MORMON
THEORY OF THE CIVIL WAR
When the clash of arms commenced,
Mormondom manifested no surprise or dismay. Interestingly enough, the Saints
professed foreknowledge of its occurrence. Indeed the firing on Ft. Sumter signaled
the beginning of the fulfilment of a prophecy made by Joseph Smith twenty-eight
years prior to the catastrophe. The prognostication, designed in Church
literature as “A Revelation and Prophecy by the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator,
Joseph Smith, given December 25, 1832,” first appeared in print in the Pearl
of Great Price, a work printed in London in 1851. Subsequently in April of
1854, it was reprinted in The Seer, a monthly periodical of the Church published
at Washington, D.C., under the editorship of Apostle Orson Pratt. It reads: [D&C
87 is then quoted]
. . .
Broad generalizations characterize
much of the wording of the prophecy, and portions are susceptible of diverse
interpretation, but the explicit statement remains that a civil was is
impending, which will begin in South Carolina. War outbreaks do not occur in
strict accord with human logic, therefore, it is mental evasion to dismiss
lightly the forecast with the shallow truism that this war began in its logical
setting.
The ”lucky-guess” theory would
receive wider credence and credibility, except that minor data in the
specifications experienced fulfillment, viz., the statements of the Southern
States would call on Great Britain for assistance and that slaves would be
marshalled and disciplined for war against their masters. When a sequence of
events is heralded, the “chance-hit” theory measurably loses its efficacy.
Historical criticism may easily discredit vague aspects of the prediction, but
there seems to be no gainsaying the prescience manifest in the three explicit
declarations of coming events.
President Brigham Young fully
vented his forebodings of evil, in a sermon of June 28, 1857:
“The nation that gave me and many
of you birth is very nigh to the hours of sorrow. Their cup is very nigh filled to the brim. They reject the servants of God, they reject the gospel of
salvation, they turn away from the principles of truth and righteousness, and
they are sinning in their own sins and corruptions. I would that they would
have mercy on themselves.”
When the war actually began, all
Mormondom became deeply conscious of its principle of modern-day revelation,
and accepted it without question. In fact, the national catastrophe proved to
be spiritual annunciation of much utility to Mormons; (1) as a means of confirming
the viewpoint that Joseph Smith was a genuine rather than a spurious prophet;
(2) as a means of convincing and reconciling the Saints to the wisdom of their
exodus out of wicked Babylon; and (3) as a means of substantiating the view
that Deity had allowed the calamity to come in retribution for the sins of
injustice perpetrated against the Saints. (Andrew Love Neff, History of
Utah: 1847 to 1869, ed. Leland Hargrave Creer [Salt Lake City: The
Deseret News Press, 1948], 619-20)
Further Reading:
Resources on Joseph Smith's Prophecies
