False Prophets Series – Part 2: Joseph Smith

History is littered with individuals and sacred texts that make the momentous claim of being able to see into the future. In this series of articles, we are going to examine the prophetic credentials of those in whom millions of people have put their trust. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and we will utilise a number of different tools in order to put the most popular of those in history to the test.

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. By the time of his death, he had attracted tens of thousands of followers and founded a religion that continues to the present day, with around 14 million Mormons around the world. Joseph Smith bore many titles in his lifetime; Elder, Seer, President, Mayor, even Lieutenant General, but he is probably best known as the Prophet. And prophesy he did, often with great passion, invoking the powers of heaven and the name of God. Among Mormons, he is regarded as a prophet on par with Moses, such is his high status.

Let’s analyse perhaps the most accurate of Joseph Smith’s predictions. In this prophecy, he predicted that Northern and Southern states of America would go to war:

Mormons believe that the American Civil War of 1861 – 1865, which was fought between the North and South and took place nearly 30 years after Joseph Smith made the prediction, fulfilled this prophecy. The Civil War prophecy became one of the most widely published revelations by Mormons. Not surprisingly, it received greatest attention during the Civil War, as many viewed the conflict as a vindication of the prophetic powers of Joseph Smith.

Is this a genuine prophecy? It does seem to be accurate from a historical standpoint: the American Civil War was preceded by the rebellion of South Carolina and it was indeed a conflict between the Northern and the Southern states. While the prediction is accurate, it did not require any special insight into the unseen. When one looks to the social and political landscape of the United States at the time that Joseph Smith made this prediction, it becomes clear that it could easily be the result of a perceptive mind, based on existing disputes and tensions which were prevalent.

The American Civil War historian James McPherson offers a summary of conditions prior to the Civil War that contributed to it and exacerbated tensions. During Joseph Smith’s lifetime, there were a number of expected dividing lines as the country grew in the period from 1800 – 1850, such as that of rich versus poor, Catholic versus Protestant and rural versus urban. But the greatest danger was the issue of slavery, because slavery was associated with competing ideals that just happened to also have geographic associations. So serious was the division that McPherson writes that the slavery issue “would probably have caused an eventual showdown between North and South in any circumstances.” [2]

Congressman John Randolph made exactly such a prediction in the House of Representatives in 1807, over 20 years before Joseph Smith: “If ever the time of disunion between these States should arrive, the line of severance will not be between Eastern and Western, but between slave-holding and non-slave-holding States.” [3]

American statesman John Calhoun stated in 1847, more than a decade before the breakout of war: “The day that the balance between the two sections of the country – the slaveholding States and the non-slaveholding States – is destroyed is a day that will not be far removed from political revolution, anarchy, civil war, and widespread disaster.” [4]

We can see that a conflict between the North and South was a very real prospect around the time that Joseph Smith made his prediction. But what about the detail that Joseph Smith provided in his prophecy, such as the rebellion of the state of South Carolina? He seems to have predicted exactly which state would rebel. What are the chances of that? In fact, the selection of South Carolina as the catalyst of the war did not require any special insight. For example in November 1832, just prior to Joseph Smith having made his prediction [5], South Carolina had advocated the doctrine of “nullification” arguing that it could nullify federal laws or taxes that they ruled to be unconstitutional. In other words, they openly declared their support for rebelling against any federal regulation that went against their interests [6]. So the rebellion of South Carolina was a real threat at the time that Joseph Smith made his prediction; the history of the state made it the logical and intuitive choice to include in his prophecy.

Joseph Smith made numerous false prophecies. For example, in 1843 he prophesied that the United States Government would be overthrown within a few years:

To give some background to this prophecy, Joseph Smith along with thousands of Mormons had settled in the state of Missouri in 1838. Political and religious differences between old Missourians and newly-arriving Mormon settlers provoked tensions between the two groups. Seventeen Mormons were killed, while others surrendered to state troops and agreed to forfeit their property and leave Missouri [8]. As a result of such persecution, Joseph Smith prophesied that unless the United States government rectified the injustices then it would suffer divine retribution and come to an end within a timeframe of a few years. In the years that followed, the United States government did not rectify any of the wrongs committed against the Mormons in Missouri. In fact, a United States Governor went on to have Joseph Smith arrested and tried for treason [9]. In 1844, Joseph Smith was murdered by an armed mob in jail while he was awaiting trial. In spite of all this, the United States government still stands, over 170 years later.

In another failed prophecy, Joseph Smith predicted that the wicked people of his generation, those who he saw as ungodly, would soon be wiped out by disease, famine and natural disaster unless they repented and turned back to God:

No such mass repentance ever took place, as even at the time of his death his followers were not even 1% of the population of the United States, and yet a widespread destruction of the wicked of his generation never occurred; biblical disasters such as disease, famine and earthquakes never transpired.

The final example of a failed prophecy is Joseph Smith’s prediction that the second coming of Jesus would take place within 56 years:

This prophecy was spoken by Joseph Smith in 1835 and is recorded in official Mormon sources. It’s been over 180 years and the return of Jesus to earth, which will herald the End Times, still has not taken place.

Muhammad ﷺ A Genuinely Inspired Prophet

The purpose of spending some time looking at examples of false prophets and false systems of prophesy was to establish a benchmark to help us distinguish truth from falsehood. One can only make accurate predictions about the future and get it right every time when one is inspired by God, Who has perfect knowledge of the future. Muhammad ﷺ demonstrated this unique quality of possessing an insight into the unseen throughout his Prophethood. He not only made numerous detailed predictions about the future which came true, as shown in this article here, but he also rejected the baseless superstitious beliefs and practices of his day, as shown in this article here. These facts should leave us in no doubt that he was inspired by God Almighty.

References

1 – Doctrine and Covenants, section 87.

2 – James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, p. 8.

3 – Aaron Scott Crawford, John Randolph of Roanoke and the Politics of Doom: Slavery, Sectionalism, and Self-Deception, 1773-1821, p. 172.

4 – James A. Colaiaco, Frederick Douglass and the Fourth of July, p. 62.

5 – According to official Mormon sources, Joseph Smith made his Civil War prediction on December 25, 1832. See “Doctrine and Covenants”, introduction to section 87.

6 – South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification, November 24, 1832, see this website:
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/ordnull.asp

7 – History of the Church, Vol. 5, p. 394.

8 – Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, pp. 365 – 367.

9 – Daniel H Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pp. 1346 – 1348.

10 – History of the Church, Vol. 1, pp. 315 – 316.

11 – History of the Church, Vol. 2, p. 182.