Countercult ministries/Watchman Fellowship/Section 8

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Claims made in "False Prophecy in the Doctrine and Covenants"

A FAIR Analysis of: Watchman Fellowship A work by author: James Walker Index, Claims in "Joseph Smith and the Biblical Test of a Prophet"

Claims made in "The Bible: 1,002 - Book of Mormon: Zero"

Note: This is a review of claims and/or responses to misrepresentations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints found in this work. The inclusion of an author's work here does not imply that he or she is "anti-Mormon," or that none of his or her works have value. Those who do not wish to examine the claims contained in what some would consider an "anti-Mormon" work are advised to proceed no further.

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Index of Claims in "Joseph Smith and the Biblical Test of a Prophet"

Claim
Latter-day Saints claim that the truthfulness of "the LDS Church" and Joseph Smith can be tested using the promise in Moroni 10:4. This test is claimed to be too "subjective" to be valid.

Author's source(s)

• Moroni 10:4

Response

• For a detailed response, see: Book of Mormon—Moroni's promise

Claim
The true test of a prophet is that all his prophecies come to pass (Deut. 18:20-22), and “…the Bible never recommends prayer as a way of discerning true and false prophets”.

Author's source(s)

• Deuteronomy 18:20-22

Response

• For a detailed response, see: Biblical Keys for Discerning True and False Prophets

Claim
Joseph Smith predicted in 1835 that, "The coming of the Lord, which was nigh - even fifty-six years should wind up the scene." Since that didn’t happen by 1891, it suggests Joseph may have been a false prophet..

Author's source(s)

• History of the Church, Vol. 2 p. 182

Response

• For a detailed response, see: Second Coming to be in 1890

Claim
The author claims that Doctrine and Covenants 37:1, which instructs Joseph to stop translating until he goes to Ohio, is a "self-fulfilling prophecy."

Author's source(s)

• DC 37:1

Response

• D&C 37:1 states: "Behold, I say unto you that it is not expedient in me that ye should translate any more until ye shall go to the Ohio, and this because of the enemy and for your sakes." This isn't a prophecy at all! It is simply instruction for Joseph to stop translating until he goes to Ohio. The authors appear to wish to portray every utterance that Joseph attributed to the Lord as a "prophecy."

Claim
Two unfulfilled “close-dated unconditional prophecies” preserved in Doctrine and Covenants Section 84:3-5 (construction of a temple in MO) and Section 114 (David Patten serving a mission to all the world) prove that Joseph Smith was a false prophet.

Author's source(s)

• DC 114:
• History of the Church, Vol. 3, p. 171.

Response

• For a detailed response, see: David Patten to serve mission
• For a detailed response, see: Independence temple to be built "in this generation"