Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the
wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South
Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many
souls; And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations,
beginning at this place. For behold, the
Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern
States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is
called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend
themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all
nations. (D&C 87:1-3)
Charles Taze
Russell (1852-1916) made some interesting comments about World War 1 (1914-1918) and the destruction
of the United States as a result thereof. As Greg Stafford noted:
Russell clearly believed that there would be
some sort of “general war” involving the great nations of the earth, including
the United States [118], and he thought that this war would close the age and “usher
in the Millennial period.” Such a war, then, if it was to occur at all, would
begin before 1914. But with all these predictions about what would soon occur,
and while still confidently pointing to October 1914, as the “great climax of
earth’s troubles,” Russell nevertheless made clear the act that it was not his intention
to “enter into the role o prophet to any degree” [119] (Greg Stafford, Three Dissertations on the Teachings of
Jehovah’s Witnesses [Murrieta, Calif.: Elihu Books, 2002], 84)
The endnotes
for the above are:
[118] Indeed, just before October 1914,
Russell reminded his readers of his view, which included the prediction of a “great
war” in which “the United States will become involved and so fall with the
other nations.” Of course, the United States did not fall, nor did the war lead
to the period of anarchy that Russell expected would follow the “great war” (“The
Present Crisis,” The Watch Tower and
Herald of Christ’s Presence, September 1, 1914, reprint pages 5526-5527).
See also “Views from the Watch Tower,” The
Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence, October 15, 1914, reprint page
5554.
[119] ”Views from the Watch Tower,” Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s
Presence, March 1, 1904, page 3327.
What struck
me as interesting was how this compares with, and contrasts with, D&C 87:3 and the prophecy of the United States and a then-future World War (or series of
World Wars)—Smith never believed that the USA would be destroyed, unlike Russell, as a result of the then-future war(s) after the prophesied Civil War.
On D&C
87, see Jeff Lindsay’s useful discussion thereof.
