Apocalypse or Zion? How Eschatology Affects Attitudes toward Social Peace Among Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Chad Ford, Brigham Young University, Hawaii
Boyd Timothy, University of Washington
Réka Bordás-Simon, Make.Shift
Zach Tilton, Western Michigan University

Abstract. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) hold differing eschatological views in relation to the role of God and His followers in ushering in the Second Coming of Christ and a thousand years of peace. Some emphasize the human responsibility to create peaceful conditions on earth to usher in Christ’s return (Human Action eschatology), others emphasize the role of Christ in creating peaceful conditions on earth upon His return (Divine Action eschatology), and others view peace as the result of both human and divine action with equal emphasis (Co-participation eschatology). In this study, we compare differences in personal attitudes of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social peace across these eschatologies. Four hundred and five LDS participants completed the Eschatological Attitudinal Survey (EAS), the Congruence Scale, the Prosocial Personality Battery, and the Social Justice Scale. Participants with a Divine Action eschatology scored higher on measures of intrapersonal peace and lower on measures of social peace. Conversely, participants with a Human Action eschatology scored lower on intrapersonal peace and higher on issues of social peace. By contrast, participants with a Co-participation eschatology were more likely to give equal weight to all three measures of peace: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social.

Ford, Chad, Timothy Boyd, Réka Bordás-Simon and Zach Tilton. 2022. “Apocalypse or Zion? How Eschatology Affects Attitudes toward Social Peace among Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association 1, no. 1: 73–92. https://doi.org/10.54587/JMSSA.0103