Have you ever wondered what the ancient prophets had to say about the modern world? How to apply the messages of the scriptures to your own life? What the true purpose of prophecy is? Find these answers and more in Prophecy and Modern Times: Finding Hope and Encouragement in the Last Days, a brief but powerful exploration of six millennia worth of prophecies about society today.
Izzard Ink refreshed a Latter-day Saint classic for a new generation—completing a manuscript assessment and action plan, sharpening and updating the text while preserving Skousen’s core message, commissioning a new preface and positioning, and fully redesigning the interior and typesetting so the book could relaunch to younger readers in modern, bookstore-ready form.
In an age of viral “prophecy updates,” alarming commentary, and endless speculation about the Second Coming, it can be hard to know what to trust. Prophecy and Modern Times cuts through the noise by going back to the sources themselves—what the prophets actually said about our day, and why it matters now.
First published in 1939 and now available in a newly typeset edition with a foreword by Ezra Taft Benson and a preface by Paul B. Skousen, this Latter-day Saint classic gathers and explains hundreds of prophetic declarations about the latter days—from the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and modern prophets. Approaching his subject “as a journalist or a reporter,” W. Cleon Skousen explains how prophecy works, why the Lord rarely gives exact dates, and how to distinguish faith-promoting truth from sensational speculation and date-setting.
From there, he organizes the revelations into three sweeping panoramas: prophecies about America and its latter-day mission as a promised land (including warnings about pride, secret combinations, and the Constitution “hanging by a thread”); prophecies about Palestine, the gathering of Judah, and the last great conflict before the Savior appears; and prophecies about the Millennium itself—how the earth will change, what the Lord’s reign will look like, and what work remains for the Saints in that thousand-year period.
Rather than feeding fear, Prophecy and Modern Times is meant to steady faith. Skousen shows how the Lord has long anticipated “our day… spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began,” and how understanding those prophecies can help ordinary Latter-day Saints feel more prepared and less anxious as they watch world events unfold. For readers who want a clear, concise map of the last days from a faithful Latter-day Saint perspective, this enduring work remains what it has been for generations: a trusted guide to prophecy—and a source of hope—in modern times.
Category: Religious Books
Release date: March 19, 2017
Page size: 5″ x 8″
Word count: 35,697
Estimated page count: 162
W. Cleon Skousen (1913-2006) is best remembered as a national bestselling author, speaker, and teacher who lectured in every state and province in North America, and in more than sixty countries worldwide. He was a student of history and a scholar of law, specializing in the principles of freedom, the U.S. Constitution, economics, and ancient history and scriptures. Skousen was invited to write a new constitution for Canada and the proposed United States of Latin America, and he published a model constitution that could be adopted by nations everywhere. He served in the FBI for sixteen years, as Chief of Police in Salt Lake City for four years, and as a university professor for ten years. He was a prolific writer and produced three national bestsellers: The Naked Communist, The Naked Capitalist, and The 5000 Year Leap. Eight of his books were used as college texts, and several were translated and published in other countries. His seminars on the Constitution have been taught to several million people across the U.S., and among his students were dozens of U.S. senators and representatives, two Supreme Court justices, and several presidential candidates. He believed knowledge and understanding were key to maintaining a free country, and he spent his entire adult life opening up complex issues for deeper understanding by students and audiences all around the world. Skousen was born in Canada and returned to the U.S. with his family at age ten. He spent two years in Mexico and two years in England, then graduated from San Bernardino College in California and received his JD from George Washington University Law School. He was admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and before the District Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. Skousen and his wife, Jewel Pitcher of San Bernardino, California, are the parents of 8 children, 50 grandchildren, and more than a 150 great-grandchildren.
Valuable and worthwhile contribution to religious literature!
This release of Prophecy and Modern Times is timely, not only in its relevant content but also in the message it brings to the table. Skousen reveals his brilliance in his organization of such a monumentally complicated task. He suggests how to interpret prophecy, tells us its purpose and our responsibility to understand it. Skousen is masterful!
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