What Joseph Smith Never Counted On - Part 2 by Bob Betts

1. At the beginning of the Book of Mormon, you will find "The Testimony of Three Witnesses." In 1829, according to Joseph's revelation, two of those three witnesses, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer were called as Apostles: "…I speak unto you (David and Oliver), even as unto Paul mine apostle, for you are called even with that same calling with which he was called. …And by their hands (again, David and Oliver), I will work a marvelous work among the children of men." (D&C 18:9,44)

   What Joseph Smith never counted on was that all three witnesses would eventually apostatize. Joseph handled their apostasies by resorting to name-calling and defaming their character. He referred to them as, "too mean to mention; and we had liked to have forgotten them." A couple of paragraphs later Joseph proclaimed, "…in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we deliver these characters unto the buffetings of Satan until the day of redemption,…" (History of the Church 3:228,232)

2. In 1887, the same David Whitmer would write a booklet called, An address To All Believers In Christ (order through our web bookstore at www.concernedchristians.org). In it, he recounts the following series of events:

   "In June 1829, the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished. God gave it to us as his Holy Word, and left us to work out our own salvation and set in order the Church of Christ...

   "Joseph looked into the hat in which he placed the stone, and received a revelation that some of the brethren should go to Toronto, Canada, and that they would sell the copy-right of the Book of Mormon. Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery went to Toronto on this mission, but they failed entirely to sell the copy-right, returning without any money. Joseph was at my father's house when they returned. I was there also, and am an eye witness to these facts. Jacob Whitmer and John Whitmer were also present when Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery returned from Canada. Well, we were all in great trouble; and we asked Joseph how it was that he had received a revelation from the Lord for some brethren to go to Toronto and sell the copy-right, and the brethren had utterly failed in their undertaking. Joseph did not know how it was, so he enquired of the Lord about it, and behold the following revelation came through the stone: 'Some revelations are of God; some revelations are of man; and some revelations are of the devil.' So we see that the revelation to go to Toronto and sell the copyright was not of God, but was of the devil or the heart of man."

If Joseph Smith sincerely believed that he was a prophet of God and could get divine revelation through a "seer stone" in his hat, then what he never counted on was that the stone (or God through the stone) would fail him. However, if Joseph willfully attempted to deceive, then what he WAS counting on and hoping for was that these "witnesses" would somehow accomplish the mission and make him look good.

But note in Whitmer's testimony, that when Joseph Smith "enquired of the Lord about" the "failed…undertaking," he went back to the same "stone" for another prophecy to explain the first failed prophecy. Then note that since the failed prophecy proved to NOT be from God, Joseph proceeded to lead his friends to the astounding conclusion that he either concocted the prophecy in his own "heart" or it was "of the devil." Either way, in light of Deuteronomy 18:20-22, how can anyone trust Joseph Smith's claim to be a prophet of God?

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