Talk:White Horse Prophecy

Issue of terminology
I wanted to congratulate those who have been developing this article over the last few months. This is an interesting subject that definitely has deserved its own article.

However, I have some comments regarding the article's use of terminology. When we refer to "White Horse Prophecy", we could be referring to one of two things: (1) the full May 1843 prophecy, of which we don't have the verbatim text, just a very imperfect and surely inaccurate 60-year-old reminiscence by Edwin Rushton, and (2) the specific idea within the larger prophecy that Mormon elders would swoop in at the last minute and save the constitutional government of the U.S. from being overthrown, which is well-attested. The problem is that the idea of #2 is not unique to the White Horse Prophecy. It surely was a part of it (because we have independent verification by James Burgess), but it was also apparently part of an earlier 1840 prophecy, which probably didn't refer to the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

So my point is that maybe we ought to make it clear whether we are talking #1 or #2 when we refer to the "White Horse Prophecy". It makes a difference, because the LDS Church officially disavows #1, but arguably not #2, because I'm convinced that every conservative Mormon I know still interprets #2 as validating their political views. And in the media, the term White Horse Prophecy usually refers to #2. CO GDEN  02:25, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Thing is, I've here there is an additional Prophecy future specifying that a Mormon would become President and be key in achieving this. Weather claim authentic or not I'm floating around the net allot and I feel Wikipedia should address it and whether or not it's real. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.92.236.171 (talk) 23:03, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Any source for that claim? 92.192.120.74 (talk) 10:39, 4 April 2012 (UTC)


 * I just read this comment that COgden left in February, and I agree. I think this is still ambiguous in the article, and that fixing it would remedy the problems I pointed out below. -- Adjwilley (talk) 00:29, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

Additions to lead section
I've [ added] some material to the lead section. This is a restatement of points already in the article (not anything new), and my goal is to keep the lead neutral, while at the same time making it a well-rounded summary of the entire article. Constructive comments and tweaks are naturally welcome. Rich wales (talk · contribs) 14:41, 25 August 2011 (UTC)

Contents of the prophecy
I added material to the "Origins" section containing my own summary of the contents of the White Horse Prophecy, based on the George Cobabe paper at the FAIR web site. It would arguably be better to find a secondary source which discusses the White Horse Prophecy, if a suitable source with sufficient detail can be found. I'm pointing this out here on the article's talk page to alert other people to the situation and to invite anyone who wants to improve on the material to do so. I do believe it's important for the article to actually report, somewhere, just what the White Horse Propecy says (and not just the excessively sketchy description in the opening paragraph). Rich wales (talk · contribs) 06:41, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

GA Review
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Reviewer: ItsZippy 18:49, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

Really good article, I think it's very close to GA status. The lead needs some expansions to comply with WP:LEAD. The sources could do with some improvement - perhaps find some reliable sources to replace the less reliable ones used - and, if possible, there could be a little expansion in terms of its coverage. I would suggest you address these issues, then renominate. ItsZippy (talk • contributions) 19:18, 30 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Note: I did more work on the article (see here), and per the original reviewer's recommendation, I will be renominating shortly.  Rich wales (talk) 18:07, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

False dichotomy
My impression is that the third paragraph of the Lead presents a false dichotomy about the White Horse Prophesy. It currently reads:
 * US senator Orrin Hatch and conservative commentator Glenn Beck, both Mormons, have stated that they believe the Constitution is "hanging by a thread". US presidential candidate Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has said he considers the White Horse Prophecy to be a matter of "speculation and discussion by [LDS] church members" and "not official [LDS] church doctrine".

A reader could come away from that paragraph thinking that Beck and Hatch believe in the prophesy while Romney doesn't. The false dichotomy is that the prophesy is either true or false, whereas the position of the LDS Church seems to be that the prophesy as a whole is false, but the bit about the Constitution hanging is valid. In other words, Beck, Hatch, and Romney could be on the same page, but they're being pitted against each other with the term "on the other hand."

Another recommendation would be to replace "However, the theology behind the prophecy" in the 2nd paragraph of the Lead with "However, parts of the prophecy" or "However, some aspects of the prophecy." "The theology behind" is kind of a slippery term, and I would avoid using it unless you can explain precisely what said theology is. -- Adjwilley (talk) 00:22, 18 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I've made some changes to the lead section, as well as to the "Theological basis" section (which I've renamed "United States Constitution").  Your thoughts now?  —  Rich wales (talk) 02:08, 18 November 2011 (UTC)
 * That's closer, thank you. I am going to try a couple of edits here... feel free to revert or modify. -- Adjwilley (talk) 16:32, 18 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Ok, I've made some WP:Bold edits that correct the problem in my mind. Let me know what you think. -- Adjwilley (talk) 16:49, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

Edwin Rushton photo
I've restored the Edwin Rushton photo to the article. A lengthy discussion at Commons several weeks ago regarding the licensing status of this photo concluded that it was most likely in the public domain — in the words of one commentator, "I would say that it is very, very likely that this image is PD-US, but we can't be entirely sure."  Given that Commons has accepted the photo after a significant discussion, I believe it's acceptable to include it here without compromising this article's GA status. — Rich wales 04:38, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Ezra Taft Benson quote added
In a 1986 Brigham Young University speech the Prophet Ezra Taft Benson stated: "I have faith that the Constitution will be saved as prophesied by Joseph Smith. But it will not be saved in Washington. It will be saved by the citizens of this nation who love and cherish freedom. It will be saved by enlightened members of this Church – men and women who will subscribe to and abide by the principles of the Constitution."

173.79.49.64 (talk) 14:19, 4 July 2015 (UTC)


 * I think this should be OK. However, we are required to write Wikipedia articles from a neutral point of view (see WP:NPOV).  To that end, I changed "the Prophet" to "LDS president" in your new material.  —  Rich wales (no relation to Jimbo) 14:56, 4 July 2015 (UTC)

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Church name spelling.
When I belonged to the Church, the spelling was: "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", not "...Latter Day Saints". Has it officially been changed? Writers, you should look into this. Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 16:46, 2 January 2019 (UTC)


 * The current capitalization and hyphenation style of the name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not adopted until some time after the death of Joseph Smith. Historical references to the church organized by Joseph Smith, during his lifetime, should generally use the form "Latter Day Saints".  See the MOS:LDS page in the Wikipedia Manual of Style.  —  Rich wales (no relation to Jimbo) 18:15, 2 January 2019 (UTC)