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JOSEPH SMITH
THE
PROPHET-TEACHER
A DISCOURSE
BY
ELDER B. H. ROBERTS
THE DESERET NEWS
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
1908
Copyright, 1908.
By B. H. Roberts.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I.
A GREAT POSSIBILITY.
II.
HISTORICAL AMERICANS.
III.
WHAT IS A PROPHET?
IV.
RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL BELIEFS OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
Revelation.
Ideas of Deity.
Of the Universe.
Of Man.
Man and His Salvation.
Of the Significance of Salvation and Damnation.
V.
THE PROPHET'S CORRECTION OF SECTARIAN ERRORS.
The Doctrine of Revelation.
The Being and Kind of Being God Is.
Creation, the Law of Substance.
Of Man's Origin.
Election and Reprobation.
VI.
THE PROPHET'S PHILOSOPHICAL DOCTRINES.
The Prophet's Definition of Truth.
As to Things--Existences.
The Reign of Law.
Change and Its Tendency.
The Existence of Good and Evil.
The Intelligent Entity.
The Relationship of Intelligences.
Man's Freedom.
Eternity of Relations.
VII.
THE PROPHET'S GENERALIZATIONS.
VIII.
AN AMERICAN PROPHET.
America the Old World.
The Constitution of the United States Inspired of God.
America Fortified of God Against Other Nations.
DEDICATION.
TO MY MOTHER, ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF HER EIGHTY-SECOND BIRTHDAY,
DECEMBER 18, 1908.
For a long time, my Dear Mother, I have desired to couple remembrance
of you with some of my works; and finally have chosen this Discourse
upon our great Prophet-Teacher to carry with it that distinction. To
all who read this Discourse, then, I desire to say that I love and
honor you; and that your love for me has ever been an inspiration to
my work.
JOSEPH SMITH
THE
PROPHET-TEACHER
A Discourse[A]
[Footnote A: This discourse was delivered at the Tabernacle, Salt Lake
City, on Sunday, December 22nd, 1907, at a Memorial Service held in
honor of the one hundred and second anniversary of the Prophet's
birth, 23rd December 1805.]
---
Tomorrow will be the one hundred and second anniversary of the birth
of Joseph Smith, whom most of you here present believe was a Prophet
of God. I have been invited to say something about him on this
occasion. It is not at all my intention to deal with the incidents of
Joseph Smith's eventful life; these are familiar to you. If I could
attain the full desire of my heart, I would like to set before you
somewhat the value of this man as a teacher of great truths. I desire
to speak of him as a Prophet-Teacher, that is, as a Prophet acting in
his capacity of Teacher, a Prophet's highest and noblest office.
As an introduction to what I desire to say, I shall read a passage
from a book quite famous for its literary merit--it has reached its
ninth edition; also it is famous for the character sketches of
prominent Americans of the early decades of the nineteenth century.
The book, "Figures of the Past," was written by Josiah Quincy of the
famous Quincy family of Massachusetts, a graduate of Harvard, 1821;
mayor of Boston from 1845 to 1849. Mr. Quincy visited Nauvoo in May,
1844, forty-three days previous to the martyrdom of the Prophet, and
though his "Figures of the Past" was not published until 1882, the
year of his death, yet his recollections of the Prophet and his
impressions of Nauvoo were drawn from his journal, written at the time
of that visit, and numerous letters written to his friends about the
same period. Mr. Quincy places his pen-portrait of "Joseph Smith at
Nauvoo" with similar portraits of such eminent Americans as John
Adams, Daniel Webster, John Randolph, Andrew Jackson, and the French
soldier and statesman, Lafayette. The passage I am going to read is
the opening paragraph of the chapter on "Joseph Smith at Nauvoo."
I.
A GREAT POSSIBILITY.
"It is by no means improbable that some future text-book, for the
use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something
like this: What historical American of the nineteenth century has
exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his
countrymen? And it is by no means impossible that the answer to
that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon
Prophet. And the reply, absurd as it doubtless seems to most men
now living, may be an obvious commonplace to their descendants.
History deals in surprises and paradoxes quite as startling as
this. The man who established a religion in this age of free
debate, who was and is today accepted by hundreds of thousands as
a direct emissary from the Most High--such a rare human being is
not to be disposed of by pelting his memory with unsavory
epithets."
Reading that passage a few days ago, I asked the question: Is this
rather remarkable semi-prediction of Quincy's in the way of
fulfillment? Tomorrow will be the one hundred and second anniversary
of our Prophet's birth. It is more than one hundred years since he
came to earth, and sixty-three years since he departed from it. What
evidence is there before the world that would lead any serious-minded
person to believe that this prediction I have read in your hearing may
find fulfillment? "Certainly," men will begin to say, "enough time has
elapsed to develop the character of your Prophet's work; whether he
built of wood, hay, stubble, or of gold or precious stones. Is his
influence to be merely transient and local or did he really deal with
some universal and permanent truths that must remain to influence
mankind?"
II.
HISTORICAL AMERICANS.
As introductory to these considerations, let us think about some of
these historical Americans whose influence upon their countrymen is to
be eclipsed, perhaps, by the "Mormon Prophet." Among our patriots and
statesmen will be remembered Patrick Henry, with his doctrine of the
inherent right of revolution against intolerable oppression;
Jefferson, and his "Declaration of Independence" and the "Statute of
Virginia for Religious Freedom," the principle of which finally found
its way into our national and state Constitutions; Alexander Hamilton
and his political interpretation of the constitutional powers of our
general government; Webster and his doctrine of the sacredness of the
American Union of States--the statesman of nationalism; Monroe, with
the doctrine which bears his name, politically segregating the
American continents from Europe, and dedicating the western world to
free institutions; Lincoln, with his doctrine of the rightfulness of
personal freedom for every man, woman and child of Adam's race--the
doctrine of the universal application of the self-evident principles
of the Declaration of Independence--the right of men to live, to be
free, to pursue happiness--principles he invoked in behalf of the
African race in the United States. Among inventors will be remembered
Fulton, Whitney, Morse and Edison; among the philosophers, practical
and speculative, Franklin, Emerson and John Fiske; among the poets,
Longfellow, Poe, Whitman, and Lowell; among the preachers and
theologians, Jonathan Edwards and his cruel orthodoxy; Wm. E. Channing
and his Unitarian liberalism; Henry Ward Beecher and his successor,
Lyman Abbott, with their efforts at reconciliation of Christianity and
evolution.
This enumeration does not exhaust the list of historical Americans who
have powerfully influenced their countrymen, but it will not be
doubted that they represent the very chief of the respective groups
that have so influenced their countrymen.
Thinking of the achievements of these great Americans, and weighing
the influence of each upon his countrymen, do you not really think,
even with Josiah Quincy on our side, it looks presumptuous in us to
hold that Joseph Smith may yet exert a greater influence over his
countrymen than any one of these, his compatriots? That is the
question I propose to put on trial here this afternoon.
III.
WHAT IS A PROPHET?
First of all, a word of definition: This term "prophet"--what do you
make of it? Generally, when you speak of a "prophet," you have in mind
a predictor of future events, one who foretells things that are to
come to pass, and indeed that is, in part, the office of a prophet--in
part what is expected of him. But really this is the very least of his
duties. A prophet should be a "forth-teller" rather than a
fore-teller. Primarily he must be a teacher of men, an expounder of
the things of God. The inspiration of the Almighty must give him
understanding, and when given he must expound it to his people, to his
age. He must be a Seer that can make others see. A Teacher sent of God
to instruct a people--to enlighten an age. This is the primary office
of a prophet. And now I want to show you how well and faithfully our
Prophet performed such duties.
To do this it is necessary that I say something about the ideas
prevailing in the world at the Prophet's advent among men--I mean as
to their religions and philosophies, the doctrines by which they were
influenced. And this not only as to truth, but also as to error--and
chiefly as to error, for, among other things, a prophet must correct
the errors of men. It is a capital method of teaching truth--this
correcting of errors.
IV.
RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL BELIEFS OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
REVELATION: At the commencement of the nineteenth century the general
idea prevailed in Christendom that a great while ago a very definite
revelation from God had been given; angels had visited the earth and
imparted divine knowledge to men; the Spirit of the Almighty had
rested upon some and had given them understanding by which they were
able to declare the mind of God and the will of God. These were
prophets. Some prophets there were who even talked with God "face to
face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." So communed Moses with God
(Ex. 33:11); so, too, Isaiah (Isa. 6:1-6). But while this belief as to
revelation in the past everywhere prevailed, orthodox Christendom was
equally certain that no revelation was being given in their day; and
not only was no revelation then being given, but neither would there
be any revelation given in future time. "The volume of revelation is
completed and forever closed," was dogma in all Christendom. There
would be no future visitation of angels. No more would the heavens be
opened, or man stand face to face with his God, or speak to his Lord
as a man speaketh to his friend. All this was ended. The canon of
scripture was completed, and forever closed. That canon consisted of
the Old and New Testaments; all other books were secular--this alone
sacred. There was no other word of God.
IDEAS OF DEITY: In regard to deity, Christian men, at the beginning of
the nineteenth century, believed that God was an incorporeal,
immaterial being, without body--that is, not material, not matter;
without parts; without passions. And yet, with gravest inconsistency,
they held that God was of love the essence; that He loved
righteousness, that He hated iniquity; that He so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life! Notwithstanding this "love" and
this "hate" God was without passions! He was, too, according to men's
creeds, without form. Notwithstanding Moses, one of the God-inspired
teachers of men, said that "God created man in His own image, in the
image of God created He him;" and Jesus, by a prophet of the New
Testament, was declared to be the express image of God's person
(Hebrews i: 2, 3). Notwithstanding this, I say, men, in the early
decades of the nineteenth century, were possessed of a "morbid terror"
of anthropomorphism--the ascription of human form, feeling or
qualities to God--as if they could escape it and still hold belief in
the Bible revelation of God! Or, for matter of that, hold to any
doctrine of God taught either by religion or philosophy. At the very
least, if the God-idea survive at all, God must be held to possess
consciousness, both consciousness of self, and of other than
self--self-consciousness, and other-consciousness; also He must be
thought of as possessed of volition; and what are these but human
qualities, which present God to our thought as anthropomorphic? Strip
God of these attributes and He is reduced to the atheists' "force;" to
blind, purposeless force, that can sustain no possible personal
relationship whatsoever to men or other things in the universe. As one
writer in a great magazine recently said: "If we are to know the
Supreme Reality at all, it can only be through the attribution to Him
of qualities analogous to, though infinitely transcending, the
qualities which we recognize as highest in man, and consequently
[highest] in the world as we know it."
But I must pass by these inconsistencies of the creeds of men. I shall
have no time to discuss them. Indeed, I must ask you to think with me
in headlines, and to think fast. We have no time for argument. We
shall barely have time to pass over the ground proposed, and must
depend upon the truth of our statements being self-evident, or
conceded to be accurate statements of fact.
OF THE UNIVERSE: Respecting the universe, Christendom, at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, believed that it was created of
God from nothing, and that no great while ago. "Calling forth from
nothing" was held to be indeed the meaning of "create." God
transcended the universe; was, in fact, outside of it; was what an
American philosopher (Fiske) some years afterwards called an "Absentee
God." Absent, "except for a little jog or poke here and there in the
shape of a special providence."
"Down to a period almost within living memory," says Andrew Dixon
White, in his great work, "Warfare of Science with Theology," "it was
held, virtually 'always, everywhere, and by all,' that the universe,
as we now see it, was created literally and directly by the voice or
hands of the Almighty, or by both--out of nothing--in an instant, or
in six days, or in both--about four thousand years before the
Christian era--and for the convenience of the dwellers upon the earth,
which was at the base and foundation of the whole structure." Such
were the views of men concerning the universe during the period here
considered.
OF MAN: Respecting man, it was taught that while he was created of
God, his origin was purely an earthly one, his body made of the earth,
a spirit breathed into him when his body was made, and so man became a
living soul. All taught that he was a created thing, a creature.
MAN AND HIS SALVATION: As to man's salvation, some of the creeds
taught that God, of His own volition, had foreordained that some men
and angels were doomed to everlasting destruction, and others
predestined to eternal life and glory. Not "for any good or ill" that
they had done or could do, but their fate was fixed by the volition of
God alone. These whom He would save, He would move by irresistible
grace to their salvation; those whom He had pre-determined should be
damned might not escape, struggle they never so persistently; no
prayers could save them; no act of obedience might mitigate their
punishment; no hungering and thirsting after righteousness, bring them
to blessedness; they must perish, and that eternally! Those who perish
in ignorance of Christ--the heathen races--were damned. "The heathen
in mass, with no single definite and unquestionable exception on
record, are evidently strangers to God, and going down to death in an
unsaved condition. The presumed possibility of being saved without a
knowledge of Christ remains, after 1,800 years, a possibility
illustrated by no example." So said those who expounded this creed.
Others, still, taught that infants dying in infancy without receiving
Christian baptism were damned, and that everlastingly. By some,
unbaptized infants were denied burial in sanctified ground. "Hell's
Half Acre" was a reality in some Christian graveyards.
OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SALVATION AND DAMNATION: Salvation and
damnation meant, as to the former, the attainment of heaven; as to the
latter, assignment to hell. The former, judging from the descriptions
of it, a mysterious, indefinite state "enjoyed" somewhere "beyond the
bounds of time and space * * * the saints secure abode;" the latter, a
very definite place, with very definite and very hot conditions, that
had power to endure and that everlastingly, to the eternal misery of
the damned. Time might come and time might go, but this torture,
undiminished, went on forever. If one gained heaven, even by ever so
small a margin, he entered upon a complete possession of all its
unutterable joys, equally with the angels and the holiest of saints.
If he missed heaven, even by ever so narrow a margin, he was doomed to
everlasting torment equally with the wickedest of men and vilest of
devils, and there was no deliverance for him.
These were some of the prevailing ideas, of the philosophy and the
religion of men at the birth of the Prophet. A philosophy inadequate
for any reasonable accounting for the universe. A religion that was
derogatory to God and debasing to man--errors of both philosophy and
religion that it was, I believe, the mission of our Prophet to
correct. Let us follow him as he proceeds with his corrections, his
setting over against every error above enumerated the truth received
of God.
V.
THE PROPHET'S CORRECTION OF SECTARIAN ERRORS.
THE DOCTRINE OF REVELATION: Against the sectarian dogma of the
cessation of revelation, Joseph Smith proclaimed the reopening of the
heavens. Against the doctrine that angels would no more visit the
earth, he asserted the visitation of angels to him, revealing the
existence of the Book of Mormon, a new volume of Scripture. Other
angels brought to the Prophet the keys of authority and power held by
them in former dispensations. So came John the Baptist with the keys
of the Aaronic Priesthood; Peter, James and John, with the keys of the
Melchisedek Priesthood; Moses, with the keys of the gathering of
Israel, and so following. Against the doctrine of a closed volume of
Scripture, Joseph Smith asserted the existence of, and the truth of
the American volume of Scripture, the Book of Mormon. Against this
whole narrow, bigoted idea of revelation held by the Christian world,
he proclaimed a larger view. Instead of holding that a few prophets
among the Hebrews had been visited of God and received divine
inspiration he represented God as saying:
"Thou fool, that shall say, A Bible, a Bible, we have got a Bible,
and we need no more Bible! Have ye obtained a Bible, save it were
by the Jews? Know ye not that there are more nations than one;
know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and
that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that
I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath; and I bring
forth my word unto the children of men; yea, even upon all the
nations of the earth? For I command all men, both in the east and
in the west * * * and in the islands of the sea, that they shall
write the words which I speak unto them. * * * Behold, I will
speak unto the Jews, and they shall write it; and I will also
speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I will also
speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have
led away, and they shall write it; and I will also speak unto all
nations of the earth, and they shall write it."
Joseph Smith also represents one of the Nephite prophets as saying:
"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; therefore we see that the Lord doth
counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true."
This doctrine unites in one splendid brotherhood all the Seekers after
God, all those who received inspiration from the Most High and were
sent forth from the Divine Presence to instruct their fellow men.
Joseph Smith, I say, unites their hands in a splendid brotherhood of
the God-inspired men of this world. Not that all the prophets among
the various races of men were equally inspired; not that all came with
a fulness of truth; not that all had the gospel of Jesus Christ. But
if they brought not with their message the effulgent brightness of an
all-glorious day, they brought something of twilight which dispelled
some of the murkiness of the night in which the men of their
respective races had walked; and those who have groped in the density
of darkness know how grateful is the twilight, how much better it is
than darkness. How noble is this view of God's hand-dealings with the
children of men in respect of revelation, as compared with that
narrow, bigoted view prevailing at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, which held that the Hebrew Scriptures contained all the word
of God delivered to the inhabitants of the earth!
THE BEING AND KIND OF BEING GOD IS: Against the dogma that God was an
incorporeal, immaterial, passionless being, the Prophet announced the
splendid doctrine of anthropomorphism--God in the human form, and
possessed of human qualities, but sanctified and perfected. In the
first great revelation which opened this last dispensation our Prophet
beheld Father and Son as separate persons, distinct from each other;
persons in the form of men, but more glorious and more splendid, of
course, than words could describe them to be. All through the
revelations received, and all through his discourses, the Prophet
reaffirms the old doctrine of the Scriptures, the doctrine of all the
prophets, asserting that man indeed was created in the image of God,
and that God possessed human qualities, consciousness, will, love,
mercy, justice; together with power and glory--in a word, a Man
"exalted and perfected."
CREATION--THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE: In opposition to the doctrine that God
had created the universe of nothing, the Prophet asserted the doctrine
of the eternity of substance and energy and law, and their infinite
extension throughout all space; that creation is but the wisely
wrought changes made in the modes of existences, which are
themselves--in their essence--eternal, the changes constantly tending
to higher developments, from good to better, or else ministering to
that end.
OF MAN'S ORIGIN: Against the doctrine which ascribed a merely earthly
origin for man, body and spirit; that taught that the intelligent
entity in man--the mind--was a created thing--against this, I say, our
Prophet taught that "Intelligence is not created or made, neither,
indeed, can be." He taught that the intelligent entity in man, which
men call "spirit" and sometimes "soul," is a self-existing entity,
uncreated and eternal as God is, placed in the way by Higher
Intelligences,--and guided by their love and counsels,--of increasing
his own intelligence and power and glory and joy. Such he represented
man to be, and once more crowned him with the dignity belonging to his
Divine and eternal nature.
ELECTION AND REPROBATION: In regard to that monstrous doctrine that
God, by the exercise of His sovereign will, had predestined some men
and angels unto everlasting life, while others He ordained to
everlasting death; and that, not because of the good or the evil they
had done or might do, but because he had so willed it by his sovereign
will; that "the number of such men and angels thus predestined are so
peculiarly and unchangeably known, and their number so certain and
definite that it can not be either increased or diminished"--against
this monstrous view of the doctrine of salvation for the race of men,
our Prophet declared salvation to be free, and every soul of man
capable of participating therein, if happily he should seek salvation;
and that man could be assured of the help and grace of God to aid him
in the attainment of salvation. Commenting on a passage of Scripture
supposed to teach the sectarian doctrine of Election and Reprobation,
the Prophet said: "Unconditional election of individuals to eternal
life was not taught by the Apostles. God did elect, or predestinate,
that all those who would be saved should be saved in Christ Jesus, and
through obedience to the Gospel"--other than this there was no
predestination or election relating to the salvation of individuals.
On the subject of the fate of the uninstructed heathen, as also upon
the matter of children dying in infancy, or before arriving at the
years of accountability, the doctrine of Joseph Smith held that where
no law is given men will be judged without law, but will stand within
the circle of the mercy of God, and there is hope, nay, assurance, of
ultimate salvation for the heathen. "The heathen nations shall be
redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first
resurrection; and it shall be tolerable for them," are the words of
the Lord through the Prophet.
And as for infants dying in infancy, or before arriving at years of
accountability, the Prophet taught, the mercy of God claims them
wholly. They are redeemed from the consequences of Adam's
transgression by the atonement of Christ, and being without sin
themselves, the law against sin has no claim upon them, and they are
saved to the uttermost without baptism or anything else whatsoever, by
the pure mercy and justice of God. "Little children are alive in
Christ, even from the foundation of the world," is a doctrine of the
Prophet's.
THE DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT: Against the dogma of the
attainment of heaven or the assignment to hell, involving, as it did,
the equality of the glory in the one, and equal severity of punishment
in the other, our Prophet reasserted the justice of God in providing a
graded state of existence for men in the future life, grades that
correspond to the state of mental, moral and spiritual development of
every soul of man.
Upon this subject Joseph Smith taught that there are many kingdoms of
the Father in which men may live, each in a sphere suitable to his
nature, disposition and the degree of his development: moderns would
say, "Suitable to the state of his evolution." He taught that as there
is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the
stars, so in future men will exist in varying degrees of glory; that
as the stars of heaven differ in infinite degrees of brightness, so
also will men in the future exist in places and states of infinite
variety, corresponding to the infinite variations of their
intelligence, knowledge, tastes, acquirements, inclinations, and
aspirations. In other words, environment will correspond to nature,
with always the possibility present of improving both the environment
and the nature, until a fulness of joy is attained by each intelligent
entity--by each man.
Thus Joseph Smith promulgated a system of positive doctrine respecting
the future of man that is at once in harmony with the relative claims
of justice and mercy; with human reason and divine law. He made known
the fact that
"Eternal punishment is God's punishment."
"Endless punishment is God's punishment."
That is to say, the punishment for sin-which is only another way of
saying the "penalty" for wrong-doing--takes the title of Him in whose
name it is administered, that is, it is "God's" punishment, or
"Eternal's" punishment, "Endless' punishment." The punishment takes on
it the name of Him in whose authority it is administered. Moreover,
penalty will always follow violation of the law, in eternity as in
what we call time. So long as law exists, penalties must also exist.
They are the necessary concomitants of law, without which laws are
mere nullities. But because punishments, so-called, take on the name
of Him in whose authority they are administered, and because law is
necessarily paralleled by penalty--therefore punishment will always
exist for offenders against law; in other words is endless--it does
not follow that each transgressor of the law will suffer its penalties
eternally. Such a conception is revolting to reason and derogatory to
the justice and mercy of God. While one must needs believe that
penalty follows violation of law, the violator only partakes of that
penalty to the extent that is necessary to vindicate the law and
correct the transgressor's own disposition: whereupon mercy has her
claims, that may not be denied: and the one time violator of law,
instructed by his experience in suffering, goes forth to walk, let us
hope, in harmony with law, and hence in peace.
Thus, all down the line of religious error, as well as in the things
here pointed out, Joseph Smith asserted the truth of God, and
maintained it before the world. Had he done no more than this, if this
had been the sole achievement in the world's realm of thought by our
Prophet--he would stand in fair way of being regarded as the
historical American who had exerted the most powerful influence upon
the destinies of his countrymen. But instead of this being the end of
his achievements it is merely the commencement of his life's work; a
mere clearing of the ground for the new temple of religion and
philosophy to be erected; the dismissal of the absurdities of old
systems to make way for the incoming of the new system of thought
which shall be in harmony with the new knowledge of a new and glorious
age--the incoming millennium.
I wonder if I may venture here to draw in outline the suggestion of
that system? By your leave, then: In the beginning it is necessary to
say to you that I shall use all ideas, doctrines, philosophies,
science principles, interpretations that I find brought to the
knowledge of the world through Joseph Smith, directly or indirectly.
For while doctrines here used are found in the Book of Mormon and
properly should be referred to the prophets among ancient American
peoples for their origin, still the world today owe their knowledge of
these things to the translation of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith.
So also in relation to the Book of Moses and the Book of Abraham. So
also as to the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants; such
philosophy and religious principles as are there found are given of
God, but Joseph Smith received and published them, and for the
purposes of what is here to be set forth shall stand as his doctrines
and philosophy, as well also as those utterances that make up the
subject-matter of his discourses.
VI.
THE PROPHET'S PHILOSOPHICAL DOCTRINES.
THE PROPHET'S DEFINITION OF TRUTH: Undoubtedly the quest of philosophy
is Truth. And again, undoubtedly, Philosophy would be greatly helped
in its search for Truth if it had but a clear conception of what it
was trying to find; hence the importance of a clear and accurate
definition of Truth. It is at this point, however, that the greatest
difficulty arises for the human intellect. It is quite generally
conceded that up to the early decades of the nineteenth century no
satisfactory definition of Truth had been found. When Jesus stood
bound before Pilate's judgment seat, and testified that He was born
to bear witness of the Truth, Pilate--whether in mockery or in earnest
curiosity we may not now know--asked the question: "What is truth?"
But the Divine Man made no answer. Most commentators say that, without
waiting for an answer the Roman procurator departed from the judgment
hall to speak to the Jews clamoring on the outside; and all regret the
opportunity that was there lost of receiving a divine answer to the
question. One set of commentators, referring to Pilate's question, say
to him: "Thou stirrest the question of questions, which the thoughtful
of every age have asked, but never man yet answered."
A secular writer presents the same incident as follows: "'What is
truth?' was the passionate demand of a Roman procurator, on one of the
most momentous occasions in history. And the Divine Person who stood
before him, to whom the interrogation was addressed, made no
reply--unless, indeed, silence contained the reply. Often and vainly
had that demand been made before--often and vainly has it been made
since. No one has yet given a satisfactory answer."
Then, by way of historical illustration of this assertion, our author
remarks the following:
"When, at the dawn of science in Greece, the ancient religion was
disappearing like a mist at sunrise, the pious and thoughtful men of
that country were thrown into a condition of intellectual despair.
Anaxagoras plaintively exclaims, 'Nothing can be known, nothing can be
learned, nothing can be certain, sense is limited, intellect is weak,
life is short.' Xenophanes tells us that it is impossible for us to be
certain even when we utter the Truth. Parmenides declares that the
very constitution of man prevents him from ascertaining absolute
Truth. Empedocles affirms that all philosophical and religious systems
must be unreliable, because we have no criterion by which to test
them. Democritus asserts that even things that are true cannot impart
certainty to us; that the final result of human inquiry is the
discovery that man is incapable of absolute knowledge; that, even if
the truth be in his possession, he cannot be certain of it. Pyrrho
bids us reflect on the necessity of suspending our judgment of things,
since we have no criterion of truth; so deep a distrust did he impart
to his followers that they were in the habit of saying, 'We assert
nothing; not even that we assert nothing.' Epicurus taught his
disciples that truth can never be determined by reason. Arcesilaus,
denying both intellectual and sensuous knowledge, publicly avowed that
he knew nothing, not even his own ignorance! The general conclusion to
which Greek philosophy came was this: that, in view of the
contradiction of the evidence of the senses, we cannot distinguish the
true from the false; and such is the imperfection of reason, that we
cannot affirm the correctness of any philosophical deduction."
I make these quotations to show that no Teacher satisfactory
definition of Truth, either in ancient or modern times, either in
religion or philosophy, has been given, and also to call attention to
the fact that if Joseph Smith has given a definition of Truth that
appeals with irresistible force to the understanding of men, it must
be a strongly original utterance; a revelation of the utmost
importance. Such a definition, I believe, he has given. In 1833 he
said:
"Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as
they are to come."
This I hold to be the completest definition of Truth found in human
literature. It deals with relative truth, absolute truth, and truth
unfolding or becoming.
It may be objected that this definition is defective in that it
appears to make Truth depend upon knowledge. "Truth," says the
definition, "is knowledge of things as they are," etc. This part of
the definition deals with relative Truth merely. "Truth as it appears
to us," says S. Baring-Gould, "can only be relative, because we are
relative creatures, have only a relative perception and judgment. We
appreciate that which is true to ourselves, not that which is
universally true."
In other words, and using the language of Herbert Spencer at this
point: "Debarred as we are from everything beyond the relative, Truth,
raised to its highest form, can be for us nothing more than perfect
agreement throughout the whole range of our experience, between those
representations of things which we distinguish as ideal and those
presentations of things which we distinguish as real." That is to say,
to each individual, "knowledge of things as they are and as they were"
will be to him the Truth, and the fullness thereof, though not
necessarily all the Truth there is. There is Truth, however, which
does not depend upon knowledge; existences beyond and independent of
any human knowledge, at least.
To illustrate: America existed, though all Europe was without
knowledge of it for ages; until, in fact, it was discovered by
Columbus. The power of steam always existed, but men did not know it
until modern times. So, also, with the mysterious force called
electricity, it always existed, but not until recent years did man
know it as a force that could be utilized; and so as to many other
forces and truths in God's universe that are now existing, and have
always existed, but man, as yet, has no knowledge of them. The
storehouse of Truth is not yet exhausted by man's discoveries. There
are more Truths in heaven and earth than are yet dreamed of in human
philosophies.
And yet it may be that running parallel with those existences,
substances and relations unknown to man, there exist intelligences
that cognize such existences and relations. To recur to one item in
the illustrations above: America existed though all Europe was without
knowledge of it until discovered by Columbus; but America had
inhabitants, intelligences of her own that knew of the existence of
these Western continents. And so it may be if one could be transported
to Mars; while there is much that we do not know about Mars--has it an
atmosphere and oceans? Has it great continents and mountain ranges? Is
it inhabited? If so, what is the status of its civilization? These all
may be existences, realities on Mars, but we do not know of them, but
there may be intelligent inhabitants on Mars who know all these things
and a thousand more that are unknown to us, yet known to intelligences
inhabiting Mars. And so as to the most distant planets and
planet-systems conceivable. Everywhere that things exist, they may be
paralleled by Intelligences that cognize them. Then, again, there are
varying degrees of Intelligences. Where two Intelligences exist and
one is more intelligent than another, it leads to the thought that
there may be a third more intelligent than the first two; thence to a
fourth or fifth more intelligent still; thence onward, rising one
above another, in superiority of intelligence until you stand in the
presence of an infinity of Intelligences, or reach One more
intelligent than them all! One who, directly or indirectly, in all
councils presides; who guides all movements; who directs all
undertakings; who controls all worlds and world-systems; who loves
all; who comprehends all things, even the sum of existences--the
Truth! And so in the last analysis of the matter, wheresoever there
are existences to be known, even though they stretch to infinity,
there are also Intelligences that parallel such existences to cognize
them, control them, dominate them, and through them work out Their
will.
The phrase above--"the sum of existence:" we have more to do with
that. The phrase is used by a most faithful and earnest Christian man,
the late John Jacques. Instructed by the Prophet Joseph Smith, he sang
in his hymn on Truth, the following:
Then say, what is Truth? 'Tis the last and the first,
For the limits of time it steps o'er;
Though the heavens depart and the earth's fountains burst,
_Truth_, the _sum of existence_, will weather the worst,
Eternal, unchanged, evermore.
Surely that which is, that which has been, and that which is to come,
must be the sum of existence, or absolute Truth; and all that is, or
has been, or shall be, has been, is and shall be known by the
everywhere existing Intelligences, who, with the rest of their
knowledge, know themselves; who possess self-consciousness, as well as
other-consciousness, that is, consciousness of other things than
themselves. Truth, indeed, from this view point, is knowledge of that
which is, including self-knowledge of the knower. It may be said that
the absolute Truth, even as here set forth, is beyond the grasp of the
finite mind. I shall concede the claim; but because finite mind cannot
comprehend the sum of existence, or absolute Truth, it does not follow
that the definition we are discussing is at fault, or that it can be
displaced by one meaning more or less. Reflection upon the definition
here presented will develop the fact that it contains a self-evident
proposition of the same nature as the statement, "duration is
eternal"--without beginning, without end. Or, "space is limitless"--it
has no point beyond which it may not be conceived to extend, and
beyond which it does not extend. It is vain to say that the finite
mind cannot comprehend the realities presented by these statements.
The thing is greater than any symbol we can fashion of it by word or
otherwise; but we cannot conceive the opposite of these statements,
i.e., that space has boundaries; that duration has limits; that
absolute Truth is less than the sum of existence. In the definition
herein set forth you have all that is; and if in any definition of
Truth there is failure to include the sum of existences by so much
would the definition be defective and fail of its aim to define Truth.
As to relative Truth--every individual man's Truth--that is each
individual man's knowledge of so much of the sum of existences as he
can make his own, as already pointed out.
One other reflection on this definition. Note the words in it:
"Knowledge of things * * * as they are to come." This presents a view
of Truth seldom if ever met with. It gives the idea of movement. Truth
is not a stagnant pool, but a living fountain; not a Dead Sea without
tides or currents; on the contrary it is an ocean, immeasurably great,
vast, co-extensive with the Universe--it is the Universe--
bright-heaving, boundless, endless and sublime! Moving in majestic
currents, uplifted by tides in ceaseless ebb and flow; variant but
orderly; taking on new forms from ever-changing combinations; new
adjustments; new relations--multiplying itself in ten thousand times
ten thousand ways; ever reflecting the intelligence of the Infinite;
and declaring alike in its whispers and in its thunders, the hived
wisdom of the ages--of God!
AS TO THINGS--EXISTENCES: We are next to consider the universe in
which men, angels, archangels and Gods--Intelligences all--live.
"There are many kingdoms * * * and there is no space in the which
there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in the which there is no
space."
This was said by Joseph Smith in 1832. The context of the passage
makes it clear that "kingdoms" here are not groups of men or nations
over which a monarch reigns; but substance, matter, worlds and systems
of worlds, under the dominion of law, and Intelligences. It is the
doctrine of the eternal and everywhere existence of matter and space.
It is a description of the universe as far as it is describable. But
let us think of the passage a moment; for it requires thought to
rightly apprehend it.
This "space"--what is meant by it? I ask you what is between the two
walls of this hall, and you would rightly answer space, extension. But
what is on the outside of each wall--space; neither wall is the end of
space, then. Let us look higher. What is between us and the sun?
Space--extension. How much of it? Our astronomers say 92,000,000
miles. What is on the other side of the sun in a direct line from us?
Space. How much, 92,000,000 miles? Yes, and if 92,000,000 miles were
multiplied by 92,000,000 the product would not indicate all the space
in a direct line from us on the opposite side of the sun. Beyond the
point so obtained space would still extend. But one wearies of these
units of measure; take a ray of light. In the single batting of a
bird's wing light will pass eight times round the earth, that is it
will pass over a distance of 198,000 miles! There are fixed
stars--suns--so distant from us, the astronomers say, that it requires
hundreds of thousands and even millions of years for a ray of light to
reach us from those distant suns! Take one of those distant suns and
think upon it in respect of space, just as we did a moment ago in
regard to what is between our earth and the sun and beyond the sun, in
a direct line from us, and you get the same results. There is no means
by which the limitless may be measured. Whatever the length of your
measuring wand it is still inadequate. By no measurement, by no
conception, may one reach the "outside curtains" beyond which space
does not extend. And so as to time, duration. What was before today?
Yesterday. And what will be after today? Tomorrow. Take a century, or,
better yet, a millennium, a period of 1,000 years--why not take
1,000,000 years as a period with which to measure duration? It will
answer just as well as our "day" of a moment ago. What preceded our
present period of 1,000,000 years? A previous 1,000,000 of such years.
And what will follow the present period of 1,000,000 years? Another
such period. So you may continue, make your period of measurement what
length of years or centuries or millenniums you please, the result
will always be the same. It is again the attempt to measure the
limitless, to encompass that which is infinite. The sum of all our
thought on this head is well stated by Ernest Haeckel in one of his
latest works, the very last but one, I believe, the publication of
which falls within the present decade:
a. "The extent of the universe is infinite and unbounded; it is empty
in no part, but everywhere filled with substance."
b. "The duration of the world is equally infinite and unbounded; it
has no beginning and no end; it is eternity."
Such may be said to be the settled and universal conviction of science
now; but it was far from such conviction in 1832 when Joseph Smith
said the same in the passage--"There are many kingdoms; * * * and
there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; and there is no
kingdom in the which there is no space."
THE REIGN OF LAW: "There are many kingdoms * * * and to every kingdom
is given a law; and to every law there are certain bounds also, and
conditions. All beings who abide not in those conditions (i. e., abide
within the law) are not justified."
This was said in 1832. The passage proclaims the reign of law
throughout this infinite universe--through all space, through all
time; in all kingdoms; but implies the possibility of departure from
law. But "to every law there are certain bounds also and conditions!"
A bold conception this; especially three-quarters of a century ago;
yet it is approved by man's experience. The power of ocean currents
and the winds to carry with them objects in the direction of their
movement is overcome by another force or law--the power of steam; the
force of gravitation, by the levitating power of gas; the natural
tendency of water to seek its level, by the levitating power of heat
and the absorbing power of the atmosphere, are hurriedly chosen
examples. But this same idea of law itself having metes and bounds, or
"law itself being subject to law," Henry Drummond, one of the
recognized great thinkers of the nineteenth century, more than half a
century after our Prophet, declared to be "One of the most striking
generalizations of recent science." And John Fiske said, "In order to
be always sure that we are generalizing correctly, we must make the
generalizing process itself a subject of generalization." Which is but
a recognition of Drummond's idea that "laws have their law;" and
Joseph Smith's "To every law there are certain bounds also and
conditions." Already I have noted in the passage the implied
possibility of the infraction of law; and the idea of law itself
implies the possibility of disorder, which must result from an
infraction, that is, a departure from, or violation of, law. But our
Prophet said: "That which is governed by law is also preserved by law,
and perfected and sanctified by the same. That which breaketh a law,
and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and
willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be
sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment." From all
which one is to conclude that evil is subject to law as well as good,
that is, it cannot remain evil and yet produce the effects of good.
Our Prophet teaches, then, that through all eternity the infinite
universe has been, and is, and will be, subject to law; but that "to
every law there are certain bounds also and conditions."
CHANGE AND ITS TENDENCY: As to movement and change in this infinite
universe, our Prophet represents God as saying: