Jeff Lindsay, in "Mormon Answers: Fulfilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith" wrote the following under the heading of "The Hearts of the Children to Turn to Their Fathers":
On Sept. 22, 1823, the angel Moroni quoted the Old Testament prophet
Malachi and said:
Behold I will reveal unto you
the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord.
And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the
fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were
not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming. (Joseph Smith --
History 1:38-39.)
In April of 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery declared that Elijah,
in fulfillment of prophecy, visited them in the Kirtland Temple and gave them
priesthood keys (authority) for the work of turning the hearts of the children
to the father, including sacred temple work such as the sealing of families for
eternity and baptism for the dead .
These keys would initiate the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the
children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. That includes
genealogical research, in which the children seek out the names and histories
of their fathers, and that information in turn can make ordinance work such as
baptism possible for those who did not receive it while alive on the earth.
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., in Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.
2, pp.123-125, explains the significance of the prophecy that the "hearts
of the children would be turned to the fathers":
One of the outstanding evidences bearing witness that Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery spoke the truth, when they declared that Elijah had come to them
and conferred upon them his priesthood, is the fact that since that time the
hearts of the children have in a miraculous way turned towards their fathers.
It might be contended with some semblance of logic
that Joseph Smith and his successors could yield an influence over the members
of the Church and have them go to the temples to do ordinance work for their
dead, in order that the saying could go abroad that this prophecy by Malachi
had been fulfilled, and the hearts of the children have turned to their
fathers.
It would be unreasonable to say, however, that
Joseph Smith, or the entire body of the Church, could wield the power to
persuade millions who are not members of the Church, also, to turn their
attention towards their dead fathers; yet it is a fact that the hearts of the
hearts of millions have so turned, since the proclamation of the coming of
Elijah in 1836. . . .
Before the year 1836 there was very little, if any,
research being made anywhere in this world in behalf of the dead. It is true
that here and there some man may have been searching out a genealogical record,
but what was his object? To prove title to some estate.
There were no genealogical societies; there were no
genealogical organizations; there were no genealogical researches of any
systematic character anywhere in the world. That is significant, is it not?
What do we discover now? One year after this
revelation was given and these keys were bestowed, we find in Great Britain the
government passing laws compelling the preservation of duplicate records of the
dead on the part of those who kept them. This is a significant fact, one link
that points in the direction of the truth of the statement of the Prophet
Joseph Smith. It did not occur the year before this vision.
In the year 1844, the year of the martyrdom, the
first organization for the purpose of gathering together the records of the
dead, and compiling genealogical records, was formed in the city of Boston. It
was the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. In 1869, in the city
of New York, another society, the New York Genealogical and Biographical
Society, was organized. [I believe England had a genealogical society
founded in 1836 - J.L.]
Since that day societies have sprung up all over
the land. There are hundreds of them along the Atlantic border. The state of
Massachusetts is full of them. We find the same thing in Virginia, in the
Carolinas, and along the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Georgia, where the first
settlements in this country were made. The hearts of the children have since
that day turned to their fathers, and they are searching out the records of
their dead.
Today genealogical research has swept many lands. The LDS archives in
Salt Lake City comprise the largest set of genealogical records in the world.
The prophecies delivered to Joseph about the hearts of the children to the
fathers began to be fulfilled after Elijah came.
Commenting on the growth of interest in
genealogy after the coming of Elijah in 1836, Mark E. Petersen wrote the
following:
It is
remarkable how, after being dormant over the centuries, genealogical research
activity began to quickly following the coming of Elijah. People who had never
heard of Elijah became interested—almost overwhelmingly—in searching out their
dead, members and nonmembers in the Church alike.
In
nearly every nation in the world, fascination with genealogical research has
grown. Hundreds of societies formed for the express purpose of finding and
preparing human pedigrees have been organized in recent years. Hundreds of
thousands of individuals are engaged in searches for the records of their
ancestors. Patriotic and hereditary societies in which eligibility for
membership is based upon proof of descent from some honored statesman, soldier,
or pioneer have been organized by the score.
Many
genealogical magazines are being published in various nations, and some
newspapers of wide circulation run genealogical columns. Large libraries
devoted exclusively to genealogical material and family history have been
established in various nations. Hundreds of thousands of volumes of such data
have been published within the last century, and so great has been the demand
for this kind of printed matter that public libraries in most cities of the
United States have found it necessary to establish genealogical departments, in
many cases under the direction of trained genealogists.
Through
microfilm, additional records in many countries are being copied and preserved.
These microfilm records are now among the richest sources of genealogical
information.
The
appearance of numerous books of fiction with a genealogical or family history
theme is another indication of the reaction of people to this subject. Some of
these books have even ben best sellers.
In
England, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Scotland, and other European
countries, governments have required the preservation of genealogical data and
in many cases have set up archives for this purpose.
Since
Elijah, whose coming created this interest, was destined by prophecy to appear
in the latter days, “before the great and dreadful day of the Lord,” it remains
to determine if this vast genealogical activity is of modern origin.
The
Encyclopedia America says: “In the United States, genealogy was generally
neglected until the latter part of the 19th century, when the organization of
patriotic, State and colonial societies . . . aroused an interest in
genealogy.”
The
New Standard Encyclopedia states: “There has been a growing interest,
especially in the United States, in matters pertaining to genealogical
research, and it forms a very important part of history. This is largely due to
the growth of patriotic and hereditary societies which have flourished in the
United States since 1890.”
These
two authorities set the latter part of the nineteenth century as the period
when general interest in the subject appeared.
The
formation of patriotic and hereditary societies stimulated genealogical
pursuits. Nelson’s Encyclopedia describes such societies thus: “In the United
States, organizations in which the members bound together for patriotic work,
and in many cases eligibility is dependent upon descent from an ancestor who
participated in the event which the society commemorates. These societies,
especially in the hereditary ones, publish registers with the pedigree of their
members and the records of their ancestors. They celebrate anniversaries of
important events in history and foster fraternal feeling among the survivors of
wars and their descendants.”
Lists
of these societies and their aims, particularly concerning ancestral studies,
may be found in any large encyclopedia. The organizations include such groups
as the Sons of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the American
Revolution, the Society of the Mayflower Descendants, and the Order of
Descendants of Colonial Governors.
Their
work reveals that the “hearts of the children” are being turned to their
fathers in more ways than the preparation of family histories and pedigrees.
Interest is shown in the preservation of historical buildings, erection of
monuments on sites where their forefathers won glory, the marking of graves,
and the construction of memorial parks.
Many
of these societies were formed about the year 1890, but some came into being as
early as 1850. Since it takes a few years for the interest of individuals to
crystallize into the organization of societies with a special interest in
ancestry, we must look to a year slightly earlier than 1850 to arrive at a time
when such interest began.
In
response to a letter asking the date when genealogical interest began in
America, F.A. Virkus, executive director of the Institute of American
Genealogy, wrote: “In 1844 the New England Historical Genealogical Society was
formed in Boston, and genealogy in America really dates with the founding of
this society.”
To
show how little was the interest in this subject in 1844, Josephine E. Rayne,
librarian of the New England Historical Genealogical Society, wrote: “When our
society was formed, a single bookcase was sufficient to hold the entire library,
and had the society then possessed one copy of each American publication
devoted wholly to genealogy, a single shelf would have been ample for that
division of its library. However, we now have in our specialized library some
80,000 volumes and several thousand pamphlets.”
By
way of still further arriving at the precise time when widespread genealogical
interest began in America, we have a most interesting paragraph from the
register of the New England Society for 1847, in which the founders discuss the
reasons for the formation of their organization in 1844: “The period has
arrived when an awakening and growing interest is felt in this country in the
pursuit, and especially the result of historical and genealogical research and
when the practical importance, both to individuals and to society, for the
knowledge obtained from such investigations begins to be appreciated. The
existence and activities of the historical, antiquarian and statistical
societies which have arisen within a few years past in most of the other states
of the Union is sufficient evidence of the fact.”
We
have shown that international interest was aroused in genealogy beginning a few
years before 1844. According to the scripture, Elijah was to originate that
interest. Then Elijah must have come a few years before 1844 in order to have
started (according to prophecy) a movement that burst into activity at that
time. (Mark E. Petersen, Malachi and the Great and Dreadful Day [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1983], 58-61)
It
should be noted that Joseph Fielding Smith, quoted above, Joseph Fielding Smith himself played an important
role in the growth of LDS interest in family history. In his biography of his
grandfather, who at the time of writing was still president of the Church,
Joseph Fielding McConkie wrote the following on this:
The
Spirit of Elijah
Few men
have been as actuated by the spirit of Elijah as Joseph Fielding Smith. In
1902, the summer following his return from the mission field, he traveled back
to Massachusetts where he gathered the genealogy of the Smith family. He was
able to straighten out the family line back to Robert Smith, the earliest Smith
ancestor in America. Upon his return he compiled this information into a
publication entitled Asahel Smith of Topsfield, Massachusetts, with
Some Account of the Smith Family, which was published in 1903.
Despite
the many demands on his time, Joseph Fielding Smith was one of the moving
forces behind the Genealogical Society of Utah. He served as secretary to that
organization from 1907 to 1922. In 1908 he was appointed to the board of
directors and in 1909 he was named librarian and treasurer. During the summer
of 1909 he and a companion visited all the genealogical libraries in the large
cities of the eastern United States in a search for the best methods of record
keeping and filing. They returned with many practical and valuable suggestions
which were adopted by the Utah Society.
One of
their recommendations was that a genealogical magazine be published on lines
similar to those of the New England Society’s magazine. As a result, Elder
Smith was appointed editor and business manager of the new Utah
Genealogical and Historical Magazine which was started in January of
1910. The preparation of the first issue had just begun when Elder Smith and
his family were placed in quarantine because his daughter Julina had contracted
scarlet fever. This made things a little difficult. Elder Smith prepared his
manuscript, treated it with an antiseptic, and placed it in a box by his gate.
From there the manuscript was taken to the printer and the galley proofs
prepared. These were then sent to him for approval. He checked them, fumigated
them, and placed them out by the gate to be delivered to the printer (Improvement
Era, April 1950, p. 275).
Thus
the first issue was put out on time. The magazine continued a successful career
until 1940, when the Society was brought under more direct control of the
priesthood and the publication was replaced with other programs.
Although
Elder Smith’s duties attendant to his call to the Council of the Twelve
necessitated his relinquishing the position of editor of the Genealogical
Magazine he did continue his active support and interest in
genealogical work. He served as the vice-president of the Society from 1925 to
1934 when following the death of the previous president Anthony W. Ivins,
Joseph Fielding Smith was appointed president of that organization.
One of
the most gratifying experiences President Smith has had in genealogical work
occurred on October 18, 1934. On that date he did ordinance work for his sixth
cousin, Oliver Cowdery. The following year on April 27 and May 14, at special
services held in all the temples, thousands of ordinances were performed for
Oliver Cowdery’ ancestors. ON May 14 Elder Smith joined with the other General
Authorities in the Salt Lake Temple where they acted as proxies for Oliver
Cowdery’s immediate family in sealing ordinances.
Illustrating
the inspiration that has typically been with Joseph Fielding Smith in
genealogical work, the following story was told in the Improvement
Era some years ago:
Shortly
after World War II had started, Brother Archibald F. Bennett reported to the
board of directors of the Genealogical Society that efforts to continue
negotiations with Denmark to obtain microfilm copies of its records had been
interrupted, and the outbreak of war had also caused England to refuse us the
privilege of copying its vital records. This report was very disturbing to the
board, and expressions of concern for the preservation and obtaining of records
were made. Elder Smith was very quiet and then expressed his feeling that the
outcome of the war would render these records available to us which could not
then be obtained. He said: “The Lord will look after his own.” The collecting
of millions of names from these and other countries of Europe shows the literal
fulfillment of this inspiration to Brother Smith” (Improvement Era,
April 1950, p.312). (Joseph Fielding McConkie, Truth and Faithful: The
Life Story of Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1971],
37-39)
The only (pretty lame) response to this as a fulfilled prophecy
comes from J. P. Holding, The
Prophecies of Joseph Smith: A Critical Look (which itself is an attempt to
respond to Jeff Lindsay’s page, referenced above):
Did Smith predict a trend, and was
J. F. Smith right to see a fulfillment in the advent of genealogical research?
Not really. Normally the advent of societies and organizations and laws merely
codifies and makes more formal what the people as a whole already practice.
Moreover, few, if any, of these societies, organizations, or laws were put
together for any purpose relevant to Mormon baptism for the dead. As such the
claim of fulfillment for this prophecy cannot be made without further evidence
of rampant genealogical indifference before Smith, and more relevant interest
thereafter.
Further Reading:
Resources on Joseph Smith's Prophecies
