Saturday, June 8, 2019

William P. McIntire's Report of Joseph Smith's Teachings on the Millennium


On 16 March 1841, Joseph Smith gave a sermon on the topic of the Millennium and related topics to eschatology which was recorded by William P. McIntire, the transcript which reads thusly:

Joseph Said that they wi[c]ked will Not all be Destroyed at the Coming of Christ & also will be wiked During the Melenum [Millennium]—for instance Isaiah says the Days of an infant shall be as the age of a tree also Zaich. [Zechariah] says all who Does Not Come up year by year with their Gifts to the feats of the tabernicle that No Rain shall fall upon them--& that Jesus will be a Resident on the Earth a thousand [years] with the Saints is Not the Case but will Raign over the saints & come Down & instruct as he Did the 5 hundred Brethren (1st Cor.—15) & those of the first Resurrection will also Raign with him over the saints—then after the Little season is expired & the Earth undergoes its Last Change & is Gloryfyed then will all the meek inherit the earth wherein Dwelleth Righteous—he says satan cannot seduce us By his enticements unless we in our h[e]arts Consent & yeald [yield]—our organization such that we can Resist the Devil If we were Not organized so we would Not be free agents. (Brent M. Rogers, Mason K. Allred, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, and Brett D. Dowdle, eds. The Joseph Smith Papers: Document Volume 8: February-November 1841 [Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2019], 75)

Commenting on how Joseph Smith’s eschatology differed from many of his contemporary pre-millennialists, we read:

Though JS’ teachings about the Second Coming were premillennial in nature, this discourse differed from teachings found in the period’s most well known premillennial movement, led by William Miller. While Miller averred that “the wicked will be destroyed from the earth by ire, and the world cleansed from the curse of sin by the same means,” in the text featured here, JS declared that not all the wicked would be destroyed at Christ’s second coming. JS also clarified one of his earlier revelations that declared Christ would “dwell in righteousness with men on Earth a thousand Years.” Here JS explained that though Christ would reign over humankind, he would not be continually present on the earth throughout the Millennium. (Ibid., 74)