David W. Patten

One of the attacks against the Church involves a prophecy concerning David W. Patten found in D&C 114 which reads

1 VERILY thus saith the Lord: It is wisdom in my servant David W. Patten, that he settle up all his business as soon as he possibly can, and make a disposition of his merchandise, that he may perform a mission unto me next spring, in company with others, even twelve including himself, to testify of my name and bear glad tidings unto all the world.

2 For verily thus saith the Lord, that inasmuch as there are those among you who deny my name, others shall be planted in their stead and receive their bishopric. Amen.

Section 118 of the Doctrine and Covenants explains more about this mission and calls the Twelve to depart on the mission from Far West on April 26, 1839. David W. Patten never left on this mission because he was killed at the Battle of Crooked River when a contingent of Caldwell County militia, under his leadership, attempted to rescue three Latter-day Saints who had been taken prisoners by a company of Missourians. Since he was called to leave with the Twelve, and because of his death he failed to do so, the enemies of the Church think they have caught Joseph Smith in a false prophecy. But have they?

As a result of the persecutions against the Saints in Missouri the knees of David W. Patten had briefly buckled, and Patten signed a letter falsely accusing the Prophet of things which the Prophet had not done. His remorse over this brief period of apostacy was so great that he prayed fervently that he might be able to give his life for the cause and in retribution for his sin. When he shared this with the Prophet Joseph, the Prophet said "Oh Brother Patten, when a man with faith like yours prays like that, he will likely find his prayer answered."

That is the story behind why Joseph, upon learning that David W. Patten was dead, said "There lies a man who has done just as he said he would - he has laid down his life for his friends." Because Joseph had talked with him about his prayer to be martyred, he knew both the background and the sequel.

When D&C 114 was revealed David W. Patten was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. His successors, John Taylor, John E. Page, and Wilford Woodruff were all present at the meeting held on April 26, 1839 in Far West Missouri and left for their mission assigned by revelation from that meeting. The prophecy found in D&C 114 applied to David W. Patten the Apostle, not David W. Patten the man. The role that he filled - that of an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ - fulfilled the prophecy literally.

Our enemies love to interpret the Bible and its prophecies in non-literal ways in order to justify their doctines and defend the Bible; but when finding fault with the Latter-day Saints, suddenly they find that the only way to interpret our prophecies is to be literal. The same God who revealed prophecies to Moses, Isaiah, and Jesus of Nazareth is still revealing them today. Most of those prophecies are very clear as we have pointed out in previous posts (1, 2, 3, 4) ; but sometimes there is more of the symbolic involved. This prophecy is one of the latter.

For more information about how to correctly interpret prophecy please review this post. Please pay particular attention to item #2 and the story from 2 Kings 20:1-7 which is almost an exact parallel to the story of David W. Patten. Rather than being evidence of a false prophecy by Joseph Smith; this prophecy concerning David W. Patten validates Joseph Smith as a prophet of the Lord.