THE VITALITY OF
MORMONISM
BRIEF ESSAYS ON DISTINCTIVE DOCTRINES OF THE
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
By
JAMES E. TALMAGE
One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church
BOSTON
RICHARD G. BADGER
THE GORHAM PRESS
PREFACE
The message of "Mormonism" is of summoning interest in the world
today. People of serious mind are not satisfied with the unsupported
generalization that it is naught but the outgrowth of delusion and
error.
Fungi of fallacy, particularly in the field of modern religious
systems, are of no such sturdy growth and wholesome fruitage as
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has progressively
manifested.
"Mormonism," mis-named though it be, stands for the principles of
eternal truth as enunciated by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by His duly
commissioned Apostles and Prophets. The basis of "Mormonism" is fairly
summarized in the following outline of facts and premises:
1. The eternal existence of a living personal God; and the preexistence
and eternal duration of mankind as His literal offspring.
2. The placing of man upon the earth as an embodied spirit to undergo
the experiences of an intermediate probation.
3. The transgression and fall of the first parents of the race, by
which man became mortal, or in other words was doomed to suffer a
separation of spirit and body through death.
4. The absolute need of a Redeemer, empowered to overcome death and
thereby provide for a reunion of the spirits and bodies of mankind
through a material resurrection from death to immortality.
5. The providing of a definite plan of salvation, by obedience to which
man may obtain remission of his sins, and be enabled to advance by
effort and righteous achievement throughout eternity.
6. The establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ in the "meridian of
time," by the personal ministry and atoning death of the foreordained
Redeemer and Savior of mankind, and the proclamation of His saving
Gospel through the ministry of the Holy Priesthood during the apostolic
period and for a season thereafter.
7. The general "falling away" from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by which
the world degenerated into a state of apostasy, and the Holy Priesthood
ceased to be operative in the organization of sects and churches
designed and effected by the authority of man.
8. The restoration of the Gospel in the current age, and the
reestablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ by the bestowal of the
Holy Priesthood through Divine revelation.
9. The appointed mission of the restored Church of Jesus Christ to
preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof amongst all
nations, in preparation for the near advent of our Savior Jesus Christ,
who shall reign on earth as Lord and King.
The short essays following have been published at weekly intervals
through two years; they number therefore one hundred and four. Concise
rather than exhaustive treatment has been attempted. No apology is
offered for reiteration of quotations or comment; repetition seemed
preferable to the introduction of cross references.
JAMES E. TALMAGE.
Salt Lake City, Utah,
February 3, 1919.
CONTENTS
1. The Mustard Seed and the Tree--Development, not Growth Alone
2. What the "Mormons" Believe--Their Articles of Faith
3. What's in a Name?--Is "Mormonism" Misunderstood because of Its Unpopular
Title?
4. "Mormonism"--A Distinctive Religious System
5. Direct and Sure--The Church Bold yet Tolerant
6. Wheat and Weeds--Successive Apostasies from the Gospel
7. A New Dispensation--Authority by Restoration not Through Succession
8 Divine Command and Human Agency--The Church a Democracy
9. The Holy Trinity--Unity of the Godhead
10. Original Sin--Are All to Suffer from it Eternally?
11. The Cooperative Plan of Salvation--Christ Alone Cannot Save You
12. The Need of a Redeemer--Man Cannot Exalt Himself
13. Christ's Unique Status--As Redeemer and Savior of the World
14. Philosophy of the Atonement--Its Two-fold Effect
15. How Does Christ Save?--His Plan Combines Justice and Mercy
16. Heaven and Hell--Graded Conditions in the Hereafter
17. In the Realm of the Dead--Paradise--What of the Spirits in Prison?
18. Why Are They Baptized for the Dead?--Elijah the Prophet on the
American Continent
19. Obedience is Heaven's First Law--Conditions of Citizenship in the
Kingdom of God
20. The Devils Believe and Tremble--Faith not Mere Belief
21. The Voice of John the Baptist Again Heard--Repent Ye, for the
Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand!
22. Arise and Wash Away Thy Sins--The Only Way
23. Are Babes to be Damned?--A Horrible Misconception
24. The Watery Grave--And the New Birth
25. The Baptism of Fire--Power of the Spirit
26. In the Name of God, Amen!--Authority of the Holy Priesthood Again
Operative on Earth
27. For Time Only or for Eternity--Human Institutions and Divine
Authority
28. Apostles and Prophets Necessary--The Primitive Church and the
Church of Latter Days
29. When Darkness Covered the Earth--The Long Night of Apostasy
30. The Morning Breaks, the Shadows Flee--Light of the Gospel Again
Shines
31. The Beginning or the End--Ushering in of the Last Dispensation
32. A God of Miracles--Wonders Wrought by Devils
33. Is the Bible Sufficient?--Scriptures of Many Peoples
34. A Messenger--From the Presence of God
35. Scriptures of the American Continent--The Book of Mormon
36. By the Mouth of Witnesses--Shall the Truth be Established
37. Voices of the Dead--A Testimony from the Dust
38. A New Witness of the Christ--An Independent Scripture
39. When Christ Stood on American Soil--His Church Established Among
the Ancient Americans
40. East and West in One Acclaim--That Jesus is the Christ
41. Sheep of Another Fold--Shepherds and Sheep-herders
42. From God to Man--Divine Communication in the Current Age
43. The Tragedy of Israel--A Nation Without a Country
44. The Gathering of the Tribes--Judah and Israel to Come into Their Own
45. America the Land of Zion--The Place of the New Jerusalem
46. The Coming of the Lord--The Consummation of the Ages
47. The Federation of the World--A Thousand Years of Peace
48. Thy Kingdom Come!--So Pray We Yet
49. Freedom to Worship God--Man's Divine Birthright
50. The Law of the Land--Should We Submit to It?
51. Church and State--Independent but Mutually Helpful
52. Religion of Daily Life--A Practical Test
53. America the Cradle of Liberty--No King to Rule in the Land
54. Democracy of American Origin--The Founding of an Ancient Republic
55. Perpetuity of American Nation--Assured by Prophecy
56. Law of the Tithe--The Lord's Revenue System
57. The United Order--No Longer Mine and Thine, but the Lord's and Ours
58. The Word of Wisdom--Sanctity of the Body
59. Unchastity the Dominant Evil--Infamy of a Double Standard of Virtue
60. Not Good for Man to be Alone--Companionship of the Sexes
61. Till Death Does You Part--Is there no Hope Beyond?
62. They Neither Marry--Nor Give in Marriage
63. Celestial Marriage--Eternal Relationship of the Sexes
64. There Was War in Heaven--Primeval Conflict over Satanic Autocracy
65. We Lived Before We Were Born--Our Primeval Childhood
66. Man is Eternal--Successive Stages of Existence
67. In the Lineage of Deity--Man's Divine Pedigree
68. Unending Advancement--Infinite Possibilities of Man's Estate
69. The Living and the Dead--Both to Hear the Gospel
70. God of the Living--All Live unto Him
71. Beyond the Grave--Repentance Possible even There
72. Opportunity Here and Hereafter--Free Agency and its Results
73. The Spirit World--Paradise and Hades
74. How Long Shall Hell Last?--The Duration of Punishment
75. Salvation and Exaltation--Advancement Worlds Without End
76. Deity as Exalted Humanity--Man is a God in Embryo
77. Be Ye Perfect--Is It Possible
78. The Glory of God is Intelligence--Knowledge is Power in Heaven as
on Earth
79. When Ignorance is Sin--Opportunity Entails Accountability
80. Knowing and Doing--Knowledge May Help to Condemn or Save
81. Will Many or Few be Saved?--Our Place Beyond the Grave
82. The Graves Shall be Opened--And the Dead Shall Live
83. Resurrection of the Dead--When Shall it be?
84. Reaching After the Dead--"Lest We Forget"
85. The House of the Lord--Why do the Latter-day Saints Build Temples?
86. The Second Death--Spiritual Banishment Like unto the First
87. Antiquity of the Gospel--As Old as Adam
88. The Origin of Sacrifice--Coeval with the Race
89. Simplicity of the Gospel--None Need Err Therein
90. The Will or God--Though Opposed, Yet Eventually Supreme
91. God's Foreknowledge--Not a Determining Cause
92. Are Men Created Equal?--Individualism is Eternal
93. Ethics and Religion--A Distinction with a Difference
94. Religion Active and Passive--Effort Essential to Salvation
95. Remember the Sabbath Day--A Law unto Man from the Beginning
96. The Foolishness of God--And the Wisdom of Men
97. Freedom Through Obedience--Release from Autocracy of Sin
98. He Went and Washed--And Came Seeing
99. The Rod of Iron--A Dependable Support
100. Liar and Murderer--From the Beginning
101. On the Devil's Ground--Prisoners to Satan
102. What Doth It Profit a Man?--Worldly Gain--Eternal Loss
103. The Garden of God--And the Weeds of Human Culture
104. The Last Dispensation--Today is the Sum of all the Yesterdays
THE VITALITY OF MORMONISM
-- 1 --
THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE TREE
Development, Not Growth Alone
WHY does "Mormonism" persist? The question is perennial, while the fact
implied therein commands increasing interest and concern.
Determined attempts were made to stifle the system at its birth, to
destroy the mustard seed at the planting; and, paradoxically, in
proportion as the actuality of its survival has become generally
evident, the assumed certainty of its imminent decline has been the
more confidently proclaimed. The fall of the spreading tree, whose
branches afford unfailing food and shelter, has been predicted time and
again, but never realized.
On the sixth day of April, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints was organized as a body corporate at Fayette in the
State of New York, with a membership of six persons. True, at that time
a few times six had associated themselves more or less closely with the
new religious movement; but, as the laws of the State specified six as
the minimum required to form a religious corporation, only that number
took part in the legal procedure. And they, save one, were relatively
obscure.
The name of Joseph Smith had already been heard beyond his home
district. He was at the time a subject of widening notoriety if not
of enviable fame. The Book of Mormon, purporting to be a record of
the aboriginal peoples of the Western Continent, had already been
published. In reference to the title page of this work the appellation
"Mormons" came to be fastened upon members of the Church.
Such a beginning as that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints would seem to afford little ground of either hope or fear as
to future developments. What was there to cause hostile concern over
the voluntary association of six men and a few of their friends in
an organization of openly expressed purpose, and that, the peaceful
promulgation of what they verily believed to be the uplifting religion
of life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Whatever may be the answer to the
query, the fact that the Church met opposition, which for a long period
was increasingly severe, is abundantly attested by history. [1]
Today the "Mormon" Church is known, by name at least, throughout the
civilized world, as well as among most of the semi-cultured peoples in
the remoter parts of the earth and on the islands of the sea. The six
have increased to over half a million adherents.
The growth of the organization is apparent to even the poorly informed.
But the Church has not only grown; it has developed. Between growth
and development there is an essential difference; and not a few of
the grave mistakes of men, even in every-day affairs--in business,
in politics, in statesmanship--are traceable to our confusing and
confounding the two. Growth alone is the result of accretion, the
accumulation of material, the amassing of stuff. Development involves
an extension of function, a gradation of efficiency, a passing from
immaturity to maturity, from the seed to the fruiting tree.
Growth produces big things, and not only things of this sort but men.
Between bigness and greatness, however, there is a distinction of kind.
Growth is a measure of bulk, of quantity; it is specified as "so many"
or "so much"; development is a gradation of quality; its terms are "so
good" or "so bad." Our nation boasts a constantly increasing host of
big men; the great men of the country may be more easily counted. And
as with men so with institutions.
Dead things may grow, as witness the tiny salt crystal in its
mother-brine--at first a microscopic cube, then a huge hexahedron
limited only by the size of the container or other external conditions.
Development, however, is the characteristic of life, to which mere
growth is essentially secondary and subordinate.
The vital character of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints has been evident from the first. "Mormonism" lives because it
is healthy, normal and undeformed. In general, a healthy organism
is assured of life, barring destruction from external violence or
deprivation of physical necessities; whereas one that is abnormal and
sickly is doomed to decline. Opposition to the Church, the pitiless
maltreatment to which its people have been subjected, particularly in
the earlier decades of its history, comprising mobbings, drivings,
spoliation, scourgings, and assassination, have operated to strengthen
the Church, body and soul. True, the heat of persecution has scorched
and withered a few of the sickly plants, such as had little depth of
sincerity; but the general effect has been to promote a fuller growth,
and to make richer and more fertile the Garden of the Lord.
The Church has never experienced a distinctive period of reduced
membership. Always the present has been the time of its highest
achievement. In spite of persecution, some of which sprang from
misplaced sincerity and zeal while much was born of ignorance and
fanaticism, the strength of the institution, measured in terms of
loyalty, devotion and unswerving adherence to the principles of the
restored Gospel, has steadily increased.
It is a notable fact that its members are imbued with the testimony of
certitude as to the genuineness of the Gospel they have espoused and
the perpetuity of the Church. This has been a distinguishing feature
from the beginning.
Apostasy from the organization is so rare as to be negligible.
Excommunicants, who are deprived of their membership through failure
to live up to the high standard of morality and duty required by the
revealed law of the Church, while not numerous exceed by many fold
those who voluntarily withdraw and affiliate with other religious
bodies.
"Mormonism" is definite and incisive in its claims. It speaks to the
world in no uncertain tone. Its voice is virile; its activities are
strong. It presents an unbroken front and is unafraid. Its attitude
is not hostile, though strongly aggressive. Its methods are those of
reason and persuasion, coupled with a fearless affirmation of testimony
as to the surpassing importance of its message, which message it labors
to convey to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.
It is not too much to affirm that the leaven of "Mormonism" is
leavening the world and its theology. Every studious reader of recent
commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and of theological treatises in
general, is aware of a surprising progressiveness in modern views of
things spiritual, amounting in many instances to an abandonment of what
were once regarded as the fundamentals of orthodoxy.
_In the new theology "Mormonism" has pioneered the way_.
In its early days the Church received the word of the Lord avouching
the perpetuity of the organization. While no individual was promised
that he should not fall away, and though the forfeiture of the Holy
Spirit's companionship was specified as the sure and incalculable
loss to all who wilfully persisted in sin, the blessed assurance was
given that the Church of Jesus Christ was established for the last
time, never to be destroyed, nor again driven from the earth through
apostasy. Men may come and men may go, but the Church shall go on
forever.
There has never been revision nor amendment in the fundamental law of
the Church, and the only changes are those natural to development,
expansion and adaptation to new conditions.
The world is full of sects and churches, and there is scarcely one that
has not a counterpart in a revised or reformed or reorganized sect.
_But the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no sect; it
is an original creation, established upon the earth in this age as a
restoration_. There will never be a reformed or reorganized variant of
this, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The faith of the people is no whit weakened because of their fewness.
This very condition was foretold. Nearly six centuries before the
Savior's birth, a Hebrew prophet on the Western Continent predicted the
establishment of this Church in the last days, and testified of it, as
he had seen in vision, that its members would be found in all parts of
the earth, but that their numbers would be relatively small. See Book
of Mormon, 1 Nephi 14.
"_Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it_." (Matt. 7:14, also Book of Mormon, 3
Nephi 14:14.)
The doors of the Church are open to all, rich and poor, learned and
unlearned; and the pleading invitation to enter and become partakers
of the blessings that pertain both to mortality and to the eternities
beyond is freely extended--_to you and yours and to everybody, near and
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call_.
Footnotes
1. See the author's "Story and Philosophy of 'Mormonism'," 136 pp.,
_The Deseret News_, Salt Lake City, Utah.
-- 2 --
WHAT THE "MORMONS" BELIEVE
Their Articles of Faith
WHILE it may be impossible for any religious body to set forth in a
brief statement all the distinguishing features of its doctrines and
practise, it has become usual for churches to embody the fundamentals
of their belief in condensed form as creeds. When asked for a concise
presentation of the principal doctrines accepted by his people, Joseph
Smith, through whose instrumentality the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints was established, responded with the Articles of Faith
presented below. This was in the year 1841.
From the time of their first promulgation The Articles have been in
force as an authorized statement of belief; and they were early adopted
as such by the Church in general conference assembled.
The Articles of Faith
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1.
We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and
in the Holy Ghost.
2.
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for
Adam's transgression.
3.
We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be
saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel
are:--(1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Repentance; (3) Baptism
by immersion for the remission of sins; (4) Laying on of hands for the
Gift of the Holy Ghost.
5.
We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the
laying on of hands, by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel
and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive
Church, viz.: apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.
7.
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions,
healing, interpretation of tongues, etc.
8.
We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated
correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9.
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and
we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things
pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10.
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration
of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be built upon this [the American]
continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and that
the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11.
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the
dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege,
let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and
magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in
doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition
of Paul, we believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured
many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is
anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek
after these things.--_Joseph Smith_.
To most of these items many sects professing Christianity could
confidently pledge allegiance; to many of them all Christian bodies
subscribe. Belief in the existence and powers of the Holy Trinity, in
Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, in man's
individual accountability for his acts, in the acceptance of sacred
writ as the Word of God, in the rights of worship according to the
dictates of conscience, in the moral virtues--these professions and
beliefs are a common creed in the realm of present-day Christendom.
There is no peculiarly "Mormon" interpretation, in the light of which
these principles of faith and practise are viewed by the Latter-day
Saints, except, perhaps, in a certain simplicity and literalness of
acceptance.
The Articles of Faith are confessedly but an incomplete summary
of doctrine, as the ninth of the series avers. The atmosphere of
the Church is that of expectancy, of reverent waiting for further
revelation of the Divine will and purpose.
"Mormonism" is alive, and therefore grows and develops with the years.
It promulgates latter-day Scripture as well as the Holy Writ of
centuries remote; and strict comparison demonstrates consistency and
harmony in spirit and principle.
"Mormonism" affirms itself to be the embodiment of the essential
requirements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by the
Master Himself, and by His duly ordained Apostles in the Primitive
Church, and as taught and administered under Divine authority in the
present dispensation. "Mormonism" is new only as a reestablishment, a
restoration. It is the embodiment of the eternal Gospel, come again. [1]
Footnotes
1. For more detailed treatment see the author's "The Articles of
Faith," 480 pp., _The Deseret News_, Salt Lake City, Utah.
-- 3 --
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Is "Mormonism" Misunderstood Because of Its Unpopular Title?
WHAT'S in a name? So asked one who has been called the chief of English
bards; and hosts of thoughtful minds have been conscious of the same
insistent query springing up as a conception original to each. Who but
the superficial will venture to deny the influence of names? We are
all subject to the witchery of bias and of prejudice for or against;
and the odium or the good repute of a name ofttimes determines our
provisional acceptance or rejection of that for which it stands.
Most of us are in the habit of putting up our knowledge in little
packages, duly ticketed. These we stow away in more or less orderly
fashion, and though we glance betimes at the label we are apt to forget
what any one of the parcels really contains.
"Mormonism" is an unpopular name; the truths for which it stands, the
principles which it embodies, are more readily believed in if left
unlabeled.
It should be borne in mind that the term "Mormon" with its several
variants was first applied by way of nickname to the people now
so designated. But nicknames may be so sanctified by effort and
achievement that they become titles of respect and profound
significance. To this fact history lends definite and abundant
testimony.
The term "Christian" was first applied as an epithet of contempt.
You know how it was hurled in hatred and disdain at the disciples in
Antioch. See Acts 11:26. Yet the followers of Christ accepted the name
and hallowed it by sacrifice and righteous deeds; and today the world
counts but one distinction greater than being called a Christian, and
that is to be a Christian in fact.
The "Mormon" people do not resent the misnomer by which they are
commonly known, and which has been put upon them by popular usage. They
deplore, however, the possible misunderstanding that the Church to
which they belong professes to be the church of Mormon. It should be
known that Mormon was a man, a very distinguished and a very able man
it is true, an eminent prophet and historian according to the record
bearing his name, but a man nevertheless. The "Mormon" Church affirms
itself to be in no sense the church of Mormon, nor the church of Joseph
Smith, nor of Brigham Young, nor of any man other than the Savior and
Redeemer of the race. The true name of this Church, the designation
by which it is officially known is _The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints_.
This is an age of multitudinous sects, cults, and religious societies
in general, and the number increases year by year. Strictly speaking
a sect is a branch or offshoot of a primary institution, and in this
sense numerous sects have arisen and others may arise, all professing
something in common though differing in particulars ofttimes to the
point of antagonism.
Most of the existing sects designate themselves as "churches" with a
distinctive forename to each. As the term "church" in its ordinary
and broad usage is a common possession, unprotected by letters patent
or other guaranty of exclusiveness, its general employment as an
alternative for "sects" or cognate nouns is no breach of law, order or
custom.
Narrowing our consideration to that of churches professing
Christianity, we meet the question as to whether there can be two or
more diverse sects, opposed to each other in essentials of belief and
practise, and both or all be in reality the Church of Jesus Christ. Can
a church that is divided against itself, or a multitude of sects with
discordant doctrines and conflicting claims to priestly authority, be
one and all the same church, and that the Church of God?
The question has been answered by the churches themselves; and their
emphatic reply in the negative is expressed in the names by which
these organizations have chosen to be known. Some have elected to be
called after the names of their founders or eminent promoters, as
Lutherans, Calvinists, Wesleyans, Campbellites. Others proclaim by
their self-chosen titles a preference for appellations denoting some
descriptive feature of their plan of organization or governmental
system, as Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregational. Yet others attach
so great significance to distinctive points of doctrine as to make that
the mark of identity, such as Unitarian, Trinitarian, Universalist,
Baptist.
None of us can consistently challenge the vested right of religious
associations to choose their own names. Moreover, the designations
of existing sects, with few exceptions, are self-explanatory,
significantly expressive, and eminently appropriate. In general the
names tell, as explicitly as any brief title could do, just what the
respective sect, society or church professes to be.
Organizations planned and operated for individual and social
betterment, whether known as churches or otherwise, are commendable
institutions. Inasmuch as membership therein is a matter of personal
choice, no objection should be raised against rules established by
common consent or majority decision for the admission of new applicants
or for the discipline of members, provided, of course, that such rules
be administered without infringement upon the rights of outsiders.
But can any association of men, conceived and effected on human
initiative, be anything other than an earthly institution, even though
its aims be lofty and its activities the most praiseworthy?
The Church of Jesus Christ, as an institution both earthly and
heavenly, that is to say having vital relation to mortal life and to
eternity, cannot have been originated at human instance. That church is
not the fruitage of man's planting, neither the offshoot of other and
older institutions. The Church of Jesus Christ, therefore, is not, nor
can it be, a sect.
The Book of Mormon affirms that the Lord Jesus Christ, shortly after
His ascension in Judea, visited the early inhabitants of the Western
Continent and established His Church amongst them. As He had done in
Galilee, so in America. He chose and ordained Twelve Disciples, to whom
He gave authority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel, which,
as the Lord taught, are essential to salvation. He very clearly set
forth that His Church was to be rightly named, as the following record
attests.
The Twelve, whom He had commissioned to build up the Church, prayed for
instruction, saying: "Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name
whereby we shall call this Church; for there are disputations among the
people concerning this matter." And the Resurrected Lord, there present
in visible Person, answered them in this wise:
"Verily, verily I say unto you, why is it that the people should murmur
and dispute because of this thing? Have they not read the Scriptures,
which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name?
For by this name shall ye be called at the last day. And whoso taketh
upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved
at the last day. Therefore whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in
my name; therefore ye shall call the Church in my name; and ye shall
call upon the Father in my name, that He will bless the Church for my
sake. And how be it my Church, save it be called in my name? For if a
church be called in Moses' name, then it be Moses' church; or if it be
called in the name of a man, then it be the church of a man; but if it
be called in my name, then it is my Church, if it so be that they are
built upon my gospel." (Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 27.)
The members of the Church aver that the distinguishing features of
their religious system, in short, the essentials of the philosophy
of "Mormonism" are epitomized in the name of their organization--The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
If the name be used without Divine warrant, its assumption can not fail
to be regarded as a sacrilege; if it has been authoritatively bestowed
one need look no further for explanation of the vitality exhibited by
the Church in so impressive a degree from the day of its organization
to the present.
-- 4 --
"MORMONISM"
A Distinctive Religious System
IN the popular classification of religious bodies, the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, if included at all, is generally given
mention apart from churches and sectarian institutions in general. The
segregation is eminently proper, for this Church is strictly unique.
No well informed commentator, no capable critic in either friendly or
hostile mood, has classed "Mormonism" as the sectarian offspring of
any mother church, nor as any mere variation of a preexisting body.
No church on earth claims, acknowledges or admits any community of
origin with the commonly known but mis-called "Mormon" Church. Nor
does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assert any such
relationship with other bodies.
At this point it is well to consider the fact that toleration in
religious belief and practise is a fundamental tenet of "Mormonism."
This is set forth in one of the formulated Articles of Faith: "We claim
the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of
our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them
worship how, where, or what they may."
We demand no prerogatives, ask no privileges, beyond what we readily
accede to be the common rights of mankind. Our distinctive teachings
and the claims of the Church as to its commission to preach the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, and administer the saving ordinances thereof, must
be judged on their merits, and in the spirit of testimony, which we
believe the honest-hearted inquirer may gain for himself in the course
of unbiased investigation.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is unique in that it
solemnly affirms to the world that the new dispensation, foretold in
prophecy as a characteristic of the last days precedent to the second
advent of Christ, is established, and that the Holy Priesthood, with
all its ancient authority and power, has been restored to earth.
"Mormonism" affirms that such restoration was a necessity, inasmuch
as mankind had fallen away from the Gospel of Christ during the
dark ages of history, with the inevitable consequence that the Holy
Priesthood had been taken from the earth, and authority to administer
the essential and saving ordinances of the Gospel had been lost. The
condition of spiritual darkness was foretold by prophets who lived
prior to the meridian of time, as also by Jesus Christ while in the
flesh, and by His Apostles, who were left to continue the ministry
after the Lord's departure.
Furthermore, the fact of the great falling away or general apostasy
is admitted, and indeed affirmed, by high ecclesiastical authority.
Consider the forceful declaration of the Church of England, embodied in
her official "Homily Against Peril of Idolatry," first published about
the middle of the 16th century, and still in force as "appointed to be
read in churches."
"So that laity and clergy, learned and unlearned, all ages, sects,
and degrees of men, women, and children of whole Christendom--an
horrible and most dreadful thing to think--have been at once drowned in
abominable idolatry; of all other vices most detested of God, and most
damnable to man; and that by the space of eight hundred years and more."
Prophets of olden times were permitted to look beyond the black night
of apostasy and to behold the glorious dawn of the restoration. John,
the Apostle and Revelator, having seen the events in vision, wrote of
the realization as then already attained:
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud
voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is
come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of waters." (Rev. 14:6-7.)
We affirm the literal fulfilment of this gladsome promise through
the ministration of angels in these latter days, by which the Holy
Priesthood has been renewed to man. Thus, in 1823, an angelic personage
ministered to Joseph Smith, and later delivered to the mortal prophet
the ancient record from which the Book of Mormon has been translated.
This record contains "the fulness of the everlasting Gospel" as
delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants of the Western
Continent.
Then, on May 15, 1829, John the Baptist, who held the keys of the
Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood in the earlier dispensation, appeared in
his resurrected state and ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to
that order of Priesthood, comprising "the keys of the ministering of
angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion
for the remission of sins." (D&C 13.)
Later, the presiding three of the ancient Twelve Apostles ordained
these men to the holy apostleship, conferring upon them the Higher
or Melchizedek Priesthood, which comprises all authority for the
administration of the prescribed ordinances of the Gospel, and for the
building up of the Church of Jesus Christ in the current dispensation,
preparatory to the coming of the Christ to reign on earth.
This is the distinctive claim of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Being under Divine commission so to do, the Church
proclaims these solemn truths, with full recognition of the individual
rights of men to believe or disbelieve according to their choice.
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DIRECT AND SURE
The Church Bold Yet Tolerant
THE establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
was no experiment. Its actual organization as a body corporate was
preceded by visitations of heavenly beings, by definite revelation,
by prophecies as to the unfolding plan of the Divine purpose in these
latter days, and by the publication of the Book of Mormon--a volume of
Scripture which, though comprising the record of ancient peoples, was
new to the modern world.
These and other heavenly manifestations, including the bestowal of the
Holy Priesthood with its expressly defined authority and appointment to
organize and build up the Church, were made through Joseph Smith, who
at the time of the first visitation was a lad in his fifteenth year.
To the earnest student of this unprecedented series of events a
certain dominant characteristic is apparent--the positiveness and
certitude with which the successive avowals of the youthful prophet
were set forth. From his testimony of the glorious theophany by which
the dispensation of the fulness of times was inaugurated, down to his
last inspired utterances immediately preceding his martyrdom, his
doctrinal teachings, his affirmations and prophecies were unweakened by
qualification or ambiguity.
Plain and unembellished by studied rhetoric or dramatic effect, his
solemn averments were free from even the shadow of the tentative or
provisional. He voiced his message fearlessly and in the strength of
simplicity, with no restraining afterthought of opposition, ridicule or
persecution.
True to the character of a real prophet, he gave out only as he
received--line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and
there a little. And behold, the precepts have arrayed themselves
into a scriptural unity; the lines have fallen into order as verses
of a revealed epic; and the little has grown to the fulness of the
everlasting Gospel.
The mission of Joseph Smith and that of the Church he was instrumental
in founding have from the first been before the world in their true
colors. Though the unity of unalterable purpose and unchanging plan is
impressively apparent, there is nothing in the latter-day Scripture
that savors of policy or obscure intent.
Granted that the claims of the Church are bold ones, even strikingly
so, and that some of them when first enunciated stood in disturbing
contrast with certain theological dogmas long regarded as orthodox.
Nevertheless, they were presented with an assurance such as only the
certainty of their Divine source could justify or sufficiently explain.
In this age of free speech and liberty of conscience it is surely
allowable to put forth views and publish affirmations relating to
religious belief, even though the doctrines be opposed to earlier
conceptions, provided the rights of men to accept or reject be duly
respected. Consider the following instances of the solemn avowals made
by Joseph Smith.
He declares that in answer to prayer, in the spring of 1820, he was
visited by two Personages, in the form and likeness of perfect men and
amidst light and glory indescribable, who were none other than God the
Eternal Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; and that the former pointing
to the latter said "This is my beloved Son, hear Him."
Then on September 21, 1823, Joseph Smith was visited by the angel
Moroni, who disclosed to him the depository of the ancient records from
which the Book of Mormon has been since translated. Part of the angel's
message on this occasion, as recorded in the words of the latter-day
prophet, was "that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should
be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues,
or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people."
(Pearl of Great Price, p. 89.)
Is it conceivable that an unschooled youth, of obscure parentage and
humble surroundings, would venture to assert such future distinction
without the assurance of unmistakable commission?
Another of Moroni's predictions is thus stated by Joseph Smith: "He
informed me of great judgments which were coming upon the earth, with
great desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence; and that these
grievous judgments would come on the earth in this generation."
Furthermore, the angel cited Scripture from both the Old Testament and
the New, relating to the gathering of Israel, vicarious work for the
dead, and other characteristics of the last days, declaring that all
these earlier prophecies were about to be fulfilled.
In 1832 a revelation was received by Joseph Smith definitely
foretelling the civil war in this country, and specifying the defection
of the State of South Carolina as the beginning. This portentous
prediction followed: "The days will come that war will be poured out
upon all nations," and that by bloodshed, famine, plagues, as well as
by earthquakes and other destructive natural agencies, the inhabitants
of the earth would be brought into mourning and humility.
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WHEAT AND WEEDS
Successive Apostasies from the Gospel
"THE kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in
his field; But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among
the wheat." (Matt. 13:24-25.)
So hath it been from the beginning; so will it be until the end.
The Lord God gave commandment unto Adam, and straightway Satan
countered with sophistry and falsehood disguised as half the truth.
Adam preached the Gospel and administered its essential ordinances
amongst his posterity; "And Satan came among them, saying: I am also
a son of God; and he commanded them, saying: Believe it not; and they
believed it not, and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from
that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish." (Pearl of Great
Price, p. 21.)
Thus, even during the lifetime of the first patriarch, many of his
descendants fell into apostasy and denied the God with whom their great
progenitor had talked face to face.
From Adam to Noah righteous men taught and testified of the truth,
denounced sin and warned sinners; yet all the while Satan sowed
assiduously the tares of wickedness in the hearts of men, and with
such evil success that, excepting Noah and his household, the whole
human family became corrupt. So awful was the condition that the floods
came and swept the ungodly race from the earth; and their rebellious
spirits passed into the state of duress, in which they remained until
the way of repentance was opened to them anew by the ministry of the
disembodied Christ over twenty-three centuries later. See 1 Peter
3:18-20.
As the children of men multiplied and nations developed after the
Deluge, the wholesome plants of Divine truth struggled against the
rank growth of error; therefore the Lord commanded Abraham to leave
his idolatrous country and kindred, that through him and his posterity
the saving powers of the Priesthood might be preserved among men. The
tares of idolatry and its inseparable abominations grew apace. Even the
harrowing experiences of Egyptian bondage failed to extirpate the weeds
from Israel, though the fertilizing effect of humility under suffering
did much to nurture and sustain the precious grain of the covenant.
At the time of the Exodus the Israelites constituted the few whom
the Lord could call His own; and they had to undergo a disciplinary
probation--a course of intensive and purifying cultivation, covering
four decades in the wilderness--before they were deemed fit to
enter the land of their inheritance. They were distinguished as
Jehovah-worshipers, and as such stood apart from the more thoroughly
apostate and degenerate world.
But even Israel's fields were full of tares; and the Lord mercifully
suspended the fulness of the Gospel requirements, which, because
of violation, would have been a means of condemnation; and the law
of carnal commandments, generalized as the Mosaic Code, was given
instead--as a schoolmaster, whose rigid insistence and compelling
restraint, whose rod of correction would, in the course of centuries,
prepare the covenant though recreant people for the reestablishment
of the Gospel--as was effected through the personal ministry of the
Redeemer. See Gal. 3:23-26.
Following the Messianic ministry and apostolic dispensation, another
cloud of apostasy enveloped the world, and for well-nigh sixteen
centuries held the race befogged in its clammy mists. In this murky and
fetid atmosphere the weeds of superstition, unbelief and human dogma
flourished as a dank tropical jungle, while belief in revealed truth
survived only as a wilted growth amidst the prevalent insalubrity.
The last apostasy was general, alike on both hemispheres. For nearly
two centuries after its establishment on the Western Continent, the
Church of Jesus Christ flourished to the blessing of its members. Then
followed disruption and apostasy, the bitter fruitage of sin; and so
was fulfilled the saddening prophecy of Alma concerning the Nephites:
"Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and
bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct. Yea,
and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief, and fall into the
works of darkness, and lasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities.
Yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light
and knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth
generation shall not all pass away, before this great iniquity shall
come." (Book of Mormon, Alma 45.)
Following each of these epoch-marking declensions, from the Adamic
to the current dispensation, there has come a period of revival,
rejuvenescence, or as now witnessed, a definite restoration and
reestablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ, by which the tares,
though not yet rooted up to be burned, have been at least prevented
from choking out the wheat.
The application of our Lord's parable of the wheat and the tares to
the great falling away, or the last general apostasy, is thus shown in
latter-day Scripture: "And after they [the Apostles of old] have fallen
asleep, the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore,
even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose
hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign, behold he soweth the
tares; wherefore the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into
the wilderness." (D&C 86:3; compare Rev. 12:6, 14.)
But the day of the Church's exile is ended. In unostentatious triumph
she has returned after enforced absence, and is established anew for
the blessing of all who make themselves fit to be partakers of her
bounty.
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A NEW DISPENSATION
Authority by Restoration Not Through Succession
TO act officially in affairs of government, to administer public laws
and ordinances, a man must have been duly elected or appointed and
must have qualified as the law provides. If there be but the shadow of
doubt as to his legal competency, his acts, say as president, senator,
governor, judge or mayor, are almost sure to be challenged; and, if his
claims to authority be invalid, his so-called official acts are justly
pronounced null and void, while the quondam pretender may be liable to
severe penalty.
In like manner authority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ must be definitely vested through personal conferment as
the law of God prescribes.
"And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of
God, as was Aaron." (Heb. 5:4).