Biblical Prophecies Atheists Love Part 4

The fourth (and possibly last one I will address) biblical prophecy that aethists love is found in the Old Testament in the Book of Judges. In Judges 13:5 an angel promises Samson's mother that Samson would "begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." No matter how forgiving you want to be with the facts of Israelite history, there is no way it can be concluded that Samson fulfilled this prophecy!

Not only did Samson fail to free Israel from the Philistines, but

• he consorted with Philistine women,
• he married a Philistine,
• he never led any Israelite troops against the Philistines, and
• the Philistines eventually humiliated him.

Most importantly Israel actually lost ground to the Philistines during Samson's tenure. Judges 13-16 illustrates Philistine encroachment into Hebrew lands. All of this is the opposite of the prophecy uttered by the angel!

So is the angel a false prophet? If we use the standard that critics of the LDS Church use with latter-day prophets then the answer must be yes! If these critics are to be consistent they must declare that the angel was bearing false witness or the Book of Judges/Bible is false!

Of course such a conclusion is silly. Angels sent from on high are not going to be making mistakes. There has to be something else so let's examine this story a little more deeply, using the rules for interpreting prophecy that we frequently reference. Fortunately LDS people can be consistent and still accept this prophecy that failed to come to pass by simply applying the standard that we use for all prophets, both ancient and modern.

The fact that Judges 13:5 failed to come to pass can be placed squarely at the feet of Samson's failure to live according to his calling as a Nazarite. Basically he did not keep the commandments. In addition to his sexual liaisons, he married a Philistine, ate unclean food, drank wine, and allowed his hair to be cut. His behavior (sins) allowed the angel's prophecy to be nullified. The angel is not a false prophet, Samuel's sins did not allow the prophecy to be fulfilled. Samuel's agency left him free to fulfill the prophecy or not; and he chose to do otherwise.

The angel announced what should have happened; what Samson was fore-ordained to accomplish, but Samson was free to live his life as he chose. He chose not to fulfill his divine appointment and the prophecy went unfulfilled. Sin can nullify prophecy the same way that it can nullify priesthood or patriarchal blessings. That in no way reflects on the inspiration behind the prophecy/blessing. Agency always holds the trump card.

Note that the angel placed no conditions on his promise that Samson would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. He simply declared that Samson would do it. Regular readers of this blog will note the parallels between the story of Samson and the story of Oliver Cowdery.

Biblical Prophecies Atheists Love Part 3

In Matthew Chapter 10 we read where the Savior says the following:

But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

In this section Jesus very matter-of-factly states that His second coming would occur before the disciples returned from the mission on which He was sending them. This, of course, did not happen and as far as I know; and I'm pretty sure about this, the Second Coming still hasn't occurred! ;-}

If we use the standard enemies of the LDS Church use; and most of them claim to be Christian, then Jesus has to be declared a false prophet. Jesus is the Savior of the world, the only perfect man who ever walked upon its face. Jesus made hundreds of prophecies and this one simply requires that one understand how prophecy is to be interpreted before getting uppity and declaring the Jehovah of the Old Testament to be a false prophet. For obvious reasons, it is absurd to accuse Jesus of being a false prophet. I am simply pointing out that if our enemies are to be consistent, then it is they who must make this declaration. As Latter-day Saints, we find such an accusation to be patently absurd!

Could it possibly be that Jesus was addressing the office of an apostle instead of the men standing before him who held that office? Readers of this blog will remember that this sounds an awful lot like the story of David W. Patten.

Biblical Prophecies Atheists Love Part 2

Anti-Mormons love to quote Deuteronomy 18:20-21 as a preliminary to attacking the alleged false prophecies of Joseph Smith.

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.

Michael T. Griffith writes "Using a strictly literal interpretation of these verses as their guide, most if not all anti-Mormons insist that if a prophecy does not come to pass, it is automatically false, period. These critics don't seem to realize they are stepping into quicksand when they use this criterion to attack Joseph Smith."

One of the problems this creates is found in 2 Samuel 7:5-17, where we read that the prophet Nathan unequivocally prophesied to David that through his son Solomon the Davidic empire would be established "forever;' that the children of Israel would dwell in the promised land "and move no more," and that the "children of wickedness" would no longer afflict them. These things are clearly stated. No conditions are attached to these promises.

Any student of the scriptures knows that none of these things came to pass! So is Nathan a false prophet? If we continue to insist on interpreting prophecy literally there is only one conclusion - Nathan is a false prophet. But by applying the rules for interpreting prophecy that we covered in this post, Nathan can be validated. And that is exactly what Latter-day Saints do; we accept Nathan and all of the Biblical prophets as true emissaries from on high.

Naturally we insist Joseph Smith and his successors are judged by the same standard.

Oliver Cowdery

Another of the alleged false prophecies of Joseph Smith involves a promise in the D&C directed at both Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. It is found in the 110th section.

After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed.

Whether this prophecy has been realized in the case of Joseph Smith is debatable but Oliver Cowdery had no grandchildren. So how can this be true?

Oliver Cowdery apostatized and was removed from his position. Hyrum Smith was assigned to take Oliver's place in the Presidency and as a result ended up dying in his place at Carthage Jail. The 124th section of the Doctrine and Covenants records the transferral of these blessings from Oliver to Hyrum.

91 And again, verily I say unto you, let my servant William be appointed, ordained, and anointed, as counselor unto my servant Joseph, in the room of my servant Hyrum, that my servant Hyrum may take the office of Priesthood and Patriarch, which was appointed unto him by his father, by blessing and also by right;

92 That from henceforth he shall hold the keys of the patriarchal blessings upon the heads of all my people,

93 That whoever he blesses shall be blessed, and whoever he curses shall be cursed; that whatsoever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

94 And from this time forth I appoint unto him that he may be a prophet, and a seer, and a revelator unto my church, as well as my servant Joseph;

95 That he may act in concert also with my servant Joseph; and that he shall receive counsel from my servant Joseph, who shall show unto him the keys whereby he may ask and receive, and be crowned with the same blessing, and glory, and honor, and priesthood, and gifts of the priesthood, that once were put upon him that was my servant Oliver Cowdery;

Has the Church and all generations been blessed by the seed of Hyrum? Well for starters his son and grandson grew up to be Presidents of the Church. Each was considered a master of doctrine in his day and his grandson, Joseph Fielding Smith, wrote numerous books that are still blessing the world nearly 40 years since his passing. Joseph Fielding Smith's son-in-law, Bruce R. McConkie was another prolific author and apostle whose writings are still blessing the world nearly 25 years after his passing. And there are many others of this distinguished lineage - other apostles and General Authorities - that are fulfilling this prophecy to the letter. There is probably no greater example of a righteous family in the whole world.

Once again the attempts by our enemies to portray the Prophet Joseph Smith as a false prophet are shown to actually be validation that he truly was a Prophet of God. You would think that they would eventually learn not to get into such silly debates with us. The truth is on our side and therefore always wins.

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.

Rules for Interpreting Prophecy

Fordham explains that the second important principle in understanding prophecy, is understanding the rules for interpreting prophecy. This is important in order to remain consistent.

One of the repeated themes in the writings of our critics is the double-standard they employ when interpreting Bible prophecy when compared to interpreting prophecies put out by prophets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Judging the Bible by the standard they hold us to results in the Bible being declared false! Here is an example of what I mean.

In 2 Kings 20:1-7 we read of a prophecy, which if we applied the standards our critics apply to us, would make Isaiah, the prophet of prophets, a false prophet. Fordham desribes the story this way:

Here the prophet Isaiah visited Hezekiah, who was "sick unto death," and said to him, "Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live." Hezekiah, in prayer, reminded the Lord of all of his good works. The Lord, then, responded mercifully to his plea. He changed his mind and instructed Isaiah to go back to Hezekiah and tell him that his prayers had been heard; the Lord would heal him and he would live for fifteen more years. Was Isaiah any less a prophet of God because the Lord told him something would happen, and it didn't, for whatever reason?

Michael T. Griffith put together a list of rules for interpreting prophecy that, when applied to the Bible, makes all Biblical prophecies true. That is a standard our critics can not disagree with. However we insist that the same tests be applied to LDS prophecies and prophets before declaring them false. Here is his list of rules for interpreting prophecy:

1. Almost all prophecy is conditional to one degree or another, even if this is not stated in the prophecy itself.
2. In many cases human actions and choices can alter, postpone, or prevent the fulfillment of prophecy.
3. A prophecy is not always telling us what will happen, but what could happen under certain circumstances.
4. A prophet can misunderstand the timetable for a prophecy's fulfillment.
5. A prophet can be mistaken about certain details of a prophecy but correct with regard to its central message.
6. A prophecy can apply to more than one occurrence or time period, i.e., it can have dual application.
7. A prophecy's fulfillment can be intended to take place in the spirit world or during the millennium, even if this is not stated in the prophecy itself.
8. The fulfillment of prophecy can go unobserved and/or unrecorded.
9. A prophecy can contain rhetorical overstatements. For example, a prophecy might read that "every single house" in a certain town will be "leveled to the ground," when what is really meant is that the town will suffer heavy destruction.
10. Such terms and expressions as "soon," "quickly," "in a little while," "shortly," etc., are often given from the Lord's perspective of time--so that "soon," for example, might turn out to be a very long time by our reckoning.
11. The text of a prophecy can undergo alteration to the point that it no longer reflects the original intent of the prophecy.

Fordham writes that "most critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints judge Joseph Smith's prophecies with a standard that is just as damaging to Biblical prophecies, thereby showing a double standard of interpretation. They seem willing to allow any possible explanation and exception for Biblical prophecies, but none for those of Joseph Smith. Critics don't seem to realize that the standards they use to judge Joseph Smith can also be used to attack the Biblical prophets and Jesus Christ. "

If we follow Griffith's list above, the truth of the Bible can remain unassailed, and the same will be true for the Latter-day Saint prophets and prophecies. Given the fact that the source for both is the same, it is not surprising!

Evidences of a True Prophet

Prelimary to examining the prophecies of Joseph Smith I would like to examine the scriptural requirements for a prophet. The first requirement for a true prophet is found in Numbers 12:6-8:

If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

In this scripture we learn that in order to be a prophet, the Lord must speak to him, he must receive revelations. This is not the only scripture that makes this point. Exodus 24:10, Exodus 33:11, Genesis 17:1, Genesis 48:3, Isaiah 6:1, Acts 7:55-56, 2 Peter 1:16, 1 Corinthians 9:1, 1 Samuel 3, Matthew 7:1-16, and Ezekiel 40:2-3 all teach this same principle.

No seeker after truth can reject such evidence as found in the Bible that prophets have revelations. At least no one who claims to be a Christian can reject it. Does Joseph Smith meet this requirement of a prophet? The answer is unequivically yes.

It will not do to simply say "I don't believe Joseph Smith is a prophet! I don't believe he had those revelations he claimed." Such a claim is not rooted in truth seeking. It is what logicians call a cognitive bias, specifically a bias in probability and belief. The point is that the scriptures teach that prophets have revelations. Joseph Smith claimed to have revelations. Therefore he passes the test. Whether he truly had revelations is another question that we can examine at another time. Logical tests of this nature always require a willingness to concede that the other party is telling the truth. To do otherwise makes all arguments exercises in futility and therefore fruitless.

Joseph Smith passes the first test of being a prophet; he had revelations.