Pretenders to Prophethood

 number of individuals over the past centuries have claimed to be prophets sent by God. These include Mohammed, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, and many others. The question of prophethood is a vital issue. If these people really are prophets, then their message must be obeyed. If they are frauds, then their message must be exposed and their teachings must be ignored.

God’s standards for prophets are set forth in the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses, which are recognized as authentic by virtually all of the so-called modern day “prophets”. Specifically, Deuteronomy 18:19-20 reads:

If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. But if a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.

Of course, God has anticipated the problem of identifying just who a prophet of God would be. In a word, a prophet can be identified by the accuracy of his or her predictions. The opposite is true, too; a false prophet can be identified by the failure of his or her predictions. Deuteronomy 18:21-22 reads:

You may say to yourselves, How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord? If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

God’s standards for accuracy of his prophets was 100%. Not one of them ever made a mistake. Why? Because when God speaks, He does so from outside of time. God is said in Scripture to be the One Who inhabits eternity. He sees the end from the beginning as if it has already occurred.  Today is just as certain as tomorrow and yesterday as far as God is concerned. So His prophets never erred, not even once.

It is a very simple matter to compare the predictions of the various pretenders to prophethood with what really occurred in history. If Mohammed, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, the Watchtower, et. al. said something would come to pass, and it didn’t, then he or she is a false prophet and a fraud.

So let’s take a look at some of the pretenders to prophethood. We only need to find one false prophecy to disqualify the so-called prophet. Remember God’s score card: strike one, and you’re out. God’s prophets could never make even one mistake.

Mohammed

Mohammed is quoted in the Hadiths (Book 37, Number 4282) that the conquest of Constantinople would occur within a specific period of time:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The greatest war, the conquest of Constantinople and the coming forth of the Dajjal (Antichrist) will take place within a period of seven months.

Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 636 AD. Constantinople was taken over by Muslims in May 1453 AD. Yet the prophecy regarding Yathrib (Medina) being in ruins and Antichrist's advent to take place seven months after the conquest of Constantinople did not materialize. Based on the preceding traditions, Antichrist was to appear in November 1453.

Some Muslims argue that these events refer to future conquests; i.e. that Constantinople is a synonym for the Roman Christian Empire, and that this passage predicts that Muslims are to takeover Rome before Antichrist appears. If Muhammad was speaking of Rome, he could have simply used the word Romans (Arabic: Ar-Rum). In fact, Romans/Ar-Rum is the name given to chapter 30 of the Qur’an. To call Rome either Constantinople or even Byzantium would be rather anachronistic. The plain fact of the matter is that Mohammed was wrong. He was a false prophet.

Mohammed’s other false prophecies are too numerous to mention here. Click on this link to search for more false prophecies of Mohammed using Google.

Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church

The following “prophecy” was made by Joseph Smith on April 17, 1838.

Verily, thus saith the Lord: It is wisdom in my servant David W. Patten, that he settle up all his business as soon as he possibly can, and make a disposition of his merchandise, that he may perform a mission unto me next spring, in company with others, even twelve including himself, to testify of my name and bear glad tidings unto the world.

David W. Patten died in October of 1838 and thus never went on a mission the following spring. Joseph Smith was wrong. He was a false prophet.

On September 1, 1842, Joseph Smith said,

“…for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me from henceforth; for behold, and lo, I shall triumph over all my enemies, for the Lord God hath spoken it.”  (Doctrine and Covenants, 127:2). 

The last phrase “for the Lord God hath spoken it,” indicates that this is prophecy.  Here, Smith has prophesied that God would allow him to “triumph” over all his enemies.  Less than two years later, these same enemies stormed the Carthage, Illinois jail where Smith was imprisoned and shot him dead.  Smith tried to fight back, shooting 3 of his assailants and killing 2 with a pistol smuggled in to him, but his “enemies” triumphed.  This, too, is a false prophecy.  

Joseph Smith’s other false prophecies are too numerous to mention here. See http://www.irr.org/mit/jsfalpro.html for some more specifics. Click on this link to search for more false prophecies of Joseph Smith using Google.

Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science

Mary Baker Eddy's pronouncements seldom involved future events. But her writings did involve false and heretical teachings in regards to just about every major doctrine of the Bible as taught by Christian theologians from the Founding Fathers down to the present day. Here are a few examples:

It is contrary to Christian Science to suppose that life is either material or organically spiritual (S&H, 83:21-22).

One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin. The atonement requires constant self-immolation on the sinner’s part. That God’s wrath should be vented upon His beloved Son, is divinely unnatural. Such a theory is man-made (S&H, p. 23:3-7).

The material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon ‘the accursed tree,’ than when it was flowing in his veins as he went daily about his Father’s business (S&H, 25:6-8).

His disciples believed Jesus to be dead while he was hidden in the sepulcher, whereas he was alive . . . (S&H, p. 44:28-29).

...his body was not changed until he himself ascended, — or, in other words, rose even higher in the understand of Spirit, God... and this exaltation explained his ascension, and revealed unmistakably a probationary and progressive state beyond the grave (S&H, p. 46:15-17; 20-24).

His students then received the Holy Ghost. By this is meant, that by all they had witnessed and suffered, they were roused to an enlarged understanding of divine Science (S&H, p. 46:30-32).

A scientific mental method is more sanitary than the use of drugs, and such a mental method produces permanent health (S&H, 79:7-9).

The admission to one’s self that man is God’s own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea (S&H 90:24-25).

The theory of three person in one God (that is, a personal Trinity or Tri-unity) suggest polytheism . . . (S&H, p. 256:9-11).

Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation (S&H, p. 332:4-5.).

The word Christ is not properly a synonym for Jesus, thought it is commonly so used (S&H, p. 333:3-4).

Mind is the I AM, or infinity. Mind never enters the finite... but infinite Mind can never be in man... a portion of God could not enter man" (S&H, p 336:1-2,13,19-20).

...and recognize that Jesus Christ is not God, as Jesus himself declared, but is the Son of God (S&H, p 361:11-13).

Speaking of Gen. 2:7, "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being," Eddy says, "Is this addition to His creation real or unreal? Is it the truth, or is it a lie concerning man and God? It must be a lie, for God presently curses the ground... (S&H, p. 524:13-27).

In describing what the Devil is, it says, "Evil; a lie; error; neither corporeality nor mind; the opposite of Truth; a belief in sin, sickness, and death; animal magnetism or hypnotism; the lust of the flesh, which saith: ‘I am life and intelligence in matter. There is more than one mind, for I am mind, - a wicked mind, self-made or created by a tribal god and put into the opposite of mind, termed matter, thence to reproduce a mortal universe, including man, not after the image and likeness of Spirit, but after its own image." (S&H, p. 584:17-25).

If there had never existed such a person as the Galilean Prophet, it would make no difference to me. (The First Church of Christ Scientist and Miscellany, pp. 318, 319).

Mary Baker Eddy’s other false teachings are too numerous to mention here. To read more about the differences between Biblical Christianity and the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, visit http://www.christianway.org. To search for more false teachings by Mary Baker Eddy using Google, click on this link.

Charles Taze Russell and the Watchtower

In his six volume series Studies in the Scriptures, Charles Taze Russell (founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses) made many predictions that were tied to specific dates. As these volumes were reprinted, some of the dates were changed because the original dates passed without the predictions being fulfilled. In time, all of the dated prophecies failed. Here's just one:

In view of this strong Bible evidence concerning the Times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomplished near the end of 1915. Then the prayer of the Church, ever since her Lord took his departure—“Thy Kingdom come”—will be answered; and under that wise administration, the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord—with knowledge, and righteousness, and peace (Psa. 72:19; Isa. 6:3; Hab. 2:14); and the will of God shall be done “on earth, as it is in heaven.” (Volume 2, p. 101, emphasis in original text)

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society’s other false prophecies are too numerous to mention here. Click on this link to search for more false prophecies of the Watchtower using Google.

Ellen G. White and the Seventh Day Adventist Church

Ellen G. White made numerous false prophecies: that “Old Jerusalem never would be built up,” that she would be alive at the Rapture, that Christ would return before slavery was abolished, that Adventists living in 1856 would be alive at the Rapture, and many more. Yet her writings are revered like Scripture.

Ellen G. White’s other false prophecies are too numerous to mention here. Click on this link to search for more false prophecies of Ellen G. White using Google.

Edgar Cayce

Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) has been applauded as one of the most impressive prophets of modern times. At the age of six or seven he was seeing “visions.” Cayce claimed that by sleeping with his head on his school books, he could absorb knowledge, which enabled him to advance rapidly in his education.

He claimed psychic healing powers (three almonds a day is a cure for cancer!), taught the doctrine of reincarnation, and advocated a number of bizarre theological doctrines (e.g., Jesus and Adam were the same person), and said that he (Cayce) wrote the Gospel of Luke in a previous life. As a prophet, Cayce was a catastrophic failure. For instance, he prophesied that during the early portion of a forty-year span (1958-98) a tilting of the Earth’s axis would produce drastic physical alterations of our planet. “The earth will be broken up in the western portion of America. The greater portion of Japan must go into the sea,” etc. (Stern, 1967, p. 37). Cayce’s apologists claim that he predicted World War II. And yet, Jess Stern, who did more to popularize Cayce than any other writer, wrote: “Edgar Cayce was as stunned as anybody else when the bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor” (Stern, p. 16).

Edgar Cayce’s other false prophecies are too numerous to mention here. Click on this link to search for more false prophecies of Edgar Cayce using Google.

Nostradamus

“Nostradamus” was the pseudonym of Michel de Notredame, a French physician/astrologer of the sixteenth century A.D. In 1555, he published a book of rhymed prophecies, which secured for him a considerable reputation in an age of gross superstition. Though his utterances were woefully obscure, and the interpretations hotly debated by his most devoted followers, some have alleged that his prophetic declarations were as impressive as those of the biblical prophets.

The most famous oracle of Nostradamus—supposedly the best evidence for his “gift”—reads as follows:

Allegedly, this passage has reference to the death of France’s king, Henry II, who was wounded in a jousting contest in 1557, and died ten days later. But here are the actual facts of history:

• Only six years separated the ages of Henry and his opponent in the tournament; it hardly was a contest between the young and the old (Henry was only forty).

• The accident occurred during a friendly sporting event, not on a battlefield.

• There is no evidence that Henry was wearing a gilded visor (cage) of gold. Moreover, the king’s eyes were not damaged; a splinter from the lance pierced his skull and entered the brain.

• The reference to “two fleets” is meaningless.

• In addition to these significant factors, only two years before this tragic accident, Nostradamus wrote a letter to King Henry in which he described the monarch as “most invincible” (Randi, 1990, p. 173). He hardly was invincible!

The other false prophecies of Nostradamus are too numerous to mention here. Click on this link to search for more false prophecies of Nostradamus using Google.