Friday, November 24, 2023

John Edward Taylor (1888) on D&C 130:14-17

 

I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following: Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter. I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face. I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time. (D&C 130:14-17)


During the Logan Temple Lectures, June 2, 1888, John Edward Taylor (1830-1910) taught the following concerning Joseph Smith's teachings in D&C 130:14-17 and Joseph being promised to see Jesus if he lived to be 85 years of age:

 

We wish next to speak upon another great and important event which Prophets, Apostles and righteous men have made their theme from the earliest periods of this earth's history, viz., the second coming of Christ, at which time will be developed powers in connection with the great principle of the resurrection that are altogether beyond our conception. For then not only will the worthy dead be raised, but the Saints who are alive will be quickened, so as to enable them to meet Him in the air as He shall descend with an innumerable throng composed of those who have been valiant for the truth in all the ages past, and have already received their resurrection. The signs of the near approach of the coming of our Savior are certainly unmistakable; but the exact time we cannot determine. Some Latter-day Saints have expressed themselves in a very positive manner upon this point, and have based their sayings upon statements made by Joseph the Prophet, to which we will refer.

 

On the fourteenth day of February, 1835, the members of Zion's Camp assembled in Kirtland by the commandment of God and were then addressed by Joseph Smith, who, among other things, said "it was the will of God that they should be ordained to the ministry, and go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, or the coming of the Lord, which was nigh, even fifty-six years should wind up the scene." At one time, Joseph says, he was praying to know concerning the coming of the Son of Man, when he heard a voice repeat the following words: "Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter." Joseph says concerning this: "I was left thus in doubt, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the Millennium, or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see His face. I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time." Had Joseph lived until December 23rd, 1890, he would then have been eighty-five years of age. The fifty-six years spoken of that should wind up the scene will terminate February 14th, 1891.

 

While these are very important sayings, they are to some extent ambiguous, and require further explanation, if not further revelation, to make them plain. And when the Prophet himself expresses doubt upon one of them, as to what was really meant, it would certainly be presumptuous on my part to conclude that it is sufficiently explicit to base a decision upon. In regard to the fifty-six years just alluded to might it not be interpreted to mean that the fulness of the Gentiles should then come in; or does the expression refer only to the second coming of Christ? These are questions I do not feel myself competent to answer. Jesus says: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels in heaven, but my Father only" (Matt. 24:36). The new translation says, "Neither the Son but the Father only." (John Edward Taylor, "The Resurrection," June 2, 1888, in Collected Discourses, ed. Brian Stuy, 5 vols. [Sandy: B. H. S. Publishing, 1987], 1:137-38)

 

In other words, Joseph was not necessarily teaching when the Parousia (Second Coming of Christ) would take place and it would not be wise for Latter-day Saints in 1888 (or today) to read into the Prophet’s words an attempt to predict the date thereof.

 

Further Reading:


Did Joseph Smith Predict that the Second Coming would happen in 1890/91? 

Resources on Joseph Smith's Prophecies