Each of these classes of evidence will receive attention and find
ample demonstration in the course of our study of the Articles of
Faith; and a detailed consideration will not be attempted at this
stage of our investigation; a few illustrations, briefly stated,
however, may not be out of place.
=22. I. The Fulfilment of Prophecy=, wrought through the life work of
Joseph Smith, is abundantly shown. John the Revelator, from his
prophetic vision of the latter-day dispensation, understood and
predicted that the gospel would be again sent from the heavens, and be
restored to the earth through the direct ministration of an
angel:--"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having
the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."[21] A
partial fulfilment of this prediction is claimed in the manifestation
of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith, as already described, whereby the
restoration of the gospel was announced, and the speedy realization of
other ancient prophecies was promised; and a record, described in part
as containing "the fulness of the everlasting gospel," was committed
to his care for translation and publication among all nations,
kindred, and tongues. The remainder of John's fateful utterance,
regarding the authorized call for repentance and the execution of
God's judgment preparatory to the awful scenes of the last days, is
now in process of rapid and literal fulfilment.
[21] Rev. xiv, 6. See Note 9.
=23.= Malachi predicted the coming of Elijah specially commissioned
with power to inaugurate the work of co-operation between the fathers
and the children, and announced this mission as a necessary
preliminary to the advent of "the great and dreadful day of the
Lord."[22] The angel Moroni confirmed the truth and significance of
this prediction in an emphatic reiteration.[23] Joseph Smith and his
associate in the ministry, Oliver Cowdery, solemnly testify that they
were visited by Elijah the prophet, in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio,
on the third day of April, 1836; on which occasion the heavenly
messenger declared that the day spoken of by Malachi had fully come;
"Therefore," continued he, "the keys of this dispensation are
committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and
dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."[24] The
particular nature of the union of the fathers and the children, upon
which both Malachi and Moroni laid great stress, has been explained as
consisting in the work of vicarious ordinances, including baptism for
the dead who have passed from earth without a knowledge of the gospel.
In teaching this doctrine, and in complying with its behests, the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands to-day alone
amongst all the sects professing Christianity.
[22] Mal. iv, 5-6.
[23] See page 11.
[24] Doc. & Cov. cx, 13-16.
=24.= The ancient scriptures are teeming with prophecies concerning
the restoration of Israel in the last days, and the gathering of the
chosen people from among the nations and from the lands into which
they have been led or driven as a penalty for their waywardness and
sin.[25] Such prominence and importance are attached to this work of
gathering, in the predictions of olden times, that from the days of
Israel's exodus, the last days have been characterized in sacred writ
as a gathering dispensation. The return of the tribes after their long
and wide dispersion is made a preliminary work to the establishment of
the predicted reign of righteousness with Christ on the throne of the
world; and its accomplishment is given as a sure precursor of the
millennium. Jerusalem is to be re-established as the City of the Great
King on the eastern Hemisphere; and Zion, or the New Jerusalem, is to
be built on the western continent; the Ten Tribes are to be brought
back from their hiding place in the north; and the curse is to be
removed from Israel.[26] From the early days of Joseph Smith's
ministry, he taught the doctrine of the gathering as imposing a
present duty upon the Church; and this phase of the Latter-day Saint
labor is one of its most characteristic features. Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery declare that the authority for prosecuting this work
was committed to the Church through them by Moses, who held the keys
of authority as Israel's leader in former times. Their testimony is
thus stated, in the description given of manifestations in the
Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836:--"Moses appeared before us, and
committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four
parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of
the north."[27] As to the earnestness with which this labor has been
begun, and the fair progress already made therein, consider the
hundreds of thousands belonging to the families of Israel already
gathered in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, about the house of the
Lord, now established; and hear the hymn of the chosen seed among the
nations, chanted to the accompaniment of effective deeds, "Come, and
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God
of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His
paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem."[28]
[25] See Lectures on Article 10, pp. 326-366.
[26] See pp. 326-383.
[27] Doc. & Cov. cx, 11.
[28] Micah iv, 1-2.
=25.= The bringing forth of the Book of Mormon is held by the
Latter-day Saints to be a direct fulfilment of prophecy.[29] In
predicting the humiliation of Israel, to whom had been committed the
power of the priesthood in early days, Isaiah gave voice to the word
of the Lord in this wise:--"And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt
speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust,
and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of
the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust."[30] The
Book of Mormon is verily the voice of a people brought low, speaking
from the dust, for from the dust the book was literally taken. The
volume professes to be the history of but a small division of the
house of Israel,--a part of the family of Joseph indeed, who were led
by a miraculous power to the western continent six centuries prior to
the Christian era. Of the record of Joseph, and its coming forth as a
parallel testimony to that of Judah, or the Bible in part, the Lord
thus spake through the prophet Ezekiel:--"Moreover, thou son of man,
take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the
children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write
upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of
Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick;
and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy
people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou
meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I
will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and
the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even
with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be
one in mine hand."[31] The succeeding verses declare that the
gathering and restoration of Israel would immediately follow the
united testimony of the records of Judah and Joseph. The two records
are before the world, a unit in their testimony of the everlasting
Gospel; and the work of gathering is in effective progress.
[29] See Lectures on "Book of Mormon," Article 8, pp. 261-307.
[30] Isa. xxix, 4; see also II Nephi iii, 19.
[31] Ezek. xxxvii, 16-19.
=26.= It is further evident from the scriptures, that the dispensation
of the Gospel in the latter days is to be one of restoration and
restitution, a "dispensation of the fulness of times" in very truth.
Paul declares it to be the good pleasure of the Lord, "That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on
earth; even in him."[32] This prediction finds a parallel in an
utterance of the prophet Nephi:--"Wherefore all things which have been
revealed unto the children of men, shall at that day be revealed."[33]
And in accord with this is the teaching of Peter: "Repent ye
therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when
the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And
he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom
the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the
world began."[34] Now comes Joseph Smith with the declaration that
unto him has been given the authority to open up this, the
dispensation of fulness, restitution, and restoration; and that
through him the Church has been endowed with all the keys and powers
of the priesthood, held and exercised in earlier periods: Unto the
Church "is the power of this priesthood given, for the last days, and
for the last time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of
times, which power you hold in connection with all those who have
received a dispensation at any time from the beginning of
creation."[35] The actual possession of these combined and unified
powers is sufficiently proved by the comprehensive work of the Church
in its present scope of operation.
[32] Eph. i, 9-10.
[33] II Nephi xxx, 18.
[34] Acts iii, 19-21.
[35] Doc. & Cov. cxii, 30-32.
=27. II. Joseph Smith's Authority= was conferred upon him by direct
ministrations of heavenly beings, each of whom had once exercised the
same power upon the earth. We have already seen how the angel Moroni,
formerly a mortal prophet among the Nephites, transmitted to Joseph
the appointment to bring forth the record which he, Moroni, had buried
in the earth over fourteen hundred years before. We learn further,
that on the 15th of May, 1829, the lesser or Aaronic Priesthood was
conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by the hand of John the
Baptist,[36] who came in his immortalized state with that particular
order of priesthood which comprises the keys of the ministrations of
angels, the doctrine of repentance and of baptism for the remission of
sins. This was the same John who, with the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, had preached the self-same doctrine, and had administered
the same ordinance in Judea as the immediate forerunner of the
Messiah. In delivering his message, John the Baptist stated that he
was acting under the direction of Peter, James, and John, apostles of
the Lord, in whose hands reposed the keys of the higher or Melchizedek
Priesthood, which in time would also be given. This promise was
fulfilled a month or so later, when the apostles named manifested
themselves to Joseph and Oliver, ordaining them to the apostleship,[37]
which comprises all the offices of the higher order of priesthood,
and which carries authority to minister in all the established
ordinances of the Gospel.
[36] Doc. & Cov. xiii.
[37] Doc. & Cov. xxvii, 12.
=28.= Then, some time after the Church had been duly organized,
authority for certain special functions was given, the appointing
messenger being in each case the one whose right it was so to
officiate by virtue of the commission which he had held in the days of
his mortality. Thus, as has been seen, Moses conferred the authority
to prosecute the work of gathering; and Elijah, who, not having tasted
death, held a peculiar relation to both the living and the dead,
delivered the authority of vicarious ministry for the departed. To
these appointments by heavenly authority should be added that given by
Elias, who appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and "committed
the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham," saying as was said of the
Father of the Faithful and his descendants in olden times, that in
them and in their seed should all succeeding generations be
blessed.[38]
[38] Doc. & Cov. cx, 12.
=29.= It is evident, then, that the claims made by the Church with
respect to its authority are complete and consistent as to the source
of the powers professed, and the channels through which such have been
delivered again to earth. Scripture and revelation, both ancient and
modern, support as an unalterable law the principle that no one can
delegate to another an authority which the giver does not possess.
=30. III. Joseph Smith was himself a true Prophet.=--This statement,
if fully substantiated, would be of itself sufficient proof of the
validity of the claims of this modern prophet, and the test is not
difficult of application. In the days of ancient Israel, an effective
method of trying the claims of a professed prophet was prescribed:--
"When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow
not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not
spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not
be afraid of him."[39] Conversely, if the words of the prophet are
made good by fulfilment, there is at least proof presumptive of his
genuineness. Of the many predictions uttered by Joseph Smith and
already fulfilled or awaiting the set time of their realization, a few
citations will suffice for our present purpose.
[39] Deut. xviii, 22.
=31.= One of the earliest prophecies declared by him, which, while not
his independent utterance but that of the angel Moroni, was
nevertheless given to the world by Joseph Smith, had special reference
to the Book of Mormon, of which the angel said: "The knowledge that
this record contains will go to every nation, and kindred, and tongue,
and people, under the whole heaven."[40] This declaration was made
four years before the work of translation was begun, and fourteen
years before the elders of the Church began their missionary labor in
foreign lands. Since that time the Book of Mormon has been translated
into seventeen foreign languages, and is published in fifteen tongues;
and the work is still in progress.
[40] Times and Seasons, Vol. II, No. 13.
=32.= In August, 1842, while the Church was suffering persecution in
Illinois, and when the western part of the continent was but little
known and only as the territory of an alien nation, Joseph Smith
prophesied "that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction,
and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains," and that while many then
professing allegiance to the Church would apostatize, and others,
faithful to their testimony, would meet the martyr's fate, some would
live to "assist in making settlements and build cities and see the
Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky
Mountains."[41] The literal fulfilment of this prediction, uttered in
1842, and it may be added, foreshadowed by an earlier prophecy in
1831,[42] the one five, the other sixteen years before the migration
of the Church to the West, is attested by the common history of the
settlement and development of this once inhospitable region. Even the
skeptic and the pronounced opponents of the Church admit the miracle
of the establishment of a mighty commonwealth in the valleys of the
Rocky Mountains.
[41] Millennial Star, Vol. XIX, p. 630. Also Hist. of the Ch.,
Vol. V, p. 85.
[42] Doc. and Cov. xlix, 24-25.
=33.= A most remarkable prediction regarding national affairs was
uttered by Joseph Smith, December 25th, 1832; it was soon thereafter
promulgated among the members of the Church, and was preached by the
elders, but did not appear in print until 1851.[43] The revelation
reads in part as follows:--"Verily thus saith the Lord, concerning the
wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of
South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and
misery of many souls. The days will come that war will be poured out
upon all nations, beginning at that place; For, behold, the Southern
States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern
States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great
Britain; ... And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall
rise up against their masters, who shall be marshalled and disciplined
for war." Every student of United States history is acquainted with
the facts establishing a complete fulfilment, even to the minutest
detail, of this astounding prophecy. In 1861, more than twenty-eight
years after the foregoing prediction was recorded, and ten years after
its publication in England, the Civil War broke out, beginning in
South Carolina. The ghastly records of that fratricidal strife sadly
support the prediction concerning "the death and misery of many
souls." It is well known that slaves deserted the South and were
marshalled in the armies of the North, and that the Confederate States
solicited aid of Great Britain. While no open alliance between the
Southern States and England was effected, the British government gave
indirect assistance and substantial encouragement to the South, and
this in such a way as to produce serious international complications.
Vessels were built and equipped at British ports in the interests of
the Confederacy; and the results of this violation of the laws of
neutrality cost Great Britain the sum of fifteen and a half millions
of dollars, which sum was awarded the United States at the Geneva
arbitration in settlement of the "Alabama claims." The Confederacy
appointed commissioners to Great Britain and France; these appointees
were forcibly taken by United States officers from the British steamer
on which they had embarked. This act, which the United States
government had to admit as overt, threatened for a time to precipitate
a war between this nation and Great Britain.
[43] See Pearl of Great Price, British edition of 1851, and
Millennial Star, Vol. XLIX, p. 396. The prophecy is now a part of
the Doctrine and Covenants, see section lxxxvii.
=34.= The revelation cited, as given through Joseph Smith, contained
other predictions, some of which are yet awaiting fulfilment.[44] The
evidence presented is sufficient to prove that Joseph Smith is
prominent among men by reason of his instrumentality in fulfilling
prophecies uttered by the Lord's representatives in former times, and
that his own claim to the rank of prophet is abundantly vindicated.
But the endowment of prophecy so richly bestowed upon this Elias of
the last days, and so freely yet unerringly exercised by him, is but
one of the many spiritual gifts by which he, in common with a host of
others who have received the priesthood from him, was distinguished.
The scriptures declare that certain signs shall attend the Church of
Christ, among them the gifts of tongues, healing, immunity from
threatening death, and the power to control evil spirits.[45] The
exercise of these powers, resulting in what are ordinarily termed
miracles, is by no means an infallible proof of divine authority; for
many true prophets have wrought no such wonders, and men have been
known to work miracles at the instigation of evil spirits.[46]
Nevertheless, the possession of the power implied by the working of
miracles is an essential characteristic of the Church; and when such
acts are wrought in the accomplishment of holy purposes, they serve as
confirmatory evidence of divine authority. Therefore we may expect to
find, as find we do, in the ministry of Joseph Smith and in that of
the Church in general, the attested record of miracles, comprising
manifestations of all the promised gifts of the Spirit. This subject
will be further considered on another occasion.[47]
[44] See Doc. and Cov. lxxxvii, 5-7.
[45] Mark xvi, 16-18; Luke x, 19, etc.; Doc. and Cov. lxxxiv,
65-72.
[46] Exo. vii, 11, 22: viii, 7, 18; Rev. xiii, 13-15: xvi, 13-14.
[47] See Lecture on Article 7, pp. 219-239.
=35. IV. The Doctrines Taught by Joseph Smith= and by the Church
to-day are true and scriptural. To sustain this statement we must
examine the principal teachings of the Church in separate order. The
Articles of Faith furnish us a convenient summary of many of the
doctrines pertaining to the latter-day work; and these we will proceed
to study in the course of the lectures that are to follow.