The several evidences now considered are indeed important enough to
establish the claims of Joseph Smith, and all taken together are
overwhelming. We have seen the Prophet stand forth, a man whose desire
was to be just, true, and righteous, and we have heard him proclaim
his message: "Thus saith the Lord." We have seen that the ancient
prophecies predict that such a messenger should come just about the
time of Joseph; we have proved that Joseph showed his authority from
God by miracles and prophecies; that his message bears peculiar
internal marks of divine origin, produces fruits of righteousness in
the believers, and is accompanied by that testimony of the Spirit
which God alone can give. To deny the divinity of the message, or the
divine authority of the messenger, in view of this overwhelming {427}
evidence, seems to be nothing short of total blindness, or something
much worse.
We do not claim that by each one of these evidences, nor by all
together, all objections are answered, all difficulties are removed. To
prove religious truth above a possibility of objection is beyond the
possibilities of this earth. In religious matters, as in others, our
views must necessarily be limited and dimmed by mists.
Nor is it necessary, or even desirable, that all difficulties should be
removed. Were there no difficulties any longer, were everything clear
even to a mere worldly mind, religion would no longer be religion, for
there could be no room for the exercise of faith. Faith is, indeed,
after all the very moving power of practical religion. It is therefore
clear that difficulties must exist so that faith may be exercised.
It is so with Christianity at large and the Bible itself. Difficulties
exist great enough to strengthen, by exercise, the faith of the
believer, and to become stumbling blocks to those who do not want to
believe. We are finite. Could we expect that God, when talking about
matters of infinite interest, should always have that to say which
we can understand in every particular, thus leaving no difficulties?
Certainly not. Concerning the Bible, an eminent theologian of our
own time has said: "We can dispense with nothing, not even the
difficulties. Every element (the apparent discrepancies among the rest)
is essential to the force of the whole."
But this important truth applies just as much to the message delivered
through Joseph the Prophet. We can dispense with nothing in it, not
even the apparent difficulties which follow it. Suppose that Joseph
had given a code of laws or system of theology in which everything was
plainly demonstrated like a handbook in geometry, having every idea
defined, every step proved. Who would have believed such a work to have
emanated from the Spirit of God? Would it not have carried with it a
suspicion on its very surface? For God never before worked in that way.
In nature everything is apparently huddled together without system. To
man it has been given to arrange God's works in nature into classes,
genera, and species, thereby encountering many difficulties but also
learning what otherwise could not be learned. The same arrangement we
find in the Bible. Principles, maxims, doctrines are given without
regard to system, sometimes in plain words, sometimes in narrative or
parables. To man it has been given to search diligently and arrange
the facts presented into a system. Now, when we find that the message
{428} of Joseph the Prophet partakes of the same characteristics as
God's works in nature and in revelations recorded in the Bible, this
fact is certainly more in favor of the message than otherwise. The very
difficulties are evidence of its divine origin.
There is also this peculiarity: that the more we learn of the ways of
God, the wider our horizon becomes. That is, we see and understand
more; at the same time, we perceive that there is more to comprehend
beyond. Ever more; or as Pascal puts it: "The last step of reason is to
know that there is an infinitude of things which surpasses it." When
a man has learned to acknowledge this, there are no longer any real
difficulties to him in connection with the message sent from God. They
are all more or less solved. Some are cleared by diligent research and
study; others are perceived by faith to melt into unity and harmony
when they can be traced back to their first sources and studied in the
light which flows from the throne of God.
Our investigation is finished. We have seen that the same evidences
which are thought sufficient to establish the truth of the claims of
the Gospel as preached in early ages, apply with equal force to the
message delivered through Joseph the Prophet. Thousands upon thousands
are willing to bear their testimony that they know this to be so.
What can we do better than accept it? If true--and how can it be
otherwise--what an awful thing to reject it! No less interests than
life and salvation are at stake. When God speaks, our greatest wisdom
is clearly to hear and obey.
"Let the mountains shout for joy and all ye valleys cry aloud, and all
seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your eternal king. And ye rivers
and brooks and rills flow down with gladness. Let the woods, and all
the trees of the field praise the Lord, and ye solid rocks weep for
joy. And let the sun, moon and morning stars sing together, and let all
the sons of God shout for joy. And let the eternal creation declare His
name for ever and ever." (Doc. and Cov., Sec. cxxviii, 23).
{429}