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Andy Hobbs
THE RESTORATION OF THE GOSPEL
BY OSBORNE J. P. WIDTSOE, A. M.
Principal of the Latter-day Saints' High School
Salt Lake City, Utah
AN INTRODUCTION BY JOSEPH F. SMITH, JR.
_Of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles_
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
1912
TO MY DEAR MOTHER, WHO LED ME TO THE LAND OF THE RESTORATION, THIS BOOK
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
FOREWORD.
The following chapters on the subject of the _Restoration_ are the
outcome of an invitation to write, during the winter of 1910-11, a
series of lessons for the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association.
Chapters two to nineteen, inclusive, were written for the Association
and were printed, substantially as they appear in this book, in
the Young Woman's Journal. Chapters one, twenty, twenty-one and
twenty-three, were prepared especially for this volume. Chapter
twenty-two appeared as an independent article in the _Improvement Era_
some years ago.
The brief treatment of the Restoration of the Gospel herewith
presented to the public is not intended to be in any wise a history
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is at most a
story of the Restoration. It presumes at the outset that something
has been restored. It relates how this something was restored. Every
missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has
met these two questions when he has preached abroad the Gospel of
the Restoration:--What was restored? How was it restored? These
two questions the following chapters attempt to answer in part.
They consider the actual restoring of the necessary priesthood and
authorities to officiate for God, in God's stead; they consider the
organizing of the Church, of the quorums of the priesthood, of the
auxiliary associations, and of community and family life. Indeed,
these chapters are essentially the story of the restoration of divine
authority and correct organization. With these things restored, it
became necessary to set the world right in its knowledge of God, and
in its conception of the duties of man, and his relationship to the
kingdom of God. But these questions concern another phase of the story
of the restoration and must be left to a later book.
It is with pleasure that I acknowledge here my grateful appreciation
of the encouragement and assistance given me by my friends. The
General Board of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations
and the Guide Committee read the original manuscript. Elders Rulon
S. Wells and Joseph W. McMurrin, the Journal Committee appointed by
the First Presidency, also read and criticized the original manuscript.
Finally, Elders Charles W. Penrose, George F. Richards, and Joseph
F. Smith, Jr., read, by appointment of the First Presidency, the
complete manuscript as it was prepared to appear in book form. I wish
to thank all these brethren and sisters for their generous assistance
and invaluable suggestions. But while these committees have read the
manuscript and have passed favorable judgment upon it, it must be
remembered that the author alone is responsible for all errors here to
be found. Finally, I wish publicly to acknowledge my gratitude to my
brother. Dr. John A. Widtsoe, and to my mother, Mrs. Anna K. Widtsoe,
for much valuable help; and to my wife for her untiring devotion and
zeal in reading and correcting and perfecting. Were it not for the
encouragement of these many friends, I should not dare venture to put
forth the following chapters in book form.
O. J. P. W.
Salt Lake, Utah. Jan. 21, 1912.
CONTENTS.
Foreword
Introduction
I. A Religious Revival
II. A Vision of the Father and the Son
III. Seven Marks of the Great Apostasy
IV. The Restoration Predicted
V. An Angel Flying
VI. Hidden Gospel Records
VII. The Lesser Priesthood
VIII. The Higher Priesthood
IX. The Church of Jesus Christ
X. The Gospel Ordinances
XI. The Plan of Government
XII. The Spiritual Gifts
XIII. Sacred Writings of Old
XIV. A Sacred Book of Today
XV. The Keys of Gathering
XVI. The Fathers and the Children
XVII. The Gospel Brotherhood
XVIII. A New and Everlasting Covenant
XIX. The Vision of Glories
XX. In the Mouths of Witnesses
XXI. Further Witnesses to the Restoration
XXII. The Test of Section Sixty-seven
XXIII. The Testimony of the Martyrdom
INTRODUCTION.
Was there any need during the early part of the nineteenth century of
the Christian era for a restoration of the Gospel? Was there at that
time any need for a re-establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ?
These are vital questions that mean everything to the people of the
world. If the Gospel, as it was established by the Son of God, remained
on the earth from that day until the present, there was no necessity
for, and there could not have been, a restoration. If the Church of
Jesus Christ remained on the earth intact from the days of the Savior's
ministry when He commissioned His Apostles and sent them into all the
world to preach the Gospel, until the present day, it could not have
been reestablished. If the Church did remain, undefiled--the guardian
and advocate of the Gospel--then there was no need of the so-called
"reformation" of the middle ages. If the Church was taken away from
the earth, and the Gospel replaced by another which was a perverted,
defiled, and man-made system, nothing short of a restoration would
bring back to mankind that which was lost. Protestantism and the
"reformation" did not and could not remedy the evil.
That there was a need of a restoration of the Gospel and a
re-establishment of the Church, with the accompanying Priesthood and
power, is attested both by the pages of history and the doctrines and
practices of the religious world; for these things point unmistakably
to the fact of a universal departure from the Gospel and the Church
established by the Redeemer. That such a condition would be, was
clearly pointed out by many of the ancient prophets, who also foretold
the restoration that should take place previous to the second coming
of the Son of God. How any intelligent person can read and reflect
upon the many events that have taken place since the days of the
establishment of the Church by our Lord, to the present time, and not
fully realize that there was a universal departure from the true faith,
is a mystery. The strife, bloodshed, murders, bigotry and superstition,
that prevailed in the name of the Christian religion, point
conclusively to a departure from the faith. The pomp, the pride, the
improper exercise of authority, the changed ordinances and the weaving
of pagan philosophy into the religion of the people, the creation of
new offices in the ministry, and a thousand and one other things in the
practices and worship of those who professed to be followers of the
Lord, prove beyond reasonable question, the departure from the Gospel
that has been established by our Savior in the days of his Apostles,
and the absolute necessity of a restoration.
For many ages following the departure from the Gospel as it was
introduced by the Author of our Salvation, the world was under the
bondage of sin. All mankind, both clergy and laity, were united in the
fallacious belief that the canon of scripture was full and complete;
and, notwithstanding the predictions of those scriptures to the
contrary, had declared that there was to be no more revelation, neither
ministering of angels nor other heavenly manifestation of divine will.
Such things, said they, were no longer needed and had been done away.
The people, surrounded by spiritual darkness, were dependent upon
the dead letter or the written word, as that word was interpreted by
man-appointed and worldly-taught priests. Men who denied the authority
and power of the holy Priesthood had taken honor unto themselves,
changing the law and ordinances to suit their own convenience. There
was no vision, and the people were perishing because none were sent
with authority to teach them the order of heavenly things. The Holy
Spirit that was promised the true disciples by the Lord, as a guide
into all truth and which should show them things to come, and would
testify of the Father and the Son, had been withdrawn from mankind
because of iniquity and transgression. Spiritual darkness was supreme.
Pernicious superstitions and false traditions possessed the hearts
of the people. For a long time, principally during the "dark ages,"
individuals were forbidden even on pain of death, the sacred and divine
right of free thought and action. They were even denied their inherent
right to approach the throne of grace, read the scriptures, or give
vent to their heartfelt desires before the Lord in any manner not
approved by the ruling power that had fettered all men with its chains.
The least expression of free thought, of suspicion, of heretical
belief, even if it was without foundation in fact, was sufficient to
commit the offending person to the torture of the rack or perchance
the burning stake. Thousands upon thousands died martyrs at the hands
of bigotry and superstition, wrongfully in the name of the Christian
faith. Secret and individual prayers offered in a way not prescribed
by the priests of religion who controlled absolutely in such things,
were considered a menace to the welfare of the Church. For there was a
church; one of great wealth and splendor that held sway over all the
Christian world. Rulers of powerful nations paid homage to it, and at
times were publicly humiliated by its head whom they had angered, for
by him kings were made or dethroned at will, so great was his worldly
power. But this church was without divine authority. It had no divinely
appointed Priesthood. Its doctrines were perverted, and before it the
people bowed in submission in fear and trembling.
This awful state of affairs brought about the "reformation," when the
Lord raised up courageous men to shatter these fetters of bondage, that
freedom might be given to the people and the way prepared in part for
the re-establishment of truth, when the proper time should come. But
Luther and the other "reformers" were without the power and authority
to act in the name of the Lord. They, themselves, interpreting the
scriptures according to their human understandings, fell into many
grievous errors and established conflicting creeds until the world was
filled with churches and with priests who drew near to the Lord with
their lips, but were far removed from Him in their practices.
This was the condition of the religious world early in the nineteenth
century when the Lord revealed Himself to the youthful prophet, Joseph
Smith.
Joseph Smith did not come into the world merely as a reformer of false
religious forms and practices. He came in fulfilment of prophecy, as a
restorer of the true faith and worship of the Master, and to prepare
the way before His second coming. He came to usher in the glorious
dispensation of the Fulness of Times; that dispensation of the Gospel
spoken of by the prophets of old as the "time of restitution of all
things." The time, as Paul said to the Ephesian Saints, when "He [the
Lord] might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are
in heaven and which are on earth even in Him." He came to organize
the Church with the same officers, power, gifts and blessings that
it possessed in the primitive days. He came to prepare the way for
the millennial reign of universal peace by establishing anew the Holy
Priesthood with all its offices and powers--that authority by which
men officiate in the name of the Lord and their acts are valid in the
heavens. For, unlike the reformers, he was duly commissioned with this
authority which he received under the hands of heavenly messengers
who rightfully held it and were sent to bestow it upon his head. Like
the ancient prophets, he had the right to point out flagrant and
persistent errors in the doctrines of the churches, and the power to
teach them the true form of worship. He was commanded of the Lord and
commissioned to preach the Gospel and baptize the repentant believer
for the remission of his sins. He came as a new witness for the Father
and the Son, and testified afresh to all the world that Jesus was the
Christ, the only begotten Son of the eternal Father, who came to redeem
the world from sin. For he beheld the Father and the Son, and was
commanded to bear witness that they live. He shattered the notion which
universally prevailed that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost,
constitute one being, "without body, parts or passions." He taught man
that he was formed in the image of the Father, and that the Father and
the Son were personages with bodies that were as tangible as man's. He
destroyed the falsehood that little children were not redeemed through
the blood of Christ without baptism and went to eternal torment if
they died without being christened by a minister. He taught the world
that infants were without sin. He taught that baptism was for the
remission of sins and was immersion in water, and to be valid must
be performed by one who was properly commissioned to administer that
sacred ordinance. He overthrew the prevalent belief that sprinkling or
pouring of water on the head was recognized by the Lord as baptism.
He taught that a man could not be saved without repentance--that
confession of belief in the Savior was not enough to save him. He,
with others, received the keys of authority held by all the ancient
prophets in their various dispensations, by the laying on of their
hands, in fulfillment of the promise that there should be a restoration
of all things. Among these prophets of old who came to him was Elijah,
who committed unto him the keys of his dispensation as spoken of by
Malachi, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
hearts of the children to their fathers, lest the whole earth be
smitten with a curse at the coming of the great and dreadful day of
the Lord. Thus was introduced into the world again the doctrine of
universal salvation--the doctrine that the dead also may hear the
truth and be redeemed from sin on condition of their repentance and
acceptance of the ordinances performed by the living in their behalf.
He taught the eternity of the marriage covenant, and the perpetual
union of the family in the Celestial Kingdom of our Father, when the
contracting parties are sealed by the spirit of promise by one holding
the divine authority to officiate in these sacred ordinances. He taught
the literal gathering of Israel and the restoration of a remnant of the
Jews to their promised land and the rebuilding of Jerusalem as a holy
city. He gave to the world the Book of Mormon, a sacred history of the
ancient inhabitants of America, which contains the everlasting Gospel
as it was taught to them. He overturned the long-cherished error that
the heavens were as brass and no more revelation was to be received
from on high. Many other marvelous truths he taught to mankind as he
received them through divine revelation, correcting false beliefs and
placing again in the reach of the people the means of escape from their
sins and the judgment to come on condition of their repentance. Great
was the work that he performed under the direction and inspiration of
the Lord who commissioned him and ordained him to stand at the head of
the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, holding the keys of power
and authority on the earth to officiate in Jesus' name.
He should have been heralded by all the world as its greatest
benefactor since the days that redemption was made by the Son of
God. For he did more for the salvation of men in this world than
any other man, save Jesus only. Yet he was reviled, persecuted, and
finally martyred by wicked men and sealed his testimony with his
blood which testament is of force and will stand against all who
reject his message, at the last day at the judgment bar of God.
Notwithstanding the opposition that was made against him and his work
and the persecution he received from bigoted men, his teachings and
the work that he accomplished still live and are triumphant over every
opposition and attack that has been made against them. It must be
so, for it is the truth from heaven that he established, and it will
prevail and flourish until it conquers all things and fills the earth
to the universal praise and glory of the Father.
This book, prepared by Elder Osborne J. P. Widtsoe, dealing with the
important subject of the restoration of the everlasting Gospel, should
be read and its contents carefully considered by those who are seeking
after truth. It treats the restoration clearly, and places before the
people many things that have not been generally considered heretofore.
It will be a means of strengthening the faith of the youth of Israel
and will impart information that is invaluable. May the spirit of truth
accompany the work and rest upon all those who diligently read it with
a desire to learn of and profit by the restoration of the Gospel!
Joseph F. Smith, Jr.
The Restoration of the Gospel
I.
A RELIGIOUS REVIVAL.
The Smiths little thought when they moved in 1818 to the township
of Manchester, that their name would soon become known for good or
for ill the world over. The years before had been years of honor and
distinction in the community where they had lived. Robert Smith--the
first of the family in America--had emigrated from England in the year
1638; and for four generations his posterity lived in the little town
of Topsfield,[A] Massachusetts. They tilled the soil with faithfulness
and prospered, and were respected by their neighbors. All of them were
patriots, devoted to the cause of American liberty; some of them served
with courage and distinction in the great War of Independence. But
when the war was over, they retired to their farms--to their daily,
honorable toil. The head of the Smith family in 1818 was born in
Topsfield, too, in the year 1771. When a young man, however, he moved
with his father to Tunbridge, Vermont. There, young Smith acquired
a farm of his own, and married. There, through the trickery of his
associates in a commercial enterprise, he failed. But he paid honestly
every debt. He sold his farm; he sold his horses and his cattle; he
sold all that he had, and set out empty-handed for Palmyra, New York,
to start life anew. Two hundred acres of forest land he cleared and put
under cultivation. Then, in common with many others who were pioneering
in New York, Smith lost the newly broken farm because he could not meet
the final payment. Nothing daunted, however, Mr. Smith moved with his
family to Manchester township. There he secured a comfortable farm of
sixteen acres, and prepared to continue the quiet life of honest toil
and prosperity that had characterized his family since Robert Smith
first set foot on American soil. There was nothing about the Smiths in
1818 to indicate that their name would ever become known beyond their
immediate neighborhood.
[Footnote A: Robert Smith purchased two hundred eighty acres of land
partly in Boxford township, partly in Topsfield. For this reason he was
called Robert Smith of Boxford.]
In the spring of 1820, however, Manchester, with other parts of
western New York, was swept by a wave of religious revival. Religious
revivals were not uncommon in the century that is past. The people of
the Christian world were then more susceptible to religious emotion
than they are today. Those of the American frontier were especially
very generally devoted to the cause of religion. They read the Bible
prayerfully, and they attended to the worship of God on the Sabbath
day. But they did not, of course, understand perfectly the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus. Disputes arose often among them--disputes on questions
of doctrine between the votaries of the various denominational sects.
For then, as now, there existed an unauthorized number of differing
creeds. And these disputes led often to unfortunate defections. Truly,
the house of God should not be a house of turmoil; when strife and
confusion arose, it is no wonder that many, who looked for peace and
order, should become indifferent to the affairs the Church. When there
was but one accepted Christian church, and that one universal in its
authority, it was still sufficiently difficult to secure faithful
observance of church ritual. When the Christian world became broken
into hundreds of contending sects--and no one of them nearly universal
in its authority--it became measurably more difficult to hold the
religious interest of the people. It was, then, when there occurred a
kind of apostasy from spiritual things that religious revivals were
held such as that which came to Manchester in the spring of 1820.
The revival movement of that year seems to have originated with the
Methodists in the winter of 1819. Rapidly, however, it spread from
sect to sect, and from village to village, until every denomination
in western New York was affected by it. The ministers--most prominent
among whom were the Reverend Mr. Stockton of the Presbyterian church
and the Reverend Mr. Lane of the Methodist church--united in the
effort to bring about a spiritual awakening. They did what lay in
their power to do to inspire religious enthusiasm. They professed
that they cared not with what sect a man might later ally himself, so
only he "got religion" and became "converted." Thus, the Methodists,
the Presbyterians, the Baptists, and all other denominations there
represented, seemed to co-operate unitedly, and in love, to bring about
the greatest good for the people concerned.
And the people responded encouragingly to the efforts of the
ministerial body. Those who lived in the cities attended the revival
meetings in throngs; those who lived far away flocked to the larger
centers to take part in the spiritual awakening. The leaders preached
eloquent, emotional sermons. They marshaled their arguments with
masterly skill. They wrought upon the fears of the people till they
became stirred to the very depths of their souls. Often these revival
meetings were productive of marvelous manifestations. The great revival
of Kentucky, in 1800, seems to have been in a way the beginning and
inspiration of a long series of revivals in following years. The
meetings held there were typical of the revival in general; we turn to
descriptions of them to learn how they were conducted, and how they
were characterized. Professor J. B. Turner of Illinois College says,
"The people were accustomed to assemble, sometimes to the number of ten
or twelve thousand, and they often continued together, in devotional
exercises, for several days and nights. Here the people were sometimes
seized with general tremor, the pulse grew weaker, their breathing
difficult, and, at long intervals, their hands and feet became cold,
and finally they fell, and both pulse and breath, and all symptoms of
life forsook them for nearly an hour, during which time they suffered
no pain, and were perfectly conscious of their condition and knew what
was passing around them.
"At one time during service, several shrieks were uttered, and people
fell in all directions. Not less than one thousand fell at one meeting.
Their outward expressions of devotion consisted in alternate singing,
crying, laughing, shouting, and every variety of violent motion, of
which the muscular system is capable. These violent motions they soon
became unable to resist. They were violently thrown upon the ground by
the convulsions, where their motions 'resembled those of a fish upon
land.' This disease lasted through several years, in some cases, _and
propagated itself by sympathetic imitation, from one to another_,[B]
with astonishing rapidity; in crowds, and often in small assemblies."[C]
[Footnote B: The italics are the present writer's.]
[Footnote C: Turner, "Mormonism in All Ages" (1842), pp. 272,273.]
Another professor, writing of the same remarkable phenomena, says,
"It happened that in the summer of 1799 two McGee brothers, William,
a Presbyterian, and John, a Methodist, when crossing the pine barrens
in Ohio, determined to turn aside and visit a sacramental solemnity
at Red River. * * * Several preachers spoke. First John McGee, the
Methodist, and never, as he says himself, did he preach with more light
and liberty. Then his Presbyterian brother and the Rev. Mr. Hodge spoke
with much animation and power. While the latter was discoursing, a
woman in the east end of the house, unable to repress the violence of
her emotions, gave vent to them with shoutings loud and long. At the
close of the sermon the other ministers went out, but the two McGees
and the people seemed loath to depart. 'William felt such a power
come over him that _he quit his seat and sat down on the floor of the
pulpit, I suppose not knowing what he did_. A power which caused me to
tremble was upon me. There was a solemn weeping all over the house.
At length I rose up and exhorted them to let the Lord God Omnipotent
reign in their hearts, and submit to Him, and their souls should live.
Many broke silence. The woman in the east end of the house shouted
tremendously. I left the pulpit and went through the audience shouting
and exhorting with all possible ecstasy and energy, and the floor was
soon covered with the slain.' * * * Upon the return home, they rushed
into the arms of their friends, shouting and telling what wonderful
things God had done for their souls."[D]
[Footnote D: Davenport, "Primitive Traits in Religious Revivals," pp.
69, 70--Resume of a letter written by John McGee.]
It was such a revival movement as this that came to Palmyra and
Manchester in 1820. "The seriousness began at Palmyra," we are told.
"The youth and children seem to be roused up to enquire, _What
must we do to be saved?_ A few drops from the cloud of glory have
fallen upon Pittstown. There is uncommon attention to public worship
in Canandaigua. It has been difficult during the winter to get
places large enough to accommodate, or even contain the people. The
countenance of many show how anxious their minds are to know how they
may flee from the wrath to come."[E]
[Footnote E: J. H. Hotchkin, "A History of the Purchase and Settlement
of Western New York," pp. 36, 37.]
And thus the revival progressed from day to day, the ministers working
harmoniously together in the common purpose of waking the spiritual
interests of the people. When, however, the time came for those who
had "experienced religion" to profess their party allegiance, it
became apparent that the seeming good-will between the sects did not
extend below the surface. The ministers began then to contend one
with another. The noise and confusion of the sometimes fanatic gospel
meetings had been great; but the confusion that followed now was
greater and of a more serious kind. Standing in their tent-doors, as it
were, the ministers cried to the sorely perplexed new converts, "Lo,
here is Christ!" "Lo, here." "The Reverend Mr. Stockton * * * insisted
that the work done was largely Presbyterian work as he had been a
dominating influence in the movement, and presided at the meetings.
The Reverend Mr. Lane of the Methodist church preached a sermon on
the subject, 'What Church Shall I Join?' He quoted the golden text of
James, 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.'"[F]
And to the confusion of the scene was added bitterness; for, not
only did the newly converted not know with what church to associate
themselves, but the pseudoministers of God strove among themselves, the
one maligning the other. From a well-meant spiritual revival, begun
in religious zeal and conducted apparently in brotherly love, there
resulted finally bitterness and contention because there was no unity
among the professing followers of Christ. The newly converted were
hardly better off after their conversion than they were before it.
[Footnote F: B. H. Roberts, "History of the Mormon Church," in
Americana. Vol. IV, No. 6, p. 614.]
Meanwhile, there was present during this strenuous religious revival in
Manchester, a rather serious-minded boy of some fourteen years of age.
He was the fourth child of the Smiths. The Smiths themselves were in
the main attracted by the doctrines of the Presbyterians. But Joseph
did not know what he should do. He attended the revival meetings. He
witnessed the violent manifestations of religious emotion. Undoubtedly,
he was deeply affected at times by the excessive demonstrations of
his associates and friends. But through it all, he maintained a
perfect self-control. Never once was he so overcome by his emotions
that he took part in the excitement of his friends. He stood calmly,
thoughtfully by--a spectator, puzzled, perplexed. "During this time
of great excitement," he wrote in his manhood, "my mind was called up
to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings
were deep and often poignant, still I kept myself aloof from all these
parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion
would permit. In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the
Methodist sect; but so great were the confusion and strife among the
different denominations that it was impossible for a person young as I
was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain
conclusion who was right and who was wrong. My mind at times was
greatly excited, the cry and tumult were so great and incessant. The
Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists,
and used all the powers of both reason and sophistry to prove their
errors, or, at least, to make the people think they were in error. On
the other hand, the Baptists and Methodists in their turn were equally
zealous in endeavoring to establish their own tenets and disprove all
others."[G]
[Footnote G: "History of the Church," Vol. I, pp. 3,4.]
Under such conditions it is hardly to be wondered at that the boy was
troubled in mind. The wonder is that he, too, was not overcome by the
emotional excitement of the day. Perhaps no fact of psychology is
better established than this, that the mental and nervous organizations
of like-minded people "respond in like ways to the same stimuli." With
the religious folk of the Manchester revival this boy was undoubtedly
sympathetically like-minded. Yet, he did not yield to the emotional
impulses that seized upon his friends; and that, too, in spite of
the fact further asserted by psychologists and sociologists, that
sympathetically like-minded people "are not likely to have their
primitive and instinctive nervous tendencies and mental traits under
the governance of the higher inhibitory centers;" and that "the
nervously unstable, the suggestible, the _inexperienced_[H] [are]
affected by the highly emotional revival earlier than the dignified and
intelligent people of judgment and standing."[I] This boy of fourteen
years was inexperienced; his standing in the eyes of the world was nil;
yet, his primitive and instinctive tendencies and mental traits seemed
to be well under the governance of the higher inhibitory centers.
[Footnote H: Italics are present writer's.]
[Footnote I: Davenport, "Primitive Traits in Religious Revivals," pp.
2, 3.]
Professor Frederick Morgan Davenport, whom I have already quoted,
says further in his treatise of the primitive traits of religious
revivals, that, "we must bear in mind constantly that the effect of a
sympathetic religious movement is greatly increased by the massing of
men and women in a psychological 'crowd,' a camp meeting for instance.
* * The natural result of the assembling of men in crowds, especially
when skilful speakers engage their attention and play upon the chords
of imagination and emotion, seems to be the weakening of the power of
inhibition in each individual, and the giving of free reign to feeling
and imitation. * * * This will be most in evidence among primitive,
superstitious and unlettered people, of course, for civilization
shows itself in nothing more clearly than in the growing capacity for
individual self-control, but they will also appear in the relatively
high stages of culture and experience if the combination of conditions,
physical, mental and social, is strong enough to develop them. In fact
there is no population, there are comparatively few individuals in any
population who cannot be swept from the moorings of reason and balanced
judgment if brought under the mysterious and potent influence of the
psychological 'crowd.'" [J]
[Footnote J: Davenport, "Primitive Traits in Religious Revivals," pp.
9, 10.]
The boy, Joseph Smith, was present in the massing of men and women,
in a "psychological crowd," so-called, in a camp-meeting even. There
were skilful speakers present to engage the attention and to play upon
the chords of imagination and emotion. While he was neither wholly
primitive, nor very superstitious, he was, to be sure, unlettered.
He had certainly not passed through the higher stages of culture
and experience. Indeed, there was present in him a combination of
conditions--physical, mental, and social--that would lead one to expect
in him the usual display of emotional excitement in a sympathetic
religious movement. Yet, he displayed unusual self-restraint through
it all. He was not "brought under the mysterious and potent influence
of the psychological 'crowd.'" He confesses to experiencing feelings
both deep and poignant, and to becoming excited at times; yet he
kept himself aloof from all the contending parties. He seemed to
possess a strongly developed "capacity for individual self-control."
He became somewhat partial to the Methodists; but since he could not
determine, amid such scenes of confusion and strife, whether or not
they were wholly right, he refrained from allying himself with any
sect. While his friends and associates lost themselves in a kind of
religious frenzy, this boy, scarce fourteen years of age, asserted his
independence of thought and feeling, and held himself aloof from the
religious excitement of his day.
However, it must not be forgotten that his mind was exercised over
religious conditions. He longed to know the truth. He sought earnestly
to find it out. And in a condition of calmness, clearness of vision and
perfect self-control--perplexed in mind, but not weakened by emotion or
excitement--Joseph Smith, Junior, sought the Lord in prayer.
From that moment, almost, the name of the Smiths became known the world
over for good or for ill.
II.
A VISION OF THE FATHER AND THE SON.
It was a clear, beautiful morning in the early spring. Joseph Smith,
the boy, awoke from his slumbers with an insistent desire to know
what church he should join. The revival was drawing to a close. If
he were to be "converted" during the progress of the revival, he
must "get religion" soon. Yet, he could not determine which of the
contending sects was right. Only one thing seemed indelibly impressed
upon his mind. It was the sermon of his friend, the Rev. Mr. Lane of
the Methodist church, and the golden text of James. That, especially,
seemed to weigh upon him. He found the text in his own Bible, and read
again the golden words,
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
The words sank deep into the boy's heart. He pondered them earnestly.
Surely, he lacked wisdom; for he did not know what he would best do to
serve the Lord. Then, if the Lord gave freely to those who asked, and
upbraided not, why should he not ask? The question recurred again and
again. At length, he determined that he must forever remain ignorant
of the truth, or he must seek the Lord in prayer according to the
admonition of James. On this beautiful morning in the spring of 1820,
then, Joseph Smith retired into the nearby wood to pray. It was the
first time in his life that he had made such a venture. "Amidst all my
anxieties," he wrote in the story of his life, "I had never yet made
the attempt to pray vocally."[A]
[Footnote A: "Pearl of Great Price," p. 84.]
What followed in the sacred grove is best described in the Prophet's
own words:
"After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to
go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down
and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely
done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which
entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as
to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered
around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden
destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver
me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the
very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to
destruction--not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual
being: from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had
never before felt in any being--just at this moment of great alarm, I
saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the
sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
"It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the
enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two
personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing
above me in the air. One of them spoke to me, calling me by name, and
said, pointing to the other--
"'THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, HEAR HIM!'
"My object in going to enquire of the Lord was to know which of all the
sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore,
did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked
the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects
was right--and which I should join. I was answered that I must join
none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed
me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that
those professors were all corrupt; that 'they draw near me with their
lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the
commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the
power thereof.' He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many
other things did He say unto me, which I cannot write at this time.
When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking
up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but
soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the
fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, 'Never mind,
all is well--I am well enough off.' I then said to my mother, 'I have
learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.'"
Such was the first vision--a vision of the Father and the Son. It
was the first act in the great drama of the Restoration. Of course,
Joseph's friends could scarcely believe that anything so wonderful had
happened to him. He related the strange experience to the ministers;
but they scoffed at the suggestion of a new revelation. Moreover, they
became suddenly possessed of a bitter and inexplicable hatred of the
young seer. They made him a public butt of ridicule; they maligned
him in their discourses; and they persecuted him when he came among
them. For having exercised a remarkable "capacity for individual
self-control"; for having sought from the Lord Himself to know the
truth; for testifying that he had received the truth in a vision--the
boy seer was cast off by his fellow-men and doomed to stand alone. But
"I had actually seen a light," he wrote in after years, "and in the
midst of that light I saw two personages, and they did in reality speak
to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen
a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling
me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I
was led to say in my heart. Why persecute me for telling the truth? * *
* For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and
I could not deny it, neither dared I do it, at least I knew that by so
doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation."[B]
[Footnote B: "History of the Church," Vol. I, pp. 6-8.]
And what really was the significance of this first vision? Of what
consequence was a boy's prophetic sight that the world should take
cognizance of it? What great far-reaching truths did the vision
contain, that the religious world should still writhe under it?
In the first place, the experience of the boy-prophet demonstrated the
fact that the word of God is good; it holds for anyone who approaches
Him in faith. The sectarian world had come to look upon the Holy Bible
as little more than any other book. It was to be read, but not to be
believed, so to say. But Joseph took seriously the word of God as
announced by the prophet James. The boy prayed earnestly and honestly;
and in answer to his prayer came the glorious vision of the Father and
the Son. The word of God is truth, not fiction.
Secondly, this first experience of the prophet revealed the fact that
spiritual gifts may be enjoyed even in this day by those who seek the
Lord in truth. Anciently, men dreamed dreams, saw visions, spoke in
tongues, healed the sick, and did many other strange things by the
power of the Lord. Just such things may men do now by the exercise of
proper faith. It was thus that Joseph gained the spiritual blessings of
the first vision.
Then, in this vision was first announced the fact of the great
apostasy. Jesus Himself denounced all the denominations of the world,
saying that they worshiped Him with their lips but their hearts were
far from Him. He admonished the young boy who had sought Him in prayer
to join no one of them. Moreover, it appears on analysis of the
vision, that Jesus could accept none of the ministers who purported to
serve Him. They taught for doctrine the precepts of men. They held no
authority from Jesus. And to preach in His name, surely the preacher
should hold authority from Him.
Then, this glorious first vision demonstrated the fact of the
personality of God. Two heavenly beings appeared before the prophet.
They were in form and bearing like men. The one raised His hand and
pointed to the other and spoke. The other instructed the boy, as a
tutor might instruct his pupil. Moreover, in this same vision was
clearly demonstrated the fact that the members of the Godhead are
separate and distinct persons.
Finally, the vision established the fact that God can and will speak
to man whenever He chooses so to do, in any age. Indeed, when the
Church of Christ is upon the earth, there must also be revelation, or
communication with God. When revelation ceases, the true church also
ceases, for it drifts like a rudderless ship from its course.
These points, then, are demonstrated by the first vision of Joseph
Smith:--the word of God is to be relied upon; spiritual gifts will
attend the faithful even at the present day; the Christian churches
of the world are without authority; the God of heaven is a God of
personal, tangible form; the members of the Godhead are separate and
distinct in person; and, finally, the Church of Christ must be favored
with continued revelation, else it must suffer spiritual death. But
all these points were contrary to the doctrines of both Catholic and
Protestant churches. In upholding them, the boy-prophet aroused against
himself the opposition of the whole religious world. Is it a matter of
wonder, then, that the name of Joseph Smith is known the world over
for good or for ill? Is it a matter of wonder that the religious world
should take cognizance of the boy's prophetic sight, or that it should
writhe under the arraignment of the first vision? Is it not rather a
matter of wonder and admiration, that the boy, scarce fourteen years
old, evilly spoken of and persecuted, should still persist in his
testimony that he had seen a vision? And from that first vision what
further has grown adds further to the wonder and admiration of the boy
selected to usher in another dispensation.
III.
SEVEN MARKS OF THE GREAT APOSTASY.
Perhaps the most important count in the arraignment of Joseph Smith's
first vision is that the Christian world has departed from the simple
Gospel of the Lord Jesus. "They draw near me with their lips, but their
hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the commandments of
men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof," the
Lord said to the prophet in speaking of the Christian denominations.
And, surely, the tumult, the strife, the confusion of such religious
revivals as that of 1820, are sufficient evidence that the words of the
Savior were true. "One Lord, one faith, one baptism"[A] had been the
doctrine of Jesus and the apostles. In 1820, there were many faiths,
and many baptisms.
[Footnote A: Eph. 4:1-13.]
That this condition should exist in the religious world of the
nineteenth century, was only a natural consequence in the course of
history. Jesus and the apostles had taught in early times the Gospel in
its pure simplicity. Soon after the passing of the apostles, however,
the Christian church had departed from the orthodox doctrines of the
Lord, and had become corrupt in many ways. Persecution, waged by both
the Jews and the Gentiles, was in part responsible for the great
apostasy; but possibly prosperity, and the adoption of Christianity
as the state form of worship, were even more productive of a general
abandonment of the religious doctrines taught by Jesus and the
apostles. In a general way, there are seven points in which the
apostasy of the early Christian church is marked.
In the first place, the doctrine of the Godhead became greatly
changed soon after the apostolic age. It had been taught that man
was made in the image of God; that, therefore, God was a person of
body and parts. Jesus, the one perfect man to take upon Him flesh,
was in the express image of God the Father.[B] There soon grew in the
church, however, diverse opinions of the nature of God. He became
an inconceivable immateriality with boundless power. The result in
modern doctrine is a kind of divine nonentity, everywhere present
yet nowhere to be found--an impossible being with neither shape nor
dimension, with neither parts nor passions, but who, nevertheless,
abides in an undefined place called Heaven, and loves the children of
earth. Moreover, the doctrine of the unity, or the trinity, of the
Godhead also became perverted in the early church. It had been taught
that there were three beings in the Godhead--the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost; separate and distinct in person, but one--that is
united--in purpose and action. After the passing of the apostles it was
taught that these three were only one:--"the Father is God, the Son is
God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and yet they are not three Gods but one
God."[C]
[Footnote B: Gen. 1:26, 27; 5:1-3; Heb. 1:1-3.]
[Footnote C: Athanasian Creed.]
In the second place, the doctrine of the necessity of divine authority
became wholly ignored. The men of old understood that they might not
assume of their own accord to officiate in the things of God. Jesus
stated the doctrine tersely when He said to His apostles, "Ye have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you."[D] In later times,
however, it became popular for men to elect the office of priest or
minister. At the present time men choose the calling of preacher as
they do that of lawyer or doctor. They seek positions that confer upon
the holders worldly recognition and riches.
[Footnote D: Heb. 4; II Pet. 1:21; John 15:16-19.]