Produced by the Mormon Texts Project
(http://mormontextsproject.org), with thanks to Jenna Dilts
and Villate Brown McKitrick
SATURDAY NIGHT THOUGHTS
A Series of Dissertations on Spiritual, Historical
and Philosophic Themes
BY ORSON F. WHITNEY
Of the Council of the Twelve, Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH:
THE DESERET NEWS
1921
FOREWORD
Most of the contents of this volume appeared originally as a series
of articles in Saturday issues of the Deseret Evening News, beginning
October 26, 1918, and ending May 31, 1919. As stated by the News,
these articles "were designed to fill in some degree a spiritual void
and meet a special need of those who were in the habit of attending
Sunday services, but were denied that privilege by the prevalence of
the influenza epidemic." That epidemic caused a suspension of public
gatherings for several months, and even made necessary the postponement
of one General Conference of the Church.
It was during this period of suspension that these contributions to the
Church organ began. They were given place on the editorial page, and
subsequently the News said of them: "These 'Thoughts' have subserved a
far more than temporary and passing purpose--they have stimulated study
and deep reflection, and they have been greatly enjoyed and prized by
the thoughtful reader everywhere."
Among those who uttered similar sentiments was President George H.
Brimhall, of the Brigham Young University, who, in a letter to the
author, expressed the hope that provision would be made for publication
of the essays in book form, "thus adding one more choice volume to
Latter-day Saint literature, especially suited to the needs of students
at home and missionaries abroad." Like expressions came from President
Heber J. Grant, Senator Reed Smoot, President John A. Widtsoe, of the
University of Utah, and many other prominent people.
In response to this cordial, widespread sentiment of appreciation,
and under the sanction of the General Authorities of the Church, the
"Saturday Night Thoughts" were compiled for republication, and the
result is here presented.
May, 1921
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS
_Part One--Our Place In History_
Article One: The Saturday Evening of Time
Article Two: The Watch On The Tower
Article Three: Concerning Names and Vocations
Article Four: The Choice Seer
Article Five: The Land of Zion
_Part Two--Seership and Prophecy_
Article Six: What Joseph Beheld
Article Seven: What Joseph Foretold
Article Eight: Looking Westward
Article Nine: The Place of Safety
_Part Three.--A Marvel and a Wonder_
Article Ten: The Wisdom That Perishes
Article Eleven: The God Story
Article Twelve: The Great Vicissitudes
Article Thirteen: The Gospel Dispensations
_Part Four.--A Glance Down the Ages_
Article Fourteen: The Adamic Age
Article Fifteen: Enoch and His City
Article Sixteen: Noah and the Deluge
Article Seventeen: Abraham and the House of Israel
Article Eighteen: Moses and Aaron
Article Nineteen: To the Ends of the Earth
_Part Five.--In Time's Meridian_
Article Twenty: The Lamb of God
Article Twenty-one: The Special Witnesses
_Part Six.--The Era of Restitution_
Article Twenty-two: The Call of the Shepherd
Article Twenty-three: The Zion of Latter Days
Article Twenty-four: Redemption by Power
Article Twenty-five: Clearing the Way
Article Twenty-six: God's Hand Upon the Nations
Article Twenty-seven: The Consummation
_Part Seven.--Powers and Principles_
Article Twenty-eight: The Priesthood
Article Twenty-nine: Church Government
Article Thirty: The Law of Obedience
Article Thirty-one: The Divine Doorway
Article Thirty-two: The Second Birth
Article Thirty-three: Meaning and Mode of Baptism
Article Thirty-four: The Gospel's Accessories
Article Thirty-five: What Are Miracles?
Article Thirty-six: The Mainspring of Power
_Part Eight.--Beyond the Horizon_
Article Thirty-seven: The Spirit World
Article Thirty-eight: Spirit Promptings
Article Thirty-nine: Do the Dead Return?
Article Forty: The Goal Eternal
NAMES AND ABBREVIATIONS
The usual Bible abbreviations are retained.
Hist. Ch. stands for History of the Church.
D. & C. for Doctrine and Covenants.
Nephi, Jacob, Omni, Mormon, Mosiah, Alma and Ether, will be recognized
as names belonging to the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Moses, shortened to Moses, and the Book of Abraham,
abbreviated to Abr., will be found within the lids of the Pearl of
Great Price.
Other abbreviations, such as vol. for volume, p. or pp. for page or
pages, v. or vv. for verse or verses and ib. for ibid (the same) are in
such common use as scarcely to require mention.
PART ONE
OUR PLACE IN HISTORY
Saturday Night Thoughts
ARTICLE ONE.
_The Saturday Evening of Time._
_The Sixth Day._--Saturday, in Christian lands, is a day set apart for
house-cleaning, a time for "putting things to rights," in preparation
for the Sabbath, the sacred day of rest. Preliminary to the condition
of purity, order and quietness especially desirable on that day,
the house, in domestic parlance, is "upset"--"turned topsy-turvy."
Furniture is moved and dusted, floors are scrubbed, windows cleaned,
and stoves polished; the body is bathed, all rubbish burned, and
everything done that ought to be done, so that when night is past and
glorious morning dawns, the rising sun can smile approvingly on a
renovated, sweet and wholesome scene, and the Lord's Day be kept, as He
intended it should be, in cleanliness, which is "next to godliness."
Is there not something symbolical in all this--something suggestive of
things higher?
_All Things Symbolical._--"All things are in a scale," says Plato; "and
begin where we will, ascend and ascend. All things are symbolical; and
what we call results are beginnings." [1] If this be true, then is
there a symbolism in small things as well as in great, in endings as
well as beginnings, including the ending and beginning of the week.
Saturday and Sunday are both symbolical, each suggesting and pointing
to something above and beyond.
_The World's Sabbath._--Who among men first recognized in the seventh
day a symbol of Christ's Millennial reign, I know not. The reign
itself was the theme of a revelation as early as the days of Enoch.
[2] But it is obvious that the symbolism of the seventh day does not
stand alone. The idea of a greater Sunday carries with it the idea of
a greater Saturday, of which all lesser Saturdays are typical; a time
of agitation, of strenuous toil and strife, during which all will be
made ready for the blest sabbatic era, the period of universal peace.
The World's Saturday Night must necessarily precede the World's Sunday
Morning. [3]
_The Apocalyptic Book._--The symbolism of the Sabbath, and the
symbolism of other days as well, is plainly indicated in the writings
of Joseph Smith. In one place he says--or the Lord says through him:
"All things have their likeness, and are made to bear record of Me."
[4] We need not be surprised, therefore, to find among the Prophet's
teachings this--I quote now from his Key to the Apocalypse:
"What are we to understand by the book which John saw, which was sealed
on the back with seven seals? [5]
"We are to understand that it contains the revealed will, mysteries,
and works of God; the hidden things of his economy concerning this
earth during the seven thousand years of its continuance, or its
temporal existence.
"What are we to understand by the sounding of the trumpets, mentioned
in the 8th chapter of Revelations?
"We are to understand that as God made the world in six days, and
on the seventh day he finished his work and sanctified it, and also
formed man out of the dust of the earth; even so, in the beginning
of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth,
and complete the salvation of man, and judge all things--unto the end
of all things; and the sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels
are the preparing and finishing of his work in the beginning of the
seventh thousand years--the preparing of the way before the time of his
coming." [6]
Seven Great Days.--The "days" here referred to were not ordinary days
of twenty-four hours each, based upon earth's diurnal revolutions. He
who "made the world" before placing man upon it, had not then appointed
unto Adam his reckoning. [7] They were not man's days, but God's days,
each having a duration of a thousand years.
"The book which John saw" represented the real history of the
world--what the eye of God has seen, what the recording angel has
written; and the seven thousand years, corresponding to the seven
seals of the Apocalyptic volume, are as seven great days during which
Mother Earth will fulfill her mortal mission, laboring six days and
resting upon the seventh, her period of sanctification. These seven
days do not include the period of our planet's creation and preparation
as a dwelling place for man. They are limited to Earth's "temporal
existence," that is, to Time, considered as distinct from Eternity.
_According to Kolob._--The Prophet's translation of the Book of Abraham
explains that these greater days are "after the time" or according to
the reckoning of Kolob, a mighty governing planet nearest the Celestial
Throne, a planet revolving once in a thousand years. [8] This period,
then, is a day upon Kolob. One might well suppose such a day to have
figured in the warning given to Adam: "In the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die;" [9] for Adam, after eating of the
forbidden fruit, lived on to the age of nine hundred and thirty years.
[10] St. Peter may have had the same thing in mind when he wrote: "One
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day." [11]
_At the Week's End._--According to received chronology--admittedly
imperfect, yet approximately correct--four thousand years, or four
of the seven great days given to this planet as the period of its
"temporal existence," had passed before Christ was crucified; while
nearly two thousand years have gone by since. Consequently, Earth's
long week is now drawing to a close, and we stand at the present moment
in the Saturday Evening of Time, at or near the end of the sixth day
of human history. Is it not a time for thought, a season for solemn
meditation? Morning will break upon the Millennium, the thousand years
of peace, the Sabbath of the World!
_House-Cleaning in Progress._--Marvel not, therefore, that all things
are in commotion. War, famine, pestilence, earthquake, tempest and
tidal wave--these are among the predicted signs of the Savior's
second coming. [12] Tyranny and wickedness must be overthrown, and the
way prepared for Him who, though gracious and merciful to all, and
forgiving to sinners who repent, "cannot look upon sin with the least
degree of allowance." [13] Earth must be freed from oppression and
cleansed from all iniquity. It is God's House; and He is coming to live
in it, and to make of it a glorified mansion. House-cleaning is in
progress, and Saturday's work must be done and out of the way, before
the Lord of the Sabbath appears.
Footnotes
1. "Plato," Emerson's "Representative Men," Altemus edition, 1895, p.
71.
2. Moses 7:48, 61, 64.
3. "Rabbinical commentators have expressed the opinion that after six
millenniums of years, there will come a seventh, with rest and peace.
Paul (2 Thess. 1:7) points to the coming of Christ as the time when
the Saints would find 'rest;' and he also argues (Heb. 4:1-11) that
there remaineth a 'rest' to the people of God. The word he uses means a
'sabbathism' or sabbath observance, and he refers to the coming of the
Lord."--J. M. Sjodahl.
4. Moses 6:63.
5. Rev. 5 and 6.
6. D. and C. 77:6, 12.
7. Abr. 5:13.
8. Abr. 3:4.
9. Gen. 2:17.
10. Ib. 5:5. This, of course, refers to the temporal life. Adam died
spiritually as soon as he had transgressed the divine command. Shut out
from the Heavenly Presence, he was dead as to the things of the Spirit.
(D. and C. 29:40, 41.)
11. 2 Peter 3:8.
12. Matt. 24; D. and C. 87, 88.
13. D. and C. 1:31, 32.
ARTICLE TWO.
_The Watch on the Tower._
_"Haunted Houses."_--Several years since, a learned gentleman was
lecturing in some of our Utah towns, taking for his theme "Haunted
Houses." That was his way of describing the situation of those who put
faith in prophets, visions and revelations, as among the means whereby
God communicates with man. He invited all such to come out of their
"haunted houses," and build for their souls "more stately mansions,"
founded upon the rock of reason and scientific truth. The lecturer had
special reference, of course, to the followers of the Prophet Joseph
Smith.
_A Fundamental Belief._--A belief in prophets and in spiritual
gifts, whereby come visions, revelations, and miraculous "signs,"
following and confirming full and true belief, [1] is fundamental
with the Latter-day Saints. We regard the founding of our Church as a
fulfillment of prophecy, [2] and recognize in the decadence of long
established systems of religion, a result of failure to be guided
and governed by the teachings and warnings of men divinely inspired.
"Where there is no vision, the people perish." [3] Where there is no
revelation, spiritual darkness reigns.
_Not a Chance World._--We are not living in a world of chance. Things
do not occur haphazardly, without the care or cognizance of the
omniscient and omnipotent Ruler. Not a sparrow falls to the ground
without his notice. Design, not accident, governs the universe.
Neither man nor Satan, though exercising to the full his free agency,
can possibly thwart the Divine Will. With all their schemings and
strivings, they are powerless to destroy or disarrange God's Plan, or
to hinder the fulfillment of prophecy. All things, both the evil and
the good, are overruled in a way to subserve one and the same great
end--_What Eternal Wisdom decreed before the foundation of the world_.
_The Function of Prophecy._--The need for prophecy must be evident to
any pious and reflective mind. Prophets are as watchmen on the tower,
noting the time of night, telling of the approaching dawn. "Surely the
Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants
the prophets." [4] This means, as I interpret it, that the all-wise
Dispenser of human affairs will neither cause nor permit any event to
take place, concerning which the world need to have fore-knowledge,
until he has communicated with his chosen servants, his oracles among
men, and has given them due notice of its approach.
To warn mankind of impending judgments; to prepare His people, and
through them the world at large, for changes that must come in the
carrying out of the divine program--changes necessary to human
progress--is the function of those who see into the future and make
known the word and will of the Universal Father.
_Time for Preparation._--Even without the Prophet Amos and his inspired
utterance, we have every reason to feel assured, from what we know of
the divine attributes, that God, in his dealings with man, harbors no
intent to take what is known as "a snap judgment." His object being to
save, not to destroy, it is very far from his design that the world
shall be caught unawares, that men or nations shall be involved in
trouble of which they have had no warning, and for which, consequently,
they could make no preparation. The promised sending of Elijah the
Prophet "before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord,"
was in order that certain things might be done which, if left undone,
would cause that "coming" to "smite the earth with a curse." [5]
Not that the Lord wishes to curse. His object, even in chastisement, is
to bless. [6] But a want of preparedness can change a blessing into a
curse. Messiah's glorious appearing will be a wonderful blessing to the
earth and its inhabitants, provided they are made ready for it. But a
lack of readiness on their part would convert the boon into a calamity.
Hence the need of preparation and of previous notice. Whether weal or
woe is wending its way earthward, it is only fair that men should be
told of it in advance.
_The Supernatural Discredited._--But there is a proneness in human
nature to discredit the Heaven-sent messenger. Almost invariably the
supernatural is discounted, if not derided, by ultra-practical minds.
All miracles are myths to the agnostic intellect. "The natural man is
an enemy to God."
_Dead Prophets Preferred._--Even those who revere the prophets of
the past are tempted to ignore the prophets of the present. It seems
natural to turn from What Is and bow down to What Has Been. Not only
prophets, but poets, philosophers, and other wise and worthy teachers
have been treated in this manner.
"Seven cities claimed the birth of Homer, dead,
Through which the living Homer begged for bread."
The Savior reproved the pious unbelievers of his generation for
"garnishing the sepulchres of the righteous," the dead seers and
revelators, and at the same time rejecting the living worthies, as
their fathers had done before them. [7] A professed reverence for Moses
and the old-time prophets was a prominent characteristic of those who
spurned the greatest of all prophets, the very Son of God, concerning
whom Moses and other seers had testified. And this same spirit, the
spirit that crucified the Christ, has caused the martyrdom of His
servants in all ages.
_Counterfeit and Genuine._--For the widely prevalent distrust felt
toward men who come burdened with a message from on High, false
prophets and the mischief they have wrought are largely responsible.
But distrust, no less than credulity, can be overdone. Caution against
imposition is commendable, but doubt that rejects truth is to be
deprecated and condemned. All prophets are not false. There can be
no counterfeit without a genuine; and to proclaim against the one is
virtually to concede the existence of the other.
_A Test of Prophecy._--A simple and sure test of prophecy is furnished
in the following passage of Holy Writ: "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." [8] By this standard of judgment can be tested
all that prophetic inspiration has ever uttered. Given enough time,
"the thing" will clearly demonstrate whether or not it was "spoken
presumptuously."
_A Serious Situation._--Ponder upon this, ye who hear the testimonies
of the Elders of Israel, preaching the restored Gospel of the Kingdom
as a final witness to the nations. And when you see coming to pass, in
these days of war, pestilence and calamity, the predictions of ancient
and modern seers, give a thought, a serious thought to the situation.
Ask yourselves if you can afford to be classed, either with those who
look upon believers in spiritual gifts as deluded dupes living in
"haunted houses," or with those who extol the prophets of former ages,
and persecute or ignore the prophets of the present time.
Footnotes
1. Mark 16:17.
2. Isa. 29:14.
3. Prov. 29:18.
4. Amos 3:7.
5. Mal. 4:5, 6.
6. Prov. 3:11, 12.
7. Matt. 23:29.
8. Deut. 18:22.
ARTICLE THREE.
_Concerning Names and Vocations._
_Is Not This The Farmer's Son?_--Some such paraphrase was probably in
the mind, possibly upon the lips, of more than one opponent of the
religion termed "Mormonism," when its supposed author, Joseph Smith,
started out upon his remarkable career. And it was deemed by them, no
doubt, a sufficient answer to his extraordinary claims.
_True and False Standards._--"A tree is known by its fruit." This
proverb, accepted by the wise and just almost as a truism, seems to
have no place in the philosophy of some people, especially when a
servant of the Lord is the object of their critical contemplation.
"What do men say of him?" is frequently the only criterion by which
such a character is judged. And is it not manifestly unfair? When a
prophet comes from God with a message for mankind, what matters the
name given to that message, or to that messenger, by those unfriendly
to the cause he represents?
_"The Carpenter's Son."_--Those who rejected the Man of Nazareth
when he proclaimed himself the Son of God, doubtless thought they
had disposed of him effectually by referring to him sneeringly as
"The carpenter's son;" this slight, with others put upon him by his
neighbors, causing Jesus to remark: "A prophet is not without honor
save in his own country and in his own house." [1]
_Effect of Nearness._--His nearness was against him. There was no
"distance" to "lend enchantment to the view." His name and humble
vocation made his marvelous claims seem impossible. It could not be
that God would make a prophet out of a carpenter's son--a prophet
mightier than Moses or any of the ancient seers--and give to him such a
common name as Jesus, another form of Joshua. [2] It was unbelievable,
absurd, to most. Therefore were they justified, as they supposed, in
withholding from him recognition and honor. "And He did not many mighty
works there, because of their unbelief."
_History Repeats._--As with the carpenter's, so with the farmer's
son--each was objected to upon similar grounds. Nor was it a new thing
in human experience. That which called forth criticism had occurred
many times in other ages when God had raised up prophets and seers.
Probably most of them were selected from among the plain people, and
were comparatively unknown to men when the Lord called them.
_Moses an Exception._--Moses was a signal exception. He had been reared
as a prince in the palace of the king of Egypt; but that was because
Pharaoh's daughter, having found the homeless infant at the water's
edge, thenceforth had charge of him and his education. Prince he was,
regardless of that princely training; but he was not the only prince in
Israel. They were "a nation of kings and priests," though most of them
walked in ways that were lowly.
_A Herdsman Prophet._--Prophets are not chosen for their worldly
culture or their social position. A plain-going farmer, no less than
a college professor, may be gifted with prophetic power and be called
to exercise it for the good of his fellows. Amos, according to his own
statement, "was no prophet," nor "a prophet's son." That is to say, he
had not been trained in any school of the prophets, such as existed
in Old Testament times. [3] He was not, like Jeremiah, the son of a
priest. [4] He was a herdsman and a fruit-gatherer when the word of the
Lord came to him: "Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." [5]
_Prophets Foreordained._--A prophet's name, his place of birth, and
the character of his everyday calling, are matters of little moment
compared with other things pertaining to him. What of his state
and standing before he came on earth? This is a far more important
consideration. God's prophets are chosen before they are born, [6]
and are sent into the world as He needs them. Their aims are high
and holy. They desire the welfare and happiness of the race. Yet
almost invariably their motives are misunderstood, and they and their
followers are opposed and persecuted.
_The Vital Question._--Does this man come from God? That is the
only question worthy of immediate attention, when a prophet, or one
professing to be such appears. And his word alone need not be taken as
conclusive. There are ways and means of testing a prophet's claim--and
that, too, without awaiting the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of some
prediction by or concerning him. Honest, prayerful men and women, with
even moderate discernment, need not be deceived by any pious or impious
pretender. God would not leave his children at the mercy of imposters.
The sheep have a right to be protected from the wolves.
_"Try the Spirits."_--"Many false prophets are gone out into the
world." [7] But there is a Spirit that discerns between true and false,
between spurious and genuine, and anyone who seeks it aright may have
"the inspiration of the Almighty," which giveth to the spirit of man
"understanding." [8] Moreover, the Letter as well as the Spirit is a
guide. What has been revealed in times past helps to interpret what is
now revealed. Truth is always consistent with itself. Heaven-inspired
men do not contradict one another. Their teachings harmonize and are
dependable. The spirit of contention is essentially evil. [9] "To the
law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it
is because there is no light in them." [10]
_"Old Joe Smith."_--Were these tests applied to Joseph Smith in the
early part of the nineteenth century? Yes, by some; and they received
the promised testimony of the Truth, the absolute evidence of the
divinity of this Prophet's mission. But by far the greater number of
those to whom he fain would have ministered, rejected him summarily
and without investigation. To them he was only "Joe Smith"--"Old Joe
Smith"--old indeed in wisdom, though young in earthly years, yielding
up his life as a martyr at the early age of thirty-eight. His claim to
being an oracle of God was deemed preposterous, blasphemous; and his
religion, the pure Gospel of Christ, was denounced as the world's worst
delusion and snare.
_Badges of Honor._--But bad names, wrongly bestowed, hurt the giver,
rather than the receiver. Blame and ridicule, when applied to the
righteous, are badges of honor, worn by true prophets and true
principles in all ages. It does not do away with a man of God to pelt
him with nicknames and opprobrious epithets. Persecution may end his
earthly career, but it cannot confute his claim nor invalidate his
testimony. The name of the martyred modern Seer, despite the clouds
of calumny enveloping it, shines out from amidst the darkness that
comprehended him not. His glorious Lord and Master, crucified as an
imposter, put to death for maintaining that he was more than the world
believed him to be, gave the only Name given under heaven whereby men
can be saved.
Footnotes
1. Matt. 13:55-57.
2. "Jesus" is the Greek form of the Hebrew "Joshua," frequently met
with in Ezra and Nehemiah. It was pronounced "Joshua" by the early
Jews. Other forms of the name are "Hosea" or "Hoshea," "Oshea" and
"Jehoshua."
3. 1 Sam. 10:10; 19:20. 2 Kings 2:3; 4:38; 6:1.
4. Jer. 1:1.
5. Amos 7:14, 15.
6. Abr. 3:23; Jer. 1:5.
7. 1 John 4:1
8. Job 32:8.
9. 3 Nephi 11:29, 30.
10. Isa. 8:20.
ARTICLE FOUR.
_The Choice Seer._
_A Prenatal Naming._--Let us now take a closer view of this marvelous
man, Joseph Smith, the most extraordinary character that has appeared
upon our planet in the past two thousand years. His coming into the
world fulfilled a prophecy uttered many centuries before his birth--a
prophecy concerning "a choice seer," to be raised up "out of the loins"
of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. The seer's name was likewise to
be Joseph, and this also was to be the name of his father. [1] That
prophecy was fulfilled in Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Joseph the Seer"--so is he
designated by divine revelation. [2]
Like great Cyrus, who liberated the Jews from their captivity in
Babylon, [3] the Lord's anointed in modern times, raised up to begin
the work of Israel's final and complete redemption, was named and his
mission outlined long before he had tabernacled in the flesh. Why he
came gifted with the power of seership, was made manifest at the very
beginning of his career.
_Birth and Parentage._--Joseph the Seer was born at Sharon, Vermont,
two days before Christmas, in the year 1805. When only a lad, living
with his parents, Joseph and Lucy Smith, honest farm folk in the
backwoods of Western New York, his career as a prophet began.
_In Quest of Wisdom._--Partly from the effects of a religious revival
held in his neighborhood, he became much concerned upon the subject
of his soul's salvation, but was bewildered and unable to make choice
of a church or creed, owing to the diverse and conflicting claims of
the various Christian sects. While in this mood, he chanced upon the
following passage of scripture: "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." [4] Deeply impressed with the sacred words, he
forthwith resolved to ask from God the wisdom of which he stood in need.
_The First Vision._--Retiring to a grove near his father's home, he
knelt in prayer to the Most High; but had scarcely begun his humble and
earnest petition, when he was seized upon by a power that filled his
soul with horror and paralyzed his tongue so that he could no longer
speak. So terrible was the visitation, that he almost gave way to
despair. Yet he continued to pray--in thought, with "the soul's sincere
desire"--and just at the moment when he feared he must abandon himself
to destruction, he saw, directly over his head, a light more brilliant
than the noonday sun. In the midst of a pillar of glory he beheld two
beings in human form, one of whom, pointing to the other, said: "This
is my beloved Son, hear Him." [5]
_All Churches Astray._--With the appearance of the Light, the boy found
himself delivered from the fettering power of the Evil One. As soon as
he could again command utterance, he inquired of his heavenly visitants
which of all the religious denominations was right--which one was the
true Church of Christ? To his astonishment, he was told that none of
them was right; that they had all gone out of the way. Their creeds
were an abomination, and their professors corrupt. "They draw near
to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach
for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but
they deny the power thereof." So spake the Son of God concerning the
churches. [6] He declared that he did not recognize any of them; but
was about to restore the Everlasting Gospel, with the powers of the
Eternal Priesthood, and establish his Church once more in the midst of
mankind.
Such was Joseph Smith's first vision and revelation. It came in the
spring of 1820, when he was but a few months over fourteen years of age.
_The Divine Personality._--The greater part of this wonderful
manifestation was the part that did not speak--the silent revealing of
the personality of God; a truth plainly taught in the Scriptures, but
ignored or denied by modern Christianity. The object worshiped by the
sects was defined in their theology as a being "without body, parts
or passions." [7] That was the popular concept of Deity throughout
Christendom when Joseph Smith and "Mormonism" came forth. In line with
this tenet and teaching, an English poet of the eighteenth century had
represented God as a "Mind" or "Soul" that
Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees,
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent. [8]
These beautiful couplets admirably describe the Spirit of the
Lord--that all-pervading energy or essence which proceeds from the
Divine Presence, fills the immensity of space, is everywhere present,
and is immanent in all creation. But they give no adequate idea of the
Great Creator, "the father of the spirits" of men, [9] who sent into
the world his Beloved Son, "the brightness of his glory and the express
image of his person", [10] that men might see in him the Father and
worship God aright. The Son of God, walking as a man upon the earth,
plainly indicated what kind of a being God is; and when his disciple,
Philip, said to him, "Lord, show us the Father," Jesus replied: "He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father." [11] Could anything be plainer?
But these teachings were lost upon the modern Christian world. They had
turned from the truth "unto fables", [12] forsaking the God of their
fathers, and substituting for him as an object of worship, an ideal of
their own creation. And it devolved upon Joseph Smith to shatter the
false doctrine of a bodiless, passionless deity, and bring back the
lost knowledge of the true and living God.
_The True and Living God._--What is meant by that? Who is "the true
and living God?" He is the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, the God of Adam, of Enoch, of Noah, of the patriarchs and
prophets and apostles of old--the God described by Moses in the first
chapter of Genesis, where it is written: "God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him, male and female, created he
them." This is equivalent to saying that God is in the form of man, and
that we have a Mother as well as a Father in Heaven, in whose image or
likeness we are, male and female.
Of the divine Three who hold supreme power and preside over the
universe--three distinct personalities, yet one God or Godhead, one in
will, wisdom, power and authority--of these, the Father and the Son,
according to Joseph Smith, are personages of tabernacle. They have
bodies "as tangible as man's;" while the Holy Ghost "is a personage of
spirit." [13]
_The Idol of the Sects._--Proceeding forth from them, is that
all-pervading essence or influence which is immanent in all things--the
light of the sun, moon and stars, the light also of the human
understanding, quickening and illumining, in greater or less degree,
"every man that cometh into the world." In it we live, move and have
our being; for it is the principle of life throughout creation. This
is what the poet was describing, when he portrayed Deity as a "Soul"
that "warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze," etc. And this is what
the Christian sects were worshiping at the beginning of the nineteenth
century. Not God, but a spirit sent forth from God; not Divinity,
but an emanation from Divinity. In a word, they were practicing
idolatry--or something dangerously akin to it.
_What Constitutes Idolatry?_--"Idolatry is every worship that stops
short of the Supreme." [14] It is "the paying of divine homage to false
gods or images; also, adoration of created or imaginary beings or
natural objects or forces." [15] This is precisely what the ancient
world was doing when the book of Genesis was written. The Canaanites
worshiped the sun and moon--Baal and Ashtoreth--ascribing to them the
powers of creation. The Egyptians adored the crocodile, the bull,
the goat and the beetle (scarabeus). Among the Hindus the seasons
were deified--spring, summer, autumn, winter; as were also the
passions--love, hate, fear, anger and revenge. All these were revered
as deities. Then came Moses, who had seen the living and true God, and
had conversed with him face to face, receiving from him the Decalogue
or Ten Commandments unto Israel. The first commandment reads: "Thou
shalt have no other gods before me."
_Modern Christendom's Position._--The world in Joseph Smith's day--the
Christian world at least--did not worship the heavenly bodies;
did not deify beasts and reptiles, did not regard the seasons and
passions as divine. Yet it had turned from the true God, ignoring or
misinterpreting what Moses and the prophets had written concerning him.
According to its dictum, the age of miracles was past; prophets were
out of date, and angel messengers obsolete; the heavens were sealed,
the canon of scripture was full, and God would never again communicate
with mortals. Then came the vision of the Father and the Son--two
glorious beings in the form of man--and from the hour that the boy
Joseph beheld them, there was at least one person upon this planet who
knew what kind of a being God is. It was a virtual reassertion of the
first commandment in the Decalogue: "Thou shalt have no other gods
before me."
To worship anything that God has made and given, in lieu of the Maker
and Giver, is to worship an idol. They who turn from the Creator to the
creature, who forsake God and adore a gift or an emanation from God,
are idolaters, almost as much as if they worshiped the sun and moon, or
bowed down to goats and crocodiles.
_Like to Elijah._--To restore the acceptable worship of Jehovah, and
begin a work that would sweep away idolatry and all things connected
therewith, was the mission of Joseph the Seer. Against him, as against
Elijah of old, the priests of Baal raged in impotent fury. Despite
their tongues of slander and their weapons of violence, he accomplished
all that had been given him to do. This time, however, the All-Wise
permitted his servant to be sacrificed--to the end, no doubt, that his
innocent blood, affixing to his testimony the red seal of martyrdom,
might give added power to the great propaganda then and still in
progress for Israel's redemption--the gathering of the scattered sheep
preparatory to the Shepherd's coming.
Footnotes
1. 2 Nephi 3:6-15.
2. D. and C. 21:1. See also headings to most of the sections in this
book.
3. Isa. 44:28; 45:1-5.
4. James 1:5.
5. Hist. Ch., Vol. 1, Chap. 1, p. 5.
6. Compare Isa. 29:13.
7. Church of England Articles of Religion, Presbyterian Confession of
Faith, etc.
8. Pope's "Essay on Man," Epistle 1, lines 271-274.
9. Heb. 12:9.
10. Ib. 1:3; Gen. 1:26, 27; Philipp. 2:6; Col. 1:15, etc.
11. John 14:9.
12. 2 Tim. 4:4.
13. D. and C. 130:22. Compare 1 Nephi 11:11.
14. F. H. Hedge, "Ways of the Spirit," Essay 8, p. 215.
15. F. W. Standard Dictionary.
ARTICLE FIVE.
_The Land of Zion._
_The Angel Moroni._--Three years after that wonderful vision in the
Grove, the youthful Seer received a visitation from an angel, a
messenger from the presence of the Lord. This Angel gave his name as
Moroni, and declared that while in mortal life he had ministered as a
prophet to an ancient people called Nephites, a branch of the house
of Israel--not the Lost Tribes, as is frequently asserted by the
uninformed, but a portion of the tribe of Joseph, mixed with a remnant
of the tribe of Judah. The former had crossed over from Jerusalem
about the year 600 B. C.; the others a few years later. These blended
colonies had inhabited the Americas down to about the beginning of
the fourth century of the Christian era, when the civilized though
degenerate Nephites were destroyed by a savage faction known as
Lamanites, ancestors of the American Indians.
_The Book of Mormon._--The Angel further stated that a record of the
Nephites would be found in a hill not far from Joseph's home--a hill
anciently called Cumorah; and upon that spot, four years afterward,
Moroni delivered the record into his hands. It was a book of metallic
plates "having the appearance of gold," and covered with strange
characters, "small and beautifully engraved"--characters known to the
Nephites as "the reformed Egyptian." [1]
By means of "interpreters," discovered with the plates, and consisting
of "two stones in silver bows," the youth translated the unsealed
portion of the record and, with the assistance of a few friends,
published to the world the Book of Mormon. It was so named for its
compiler, the Nephite prophet Mormon, whose son and survivor, Moroni,
had buried the plates where Joseph Smith found them. The date of
discovery was September 22nd, 1823. [2]
The Hill Cumorah is situated between Palmyra and Manchester, in
the State of New York. For their belief in the Book of Mormon,
the Latter-day Saints were termed "Mormons," and their religion
"Mormonism." It proclaims itself the restored fulness of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
_History and Prophecy._--The Book of Mormon is a sacred history of
pre-historic America, and a prophecy of the wondrous future of this
chosen land. It tells not only of the Nephites and Lamanites, but
also of a more ancient people, the Jaredites, who came from the Tower
of Babel at the time of the confusion of tongues. Becoming extinct,
the Jaredites were succeeded by the Israelitish colony, led from
Jerusalem by a prophet named Lehi, whose sons Nephi and Laman became,
respectively, the heads of the two nations that sprang from him and
were called after their names. The Jewish remnant that mixt with the
descendants of Lehi was headed by Mulek, one of the sons of King
Zedekiah, whom the Babylonian conqueror, Nebuchadnezzar, overthrew.
_The New Jerusalem._--The Jaredites, as well as the Nephites, had a
knowledge of the Christ and of the principles of his Gospel, revealed
to them prior to his coming. To both these nations it was made known
that America is the Land of Zion, the place for the New Jerusalem, a
holy city to be built "unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph." [3]
Likewise was it shown to them that the Old Jerusalem would be rebuilt
"unto the house of Israel" in the last days. All this before the
Savior's second advent--the glorious mornbreak of the Millennium.
_A Nursing Mother._--Among the many interesting features of the Book of
Mormon, is an ancient prophecy of the discovery of America by Columbus;
the migration of the Pilgrim Fathers and others to these western
shores; the war for American Independence, and the founding of the
republic of the United States, a nation destined long before its birth
to play the part of a nursing mother to the restored Church of Christ.
[4]
And let me interject, that whatever may be said of the persecutions
suffered by the Latter-day Saints under the Stars and Stripes in
various States of the Union--persecutions inflicted, not because of
the Flag, nor of the Constitution, nor of the genius of the American
Government, but in spite of them--persecutions inflicted by lawless
force, by mob violence, ever to be execrated and condemned by every
true patriot--whatever may be said of such deplorable happenings,
still must our noble Nation be credited with what it has done in
the direction of fulfilling its God-given mission. It is extremely
doubtful that in any other land, or in any other nation upon this
land, would the Lord's people have been treated with the same degree
of consideration. In no other country on earth, without special divine
interposition in its behalf, would this great and marvelous work have
been permitted to come forth.
_A Land of Liberty._--America, according to Nephite prophecy, is to be
a land of liberty to the Gentiles--modern peoples, not of Israel, now
possessing it--provided they serve the God of the Land, who is Jesus
Christ. So long as they shall follow righteousness, and maintain the
pure principles upon which this Government was founded, just so long
will they prosper and enjoy the favor of Heaven. America, if true to
her mission, is promised divine protection, and will be invulnerable to
every foe. God "will fortify this land against all other nations," and
they who "fight against Zion shall perish." [5]
_The Alternative._--If, however, the Gentiles, lifted up in pride,
shall harden their hearts and reject the fulness of Christ's Gospel,
Liberty's perfect law, another destiny, and a sad one, awaits them. No
king but Christ shall reign upon Zion's Land. No people occupying this
choice ground can practice evil with impunity. The nation founded here
must be a righteous nation, or like the Jaredites and the Nephites, who
perished because of their wickedness, it will be swept from the face
of the land when the cup of its iniquity is full. So the God of Heaven
hath decreed. [6]
_Joseph's Blessing._--Another name for America, authorized by the Book
of Mormon, is the Land of Joseph, referred to by the Patriarch Jacob in
blessing his twelve sons, [7] and by the Prophet Moses in his farewell
benediction upon the twelve tribes of Israel. [8] Jacob's allusion to
Joseph as "a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the
wall," was fulfilled in the migration of Lehi and his companions from
Asia to America over the Pacific Ocean. It is hardly necessary to
add, in further exegetical comment, that one of the main features of
these western continents are those mighty mountain ranges, the Andes
and the Rockies, well termed by the Hebrew Patriarch "the everlasting
hills," nature's depositories for "the precious things of the
earth"--gold, silver, and other minerals--and for "the precious things
of heaven"--the sacred records that have already been discovered, and
others that are yet to come forth.
_Joseph and Judah._--The Book of Mormon has a divine mission in
connection with the Hebrew Scriptures, "unto the confounding of false
doctrines and laying down of contentions." [9] It is "The Stick of
Joseph," referred to by the Prophet Ezekiel, that was to be one with
"The Stick of Judah" (The Bible) "in the hand of Ephraim." They were
also to be one in the hand of Jehovah, symbolizing the reunion of
the two great branches of the Israelitish race, after many centuries
of separation. "And I will make them one nation in the land upon the
mountains of Israel," saith the Lord, "and David my servant shall be
king over them." [10]
_Zion and Jerusalem._--David's ancient empire, which parted in twain,
forming the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel, may it not
have been a foreshadowing of God's greater empire of the last days,
which will consist of two grand divisions--two in one? Here upon the
Land of Zion, "a land choice above all other lands," [11] the children
of Joseph, the descendants of Ephraim, are even now assembling to make
preparation for Messiah's advent. The Jews will greet him at Jerusalem.
Christ's Kingdom will have two capitals, one in the Old World, one in
the New; one in America, the other in Palestine. "For out of Zion shall
go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." [12]
Footnotes
1. Mormon 9:32.
2. Hist. Church, Vol. 1, p. 15.
3. 3 Nephi 21:23, 24; Ether 13:3-8.
4. 1 Nephi 13:10-19; 22:7, 8.
5. 2 Nephi 10:11-13.
6. Ether 2:8-12.
7. Gen. 49:22-26.
8. Deut. 33:13-15.
9. 2 Nephi 3:12.
10. Ezek. 37:16-24. The king here mentioned is not David, son of Jesse,
but "another by the name of David" who is to be "raised up out of his
lineage."--Hist. Ch., Vol. 6, p. 253.
11. Ether 2:10.
12. Isa. 2:3.
PART TWO
SEERSHIP AND PROPHECY.
ARTICLE SIX.
_What Joseph Beheld._
_Seer and Prophet._--"Seer" and "Prophet" are interchangeable terms,
supposed by many to signify one and the same thing. Strictly speaking,
however, this is not correct. A seer is greater than a prophet. [1]
One may be a prophet without being a seer; but a seer is essentially a
prophet--if by "prophet" is meant not only a spokesman, but likewise a
foreteller. Joseph Smith was both prophet and seer. [2]
_Like Unto Moses._--A seer is one who sees. But it is not the ordinary
sight that is meant. The seeric gift is a supernatural endowment.
Joseph was "like unto Moses;" and Moses, who saw God face to face,
explains how he saw him in these words: "Now mine own eyes have beheld
God; yet not my natural, but my spiritual eyes; for my natural eyes
could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his
presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was
transfigured before him." Such is the testimony of the ancient Seer, as
brought to light by the Seer of Latter-days. [3]
_Spirit Eyes._--Let it not be supposed, however, that to see
spiritually is not to see literally. Vision is not fancy, not
imagination. The object is actually beheld, though not with the natural
eye. We all have spirit eyes, of which our natural or outward eyes are
the counterpart. All man's organs and faculties are firstly spiritual,
the body being but the clothing of the spirit. In our first estate,
the spirit life, we "walked by sight." Therefore we had eyes. But they
were not our natural eyes, for these are not given until the spirit
tabernacles in mortality. All men have a spirit sight, but all are
not permitted to use it under existing conditions. Even those thus
privileged can only use it when quickened by the Spirit of the Lord.
[4] Without that, no man can know the things of God, "because they are
spiritually discerned." [5] Much less can he look upon the Highest
unspiritually, with carnal mind or with natural vision. "No man"--no
natural man--"hath seen God at any time." [6] But men at divers times
have seen him as Moses saw him--not with the natural but with the
spiritual eye, quickened by the power that seeth and knoweth all things.