There is no Second Coming in the Book of Mormon

One of the reasons my blog Fourth Gospel First has been paused for so long is that I am engaging primarily with the Book of Mormon now, and the perspective of the two books differs enough to raise questions about how to harmonize them and which should really be put "first." One thing they have in common, though, is a virtual silence on the subject of the Second Coming of Jesus -- which is interesting given how important the idea of an imminent Second Coming would become in the movement that came to be associated with the name Mormon. The CJCLDS's Topical Guide entry for "Jesus Christ, Second Coming" lists 57 scripture references, of which zero are from the Fourth Gospel and only one from the Book of Mormon.

Although the Topical Guide overlooks it, I believe there is one reference to the Second Coming in the Fourth Gospel, though it is in the 21st chapter, which was likely not part of the original Gospel:

Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved . . . Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, "Lord, and what shall this man do?"

Jesus saith unto him, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me."

Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, "He shall not die"; but, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" (John 21:20-23)

This is at the very end of the Gospel, after Jesus has already lived, died, and risen from the dead, and yet he still speaks of some future time when he will "come." His followers associated tarrying till he comes with not dying, which may imply that they understood the Second Coming to be in the distant future, such that no mortal then living could expect to live long enough to see it. Alternatively, it could mean they expected that those alive at the Second Coming would be "twinkled" into immortality as described by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:51-53 and thus would not die. At any rate, some sort of Second Coming is definitely indicated. However, as noted, Chapter 21 probably isn't really part of the original Fourth Gospel.

The one Second Coming verse listed from the Book of Mormon is 3 Ne. 27:16. Here it is in context:

And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil -- And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world (3 Ne. 27:14-16).

This certainly refers to a future "judgment day," but only if we smuggle in assumptions from outside the Book does that necessarily imply a Second Coming. Jesus says nothing here about his returning to Earth. On the contrary, he repeatedly emphasizes that all men will "stand before" Jesus to be judged because they are "lifted up" by God and "drawn unto" him. In other words, we go to him; he doesn't come to us. It's logically possible that Jesus could be on Earth rather than in Heaven when this happens, but nothing in the text suggests that.

Aside from that one verse, there are a few chapters, quoting Isaiah and Malachi, which are said in the chapter headings added by the CJCLDS to refer to the Second Coming. But, like 3 Ne. 27, they don't, unless you assume they do. As I wrote in "Jesus and the Messianic prophecies: Summary and conclusions" after going through all the Messianic material in the Old Testament, "There is not the slightest hint in Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah will come twice."

To my mind, this passage from the Book of Mormon seems to rule out a Second Coming:

Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them [the Jews], which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and that Messiah is he who should be rejected of the Jews (2 Ne. 25:18).

This is pretty unambiguous: "there should not any [Messiah] come, save it should be" -- Jesus coming back a second time? No -- "a false Messiah which should deceive the people."

I may have missed something, just as the Topical Guide people missed John 21, so if you think there's anything in the Book of Mormon that suggests there will be a Second Coming, do leave a comment.

Update: Almost immediately after publishing this, I did think of a counterexample. I don't know how I didn't think of it before, what with mentioning the Beloved Disciple and "twinkling" and all that.

Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven. And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father (3 Ne. 28:7-8).

"When I shall come in my glory" is pretty clearly a Second Coming.