Keeping it straight

Cult leaders have shouldered a heavy burden.  Not speaking under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they utter prophecies which with time prove to be false.  Under the date of January 23, 1833, Joseph Smith recorded the following in his History of the Church, volume 1, page 323:

"... my father presented himself,... I asked of him a father's blessing, which he granted by laying his hands upon my head, in the name of Jesus Christ, and declaring that I should continue in the Priest's office until Christ comes."

When the Twelve Apostles were first ordained in the Mormon church some of them also received the promise that they would live until Christ came: "The blessing of Lyman E. Johnson was,... that he shall live until the gathering is accomplished.... and he shall see the Savior come and stand upon the earth with power and great glory" (History of the Church, vol. 2, p.188).

William Smith's blessing stated: "He shall be preserved and remain on the earth, until Christ shall come to take vengeance on the wicked" (Ibid., vol. 2, p.191).

Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde received similar blessings, although Hyde's blessing has been falsified somewhat in modern printings of the History of the Church (see Mormonism - Shadow or Reality? p.188).

Writing in 1838, Apostle Parley P. Pratt said the following: "Now, Mr. Sunderland.... 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 - Truth Vindicated, by Parley P. Pratt, p.15; copied from a microfilm of the original at the Mormon church historian's library).

Postscript: June 27, 1844 (account of John Taylor, 3rd President of the Mormon Church): 5:30 a. m.—”Arose. Joseph requested Dan Jones to descend and inquire of the guard the cause of the disturbance in the night. Frank Worrel, the officer of the guard, who was one of the Carthage Greys, in a very bitter spirit said, ‘We have had too much trouble to bring Old Joe here to let him ever escape alive, and unless you want to die with him you had better leave before sundown; and you are not a d____ bit better than him for taking his part, and you'll see that I can prophesy better than Old Joe, for neither he nor his brother, nor anyone who will remain with them will see the sun set today.’ “ (Shortly after 5:00 p.m. an armed mob forced their way past the guards at the Carthage jail and engaged in a brief gun battle with Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. Although killing two of the assailants and wounding others, both Hyrum and Joseph were killed. All of the other “Apostles” eventually died as well.  To this date, hordes of unbelieving “gentiles” continue to live in North America  (History of the Church, Vol. 6 Chapters 33-34, p. 602-622).