Friday, July 21, 2023

John A. Widtsoe and Franklin S. Harris, Jr. (1937) on the post-1830 Fulfillment of Book of Mormon Prophecies

  

9. Prophecies.

 

There are many prophecies in the Book of Mormon, uttered by the historians who were custodians of the plates from which the Book was translated. A few are here given to show the inspired nature of the contents of the Book of Mormon.

 

            Three Witnesses. "Three witnesses shall behold the book by the gift and power of God. In the writings of the first Nephi the prediction is made in reference to three witnesses who should testify to the truth of the Book of Mormon * * * '(who) shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein.' (2 Ne. 27:12, 13.) A similar prophecy is found in Ether 5:3: 'And unto three shall they (the Nephite plates) be shown by the power of God; wherefore they shall know of a surety that these things are true.' Would it be within the power of an impostor to cause an angel to come from heaven and stand before these witnesses in the broad light of day and exhibit the Nephite plates and the Urim and Thummim? Could he cause the glory of God more brilliant than the light of the sun at noon-day to shine about them? Could he cause the voice of God to be heard from the midst of the glory saying that the work was true, the translation correct, and commanding the witness to bear testimony to the world of its truth?" (Roberts 3:247-249.)

 

            Opposition to the Book of Mormon. "The Lord told first Nephi of the clamor that would be raised against the Book of Mormon, 'that the words of your seed shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto your seed; and because my words shall hiss forth many of the Gentiles shall say, A Bible, a Bible, we have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.' (2 Nephi 29:1-3.) It is notorious that this cry was raised--and even now is raised at times--against the Book of Mormon. It was relied upon not only as the chief but also the all-sufficient argument against accepting the book. (See Orson Pratt's Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon.) Closely associated with the sectarian notion of the cessation of revelation and miracles is also the idea that the Hebrew scriptures comprised all the records in which God had vouchsafed a revelation to man." (Roberts 3:253-255.)

 

            Many Shall Believe the Book. "'For after the book of which I have spoken (i.e. The Book of Mormon) shall come forth and be written unto the Gentiles and sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be many which shall believe the words which are written.' (2 Nephi 30:3.) Whether this prophecy be accredited to the first Nephi, five hundred years B.C., or allowed no other authorship than Joseph Smith, and no greater antiquity than 1830, it is equally prophetic in character."

 

There are 750,000 living members of the Church, besides those who have died in the faith, or "who once accepted it in their faith and afterwards by transgression lost the spirit of the work and departed from the Church, but who, singularly enough, in the majority of cases still continue to assert their faith in the truth of the Book of Mormon; and those who have been brought to a belief in the Book of Mormon, but who have not had the courage to make the sacrifices involved in a public profession of their faith. * * * A further evidence is the many tongues and languages into which the Book of Mormon has been translated." (Roberts 3:283-284.)

 

            Indian Missions. "'And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us,--and they shall rejoice.' (2 Nephi 30:4-6.) The many who believe the Book of Mormon are to carry it forth to the remnant of Lehi's people, the American Indians. It is well known that they have done so. The Church had been organized but six months when a mission was sent to the Lamanites." (Roberts 3:286.)

 

            No Kings in America. The prophet Jacob prophesied 'this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the gentiles.' (2 Nephi 10:10-14.) This prophecy has been fulfilled for from Alaska on the north to the straits of Magellan in the south continent, the 'new world' under the consecration of God, is blessed with freedom, and republican, not monarchical institutions.

 

It may be objected that this prophecy has failed because of two notable attempts to establish monarchies in the New World by European governments, one in Brazil, the other in Mexico. Don Pedro was made king of Brazil upon its independence from Portugal in 1822; after a tyrannical rule the people rose against him and he was removed in 1831. His son, a child of six, was made emperor, the country being governed by regents until 1841. Don Pedro II made a good emperor; in November, 1889, he acquiesced in the wishes of the people and abdicated his throne in favor of a republican government. In 1862, France, Great Britain and Spain sent a joint military expedition to Mexico to enforce payment of certain claims. When their object was attained Great Britain and Spain withdrew. Napoleon III, Emperor of France, regarded the conditions favorable to the establishment of a Latin empire in the Western world. He invited Archduke Maximilian to accept the crown,  promising him to maintain him with an army of twenty-five thousand French soldiers. The United States forced the French emperor to withdraw his troops, resulting in the capture and Shooting of Maximilian on June 19, 1867.

 

"The foregoing attempts in Brazil and Mexico to found monarchies in the New World cannot be regarded as proving the failure of the Book of Mormon prophecy. The monarchies existed for a short time only, and were so precarious while they lasted, and ended so disastrously for those making the attempt to establish them, that they emphasize the force of the prophecy rather than prove its failure. It is not said in the Book of Mormon that attempts would not be made to set up kings, but that such attempts should end disastrously for those making them; and that no kings should be established, that is, permanently established in the New World." (Roberts, 3:276-280.)

 

            America a Land of Liberty. "'Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.' (Ether 2:12.) The heritage of righteous occupancy of the land of America is perfect freedom. The explorers of America came as conquerors and not as colonizers or home seekers. Lust for gold and love of conquest have never built homes, but have destroyed them by thousands. The Pilgrim Fathers, the Huguenots and the Puritans were essentially home-makers. They came to America to live, not to plunder and destroy. * * * The home is the greatest palladium of freedom. * * * The United States Declaration of Independence says: 'We * * * solemnly publish and  declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states * * * and for support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.'" (N. L. Morris, Prophecies of Joseph Smith pp. 226-230.)

 

            Gathering of the Jews. The Book of Mormon says that the Jews are to be restored and gathered in Jerusalem.

 

Time, April 4, 1932, says: "What are the accomplishments of a decade in Palestine? World Jewry has sent $220,000,000 there since 1921. Of this the U. S. gave $100,000,000. Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) now has a great $11,000,000 Palestine Electric Corporation, founded by Engineer Pinhas Rutenberg, whose stations in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias and in the Jordan valley supply all Palestine (except Jerusalem) with power. The Agricultural Experimental Station of the Keren Hayesod (colonization and immigration) teaches scientific farming and has experimental fields. The clean, white, all-Jewish city of Tel Aviv (Hill of Spring) more than doubled its population (46,000). For building trades, exists the General Mortgage Bank of Palestine, first to be modeled after European institutions. In Palestine are now new hotels and resorts for tourists. Palestine's Jewish population has increased from 60,000 to 175,000. There are 328 Jewish schools, 135 agricultural settlements of which 70 are under the supervision of the Jewish Agency. Hadassah (female Zionist organization) looks after 50 hospitals, clinics and dispensaries, which exist for Arabs and Christians as well as Jews. Palestine has its own Hebrew university, rounded in 1925. The  Jewish population of Palestine runs its own affairs. But it is a minority (16.9%) without political power, save for the advisory powers conferred on the Jewish Agency by the mandate allotted to Great Britain ten years ago." (John A. Widtsoe and Franklin S. Harris, Jr., Seven Claims of the Book of Mormon: A Collection of Evidences [Independence, Miss.: Press of Zion's Printing and Publishing Company, 1937], 165-69)

 

Further Reading:


Resources on Joseph Smith's Prophecies


Ross W. Warner, A Study of Problems Relative to the Fulfillment of Selected Prophecies in the Book of Mormon, with Particular Reference to the Prophetic View from 1830 Onward (MA Thesis, BYU: August 1961)