Victor R. Claveau, MJ

Mormon leader Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1970 until his death in 1972, wrote:

“Mormonism as it is called must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. Either he was a prophet of God, divinely called, properly commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground.

“If Joseph Smith was a deceiver, who willfully attempted to mislead the people, then he should be exposed; his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false, for the doctrines of an impostor cannot be made to harmonize in all particulars with divine truth. If his claims and declarations were built upon fraud and deceit, there would appear many errors and contradictions, which would be easy to detect. The doctrines of false teachers will not stand the test when tried by the accepted standards of measurement, the scriptures.”[1]

Chapter 13 of the Book of Deuteronomy warns about false prophets.

“If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder which he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and cleave to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.”[2]

Chapter 18 tells us the prophet’s prophecies must come to pass.

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name

which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?  when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.”[3]

Saint Paul tells us in his Letter to the Galatians that even angels can appear with a wrong message.

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.”[4]

Saint Peter warned:

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled.” (2 Peter 2:1-2)

False prophesies of Joseph Smith:

While reviewing Joseph Smith’s ‘prophecies’, it will come as no surprise to learn that none have any prophetic value or merit whatsoever.

Smith prophesied the destruction of the U. S. government:

“I prophesy 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 entirely overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left…”[5]

Smith prophesied that all Nations would be involved in the American Civil War:

“I, verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; and the time will come when war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place.”[6] 

In 1832, Smith predicted that in his lifetime there would be a great gathering in Western Missouri of all the Mormon faithful before a new, huge Temple, which was to be built for the event.”[7] This never took place:

“Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his church, established in the last days for the restoration of his people, as he has spoken by the mouth of his prophets, and for the gathering of his saints to stand upon Mount Zion, which shall be the city of New Jerusalem, ‘Which shall be built, beginning at the temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the state of Missouri.”

In 1835, Smith prophesied the coming of the Lord in 1891 to end the kingdom of earth:

“…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.”[8]

Smith prophesied that the earth would tremble, the sun would be hidden, and the stars would fall from the sky:

“For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree.” [9]

Smith also prophesied that the Holy Spirit would withdraw from the earth and that he would live to see his work completed:

“I prophesy, in the name of the Lord God of Israel, anguish and wrath and tribulation and the withdrawing the Spirit of God from the earth await this generation, until they are visited with utter desolation.” [10]

“I prophesy they will never have power to kill me till my work is accomplished and I am ready to die.”[11]

Note: Obviously, Smith was not “ready to die” as he used a pepper-box pistol in defense of his life, injuring at least three of the attackers storming the Carthage jail.[12]

The, then, Illinois Governor, Thomas Ford described Joseph Smith as “the most successful impostor in modern times,”[13]

Should we follow someone who claims that God gave him a special mission to start a new church?

This question was answered by Father Louis G. Dupuis, in his book The Apostolic Succession in the Holy Scriptures:[14]

“To answer this question, it is necessary first of all to understand the notions of ‘vision’ and ‘visionary.” A vision in Revelation could be defined as a trance or a special moment in one’s life where God communicates with a human being through images or human words. The person honored with such a vision is called a visionary. How do we know that God gave a special mission to someone? Should we accept the visionary on his or her word alone? Such a case, where God entrusts someone with a mission, is extremely important. Really, should we accept such a visionary on his or her word alone? This has proven to be in the past not only dangerous but even fatal to those who followed a visionary on his or her word alone. What should we do in such a case?

“The answer does not come easily to someone who was born and raised in a human church or a church founded by a human being. However, an honest effort must be made by everyone in search for the truth to find the Church founded by Christ. For a practical purpose, we shall focus our study of ‘visions and visionaries’ on a modern and well-known prophet, Joseph Smith, the founder and prophet of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. The vocation of Joseph Smith—and for this matter the vocation of Mohammed the founder of Islam, as well as the vocation of any founder of a church or religion—cannot be dismissed lightly. Some might say the Book of Mormon or the Koran, or numerous other books pronounced divinely inspired by their prophets, are in fact not inspired because of some deficiencies found in each one of them. The Book of Mormon or the Koran, has nothing wrong with it and could be inspired. The problem is not with the Book of Mormon nor with the church of the Latter-Day-Saints. The problem is with Joseph Smith, as it is with Mohammed, and all the other prophets after Christ. DID GOD SPEAK TO SMITH? If so, we must believe him.

“Joseph Smith asserted that through visions and other means, God spoke to him to redress Christianity, which had deviated from its original form through centuries of corruption. It could be true that God communicated with Smith as it was true that God spoke to Moses and to the Apostle Paul. Moses, however, was well aware that there was the problem of credibility in his mission. He immediately objected to God: “…suppose they will not believe me, nor listen to my plea? For they may say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’[15]

“The Israelites were not going to accept Moses on his word alone and they were justified in doing so. Even the Jews did not want to accept Jesus on his word alone. They demanded divine proof of his mission. They also were justified. It has been proven in the past that some men lied. In the case of calling someone to lead people to heaven, we must make a deeper analysis of proof of credentials of such visionaries. People may assume such a role for personal ambition, or influenced by sickness, or any other human frailties. Because Smith did not go to the Apostles and   their legitimate successors, as St. Paul did, to be confirmed in his mission, then God had to confirm him in his mission in a special way as he did for Moses and Christ. Christ was not taken on his word alone. God had to confirm him in his mission with miracles, wonders, and signs of a supernatural cause. And He did.

‘Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.’[16]

“Therefore, we cannot accept, and must not accept missionaries or visions only on the word of the prophets or visionaries. CREDENTIALS alone, as required by God in the Bible, must shape our judgment on the credibility of the prophet.

“If God spoke to Joseph Smith, there should be proof beyond the spoken word of the prophet of God’s message, and such proof must be in the same manner or form as God laid down for Moses and Jesus Christ. God must have confirmed Smith in his mission with miracles or a supernatural cause, as He did with Moses and Christ. In the case of Smith, his mission must be taken seriously, because he abolished the Priesthood of Christ to reinstate the priesthood of Aaron. We know from the Bible that God Himself, since Moses, established his priesthood on earth; He did not give men this authority. Smith, by abolishing the priesthood of Christ to reinstate the priesthood of Aaron, assumed a divine authority that must be proven or else he has joined the ranks of the false prophets.

“History tells us that God did not confirm Joseph Smith in his mission, as founder of a new church, by his ‘miracles, wonders, and signs as his credentials. Joseph Smith has never performed any miracles of a supernatural nature during his lifetime as well as after his death. According to the Bible, a miracle of a supernatural nature is the miracle that only God can perform. Bringing a dead person back to life is a miracle that only God can perform, and therefore a miracle of a supernatural nature. Jesus raised the dead to prove that he was sent by God and that his mission was from God. In abolishing the priesthood of Christ, Joseph Smith superseded Jesus in authority. In order to supersede Jesus in authority, Joseph Smith needed to raise the dead back to life; he needed to prove that his mission was from God. God never put his seal on Joseph Smith and, therefore, never authorized him to found the Mormon church. We must also conclude that God never spoke to Joseph Smith; we have no proof that God revealed Himself to Smith.

“For the same reason or lack of divine proof, God never confirmed Mohammed in his mission to lead the Arabs to the Eternal Happiness. Nor did God confirm all the other founders of religions in their man-made religious ventures. The same conclusion also applies to all those false prophets: God never spoke to them. It is sad that each one of those self-styled religious leaders found men and women ready to follow them without requiring divine proof of their credibility. Any religious or church reformer, who deviates from the Apostolic Tradition, must be accompanied by signs and wonder of a supernatural cause for proof of his or her divine calling. If she or he is not approved by God, with public divine signs like the resurrection of the dead, he or she must be rejected as Christ warned us against false prophets: ‘And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.’[17] The Apostles had to fight false prophets from the very beginning of the Church. ‘And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.’[18] St. Peter puts us on the same alert also: ‘But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.’[19]

“Thus, it has never been in God’s Divine Providence to leave us orphans, at the mercy of false prophets and founders of human religions. God gave us all the necessary norms and guidelines to recognize such false apostles and to dismiss them from our lives. We only need the spiritual courage to follow the Apostles in their legitimate successors. If we sincerely ask Jesus for this special grace of conversion, he will give it to us.”

[1] Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 1, p. 188, 1954.

[2] Deuteronomy 13:1-5.

[3] Ibid., 18:20-22.

[4] Galatians 1:8-9.

[5] History of the Church, Volume 5, page 394, May 18, 1843.

[6] Doctrine and Covenants 87:1-3.

[7] Doctrine & Covenants, Sec. 84:1-6.

[8] History of the Church, Volume 2, p. 182, Feb. 14, 1835.

[9] Doctrine and Covenants 88:87.

[10] Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Volume 6, p. 58, Oct. 15, 1843.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Marvin S. Hill, Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered: A Second Look at the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, 19, Vol. 97, No. 2 (Summer, 2004), pp. 107-134.

[13] Stevenson, Adlai Ewing , Something of men I have known (2nd ed.). (Chicago: R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company), pp. 211–212.

[14] Louis G. Dupius, The Apostolic Succession in the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 5, (Burbank, CA: National Literary Guild), 1984, pp. 96-98.

[15] Exodus 4:1.

[16] Acts 2:22.

[17] Matthew 24:11.

[18] 2 Corinthians 11:12-13.

[19] 2 Peter 2:1.