Building Zion as a stated goal of the Restoration, both directly and in commemorative acts (such as pioneer treks)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThere is, in other words, no non-apocalyptic form of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day<\/strong> Saints. Apocalypticism is like your skeleton: sometimes feared for its associations, often unseen because it is pervasive, but the Church can\u2019t function without it, and attempts to remove it would be foolhardy. Now, it\u2019s important to keep in mind that apocalypticism does not require<\/p>\n\n- belief in the end of the world this year, this decade, or this century;<\/li>\n
- strict separation from the world;<\/li>\n
- expectation of continual decline and catastrophic collapse; or<\/li>\n
- black and white, us-versus-them thinking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It is true that one can find propagators of all of these within Mormonism, but Mormon apocalypticism has always been a big tent in which paradox abounds. One will hear that the world is speeding towards its imminent demise at the same time that Church members are urged to work for the world\u2019s renewal. The New Jerusalem will descend from above, and it will be built on Earth by human hands. Lingering in the halls of BYU Education Week or Especially for Youth, you are liable to hear end-time scenarios reminiscent of both the Social Gospel and Hal Lindsey (although Mormon apocalypticism has no rapture and no Antichrist, despite the trinity of antichrists in the Book of Mormon). As with other parts of Mormonism, once you recognize that apocalypticism is a critical structural component of Mormonism, you still have a choice in how to respond, especially if apocalypticism strikes you as embarrassing and liable to misuse. You can, if you choose, heighten the contradictions by understanding apocalypticism in only its narrowest and bleakest sense and hanging this catastrophic form of future expectation on the Church as a whole, thereby maximizing your own alienation from the Church and your fellow believers while helping to maintain your Sabbath worship as a weekly exercise in spiritual agony. Alternatively, you can recognize Mormon apocalypticism as an important plank of Mormonism that grounds the Church\u2019s critique of society while inspiring the Church\u2019s engagement with society in numerous positive ways. As a life of self-imposed spiritual agony seems counter-productive for everyone, I recommend embracing what can\u2019t be changed and making something positive out of it. One can hold to an apocalyptic meliorism, respect the value of hands practiced in the operation of chainsaws the next time a hurricane passes through, and recognize the temptation to be caught up in apocalyptic speculation as a reason to stay focused on the here and now. Even if the world were to end tomorrow, I would still help my neighbor saw up the remains of his cherry tree if a tornado passes through today. Gotta keep in practice for when the big one comes, you know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Apocalypticism has become virtually synonymous with the disreputable side of religion, the stall in the religious marketplace where respectable people don\u2019t want to be seen rummaging through the close-out racks. This is unfortunate, as you can\u2019t understand the New Testament without reference to apocalypticism, and (to get to the point of this post) apocalypticism is an inextricable part of the inner logic of Mormonism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-politics"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36249"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36256,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36249\/revisions\/36256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Apocalypticism has become virtually synonymous with the disreputable side of religion, the stall in the religious marketplace where respectable people don\u2019t want to be seen rummaging through the close-out racks. This is unfortunate, as you can\u2019t understand the New Testament without reference to apocalypticism, and (to get to the point of this post) apocalypticism is an inextricable part of the inner logic of Mormonism. Apocalypticism is often understood too narrowly, even in scholarly literature, as the conviction that the world\u2019s violent end is imminent. Apocalypse is simply the Greek word for \u201cuncovering\u201d or \u201cunveiling,\u201d so that any revelation of knowledge is at least potentially apocalyptic. Apocalypticism is usually more specifically understood, of course, as something more specific: the \u201cunveiling of a collapsing reality\u201d (a definition attributed to Jacques Ellul), the revelation that the current order is coming to an end. There are at least three more senses of apocalypticism that are relevant. First, writing in the style of John\u2019s Apocalypse; second, elements of the end-time narrative elaborated within Christianity on the basis of Revelation and other apocalypses; and finally, discussion of the Last Things\u2014establishing the Kingdom of God, the Second Coming, the Resurrection, the Millennium, and the Last Judgment\u2014in a sense that is concrete rather than metaphorical, historical and this-worldly rather than out of time, collective rather than individual, part of the world\u2019s future rather than a personal afterlife. It should be clear that nearly all of these are involved with basic elements of Mormon doctrine, practice, and lived experience. Aspects of apocalypticism are apparent in the following areas of Mormonism, among many others:<\/p>\n