Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Apocalyptic Trajectories

This chapter documents the fracturing of end-of-world belief among Latter-day Saints in the twentieth century. Church leaders re-envisioned apocalypticism as a “moderate millenarianism.” At the same time, Mormon fundamentalists—deemed heretics by many church leaders—deployed apocalypticism to challenge the processes of Americanization, adding the church’s own apostasy as a distinctive part of their last days chronology. Finally, radical apocalypticism continued to find resonance with a contingent of committed Latter-day Saints. This chapter wrestles with how this final group has been able to negotiate their apocalyptic sentiments and LDS affiliation even in the face of continual criticism. Most importantly, it is in this chapter that the author demonstrates how apocalyptic ideas of any variety continued to be perpetuated in private and family circles.

The Geography of Mormon Apocalyptic

This chapter documents how Latter-day Saints in the late 1840s and 1850s deployed the faith’s apocalyptic master narrative to make sense of the lands they colonized in the American West. Drawing on the apocalyptic geography of the Bible, Mormons came to believe they resided in the “wilderness” of the Book of Revelation where they would be protected from persecution. They recognized the region’s peaks as the mountain setting for Isaiah’s prophecies of a last days temple and an ensign to the nations. This chapter also examines how in the late nineteenth century Canada and Mexico would also be incorporated into the era’s apocalyptic geography.

Introduction: Vernacular Religion and Mormon Apocalypticism

This introduction explains the book’s basic arguments and methodology. The book examines the place of apocalypticism in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a means of responding to what they perceived as persecution from the United States. It is particularly interested in how last days prophecies and visions have been told by those outside of church leadership. It defines the idea of apocalypticism and argues that Mormon Studies scholars have not sufficiently integrated their work with the field of lived or vernacular religion. This book seeks to remedy this neglect. A summary of each of the six chapters is provided.

The Americanization of Mormon Apocalyptic

This chapter examines the impact of Americanization on apocalypticism. The LDS Church’s relationship with the federal government changed radically when Utah obtained statehood in 1896. Church leaders pursued national respectability since the First Presidency had publicly abandoned plural marriage six years previously. With such a drastic transition, the reining in of dissenting voices became essential. It was in this era that church leaders opposed prominent themes in vernacular apocalypticism in an effort to engender conformity to the Americanizing project within Mormonism. Apocalyptic themes that were embraced in the 1880s were now seen as a threat. Instead of disavowing the apocalyptic master narrative or their own statements from years past, church leaders criticized the same themes when they appeared in vernacular prophecy among the laity. New institutional discouragement from sharing dramatic visions, dreams, and other manifestations also limited the influence of apocalypticists.

“Long Shall His Blood . . . Stain Illinois”

This chapter examines the place of martyrology and ritualized cursing in Mormon apocalypticism. With the assassinations of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith in 1844, the Saints came to believe that the United States had sealed its doom. John the Revelator’s image of martyrs pleading for God to avenge their murders became a prominent element in Mormon apocalypticism. The Mormons fled Nauvoo and eventually the nation itself in order to distance themselves from their persecutors, but also to escape the very land that had been primed for judgment. Before departing, through verbal, written, and other ritualized means, the Saints cursed those complicit in their persecution.

The Apocalyptic Tradition in Early Mormonism

The first chapter presents Mormonism’s apocalyptic master narrative from September 1823 with Joseph Smith’s first apocalyptic-themed apparition, to the organization of a theocratic legislature that would govern the world in the coming millennium. Over this twenty-year period, a robust vision of the last days took shape. This vision included the gathering of the righteous to safety before the coming of end times destructions, warfare in the United States (both among citizens and against invading armies), the establishment of the New Jerusalem in Missouri, and the return of Jesus Christ. The chapter also examines how Latter-day Saints who were not part of the hierarchy responded to this narrative and thereby contributed to the apocalyptic worldview.

Afterword

This afterword looks at how Mormonism’s early apocalyptic beliefs haunted Latter-day Saints in the beginning of the twenty-first century. As part of increased media and popular culture coverage of Latter-day Saints, termed the “Mormon moment,” there was a great deal of publicity surrounding early Mormon beliefs on the last days. The afterword specifically looks at how Latter-day Saint politicians, such as Mitt Romney, have responded to questions about his beliefs in last days prophecy. In addition, readers will read about coverage of twenty-first-century Latter-day Saint preppers.

The Judgments Begin

This chapter focuses on the Utah territorial period—a time marked by hostility between the Latter-day Saints and the federal government. Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, Mormon visionaries deployed prophecies of Gentile invasions on the Saints, as well as judgments on the major cities of the nation. The assurance that God would intervene against their enemies’ aggressions offered catharsis to the anxieties brought on by the U.S. Army’s occupation of Utah during the 1850s, the Civil War, and federal enforcement of anti-polygamy laws—what became known as “the raid.” In addition to prophecies introduced among the laity, there was also, during this period, an emphasis on Joseph Smith’s prophecy of a future American civil war that circulated widely in Mormon and non-Mormon circles. Apocalypticism prospered as tensions festered between Mormons and the federal government.