given to Joseph Smith on September 22 and 23, 1832, "the word of the Lord" declares that both a city and a temple are to be built "in the western boundaries of the state of Missouri" (that is, in Independence, Missouri):

This prophecy clearly teaches that a temple and a city will be built in western Missouri in the generation of the men then living and that it will be dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith himself. This temple will stand (in western Missouri) "upon Mount Zion" and the city will be named "the city of New Jerusalem." It was to be the place Christ returned to at His Second Coming.⁶

In Doctrine and Covenants, 97:19 (August, 1833) and 101:17-21 (December, 1833), God further declares that He is absolutely certain as to His intent and the location of this temple: "Zion cannot fall, nor be moved out of her place, for God is there, and the hand of the Lord is there," and "there is none other place appointed than that which I have appointed; neither shall there be any other place."

It is interesting to note that on July 20, 1833, when Smith was giving this prophecy in Kirtland, Ohio—and unaware of the events taking place in Missouri—the Mormon community had already agreed to leave Missouri because of "persecution." In other words, even as Smith was giving the prophecy "in the name of the Lord," "Zion" was already being "moved out of her place."⁷

How do Mormons respond? They claim the prophecy failed because the Mormon community itself was unfaithful. However, how can Mormons credibly claim this when the church itself was being "persecuted"? Surely, if they had not been living as committed and zealous Mormons, they would never have encountered the social response they did. It was thus undoubtedly the faithful Mormons who were driven from Missouri, leaving the prophecy unfulfilled. And even Mormon historians concede that when they moved to Quincy, Illinois, their promised Missouri "temple" comprised only four cornerstones.⁸

In the ensuing 160 years no temple has ever been built in western Missouri, let alone a Mormon city. Thus Joseph Smith never dedicated a temple, nor were sacrifices offered there. It was not built in "this generation," no cloud "rested upon" the temple, etc. This revelation alone thus contains at least four false prophecies. Neither can Mormons logically claim that Zion was "reestablished" in Salt Lake City, for the December 1833 prophecy clearly says there will be "none other place" than the western boundaries of Missouri.

Nevertheless, the Mormon reaction to this prediction illustrates the basic Mormon approach to their many false prophecies. Divine predictions are vigorously maintained until proven false. Then they are rationalized. Consider the following train of events.

In spite of being driven from Missouri, the early Mormons intended to return and fulfill the prophecy. In 1861, thirty years after the prophecy was first given, Apostle George Smith emphasized, "Let me remind you that it is predicted that this generation shall not pass away till a temple shall be built, and the glory of the Lord rest upon it, according to the promises."⁹

Then in 1870, almost forty years after the prophecy, Apostle Orson Pratt stated that Mormons could expect a literal fulfillment of the prophecy as much as they do the rising and setting of the sun. Why? "Because God cannot lie. He will fulfill all his promises. He has spoken, it must come to pass. This is our faith!"¹⁰

Perhaps sensing a growing problem, the 1890 edition of Doctrine and Covenants (almost sixty years later) carried a footnote declaring that a generation lasted more than a hundred years.¹¹ This note is not found in modern editions of Doctrine and Covenants.

Again, in 1900, almost seventy years later, the fifth Mormon president and prophet, Lorenzo Snow, reiterated that Mormons would still go back and build the divinely prophesied temple.¹²

Even in 1931, ninety-nine years after the prophecy (when "that generation" would surely have been dead), the tenth president and prophet of the Mormon church, Joseph Fielding Smith, was stating his "firm belief" that the temple and city would be built. Thus, he promises that when the temple is reared it will be by:

Incredibly, recent editions of Smith’s book (e.g., 1975) continue to retain this embarrassing statement! Logically, one would think that he would have had to confess that his "full confidence in the word of the Lord" proved futile. Who could disagree with his words when he stated in a more recent text: "It is also reasonable to believe that no soul living in 1832, is still living in mortality on the earth."¹⁴

It is now more than 160 years since the prophecy, and neither the temple nor the city has been built. There is no way to escape the conclusion that this prophecy is false. But, of course, since Mormonism assumes that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, this cannot possibly be a false prophecy. So the process of rationalization sets in. For example, Joseph Fielding Smith dealt with the problem by finally claiming that the term "generation" meant an indefinite period of time and that, due to "persecution," God had "absolved the saints and postponed the day."¹⁵

Now everyone could relax. There never was a false prophecy.

For some reason, Mormon presidents, prophets and leaders see "no conflict whatever" between the outcome of the prophecy just cited and the teaching of the Book of Mormon in Nephi 3:7 which says, "The Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

What is most disconcerting is that modern Mormons do not seem to be concerned with such an unquestionably false prophecy and refuse to recognize the implications.¹⁶ They continue to believe, and to teach others, that Doctrine and Covenants is the inerrant "word of the Lord."

The Civil War prophecy represents another false prediction. It is found in Doctrine and Covenants 87:1-8, concerning a prophecy given on December 25, 1832. In his Articles of Faith, James Talmage refers to "the facts establishing a complete fulfillment of this astounding prophecy."¹⁷

However, there was no "complete fulfillment," neither was the prophecy "astounding." It was patently false. What is astounding is that Talmage applies the 1832 prophecy to World War I (1914-1918) when it has nothing at all to do with that war. Indeed, to apply the prophecy to World War I only increases the magnitude of its errors. For one thing, its own declaration requires it be applied to the "wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning... at South Carolina." The prophecy declares:

Joseph Smith made other predictions relating to this great war. Elsewhere he spoke another false prophecy when he declared "in the name of the Lord God" that these tumultuous events would precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ:

But listening to voices can be perilous.

In looking at this prophecy, we should note several facts. First, it has been demonstrated historically that Smith could have expected a civil war, hence to write of an expected war, one that is public knowledge, is hardly "astounding." For example, "Joseph Smith was familiar with the fact that South Carolina had rebelled at the time he gave the revelation."²⁰ Also, "many people believed there would be a civil war before it actually took place."²¹ For example, five months previous to Smith’s "revelation," on July 14, 1832, Congress passed a tariff act, refused by South Carolina, and Andrew Jackson alerted the troops. So, even at this time, "the nation was fully expecting a Civil War to begin promptly in South Carolina."²²

Second, even God Himself didn’t seem to know whether or not this great war would arise over the issue of slavery. (He said, "It may probably arise through the slave question.")

Third, the revelation itself was wrong on numerous counts. First, the war did not start until 1861, thirty years later—it did not "come to pass shortly." Second, war was not "poured out upon all nations" but only on one nation. Third, there were no "earthquakes," "thunder of heaven," or lightening which struck the "inhabitants of the earth" as evidence of God’s wrath. Nor did the remainder of the earth’s population feel "the wrath of Almighty God." Fourth, there was hardly "a full end of all nations."

Finally, Smith’s revelation on the war was not printed until 1851, almost twenty years after the revelation, and "Mormon leaders have suppressed part of Joseph Smith’s diary which tended to discredit the revelation."²³ (This concerned a "dream interpretation" of the prophecy which stated that the United States Government would call on Joseph Smith to defend the "western territory" against England. Smith was obviously dead at the start of the Civil War, thus the interpretation was false, which cast doubt on the revelation itself.²⁴) In conclusion, no one can deny that this is another false prophecy.

Brigham Young was also guilty of false prophecy relating to the Civil War. He predicted that the war would not end until it had emptied the land to allow Mormons to return to Missouri, something that was never fulfilled.²⁵ He also predicted that the slaves would not be freed: "Will the present struggle free the slaves? No;... they cannot do that."²⁶

Joseph Smith’s Civil War prophecy and his "Rocky Mountain" prophecy are considered his "most important prophecies."²⁷ We have seen that the first is a false prophecy; and the Tanners have documented that the latter is not worth considering in that it is a "forgery which was written after Joseph Smith’s death."²⁸

Along with Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists, Joseph Smith predicted that the Second Coming of Christ would occur in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In his History of the Church, Smith taught that the Second Coming would occur between 1890 and 1891. Thus, in 1835 he declared Christ’s return would occur fifty-six years later; and in 1843 he predicted it would occur in forty-eight years. Smith claimed that the generation then living would not die "till Christ comes."²⁹ For example, under the date of April 6,1843, in his original History (taken from Smith’s diary, March 10, 1843, to July 14, 1843) one can read, "I prophecy [sic] in the name of the Lord God—& let it be written: that the Son of Man will not come in the heavens until I am 85 years old, 48 years hence or about 1890" (emphasis added).³⁰ Of course. Smith was dead within a year—and Christ still has not returned.

Some of the twelve Mormon apostles were told that they also would remain until Christ returned. For example, according to the Tanners, Lyman E. Johnson was told he would "see the Savior come and stand upon the earth with power and great glory"; and William Smith was told that he would "be preserved and remain on the earth, until Christ shall come."³¹ Because of such a strong belief in the imminence of the Second Coming, Apostle Parley P. Pratt wrote in 1838:

Perhaps not unexpectedly, the entire prophecy has been deleted from the modern versions of the Writings of Parley P. Pratt.

But there have been many other false prophecies throughout the history of the Mormon church, far too numerous to list. We cite only seven others for purposes of illustration:

1. In the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 3:14 it is prophesied that "that seer" (which Mormons interpret as Joseph Smith) will be protected by God: "They that seek to destroy him shall be confounded;... this promise... shall be fulfilled."

But it was not fulfilled, for "they that seek to destroy him" did in fact destroy him at a young age in 1844 when he was killed by townspeople in a gun battle in Carthage, Illinois. Smith himself had said in October, 1843, "I prophesy, in the name of the Lord God of Israel... they never will have power to kill me till my work is accomplished, and I am ready to die."³³ But again, less than a year later, Joseph Smith was dead. And according to accounts of his death, he certainly was not yet "ready to die." While in jail, facing the prospect of confronting the angry people that would kill him, he quickly wrote to his Nauvoo Legion to break into the jail and "save him at all costs."³⁴ Eyewitnesses noted that just before he was shot he gave the Masonic signal of distress and cried out, "Is there no help... ?"—and then after he was shot came the exclamation of unbelief, "Oh Lord; my God!"³⁵ Furthermore, given the tremendous obstacles facing the church he had founded, who could reasonably say his work had been "accomplished?"

2. In Doctrine and Covenants, (114:1) it was prophesied in the name of the Lord that David W. Patten would go on a mission one year later:

This prophecy was given April 17, 1838. Six months later, on October 25, 1838, David W. Patten was shot and killed—he "instantly fell, mortally wounded, having received a large ball in his bowels."³⁶ No one can deny, then, that this is another false prophecy. But if the Mormon God is genuine, why would He prophesy that a man was to preach for Him whom He knew would shortly be killed and thus be unable to fulfill His mission? Patten’s death cannot be rationalized with the claim that he was guilty of sin or apostasy because Smith’s own remarks after his death claim he was a faithful Mormon until his demise.³⁷

3. On May 18, 1843, in the "name of the Lord" and "in the name of Jesus Christ" Joseph Smith prophesied the complete overthrow of the United States Government. This never occurred, nor did the Government ever redress "its crimes" as Smith promised:

And,

But again, Congress never granted the Mormons their petition. It correctly concluded that Mormon problems with other settlers were a result of their own religious excesses and evil practices such as polygamy, violence against non-Mormons and their terrible doctrine of blood atonement. In fact, the Government so increased its pressure against the polygamist activity of the church that a new "revelation" in 1890 conveniently "reversed" the polygamist doctrines which had prevented Utah’s entry into the Union.

Thus, the United States Government was not "utterly overthrown and wasted," nor was there "nothing" left of it, "not even a grease spot." The United States grew to become the most powerful nation on earth.

4. In Doctrine and Covenants (104:1) "Jesus" claimed that the Mormon "United Order"—the Mormon communities in Ohio and Missouri—would remain until He returned. However, the "United Order" failed and was disbanded, and over 150 years later Jesus still has not returned.

5. In the Book of Mormon (Alma 7:10) it is falsely prophesied that the Messiah will be born in Jerusalem when, of course, He was born in Bethlehem. Four biblical books of history attest to Jesus’ birthplace as Bethlehem: one prophet who wrote a miraculous prediction in 700 b.c., and three contemporary biographers of Jesus (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:4-6; Luke 2:4-7; John 7:42).

6. Heber Kimball falsely prophesied that "Brother Brigham Young will become President of the United States."⁴⁰

7. Joseph Smith’s father falsely prophesied that Joseph, Jr., "should continue in the Priest’s office until Christ comes."⁴¹

Many other false prophecies could be listed.⁴²

With so many false prophecies by Smith and other Mormons, one is tempted to assume that they were either carried away by false visions of their own mind or through spiritistic duplicity. Certainly a truthful God could not be the author of such wrong predictions.

In spite of all these false prophecies, again, Mormons do not show much concern about the issue. Apparently, this is because they have never come to grips with the biblical teaching on what God requires of a true prophet and what a false prophet really is:

But it must also be said that many Mormons aren’t even aware of these false prophecies. For example, if one examines the Doctrine and Covenants’ student manual, an extensive five-hundred-page commentary on Doctrine and Covenants, one finds that the false prophecies are either ignored or carefully reinterpreted. For example, concerning the rebuilding of the temple, the Manual equivocates on the word "generation" and defines it as an indefinite period.⁴⁴ Further,

This completely ignores the clear statements of the prophecy itself that it must be built in "this generation."

Its explanation of the Civil War prophecy is equally distorting. The text cites various wars around the world spanning almost a century, from 1861 to 1958. This is the alleged pouring out of wars upon "all nations" as described in the prophecy. But anyone who actually reads the prophecy can see that such an interpretation is completely false. To claim that "the Civil War was the beginning of the war that will bring about the end of the world" (the "full end of all nations" prophesied in D&C, 87:6) is a statement that could be made for any war at any period of history—if we are ignoring the factor of time.⁴⁶ Again, anyone who reads the prophecy can see that it is the end of the world itself that is predicted, and this is to happen within a set period.

But again, what else can Mormon leaders do when faced with proof of false prophecies? Being unwilling to accept the implications, which would require them to accept that Joseph Smith was a false prophet and to thus have to forsake Mormonism, they have no choice but to rationalize his failures. However, in doing this, they are guilty of foisting a deliberate deception upon unsuspecting converts and the very Mormon people they claim to shepherd.

I