A (23:26)
Well, the short answer is no. Look, end of times writing is. It is one of the most lucrative types of writing. And I'm not saying that the author doesn't really believe the things they're writing. The problem is if you take certain comments statements and then place them in the current events of the time, you will find that things line up because, you know, what are the statements of events? Well, you know there's going to be war everywhere. Oh my goodness. I mean, so. So you can find a book written in the 1990s with the Gulf War saying this is the war that's precipitating Armageddon. Then you can have things after 9 11, but you can keep going back further. You can go find people saying that, that Vietnam and the Cold War was the war precipitating it. And then. So look, I think whenever anyone is trying to lay things out, saying this and this and this and this, you'll notice that prophets don't do that. Why isn't it a prophet that is writing a book that is laying out the events of the second coming and how close we are, so it always ends up being someone who's not a prophet. Now in this particular case, we won't mention the book or person, but this particular author has authored dozens and dozens and dozens of books. They don't actually have any special training that would Give them any insights on any of these things. But it's just a passion of theirs. And so, I mean, look, whenever you're reading anything that's talking about theological understanding, even if they're assembling quotes from the prophets, one of the questions you have to ask is, what are they not including? Maybe they're not including other quotes that would mitigate the part of what they're saying. And you know, of necessity, when you're trying to say, look how close the second coming is, you will look at the world around you as it is right now. That's why there was this explosion of the second coming is happening right now. Books and podcasts in the middle of the COVID pandemic. Right, because that was a big deal. Governments are being shuttered, people are dying all over the world. This is it and it wasn't it. So we've talked about it multiple times, studying about when the second coming, you know, is going to happen and the signs leading up to it. I understand why that's exciting, but it's also one of those things that in the end is a moving target of that day or hour. No man knoweth not the angels in heaven, nor the Son. The Son Jesus himself doesn't know when the second coming is going to be. I feel like while it can be on the peripheries helpful to study the events leading up to the second coming, I would stick closer to the Gospel principles manual on it, rather than books that are written by non general authorities that tend to overemphasize the relationship of prophecies to current events and gin people up in a way that is not, it's not always helpful. And I have to say, again, we've said it all the time on this podcast right before I referenced, you know, Richard dying and trying to figure out how to upload the podcast is the most important way to prepare for the second coming. President Nelson told us, right, Read the Book of Mormon, go to the temple. That's the most important way. Knowing the events leading up to it is far less important. And part of that reason is we make light of it. We were joking around, obviously, but we don't know. Tomorrow is promised to no man. I could die in my sleep tonight. And they're, you know, and then suddenly missionaries would be learning about ways that they could network people into the improving their entrepreneurship goals. I mean, that there would be a sudden shift in rhetoric on the podcast. But, but in all seriousness, none of us know if we're going to be in a car accident today. None of us know if we're going to, you know, have a sudden heart attack or if we're going to have some sudden illness or be struck by lightning. None of us know when the last day that we have on this earth is. And so it is almost infinitely more likely that your second coming is going to be when you meet Jesus because you have passed away than it is that Jesus comes here. If we put the amount of emphasis on in preparing ourselves to go meet Jesus when we die, that we put in trying to discern if the latest attack on the filibuster is proof that there are the signs of the time are rapidly leading up to the coming of Gog and Magog. I mean, if we put that kind of effort into just doing what the Prophet has asked us to do to prepare, I think we would feel less anxiety about the second coming anyway. If you are prepared, you shall not fear. If we can get to a place where we feel like we are continually repenting, where we really are trying to build the kingdom, where we really are loving our fellow men as much as we love ourselves, then whether Jesus comes here or we go there, we should have peace. There's going to be a lot of turmoil when the second coming happens. And Brigham Young, I think, offended some people when he taught that there are going to be righteous who die in the cataclysms that lead up to the second coming, but that death isn't going to be very bitter because they're immediately going to the presence of Jesus. So if we exercise our faith, we know that whether Jesus comes here or we go there, the important aspect is whether or not we've exercised our faith in him and we've kept our covenants. So appreciate the question. When it comes to things like that, I would always say read it with a gigantic grain of salt. This great, like. Read it with, like, a dead sea level of grain of salt, knowing that, you know, whoever the author is is just attempting to create what they think a plausible narrative of events is. But. But if that was an essential thing for us to know, a prophet would be teaching it, because that's that. That's how prophets instruct us.
