Recent Example of an Article (by one LDS scholar and one non-LDS scholar) using "Elias" in the sense of a "Forerunner"

  

When Smith and Cowdery received authority to baptize from John the Baptist acting as an “Elias” in fulfillment of Malachi 3:1-4 and in an initial fulfillment of 4:5-6, they used that authority to baptize one another at the nearest opportunity. (Don Bradley and Christopher C. Smith, “Of Generations and Genders: Fanny Alger and the Adoptive Origins of Ritual Sealing,” in Secret Covenants: New Insights on Early Mormon Polygamy, ed. Cheryl L. Bruno [Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2024], 212)

 

Further Readling:

 

“Elias” as a “forerunner” in LDS Scripture