Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Anson Call and John Steele, Jr., vs. the Claim Joseph Smith Prophesied the Second Coming Would Take Place in 1890/91

On January 22, 1886, John M. Whitaker queried Anson Call concerning if the Prophet Joseph Smith ever prophesied the date of the Second Coming:

 

Did you ever hear the prophet say what time the Savior would come to the people, <and> scenes incident to that time? (John M. Whitaker, letter to Anson Call, January 22, 1886, CR 100 394, Church History Library)

 

In response, Anson Call wrote:

 

In answer to your questions.

 

First. I have frequently heard Joseph Smith converse on your first question, but I have never heard him say what year, but I have formed an opinion from his conversation that in 1891 he would make his appearances to certain individuals of the priesthood not to reign as King, but would deliver His people and the Gentile reign would begin to wane and His people would begin to have dominion, and the law of God would have influence in all the civilized nations of the earth. (Anson Call, letter to John M. Whitaker, January 30, 1886, CR 100 394, Church History Library)

 

On January 11, 1891, John Steele, Jr., in a letter to his parents, wrote:

 

I am very glad [18]91 is here & I am of the opinion that if Jesus does not come in his glory this year, that some will be privileged to see him in the Temple of the Lord & no doubt the Prophet Joseph Smith also . . . (John Steele, letter to John Steele, Sr., and Elizabeth Steele, January 11, 1891, MS 24404, Church History Library)

 

Commenting on these and other writings of the time, Christopher Blythe concluded that

 

There is no indication that Mormons were devastated when Christ did not appear in 1890 or 1891. Many continued to expect the Second Coming would occur in their lifetimes or even in the very near future. (Christopher James Blythe, Terrible Revolution: Latter-day Saints and the American Apocalypse [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020], 184)

 

Again, this shows that Latter-day Saints did not believe that the Parousia would take place in 1890/91 based on Josehp’s teachings in D&C 130:14-17 and other sources. For more, see, for e.g.:

 

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

 

And for more on Joseph’s prophecies, see:

 

Resources on Joseph Smith’s Prophecies

 

 

 

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