A Fraudulent Prophecy Exposed

A FRAUDULENT PROPHECY EXPOSED. BY ELDER RULON S. WELLS, OF THE FIRST COUNCIL OF SEVENTY In its issue of August 16, 1907, a local paper, published in a southern Idaho settlement, under the headline, "What do you think of this?" quotes the following most remarkable statement: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS? Lutlus Gratiano, writing in The Hope of Zion, which was printed in 17r!9, in Basel City, Switzerland, said: ' The old true gospel and the gifts thereof are lost, false doctrines prevail in every church and in all the lands. All we can do is to exhort the people to be just, fear God, and shun evil, and to pray, pray. "Prayer and purity may cause an angel to visit a deep and distracted soul, but I tell you that God in one hundred years will again have spoken. He will restore the church again. ' 'I see a little people led by a prophet and faithful elders. They are persecuted, burnt out and murdered, but in a valley that lies on the shore of a great lake they will grow and make a beautiful Henlick (land), have a temple of magnificent splendor, and also possess the old priesthood, with apostles, prophets, teachers and deacons. From every nation will the true believers be gathered by speedy messengers. And then will the God Almighty speak to the disobedient nation with thunders' and lightnings' destructions, such as was never heard of in history before. ' ' The book which contains the above may be found in the University library in Basel City, Switzerland.

162 IMPROVEMENT ERA. As will be seen from the foregoing, the writer has not omitted to give his readers reference to the very source of his information ; namely: The Hope of Zion, by Lutius Gratiano, printed in Pjasel, Switzerland, in 1739, which may be found in the University library in that city. I wonder if the editor of the local paper referred to really intended to stand responsible for the plain assertion that this wonderful prediction is to be found in the above mentioned book ; or has he permitted himself to be imposed upon by some one else? Personally, I would be very much interested in learning who is really responsible for the foregoing statement, for, if it be true, it should be verified, and the name of Gratiano should become a household word, as one of the prophets to whom the future was unfolded with such clearness and detail as almost to rival the wonderful \asion of Daniel, when the Lord made known to him the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and its interpretation. But if, on the other hand, it be untrue, the perpetrator of this fraud deserves severe reprimand. For my part, I am free to admit, that I regard it as a "fake" and a fraud. About ten years ago, while visiting the Swiss and German Mission,! came to Basel, Switzerland, and having previously been shown a typewritten document almost if not exactly a copy of the article quoted above , I resolved to visit the library and, if possible, obtain the book. Through the courtesy of Herr Romell, a local emigration agent, with whom we had transacted considerable business, I succeeded in getting the book, Zion's Hoffnung, or, The Hope of Zion, by Lutius Gratiano, printed in the year 1739. Jointly with Elder Peter Loutensock, then presiding in that mission, I read it from start to finish, and, much to my regret and disappointment, I found in it no such prediction, and nothing that even resembled it. It was a book on piety, written by a devout Christian; at times it wa,s almost prophetic, but it contained nothing that would justify the statement quoted above, or the document which had been shown to me. Dr. David L.McDonald, who, in 1901, presided over the Swiss Mission, subsequently visited this library, obtained the book, and read it, and, of course, was eqally unsuccessful in finding the alleged prediction. Finding, however, a paragraph which to him seemed prophetic.

.4 FRAUDULENT PROPHECY EXPOSED. 163 and relating to the coming forth of this latter day work, he photographed the page containing it. The following is a reproduction of the photograph: <tufc^llcl>e(yciid^tc mirb gcjy)rcCfct 5abcn, tu«|) Die ^rcDigt Cbrijii Durcl; Den ^}mh Dcr S^kia nen/voiii flnticbrifrnebrucftcn/ uncr56vtm(Sec* gcrr baben / alfo t>Qi^ Die 50Jf nfc^cn bcp taufen* j5cn follen bef ebrt tt?erDfn / unb voit t)Ov gcitm SSabplon / 3f fuf^^f "^ unD 3?om felb^ mit fci* ncn itcipfcrcri/ ^6mfl|en unD ©croaltigen Die ^opffc babe mOjTen b^ngcn unD bffennen / jtc tocrmdqcn e^ nicbt ju roebreti/ Da§ SSfii^ nid!)t fin (^bren » 9?cicb auf €rDcn babe ; 2llfo trirD iov ber ^elt ^nDe Da^ Sioangclium fo ^ewaU tigftcbttseiqenDurcbbie gan^e ^elt, Da§ Jg)im* nffl unb (Srben n>evDen gejicben / |ie miijfeti ib^t tjcrgeben o\t Cbrifli ^^ort/ unD mtt |ol* cber admdcbricjen (^Ofteg^^rafft n)erDen 9e# mcine / Mngefiubtrtc ^eute angerban tuerDen / tt)elct>erlei) 9??ftifcbm Die 2Kelt nienwl^ ju fol^ cbem boben 9^eformationg#^evcf De^^rDbo^ tzx\t gebraucbt hdtte ; (E^mirD au^ ^nfangiJ t^cnig-^nfebeti (yabeh, Da^ etnjag Durcbpe mei-* De au^gertcbtet merDen * olfb Da§ Dcr geinb unt) racbgieiige :^racb fafflt femer ^raur Der jloU ^en ^^elt ibv iveiDlicb fpotren wirD/ nicbf min^ Der aH' Der gi'oife ©oliat De^ fleinen 5^at>tD^ / Da foll^tDDbl niancl)cr ^^evnunfffling gc Dmcfen, ^ 6 DiefeiPcrDenfomdcb%n®ei|]frn, Dermein Kg{ici)ci- \mztix \, Dcnii allc^T^enfd enauf ^r# ttn tvcnig cibbif d}f n ; '^Gann Der oherile 9)?ar' Beginning at the tenth line I translate as follows: Then before the end of the world will the gospel manifest itself so powerfully throughout the entire world that the heavens and the earth shall confess that they must sooner perish than the word of Christ, and with such Almighty, God-given power shall common, unstudied people be endowed; the like of which people the world never would have used for such a high work of reformation upon the face

164 IMI'h'()'EMEXT hh'A. of the earth; at the beginning there will be but little appearance that anything will be accomplished through them, that even the enemy and the revengeful dragon, together with his bride, the proud world, will actively ridicule them not less than the great Goliath did little David; then shall many a reasoner think, Oh! these shall little hinder such almighty spirits, of whom each one is stronger than all the men on earth. This may well be regarded as projihetic , although much of it is found in the Holy Scriptures, from which, no doubt, the author gathered his information. It is, however, on that account, none the less, a prophecy, the fulfilment of which we are witnessing, in our own day, in the development of the Lord's wonderful work ; and the chosen servants of the Lord, many of whom have been and are now "common, unstudied people," have' been endowed with such "almighty, God-given power" or Divine authority, that thinking, reasoning men, who observe the manifestation of God's power in their behalf, may well exclaim: "Though the proud world may ridicule them as the great Goliath did the youthful David, though it may little think that the great work of reformation could be accomplished by the labors of these humble elders, whom the world would never have chosen; though they may persecute them, yet shall their effort avail little to. hinder these mighty ones, sent forth and inspired of God, from accomplishing his mighty purposes!" However, there is nothing in this genuine quotation from Zion's Hoffnung, or for that matter in any other passage of that book, that would warrant the statement referred to at the beginning of this article, and let us hope that it will not be used, either at home or abroad in the mission field, in support of the great work of the Master. There is enough of real prophecy without using any that is bogus, to convince the honest in heart of the truth . One would think that editors of newspapers and magazines would verify such remarkable statements before permitting them to be published. Salt Lake City, FTtah.