Yet the larger anti-Finneyite revival of which the Kingdom was a part did not disappear so suddenly. In the hands of more inspired and capable organizers—above all the Mormons Joseph Smith and Brigham Young—revelations not entirely unlike those of Matthias survived public hostility to carve out an important place among America’s churches. Matthias’s actions may have been more outlandish than most, even mad; his failure to codify and publish his revelations, coupled with his vengeful assaults on the Finneyites, doomed whatever small chance he had of enlarging his flock. But his prophecies were
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