Saturday, March 5, 2022

Was Brigham Young Wrong in Predicting that the Elders of the Church would be "as much thought of as the kings on their thrones" by 1882?

 In Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? We read the following:

 

On August 31, 1856, Brigham Young stated: “In the days of Joseph it was considered a great privilege to be permitted to speak to a member of Congress, but twenty-six years will not pass away before the Elders of this Church will be as much thought of as the kings on their thrones” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 40).

 

To those who have studied Mormon history, it is obvious that this prophecy did not come to pass. (Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? [5th ed.; Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987, 2008], 195)

 

In his review of Bob Witte's Where Does It Say that?, Elden Watson, responding to this same criticism, wrote:

 

       What Mr. Witte wants this to say is that within 26 years the Elders of the Church will be as highly respected as kings on their thrones, but there is another meaning of “as much thought of,” and that is “as frequently thought of.” The period of 26 years from 1856 brings us to 1882, and the Forty-seventh United States Congress with it’s passage of the Edmunds Tucker Act of 1882. The newspapers of the United States were a hotbed of controversy over Mormonism. Rather than just being permitted to speak to a member of Congress, George Q. Cannon addressed Congress himself. In returning to Washington after 8 days at home, George Q. Cannon stopped at a hotel in Chicago to take a bath.

 

What! Is this the famous Mr. Cannon of Utah?” asked the clerk.

“I am Mr. Cannon of Utah, whether I am famous or not,” he replied. Being a celebrity was not new to him, but his notoriety had grown in the wake of the huge newspaper publicity of 1882. “There was a great deal of curiosity among the people in the hotel to see me,” he wrote, “and this has been the case during the entire trip.” (Davis Bitton, George Q. Cannon, A Biography, Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1999, p 260)

 

            Because of the huge newspaper publicity, the Mormon Elders were certainly more frequently thought of than Kings on their thrones, and perhaps by many as highly regarded.

 

Instead of being a false prophecy, this was a prediction (note: it was not couched as based on divine revelation, so it was not a "prophecy" to begin with [unlike the Tanners, I try my best to be fair and accurate]) that was fulfilled.