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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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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Introduction to Question

Many critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assert that its past presidents (men that Latter-day Saints consider prophets) have made failed prophecies and that this either proves or provides evidence for the claim that they aren't true prophets receiving revelation from God.

Critics from other sects of Christianity in particular cite Deuteronomy 18:20–22 as proof of a scriptural requirement that we reject someone's claims to prophethood if they make a false prophecy. That scripture states:

20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.

21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?

22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Other articles on the FAIR wiki discuss how to reconcile failed prophecies from patriarchal blessings.

A set of article on the FAIR wiki discuss claims of Joseph Smith making false prophecies.

Yet another article talks about how to reconcile failed personal spiritual impressions.

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. We strongly encourage reading the cited piece. It is thorough, enlightening commentary on this issue.

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.

Response to Question

1. The Two Models of Prophecy: Film Reel and Weather Forecast

Some religious people have a film reel model of prophecy. This is where the future is already planned out and God, like an old-timey projectionist, can unfurl the reel and see what happens further on in the movie of life, come back to the present, and reveal that will to his children.

Others have more of a weather forecast model of prophecy. This is a model where God makes the best prediction of the future based off of present circumstances. If present circumstances change, then the prophecy does not have to reach fulfillment. God’s formula in scripture seems to be one set up on conditional statements. For instance, God can state that if A, B, C, and D happen then E will happen. Who knows how A, B, C, and D, as the pre-requisite conditions for E to happen, might not obtain? We may make choices right now that change the outcome of the prophecy.

2. God's Foreknowledge May Not be Absolute

A more speculative option (and one that is likely to be much more objectionable for some) but still possible is that God does not have exhaustive foreknowledge of the future. The Church does not take an official position as to how members view God's foreknowledge. They can choose to believe that God has knowledge of all things that will actually happen in the future or that he only has knowledge of a certain amount or degree of future events.

3. Commentary on Deuteronomy 18

If the critics used their own standards, then they'd condemn the Bible as inauthentic.

John Tvedtnes wrote:

Based on the false premise that “all you need is one false prophecy to have a false prophet,” some critics have ignored many of Joseph Smith’s prophecies and have zeroed in on ones they consider to be false. But they typically identify unfulfilled commandments, opinions, and counsel as “false prophecies.” In doing so, they forsake the rules laid out in Deuteronomy 18:20-22, ignoring the fact that the passage defines a false prophecy as one uttered in the name of the Lord which does not come to pass.

The main problem is that the critics do not apply these same standards to biblical prophecies. And when we try to show that, by these standards, many of the biblical prophets fail the tests they have set up for Joseph Smith, we are accused of “Bible-slamming.” To those who ascribe more divinity to the Bible than to God, such a “sin” is worse than blasphemy itself. Honesty, however, impels us to submit the biblical prophets to the same tests as those applied to Joseph Smith.

For this reason, following the logic of the critics, we would have to conclude that Moses-to whom the revelation in Deuteronomy 18:20-22 is ascribed-was a false prophet. In Numbers 25:13, he said, in the name of the Lord, that Phinehas, his grand nephew, would hold the priesthood eternally. But if Hebrews 7:11-12 is correct, the Aaronic priesthood is not eternal. In this particular example, Moses fills the requirement for the test of Deuteronomy much more closely than does Joseph Smith in most of the examples of “false prophecies” cited by the critics. How, then, can Latter-day Saints accept both Joseph Smith and Moses as true prophets, regarding their prophecies as divinely-inspired? The answer lies in the fact that prophecy is typically conditional.

4. Ensure that the account of the prophecy does not misrepresent or misinterpret what the prophet actually said.

There are several things you can do to not misrepresent or misinterpret what a prophet actually said.

1. Check sources: One of the most obvious things you can do is revisit the source of the prophecy to see if there is any context you may be missing for your interpretation.
2. Check interpretation: Another thing you can do is check for alternative interpretations of the source. See if there are other Latter-day Saint or Christian authors who have examined the prophecy in question (whether in the scriptures or not) and see what they have said about it. Have they offered alternative interpretations? Is there only one possible interpretation that is compelled by the source or are there multiple possible interpretations, each of which may have its own possibility of being correct?
3. Vision or prophecy: John Tvedtnes insightfully wrote that "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. 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).12 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?"
4. Check to see if the prophecy can be fulfilled in multiple ways: One of the best tools a Latter-day Saint can use to defend a particular prophecy is to see if it can be fulfilled in multiple different ways. One of the main differences that Latter-day Saints hold with Jews is that Latter-day Saints (and other Christians) believe in the concept of dual fulfillment. That is: prophecies can be fulfilled in multiple ways. Check to see if that's the case with past prophecies.
5. Check to see if there is a set timeframe for fulfillment of the prophecy: Often, prophecies do not have a set timeframe for when they will be fulfilled. Sometimes they use language that's equivocal. For instance, prophecies may state that God will "soon" act in a certain way in the world. But, as many know, our "soon" and God's "soon" may not be the same "soon". Be sure to not impose your own view of timeframe onto God's. If there isn't a specified timeframe, then a resolution may be to simply be patient until the fulfillment of that prophecy comes. John Tvedtnes lays out much more detailed commentary on this in his article on the issue.
6. Prophetic language:

5. Ensure that the account of the prophecy is authentic and is not based on hearsay

6. Verify that the source claims that the prophecy came by revelation from God

A prophet is not always a prophet

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

John Tvedtnes wrote: It was the Lord himself, through the biblical prophet Jeremiah, who explained the conditional nature of prophecy:

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 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. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 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. (Jeremiah 18:7-10)1

Jeremiah himself exemplified the principle of conditional prophecy when he told king Zedekiah, in the name of the Lord, that he would not go captive into Babylon if he followed the prophet’s instructions; otherwise, he would be taken captive and Jerusalem would be destroyed (Jeremiah 38:17-23). The conditional nature of prophecy explains why Jonah is not a false prophet. The Lord’s threat to destroy Nineveh within forty days (Jonah 3:4) was mitigated by the repentance of the city’s population (Jonah 3:4-9). “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not” (Jonah 3:10). Ironically, Jonah was upset by the fact that the prophecy was not fulfilled, and the Lord had to explain to him that the resultant repentance of “sixscore thousand persons” was more important than fulfilling the word (Jonah 4:1-11). From this story, it is obvious that the free-will actions of men play a role in the fulfillment of prophecy. Here are other examples from the Bible:

The Lord told David that the men of Keilah “will deliver thee up [to Saul]” (1 Samuel 23:12). This did not happen, however, because David fled from the city (verses 13-14).

Isaiah told king Hezekiah, “Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.” (2 Kings 20:1) But after the king pleaded with the Lord, the prophet delivered a new message, saying that fifteen years would be added to his life (verses 2-6). The Lord told Moses that he would destroy the Israelites and make of Moses a greater nation than they. When Moses protested that this would be wrong, the Lord changed his mind (Numbers 14:11-20).

The Lord said through Elisha that the combined armies of Israel, Judah and Edom would “smite every fenced city” of Moab and that he would “deliver the Moabites also into your hand.” But one city, Kir-hareseth, was not taken. When Mesha, the Moabite king, sacrificed his son on the city wall, the Israelites left and went home. The prophecy was not fulfilled because the Israelites would not cooperate with the Lord’s wishes.

Through Ezekiel, the Lord declared that the Lebanese city of Tyre would be destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar, never to be rebuilt (Ezekiel 26, especially verses 4, 7, 12, 14). Though Nebuchadrezzar laid siege against Tyre from 598 to 586 B.C., he was never able to take the city. The Lord then told Ezekiel that, in compensation for his not taking Tyre, Nebuchadrezzar would be given the land of Egypt, (Ezekiel 29:17-10). Its people would be slain and its rivers dry up (Ezekiel 30:10-12; 32:11-15) and the land of Egypt would remain uninhabited for forty years (Ezekiel 29:11-13). But though Nebuchadrezzar defeated an Egyptian army in battle, he never conquered Egypt either.

Isaiah, in his prophesy against Babylon (Isaiah 13:1), declared that the Medes would slay men, women and children and that Babylon would “be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation” (Isaiah 13:17-20). In 539 B.C., Cyrus, king of the Medes and Persians, took Babylon without bloodshed, and made it one of the principal cities of his empire. Babylon remained inhabited for centuries afterward.

It is in the light of the conditional nature of prophecy that we must consider some of Joseph Smith’s prophecies. For example, the missionary calling promised Thomas B. Marsh in D&C 112 was never fulfilled because he was excommunicated and forfeited his blessings. Critics have stated that if God really knew Marsh’s heart (verse 11), he would have known that he would apostatize and not be worthy of the promised blessings. The same argument has been used in regard to George Miller’s calling to the bishopric (D&C 124:20-21), eight years before he was disfellowshipped.

By this same reasoning, God should not have promised a throne to David (1 Samuel 16:12-13; 2 Samuel 3:9-10; 1 Kings 2:4; 8:25; 9:5), since David, in future, would commit adultery and order the death of an innocent man (1 Samuel 11). This also brings up the question of Jesus’ promise to his twelve apostles: “Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). This promise was made before Judas betrayed the Master and he was obviously included among those who would sit on the “twelve thrones.” How could Jesus have made such a promise to the one who would betray him, whom he termed “a devil” (John 6:70-71)? The answer seems obvious: at the time of the promises, Judas, Thomas B. Marsh and George Miller were faithful to the Lord. By their subsequent actions, they lost all claim to those promises.

Are there any possible unstated conditions to the prophecy? Are there any stated conditions to the prophecy?

8. Remember the commandment "shall" and the predictive "shall"

One mistake people make in interpreting prophecies is that they mistake a commandment for a prophecy. That is because both use "shall" in their wording often. There's obviously a difference between "thou shall not kill" and "thou shall be in Arizona in four months". One option to consider when confronted with a "failed prophecy" is to see if it was actually a commandment.

9. Make sure that there aren't other circumstances that fulfilled the prophecy

10. There are perhaps little to no prophecies that can be considered "unreasonable"

John Tvedtnes wrote:

Some of the critics have included “unreasonable” prophecies in their lists of false prophetic utterances by Joseph Smith. The subjective nature of such a determination makes this procedure unacceptable. What is “unreasonable” to one person may be perfectly acceptable to another. For example, the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah “contradicted” each other concerning an essential point, and yet were both right. Ezekiel had prophesied that king Zedekiah would go to Babylon but never see it (Ezekiel 12:13), while his contemporary Jeremiah prophesied that Hezekiah would be taken captive to Babylon (Jeremiah 32:5). But, in the end, both prophets proved true, for Zedekiah indeed went captive into Babylon, but did not see the city, for he had been blinded (2 Kings 25:7). Thus, we see that prophecies “impossible” of fulfillment have, in the course of time, proven true. Joseph Smith deserves at least the same kind of consideration.

Conclusion

If one keeps all of these considerations and questions in mind, one should be able to resolve every question about each prophecy.

Notes