Did Joseph Smith Predict that the Second Coming would happen in 1890/91?

Often, critics will claim that Joseph Smith prophesied that Christ would come again in 1890/1891. Indeed, a recent “Watch Mojo” video on youtube made this claim (it appears as #9 in the following video):

Top 10 Failed Doomsday Predictions

Warren Cowdery, in Minute Book 1, wrote the following for 14 February 1835:

After an appropriate and affecting prayer was made the Brethren who went to Zion, were requested to take their seats together in one part of the house by themselves. President Smith arose and stated the reason why this meeting was called. It was this. God had commanded it and it was made known to him by vision and by the Holy Spirit. He then gave a relation of some of the circumstances attending us while journeying to Zion, our trials, sufferings &c &c. he said God had not designed all this for nothing, but he had it in remembrance yet, and those who went to Zion, with a determination to lay down their lives, if necessary, it was the will of God that they should be ordained to the ministry and go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, or the coming of the Lord, which was nigh, even fifty six years, should wind up the scene.[1]

That Joseph Smith’s intention was not that Christ would come again to begin the Millennium (the Parousia—the coming in glory of Christ) in fifty-six years but it would not take place for at least fifty-six years can be seen in many places. For instance, in a footnote attached to Joseph Smith’s comments about the coming of the Lord, we read the following (notice Joseph Smith’s confusion as to the meaning of the promise he received):

In 1843, JS told a group, “I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the son of man when I heard a voice repeat the following ‘Joseph my son, if thou livest until thou art 85 years old thou shalt see the face of the son of man.’” He continued, “I was left thus without being able to decide wether this coming referred to the beginning of the Millennium, or to some previous appearing, or wether I should die and thus see his face. I believe the coming of the son of man will not be any sooner than that time.” As JS was twenty-nine at the time of this February 1835 meeting, he would have been eighty-five in fifty-six years. However, it is not clear when he had the revelation to which he referred in 1843. (William Clayton, Journal Excerpt, 1-4 Apr. 1843, in JSP, J2:403-404 [D&C 130:14-17].) [2]

Commenting on Joseph Smith’s statements from the February 1835 meeting, and how Joseph was teaching, not when Christ would come, but the minimum time it would be before the Second Coming, Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon Cook wrote:

The Saints felt it a great advantage to have a prophet. For Joseph Smith's negative prophecy that Christ would not come before 1890 was an effective counterpoint to the fanaticism of an equally zealous and very popular millennarian movement led by William Miller. Although the Saints thought that Miller had predicted that the Second Coming would occur on 3 April 1843, just three days before this discourse was delivered (History of the Church, 5:326), actually Miller had predicted it could be as much as a year and a half later. Nevertheless, this was still not long enough time, for according to the Lord's voice to Joseph Smith the Second Coming would not be before 1890. [3]

In response to William Miller who claimed, based on his reading of Dan 8:14 that Christ would come again in 1844 (originally Miller stated it was 1843), Joseph said the following on 10 March 1844:

But I take the responsibility upon myself to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come this year as [William] Miller has prophecyed, for we have seen the bow. And I also Prophecy in the name of the Lord that Christ will not Come in forty years & if God ever spake by my mouth he will not come in that length of time & Jesus Christ never did reveal to any man the precise time that he would come, go & read the scriptures & you cannot find any thing that specified the exact [time] he would come & all that say so are fals teachers. Their are some important things concerning the office of the Mesiah in the organization of the worlds which I will speak of hereafter. May God Almighty bless you & pour out his spirit upon you is the prayer of your unworthy servant Amen. [4]

Again, Joseph Smith was confident, not that Christ would come at a specified time, but that the specified time would only be the earliest possible time of the Second Coming, a major difference in meaning, especially in light of the comment that “Jesus Christ never did reveal to any man the precise time that he would come”!

That early Latter-day Saints who knew Joseph Smith personally did not believe the Second Coming would happen in 1890/91 include the members of the First Presidency in 1851. For instance, in the July 12, 1851 issue of the Welsh LDS periodical, Zion’s Trumpet, we read the following from the Fifth General Epistle of the Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

Of the day and the hour of the coming of Christ no man knoweth. It is not yet, neither is it far off; there are prophecies yet to be fulfilled before that event takes place; therefore, let no man deceive the Saints with vain philosophy and false prophecy; for false prophets will arise, and deceive the wicked, and, if possible, the good; but while the wicked fear and tremble at surrounding judgments, the Saints will watch and pray; and, waiting the final event in patience, will look calmly on the passing scenery of a corrupted world, and view transpiring events as confirmation of their faith in the holy gospel which they profess and rejoice more and more, as multiplied signs shall confirm the approach of the millennial day. [5]

Also during 1851, Dan Jones, a Welsh Latter-day Saint and close personal friend of Joseph Smith, printed a series of articles in Zion’s Trumpet on the Second Coming entitled “Coming of the Son of Man,” and, as with the presidency of the Church, stated that no one knew when the Second Coming would be; in light of his friendship and close association with Joseph Smith, if Joseph believed Christ would return to heard in the Parousia in 1890/91, he (and the members of the First Presidency, alongside many others) would have asserted such. [6]

Finally, in his work on the history of Latter-day Saint eschatology, Christopher James Blythe noted the following about those who believed Joseph presented this as a prophecy:

 

Some believed that the prophecy did not refer to the timing of the Second Coming, but rather to a preliminary appearance of Christ to the faithful. In 1886, John M. Whitaker wrote to his friend Anson Call, known for his account of the Rocky Mountain prophecy, to ask whether he had heard “the prophet say what Time the Savior would come to His people, and scenes incident to that time?” (John M. Whitaker, Letter to Anson Call, January 22, 1886 C[hurch]H[istory]L[ibrary]) In Response, Call wrote: “I have never heard him say what year, but I have formed an opinion from his conversation that in 1891 he would make his appearance to certain individuals of the priesthood not to reign as King, but would deliver His people and the Gentile reign would begin to wane and His people would begin to have dominion, and the Law of God would have influence in all the civilized nations of the earth. That the nations would be in commutation at this time” (Anson call, Letter to John M. Whitaker, January 30, 1886, CHL). In January 1891, John Steele similarly expected that “if Jesus does not come this year, that some will be privileged to see him in the Temple of the Lord and no doubt the Prophet Joseph Smith also” (John Steele, Letter to “Dear Father and Mother,” January 11, 1891, CHL) . . . There is no indication that Mormons were devastated when Christ did not appear in 1890 or 1891. Many continued to expect the Second Coming would occur in their lifetimes or even in the very near future.[7]

 

In other words, even those who believed Joseph uttered a prophecy about a coming of Christ did not believe it would be the Second Coming, but only a physical appearance of Jesus to some Saints.

Writing in 1887 (only 3-4 years before 1890/91), Alfred Douglas Young (1808-1889) wrote the following, based on a vision he had, of the Parousia. What is striking is that he never once mentions any belief Jesus would come in 1890/91 to usher in the Parousia:

The Sign of the Coming of the Son of Man

 

Before them, over the water, I saw a personage in a pillar of light. It was made manifest to me that it was John the Revelator. I saw the waters under and around him heave up and roll away to the North, and the land come up, and connected the land on which the ten tribes were with the land upon which I stood. I saw the multitude come on to the land on which I stood.

 

The vision closed and it was not made known to me where the multitude went. I became excited at the sight, and raise my hands toward heaven, and glorified God.

 

Still continuing in vision, I saw a great multitude of Saints gathered in one place and dressed in white. At that time I knew noting about the robes of the Priesthood, but since I became acquainted with these matters, it appears to me as though they were dressed in the robes of the Priesthood. The angel said again to me, “Look.” I looked and saw a light in the east, and was made manifest to me that it was the sign of the coming of the Son of Man. The light grew gradually larger as it approached the earth. The Saints appeared to have upon them a spirit of great expectation. I saw them several times go forth in the form of an escort with the apparent expectation that the Savior would arrive.

 

The Second Coming

 

At last, I saw the whole multitude, both small and great, go forth dressed in white, with white coverings on their heads and with palms in their hands, whiter than the purest snow. They went towards that East, as they had before done. The Savior approached the earth. There was with him an innumerable multitude of angels and Saints. They appeared to be upon a cloudy, mistry element; it might have been a planet. I cannot tell. As they approached, the Saints who were upon the earth came forward, and threw down the palms that were in their hands, covering the earth with them for the reception of the Savior and his retinue. They bowed before him, and praised him.

 

I saw at the same time many of the wicked bow before him, and acknowledge that he was the Christ, and give up the ghost. [8]

 

The following comes from George Q. Cannon, "Enduring to the End," October 5, 1890. [9] Here, Cannon did not interpret Joseph’s words in D&C 130:15 to be a prophecy that the Second Coming would take place in 1890/91 (note that this sermon is from October 1890!):

 

Before I sit down there is one subject that I have felt I wanted to speak about. I think it of some importance to us as Latter-day Saints. It was referred to yesterday by two or three of the brethren. It is in relation to the events of 1891, and connected with the coming of the Lord. It was intimated by Brother Roberts that some people thought that such an event might perhaps happen, and he was anxious that the Saints should not be disappointed if nothing did occur during that year that would fulfil expectation, because a great many anticipations have been indulged in connected with that year, and I believe there has been altogether too much agitation upon this subject. I have seen a great many times in our history when sanguine men have attached a great deal of importance to certain dates. I remember when 1888 was coming in, I heard on all sides that there was something remarkable connected with that year. I fully endorse what Elder Thatcher said yesterday upon this point—that 1890 has been as important a year as we have ever witnessed. And I believe it will be so with every year. I do not think it is wise for us to fix our minds too much upon any year as bringing to pass some very  wonderful things. Perhaps it will be so. I do not question that; for every year comes to us freighted with great and wonderful changes. It is not one year alone; but all the years between us and the coming of our Lord will be big with events. They will be crowded with stupendous occurrences. God has thus spoken. Judgments will be poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth, and will increase until the Lord Himself shall come.

 

I took occasion to have the sermon that Brother Joseph preached hunted up, and I will read a little from it to show you what he said upon this very subject, and to show you also that we need not expect that 1891 will bring any such thing as the coming of the Lord. It was said yesterday that no man knoweth the day nor the hour. This is true. But I will tell you what men can know. They can know that such and such a time is not the time. Men can prophesy that 1891 is not the year. Although they cannot tell you the day nor the hour, they can tell you that He will not come this year or next year, according to the words of God already given. There are several revelations which speak plainly upon this point, allusion to some of which was made yesterday by the brethren who spoke. There are a great many events to take place that have not yet occurred; and the Savior will not come until they do take place. Be assured of this, and be not concerned in your minds and agitated on these matters, because it is easy to understand that there are many things yet to be fulfilled before that grand and glorious event will come. Yet, as he has told us, He will come as a thief in the night. He will come when the inhabitants of the earth are unprepared for him.

 

Joseph said:

 

I was once praying earnestly upon this subject [that is, concerning the coming of the Son of Man] and a voice said unto me, "My son, if thou livest until thou are 85 years of age, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man."

 

This was what the voice said to Joseph:

 

If thou livest until thou are 85 years of age thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man.

 

He continues:

 

I was left to draw my own conclusions concerning this, and I took the liberty of concluding that if I did live to that time He would make His appearance. But I do not say whether He will make His appearance, or I shall go where He is. I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written, the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am 85 years old.

 

Now, at the time Joseph made this prophecy, Miller, of the Millerites, was making predictions about the coming of the Son of Man—about the years 1842-34. In these years, as you who have been kept informed will doubtless know, there was great excitement throughout the United States about the coming of the Son of Man, and Joseph prophesied that He would not come for the next forty years.

 

He goes on and says:

 

The coming of the Son of Man never will be, never can be, till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out, which judgments are commenced. It is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder; but He will reveal it to His servants, the Prophets. Judah must return. Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the Temple, and water come out from under the Temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to build the walls of the city and Temple, etc., and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance. There will be wars and rumor of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, and the sun turned into darkness, and the moon to blood; earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving themselves beyond their bounds. Then will appear the grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world say? They will say it is a planet, a comet, etc. But the Son of Man will come at the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning coming out of the east.

 

Now, the Prophet explains this in connection with his statement as to what the voice had said to him. He did not assert that Jesus would come in the clouds of heaven even if he lived to be eighty-five; but he was told that he should see Him, and he qualified it, so that there need be no misapprehension upon this subject.

 

I might read to you many revelations in this Book of Doctrine and Covenants (having the book in his hand) upon the same subject, in which the Lord plainly says that certain things shall take place.

 

And again, verily I say unto you that the Son of Man cometh not in the form of a woman, neither of a man traveling on the earth. Wherefore be not deceived, but continue in steadfastness, looking forth for the heavens to be shaken and the earth to tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man, and for the valleys to be exalted, and for the mountains to be made low, and for the rough places to become smooth; and all this when the angel shall sound his trumpet. But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose; Zion shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains, and shall be assembled unto the place which I have appointed.

 

These are the words of God concerning the coming of the Son of Man. These revelations give unto us with great clearness the signs that shall precede His coming. Therefore, do not let us get unsettled in our minds. I feel it important that this Conference should not separate without having it clearly stated to you that you need not look for the coming of the Son of Man either this year or next. Though we cannot prophesy the day or the hour, we can prophesy some things concerning His coming, that is, that will take place before His coming. God has not left us in doubt upon these points. If you have time, read the 29th section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and the 45th section, and the 88th section. Therefore, Latter-day Saints, go ahead and perform your duties carefully, consistently, and with a determination to do that which God requires at your hands. Do not look for some great cataclysm to occur, which will show all the world that this is the Kingdom of God. Perhaps such a thing will occur; but I will tell you what I have observed during my life—that God works in natural ways. His purposes come around seemingly perfectly natural—so natural that the world cannot see the hand of God in them. It requires faith and the Spirit of God to show these things.

 

Therefore, there was no false prophecy uttered by Joseph Smith. Indeed, he was correct—the Second Coming did not take place before 1890/1891.

For more on the prophecies of Joseph Smith, see my
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Notes:

[1] The Joseph Smith Papers Documents Volume 4: April 1834-September 1835, eds. Matthew C. Godfrey, Brendan W. Rensink, Alex D. Smith, Max H. Parkin, and Alexander H. Baugh (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 225. Emphasis added.

[2] Ibid., 225 n. 36. Emphasis added. Some may ask about Joseph Smith seeing the face of Christ. It is possible that this was fulfilled in the Kirtland Temple in April 1836 when Jesus Christ appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, as recorded in D&C 110.

[3] The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary accounts of the Nauvoo discourses of the Prophet Joseph, eds. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook (Orem, Utah: Grandin Book Company, 1991), 273 n 14

[4] Ibid., 332. Emphasis added

[5] Zion’s Trumpet: 1851 Welsh Mormon Periodical (trans. Ronald D. Dennis; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 216

[6] Ibid., 309, 310-20, 325-28, 341-46, 357-62, 373-76

[7] Christopher James Blythe, Terrible Revolution: Latter-day Saints and the American Apocalypse (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 183, 184

[8] Benson Knowles, ed., The Refiner’s Fire: An Autobiographical Account of the Visions, Miracles and Trials of Mormon Pioneer Alfred Douglas Young (GDP Consulting Inc., 2020), 40-41

[9] In Collected Discourses, 2:120-22.

Update: Thomas S. Medford on the 1890/91 prophecy

Against the claim that Joseph Smith taught that the second coming of Christ would be within 56 years, Thomas S. Medford, in an unpublished study on purportedly false prophecies of Joseph Smith, noted that:

 

a. “Even 56 years should wind up the scene” is not necessarily a statement of absolute fact since the word “should” can be used in statements that carry a sense of doubt or uncertainty (Perrin, Porter G. and Smith, George H., Handbook of Current English, Scott Foresman and Company, 1955, pp. 335-336). If the statement was that definite it would have probably been included in the Doctrine and Covenants or at least had more notoriety than to be buried in such a simple statement in the History of the Church. Also, one would expect a more definite word than should.

 

b. In no other place in the writings of Joseph Smith are there teachings, predictions, prophecy, etc., that the Lord’s second coming would be on or before 1891 or within 56 years from 1835. If this indeed was a prophecy of Joseph Smith, it would definitely have received more attention as other significant doctrines and revelations he and the Lord repeated.

 

c. To our knowledge, this particular teaching is not found repeated or documented in any of the writings of those who attended the meetings in which it is alleged it was taught. (Thomas S. Medford, “A Response to Eight False Prophecies of Joseph Smith,” January 6, 1980, M230.9 M488re 1980, Church History Library)