Mainstream sources note Smith's prophecies failed to come true.[1][2][3] After Smith famously gave a public prophecy that Missouri Governor Boggs would be violently killed within a year, Boggs was shot in an assassination attempt; Multiple Smith confidants reported firsthand knowledge that Smith had attempted to have Boggs killed.
Mormon views
Members of the LDS church regard Smith as a prophet who correctly predicted the rise of their church,[4] They argue that Joseph Smith predicted he would find "three witnesses to the word of God", and later found three men who would corroborate his story of the plates. After his loss in the 1838 Mormon War Smith correctly predicted that he and his fellow prisoners would not be killed; The group were allowed to escape custody and flee to Illinois.[5] Smith prophesied that Mormon enforcer Porter Rockwell would never be harmed by bullet or blade; Though he violently killed others and was repeatedly charged with murder, Rockwell died in jail of natural causes. [6]
Mainstream views
Mainstream sources note many of Smith's predictions failed to come true. Smith predicted that his firstborn son would one day translate the Golden Plates; the son died in infancy.[7] During the Winter of 1829–30, Smith predicted that a buyer for the Book of Mormon copyright would be found in Canada; The trip to Canada failed to find result in a buyer. Smith later reported that some revelations are "of the devil".[8]
On December 25, 1832, at the height of the nullification crisis where South Carolina threatened civil war, Smith predicted a war "that will shortly come to pass". In actuality, the crisis was averted and the United States remained at peace throughout Joseph Smith's lifetime.[9]
In 1841, Joseph Smith publicly prophesied Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs would be assassinated within the year. This event occurred within the context of heated conflict between Mormons and Missourians. Boggs was shot by an unknown assailant on the evening of May 6, 1842. He was seriously injured but survived and lived until 1860, contradicting Smith's prediction. Orrin Porter Rockwell, an associate and bodyguard of Smith, was arrested on suspicion of the crime but ultimately released as a grand jury found no evidence of his involvement.[10] Smith confidants John C. Bennett, Joseph Jackson, and William Law would each later report that Smith had ordered Boggs be murdered.[11]
Throughout his career, Smith made comments suggesting the end of the world was near and the current generation of followers would not perish without witnessing it.
