I am always curious as to the use of “Elias” to denote a “forerunner.” One such group that has a teaching that “Elias” can denote a “forerunner” is a small group in the broad “Mormon” Restorationist movement, the “Church of Elias”:
4.65 Church
of Elias
1988 * Pocatello, Idaho * John
Michael Fletcher
Responding to visions, dreams, and
revelations that began in the mid-1980s, John Michael Fletcher (1957-2003)
prepared a manuscript containing vital information about the last days. He
completed the first draft of this work in 1988. The book was titled, Millennial
Dawn. Fletcher wrote that he presented a copy of the book to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (4.0) on 19 August, 1988. Subsequent rewrites
of the work were published as The Witness and finally The Record of
Warning. The book is complete, and "stands as a testimony of the
world."
Fletcher contended that the birth
of Jesus is June 9. He said the date was incorrectly changed to April 6 in
Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants (SLC) (Section 17 IND and RES
editions). The same section is dated June 1830 in the Book of Commandments,
according to Fletcher.
The church website declares,
"The Church of Elias is under the direct supervision of the man John
Michael Fletcher. Any and all doctrines are subject to his direction and
approval, along with all of its dictates and policies." Fletcher declared
that because there are so many churches using the name "Jesus Christ"
and "God" that he was directed by revelation "form the
Savior" to name the Church as "The Church of Elias."
Basing his work in the Joseph
Smith jr. movement of 1820, Fletcher declared that the generation of Joseph
Smith did not receive the fullness of gospel due to their inability "to
live the commandments and revelations as given through the prophet Joseph
Smith, and their lack of love, sacrifice and service as a people." He
contends that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (4.0) lost the
keys of the priesthood and the spiritual endowments that accompany those keys.
Quoting many passages from the
Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, Fletcher argued that he
was the John or the Elias, prophesied to come in the last days "to restore
all things." He says he is the "man likened unto Moses, to bring
to pass this work with the saints. I bear witness that I am he, even the man
John, who hath received the priesthood of Elias. I am he that commenced the
work of restoring truths . . . I promise the blessings of the gospel and all
things through it."
The Church of Elias was not
organized until after Fletcher's death in 2003. Fletcher's Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints home teacher, James Armstrong, frequently called on
the family, and over time was converted to Fletcher's teachings. Armstrong and
his wife became the leaders of the new church and maintain headquarters in
Idaho Fall, Idaho. Fletcher's widow lie in Logan, Utah, where a branch of the
church reportedly meets occasionally. (Steven L. Shields, Divergent Paths of
the Restoration: An Encyclopedia of the Smith-Rigdon Movement [5th ed.; Salt
Lake City: Signature Books, 2021], 380-81, kindle)
In a tract on the Website for the group, we read the following:
To whom will the Lord reveal of these things?
"And also with Elias, to whom I
have committed the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things
spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began, concerning
the last days;" (D&C 27:6)
To the man Elias who is said to
restore all things as spoken by the mouths of all the prophets concerning the
last days.
. . .
He it is to whom would do the work of the
last days when the restoration was to occur of taking the faithful to the lands
of promise.
"Behold, I say unto you, the
redemption of Zion must needs come by power;
"Therefore,
I will raise up unto my people a man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the
children of Israel.
"For ye
are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be
led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched?out arm.
"And as
your fathers were led at the first, even so shall the redemption of Zion
be." (D&C 103:15-18)
He is the man likened unto Moses,
to bring to pass this work with the saints.
I bare witness that I am he, even
the man John, who hath received the priesthood of Elias.
I am he that has commenced the
work of restoring the truths, which truths I will reveal as you have greater
faith and seek to receive further light and knowledge. This comes through the
Church of Elias.
Therefore, walk with wisdom,
seeking truth, and I promise the blessings of the gospel and all things through
it. ("Have
the Prophets spoken of an Elias to Come?” The Church of Elias)
Further Reading
