Fence Sitter wrote:I am referring to a de-emphasis on the Second Coming. I think the dynasty building was being done in the early Church with the belief that many alive at the time would see the second coming and that they had very little time to put together their earthly kingdom, so one needed to grab as many people as possible regardless of if they were blood relatives or not. As it became more and more apparent that Christ wasn't showing up soon I think that affected the urgency they felt to gather a kingdom.
As a side note, I wonder if anyone has done any work showing how the LDS Church beliefs and practices were/are affected by a de-emphasis on the Second Coming? I have seen one paper on this regarding the RLDS. I think part of the reason the RLDS are now the Community of Christ is because they held on to a literal gathering of Zion and Millennialism well into the 20th century. The failure to accomplish either, I think, was part of the reason they started to re-evaluate their beliefs. That process has been a lot more gradual in the LDS Church.
Interesting points, Fence Sitter!
I think that a lot of people honestly thought that the Savior would come in the year 2000.
In my patriarchal blessing, it says, "You will be living during the Millennium, so be prepared to follow the Savior."
Now, the Millennium, as in, the year 2000, has happened...but the Second Coming has not. So did my patriarch who gave me my blessing lie? Or did he simply do the math, and the fact that I was alive in the year 2000 fulfill his prediction?
As far as the LDS Church is concerned, I sensed a de-emphasis in the teachings of the Second Coming AFTER the year 2000 had passed.
When I was a teen-ager, it was still being preached to us that we were the chosen generation...Saturday's Warriors....the generation that would usher in the Second Coming of Christ.