The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt: One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry, and TravelsPratt, Parley P. (Parley Parker)
Religion
The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt: One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry, and Travels
Pratt, Parley P. (Parley Parker)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Apostles -- Biography; Pratt, Parley P. (Parley Parker), 1807-1857
"But the great announcement of all--the most important
communication made to us by Mr. Peck is concerning the time of the
second coming of Jesus Christ. It was now ascertained by him to be
postponed till the great and last day; and that we are to have a
Millennium of _three hundred and sixty-five thousand years_
first, before Christ comes. Only think! '_three hundred and
sixty-five thousand_!' Why, according to this calculation the
world is yet in its infancy; we are early in the morning of
creation. The great day of the existence of the world has only
dawned; a long and glorious race is yet before the generations of
man. What is the age of Adam or Methuselah! What the few fleet
years of the earth's existence, compared to the time yet to come
before its end!
"O, ye holy prophets and saints of old, had you been in
possession of the knowledge of the astounding facts now announced
by this reverend gentleman, you would never have warned mankind so
repeatedly to be ready for the great day of the Lord, for it was
soon at hand.
"And had Jesus Christ known this fact, he would never have
warned the world of the danger of that day coming on them unawares.
He and His Apostles would have said: it is yet far--very far off.
The Millennium must first dawn, and then continue three hundred and
sixty-five thousand years; and then, behold, I will come to judge
the world.
"But, my hearers, please read the prophet Zechariah on this
subject, chapter 14.
"We were there informed that 'Jesus Christ will come, and all
the saints with him,'--that he will 'set his feet on the Mount of
Olives;' that he will 'deliver the Jews and Jerusalem from their
enemies;' that he will 'destroy those who are in the siege against
that city;' and that he will 'reign as a king over all the earth,
from that time forth; and there shall be one Lord and his name
one.'
"Now, if he comes and all the saints with him, it cannot be his
first coming. If he comes to fight for the Jews and overthrow their
enemies, it cannot be his first coming. If the Mount of Olives
rends in twain at the same time, and opens so as to form a great
valley in the place thereof, it has no connection with his first
coming.
"Again, if he comes to reign as a '_King over all the earth
_,' it can have no allusion to the last judgment,--the end of
the earth. Consequently, if Zechariah has told the truth, we are to
expect the coming of Jesus Christ distinct from his first coming;
unconnected with the last judgment at the very commencement of his
reign of a thousand years, which we call the Millennium; but which,
Mr. Peck says, has commenced, entirely independent of any such
event. But what can we expect of a man when he comments upon the
prophecies, while at the same time he contends that none can
understand them until after their fulfillment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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