
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Summary: If every President of the Church is a prophet, seer, and revelator, why have so few revelations after Joseph Smith been added to the Doctrine and Covenants? Revelations used to be printed in Church periodicals such as the Times and Seasons and the Evening and Morning Star. Why are revelations no longer published on an ongoing basis?
Summary: Is they anything special about prophets that set them apart from others, or are they simply "men of their time?" Do modern day prophets actually prophesy of anything?
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Prophets and Church Leaders | Other Questions | Fulfillment of Prophecy
Summary: Critics sometimes argue that the prophecies of Joseph Smith and other Latter-day Saint leaders have failed or were too vague to be meaningful. These answers examine several commonly discussed prophecies and explain the principles Latter-day Saints use to evaluate prophetic fulfillment. Some prophecies have already been fulfilled, others were conditional upon human actions, and some may yet be fulfilled in the future. Biblical prophets were often misunderstood or judged prematurely before their prophecies came to pass. Claims of failed prophecy should be evaluated in their historical and scriptural context rather than by isolated statements or incomplete timelines.
Critics claim that the ordination blessing given to Heber C. Kimball is an example of false prophecy.[1]
Here is the text of the blessing:
that he shall be made like unto those who have been blessed before him [see Lyman E. Johnson and Brigham Young]; and be favored with the same blessing. That he might receive visions; the ministration of angels, and hear their voice; and even come into the presence of God; that many millions may be converted by his instrumentality; that angels may waft him from place to place, and that he may stand unto the coming of our Lord, and receive a crown in the Kingdom of our God; that he be made acquainted with the day when Christ shall come; that he shall be made perfect in faith; and that the deaf shall hear, the lame shall walk, the blind shall see, and greater things than these shall he do; that he shall have boldness of speech before the nations, and great power.[2]
The only statement that is even slightly problematic is the promise that Kimball "May stand unto the coming of our Lord."
This is not a claim that Heber will live to see the Second Coming as a mortal, but merely that he will remain faithful in his calling and duties until the Lord's millennial reign.
Did Parley P. Pratt make a prophecy in 1838 to La Roy Sutherland about the latter being struck dumb and coming to an untimely end? Didn't he also claim that no unbelievers would be on the American continent within 50 years?
Parley P. Pratt is (mis)reading scripture rather than coming up with a prophecy out of the blue. He was mistaken, but this causes no problem for believers--even apostles can be mistaken. An isolated apostle has no right to declare a binding doctrine. New revelation would always come to the prophet--which Parley likely knew, but he just thought his reading of the scripture was obviously correct, so he felt no fear in making it. But we must remember that he came from a long religious background before joining the Church, in which he had a deep sense of the urgency and imminence of the Second Coming. So, what seemed a "natural" reading to him just wasn't.
As demonstrated in detail below, Pratt believed he was reporting the "plain sense" of the Book of Mormon—but this is not as clear as he thought it was.
The background to this statement of Pratt's is that Sutherland (the anti-Mormon to whom Pratt is replying) is complaining that the Book of Mormon makes no predictions that can be "checked" to prove its validity. Pratt disagrees and writes:
Also, page 122 2nd edition. "Woe unto all those who tremble and are angry, because of the truth of God; for behold he that is built upon the rock, receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth, lest he shall fall." Also. page 123 2nd edition. "Woe be unto the Gentiles, says the Lord God of Hosts; for notwithstanding I shall lengthen out my arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me." See also, page 514, and read the fate of our nation, and the fate of the Indians of America; in the day that the Gentiles should reject the fullness of the gospel.--(The Book of Mormon.) See also, page 526, where a sign is given, and the time clearly set for the restoration and gathering of Israel from their long dispersion, namely, the coming forth the Book of Mormon, should be the sign; and in the day this work should come forth, should this great event commence among all nations. Also, p. 527, where all who will not hearken to the Book of Mormon, shall be cut off from among the people; and that too, in the day it comes forth to the Gentiles and is rejected by them. And not only does this page set the time for the overthrow of our government and all other Gentile governments on the American continent, but the way and means of this utter destruction are clearly foretold; namely, the remnant of Jacob will go through among the Gentiles and tear them in pieces. like a lion among the flocks of sheep. Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off. This destruction includes an utter overthrow, and desolation of all our Cities, Forts, and Strong Folds--an entire annihilation of our race, except such as embrace the Covenant, and are numbered with Israel.
Now, Mr. Sunderland, you have something definite and tangible, the time, the manner, the means, the names, the dates; and I will state as a prophecy, that there will not be an unbelieving Gentile upon this continent 50 years hence; and if they are not greatly scourged, and in a great measure overthrown, within five or ten years from this date, then the Book of Mormon will have proved itself false. And furthermore, as Mr. LaRoy Sunderland has lied concerning the truth of Heaven, the fulness of the Gospel; and has blasphemed against the word of God, except he speedily repent, and acknowledge his lying and wickedness, and obey the message of eternal truth, which God has sent for the salvation of his people. God will smite him dumb, that he can no longer speak great swelling words against the Lord; and a trembling shall seize his nerves, that he shall not be able to write; and Zion’s Watchman shall cease to be published abroad, and its lies shall no longer deceive the public; and he will wander a vagabond on the earth, until sudden destruction shall overtake him; and if Mr. La Roy Sunderland enquires, when shall these things be? I reply, it is nigh thee--even at thy doors; and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. [3]
The Book of Mormon quotes he provides here are by page number, since verses were added to the text later. The references in modern-day verses would be:
The next quote is likely the one Parley refers to. He says, of this portion, "all who will not hearken to the Book of Mormon, shall be cut off from among the people; and that too, in the day it comes forth to the Gentiles and is rejected by them. And not only does this page set the time for the overthrow of our government and all other Gentile governments on the American continent, but the way and means of this utter destruction are clearly foretold; namely, the remnant of Jacob will go through among the Gentiles and tear them in pieces, like a lion among the flocks of sheep. Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off. This destruction includes an utter overthrow, and desolation of all our Cities, Forts, and Strong Folds--an entire annihilation of our race, except such as embrace the Covenant, and are numbered with Israel."
Here's the entire chapter:
These verses quote the resurrected Christ. So, Parley is reading these verses about how the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a sign. He sees the destruction to come afterward as quite imminent. When he testifies in "the name of Jesus Christ," he is essentially citing Christ and assuming that his interpretation of the scripture is accurate. This type of reading was very common among Mormons and non-Mormons at the time; many saw the end as near. So, it is entirely natural that Parley might take that reading.
However, it is hard for later readers to read these verses and say they are as explicit as all that. The scripture uses the term "in that day," a typical feature of Isaiah's millennial prophecies in the KJV. So, Parley misunderstood these verses and assumed that the end would be very near to the Book of Mormon's publication, and so saw them as a prophecy with a clear time frame.
Unfortunately for his argument, this is not true. The Book of Mormon isn't that clear or specific. Notably, Joseph Smith (the prophet and president of the Church) made prophecies insisting that the end would not come within the time frame Parley offered.
In this case, Elder Pratt was simply wrong. He had no authority to declare doctrine for the Church. Instead, he was reading scripture and interpreting what he thought was a prophecy contained therein. If he had been right in his reading, then of course his prophecy would have been true, since scripture has the authority to give prophecy. But it is hard to read the scripture and think that this is as clear-cut as he makes it out to be. It isn't.
Parley likely wanted a response to Sunderland's argument. Still, Sunderland was right--there is no prophecy in the Book of Mormon that is specific enough that someone in 1838 could have said, "Oh yeah, this is obviously from God, it foretold X." And, while Sunderland may think that a weakness, modern believers would probably see it as normal and expected--God does not give "signs" like that. There may well be prophecies we can appreciate, but they won't be so compelling as to force people to believe, and we may not see them until "after the fact."
In sum, Parley is here really more (mis)reading scripture than coming up with a prophecy out of the blue. He was mistaken, but that's OK--even apostles can be wrong, and an isolated apostle has no right to declare binding doctrine. New revelations would always come to the prophet—which Parley likely knew—but he just thought his reading of the scripture was obviously correct, so he felt no fear in making it. But we must remember that he came from a long religious background before joining the Church, in which he had a deep sense of the urgency and imminence of the Second Coming. So, what seemed a "natural" reading to him just wasn't.
It's a good reminder that what we think is really obvious about scripture may not be so; our own biases and cultural presuppositions come into it. (This article may be doing the same thing, of course, reading it with more historical distance, but a compelling case can certainly be made, nonetheless, that the Book of Mormon is not nearly so precise as Parley thought.)
If the Book of Mormon had actually said what Parley thought it did, and did so as specifically as he thought it did, that might pose a problem. But, he's mistaken about what it says, and so the Book of Mormon stands or falls on Parley's misreading.
What Parley was likely trying to do was force Sunderland to take the Book of Mormon seriously (since this argument in itself would have proved nothing to Sunderland, since it was well in the future). Parley took the Book of Mormon text more seriously than many of his fellow Saints, and so he was probably trying to encourage his readers to give it a fair shot.
That is good advice, even if his application or reading was flawed in this case.
It is claimed that the father's blessing given to Joseph Smith, Jr., in which Joseph Sr. "declar[ed] that I should continue in the Priest's office until Christ comes," is an example of a false prophecy.
When Joseph Smith was ordained to "the highest and holiest order of the Priesthood" on 28 September 1843,[4] he became "a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Psalms 110:4)[5]
Joseph Smith will, therefore, continue to hold the status of "Priest" at the time of the Second Coming. If this father's blessing was a "prophecy," then it was fulfilled.
This account was first published after Joseph's death: the account comes from Times and Seasons 5/22 (1 December 1844): 723.[6] If the blessing required Joseph to live until Christ came, why would the Church leaders publish it so freely, since Joseph was clearly dead and Christ had not come? This demonstrates that the critics do not read the blessing as the early members did.
Woodruff did make such a prophecy, and Young confirmed it.
The critics' account, however, typically ignores that Woodruff nowhere makes a prophecy that this will happen within the mortal lives of those attending. This prophecy can easily be fulfilled during the Lord's Millennial years.
It is natural to read the prophecy as referring to mortal life, but prophets are clear that many prophecies will be fulfilled only after the resurrection during Christ's Millennial reign.
Here is Elder Woodruff's account from his journal:
Aug 22 [1863] Sunday Morning We Met in a large Bowery. E T Benson Presidet, & Peter Maugn Bishop. There wer present of the Authorities Brigham Young H. C. Kimball
Willard Richards, D. H. Wells, J Taylor W Woodruff G A. Smith Lorenzo Snow F D Richards C. C. Rich and Presidt Joseph Young and A large Congregation of Elders & saints and After prayer Presidet Young Called upon W Woodruff to speak. As I arose to speak I was Clothed upon with the spirit of God And my Mind was turned towards the young people who had met us the Evening before and the following is a synopsis of Some of the remarks which I made:As I am Called upon this morning to Address this Assembly My mind leads me to speak to the young people who are before me this Morning. I wish to say to you my young friends, last Evening as we Came into this Town we met. You paraded in the street to pay proper respect to President Young and his party. You met to greet Prophets & Apostles and inspired Men. This is a privilege which no other Generation of young people have Ever Enjoyed for Eighteen hundred years untill Joseph Smith the prophet was raised up to lay the foundation of the Church & kingdom of God on the Earth, A privilege for which I would have felt amply repaid if I had to travel A thousand miles in the days of my boyhood to have witnessed.
Now my young friends I wish you to remember these scenes which you are witnessing during the visit of President Young & his brethren. You my young friends treasure up the teachings & sayings of these Prophets And Apostles as precious treasures, while they are living Men and dont wait untill they are dead. A few days and Presidet Young and his brethren these prophets and Apostles and Brother Benson & Maugn will be in the spirit world. You should never forget this visitation. You are to Become Men & women, Fathers & Mothers.
Yea the day will come after your Father & these Prophets And Apostles are dead and gone into the spirit world you will have the privilege of going into the Tower of a glorious Temple built until the Name of the Most High God /East of us upon the Logan Bench/ and while you stand in the Tower of that Temple and your Eyes survey this glorious valley filled with Cities & village occupied [with?] tens of thousand of the Latter day saints, you will then Call to mind This visitation of Presidet Young & his Company. You will say that was in the day when Presidets B[enson?] & Maugn presided over us. That was the day when Presidet Young & the Apostles were with us. That was before New York was destroyed by an Earthquake. It was before Boston was swept into the sea by the sea heaving itself beyond its bounds. It was before Albany was destroyed By fire. Yea at that time you will remember the scenes of this day. Treasure them up & forget them Not.
[p.248] President Young followed and said what Br Woodruff had said was revelation and would be fulfilled. [7]
Woodruff makes the following claims:
Items 1-4 are not problematic at all. The criticism usually centers on the 5th — none of the youth there present are now deceased, and the cities listed have yet to be destroyed.
This, however, ignores that Woodruff nowhere makes a prophecy that this will happen within the mortal lives of those attending. This prophecy can easily be fulfilled during the Millennial years of the Lord, when temples will continue to exist and be used, and when the earth will still be inhabited by the righteous.
It is natural to read the prophecy as referring to mortal life, and many members believed that the Millennium was imminent.
But prophets are clear that many prophecies and promises will be fulfilled only after the resurrection during Christ's Millennial reign, as the article below discusses.

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