There can be no absolute fulness with man until everything is made
known to him. The fulness of the Gospel, as delivered to the Nephites
and other ancient peoples, was not so complete as is the fulness
enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints. Truth is always the same, but more of
its principles have been revealed in modern times than at any previous
period. And the end is not yet; for, as our Prophet declares: "Those
things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world,
but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed
unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fulness of
times." (D. and C. 128:18.) Such an outpouring of truth and light can
come only to a people prepared for it. "When that which is perfect is
come, then that which is in part shall be done away" (I Cor. 13:10).
Until then a comparative fulness, or all that the finite mind can
contain of infinite wisdom, must suffice human aspiration and continue
to be the lot even of the most enlightened.
6. D. and C. 110:1-4.
7. The book of Isaiah is sometimes called "the fifth gospel," it having
so much to say about the coming Redeemer; and just as fittingly might
the third book of Nephi be termed a "gospel," narrating as it does the
risen Christ's personal ministrations to the descendants of Lehi.
8. Abr. 3:24.
9. Job 38:7.
10. Moses 4:1-4.
11. D. and C. 76:25, 26.
12. Ib. 29:36.
"Satan (it is possible) being opposed to the will of his Father, wished
to avoid the responsibilities of this position. . . . . He probably
intended to make men atone for their own acts by an act of coercion and
the shedding of their own blood as an atonement for their sins."--"The
Mediation and Atonement," by President John Taylor, pp. 96, 97.
13. Rom. 8:29.
14. Abr. 3:23; Jer. 1:5, Hist. Ch. Vol. 6, p. 364.
15. James 1:25.
16. "Times and Seasons," Aug. 15, 1844; "Improvement Era," Jan., 1909.
Our Prophet's simple yet sublime setting forth is far more pointed and
specific than the presentment made by Plato of a doctrine somewhat
similar. The Greek philosopher, as quoted by Emerson, says: "Let
us declare the cause which led the Supreme Ordainer to produce and
compose the universe. He was good; and he who is good has no kind of
envy. Exempt from envy, he wished that all things should be as much as
possible like himself. Whosoever, taught by wise men, shall admit this
as the prime cause of the origin and foundation of the world, will be
in the truth" ("Plato," Emerson's "Representative Men"). There is a
fitness, a propriety, in man's becoming like his Maker--God's child,
fashioned in his image and endowed with divine attributes, developing
to the fulness of the parental stature, as taught by Joseph; but how
the same can be predicated of "all things," as Plato implies, is not
so clear. That the lower animals, and in fact all forms of life, are
to be perpetuated and glorified, is more than an inference from the
teachings of the Prophet (D. and C. 29:24, 25; 77:2-4). But undoubtedly
all will retain their identity in their respective orders and spheres.
No creature of God's excepting man can become like God in the fullest
and highest sense.
17. D. and C. 93:36.
18. Rom. 1:16.
19. D. and C. 76:50-70; 93:33; Abr. 3:26.
ARTICLE TWELVE.
The Great Vicissitudes.
Fall and Redemption.--The Fall of Man and the Redemption from the Fall,
are the great vicissitudes of human experience. One is sequel to the
other, and both are steps in the march of eternal progress. The Gospel,
therefore, embraces the fall as well as the redemption. Both were
essential, and both were preordained. The one prepared the way before
the other. Had there been no fall, there could have been no redemption;
for the simple reason that there would have been nothing to redeem.
The Creation.--Preliminary to the fall, came the creation. Earth,
created as an abode and a place of probation for mortal man, was not
made out of nothing, as human theology asserts, but out of previously
existing materials, as divine revelation affirms. Millions of earths
had been created in like manner before this planet rolled into
existence. [1]
To create does not mean to make something out of nothing. Such a
doctrine is neither scientific nor scriptural. Nothing remains
nothing, of necessity; and no power, human or divine, can make it
otherwise. Creation is organization, with materials at hand for the
process. Joseph Smith's position upon this point, though combatted by
doctors of divinity, is confirmed by the most advanced scientists and
philosophers of modern times. The dogma that earth was made out of
nothing is an attempt to glorify Deity by ascribing to him the power to
perform the impossible--to do that which cannot be done. As if Deity
could be glorified with anything of that sort, or had need of any such
glorification. It is also an effort to escape from what many religious
teachers consider a dilemma, the other horn of which would commit
them to what they mistakenly deem a fallacy--namely, the eternity and
self-existence of matter. [2]
Eternity of Matter.--"Mormonism" stands firm-footed upon this ground.
It holds matter to be uncreateable, indestructible, without beginning
or end, and consequently eternal. [3] As for modern science, here
are a few of its most recent conclusions upon the point at issue.
Says Herbert Spencer: "The doctrine that matter is indestructible
has become a commonplace. All the apparent proofs that something
can come out of nothing, a wider knowledge has one by one canceled"
("First Principles"). And John Fiske confirms him in saying: "It is
now inconceivable that a particle of matter should either come into
existence, or lapse into non-existence" ("Cosmic Philosophy"). Robert
K. Duncan clinches the argument with the emphatic pronouncement: "We
cannot create something out of nothing" ("New Knowledge").
Spirit and Element.--But Joseph Smith proclaimed it first. He declared
the elements eternal; [4] and even went so far as to say: "All spirit
is matter, but it is more fine and pure, and can only be discerned
by purer eyes." [5] Eternal spirit, eternal element, these are the
"materials" out of which Earth was created--not only as a temporary
abode for man, but as an eternal place of residence for the righteous.
The Value of a Body.--Man needed experience in mortality, in the midst
of rudimental conditions, in order to acquire the experience that
would fit him for spheres beyond. First, however, he needed a body,
for purposes of increase and progression, both in time and eternity.
The spirit without the body is incomplete; it cannot propagate, and
it cannot go on to glory. "Spirit and element, inseparably connected,
receiveth a fulness of joy; but when separated man cannot receive a
fulness of joy." [6] It is a reasonable inference that our spirits
advance as far as they can before they are given earthly bodies. Having
received their bodies, they are in a position, by means of the Gospel
and the powers of the Priesthood, to make further progress toward
perfection. "We came to this earth," says Joseph Smith, "that we might
have a body, and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom.
The great principle of happiness consists in having a body." [7]
Satan's Punishment.--The Prophet thus continues: "The Devil has no
body, and herein is his punishment. . . All beings who have bodies
have power over those who have not." The reason why Satan has no body
is because he rebelled in the eternal councils when the Redeemer of
the World was chosen. All who followed him shared a similar fate. Two
thirds of the intelligences then populating the spirit world remained
loyal, and as a reward for their fidelity were permitted to tabernacle
in the flesh. One third, rebelling with Lucifer, were doomed with him
to perdition. Pending their final fate, these unembodied fallen spirits
are allowed to wander up and down the world, tempting and trying its
human inhabitants, their evil activities being overruled in a way to
subserve God's purpose in man's probation.
Placed in Eden.--Earth having been prepared for man, Adam and Eve were
placed in the Garden of Eden--placed there to become mortal, that the
Lord's purpose might be accomplished. The fall, though planned, was not
compelled. [8] Man still had his agency, the right and power of choice.
Innocent in the Beginning.--The Great Creator, on the morning of
creation, pronounced "good" all that He had made. [9] In perfect
keeping with this, modern revelation declares that "every spirit of
man was innocent in the beginning." [10] Consequently, had the spirits
of men remained where they were before Adam fell, they would have
had no need to exercise a saving faith, no need to repent or to be
baptized, having no evil practices to turn from and no uncleanness
to be washed away. But they would have remained ignorant as well as
innocent--ignorant of things necessary to their further progress.
Without the fall, they could have advanced no further, but would have
remained as they were, "having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing
no good, for they knew no sin. . . . . Adam fell that men might be; and
men are that they might have joy." [11]
The Woman Beguiled.--When our First Parents partook of the forbidden
fruit, it was the woman who was beguiled by the Serpent (Satan) and
induced to go contrary to the divine command. The man was not deceived.
[12] What Adam did was done knowingly and after full deliberation.
When Eve had tasted of the fruit, Adam did likewise in order to carry
out another command, the first that God had given to this pair--the
command to "multiply and replenish the earth." [13] Eve, by her act,
had separated herself from her husband, and was now mortal, while he
remained in an immortal state. It was impossible, therefore, unless
he also became mortal, for them to obey the original behest. This was
Adam's motive. This was his predicament. He was facing a dilemma, and
must make choice between two divine commands. He disobeyed in order to
obey, retrieving, so far as he could, the situation resulting from his
wife's disobedience. Fully aware of what would follow, he partook of
the fruit of the inhibited tree, realizing that in no other way could
he become the progenitor of the human race.
Adam and Abraham.--Perhaps some will see a parallel in Adam's case and
Abraham's, each being directed to do a thing that could not be done
unless a previous requirement were disregarded. Thus, Adam was warned
not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree--the Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil; yet that was the only way for him to reach a condition
where he would be able to "replenish the earth." Abraham was forbidden
to slay his son, after being commanded to "offer" him. [14] But there
was this important difference in the two cases. The second command
to Abraham superseded the first--canceled it. Not so with Adam. In
his case the later law left unrepealed the earlier enactment. Both
commandments were in force; but Adam could not obey both. What was to
be done? Why, just what was done--the wisest thing possible under the
circumstances.
Malum Prohibitum.--Adam's transgression, though a sin, because of
the broken law, should not be stressed as an act of moral turpitude.
In human law, which is based upon divine law, there are two kinds of
offenses in general, described in Latin terms as _malum per se_ and
_malum prohibitum. Malum per se_ means "an evil in itself," an act
essentially wrong; while _malum prohibitum_ signifies "that which
is wrong because forbidden by law." Adam's transgression was _malum
prohibitum_; and the consequent descent from an immortal to a mortal
condition, was the Fall.
A Cause For Rejoicing.--Adam and Eve, with their eyes open, rejoiced
over what had befallen them, [15] evidently regarding it as part of
a beneficent plan to people Earth and afford to a world of waiting
spirits--the loyal two-thirds who "kept their first estate" when
Lucifer fell--the long looked for opportunity of entering upon their
"second estate" and beginning the great pilgrimage to perfection.
No License for Sin.--Let it not be supposed, however, that disobedience
to divine requirements is or ever can be justifiable. On the contrary,
obedience is the great law upon which all blessings are predicated.
[16] What was done by our First Parents in an exceptional instance and
for a special purpose, constitutes no license for men to commit sin.
Adam and Eve, having obeyed God's command to "multiply and replenish,"
reaped the reward of their obedience. But they had to be punished for
their disobedience in the matter of the forbidden fruit. "The wages of
sin is death." The fall was necessary, but it had to be atoned for: it
could not be justified. "The Lord cannot look upon sin with the least
degree of allowance." He can nullify its effects, however, and bring
good out of evil. Redemption was also necessary, and the Atonement
preordained; but this did not make the murder of the innocent Savior
any the less heinous. The perpetrators of that deed were guilty of a
crime--the crime of crimes--and their punishment was inevitable. Were
it otherwise, God would not be just, and would therefore cease to be
God. [17]
Fruits of the Fall.--The fall had a twofold direction--downward,
yet forward. It brought man into the world and set his feet upon
progression's highway. But it also brought death, with all its sad
concomitants. Not such a death as the righteous now contemplate, and
such as both righteous and unrighteous undergo, as a change preparatory
to resurrection; but eternal death--death of the spirit as well as the
body. There was no resurrection when Adam fell--not upon this planet.
The World in Pawn.--Hell had seemingly triumphed over man's--or rather
over woman's weakness. It was as if the world had been put in pawn.
Death was the pawnbroker, with a twofold claim upon all creation.
Everything pertaining to Earth was in his grasp, and there was no help
for it this side of Heaven. No part of what had been pledged could be
used as the means of redemption. Adam could not redeem himself, great
and mighty though he was, in the spirit; for he was no other than
Michael the Archangel, leader of the heavenly host when Lucifer and his
legions were overthrown. But that same puissant Michael was now a weak
mortal man, under the penalty of a broken law, powerless to repair the
ruin he had wrought. He and the race that was to spring from him were
eternally lost, unless Omnipotence would intervene, and do for them
what they could not do for themselves.
Where was Redemption?--Redemption must come, if at all, through some
being great enough and powerful enough to make an infinite atonement;
one completely covering the far-reaching effects of the original
transgression. The scales of Eternal Justice, unbalanced by Adam's
act, had to be repoised, and the equilibrium of right restored. Who
could do this? Who was able to mend the broken law, bring good out of
evil, mould failure into success, and "snatch victory from the jaws of
defeat?" Where was the Moses for such an Exodus? Where the deliverance
from this worse than Egyptian bondage--a bondage of which Egypt's
slavery was typical?
The Price Paid.--The life of a God was the price of the world's
freedom; and that price was paid by the God of Israel (Jesus on
Earth, Jehovah in Heaven) who descended from his glorious throne,
became mortal, and by submitting to death, broke the bands of death,
and made it possible for man to go on to his eternal destiny. This
spotless Lamb, the great Antitype of the Passover, gave himself as an
offering for sin, and by the shedding of his own blood, paid the debt
of the universe, took the world out of pawn, and became the Author
of Salvation for all mankind. Christ's atonement, offsetting Adam's
transgression, brought redemption from the fall, nullifying its evil
results, conserving its good results, and making them effectual for
man's eternal welfare.
"We Know in Part."--Why the Fall and the Redemption had to be, we, know
in part, for God has revealed it. But we do not know all. That a divine
law was broken, in order that "men might be;" and that reparation had
to be made, in order that men "might have joy"--this much is known.
But the great why and wherefore of it all is a deep that remains
unfathomed. Why it was necessary to place Adam and Eve in a position so
contradictory, where they were commanded not to do the very thing that
had to be done--why the divine purpose had to be carried out in just
that way, is one of those infinite problems that must remain to finite
minds a mystery until the All-wise shall will to make it plain. Man
cannot sit in judgment upon his Maker, nor measure by human standards
divine dispensations. "All things have been done in the wisdom of Him
who knoweth all things."
God's Greatest Gift.--The Fall, though essential to human progress, dug
man's grave and opened the portal to Hades. Redemption unsealed the
tomb and swung wide the gates to Endless Glory. Adam gave us mortal
life. Eternal life, our greatest boon, is the gift of the Redeemer and
Savior.
Footnotes
1. Moses 1:4, 38; 7:30.
2. The Reverend Baden Powell, of Oxford University, quoted in Kitto's
"Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature," says: "The idea of 'creation,' as
meaning absolutely 'making out of nothing,' or calling into existence
that which did not exist before, in the strictest sense of the term,
is not a doctrine of scripture; but it has been held by many on the
grounds of natural theology, as enhancing the ideas we form of the
divine power, and more especially since the contrary must imply the
belief in the eternity and self-existence of matter."
3. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews asserts nothing to the
contrary when he says: "Things which are seen were not made of things
which do appear" (Heb. 11:3). The "things" referred to ("the worlds"
that were "framed by the word of God") had existed before, in other
forms, invisible to mortal eye and intangible to human touch.
4. D. and C. 93:33.
5. D. and C. 131:7.
6. Ib. 93:33, 34.
7. "Compendium" p. 288; Hist. Ch. Vol. 5, p. 403.
8. Moses 3:17.
9. Gen. 1:31.
10. D. and C. 93:38.
11. 2 Nephi 2:22-25.
12. 1 Tim. 2:14.
13. Gen. 1:28.
14. Some commentators hold that Abraham misunderstood the Lord's
command to "offer" Isaac, and that the second command, "lay not thine
hand upon the lad," was given in explanation. That the Lord did not
intend Isaac to be slain, is evidenced from what ensued; but that
Abraham misunderstood the original behest does not follow. In order
to make the sacrifice of "a broken heart and a contrite spirit," and
merit the reward of his obedience, it was necessary that Abraham should
interpret the command just as he did--as a commandment to slay. "The
sacrifice required of Abraham in the offering of Isaac," says Joseph
Smith, "shows that if a man would attain to the keys of the kingdom of
an endless life, he must sacrifice all things" (Hist. Ch. Vol. 5, p.
555). This was the principle that Abraham was showing forth, and it
must have involved a real and terrible trial of his faith.
15. Moses 5:10, 11.
16. D. and C. 130:20, 21.
17. The principle involved in this discussion, is tersely put in two
lines of a well known hymn, frequently sung in the religious assemblies
of the Latter-day Saints:
"Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven."
"Earth must atone for the blood of that man."
ARTICLE THIRTEEN.
The Gospel Dispensations.
Only One Gospel.--There is but one Gospel. There never has been,
and there never will be, another. [1] It is the Everlasting Gospel,
[2] the same yesterday, today and forever. In order to comprehend
it, one must not limit his survey of the subject to the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries--must not confine his calculations to any
one Gospel dispensation. He must grasp the idea of a series of such
dispensations, inter-related and connected, like the links of a mighty
chain, extending from the morning of Creation down to the end of Time.
"Mormonism" stands for the Gospel's restoration in the Dispensation of
the Fulness of Times; but that is not all. It stands for the Gospel
itself in _all_ the dispensations, as those periods are termed during
which God, from the beginning, has spoken to man and revealed from
heaven these saving principles and powers.
For All Time and for All Men.--The Everlasting Gospel does not belie
its name. It is not of any one time nor of any one place. Stretching
from eternity to eternity, it encompasses past, present and future in
its all-embracing fold. Neither is it for the benefit of any particular
class, to the exclusion of other classes. It is for all men, and was
made simple and plain that all might understand it, that its appeal
might be universal. No creed comprehensible only to a few, no religion
that mystifies the many, can by any possibility represent Him who died
that the whole world might live. There is but one Savior, and but one
Plan of Salvation; yet that Savior has many servants, saviors in a
subordinate sense, [3] and His saving plan encompasses many truths,
apportioned to the several branches of the human family, in measure
large or small, according to their capacity to receive, and their
ability to wisely use the knowledge meted out to them.
Sublimest Things are always the simplest. This is preeminently true of
the Gospel--the simple, sublime Story of God. A child can comprehend
it; and at the same time it is capable of taxing to the limit the
powers of the highest human intellect. It is the profoundest system
of philosophy that the world has ever known. All true principles of
science are parts of it, broken-off fragments of this grand Rock of
Ages--or, to change the figure, pools caught in the hollows and clefts
of Time, when the great flood of Truth, during one or more of its
earthly visitations, swept by on its way back to the Eternal Ocean. All
that is precious and exalting in religion springs from this ancient
source of divine wisdom and intelligence. Who knows not this, knows not
the Gospel.
Why Man-Made Systems Endure.--Every form of faith that has benefited
its believers, must have possessed at some time a portion of Divine
Truth. That is what perpetuated it--not the errors associated
therewith. These are as cobwebs and dust, the accumulated rubbish of
false tradition, in which the jewel was wholly or in part hidden.
Every creed, Christian or Pagan, that has proved a real blessing to
its votaries, is as a cistern holding within it waters once wholesome
and pure, waters that fell originally from Heaven in one of those
grand spiritual showers called dispensations of the Gospel, when the
flood-gates of Eternity were lifted, that the world might be refreshed.
God's Word Apportioned.--The Book of Mormon throws light upon this
theme. A Nephite prophet says:
"Oh, that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that
I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake
the earth, and cry repentance unto every people; . . . .
"But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be
content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me. . . . .
"I know that he granteth unto men according to their desires, whether
it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto
men according to their wills; whether they be unto salvation or unto
destruction.
"Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that
knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and
evil, to him it is given according to his desires; whether he desireth
good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience.
"Now seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to
perform the work to which I have been called?
"Why should I desire that I were an angel, that I could speak unto all
the ends of the earth?
"For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation
and tongue, to teach his word; yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit
that they should have." [4]
Does that sound as if "Mormonism" takes no cognizance of what is going
on in the outside world? How can any intelligent reader arise from a
study of the "Mormon" faith, convinced that the Latter-day Saints are
not interested in anything beyond the bounds of their own social and
religious system? That one selection from the Book of Mormon suffices
to refute the false notion.