Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space?

For discussion of secret combinations (political, economic, spiritual, religious, etc.) (Ether 8:18-25.)
Post Reply

What do you think about Joseph Fielding Smith's moon prophecy?

He spoke out about something quasi-political. As a Church official, he should have known to leave well enough alone.
6
4%
It was his personal opinion and he was wrong about it. Big deal.
49
35%
I think this is proof he was a "false prophet."
1
1%
He's human...sometimes even Prophets or Apostles get stuff wrong.
26
18%
Joseph Fielding Smith was right about the moon, and still is to this day.
60
42%
 
Total votes: 142
User avatar
Simon
captain of 1,000
Posts: 1865
Contact:

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by Simon »

We could continue and ponder why among many early churchleaders there was the beliefe that man similiar to us lived on the moon. Apparently this was something Joesph taught, but we only get that info from second hand witnesses.. Nevertheless, there also have been patriarchal blessings that talk about it. One even given by Joseph Smith Jr.. Here a couple of examples:


"[Oliver B.] Huntington received a blessing from his father, William, on 7 December 1836. As recorded in the Patriarchal Blessing Book, the text reads: 'I lay my hands on thee & bless thee with a father's blessing.… Thou shalt be called to preach the gospel to this generation.… Before thou art twenty one thou wilt be called to preach the fullness of the gospel, thou shalt have power with God even to translate thyself to Heaven, & preach to the inhabitants of the moon or planets, if it shall be expedient, if thou art faithful all these blessings will be given thee …' Other early Mormon blessings expressed similar sentiments. On 15 December 1836 Lorenzo Snow received a blessing under the hand of Joseph Smith, Sr.: 'Thou shalt have great faith, even like the brother of Jared. Thou shalt have power to translate thyself from one planet to another, power to go to the moon if thou desire it, power to preach to the spirits in prison. Power like Enoch to translate thyself to heaven …' On 21 February 1836 Joseph Smith, Sr., blessed Jonathan Crosby, saying: 'Thou shalt … Be caught up to the third heavens, and behold unspeakable things, whether in the body or out.… And when thy [p.210] mission is full here, thou shalt visit other worlds.' Wilford Woodruff recorded in his journal on 3 January 1837 that Zebedee Coltrin 'Pronounced great blessings upon my head by the Spirit of Prophecy & Revelation.' Among other things the blessing said that he 'should visit COLUB & Preach to the spirits in Prision & that I should bring all of my friends or relatives forth from the Terrestrial Kingdom.' These blessings are congruent with Joseph Smith's conviction that translated beings were ordained by God 'to be ministering angels unto many planets.'"7

Now, was that inspiration false ? Are there beins living on the moon ? Are they invisible ?

Silas
captain of 1,000
Posts: 1564

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by Silas »

I tend to think that is the concern of the people who received those blessings as they are not revelation to the church. Maybe spirit prison is on the moon and they did get to preach there? I dunno. Maybe there was something wrong with the blessings. Even though the people are dead I still think blessings are of a personal nature and probably shouldn't be shared publicly.

Volante
captain of 50
Posts: 83

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by Volante »

Maybe he didn't mean that man wouldn't set foot on the moon, just that we wouldn't hold dominion over the moon. We do seem to have lost interest in moon travel, and pretty quickly, too. No one wants to vacation on the moon or colonize it and live there. Sending man there did lead us to a lot of new awesome technology, but there's no reason for humans to be on the moon, so man isn't on the moon.

Anyway, the moon is held to the Earth's orbit, so even if we did end up colonizing the moon in the future, I don't see it as escaping the bounds of our sphere.

Either explanation works. Either way, we are still Earthbound.

optimusmoose
Hi, I'm new.
Posts: 6

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by optimusmoose »

I am in utter shock that so many would vote that JFS was right. My goodness people.

First off, HE SAID HE WAS WRONG ABOUT IT. It's all over the web. (http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_ ... n_the_Moon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

Second, the fact that this is all over the web and the majority of votes did not care to or think to google it would suggest that the majority of people who voted would rather assume their belief net is correct that investigate the likely possibility that it is not.

This is really, really sad.

User avatar
Searching for Kolob
captain of 10
Posts: 36

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by Searching for Kolob »

optimusmoose wrote:I am in utter shock that so many would vote that JFS was right. My goodness people.

First off, HE SAID HE WAS WRONG ABOUT IT. It's all over the web. (http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_ ... n_the_Moon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

Second, the fact that this is all over the web and the majority of votes did not care to or think to google it would suggest that the majority of people who voted would rather assume their belief net is correct that investigate the likely possibility that it is not.

This is really, really sad.
Threes words: Van Allen belts.

User avatar
lemuel
Operating Thetan
Posts: 993

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by lemuel »

This thread is getting some notice...

http://daymonsmith.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... -mean-wow/

User avatar
creator
(of the Forum)
Posts: 8237
Location: The Matrix
Contact:

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by creator »

In reality, the poll/debate in this thread has been mostly about believing the moon landing was faked or not.

User avatar
Original_Intent
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 13008

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by Original_Intent »

Note that options 2 and 4 are really pretty identical...combine those and it is the true majority.

User avatar
firebaptismglory
captain of 100
Posts: 102
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by firebaptismglory »

An interesting article with regard to this moon prophecy.... I enjoyed it at least in a certain way. (in the comments)

http://daymonsmith.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... -mean-wow/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
gkearney
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5346

Re: Was Joseph Fielding Smith wrong about the Moon and Space

Post by gkearney »

Original_Intent wrote:Note that options 2 and 4 are really pretty identical...combine those and it is the true majority.
In fact the first four questions are some what the same in that they would all stem from the idea that JFS was somehow in error. Adding those answers shows that most of those answering believe he was mistaken in his opinion.

Post Reply