He cites, for example, a vision of
Joseph’s in which Joseph saw the Twelve (the twelve apostles) in the celestial
kingdom of God. (History of the Church, vol. 2, p. 382) Decker
asks how they could ever have attained the celestial kingdom if several of them
were excommunicated. Decker’s first mistake is to refer to this vision as a
prophecy. Nowhere is it identified as such. Visions are of a very mysterious
nature and sometimes simply show that might be, or what the potential is (and
in the case of this vision what might be possible if everyone involved is
righteous). Often visions are to give understanding to the recipient. Zechariah
was referred to as a man “who had understanding in the visions of God” (2 Chronicles
26:5). The same is said of Daniel, that he “had understanding in all visions”
(Daniel 1:17). Job was “terrified through visions” (Job 7:14). The Book of
Revelation, or Apocalypse of John, is an ongoing vision with many strange,
colorful dimensions and details, beasts, wars, and angels, along with dark,
light, and various almost incomprehensible panoramas.
The nature of such visions has long
been the subject of scholarly scrutiny, and somewhat to no avail. Such visions,
in a sense, belong only to those to whom they are given. Yet it is possible to
understand the general themes of the Book of Revelation, for example of
overcoming the world, or the victory of good or evil, etc. It is not surprising
that Joseph Smith called this “one of the plainest books God ever caused to be
written.” (History of the Church, 5:342). Joseph’s experience with
visions made such understandings so, and his visions of the twelve in the
celestial kingdom cannot be dismissed because some of them were excommunicated.
Decker scoffs at the Word of Wisdom,
Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The Word of Wisdom, is more or less—in
all outward appearances—the health code for Latter-day Saints. While the Word
of Wisdom has received modern praise by leading physicians and nutritionists,
it is something deeper, spiritually, than a mere health code. It promises those
who follow its principles “health in their naval and marrow in their bones.”
Yet people who follow the code “shall find wisdom and great treasures of
knowledge, even hidden treasures.” (D&C 89:18-19). It has been a long established
fact that Mormons have the lowest rate of cancer and the most freedom from
various illnesses. They have the longest life span. Decker admits this, but he
states, for example, about Mormons, “they do not find any treasures of
knowledge.” His pretended understanding of what Latter-day Saints find,
receive, or do not, in the way of knowledge, is ludicrously presumptuous. What
does on in the privacy of anyone’s heart, life, or spiritual experience, is only
the wildest supposition on his part.
Decker mentions the “potsherd”
prophecy, where at Carthage, Illinois, on May 18, 1843, Joseph Smith said to Stephen
A. Douglas, “I prophesy in the name of the Lord God of Israel, unless the United
States redress the wrongs committed upon the Saints n the state of Missouri and
punish the crimes committed for her officers that in a few years the government
will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd
left.” Decker calls this another failure at prophecy, since the United
States Government never did redress any wrongs and now is the most powerful government
in the world.
It might be a little complex to propose
what the fulfillment or time line of this prophecy might be. It might be
easiest, and perhaps too easy, to note that every member of that government is
now deceased. More interesting is the possibility that the prophecy is still in
effect and refers to something yet to come. More
realistic is Carver’s commentary about how 94% of the 28th and 29th
Congress was removed and replaced within eight years.
Joseph told Douglas that he [Douglas]
would one day aspire to the presidency of the United States and that if Douglas
ever lifted his hand against the Latter-day Saints he would feel the weight of the
hand of the Almighty upon him. Douglas became the Democratic candidate for president
in 1860. He began to denounce the Mormons in an attempt to mend political
fences in Illinois where anti-Mormon sentiment continued to exist. Douglas lost
the election to Abraham Lincoln who, by contract, said, “Leave the Mormons
alone.” Douglas, the favorite, received twelve electoral votes to Lincoln’s one
hundred and eighty. Douglas died young (age 48) about a year later, a
disappointed man. (History of the Church, vol. 5, p. 394-396). (Pat
Ament, Joseph Smith’s Prophetic Gifts—His Prophecies Fulfilled, ed.
Brian Stutzman [2d ed.; 2023], 186-87)
Further Reading:
