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Latter-day Saints have a strong apocalyptic tradition. The Doctrine and
Covenants teaches that God has raised up Joseph Smith and other prophetic
voices in modern times in hope of averting the calamities that human beings
are bringing upon themselves (D&C 1:17-18; 5:5,
19). Apocalyptic prophecies about war, famine, and natural disaster
are frighteningly literal in an age of weapons of mass destruction and
environmental devastation. Latter-day Saints are charged to raise a “voice
of warning” (D&C 1:4), urging individuals
and nations to change their ways and thus escape self-destruction. Spencer
W. Kimball and Hugh Nibley have been among the boldest prophetic voices
of this kind in recent LDS history.
With its affirmation of modern prophecy, Mormonism extends the biblical
prophetic tradition into the 21st century. The scriptures of the Restoration
echo prophets such as Isaiah, Micah, and John the Baptist in denouncing
injustice and looking forward to a future when all people will live in
peace with each other and in harmony with creation (2
Ne. 13:15; 15:7; 21:1-9). Part of the prophets' millennial vision
is the promise that God's power will overthrow oppression. Such promises
have been especially significant to Latter-day Saints because of their
own history of persecution (3 Ne. 22:14; D&C
127:3).
| Charles W. Penrose: Now
the Lord will be still nearer to us if we practice our religion and
be Saints in very deed; and our own eyes will be open to discern the
work of God among the nations. We have already begun to comprehend
the purposes of the Almighty. God's hand is over all, and he will
smite down the oppressor and break every yoke. He will destroy the
tyranny that still exists in the world . . . and the work of God will
roll forth . . . |
| Journal of Discourses
20:298-99 |
David O. McKay: We
must face the fact that we are in a changing world, and that the
destruction of present-day civilization is a possibility. . . .
The paramount need in the world today is a clearer understanding
by human beings of moral and spiritual values, and a desire and
determination to attain them. Never before in the history of the
world has there been such a need of spiritual awakening. Unless
there is such an awakening, there is danger of catastrophe among
the nations of the world.
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| Conference Report,
October 1953, 8-9 |
Spencer W. Kimball:
Modern prophets are warning frequently and constantly that people
are being destroyed by their own acts. . . . The outlook is bleak,
but the impending tragedy can be averted. Nations, like individuals,
must "repent or suffer."
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| Miracle of Forgiveness
(Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969) |
Spencer W. Kimball:
We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of
preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit
vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel—ships,
planes, missiles, fortifications—and depend on them for protection
and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of
pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him
a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan's counterfeit of true patriotism,
perverting the Savior's teaching: Love your enemies. . . . Our assignment
is affirmative: to forsake the things of the world as ends in themselves;
to leave off idolatry and press forward in faith; to carry the gospel
to our enemies, that they might no longer be our enemies.
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| "The False Gods We
Worship," Ensign, June 1976, 6 |
Hugh Nibley: At the
present time the political dialogue throughout the world has deteriorated
catastrophically. In most countries it has degenerated into such
mechanical and stereotyped forms that it is no longer profitable
or meaningful—it is no longer a dialogue at all. If you are
a private citizen you just do not "discuss" things with
colonels, commissars, or corporations— you do what they tell
you to do or at best manipulate you into doing. . . . Where do we
go from here? We . . . have at last reached that point of no return
which heralds the last of the last days. |
| Nibley on the Timely
and the Timeless (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1978),
293 |
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