Review: Terrible Revolution: Latter-day Saints and the American Apocalypse, by Christopher James Blythe

Abstract

Christopher Blythe’s name may sound familiar to readers with an interest in Latter-day history. Currently a Willes Research Associate at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute of Religious Scholarship and co-editor of the Journal of Mormon History, he has published extensively on Joseph Smith and early Mormon history as well as co-editing two volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers. With an interest in religious studies, history, and folklore/anthropology, he is a member of the new generation of Latter-day historians who employ interdisciplinary approaches and methods in their work to arrive at a more nuanced and contextualized analysis. It is in this fashion that Blythe investigates the history of apocalyptic visions that have characterized Mormonism since its inception.Chapter 1 takes the reader back to the days of Joseph Smith and surveys the visions the prophet and some of his contemporaries in the church experienced. Acknowledging the highly apocalyptic nature of the religions born on American soil in the course of the Second Great Awakening, Blythe takes pains to explain with precision the specific ways in this tradition evolved within Mormon doctrine and found its way to the laity. He masterfully illustrates the constant interplay that started to take shape between the church leadership and official doctrine, on the one hand, and the laity, with their own interpretations and experiences, often folkloric in nature, on the other. Chapter 2 discusses how the assassination of the prophet and his brother in 1884 allowed for the integration of the theme of martyrdom into the master narrative of the LDS Church, paving the way for further elements to enter the vernacular narrative, such as various pronouncements ranging from praying to cursing and the idea of the Lamanites being “the battle axe of the Lord” (91).Chapter 3 maps the meaningful ways in which the geographical imagination filtered into the narrative of the prophecies of the Second Coming and restoration. Local animosities that Mormons had experienced as persecution forced their exodus to the West to establish their own kingdom and state there. This outlook framed their experiences within the biblical narratives, contributing to the emergence of a powerful sense of group identity that informed Thomas O’Dea and Harold Bloom’s comparisons of this quintessentially American religious community to a nation. The Mormons’ separatist endeavors, along with the responses of the U.S. government, are analyzed in chapter 4—from the denial of statehood to the Western territories populated by the Saints in 1850, through the Utah War of 1857–1858, the Civil War, and the struggle over polygamy, to Utah’s admission as a state in 1896. Blythe surveys the translation of these experiences into apocalyptic thoughts and narratives, which ranged from the concept of Mormons fighting a holy war to visions of the plagues that captured the imagination of the laity in particular.Chapter 5 investigates the changes in the tone and content of apocalyptic doctrine and rhetoric throughout the twentieth century. These changes led to the harmonization of Mormon relations with the federal government, the realization of the need for national unity and loyalty in the course of two world wars, the Depression, and the Cold War era. They catered to a new positioning, often characterized as the Americanization of the Latter-day apocalypses, which was grounded in the vision of the United States as the redeemer nation for the world amidst all the international changes, tragedies, and catastrophes of the twentieth century. This sense of exceptionalism boosted further efforts in the globalization efforts of the Church, discussed in chapter 6, along with the “persistence of charismatic apocalyptic trajectories” (218) that prevail even today.What is probably Blythe’s most admirable achievement with this volume is his ability to provide a fascinating, easily accessible, but still truly academic, thoroughly researched, and meticulously presented cultural and social history of the Latter-day Saints in the United States, structured around the theme of the apocalypse. His enthusiasm shines through his discussion of church doctrine, policy, and rhetoric, rounding out—or at times opposing—myths, beliefs, and understandings among the laity. He skillfully outlines how the tension-filled relationship between Mormons and the federal government have shifted, while much of the anticipation has remained, although with different content. Meanwhile, Blythe’s readings of some of the vernacular prophecies and actions also point to pertinent issues often overlooked, such as differences in positions of class, gender, or race. By including Mormon temples, their architecture and symbolism or aspects of cultural geography in the discussion, he further demonstrates the multidisciplinary nature of his work. I wholeheartedly recommend Terrible Revolution to readers interested in Mormonism and apocalyptic thought in American cultural history.