Original title: ...And there are also False Prophecies!

In this episode, Brendon and Skyler discuss the twenty-second lesson in the LDS Come, Follow Me sunday school manual. This week (May 22-28) is titled "The Son of Man Shall Come" and covers Joseph Smith-Matthew 1, Mark 12-13, and Luke 21.

We invite you to worship with us on any Sunday - either at First Baptist Church of Provo or Christ Presbyterian Church in Magna. We welcome visitors!

CORRECTION: The JST, when compared with his KJV equivalent - has only 118 changes in Romans. There were 1,554 changes to the Gospels. (Mormons and the Bible, p. 54; also see this issue in the context of ch.'s 1-3 of An Insider's View of Mormon Origins by Grant Palmer.)

It should be noted that in Mark 12 - Jesus, when asked what the greatest commandment is, begins with the Shema and thus, the monotheism denied in Mormon and/or LDS theology.

Contrary to what seems to be popular understanding among LDS, the Trinity is a monotheistic doctrine, and to claim that the Godhead are "three separate beings and persons" is to be polytheistic, no matter the aesthetic preference of someone like Jeffrey Holland. (also see here, and here to see how Joseph Smith spoke about the Trinity; also see The Trinity: An Introduction by Scott Swain for a short introduction to the foundational Christian doctrine.)

Moses warns against false prophets who lead people after other gods (Deut. 13.1-5); and Paul warns in Galatians that "even if we or an angel from heaven" preach a different gospel, let him/her be anathema, as well as warning against false apostles, men who preach "another Christ" - saying that "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." (Gal. 1.7, 2 Cor. 11.4,13-14) And of course, the apostle John warns against "false prophets" and commands we "test the spirits". (1 John 4.1-3)

Sources:

Joseph Smith - Matthew (in the 1968 version, the heading above says "Writings of Joseph Smith")

Sunday school manual: here

Why the King James Version by J. Reuben Clark

New Testament Made Easier by David Ridges

Gospel Principles manual: here, here, here

JST Revelation; Sermon in the Grove (Joseph Smith)

A Voice of Warning by Parley Pratt; The Seer by Orson Pratt

The Culture of Christ (William Jackson)

The Office of Patriarch (Boyd K. Packer); also here and here

The Words of Joseph Smith, ed. by Andrew Ehat and Lyndon Cook; wherein it documents Joseph Smith stating: "I prophesy in the name of the Lord God - and let it be written - that the Son of Man will not come in the heavens till I am 85 years old, 48 years hence or about 1890." (p.180)

Brigham Young (JD 13.309); Jedediah Grant (JD 1.346);

Orson Hyde (JD 4.259); Wilford Woodruff (JD 18.37, 21.195)

Brigham Young also taught this in regard to the title "Son of Man", connected to his teaching that Michael is god:"[I]t is most significant that in the Hebrew language the word for man is Adam, hence in the some-odd 84 passages in the gospels when Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man, it can be taken quite literally as a claim on Jesus' part that he was the son of Adam." (Teachings of President Brigham Young, 3:327)

Conflict in the Quorum by Gary Bergera

Power From On High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood by Gregory Prince

Mormons and the Bible by Philip Barlow

The Mormon Jesus by John Turner

As A Thief In the Night by Dan Erickson

Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? by Sandra and Jerald Tanner

Joseph Smith claimed: "I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam...Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet..." (HC 6:408; here)

D&C 84 (false prophecy about New Jerusalem)

• JD 9.71 (George A. Smith)
• JD 10.344 (George Q. Cannon)
• JD 13. 360,362; JD 14.276 (Orson Pratt)

D&C 114 (false prophecy about apostle David W. Patten - who would die Oct. 25, 1838 in the Battle of Crooked River; also see DHC 3.170-175)

Parley Pratt - the "Apostle Paul of Mormonism" wrote and published: “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 prophesy, 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.” (Mormonism Unveiled, 1838; found in The Essential Parley Pratt, p. 24) 

D&C 130 (expectation that Jesus would come back in around 1890)

• Prophet/President Wilford Woodruff, alone, predicted British LDS would remain on earth "until the coming of Christ" (Jan. 26, 1840); told the LDS in northern Arizona "There will be no United States in the year 1890" (June 28, 1879); stated (by revelation) that the second coming was "nigh at the door" (Jan. 26, 1880); promised LDS in Manti "that thousands of the children...would not die but would live to see the Saviour come" (Aug. 14, 1881); told LDS in St. George that "there were thousands living in [the] mountains at [that] time that would see the son of God come and many would not taste death" (Mar. 20, 1881) - and similar predictions on Dec. 31, 1885, and then on Feb. 16, 1886. And that is just one of the early apostles/prophets! (As a Thief in the Night by Dan Erickson, pp. 83, 187-88, 190-191, 197)

It should be noted that this is the context for the Manifesto on polygamy - esp. in light of Wilford Woodruff (then senior apostle!) even prophesying in the Manti Temple that "we are not going to stop the practice of plural marriage until the coming of the Son of man." (ibid., p.200, also here)

• Moreover, "in 1879-1880 the church published a new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, edited by Apostle Orson Pratt and containing footnotes and references for the first time. Canonized at October 1880 general conference, it officially endorsed lay member millennial expectation. Pratt's footnotes for Section 130 highlighted Joseph Smith's 85-year millennial prophecy, adding in the commentary section confirmation of the fateful time frame 'near the end of the year 1890.' Pratt also cross-referenced the revelation to "See prophecy of Joseph, uttered 14 March 1835...'Even 56 years should wind up the scene.'" To many there was no doubt the Son of Man would make his appearance in 1890-91." (ibid., pp.188-189)

On April 28, 1842 - Joseph Smith delivered instruction to the "Female Relief Society of Nauvoo" in which he stated: "This Society shall have power to command Queens in their midst— I now deliver it as a prophecy that before ten years shall roll round, the queens of the earth shall come and pay their respects to this Society— they shall come with their millions and shall contribute of their abundance for the relief of the poor— If you will be pure, nothing can hinder. After this instruction, you will be responsible for your own sins. It is an honor to save yourself yourselves— all are responsible to save themselves."

Joseph Smith told Alexander Neibaur that he saw Jesus with a light complexion (white skin) and blue eyes (A.N. Journal, May 24,1844). Yes, Jesus is a white man, according to the founding Mormon/LDS prophet. This is related to some racial issues in LDS history and has clearly impacted LDS art to this day, as should be obvious throughout any official sources. (Whiteness is also true of Mary in 1 Nephi 11.13-15, who is even claimed by some LDS to actually be from England, based on legend.) Also see Mormonism - Shadow or Reality, ch. 21.

Also see Religion of a Different Color by W. Paul Reeve for many of the ironies in both American and Mormon history on racial issues and race-relations.

On the JST:

• The Joseph Smith Translation and Ancient Texts of the Bible by Kevin Barney; "In short, the JST phrasing is apparently Joseph Smith's way of getting his theological point across...No parallel ancient variants exist for the majority of JST readings. This lack of textual support suggests that the JST does not restore actual textual material. Some scriptural exegetes have hypothesized deliberate and widespread textual corruptions early enough to be incorporated into biblical manuscripts which have survived. Since the original autographs are irrecoverable, this assertion cannot be completely disproven, but it has been weakened with the discovery of Hebrew texts from the Old Testament as early as the second century B.C. which support the basic integrity of the later manuscripts. Some New Testament manuscripts date to the fourth, third, and even second centuries A.D., leaving an increasingly small frame of time in which the hypothesized textual corruptions could have occurred." (p.86) In his conclusion, he states: "We have seen that the majority of JST changes lack ancient textual support. Although we cannot say with complete assurance what stood in the original text, manuscript discoveries have made the argument that there could have been massive early deletions from the text untenable, at least for the New Testament." (p.100)

• Thomas Wayment, who did the translation that even the Interpreter was whole-heartedly promoting on their podcast, did some of the more recent work on the connection of the JST to Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary - which explains even some of the things Smith supposedly did correctly. RFM covers the subject well here, and here. (The main source being a chapter in the book Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith's Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity)

Utah Depression Rate

When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger

Fundamentalism and American Culture by George Marsden

Turning Points by Mark Noll

God's Strange Work: William Miller and the End of the World by David Rowe

Crucible of the Millennium by Michael Barkun

An Earnest Plea to Charismatics; An Earnest Plea to Seventh-day Adventists (Jason Wallace)

The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War, and the Rise of the Messianic Nation by Richard Gamble

Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism by Ronald Pestritto

Paradise Now: The Story of American Utopianism by Chris Jennings

American Jesus by Stephen Prothero

The Doctrine of the Word of God by John Frame

Matthew (The Expositor's Bible Commentary); The King James Version Debate: A Plea For Realism by D.A. Carson

The King James Only Controversy by James White

Scribes and Scripture by John Meade and Peter Gurry

In the Beginning by Alister McGrath

God's Secretaries by Adam Nicolson

Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond, ed. Darrell Bock (also here)

A Case For Amillennialism: Understanding the End Time; The Man of Sin: Uncovering the Truth about the Antichrist by Kim Riddlebarger

Victory in Jesus: The Bright Hope of Postmillennialism by Greg Bahnsen

The Bible vs. Don Preston; The Church Impotent (Jason Wallace)

The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation by Vern Poythress

Triumph of the Lamb by Dennis Johnson

The Temple and the Church's Mission; The Book of Revelation (NIGTC); God Dwells Among Us by G. K. Beale

All Things New (NSBT) by Brian Tabb

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

No Place For Truth; Above All Earthy Pow'rs by David Wells

Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin

Hearing God's Words: Exploring Biblical Spirituality (NSBT) by Peter Adam

The Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures by Gregory Reynolds

Reformed Forum: here and here

Michael Horton: here and here

War Against the Idols by Carlos Eire

From Icons to Idols, ed. by David Davis