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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Stephen A. Douglas prophecy
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Contents
Timing of Stephen A. Douglas prophecy
| Forged Rocky Mountain prophecy | A FAIR Analysis of: One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes
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Most accurate history in all the world |
Author's Claims
One Nation under Gods, page 406 (hardback and paperback)
- One of the "forged predictions" added to the history was "about the political career of Senator Steven (sic) A. Douglas." - (Note: Should be "Stephen" A. Douglas)
Author's Sources
Endnote 23, page 608 (hardback); page 606 (paperback)
- History of the Church, vol. 5, 85, 393-394, 398.
Answer
The claim is frankly false. As B.H. Roberts' editorial remark in the History of the Church noted:
There is, and can be no question about the prophecy preceding the event. The prophecy was first published in the Deseret News of September 24, 1856. It was afterwards published in England in the Millennial Star, February, 1859. The publication in the Deseret News preceding Douglas' Springfield speech, mentioned above, (June, 1857) by about one year, and about four years before Douglas was nominated for the presidency by the Charleston Democratic convention.[1]
This paper is available in digital form on-line. Screenshots are included in this article.
Page one of Deseret News (24 Sept 1856). Material on Stephen A. Douglas, at it appears in the History of the Church is outlined in read.
Detail of the Stephen A. Douglas prophecy, printed on 24 September 1856. This was nearly a year before Douglas would 'turn against' the Saints, and more than four years before he was nominated as President of the United States.
Notes
- ↑ History of the Church, 5:393. Volume 5 link The History of the Church notes that the original source was taken "from the journal of William Clayton, who was present," though the prophecy against Douglas is in not the published portions of Clayton's journals (See Cecelia Warner, “The Tanners On Trial,” Sunstone: Review 4:4/6 (April 1984); Lawrence Foster, “Career Apostates: Reflections on the Works of Jerald and Sandra Tanner,” Dialogue 17/2 (Summer 1984): 48 and n. 28; James B. Allen, review of An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton, by George D. Smith, ed., BYU Studies 35/2 (1995): 165–75). It is not known if more material is in the Clayton journals that served as a basis for the complete History of the Church entry. At any rate, the publication of the prophecy before June 1857 makes the point moot—the Church was claiming this as a prophecy well before it was fulfilled, and had no reasons before then to attack Douglas if the prophecy was unauthentic.