I just encountered this blog post by a group called "Life After: Leading Mormons to the Real Jesus." From the get-go, I would disagree with their claim that Latter-day Saints do not believe in the "real [read: Biblical] Jesus"; I have addressed Christology and related fields many times on this blog, such as my paper, "Latter-day Saints have chosen the True, Biblical Jesus." However, this post is not about Christology but a comment from Brigham Young that I have seen some critics cite over the years as evidence of Brigham's lack of inspiration and/or stupidity:
Gold and Silver Grow – Mormon Quotes
Journal of Discourses 1:219-220; “Gold and silver grow, and so does every other kind of metal, the same as the hair upon my head, or the wheat in the field; they do not grow as fast, but they are all the time composing or decomposing.” – Brigham Young, Salt Lake City, October 9, 1852
Revelation 21:8; “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
False prophecy. Leave him alone; don’t believe a single word that came out of that man’s mouth.
Firstly, it should be noted that this is not presented as a prophecy from Brigham; for instance, it was never said “in the name of the Lord” (cf. Deut 18:18-20). Furthermore, in many other sermons by Brigham Young, in spite of some quote mining from anti-Mormons, did admit to his own fallibility (e.g. JOD 9:150).
However, LDS apologist, D. Charles Pyle(*), responded in this same blog post showing that Brigham was actually onto something and his comments were rather prescient in light of modern scientific discoveries:
Now some scientists believe that bacteria might have actually laid down some of the gold deposits in the first place. After all, when a bacteria called Pedomicrobium lives in water rich in dissolved minerals, it will actually build up layers of iron or manganese oxide around itself – like a shell. Scientists from Macquarie University have suggested that many gold deposits in Venezuala might have been laid down by bacteria. And just recently, John R. Watterson of the US Geological Survey, claims to have found proof in Alaska.
Now when most people find a lump of gold in their gold-panning dish, they quickly turn it into cold hard cash – and have a party. But when John R. Watterson got his gold, he looked at it with a scanning electron microscope. To his surprise, most of the tiny particles of gold that he had collected from nine Alaskan rivers were not solid little lumps. Instead, they looked like gold-plated bacteria.
What he saw was a lacy pattern of tiny cylinders joined by thin rods. The cylinders were the same size as the Pedomicrobium bacteria.
Now gold stops most bacteria dead in their tracks – with suffocation. It blocks up the tiny holes in the cell walls through which food comes in and wastes go out. But Pedomicrobium, has an unusual way of reproduction. Most bacteria make babies just by splitting into two separate cells. But Pedomicrobium reproduces by budding. It stretches out a narrow stalk which rises above the gilded cage closing around the parent bacteria. This narrow tube then opens up (at the end) to make a new bacteria. So new baby bacteria are continually being born just on the outside of an expanding ball of golden death. It’s a slow process – it takes over a year to ‘grow’ a gold grain roughly the thickness of a human hair (about 0.1 mm). It would take a long time to ‘grow’ a 70 kg nugget. (Maybe we could speed the process up, by genetically engineering the Pedomicrobium bacteria.)
After I learned that some years ago, it gave me room for pause regarding comments like the one you cited on your site. Nowadays, I try to keep an open mind when it comes to things Brigham Young has said. But, it is clear that at least for gold, it now is known that in a number of cases it actually does grow in beaded strands like hair, via the actions of bacteria. Not only is the above quote, however, not a prophecy, it also isn’t false with respect to gold. Who knows what we’ll find with other metals. Funny thing is, Brigham Young made that remark long before scientists learned of its truth by independent observation.
It looks like another anti-Mormon canard is dead and buried in light of modern discoveries.
(*) A few years ago, he was working on a translation of the Bible and a verse-by-verse response to passages critics appeal to in critiquing LDS theology. Not sure if he (or someone who knows him) will read it, but would like to know if there is any update about if/when they will be published. My email is IrishLDS87atgmaildotcom