The gospel : an exposition of its first principles

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BANCROFT
LIBRARY

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THE GOSPEL. A

EXPOSITION OF ITS FIRST PRINCIPLES,

ELDER -B.--H-.- ROBERTS,

Author of Life of John Taylor; Outlines of Ecclesiastical
History; New Witnesses, Etc.

Revised and Enlarged Edition.

PUBLISHED BY

GEORGE Q. CANNON & SONS CO,

SAL.T LAKE CITY, UTAH.

1893.

ltReligiont inv honored Jrionl, is sun'ly a simple
business, as it equally concerns the ignorant and the
learned, tJie poor and the /vV//. "- -Burns.

Coi'VKKillT !s'.»:!:— IJY H. H. KOIiKKI-.

BANCROFT
LIBRARY

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

work has been written for the purpose of
instructing the youth of Zion in the first
principles of the gospel.

For the most part our parents have been
converted to the gospel while living in the
various States of this country, or in foreign
lands, by the preaching of the servants of God
sent forth of him to proclaim the ushering in of
the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, and
to call mankind to repentance. They carefully
jand thoroughly examined every principle ad-
vanced by them; for notwithstanding the doctrines
taught by the Elders were older than the earth,
and in various dispensations have been ex-
pounded by prophets and apostles whose testi-
mony is recorded in the Bible, yet something in
the spirit by which they were proclaimed, and
the manner in which they were combined, made
them a new gospel— a new religion.

Not only did our parents hear the public dis-
courses of the servants of God, but in the home
circle — to which they invited the teachers of the
seemingly New Faith — the gospel, the harmony
arid beauty of its principles, the consistent
blending in it of justice and mercy, its sanctifying
influence upon the human character, its spirit

IV PREFACE.

and powers, were all common topics of their
conversation; until they not only intellectually
assented to it as a grand system of truth, but also
became imbued with its spirit, and felt and enjoyed
its powers.

With the youth of Zion it has been different.
Being removed from the errors of the sectarian
world, it has been thought they would accept the
gospel as a matter of course. It may be stated
as a general truth, that too much in this respect
has been taken for granted; and in too many
instances our youth have not been instructed so
thoroughly in the things of God as they ought to
have been. Many have grown up in lamentable
ignorance of even the First Principles of the
gospel — which ignorance is often confounded
with unbelief, or mistaken for infidelity.

To such the gospel has only to be presented
intelligently, and in its native simplicity, to be
accepted. "Whoever examined our religion,"
said one of the Fathers of the early Christian
Church, "but what he accepted it?" So now:
the Gospel has only to be understood to be
admired and believed.

It is to place within their reach a thorough
exposition of the First Principles of the gospel
that this work has been prepared, and is now
presented to the youth of Zion: and it is the
earnest hope of the author that by a patient
perusal of these pages those who now believe
the gospel will find their faith strengthened and

PREFACE. V

confirmed; and those who do not believe it, be
convinced of its truth.

It is but fair to the writer to say that the work
has been written amid the busy scenes of mis-
sionary life in a foreign land. Its preparation
has been frequently interrupted by travel, and
the performance of many other duties requiring
the writer's attention. If this work, therefore,
in point of excellence shall fall below what was
desired by the General Superintendency of the
Mutual Improvement Associations, at whose
instigation it was written, it is hoped these
circumstances will in some degree excuse it.

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

1 HAD determined in the second edition of this
T work to very much alter its general plan and
enlarge it; but a number of friends who have
used "The Gospel" as a text-book in our Church
schools, in Improvement Associations and theo-
logical classes, persuaded me not to materially
change or too much enlarge it. Their experience
in using the little work as a text-book gives
weight to their opinions, and I have so far
yielded to their judgment that I have made but
few changes, and those merely verbal, in this
edition of the book.

I have, however, added as a supplement, a
series of articles originally written for The Cc/i-
tribtitor, on "Man's Relationship to Deity."
Those articles were intended in the rirst place to
be supplemental to "The Gospel," and as the
theme has a close relation to the subject of
which the work treats, I thought it would
increase the interest in the whole subject to
publish them in this edition.

THE AUTHOR.

CONTKNTS.

Page,

CHAPTER I. — Introductory - 9

CHAPTER II.— General Salvation 11

CHAPTER III.— General Salvation - - 18

CHAPTER IV. — General Salvation 23

CHAPTER V.— Individual Salvation - - 31

CHAPTER VI.— Principles and Ordinances 43

CHAPTER VII.— Faith - 50

CHAPTER VIII.— Faith.— The Bible 57

CHAPTER IX.— Faith.— The Old Testament - 69

CHAPTER X.— Faith.— The New Testament - 76

CHAPTER XI.— Faith.— The New Testament - 82

CHAPTER XII.— Faith.— The New Testament - 94

CHAPTER XIII.— Faith.— Tradition - - 105

CHAPTER XIV.— Faith.— Revelation - 112

CHAPTER XV.— Faith.— The Character of God - 125

CHAPTER XVI.— Faith.— Course of Life 135

CHAPTER XVII.— Repentance 146

CHAPTER XVIII.— Repentance - . 151

CHAPTER XIX.— Repentance.— Historical Illustration 159

CHAPTER XX.— Repentance.— Historical Illustration 164

CHAPTER XXI.— Baptism 175

CHAPTER XXII.— Object of Baptism - 187

CHAPTER XXIII.— The Subjects for Baptism 199

CHAPTER XXIV.— The Mode of Baptism - - 207

CHAPTER XXV.— The Holy Ghost 215
CHAPTER XXVI.— The Holy Ghost —Who May Receive It 221

CHAPTER XXVII.— The Holy Ghost.— How Imparted - 227

CHAPTER XXVIII.— The Holy Ghost.— Character and

Source - 237

CHAPTER XXIX.— The Holy Ghost.— Its Power 245

CHAPTER XXX.— Authority - 252

CHAPTER XXXI.— Laws of Spiritual Development 261

CHAPTER XXXII.— History of the Gospel 265

CHAPTER XXXIII.— Salvation for the Dead - 279

CONCLUSION - - 293

SUPPLEMENT.— Man's Relationship to Deity - - 295

THE GOSPEL.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

N the investigation of any subject, it is of
first importance that the terms employed be
thoroughly understood; hence, I begin the subject
in hand by asking and answering the question,
What is the Gospel? The definition to the term
I shall derive from the scriptures; not from one
passage alone, but from the consideration of a
number of passages.

The Apostle Paul, in defining the Gospel,
calls it: "The power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth."*

From other scriptures, to be considered
presently, we shall see that Paul could not have
meant a mere intellectual assent to the truth of
the several principles composing the Gospel, but
an active, living faith in them — a belief which
accepts them, not in theory only, but in practice
also — a belief which leads up to an implicit
obedience to the ordinances and precepts of the
Gospel. It is only such a belief that can make

» Rom i : 16.
2

10 THE GOSPEL.

the Gospel the power of God unto salvation. In
proof of this I call attention to the following
scriptures: "Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. * * * Therefore whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I
will liken him unto a wise man, which built his
house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon
that house; and it fell not: for it was founded
upon a rock. And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man, which built his house
upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon
that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of
it."*

"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and super-
fluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness
the engrafted word, which is able to save your
souls. But be ye doers of the word and not
hearers only, deceiving your own selves, "f

And now to come to a passage which must set at
rest forever all controversy on the question. In
speaking of Jesus, the writer of the book of
Hebrews says: "Though he were a son, yet
learned he obedience through the things which
he suffered, and being made perfect, he became

» Matt, vii : 21, 24-27. f James i : 21, 22.

GENERAL SALVATION. 11

the author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey him."* Not to those who do not obey him.
From these scriptures we deduce the following
definition: The Gospel is the power of God unto
salvation unto every one who believes and obeys
it.

CHAPTER II.

GENERAL SALVATION.

TgvAVING defined what the Gospel is, it is my
(^ purpose now, for convenience, to separate
the subject into two grand divisions. These I
shall call respectively: General Salvation, and
Individual Salvation.

By General Salvation, I mean a salvation that
is as universal as the race of man; that will
extend to the sinner as well as to the saint; to
the unbeliever, as well as to him who believes;
to the impenitent, as well as to the penitent; in
short, a salvation that is secured to every son
and daughter of Adam, irrespective of his or her
belief or unbelief, obedience or disobedience.

By Individual Salvation, I mean a salvation
from certain consequences that result from trans-
gressing one or more of God's holy laws; a
salvation secured by complying with certain condi-

Heb. v : 8, 9.

12 THE GOSPEL.

tions specified in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and
which can only be secured to those who fulfill said
conditions.

First, then, as to General Salvation: Whatever
mystery may hang over man's existence, he is
conscious of these two facts: first, that he does
exist; and second, judging from all human
experience, as well as by^the decrees~of God, the
time will come when he will die. No matter how
strong the body, how perfect the health, or how
buoyant the spirit, man knows that sooner or
later time will sap the vital forces, unbend the
body's strength, and in a few years the all-
beholding sun shall see him no more in all his
course.

The experience of the race proves that man is
dust, and to dust he must return. It is true that
a few, for the time being, have escaped this fate,
through being translated by the special provi-
dence of God; as in the case of Enoch and many
of his people;* the prophet Elijah ;f the three
Nephite apostles, J and also John, the apostle. §
But even those who have attained this peculiar
privilege, will doubtless yet have to pass through
the mysterious change we call death, in order
that the decrees of God may be fulfilled. This
calamity of death, then, falls upon all mankind;

* Pearl of Great Price pp. 18, 19, 22. t II. Kings, ii. Doc. jm,l
Cov. Sec. ex. 13. { III. Nephi xxviii : 7-33. $ St. John xxi : 21-
25, Hoc. and Cov. Sec. vii.

GENERAL SALVATION. 13

and it was brought into the world through no act
of theirs.

Adam transgressed the commandments given to
him by his God; and through that act, sowed the
seeds of death, and became mortal, and his
progeny inherited, as a legacy, that mortality,
and so death passed upon all mankind. And
since death was brought upon mankind through
no act or fault of theirs, justice demands that they
should receive full and complete redemption from
that evil which falls upon them through the acts
of another, over which they had no control.

Such redemption has been wrought out through
the Atonement of Jesus Christ; and, in proof
that that redemption from the consequences of
Adam's transgression is universal, extending alike
to the righteous and unrighteous, I cite the
following scripture: "And many of them that
sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake, some
to everlasting life, and some to shame and ever-
lasting contempt."*

From this it appears that not only the righteous
— those who are worthy of everlasting life — are
to come forth from their graves, but also the
wicked — those worthy only of shame and everlast-
ing contempt. To this agrees the testimony of
Jesus, "For as the Father hath life in himself; so
hath he given to the Son, life in himself. * *
* Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in

Dan. xii : 2.

14 THE GOSPEL.

the which all that are in their graves shall hear
his voice, and shall come forth; they that have
done good unto the resurrection of life, and they
that have done evil unto the resurrection of
damnation."* Or, as the last two clauses were
given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, by inspira-
tion: "They who have done good in the resurrec-
tion of the just, and they who have done evil in
the resurrection of the unjust, ""f

This, too, is in harmony with Paul's teaching,
pronounced on the occasion of his defense before
Felix: "After the way which they call heresy, so
worship I the God of my fathers, believing all
things which are written in the law and in the
prophets; and have hope towards God, which
they themselves aslo allow, that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the
unjust. "J

It it were necessary to add anything more to
this array of testimony, it would be found in the
words of John the Revelator. In the twentieth
chapter of Revelations is given an account, first,
of the resurrection of the just, and their reign of
peace upon the earth for a thousand years; and
then follows a description of the general resurrec-
tion, in which the writer says: "And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it;

* John v: 26, 28, 29. f Doc. and Cov. Sec. Ixxv: 16, 17. J Acts
xxiv: 14, 15.

GENERAL SALVATION. 15

and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them, and they were judged every man
according to his works."*

It is certain, then, that the resurrection of the
dead is universal, extending alike to all classes
and races of men. And thus there is a general
salvation from the consequences of Adam's fall.
"For as by the offense of one (Adam) judgment
came upon all men to condemnation; even so by
the righteousness of one (Christ) the free gift
came upon all men to the justification of life, ""f
And again, "Since by man came death, by man
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive. "J

The reader will observe that the redemption is
as universal as the fall. If it were possible, still
more explicit is the testimony of the Book of
Mormon on this subject of man's redemption, as
will be seen from the following passages: "And
he (Christ) shall come into the world to redeem
his people; and he shall take upon him the
transgressions of those who believe on his name;
and these are they that shall have eternal life, and
salvation cometh to none else; therefore the
wicked remain as though there had been no
redemption made, except it be the loosing of the
bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that

* Rev. xx : 12, 13. | Rom- v = 18. { I. Cor xv : 21, 22.

16 THE COS IT. I .

all shall rise from the dead and stand before
God, and be judged according to their works."

"Now there is a death which is called a temporal
death; and the death of Christ shall loose the
bands of this temporal death, that all shall be
raised from this temporal death: the spirit and
the body shall be re-united again in its perfect
form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its
proper frame, even as we now are at this time;
and we shall be brought to stand before God,
knowing even as we know now, and have a bright
recollection of all our guilt. Now, this restoration
shall come to all, both old and young, both bond
and free, both male and female, both the wicked
and the righteous; and even there shall not so
much as a hair of their heads be lost; but all
things shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it
is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be
arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and
God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is
one eternal God, to be judged according to their
works, whether they be good cr whether they be
evil."*

"Behold I have given unto you my gospel,
and this is the gospel which I have given unto
you, that I came into the world to do the will of
my Father, because my Father sent me; and my
Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon
the cross; and after that I had been lifted up

» Alma xi : 40, 41, 42, 43, 44.

GENERAL SALVATION. 17

upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto
me; that as I have been lifted up by men, even
so should men be lifted up by the Father, to
stand before me, to be judged of their works,
whether they be good or whether they be evil.
And for this cause have I been lifted up; there-
fore, according to the power of the Father, I will
draw all men unto me, that they may be judged
according to their works."*

"Behold, he (Christ) created Adam, and by
Adam came the fall of man. And because of
the fall of man, came Jesus Christ, even the
Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ,
came the redemption of man. And because of
the redemption of man, which came by Jesus
Christ, they are brought back into the presence
of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are
redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth
to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass
a redemption from an endless sleep, from which
sleep all men shall be awoke by the power of
God, when the trump shall sound; and they
shall come forth, both small and great, and all
shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and
loosed from this eternal band of death, which
death is a temporal death. "f

Still, some of skeptical inclination, will refuse
to admit that justice has its perfect development
in this scheme of redemption through Christ's

«III Nephi xxvii : 13-15. f Moroni ix : 12, 13.

18 THE GOSPEL.

Atonement. They insist that the sin of Adam
should not be visited upon his posterity even for
a moment. Why should man die? How is it
that through the sacrifice of one who is innocent,
salvation may be purchased for those under the
dominion of death?

CHAPTER III.

GENERAL SALVATION.

AN answer to the questions with which the last
7" chapter closed, I may say that however diffi-
cult it may be to comprehend fully all things
connected with man's fall, and God's plan for his
redemption, we may be assured that the fall was
not a blunder, nor was it an accident. The prophet
Lehi bowed down under the weight of years,
when giving his last testimony and instructions
to his son Jacob, said: "Behold, all things have
been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth
all things. Adam fell that men might be; and
men are, that they might have joy."*

All that has befallen man, we may rest assured,
is essential to his eternal and perfect happiness.
From our limited experience, we know that men
learn to appreciate the joys of prosperity by

II Nephi ii : 24, 25.

GENERAL SALVATION. 19

drinking deeply from the cup of adversity; they
learn to prize the boon of health, by languishing
upon the bed of affliction; they learn the value of
wealth, by experiencing want and poverty; the
sweets of life are rendered still more sweet by the
draughts of bitterness we are compelled to drink;
and the ever intermittent gleams of sunshine are
made more bright by the renewing storms which
darken the sky; and thus —

"'Tis sorrow builds the shining ladder up,
Whose golden rounds are our calamities."

As it is with these things I have mentioned, so
it is in respect to the greatest blessing Deity can
bestow upon man — the gift of eternal life. How
great that gift, it is difficult for us to understand.
It is not to live merely three score years, nor a
thousand years, nor ten thousand years, but
ETERNALLY; and while

" The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years;
Man shall flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amid the war of elements,
The wreck of matter and the crash of worlds.''—

But in order that his children might know how
to prize the greatest of all his gifts, Deity has
ordained that they should pass through the dark
valley of death; and in the meantime, by passing
through this probation we call life, they might
have the opportunity of demonstrating before the
heavens their integrity to principles of righteous-
ness ar»d truth; and by coming in contact with

20 THE GOSPEL.

evil, they might forever prize that which is pure
and good; that vice might ever be hideous to
them, and virtue lovely — and thus the eternal
happiness of man be made secure. Thus with
death, as with many other things, that which
at times we consider our greatest calamity, turns
out to be our greatest good.

As to the second question* — How is it that
through the sacrifice of one who is innocent
salvation may be purchased for those under the
dominion of death? — I will observe, in passing,
that what should most concern us, is, not so
much how it is that such is the case, but is it a
fact. Is it true that God has etsablished such
a scheme of redemption, is what should concern
us most.

To that question the blood sprinkled upon a
thousand Jewish altars, and the smoke that
darkened the heavens for ages from burnt offer-
ings, answers yes. For those sacrifices, and that
sprinkled blood were but typical of the great
sacrifice to be made by the Messiah.

Even the mythology of heathen nations retains
the idea of an atonement that either has been,
or is to be made for mankind. Fantastic, dis-
torted, confused; buried under the rubbish of
savage superstition it may be, but it nevertheless
exists. So easily traced, so distinct is this feature
of heathen mythology, that some writers have

* See Discourse of J. Taylor, J. of D. vol 10, p. 114.

GENERAL SALVATION. 21

endeavored to prove that the gospel plan of
redemption was derived from heathen mythology.
Whereas the fact is that the Gospel was under-
stood and extensively preached in the earliest
ages;* men retained in their tradition a knowl-
edge of those principles or parts of them, and
however much they may have been distorted,
traces of them may still be found in nearly all
the mythologies of the world.

The prophets of the Jewish scriptures answer
the foregoing question in the affirmative. The
writers of the New Testament make Christ's
Atonement the principal theme of their discourses
and epistles. The Book of Mormon, speaking as
the voice of an entire continent of people, whose
prophets and righteous men sought and found
God, testifies to the same great fact. The reve-
lations of God as given through the Prophet
Joseph Smith are replete with passages confirming
this doctrine, and lastly, the Saints who have
received this doctrine and walked in obedience
to the laws of heaven, bear testimony that the
Spirit of God has borne record to their spirits
that the Atonement of Christ is a grand reality.

This evidence is more than sufficient, it seems
to me, to establish the fact of the atonement

* See Pearl of Great Price, Writings of Moses, pp. 12 to 31. Gal.
iii, 8. Heb iv, 2, in connection with latter part of chap iii. I Cor.
x, 1-4. Mediation and Atonement by the late Prest. John Taylor
— Appendix.

22 THE GOSPEL.

beyond the possibility of a doubt; and if there
are some things in it not within the scope of our
comprehension, still there is sufficient foundation
for our glorious hope of eternal life through its
power; for the evidence proving the fact of that
Atonement is sufficient, wanting nothing, either
in quality or quantity.

The Atonement is not the only fact which man
accepts without being able to comprehend it.
Such facts exist all about us. For example, here
stands a row of trees; here is the plum tree, the
peach, pear, apple, cherry and the apricot. They
send their roots down into the same soil; their
fibres become interlaced in it; and yet each tree
has the mysterious power to draw from the same
soil the substances which produce its own peculiar
fruit. So it is throughout the vegetable kingdom.
But how it is that the peach tree produces the
peach, while the plum tree* from the same soil,
produces the plum; or how one plant produces
wheat, while another at its side produces barley,
we cannot tell. But there is the fact; and how
stupid would he be considered who rejected the
fact, because, forsooth, he cannot understand the
mysterious powers or forces which produce it!

As Bishop Watson remarks to Sir Edward
Gibbon, in the letters which comprise his Apology
for Christianity: — "In physics you cannot com-
prehend the primary cause of anything: not of
the light by which you see; nor of the elasticity
of the air by which you hear; nor of the fire

GENERAL SALVATION. 23

by which you are warmed. In physiology you
cannot tell what first gave motion to the heart,
nor what continues it, nor why its motion is less
voluntary than the lungs; nor why you are able
to move your arms to the right or left by a simple
volition; * * * nor comprehend the principle
by which your body was at first formed, nor by
which it is sustained, nor by which it will be
reduced to earth." The list might be indefinitely
extended, for the facts in nature which are
incomprehensible are more numerous than those
of revelation. And yet those who insist that all
the facts connected with revelation should be of
such a character that they are perfectly compre-
hended, refuse not to accept the facts in nature
because they are incomprehensible. Why cannot
they treat with equal fairness the facts of revela-
tion, and leave it to time and further revelation
to make that clear which is now obscure?

CHAPTER IV.

GENERAL SALVATION.

7TNBELIEVERS delight to represent God, the
^"^ great Law Giver, as unspeakably cruel in
demanding such an Atonement as Christ made
for the salvation of the children of men.

24 THE GOSPEL.

But let it be borne in mind that he who made
the Atonement did so voluntarily. Testifying to
his disciples respecting the matter he says:
" Therefore doth my Father love me, because I
lay down my life that I may take it up again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of
myself. I have power to lay it down and I have
power to take it again. This commandment have
I received of my Father."*

When his enemies gathered about him, — a
former friend betraying him with a kiss, — and
Peter prepared to defend him with the sword,
he chided him for his rashness, commanding him
to put up his sword, and added: "Thinkest thou
that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he
shall presently give me more than twelve legions
of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be
fulfilled, that thus it must be?"f

Thus down to the very last moment, it appears
that Jesus could have been delivered from the
sacrifice had he so willed it. But the principle
which was the guiding-star of his life — "Father,
not my will, but thy will be done" influenced him
in this instance, and he drank of the cup given
him of his Father, and wrung out the dregs in
agony; but he did it voluntarily, and that, too,
out of his great love for mankind.

Among men we sometimes see this willingness

f John x. 17, 18. t Matt- xxvi= 53, 54.

GENERAL SALVATION. 25

to suffer for others. Men there are who would
lay down their lives for their friends. In the
times when imprisonment for debt was customary
in England, we often meet instances where out
of pure love and kindness towards his fellows, a
man under no obligation whatever to do so, has
paid the debts of the unfortunate, satisfied the
demands of the law, and set the captive free. It
is related of Lord Byron that when he was a lad
attending school, a companion of his fell under
the displeasure of a cruel, overbearing bully,
who unmercifully beat him. Byron happened to
be present, but knowing the uselessness of under-
taking a fight with the bully, he stepped up to
him and asked him how much longer he intended
to beat his friend. "What's that to you?" gruffly
demanded the bully. "Because," replied young
Byron, the tears standing in his eyes, "I will
take the rest of the beating if you will let him
go."

That partakes to some extent, at least enough
so for illustration, of the spirit by which the Son
of God was actuated when he offered himself a
ransom for mankind, to redeem them from the
power and dominion of death, from which they
were powerless to free themselves.

There was something more, however, in the
suffering of the Messiah than merely the ordinary
pangs and terrors of personal death. As stated
by the late President John Taylor, "The suffering
of the Son of God was not simply the suffering of

26 THE GOSPEL.

personal death; for in assuming the position that
he did in making an atonement for the sins of the
world, he bore the weight, the responsibilities
and the burden of the sins of all men, which,
to us, is incomprehensible. As stated, 'The
Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh;
wherefore he suffereth the pains of all men. ' And
Isaiah says: 'Surely he hath borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows;' also, The Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all;' and again, 'he hath
poured out his soul unto death, and he was
numbered with the transgressors, and he bear
the sins of many;' or, as it is written in the
second book of Nephi,1 'For behold, he suffereth
the pains all men, yea the pains of every
living creature, both men, women and children,
who belong to the family of Adam;' whilst in
Mosiah it is declared, 'he shall suffer temptations
and pains of body, hunger, thirst and fatigue,
even more than man can suffer, except it be unto
death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore
so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness
and abominations of his people.'"

By this Atonement of Messiah's there is es-
pecially one fact thrown out into bold relief, that
is, the great love of God and Christ for mankind.
When you come to think of the unspeakable
agony, of the anguish of heart, of the pains that
racked the body and distressed the mind of the

Mediation and Atonement ch. xxi.

GENERAL SALVATION. 27

Savior at the time of his betrayal, and during
his trial and crucifixion, you may begin to see
how great the love of the Father for mankind
must be, when he would consent for his only
begotten Son to pass through this great humilia-
tion and affliction, in order to redeem mankind
from the bonds of death. On such contemplation
increased emphasis will be given to the passage

"In this was manifested the love of God
towards us, because that God sent his only be-
gotten Son into the world that we might live
through him."* And also to this — "For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent
not his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved, "f

Then what shall we say for the greatness of the
love of the Son of God, who of his own free will
volunteered to take upon himself the task of
man's redemption! Not only of redeeming him
from death, but from the consequences of all
sins, that is, on certain conditions, as we shall
see further on !

I have often thought that the love of a son for
his mother must ever be made stronger, and
become more sanctified, through bringing to mind
the sufferings which brought her to the very
gates of death, to give him life; her subsequent

* I. John iv : 9.
f John iii. 16, 17.

28 THE GOSPEL.

devotion, anxiety, toil and watchfulness in the
years of his childhood and youth, making her a
being "enskyed and sainted," to him. So it is
with Christ. The recollection of the love he
bears for us as manifested in the sufferings he
endured in our stead, for upon him was laid the
iniquity of us all, and by his stripes are we to
be healed — the recollection, I say, of his excruc-
iating agony in Gethsemane, where he sweat great
drops of blood, in the council chamber of the
Jews, in the streets of Jerusalem at the hands of
the rabble, and finally upon Calvary, in order to
satisfy the inexorable claims of justice, must seal
and make perfect the bond of love which connects
us with him; and bears witness to the world how
great, how infinite the love of Christ for us, how
great the price paid for our ransom. Well may
the Apostle say — "Ye are not your own, for ye
are bought with a price."*

In the Atonement made for man, there is a nice
balancing of the relative claims of Justice and
Mercy. The law given to man being transgressed,
Jusice demanded the payment of the penalty,
which was death. And as Adam had no power
to liberate himself from the captivity thereof, his
sleep in the grave must have been eternal; so
also with all his posterity to whom his mortality
was bequeathed as an evil legacy, had not Mercy
put in her claims and prevented Justice from

* I Cor. vi. 19, 20.

GENERAL SALVATION. 29

being cruel. The Son of God having it given
him to have life in himself,* and being capable
of making an infinite atonement, he stood forth
as the great friend of man and offered himself as
a sacrifice to satisfy the claims of Justice. That
offering was accepted by the great Law Giver,
and upon the demands of Justice being satisfied,
—the law having no further claim upon him, the
captive is set free from the dominion of death.

Mercy is not permitted to rob Justice, but she
claims her own. Justice is not permitted to be
cruel, but he retains his dignity — his demands
are satisfied. As the late President Taylor very
beautifully and very truthfully said: "Is justice
dishonored? No; it is satisfied; the debt is paid.
Is righteousness departed from? No; there is a
righteous act. All requirements are met. Is
judgment violated? No; its demands are fulfilled.
Is mercy triumphant? No; she simply claims
her own. Justice, judgment, mercy and truth all
harmonize as the attributes of Deity. Justice and
truth have met together, righteousness and peace
have kissed each other, justice and judgment
triumphant as well as mercy and peace; all the
attributes of Deity harmonize in this great,
grand, momentous, just, equitable, merciful and
meritorious act. "f

* John v : 26.

| Mediation and Atonement, ch. xxiv. To the reader who would
make a more thorough investigation of this subject than these pages
afford, I refer him to the following passages and works. Book of

30 THE GOSPEL.

Through this Atonement, made by Messiah, a
full and complete redemption from the conse-
quences of Adam's transgression is brought
about; that is, a victory over the grave is secured;
and that, too, through the merits of Jesus Christ.
And while the law transgressed by Adam has been
vindicated, the posterity of Adam, who became
subject to death through his disobedience, are
redeemed from the grave without anything being
required of them. For as their agency was not
concerned in bringing about the mischief, neither
is anything demanded of them in order to obtain
redemption from it.

So far salvation is free, universal, and uncon-
ditional; extending to every man, woman and
child who has ever breathed the breath of life.
And hence the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote as
one of the articles of our faith — 'We believe
that men will be punished for their own sins, and
not for Adam's transgression."

This is what I mean, then, by General Salva-
tion: Free redemption for all mankind through
the resurrection from death, which was the great
penalty affixed to the law that Adam transgressed.
This is what the Atonement of Christ accom-
plished for man, but this is not all it did, as we

Mormon, II Nephi, Chap. ii. Mosiah xv, 18 — 27. Alma xxxiv.
7 — 17. Alma xlii, 1—26. Doc. and Cov. See. Ixxvi. and especially
the "Mediation and Atonement" by the late Prest. John Taylor
Also Watson's Apology for Christianity, Letter vi. Jenyn's Inter-
nal Evidences of the Christian Religion, the concluding chapter.

INDIVIDUAL SALVATION. 31

shall see when we come to speak of Individual
Salvation.

Meantime, through the fall, comes our present
state of probation; our opportunities for gaining
an experience in this life; of coming in contact
with good and evil; learning to love the one and
despise the other, by seeing them placed in con-
trast with each other, working out their respective
results, to the production of happiness on the
one hand, and misery on the other. From which
experience we shall learn on what basis rests the
eternal felicity of intelligences, and how to
perpetuate it throughout the ages yet unborn.

CHAPTER V.

INDIVIDUAL SALVATION.

TgvAVING dealt with what I called General
(§ Salvation, I now turn to Individual Salva-
tion. You have seen that man is redeemed from
the evils brought upon him through Adam's sin,
without any act of belief or obedience being
required of him. This is because his agency or
will was not exercised in breaking the law given
to Adam. The calamity overtakes him through
no fault of his; and consequently his deliverance,
so far, comes without his seeking — in fact, it
comes independent of him. In this matter, man

32 THE GOSPEL.

•*

is passive, being acted upon by the relative
claims of Justice and Mercy.

But apart from the transgressions of our first
parents, there is a vast amount of sin, crime and
corruption in the world. Envy, hatred, malice,
contention, evil-speaking, jealousy, and covetous-
ness abound; to say nothing of the greater evils
of lying, drunkenness, stealing, fornication,
adultery, and debauchery of every description,
which would be improper even to name.

Selfishness is the starting point of the present
system of industrialism; chicanery and fraud
enter into all the avenues of trade; dishonesty
walks the streets without shame; licentiousness
revels in its own wantonness; whoredoms are
poisoning the life's blood of the nations; prostitu-
tion flaunts its shame upon the streets, and takes
up its abode in the very shadow of the church,
where men meet to worship God. Instead of
beautifying the earth, man is but making many
portions of it sink-holes of iniquity; where
poverty, misery, degradation, drunkenness, crime
and sin lie festering in their filthiness under the
sunlight of heaven, until the very earth is defiled
under the inhabitants thereof.

Now, who is responsible for all these evils, this
seething mass of iniquity, which blights like a
hell-sent plague this fair creation of ours — the
earth? I answer that every man and every woman
and every child, who has arrived at the years of
accountability — who understands the difference

INDIVIDUAL SALVATION. 33

between good and evil — is responsible for it, so
far, and to that extent that his or her individual
acts contribute to the grand aggregate of crime
in this sin-stained world.

In the commission of these individual sins, too,
man's agency becomes a factor. He sins know-
ingly, willfully, and sometimes wantonly. He
transgresses the laws of God and of nature in
spite of the protests of his conscience, the con-
victions of his reason and the promptings of his
judgment. He becomes desperately wicked and
so depraved that he actually seeks evil and loves
it. He hugs it to his bosom and cries, "Evil, be
thou my good; sin, be thou my refuge!"

For the transgression of that law which brought
death into the world, Justice had no claims upon
the posterity of Adam, because their agency was
not concerned in it, hence a free redemption was
provided from the calamity that overtakes them.
But in the case of these individual sins, where
the agency of every person is exercised, justice
demands that the penalties affixed to the violated
laws be satisfied, and the transgressors punished.
But here again the principle of mercy is active.
As I have before stated, the victory over death is
not the only benefit arising from the Atonement
of the Messiah; but by the sacrifice which he
made he purchased mankind as an inheritance
for himself, and they became of right under his
dominion, for he ransomed them from an endless
sleep in the grave. Nor is that all, but as the

34 THE GOSPEL.

scripture saith: "He hath borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows. * * * He was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was
upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
* * * The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all."* So that his Atonement not only
broke the bonds of death, but also atoned for the
individual sins of men on condition of their
obedience — their loyalty to Christ, who by virtue
of his Atonement redeemed them from endless
death, and therefore of right became their law-
giver, and had power given him to dictate the
terms upon which the full benefits of his Atone-
ment should be applied to individuals, in order
to release them from the penalties which follow
as a consequence of their personal violations of
the principles of righteousness.

First, however, let us settle it in our minds
from authority that the Atonement of Christ has
this two-fold force that I have ascribed to it,
viz.: that it redeems all mankind from death;
and also redeems them from the consequences of
personal sins, through obedience to Christ.

The first part of the proposition has already
been discussed and proven in those chapters
devoted to the consideration of General Salvation,
and those arguments need not be repeated here.

That the second part is true is evident from

Isaiah liii : 5, 6.

INDIVIDUAL SALVATION. 35

such scripture as: "He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth
not shall be damned;* and, "Being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation unto
all them that obey him."f But while you are
under the necessity of sustaining the proposition,
so far as the Jewish Scriptures are concerned, by
inference, by conclusions drawn from the con-
sideration of numerous passages, in the Book of
Mormon we have passages which at once sustain
the doctrine: "And also his blood atoneth for
the sins of those who have fallen by the trans-
gression of Adam, who have died not knowing
the will of God concerning them, or who have
ignorantly sinned. But woe, woe unto him who
knoweth that he rebelleth against God; for salva-
tion cometh to none such, except it be through repent-
ance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "J

Alma, in answering a question asked him by
the lawyer Zeezrom, said of Jesus: — "And he
shall come into the world to redeem his people;
and he shall take upon him the transgressions of
those who believe on his name; and these are
they that shall have eternal life, and salvation
cometh to none else; therefore the wicked remain
as though there had been no redemption made,
except it be the loosing of the bonds of death;
for behold the day cometh that all shall rise from

* Mark xvi. 16. f Heb. v: 16. \ Mosiah iii : 11, 12.

36 THE GOSPEL.

the dead and stand before God and be judged
according to their works."*

Still more plain in relation to the effect that
Messiah's Atonement has upon the personal sins
of men, is the word of the Lord through the
Prophet Joseph Smith to Martin Harris, warning
him to repent lest his sufferings be sore — how
sore, how exquisite, how hard to bear he knew
not: "For behold, I God, have suffered these
things for all that they might not suffer if they
would repent, but if they would not repent, they
must suffer even as I, which suffering caused
myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble
because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and
to suffer both body and spirit; and would that I
might not drink the bitter cup and shrink —
nevertheless, glory be to the Father, I partook
and finished my preparations unto the children of
men. "t

These passages to my mind prove the dual
character of Messiah's Atonement — the redemp-
tion from the consequences of Adam's transgres-
sion, from death; and redemption from personal
sins on condition of implicit obedience to the
laws of Christ — to the gospel, which we have
already seen is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone who believes and obeys it.

It will doubtless be observed by the attentive

*Almaxi: 40,41. f Doc. and Cov. Sec. xix, 16-18. See
Mosiah iii, 20, 21.

INDIVIDUAL SALVATION. 37

reader that upon this showing those who die
before they are capable of knowing good or evil,
before they arrive at the years of accountability
and who, therefore, are pure and innocent, are
saved by the merits of Jesus Christ alone. Being
redeemed from the death brought upon them by
the fall of Adam, by the Atonement made by
Christ, and having committed no personal sins
— dying in the days of their innocence — they
have nothing to repent of. Having broken no
law, Justice has no claim upon them; they fall
into the arms of Mercy alone, and there they are
secure. Well might Jesus exclaim — "Suffer little
children to come unto me, for of such is the
kingdom of heaven!" But those who interpret
that scripture to mean that little children have
to be baptized or perform or have performed for
them any other ordinance, in order that they
might come unto Christ, or to save them in the
kingdom of God, are woefully ignorant of the
gospel, and fail to grasp the grandeur, the con-
sistency the perfection there is in it.

It was doubtless these considerations which
caused Mormon to say, in writing to his son
Moroni: "Listen to the words of Christ your
Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold I
came into the world not to call the righteous but
sinners to repentance: the whole need no phy-
sician, but they that are sick; wherefore little
children are whole for they are not capable of
committing sin, wherefore the curse of Adam is

38 THE GOSPEL.

taken from them in me, that it hath no power
over them; * * * and after this manner did
the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto
me, wherefore my beloved son, I know that it is
solemn mockery before God that ye should
baptize little children. Behold I say unto you
that this thing shall ye teach, repentance and
baptism unto those who are accountable and
capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents
that they must repent and be baptized and
humble themselves as their little children, and
they shall all be saved with their little children.
And their little children need no repentance,
neither baptism. * * * Little children are
alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the
world. "*

No less implicit is the word of the Lord
through the Prophet Joseph Smith: "But behold
I say unto you, that little children are redeemed
from the foundation of the world through mine
Only Begotten. Wherefore they cannot sin, for
power is not given unto Satan to tempt little
children, until they begin to become accountable
before me. "f

Moreover, it appears that Mercy has special
claims upon those men and women, and also
upon nations and races who know not the laws
of God, or have never heard the gospel. The
first Nephi in speaking of the Atonement of

Moroni viii, 8-12. f Doc. and Cov. Sec. xxix, 46, 47.

INDIVIDUAL SALVATION. 39

Christ and its effects where proclaimed and
rejected, says: "Wherefore he has given a law;
and where there is no law given there is no
punishment; and where there is no punishment,
there is no condemnation; and where there is
no condemnation, the mercies of the Holy One
of Israel have claim upon them because of the
Atonement; for they are delivered by the power
of him (Christ); for the Atonement satisfieth the
demands of his justice upon all those who have
not the law given to them, that they are
delivered from that awful monster, death and hell
and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone
(see Alma xii, 17),* which is endless torment;
and they are restored to that God who gave them
breath, which is the Holy One of Israel, "f

And so Moroni: "For the power of redemption
cometh on all they that have no law; wherefore
he that is not condemned, or he that is under no
condemnation cannot repent; and unto such
baptism availeth nothing. "|

* The torments of the ungodly sinners are likened unto a lake of
fire and brimstone by this writer, Nephi — not that sinners are
plunged into a lake of fire and brimstone as so-called orthodox
Christians teach. Indeed, in the above passages there is a definition
of what the lake of fire is — it is "endless torment," which ever
exists for the punishment of impenitent sinners— each one partak-
ing of it to such a degree and for such time as is necessary to satisfy
the demands of justice. In the very chapter above quoted Nephi
says of the wicked : "And their torment is as a lake of fire and
brimstone, whose flames ascendeth up for ever and ever, and have
no end."

t II. Nephi ix, 25, 26. J Moroni viii, 22.

40 THE GOSI'I I .

To this also agrees the teachings of Paul:
"For as many as have sinned without law shall
also perish without law;* and as many as have
sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law. "t

So also the word of the Lord to Joseph Smith:
"And again I say unto you, that whosoever hav-
ing knowledge, have I not commanded to repent?
And he that hath no understanding it remaineth
in me to do as it is written. "£

Hence it is that the heathen nations who have
had no law given to them, and have died without
law, will have part in the first resurrection. §

Still, those who have died without law are
placed at this disadvantage; that if they are not
under the condemnation of the law, through not
having had it delivered to them, neither are
they sanctified by the lawr, and consequently their
development in spiritual knowledge and exper-
ience is not such as may warrant us in expecting
that they are prepared to inherit the same degree
of glory with those who have received the law of
the gospel, faithfully observed all its require-
ments, and through their obedience have become
sanctified by it, and inherit the celestial glory,
the highest of all. Therefore, it is written of
those who die without the law: "These are they

* I venture the suggestion, basing it on the sense of the whole
passage, that it should read: "Shall also be judged without the
law."

f Rom ii, 12. J Doc. and Cov. Sec. xxix, 49, 50. \ Doc. and
Qov. Sec. xlv, 54. See also Mosiah xv, 24, 25.

* *. - . --

INDIVIDUAL SALVATION. 41

who are of the terrestrial [world], whose glory
differs from that of the church of the First Born,
who have received the fullness of the Father, even
as the moon differs from the sun in the firma-
ment. Behold these are they who died without law. "*

I know of nothing that is written, however,
which prevents us from believing that they may,
eventually, enter the celestial kingdom. Of one
thing at least we may rest assured, and that is,
that they will receive all the glory, all the
exaltation, that their capacity can comprehend
and enjoy, and they will be satisfied with the
mercy and justice of God."j"

But now to return to those to whom the gospel
is preached, and who can only hope for salvation
from the penalties affixed to sin, by obeying the
precepts and ordinances thereof. How far is
their obedience taxed? What principles are they
to accept, what precepts practice, what ordinances
observe?

To the first question I make answer: That
since Christ ransomed mankind by his own death
and suffering, from an endless sleep in the grave,
in order to attain the additional grace of an im-
munity from the consequences of our personal
violations of the laws of righteousness — a for-
giveness of sins — man's obedience to him must
be implicit and absolute. It is the duty of man

* Doc. and Cov. Sec. Ixxvi, 71, 72.

f See chapter on Salvation for the Dead.

42 THE GOSPEL.

to obey the whole Gospel, all precepts, all ordi-
nances, as far as they are made known unto him — in
short, it is binding on him to live by every word
which proceedeth from the mouth of God. In
proof of this, I have only to add that when
Jesus commanded his appostles to go into the
world and preach the Gospel he said: "Go ye
therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you"*

There is no one single thing, however great,
that man can do and then be under no further
obligations to continue to observe the laws of
righteousness. The reply of Jesus to the young
man who came running to him saying, "Good
Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may
have eternal liie?" was — "If you will enter into
life, keep the commandments." The young man
"asked, "which;" that is, which of the command-
ments must he keep. And here I will say that
by reading a little between the lines it is not
difficult to see that the young man had an idea
that there was some great thing he could do, and
by that one act secure eternal life. But the
answer of Jesus dispelled that illusion, for he
said: — "Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not
commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not bear false witness; honor thy father and thy

* Matt, xxviii, 19, 20.

PRINCIPLES AND ORDINANCES. 43

mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy-
self. The young man sayeth, all these things
have I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet?
Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go
and sell all thou hast and give it to the poor,
* * * and come and follow me."*

It will be observed from the foregoing that it
was not enough that the young man keep the
commandments in the law of Moses, not enough
that he sell all that he had and give it to the
poor, but he must then come and follow his
Master. How much that means! But I shall
not particularize, I shall sum up the matter by
saying that this case, together with the observa-
tions in the preceding chapters, plainly proves
that if man would be perfect, if he would obtain
the full benefits of Messiah's atonement, com-
plete absolution from his personal violation of
holy, righteous laws, as well as deliverance from
the grave, his obedience to the laws of Christ —
the Gospel, must be implicit, absolute.

CHAPTER VI.

PRINCIPLES AND ORDINANCES.

N this chapter I shall deal briefly and collec-
tively with those principles that must be
accepted, the ordinances that must be observed,

*Matt. xix: 16-22.

44 THE GOSPEL.

the precepts that must be followed and the kind
of a life that must be led in order to secure a
forgiveness of individual sins, and obtain and
grow in the favor of heaven — in short, what laws
and ordinances man is required to obey in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I shall enter into no analysis of the respective
principles spoken of, but shall merely point them
out, and enter into a more particular considera-
tion of them further on in the work.

Certain it is that faith enters into and forms a
part of the Gospel. Men are required to believe
in God, and in Jesus Christ: and by that I
mean, not merely an assent to their existence,
but an acceptance of the whole system of truth
revealed by them for man's salvation. Faith of
necessity is a factor in the Gospel, because it is
the incentive to all action; for unless men believe
in God's existence, and in the revelations and
commandments which he has given them, they
will consider themselves under no obligations to
obey him; and hence will neglect the things
which concern their salvation. It was the knowl-
edge of this fact, doubtless, which led Paul to
say: "He that cometh to God must believe that
he is (i.e. exists), and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him."* And Jesus, too,
when he said: "If ye believe not that I am he

•Heb.xi: 6.

PRINCIPLES AND ORDINANCES. 45

(the Redeemer, the Son of God), ye shall die in
your sins."* — had the same thing in his mind.

Hence, I say, faith is of necessity a part of the
Gospel, a fundamental principle of it; and there-
fore much importance is given to it by the
writers of Scripture. How great that importance
is may be learned from the fact that Jesus said,
on the one hand, "He that heareth my word, and
believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation; but
is passed from death unto life":f while on the
other hand He said, "He that believeth not shall
be damned. "|

Belief in God and in Jesus Christ — in the sense
I have described in the foregoing — when once
fixed in the mind and heart, leads men to
obedience to God's laws. It leads them to
repentance and every other good work.

Repentance is made particularly prominent in
the scheme of man's salvation. It was taught by
John the Baptist in the wilderness of Judea; the
main feature of his mission seemed to have been
to call men to repentance. It was taught, too,
by Messiah himself. On the occasion of some
telling him of certain Galileans whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, he said:
"Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners
above all Galileans, because they suffered these

* John viii : 24. f John v : 25. J Mark xvi : 16.

46 THE GOSPEL.

things? I tell you na)7; but except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise perish."*

Going to the time when the Apostles began to
fulfill the mission given to them to preach the
Gospel, it will be found that this same principle,
in connection with others, is urged upon the
acceptance of the people. On that occasion
Peter preached a discourse in which he proved
from the old Scriptures that Jesus was the
Messiah, and in answer to the cries of the
people, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
he answered, "Repent and be baptized every one
of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost, "f

Following this case is another, also recorded in
the Acts of the Apostles, in which the Gospel
was taught and obeyed by the people of Samaria,
under the teachings of one Philip and the
apostles Peter and John. In this latter case
there is a development of the same principles
that were taught on the day of Pentecost. I can
do no better than quote the passage which gives
the history of the circumstance: " Then Philip
went down to the city of Samaria and preached
Christ unto them. And the people with one
accord gave heed unto those things which Philip
spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he
did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voices,

* Luke xiii :*1, 3. f Acts ii :

PRINCIPLES AND ORDINANCES. 47

came out of many that were possessed with them;
and many taken with palsies, and that were lame,
were healed. And there was great joy in that
city: * [and] when they believed Philip

preaching the things concerning the kingdom of
God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were
baptized, both men and women. * * * Now
when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had received the word of God, they
sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they
were come down, prayed for them, that they
might receive the Holy Ghost (for as yet he was
fallen upon none of them; only they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then
laid they their hands on them, and they received
the Holy Ghost."*

The same principles that are here taught—
the same ordinances that were observed by the
people of Samaria — are enumerated in another
scripture, as the "principles of the doctrine of
Christ." The language is: "Therefore notf

* Acts viii : 5-8, 12, 14-17.

f I quote the passage here as it stands in the inspired translation
of the Bible — or, rather, what should be called the inspired revision
of the Bible — by the Prophet Joseph, that is, "not leaving the
principles," etc.; and it seems to me that all must agree that that is
right. For, admitting that faith, for instance, is a principle of the
doctrine of Christ — and it is enumerated as one in this very passage
— how can that principle be left and we go on unto perfection ? It
is a principle that enters into religious life, no matter how far
advanced in all that is excellent the individual may be. It is a
principle that underlies the actions of the Gods, and enters into

48 THE GOSPEL.

leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ,
let us go on unto perfection; not laying again
the foundation of repentance from dead works,
and of faith towards God, of the doctrines of
baptisms, and of the laying on of hands, and
of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal
judgment, and this will we do if God permit."*

It is scarcely necessary for me to say that
these doctrines must be accepted, and the ordi-
nances observed by those who would obtain favor
with God, and the remission of their sins; for I
have already pointed out the fact, that implicit
obedience to the law of Christ — the Gospel — is
the only means of salvation for man. And
furthermore it is written: "Whosoever trans-
gresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of
Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the
doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father
and the Son. ""f

It would seem, then, that it is binding upon man
to receive the whole Gospel, with all its prin-

their life and work — " by faith the worlds were ma<lt\" We might
as well admonish the mathematician to leave the fundamental princi-
ples of his science and expect him to go on unto perfection. But he
cannot do it. The simple principle *'f addition, subtraction, multi-
plication and division, enter into his calculation?, whatever his ad-
vancement in the science of numbers : and in like manner the e
fundamental principles of the gospel are connected with our spirit-
ual advancement, and we cannot leave them, and go on to perfec-
tion— hence Joseph Smith's rendering must be correct.
*Heb vi: 1-3. f H. John ix.

PRINCIPLES AND ORDINANCES. 49

ciples, precepts, ordinances and sacraments. And
not only are they to be received but the
candidate for eternal life should continue therein-
He must not be content with being born of the
water and of the spirit into the kingdom; he
should not forever remain in his childhood in
spiritual things: but as the natural child gradually
obtains control over the limbs, and makes them
obey his will, either to stand erect, walk, or run;
and so continues until he develops into the skill-
ful workman whose hand is able to execute
whatever his brain conceives — so in spiritual
things — those born into the kingdom of God
should grow in grace and in the knowledge of the
truth. The injunction placed upon those who
accept the faith of the Gospel* is that they add
to their "faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
and to knowledge, temperance; and to temper-
ance, patience; and to patience, godliness;
and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to
brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things
be in you, and abound, they make you that ye
shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, "f

Such, in brief, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ as

* The reader will observe that the words of Peter which I quote
in the above are addressed by him " to them that have obtained
like precious faith " with himself — to the Saints (see 1st verse of
the chapter quoted), hence I say the injunction is to those who
have accepted the Gospel — to the children of the Kingdom.

f II. Peter i : 5-8.

50 THE GOSPEL.

taught by the Messiah and his apostles in
Palestine. The same was taught by the prophets
and apostles among the Nephites on the western
hemisphere. The same is restored to the earth
in our day through the revelations of God and
the inspired teachings of Joseph Smith, and
other men whom the Lord has raised up in this
generation. Such are the principles which in the
aggregate constitute the power of God unto
salvation to those who believe and obey them.

CHAPTER VII.

FAITH.

AT is now my purpose to enter into a more
T particular consideration of the respective
principles and ordinances which constitute the
Gospel, or plan of man's salvation.

First in order, both from necessity and because
of its importance, is the principle of faith. And
following the same method of investigation I
adopted at the commencement of this inquiry,
viz: defining as clearly as I am able, the meaning
of the words and terms used, I come to the
question, What is faith? And in answer say
that it is an assurance in the mind of the
existence and reality of things which one has not
seen, or which to him have not been demon-

FAITH. 51

strated. It may be an assurance in the mind of
the existence of some Being whom we have not
seen, but whose works are visible, and who has
been seen by others; or it may be of the tran-
spiring of some event at which we were not
present, but of which others bear witness; or it
may be an assurance of the correctness of certain
deductions based upon scientific calculations,
though the principles of the science, and the
method of dealing with them, by which the
conclusions are reached, we neither understand
nor are able to follow; in whatever it may be,
that assurance of the mind which accepts as
truth those things which one has not seen, and
does not know for a certainty from his own
experience to be absolutely true, is faith. For
example, to bring to our aid the assistance of
illustration, few, perhaps none of my readers
have ever seen the Lord Jesus Christ; yet the
writers of the New Testament bear testimony to
the reality of his existence, and relate the cir-
cumstances which make up his eventful career.
The writers of the Book of Mormon do the same
in relation to his labors on the western hemis-
phere; Joseph Smith testifies that, in vision, he
saw both Jesus and his Father, in the spring of
1820.* Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon bear
record that they saw him in February, 1832 ;f
and Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith say they

* Pearl of Great Price, p. 59. | I)oc- ancl Cov-> sec-

52 THE GOSPEL.

saw him in the Kirtland Temple, in April, 1836.*
These evidences establish an assurance, or faith,
in the mind, concerning the existence of Jesus,
the Lord.

Again, none of us, and perhaps no one living,
was at the battle of Waterloo; yet the fact of
that battle taking place is testified to by many
historians; no one doubts it, and the evidence in
the case is so certain, that one may say he has
perfect faith or assurance, approaching almost
within the lines of absolute knowledge, that the
event transpired — that assurance in the mind is
faith.

Still another illustration: Mathematicians claim
that they can weigh the earth, and measure the
distance between our planet and the sun. One
may not be acquainted with the methods of their
calculations, or the principles involved in them,
yet such is the character and learning of the
thoughtful men who make the claim, that we
accept their statements and conclusions as true,
though we may not be able ourselves to com-
prehend the science which reveals to them,
perhaps to the certainty of demonstration, these
facts: — this confidence in their statements — this
assurance of the mind, is faith.

Other elements enter into this principle, but
at this stage of our investigation, I desire to

*Doc. and Cov., sec. 110.

FAITH. 53

present the subject in its simple rather than in
its complex character.

A step further in the investigation of this
principle brings us to the consideration of the
facts upon which faith rests, or from which it
springs. I think a careful reading of the remarks
already made in this chapter will lead the reader
to see that faith is based upon evidence, upon
testimony. It is the evidence we have in the
testimonies of the writers of our Scripture, and
the prophets of God to which I have alluded,
supported to some extent also by the glorious
works of nature, that creates in the mind faith
in the existence of God. That Paul held these
views, that is, that faith is based upon evidence,
is clearly seen in this passage: "For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. How, then, shall they call on him in
whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach except they be sent?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God;"* or, in plainer terms —
"faith cometh by hearing the word of God. "f

Faith is based upon evidence, then, and here I
would remark, that the faith will be true or false

*Eom. x: 13-17.

f I understand that such is the rendering of this passage — Rom.
x : 17 — by the Prophet Joseph.

54 THE GOSPEL.

according as the evidence or testimony is truth-
ful or untruthful. Evidence is to faith what the
fountain is to the stream; and as an impure
fountain cannot send forth pure streams, so
incorrect evidence cannot establish a true or
profitable faith.

By way of illustration I borrow the following
from the Works of Orson Pratt:

"When Europeans first began their explorations
in the New World, the Indians whom they met
were much amazed at the power and explosive
properties of gun-powder, and asked many ques-
tions respecting the manner in which it was
produced. The Europeans, taking advantage of
the ignorance of the savages, and seeing an
opportunity to increase their wealth by the
deception, told the Indians that it was the seed
of a plant which grew in the lands they had come
from, and doubtless it would thrive in their land
also. The Indians, of course, believed this state-
ment, and purchased the supposed seed, giving
in exchange for it large quantities of gold. In
implicit faith they carefully planted the supposed
seed, and anxiously watched for its sprouting and
the appearance of the plant; but it never came.
They had faith in the statements made to them
by the Europeans, but as these statements were
false, and therefore the evidence on which the
Indians based their belief untrue, their faith was
vain."

FAITH. 55

Thus must it ever be. Only correct evidence,
only truthful testimony can produce fruitful,
profitable faith. No matter how sincere one's
belief may be in an error, that will not transform
the error into truth. The sincere faith of the
Indians in what the Europeans had said about
the "gun-powder seed" did not make that sub-
stance produce a plant yielding gun-powder. And
so faith in false doctrines, founded upon false
testimony, cannot savor of salvation.

It is also worthy of note, in passing, that the
character and intensity of the faith depends
largely upon the quality and quantity of the evi-
dence. If a credible witness testifies to any matter
of fact, however strange or unusual the fact may
be, one would have some degree of faith in it;
but if another witness to the fact, equally credible
with the first, also testifies to the same thing,
one's faith would be greatly increased; and so as
the evidence was multiplied the faith would grow,
until at last faith would become so perfect that it
would pass almost into the domain of knowledge.

So much for faith in general. Now to consider
it as a principle of revealed religion. Here it
occupies a prominent place. It is the foundation
on which religion rests, and the source of all
righteousness. In religion, it is in God that faith
centers; it is to him that religious faith directs
the eyes of man, and bids him hope through
Christ to obtain eternal life. And as this is the
primary principle in religion, it is my purpose to

56 THE GOSPEL.

show from the Scriptures that there is an abun-
dance of evidence which, if carefully considered,
will not fail to produce faith in the mind of him
who is desirous to know the truth as to the exist-
ence of God, the divinity of Christ's mission and
the truth of the Gospel.

Before I proceed with that investigation from
the Scriptures, however, I think it will be profit-
able to inquire briefly into the authenticity and
credibility of the Scriptures themselves; that is,
as to the Jewish Scriptures; for I consider such
an inquiry respecting our other Scriptures, the
Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and
the revelations contained in the Pearl of Great
Price, as altogether unnecessary here.

The reason that I undertake to devote several
chapters to this inquiry, is because some have
supposed that the testimony of the Bible respect-
ing God is so far imperfect that it is scarcely
reliable. And to the extent of my ability, I desire
to check a growing skepticism in relation to the
Bible, and' therefore will endeavor to prove that
not only are the revelations contained in the
Bible sufficient to lay a sure foundation for an
intelligent belief in God, but that the Bible itself
is both authentic and credible. I must ask my
readers to remember, however, that this of itself
is a subject for a volume, and I can but devote
a few pages to it; and therefore ask that too
much be not expected.

FAITH. THE BIBLE. 57

CHAPTER VIII.

FAITH. — THE BIBLE.

/lif WORD, in passing, on the Bible as a whole.
^^ I am of the opinion that a very great many
people look upon the Bible as simply one book,
one testimony — one witness for God; when in
fact it is not one book, but a collection of books;
not one witness for God, but the collected testi-
mony of many witnesses for him.

The word does not come, I am assured on very
good authority, from the word biblos, as many
have supposed; nor does it signify the book by
way of eminence — the Book of books, but it is a
word derived from the Greek biblia, meaning the
bocks, and is a term first applied by Chrysostom
to denote the collection of small books which
constitute the Old and New Testaments; and this
term with the prefix "Holy," soon came into
general use. This is how the Jewish Scriptures
came to be called the Holy Bible; meaning,
really, the holy or sacred books. The Bible is
made up of sixty-six distinct books, bound
together in one volume, and written by about
forty different authors. And if each book is not
a separate and independent witness for God, it
cannot be denied that each author is.

The first of the sacred writers is Moses, whom

58 THE GOSPEL.

Bacon calls "God's first pen;" the last is the
Apostle John. These two writers, the first and
the last, are separated by a period of some two
thousand years; and the men who wrote as they
were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, in that
lapse of time, and whose works have been pre-
served to us in the Bible, occupied various posi-
tions in'life, ranging from the grand old war king
of Israel, David, and the wise king Solomon,
down to the humble shepherd Amos, the despised
tax collector Matthew, and Peter, the unlearned
fisherman. But whatever the condition of life
occupied by these men, or whatever the nature of
their respective writings, whether histories,
biographies, poems, prophecies, or only didactic
discourses on morals or religion, they all, in some
way or other, bear witness to the existence of
God, and give us some information respecting
his character and attributes.

It is now our task to inquire briefly into the
authenticity and integrity of these writings. For
convenience I shall take up the two Testaments,
the Old and the New, separately:

First, then, the Old Testament: It is main-
tained by the best biblical scholars, that the
books which now constitute the Old Testament,
were collected as we have them, immediately after
the return of the Jews from the captivity in
Babylon; that would be about the middle of the
fifth century, B. C. The work is ascribed to
Ezra, Nehemiah, and the men of the great

FAITH. THE BIBLE. 59

synagogue. In proof of this they point to the
testimony of the son of Sirach, who flourished
between the years 310-370, B. C. ;* and who
speaks of the canon — with its three divisions — as
finally made up.| By the "three divisions," I
mean those divisions made by the Jews in their
scriptures, and which are supposed to be contem-
porary with the completion of the canon. Those
divisions are (1) the Pentateuch, or Law;J (2)
the Prophets; and (3) the Hagiographa. § It is
of these divisions that the son of Sirach speaks.

Josephus in his first book against Apion (sec-
tion viii) enumerates twenty-two books, "Which
contain the record of all the past times; which
are justly believed to be divine; and of them, five
belong to Moses, which contain his laws, and the
traditions of the origin of mankind till his death.
This interval of time was little short of three
thousand years; but as to the time from the
death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes, king
of Persia [5th cent. B. C.], the prophets, which
were after Moses, wrote down what was done in

* Vide Kitto.

f See the prologue to the Book of Ecclesiasticus, in the Apocrypha.

| The five books of Moses — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy.

£ This is a Greek term for the sacred writings not included in the
other two divisions. The Talmud places the following books in this
division : Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles*
Lamentations, Daniel, Either, Ezra and Chronicles. The books not
included in this list, nor in the Pentateuch, of course, constitute the
division called the Prophets.

60 THE GOSPEL.

their time in thirteen books, the remaining four
books* contain hymns to God and precepts for
the conduct of human life. It is true our history
hath been written since Artaxerxes, very particu-
larly, but hath not been esteemed of the like
authority with the former ' by our forefathers,
because there has not been an exact succession of
prophets since that time."

This testimony settles the question back to the
commencement of the fifth century B. C, that is,
for a period of about twenty-four hundred years
the authorship of the respective books of the Old
Testament has been ascribed to the men who
today are regarded as their authors. The rabbins
say: "The wise men have left us the Law, the
Prophets, and the Hagiographa, combined into
one whole;" and then they specify the authors
of the sacred books. That specification ascribes
the respective books to the men now regarded as
the author of them. The Talmud says: "Moses
received the law at Sinai, and transmitted it to
Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the Elders to the
Prophets; the Prophets to the men of the Great
Synagogue," and, as we have seen, it was Ezra,
Nehemiah, and the men of the Great Synagogue

*0ar thirty-nine books of the Old Testament were so grouped by
the Hebrews as to make but twenty-two, which accorded with the
twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. What are generally
known as the minor prophets, twelve in number, are connected as
one book. The Book of Euth was coupled with Judges ; Ezra with
Nehemiah ; Lamentations with Jeremiah ; while the two books of
Samuel, Kings and Chronicles were counted but one each.

FAITH. THE BIBLE. 61

who made up our present collection of books
known as the Old Testament. Josephus in speak-
ing of those who wrote the scriptures says —
"Every one is not permitted of his own accord to
be a writer, nor is there any disagreement in
what is written; they being only prophets that
have written the original and earliest accounts of
things as they learned them of God himself by
inspiration; and others have written what hath
happened in their own times, and that in a very
distinct manner also."*

From the books of the Old Testament some-
thing may be learned as to the manner in which
the original parchments of the sacred books were
preserved previous to the days of Ezra, extending
as far back even as to Moses himself — 1451 B. C.
and some of the passages that I shall notice —
belonging to a subsequent period to Moses, yet
previous to the days of Ezra — refer to a col-
lection of sacred books that leave small doubt
that the books of Moses and other sacred writ-
ings were the ones to which allusion is made.

We are told that after Moses wrote the Law,
he delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi,
with a commandment to put it in the side of the
Ark of the Covenant, f that it might be there for
a witness against Israel, whom Moses by the
spirit of prophecy, foresaw would turn away from
God.

* Josephus against Apion, Book I, Sec. 8.
|Deut. xxxi : 9, 24, 25, 26.

62 THE GOSPEL.

In laying down the duties of the future King
of Israel, Moses says: "And it shall be when he
sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he
shall write him a copy of this law in a book out
of that which is before the priests, the Levites"*
— showing that it was the intention of Moses to
have the Law always preserved by the priests.
When Joshua had completed the book that bears
his name, it is said: "And Joshua wrote these
words in the book of the Law of God;f which
was doubtless the book which Moses had placed
in the Ark of the Covenant in care of the priests.

When the form of government of Israel was
changed into a monarchy, Samuel explained the
character of the new kingdom to the people,
"and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the
Lord."! This was three hundred and fifty years
after Moses, and yet the practice of laying up
these important records before the Lord, as
Moses had done with his books, still prevailed;
and I doubt not were placed side by side with the
books of Moses and Joshua, if not attached to
them.

Four centuries and a half later than Samuel,
bringing us to about 640 B. C, in the reign of
good king Josiah, Hilkiah, the high priest, when
the temple was undergoing some repairs, found
the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord,§

*Deut xvii : 18. | Joshua xxiv, 26. J I. Sam. x : 25. $ II. Kings
xxii — see the whole chapter.

FAITH. THE BIBLE.

and sent it to the king, who read it; and when
he saw how far Israel had departed from the
observance of it, and the judgments pronounced
against them on condition of their forsaking the
law, he sought to lead his people to repentance.

Isaiah, some seventy years before this, when
wishing to confirm some of his own prophecies,
recommended the people to seek out the Book of
the Lord and read it.* The value of this passage
is, that it gives us the testimony of Isaiah that
such a book as "the Book of the Lord" was
known to the people, that they had access to it,
that it was a recognized authority on questions
about which there might arise doubts. And there
can scarcely be two opinions as to this book,
alluded to by Isaiah, being either the original or
an authorized copy of the writings placed in the
keeping of the priests, and found by Hilkiah.

We have traced this matter down to 640 B. C. ;
there is one more step to take, to reach Ezra, in
whose days the books of the Old Testament were
collected, some one hundred and eighty-five years
after the date above noted.

What became of the sacred records of the Jews
at the time Jerusalem was laid waste by Nebuch-
adnezzar, about 588 B. C.,f is difficult to learn.
But the document granting permission to Ezra
and the priests to go and rebuild the temple at

* Isaiah xxxiv : 16.

f This is the Hebrew Chronology, according to Usher.

64 THE GOSPEL.

Jerusalem is addressed to him thus: "Artaxerxes,
king of kings, unto Ezra, the priest, a scribe of
the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace."
Then follows permission for all the people of
Israel in his realm to go to Jerusalem with Ezra.
He then continues: "Forasmuch as thou art sent
of the king * * * to inquire concerning
Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy
God which is in thy hand."* From this it appears
that during the captivity the priests were per-
mitted to retain possession of the sacred records.
At any rate Ezra had them when he departed from
Babylon for Jerusalem, so that they had been
preserved, and that, doubtless, by the priests.
This brings us to the period when the books of
the Bible were collected as we have them today.
And from that time, more than two thousand
years ago, until the present, the Old Testament
has been what it is now; the multiplication of
copies and of translations, as well as the subse-
quent controversies between Jews and Christians,
combined to secure the sacred writings against
alterations.

No one will contend that the Old Testament
contains all the writings of the Jews, perhaps
not all the sacred or inspired writings; for there
are a number of books and writings of prophets
referred to in these very books of the Old Testa-

*Ezravii: 12-14.

FAITH. THE BIBLE. 65

ment, which are not to be found in the collection.
But that fact does not destroy the value of these
we have, or refute the testimony they bear for
God. That very care which may have excluded
from the sacred collection some books which
were really inspired, has also prevented many
worthless and uninspired books from becoming
connected with the word of God.

What is set down so far in this chapter relates
to the Hebrew version of the Scriptures alone;
but about three hundred years B. C., by some set
down at 285 B. C., an event occurred which did
much to preserve the integrity of the Hebrew
Scriptures; by that I mean the probability of
alterations being made in them was lessened, and
they the more likely to be brought down to us
just as they were written originally.

At the date above given, Ptolemy Phila-
delphus, King of Egypt, was gathering up the
books which constituted the splendid Alexandrian
Library, and being informed by his librarian,
Demetrius Phalerius, concerning the Hebrew
Scriptures, he at once set himself at work to
procure a Greek translation of them. The better
to secure this object he set at liberty many Jews
in his kingdom, and sent word to the high priest
at Jerusalem, Eleazar, his desire, asking that six
Elders from each tribe of Israel, such as were
skilled in the law, should be sent to him to trans-
late their Scriptures for him. This was done,

66 THE GOSPEL.

and it is said that the work was completed in
seventy- two days.*

This translation is called the Septuagint, mean-
ing the seventy, often represented by the Roman
numerals LXX; but whether it is so called
because it was translated by about seventy
Elders, or for the reason that the translation
occupied about seventy days is not clear. At any
rate copies of this translation were multiplied,
and in the days of Messiah's personal minister-
ing in Judea was the version most in use, and
the one he and his Apostles usually referred to,
when sustaining their teachings by that which
aforetime had been written by inspiration.

That this is true is evident trom the following
facts: There are in the New Testament 225 quota-
tions from the Old;f and of these over one half,
that is 120, agree verbatim with the Septuagint.
"That these quotations," says an able writer,
"must have been taken from the Septuagint is
plain from the copia verborum, the remarkable
fertility of expression, in the Greek language,
which forbids us to believe that, had the quota-
tions been from the Hebrew, the Greek rendering
would have agreed verbatim with the passages in
the Septuagint version. Of any Old Testament

*For a full account of this matter see Antiquities of the Jews by
Josephus, Book xii, chapter ii

f The only books in the Old Testament not quoted in the Xew are
Ruth, I. and II. Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes,
Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Obadiah, Nahum and Zephaniah.

BIBLE. THE FAITH. 67

passage made up of only ten words, there are
not fewer than thirty modes of translating it into
Greek; and such indeed are the possible varieties,
that if thirty different persons were translating
into Greek a Hebrew sentence of three lines, none
of them, though all were to give a perfectly cor-
rect rendering, would . be found exactly agreeing
in the Greek words employed, or in the collection
of these. "

Again, of the one hundred and five remaining
quotations in the New Testament, from the Old,
thirty-nine agree verbatim with the Septuagint,
except that a synonymous word occurs once in
two or three lines. There are next, twenty-two
quotations agreeing verbatim, or nearly so, with
the Septuagint, but even in sense differing from
the Hebrew text. Hence out of the two hun-
dred and twenty-five quotations in the New Tes-
tament from the Old, we may say that not fewer
than one hundred and ninety must have been
taken from the Septuagint version.

From about three centuries B. C., then, the
Old Testament has existed at least in two lan-
guages, and this has contributed much, as I
before said, to prevent the corruption of the text
and preserve the integrity of the Scriptures; for
if changes were made in the Hebrew, it would be
discovered from the LXX. ; and if alterations
were made in the LXX., it could be detected
from the Hebrew. There were other translations
made of the Scriptures into still other languages,

68 THE GOSPEL.

but as my space is limited, I cannot give an
account of them here.

We have now seen how the books of the Old
Testament, as we have them at the present day,
were collected by Ezra, some 2400 years aeo; we
then went to the last book written by Moses —
Deuteronomy — and from it learned that his writ-
ings were deposited in the ark of the covenant in
charge of the priests and Levites; how Joshua
and Samuel also laid up their writings before the
Lord; and how Isaiah referred the Jews to these
sacred writings in confirmation of his own pro-
phecies; how when in 640 B. C. the temple was
undergoing some repairs the high priest found
in it an ancient copy of the law; and how Ezra
in Babylon had the sacred writings in his posses-
sion, so that he at that time would have no diffi-
culty in fixing upon the authorship of the sacred
books then before him.

I shall further examine this question of the
authenticity of the Old Testament in my next
chapter, but the testimony I shall there consider
will also have a bearing upon its integrity, and
will likewise tend to confirm the claims as to its
containing the revelations of God to the Jews;
and to this latter consideration I especially invite
the attention of the reader.

FAITH. THE OLD TESTAMENT. 69

CHAPTER IX.

FAITH. v — THE OLD TESTAMENT.

CERTAIN it is that the Hebrew Scriptures,
^"^ the Old Testament, the same collection of
books that we now have, was recognized by the
Lord Jesus Christ and the prophets and apostles
of that dispensation as the word of God, and
was referred to by them as "the law and the
prophets. " This is evident from the fact of
their frequently appealing to those scriptures to
sustain their own doctrine and teachings. Nearly
every book of the Old Testament is quoted in
the New, and therefore all the evidence which
may be amassed in support of the divinity of
Christ and the inspiration of the New Testament,
sustains also the authenticity and inspiration of
the Old; for the inspired writers of the former
appeal to the latter as an unquestioned authority
in matters relating to God. Hence, whatever
evidence sustains the New Testament, supports
also the Old.^ I trust the reader will bear this in
mind, and when I have considered and proved,
as I hope to do, the authenticity and credibility
of the New Testament, remember that it is a
witness for the Old Testament, an important, I
might say an infallible one, since it is inspired;
it comes as from God.

70 THE GOSPEL.

In our day the evidences which support the
authenticity of the Jewish Scriptures have accu-
mulated in a most remarkable manner. In 1835
the two rolls of papyrus, one filled with the writ-
ings of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, and
the other with those of Abraham, came into the
hands of Joseph Smith. The roll containing the
writings of Abraham was translated by the
prophet, at least in part, and is published in the
Pearl of Great Price under the title of the Book
of Abraham. The manner in which these rolls of
papyrus came into Joseph Smith's possession was
as follows:

In 1831 the celebrated French traveler, Antonio
Sebolo, penetrated Egypt as far as the ancient
city of Thebes, under a license procured from
Mehemet Ali — then viceroy of Egypt — through
the influence of Chevalier Drovetti, the French
consul. Sebolo employed 433 men for four
months and two days; and entering the cata-
combs near ancient Thebes on the 7th of June,
1831, they procured eleven mummies. These
were shipped to Alexandria, and from thence the
great traveler started with his treasures for Paris.
But en route for the French capital* Sebolo put
in at Trieste, where he was taken sick, and after
an illness of ten days died. This was in 1832.
Previous to his death he willed his Egyptian
treasures to his nephew, Michael H. Chandler,
who was then riving in Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, but whom Sebolo believed to be in Dub-

FAITH. THE OLD TESTAMENT. 71

liii, to which city he ordered the mummies
shipped.

Mr. Chandler ordered the mummies forwarded
to New York, where he took possession of them.
There the coffins for the first time were opened,
and in them were found two rolls of papyrus
covered with engravings. While still in the cus-
tom house, Mr. C. was informed by a gentle-
man, a stranger to him, that no one in the city
could translate the characters, but was referred
to Joseph Smith, who, the stranger informed
him, possessed some kind of gift or power by
which he had previously translated similar
characters.

Joseph Smith was then unknown to Mr. C.
The mummies were shipped to Philadelphia, and
from there Mr. C. traveled through the country,
exhibiting them and the rolls of papyrus. He
finally passed through Kirtland, where Joseph
Smith was residing. Joseph, seeing the rolls of
papyrus and the record upon them, had the
Saints purchase them, and they were translated
as before stated.*

This Book of Abraham, while it has no direct
reference to the works of Moses, gives an account
of the creation of this earth, which, substantially,
is the same account as that given by Moses ;~f~

* The above I have condensed from the account given of this
matter by the Prophet Joseph in his history,
f Pearl of Great Price, pp. 41-45

72 THE GOSPEL.

and is, at least, a strong collateral evidence to
the correctness of the account in Genesis.

In the year 1830, the visions of Moses, through
which he was enabled to write the account of the
creation in Genesis, and the history of the world
down to the time of the Flood, were revealed to
Joseph Smith. This part of the world's history,
as given to the Prophet Joseph, is substantially
the same as that in Genesis, only more full and
perfect than that; the Lord pointing out here and
there where the record of Moses, as we now
have it in the Bible, has been marred because of
changes made by wicked men. Still, as I say,
the accounts substantially agree, and in the reve-
lations to which I have called attention the Lord
says over and over again that these things he
revealed to Moses, and that Moses bore record
of them.*

This is testimony of the most direct character
as to the authenticity of the books in our Bible
giving this history. All ancient tradition says
Moses wrote Genesis, and now in this day, a
revelation is given from God to Joseph Smith,
saying that an account substantially the same as
that in Genesis was revealed to Moses, and that
he recorded it.

I come now to the strongest witness of all for
the authenticity, and also the divinity of the
Jewish Scriptures; I mean the Book of Mormon.

Pearl of Great Price, pp. from 1 to 31.

FAITH. THE OLD TESTAMENT. 73

In the first place let me say that the Book of
Mormon itself, as an inspired book, rests on so
sure a basis, that however much men may be dis-
posed to doubt the authenticity, credibility, and
inspiration of the Jewish Scriptures, they cannot,
if they investigate the claims of the Book of Mor-
mon, doubt its truth.* And in these Nephite
Scriptures is contained the most direct and posi-
tive proofs relative to the authenticity of the
Bible.

According to the Book of Mormon, Lehi and
his family left Jerusalem in the first year of the
reign of Zedekiah, about 600 B. C. Soon after
leaving Jerusalem, from his camp in the wilder-
ness Lehi sent his sons back to that city to
obtain the genealogies of his fathers, and a
record of the Jews. In this mission his sons
were successful, returning to their father's
encampment in the wilderness with a set of
brass plates on which the record and the genealo-
gies were written.

The return of the sons of Lehi to their father
was celebrated with great rejoicing. Nephi in
his account of it says: "And after they had given
thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi,
took the records which were engraved upon the

* Those who desire to prosecute an investigation of this subject
will do well to read the " Divine Authenticity of the Book ol Mor-
mon,'' by 0. Pratt; ana UA New Witness for God/' by the author
of this work.
4

74 THE GOSPEL.

plates of brass, and he did search them from the
beginning. And he beheld that they did contain
the five books of Moses, which gave an account
of the creation of the world, and also of Adam
and Eve, who were our first parents; and also a
record of the Jews from the beginning, even
down to the commencement of the reign of
Zedekiah, king of Judah, and also the prophecies
of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even
down to the commencement of the reign of
Zedekiah; and also many prophecies which have
been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah."*

Here is a direct reference to the Jewish Scrip-
tures, in which five books are accredited to Moses
— the same number as in our present Bible — and
the prophecies of Jeremiah are also mentioned.

Then in a vision, in which the future was
unfolded to Nephi, he saw that a book would go
from the Jews to the Gentiles, and that it would
be like the record upon the brass plates. This
is the passage: "The angel said unto me, Know-
est thou the meaning of the book? And I said
unto him, I know not. And he said, Beh6ld it
proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew; and I,
Nephi, beheld; and he said unto me, the book
that thou beholdest is a record of the Jews?
which contains the covenants of the Lord which
he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it
also containeth many of the prophecies of the

*J. Nephi v: 10-13.

FAITH. THE OLD TESTAMENT.

holy prophets; and it is a record like unto the
engravings which are upon the plates of brass,
save there are not so many; nevertheless they
contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath
made unto the house of Israel; wherefore, they
are of great worth unto the Gentiles."*

Nephi further informs us that it was his prac-
tice to read frequently to his people from these
brass plates, that they might be informed con-
cerning the dealings of God with their forefathers;
and all through the Nephite Scriptures these
brass plates are referred to. Moreover, whole
chapters, and sometimes several chapters together,
especially from the writings of Isaiah, f are tran-
scribed from the brass plates to the record made
by Nephi; and comparing these transcribed por-
tions of the Old Testament found in the Book of
Mormon with the parts which correspond to them
in our present English version of the Jewish
Scriptures, it will be seen that the difference is
but slight; substantially they agree. The
circumstance not only proves the authenticity of
the Scriptures, but it is also a strong proof of
the integrity of our present version of them.

It is true the Book of Mormon informs us that
many plain and precious parts of this book,
which proceeds from the mouth of the Jew, are
taken away and others corrupted, but that does

*I. Nephi xiii : 21-23. fSee I. Nephi, chapters xx, xxi; II.
Nephi vii, viii ; also II. Nephi, from the xii to xxiv.

76 THE GOSPEL.

not affect the statement I make that the substan-
tial agreement between these passages in the Book
of Mormon and Bible, proves, in the main, the
integrity as well as the authenticity of the Jewish
Scriptures. Here, so far as the authenticity of
the Old Testament is concerned, I shall, for the
present, rest my case; and proceed with a like
inquiry as to the New.

CHAPTER X.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT.

fHERE is an impression existing, and it is
one encouraged by infidel writers, that the
acceptance of the books now comprising the
New Testament, was the arbitrary action of a
council of bishops three or four hundred years A.
D. This I believe to be a wrong impression. I
do not think the list of books that now constitute
the New Testament was made up in an arbitrary
manner, at one time, or by any single council.
It can be shown that the books and epistles now
in the collection known as the New Testament,
were accepted as inspired writings by the Chris-
tian churches, before the councils of the church
undertook any discussion of the subject; and
even when this question was before those councils,
they merely decided what books before-time had
been regarded by the churches as inspired.

FAITH. — -THE NEW TESTAMENT. 77

The first council which undertook to pronounce
a decision on the subject was that of Laodicea
in the year 363 A. D. "Probably the decree of
this council," as Archdeacon Paley remarks,
"rather declared than regulated the public judg-
ment, or, more properly speaking, the judgment
of some neighboring churches, the council itself
consisting of no more than thirty or forty bishops
of Lydia and the adjoining countries;" and after
this council the question, "What books were
entitled to be received as Scripture?" was dis-
cussed with great freedom, and without any refer-
ence to the declaration made by the council of
Laodicea.*

The list of inspired books of the New Testa-
ment, as we have them now, was accepted by the
council of Hippo, held 393 A. D. The third
council of Carthage, 397 A. D., and also the
sixth of Carthage, 419 A. D., confirmed the
decisions of the first. Thus, from that early
date, the authorship and inspiration of the books
of the New Testament may be said to have been
fixed.

True, certain early Christian writers doubted
the inspiration and authenticity of some of the
books now in the New Testament; II Peter, the
Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of James and
the Apocalypsef being among those whose
inspiration and authenticity were questioned;

* Paley's Evidences, Part I, ch. ix. f Revelations of St. John.

78 THE GOSPEL.

and some Bible scholars since those days have
held the same doubts; but the preponderance of
evidence is in favor of the inspiration of all the
books of the New Testament, and of their being
the productions of the men accredited in those
early days, and by the councils named, with
having written them.

It is quite evident, however, that the New
Testament does not contain all the inspired
writings of the apostles and disciples, since there
are references in the books of the New Testament
to other books written by the same authors,
which would certainly be equally inspired with
those we now have in the collection. Such, for
instance, as another epistle to the Corinthians,*
also a second epistle to the Colossians,"j~ and
another book of Jude. J Still, because some
inspired books were lost, and others rejected by
these councils, that does not affect those that
remain as to their authenticity or inspiration;
though had we those inspired books that were
lost or rejected, many passages in the books that
have been preserved to us might be made more
plain.

Could it be proven even, that some of the books
now retained in the New Testament collection
were uninspired, and not written by those now
accredited with being their authors, that would
not affect these books about whose authenticity

* I. Cor. v. f Col. iv : 16. J Jude 3.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 79

and inspiration there has never been a question.
Suppose all those books I have named as having
had their authenticity questioned, should turn out
to be forgeries, we would still have the four
Gospels, the Acts, the thirteen Epistles of Paul
that stand unquestioned; and as long as even
one of these books remains unshaken as to its
authenticity and inspiration, you have a witness
for God and Christ in it — an exposition, to some
extent, at least, of the character and attributes
of Deity. For the New Testament, like the Old,
is not one book, but a collection of books; each
independent of the other. It is not one witness
for God and Christ, but a collection of the testi-
monies of a number of witnesses. And" if it could
be proven (but I do not think it can be) that
some of these books were of such doubtful origin
that they are unworthy a place in the collection,
it does not follow that the other books of the
New Testament are also of doubtful origin and
unworthy of confidence.

Furthermore, if it be admitted (and I am will-
ing to admit it) that some of the texts in the
books comprising the New Testament have been
corrupted or changed, and portions thereof taken
away, while these things tend to, and do weaken
the testimony of the witnesses, and make many
parts obscure, and even contradictory, still, after
making all these concessions, enough remains
uncorrupted and unimpaired, to give us in those
books strong and reliable witnesses — whose testi-

80 THE GOSPEL.

mony cannot be impeached — for God. And while
some parts have been corrupted, and thus
rendered imperfect, yet the narrative of the life of
Christ, the Gospel he advocated, the moral
precepts he inculcated in his system of truth,
together with the revelations contained in those
Scriptures respecting the character and attributes
of Deity, are all substantially correct.

I refer again to the manner in which the list
of books now composing the New Testament
was decided upon. I have already stated that I
do not think it was by the arbitrary decision of
any one council at any one time, that the selec-
tion of this list of books was made and all others
rejected. On the contrary it was most probably
the work of years. "The most plausible supposi-
tion," says an unquestioned authority, "is that
each of the most influential churches founded by
the Apostles in person, made for its own use a
collection of all the writings duly ascertained to
be apostolic and inspired. The epistles sent to
the different churches were soon, doubtless, com-
municated to the sister associations for the
strengthening of each other's faith, hope and
virtue." Indeed the Apostle Paul, in one instance
at least, commands an interchange of apostolic
writings. In his epistle to the Colossian saints
he says: "And when this epistle is read among
you, cause that it be read in the church of the
Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the epistle

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 81

from Laodicea. "* Doubtless, as stated by
Chambers, "The brotherly love which was a
notable feature of primitive Christianity, led
Christians everywhere to make common property
of the local messages from apostles, as valuable
to them all alike. Nor did they ever dream of
withholding from their brethren copies of such
inspired writings as had come into their own
hands. No general order from the apostles was
needed to prompt individual Christians or con-
gregations that had been favored with an inspired
communication to make it equally well known
to every neighbor. There must have been the
most cordial reciprocity of communication in
this matter, an unreserved sharing of new Scrip-
ture with each other; the fair and full interchange
of apostolic oracles leading to such a multiplica-
tion, that each church possessed, for the benefit
of its members, a copy of all inspired writings
previously issued by the Apostles, "-j" And here
let me add, that in the multiplication of copies,
it is not to be wondered at if the originals were
soon lost sight of, or worn out by constant use.

•Col. iv: 16. f Information for the People, Vol. II .Art. Bible.

82 THE GOSPEL.

CHAPTER XL

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT.

fHE earliest reference we have to any writings
or collection of writings now in the New
Testament, and in which they are recognized as
authoritative scripture, is in the second Epistle
of Peter. That apostle, writing about the year
65 A. D., says: "Account that the long suffer-
ing of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved
brother Paul also according to the wisdom given
unto him hath written unto you; as also in all
his epistles, speaking in them of these things;
in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest
as they do the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction. "*

It will be observed that the reference to the
Epistles of Paul is of such a character that it
leads us to infer that those Epistles were well
and generally known by the church at large; for
this Epistle of Peter's which we quote, is written
to no particular branch of the church, but "to
them that have obtained like precious faith with
us through the righteousness of God and our
Savior Jesus Christ;"f in other words, to the

* II. Peter iii : 15, 16. f II. Peter i : 1.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 83

church universal; and it can scarcely be doubted
that some of the larger branches of the church,
even in that early day, had the Epistles of Paul
in a collected form. It will also be observed that
Peter places these Epistles of Paul on equal
authority with Scripture by saying, that the
unlearned and unstable wrest them, "as they do
also the other scripture, unto their own destruc-
tion. "

There is a tradition that the apostle John, on
his return from his banishment to Patmos — 96
A. D. — made a collection of what he considered
the inspired writings of the apostles and disci-
ples of Christ; but the tradition seems not to
be well founded. It is generally admitted, how-
ever, that he must have had before him the three
other gospels when he wrote the one which bears
his name, because his book called "The Gospel
according to St. John," is supplemental in its
character, and in it he gives prominence to
those incidents in the life of his Master and the
doctrines he taught, about which the other
writers are either silent or have said but little.
This peculiarity is accounted for by the supposi-
tion that John had before him the other three
narratives of his Master's life and mission, and
that he sought to make prominent what they had
omitted or treated but briefly, that the church —
in the four books — might have a complete his-
tory of Messiah's life, and labors and doctrines.

In his admirable work on the "Evidences of

84 THE GOSPEL.

Christianity," Archdeacon Paley maintains that
the following allegations respecting the books
comprising the New Testament are capable of
proof; in fact, to my mind, the learned Arch-
deacon does prove them, and places them beyond
the power of successful contradiction:

I. That the historical books of the New
Testament, meaning thereby the four Gospels
and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted, or
alluded to, by a series of Christian writers,
beginning with those who were contemporary
with the apostles, or who immediately followed
them, and proceeding in close and regular suc-
cession from their time to the present.

II. That when they are quoted, or alluded to,
they are quoted or alluded to with peculiar
respect, as book sui generis-* as possessing an
authority which belonged to no other books, and
as conclusive in all questions and controversies
amongst Christians.

III. That they were, in very early times,
collected into a distinct volume.

IV. That they were distinguished by appro-
priate names and titles of respect.

V. That they were publicly read and
expounded in the religious assemblies of the
Christians.

VI. That commentaries were written upon
them, harmonies formed out of them, different

*That is, of its own kind.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 85

copies carefully collated, and versions of them
made in different languages.

VII. That they were received by Christians
of different sects, by many heretics as well as
Catholics, and usually appealed to by both
sides in the controversies which arose in those
days.

VIII. That the four Gospels, the Acts of the
Apostles, thirteen Epistles of St. Paul, the first
Epistle of John and the first of Peter, were
received, without doubt by those who doubted
concerning the other books which are included
in our present canon — [authorized list].

IX. That the Gospels were attacked by the
early adversaries of Christianity, as books con-
taining the accounts upon which the religion was
founded.

X. That formal catalogues of authentic
scriptures were published, in all of which our
present sacred histories were included.

XL That these propositions cannot be affirmed
of any other books claiming to be books of scrip-
ture; by which are meant those books which are
commonly called apochryphal books of the New
Testament.*

* Evidences of Christianity, part I. ch. ix. I would also recom-
mend my readers to carefully study Dr. Lardner's Credibility of
the New Testament, from which L>r. Paley obtains much, I may
say nearly all of the material for his own admirable work. There
is also a fine article on the subject, in Chamber's Information for
the People, entitled History of the Bible; and another in Dr. Kitto's
Biblical Lirerature, under the heading, Canon of Scripture.

86 THE GOSPEL.

Out of these eleven propositions I shall deal
with but two, viz.: the first and tenth; referring
my readers to Dr. Paley's work, for information
as to the other propositions. And what is said
here of these propositions, I shall select or con-
dense from Paley's work, sometimes using his
language as well as his facts, without troubling
myself to indicate the quotations.

Well, then, as to his first allegation, viz. : that
there are a series of Christian writers, beginning
with those contemporary with the apostles, and
extending on down to the present, who have
quoted the chief books of the New Testament.
To begin with, there is an epistle ascribed to
Barnabas,* the companion of Paul, in some of
his missionary tours. It is quoted as an Epistle
of Barnabas, by Clement of Alexandria, A. D.
194; by Origen, A. D. 230; by Eusebius, A. D.
315, and more frequently by writers after that
time, and is referred to by the writers above
named, as an ancient work in their time, and as
well known and read among Christians, though
not accounted a part of scripture. It purports
to be written soon after the destruction of Jeru-
salem under Titus.

In this epistle appears the following remarkable

* There is a manuscript copy of this epistle in connection with a
copy of the New Testament entire, dating back to the fourth cen-
tury, now in the St. Petersburg Library. It was found by Tischen-
dorf in the convent of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, in 1859, and
is known as the Sinaitic Manuscript — the oldest one in existence.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 87

passage: "Let us, therefore, beware lest it come
upon us, as it is written; There are many called,
few chosen." From the expression, "as it is
written," we infer, with certainty, that at the
time when the author of this epistle lived, there
was a book extant well known to Christians, and
of authority among them, containing the words
"many are called, few chosen." Such a book is
our present Gospel of St. Matthew, in which
this text is twice found,* and found in no other
book which existed in those days; therefore
Barnabas must have referred his readers to
Matthew's Gospel. Furthermore, the writer of
the epistle was a Jew. The phrase, "It is
written," was the very form in which the Jews
quoted their scriptures. Hence, it follows that
he would not have used this phrase, and without
qualification, of any books but what had acquired
scriptural authority. So that while the quotation
"many are called, few chosen," confirms the
existence of Matthew's Gospel; the expression
"It is written," gives to it the authority or
dignity of scripture.

There are other passages in the epistle which
are the same in sentiment as some of the pas-
sages in Matthew, f some in which we recognize
the same words. For example, "Give to every
one that asketh thee;" and he says that Christ
chose as his apostles men who were great sinners

•Matt xx : 16; xxii : 14. f Matt, v : 42; ix : 13.

88 THE GOSPEL.

that he might show that he came, "not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

There is also extant an epistle of Clement,
bishop of Rome, whom the ancient writers with-
out doubt or scruple assert to have been the
Clement whom Paul mentions in Phil, iv, 3.*
This epistle is spoken of by the early Christian
writers as an epistle acknowledged by all. Of
it Irenaeus says (writing in the second century)
it was "written by Clement, who had seen the
blessed apostles, and conversed with them, who
had the preaching of the apostles still sounding
in his ears, and their traditions before his eyes."
Dionysius, bishop of Corinth (the epistle is
addressed to the Church of Christ) says, about
the year 170 A. D., that the epistle of Clement
"had been wont to be read in that church from
ancient times, "f

In the said epistle are found the following
passages, evidently taken from our New Testa-
ment scriptures: "Especially remembering the
words of the Lord Jesus which he spake, teach-
ing gentleness and long suffering, for thus he
said: "Be ye merciful, that ye may obtain

* "With Cl ment also, and with other my fellow-laborers whose
names are written in the book of life "

f A copy of this epistle dating back to the fifth century, is con-
nected with the Alexandrian manuscript of the New Testament
now in the British Museum. The manuscript was given to Charles
the I. in 1628 by Cyril Lucas, Patriarch of Constantinople.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 89

mercy;* forgive that it may be forgiven unto
you;f as you do so shall it be done unto you;
as ye judge so shall ye be judged; as ye show
kindness, so shall kindness be shown unto you;
(with what measure ye mete, with the same shall
it be measured to you. '"J

In another place he says: "Remember the
words of the Lord Jesus, for he said: "Woe to
that man by whom offenses come; it were better
for him that he had not been born, than that he
should offend one of my elect; it were better for
him that a millstone should be tied about his
neck, and that he should be drowned in the sea
than that he should offend one of my little
ones. "§

The reference in the foregoing to the passages
I have indicated is too palpable to leave any
room for doubt.

Connected with the Sinaitic manuscript copy
of the New Testament, now in the St. Peters-
burg Library, to which I have already called
attention in a foot note, is a manuscript copy of
the "Shepherd" or "Pastor" of Hermas, dating
from the fifth century; but that copies of it
existed at a still earlier date is evident from the
fact that it is quoted by Irenaeus, A. D. 178; by
Clement of Alexandria, A. D. 194; by Tertullian,
A. D. 200; Origen, A. D. 230. In this ancient

* Matt v: 7. f Luke vi : 37, 38. J Matt, vii : 1, 2. % Matt,
xviii.

90 THE GOSPEL.

work are many allusions to and some direct
quotations from the Gospels of Matthew, Luke
and John. Of the allusions may be cited, the
confessing and denying of Christ;* the parable
of the seed sown;f and the comparison of Christ's
disciples to little children. Of the more direct
quotations I mention the following: "He that
putteth away his wife and marrieth another,
committeth adultery;"! the singular expression,
"having received all power from his Father," is
undoubted allusion to Matthew xxviii, 18; and
Christ being the "Gate," or only way of coming
"to God," in plain allusion to John xiv, 6, and x,
7, 9.

I now come to Ignatius, who became bishop of
Antioch about thirty-seven years after the ascen-
sion of Messiah; and therefore, from his time
and station, it is probable that he had known
and conversed with many of the apostles. Some
of the epistles of this bishop are referred to by
Polycarp, his contemporary, the bishop of
Smyrna; and some are quoted by Irenaeus, A. D.
178; and by Origen, A. D. 230. In these epistles
are plain and undoubted allusions to the Gospels
of Matthew and John, of which the following are
but specimens: "Christ was baptized of John
that all righteousness might be fulfilled by him."§
"Be ye wise as serpents in all things and harm-

*Matt. x: 32,33. Luke xii : 8,9. f Matt, xiii : 3. Luk«
viii : 5. J Luke xvi : 18. g Matt, iii : 15.

FAITH. — THE NEW TESTAMENT. 91

less as a dove."* "Yet the Spirit is not
deceived, being from God, for it knows whence
it comes and whither it goes, "f

I now pass over several writers in whose works
are similar quotations from the scriptures to those
already noted; among them Polycarp, a convert
to Christianity through the teachings of the
Apostle John; as also Papias, his companion;
Justin Martyr, separated from the last named by
but twenty years; and also Hegesippus, who
came about thirty years after Justin. This brings
us to the year 170 A. D. At this time the
churches of Lyons and Vienna in France, sent a
relation of the sufferings of their martyrs to the
churches of Asia and Phrygia. This epistle is
found entire in the works of Eusebius [315 A.
D.], and in it are direct allusions to the Gospels
of Luke, John and the Acts of the Apostles.
The one to John is, "Thus was fulfilled that
which was spoken by the Lord, that whosoever
killeth you, will think that he doeth God's
service. "J

At that time these churches in France had for
their bishop Pothinus, then about ninety years
old, whose time, therefore, must have joined on
to the times of the apostles.

"The evidence now," says Dr. Paley, "opens
upon us full and clear." Irenaeus succeeded
Pothinus as bishop of Lyons. In his youth he

* Matthew x : 16. f John iii : 18 J John xvi : 2.

92 THE GOSPEL.

had been a disciple of Polycarp, who was a dis-
ciple of John. * * * He asserts of himself
and his contemporaries, that they were able to
reckon up in all the principal churches the suc-
cession of bishops from the first. * * * The
testimony which this writer affords to the his-
torical books of the New Testament, to their
authority, and to the titles which they bear, is
expressive and positive. One principal passage
runs as follows:

"We have not received the knowledge of the
way of our salvation by any others than those by
whom the Gospel has been brought to us. Which
Gospel they first preached, and afterward by the
will of God, committed to writing, that it might
be for time to come the foundation and pillar of
our faith. For after that the Lord rose from the
dead, and they [the apostles] were endowed from
above with the power of the Holy Ghost coming
down upon them, they received a perfect knowl-
edge of all things. They went forth to all the
ends of the earth, declaring to men the blessings
of heavenly peace, having all of them, and every
one alike, the Gospel of God. Matthew then,
among the Jews, wrote a Gospel in their own
language, while Peter and Paul were preaching
the Gospel at Rome, and founding a church
there; and after their exit, Mark also, the dis-
ciple and interpreter of Peter, delivered to us in
writing the things which had been preached by
Peter; and Luke, the companion of Paul, put

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 93

down in a book the Gospel preached by him
(Paul). Afterward John, the disciple of the
Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, he like-
wise published a Gospel while he dwelt at
Ephesus, in Asia."

Nor is this writer less explicit respecting the
book of the Acts of the Apostles.

The force of the testimony we have considered
will be strengthened by remembering that it is
the testimony, and the concurring testimony of
writers who lived in countries remote from each
other. Clement flourished at Rome; Ignatius at
Antioch, and Irenseus in France.

I deem it unnecessary to pursue this inquiry
further, and shall close by remarking that
Clement of Alexandria, one of the most volumi-
nous of Christian writers, follows Irenaeus at a
distance of but sixteen years. In the works of
Clement which remain, the four gospels are
repeatedly quoted by the names of their authors,
and the Acts of the Apostles is expressly ascribed
to Luke. This brings us to the year 194 A. D.
Tertullian joins on to Clement, and is no less
explicit in his reference to the New Testament
than the writers who preceded him. Then
follow numerous writers, among them Origen, A.
D. 23.0 ; Eusebius, 315; and Jerome, A. D. 392.

So numerous are the references to scripture, in
the writings of these men, that were our books
of scripture lost, some aver, that they could be
reproduced from the works of these writers alone.

94 THE GOSPEL.

From the date last given, there can be no ques-
tion as to the existence of our New Testament or
of its acceptance by the whole of Christendom,
as containing the account of those events on
which Christianity was founded.

CHAPTER XII.

FAITH — THE NEW TESTAMENT.

I NOW come to the tenth allegation of Dr.
y Paley, viz.: "Formal catalogues of authentic
scriptures were published, in all of which our
present sacred histories were included."

In the writings of Origen which remain, and in
some extracts preserved by Eusebius, from works
of his which are now lost, there are enumerations
of the books of scripture, in which the four Gos-
pels and the Acts of the Apostles are distinctly
and honorably specified, and in which are no
books beside what are now received. The date
of Origen's works is 230 A. D.

Athanasius, about a century afterwards (330 A.
D.), delivered a formal catalogue of the books of
the New Testament, containing our scriptures
and no others; of which he says, "In these alone
the doctrine of religion is taught; let no man
add to them, or take anything from them."

About twenty years after Athanasius (350 A.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 95

D.), Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, sent forth a
catalogue of the books of scripture, publicly read
at that time in the Church of Jerusalem, exactly
the same as ours, except that the book of Revela-
tion is omitted.

Fifteen years after Cyril (365 A. D.), the coun-
cil of Laodicea delivered an authoritative cata-
logue of Canonical Scripture, like Cyril's, the
same as ours, with the omission of Revelation.*

About thirty years later, that is, in 393 A. D.,
followed the council of Hippo, which delivered
a catalogue of the books of the New Testament,
which agrees with that now in our common
English version. This was followed by the
third council of Carthage, in 397 A. D., and by
the sixth of Carthage 415 A. D., both of which
confirmed the list of sacred books made out by
the council of Hippo.

It seems to me that proving these two proposi-
tions selected from Dr. Paley's list, is sufficient
to make out a case for the authenticity of the
books of the New Testament; but when the
reader remembers that the nine other allegations
we quoted in chapter eleven can also be sustained
by undeniable proofs, the case is made out so
clearly that there can be no room for doubt.

Then the Book of Mormon comes in also as a
witness for the New Testament as well as for the

* I have taken the preceding paragraphs of this chapter entire
from Paley's Evidences of Christianity Part I., chap, ix, sec. 10

96 THE GOSPEL.

Old. Not so much a witness for the authenticity
of the books composing it, however, as for the
correctness of what is contained in them.

The writers in the Book of Mormon who bear
a direct testimony as to what the New Testa-
ment scriptures contain, and in that way
indirectly establish their authenticity and credi-
bility, may be divided into two classes, prophetic
and historical. By the former, I mean those who
by the inspiration of heaven foresaw the birth
and mission of Jesus Christ as it all, afterwards
came to pass; by the latter, I mean those who
lived at the time and were witnesses to the
personal ministrations of Messiah, on the western
hemisphere, and made a record of those things
they saw and heard.

Of the first class, the prophetic, the first Nephi
stands out most prominently; for he gives such
a vivid description of the leading outlines of
Messiah's life and labors on the earth, that it
makes one feel in very deed that "prophecy is
but history reversed," for had he lived and
written in the first century of the Christian are
instead of the fifth century preceding it, I feel
sure that he could not have been more vivid or
exact in writing the life, mission and doctrines
of the Son of God;* and all that he predicts is

* For the remarkable prophecies which foretell the events here
alluded to, I refer my readers to the xi, xii, xiii and xvi chapters
of I. Nephi, Book of Mormon.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 97

in strict accord with what is contained in the
New Testament.

Next to Nephi we may place King Benjamin,
whose testimony is found in the book of Mosiah,
chapter iii, and next to him, Abinadi, whose
prophecies in relation to the coming and mission
of Jesus, are contained in the thirteenth, four-
teenth, fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of
Mosiah; and, lastly, Samuel, the Lamanite
prophet, whose testimony is in the fourteenth
chapter of Helaman.

All these prophets give the outlines of the life
and mission of Jesus Christ, and, as before
stated, what they say is in strict accord with
what is written in the New Testament, by those
who witnessed the events that these prophets of
the Western hemisphere foretold.

On the other side of the line, that is, of the
historical witnesses, they who lived at the time
Jesus visited the western hemisphere and wrote
an account of what took place, the III Nephi,
the one whom the Lord made the chief of the
apostles, is most conspicuous. He records the
fact of Messiah's visit to the Nephites, after his
resurrection and departure from his disciples in
Judea; and gives a most particular account of
the several visits of Jesus to his people, and of
his organizing a church, after the pattern of the
one organized in Jerusalem; also of the doctrines
and moral precepts which he taught; in all of

98 THE GOSPEL.

which there is a substantial agreement with what
is recorded in the New Testament.*

Thus the Book of Mormon, is an additional
witness for Jesus, testifying as well as the New
Testament, that he is both Lord and Christ. It
also sustains the New Testament, that is, if it
does not directly prove the authenticity of the
various books composing it, it does prove the
correctness of what is contained in them, by
testifying: that the same person who was crucified
by the Jews is the Son of God, the Savior of the
world, and that he taught the same doctrines,
ordinances, and precepts, and organized his
church on the Western hemisphere after the
pattern of that described in the New Testament;
and all this, I take it, is very strong proof of
the correctness of what is recorded in the New
Testament scriptures — it is, in fact, the testi-
mony of a mighty and numerous people, speaking
from the silence of past ages, bearing witness of
the truth as contained in the Jewish scriptures;
and, withal, is such an evidence of their authen-
ticity, and, likewise of their integrity, in the
main — speaking now of both the Old Testament
and the New — and of the correctness of the
matter they contain, that before this new witness
for God unbelief must hide its head; atheism
must stand rebuked; the scorner is reproved;

* The reader is recommended to read carefully the whole Book
of III Nephi, and compare it with the teachings of the New
Testament.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT.

they that watch for iniquity are cut off; the
terrible ones are brought to naught; they that
erred in spirit come to understanding; they that
murmured learn doctrine; the meek increase their
joy in the Lord and the poor among men rejoice.*

I have been led thus far into an investigation
of the authenticity of the Jewish scriptures touch-
ing, too, here and there, the question of the
integrity and truthfulness of them, by a desire to
fix in the mind of the reader the fact that our
principal volume of scripture is worthy of all
confidence so far as the question of authenticity
is concerned.

I am aware, however, that after treating of the
question of authenticity, there still stands the
question of credibility. After proving the
authenticity of a book, I be.ieve the further ques-
tions may be asked, and usually with great
propriety — "Is it worthy of belief? Can it be
believed? Is it credible?" To this rule I make
one exception, and in the case in hand it is
important. That exception is this: If it can be
proven that God is the author of the book, or,
what would be equivalent, if those who wrote it
were inspired by his Holy Spirit, then if you
prove such an authenticity as that, you prove at
the same time the credibility of the book. For,
let it be proven clearly that the book emanates
from God directly or indirectly, then who could

Isaiah xxix : 18-24.

100 THE GOSPEL.

doubt its truth, its wisdom, or the events, how-
ever wonderful, it relates? Or who could question
the mercy and justice of the acts of God as
represented in that book or books that are the
fruits of inspiration?

It matters not how at variance their contents
may seem to be with'our supposed knowledge of
the laws of nature; our knowledge of those laws
are so limited; our understanding of the mechan-
ism of the universe so imperfect; our acquaintance
with the universe and the forces that operate in
it so insignificant, that let it be clearly proven
that a revelation from God contradicted our
supposed facts, and I believe the wisest, and
best among the children of men, with becoming
humility that would but add to their dignity,
would bow in submission to the revelation.

Neither does it matter how much the conduct
of Deity, as represented in such books, may
violate what we understand to be the relative
claims of stern Justice and sweet Mercy; our
knowledge of the operation of those qualities,
and their effect upon men in time and in eternity,
and under varied conditions, is so uncertain and
imperfect that we are liable to confound good
with evil, and that which is indeed an infinite
mercy, we may condemn as a piece of barbaric
cruelty. In this matter we would bow also, and
say, "Thy will, O Lord, be done," righteous
must be all thy judgments, merciful are thy

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 101

ways! Shall not the God of the whole earth do
right?

In connection with these observations, I would
remark, that throughout the Jewish scriptures,
that is, in their composition, in their diction as
well as in the excellence of their matter, whether
in the historical, legislative, poetic, or prophetic
books of the Old Testament; or in the gospel
histories, the epistles or prophetic books of the
New, everywhere may be traced the inspiration
of Heaven; and the style and matter of the whole
volume proclaims that the Spirit which prompted
the writers and brought those books into exist-
ence, is divine.

Then again, if the prophecies contained in the
volume of scripture be studied, and their fulfill-
ment traced out in the history of the rise and fall
of nations, cities and peoples; in the calamities
that have overtaken the Jews* and their country;
in the coming of Messiah and the work he
performed, all of which was foretold by those
holy men of God who spake as they were moved
upon by the Holy Ghost — if all these prophecies
and their fulfillment be considered, it seems to

*" You may question, if you will," says Bishop Lightfoot in the
Quarterly Review for April, 1888, "every single prophecy in the
Old Testament, but the whole history of the Jews is one continuous
prophecy more distinct and articulate than all. You may deny, if
you will, every successive miracle which is recorded therein ; but
again, the history of the Jews is from first to last one stupendous
miracle, more wonderful and convincing than all."

102 THE GOSPEL.

me that there is an accumulation of evidence to
the divinity of the Jewish scriptures, that must
break down all the petty objections that unbelief
can array against them. And indeed, I may say,
that such has been the effect of these considera-
tions on the human understanding that the
noblest and brightest intellects of all ages have
been so impressed with them, that they have
yielded a ready assent to their divine inspiration,
and worshiped the God whose character and
attributes are unfolded in the revelations con-
tained in them.*

Now, if to these evidences, which have been
sufficient to convince men of powerful intellect, as
well as of the masses of Christendom, be added
the further fulfillment of prophecy in respect to
taking the Gospel from the earth and then restor-
ing it in the last days, much of which — pertain-
ing to the restoration of the Gospel — has been
fulfilledjin our day; and then to this be added the
testimony contained in the Book of Mormon to
the divinity and general truth of the Bible; and
to this] the testimony in the Book of Abra-
ham and the visions of Moses, as revealed

*In making this 'observation I do not close my eyes to the fact
that there are exceptions to this general assertion ; nor will I be so
unjust as to claim that among unbelievers there are none who are
honest in that unbelief There have been men in all at,'.1.-, <>r
nearly so, who have doubted the truth of the Jewish scriptures, and
some of them'have been most brilliant in intellect, and not a few
most upright in their manner of life, but these are the exceptions,
not the rule; and the remark on this point in the text holds good.

FAITH. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 103

to Joseph Smith and now contained in the Pearl
of Great Price — pray tell me, youth of Israel,
where is there room for unbelief on your part?
Or where is there excuse for infidelity?

Let me remind my readers, that the Bible is a
record of man's crimes and vices, as well as of
his righteousness and virtues. It as faithfully
ecords the former as the latter. But because it
thus faithfully records the evils that men did as
well as the good, it must not therefore be con-
cluded that God sanctioned or condoned those
evils. It was the doing of those very evils that
brought down the displeasure of God upon those
guilty of them. And what is true of individuals
in this respect, is also true of peoples and
nations.

Then again, as to the Old Testament, let it be
remembered that when the Lord took the children
of Israel from the land of Egypt to make of them
a people for himself, he presented them first
with the Gospel of Christ, with all its mercy and
inspiring love and gentleness; but they would
not live in accordance with its high moral pre-
cepts, nor reflect in their lives its spiritual excel-
lence. Accordingly, a less perfect law was given
to Israel; a law which in the New Testament is
everywhere called "the law of carnal command-
ments;" a law more in keeping with their moral
development; a law which breathed less of
mercy, forgiveness and love and more of exacting,
relentless justice; demanding an eye for an eye,

104 THE GOSPEL.

and a tooth for a tooth — and this was to be their
schoolmaster, to prepare them for the more
excellent law of the Gospel of Christ.* Many
things in that law of the Old Testament are
imperfect, and must not be taken as reflecting
the full glory and excellence of the divine wisdom
or goodness. On the contrary it is plainly
stated, and that too by the voice of inspiration,
in the New Testament, that it was a law carnal
and imperfect, yet withal containing more
excellence than the people seemed able in those
days to attain unto.

Add these considerations to the fact that in
some of its details and in its translation the Bible
has been marred by the hand of man; a number
of sacred books lost, and some plain and precious
parts taken away from those we have, and it is
not surprising that men find imperfections in it,
and some things difficult to harmonize with our
ideas of the mercy and justice of God.

Yet, with all its imperfections, in the main it
is true, and may be relied upon as a witness for
God; that is, as to his existence, his character
and attributes; and also to the existence,
character and mission of his Son, Jesus Christ,

*In proof that the Gospel was first offered to ancient Israel, and
then because of transgression the law of carnal commandments. 1
invite the reader's attention to the following scriptures: Heb.,
latter part of chap, iii, in connection with Heb. iv : 1, 2 ; I Cor. x :
1-4; and Gal. iii; also D.KJ. and Cov., sec. 84; see also the chapter
on History of the Gospel in this work.

FAITH. TRADITION. 105

the Redeemer of the world, and of the plan of
salvation — the Gospel. What it says of those,
and topics associated with them, may be relied
upon as God's truth; for the evidences of its
authenticity and credibility are so numerous, I
may say so overwhelming, that for my part, I
see not how intelligence can disbelieve it.

CHAPTER XIII.

FAITH — TRADITION.

T^\ AVING now concluded our inquiry as to the
(^ authenticity and credibility of our principal
volume of scripture — the Bible; having proven,
as I hope, to the satisfaction of my readers, that
the Bible is authentic, and worthy of their con-
fidence in what it says of God, of Christ and the
Gospel, I have only to remark that the evidence
it contains — especially when considered in con-
nection with that found in the other scriptures,
the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants
and Pearl of Great Price — is sufficient to plant
in the mind an intelligent belief in God, in Christ
and in the Gospel as the plan of man's redemp-
tion. And now, after so long a digression, I
return to the subject of faith in God.

I have already remarked* that faith is the first

Chapter vii.
5

106 THE GOSPEL.

principle of religion, and that religious faith cen-
ters in God, to whom men look for salvation. I
have also remarked that it is absolutely necessary
for those who come to God to believe that he
exists, for unless that fact is firmly fixed in their
minds, men will consider themselves under no
obligations to obey him.

The first evidence men have of the existence of
God comes from tradition, from the testiomny of
their fathers; and this has been the case from
that event known as the Fall, until the present.
Nor is this evidence unworthy our serious atten-
tion; it rests upon a surer foundation than is
usually accorded it. Suppose we go back to its
beginning, to its first introduction into the world,
and observe how well founded it is.

According to the account given by Moses in
Genesis, previous to the Fall, Adam associated
with God; conversed with him respecting the
works of creation, and gave names to the cattle,
and all living things upon the earth. How long
continued, or how intimate that association was,
we are not informed in Genesis; but, at all
events, it was long enough continued, and suffi-
ciently intimate to fix definitely in the mind of
Adam the fact of God's existence. Then when
Adam and his wife transgressed God's law, their
recollection of his existence did not vanish, but
they tried to hide from his presence; and were
afterwards visited of the Lord, who reproved
them for their sin and pronounced the penalty

FAITH. TRADITION. 107

which would overtake them for their transgres-
sion.

All I wish to call attention to in this is the
fact that they knew positively of the Lord's
existence before their transgression, and they
did not forget it after that event; but on the
contrary had a lively recollection of what they
had seen and heard before they fell, and related
it to their children, who, in turn, transmitted it
to their children, and so from generation to
generation the tradition of God's existence has
been handed down until the present time.

But other considerations are yet to be noticed
in respect to this tradition. It will be remem-
bered that Adam and all the patriarchs previous
to the Flood lived to a very great age. Adam
lived nine hundred and thirty years, and during
that time Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared,
Enoch, Methuselah and Lamech, the father of
Noah, were born. Indeed the last named was
fifty-six years old* when Adam died; so that for
a number of years he must have had the pleasure
of Adam's acquaintance; while the patriarchs
between Adam and Lamech all associated with
him for hundreds of years, and would learn well
the story that the grand patriarch of our race
would have to tell respecting Eden before the
Fall.

Then again, we are told in Genesisf that when

* See Doc. and Cov. II Lecture on Faith, verse 30. fGen. v : 28, 29.

108

THE GOSPEL.

Lamech was one hundred and eighty-two years
old he begat Noah; and since Lamech was fifty-
six years old when Adam died, Adam had been
dead but one hundred and twenty-six years when
Noah was born. After the birth of Noah,
Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years,
so that Noah associated with his father, who had
seen Adam, for more than five hundred years;
and also with a number of the other patriarchs
—with Enos, the grandson of Adam, and son of
Seth — with Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared and Methu-
selah.* Then, the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham
and Japheth, all of whom were born before the
Flood, would likewise be acquainted with a num-
ber of these worthies who had lived with Adam
and heard his testimony of God's existence.

Again, Noah lived three hundred and fifty years
after the Flood; that would give him ample
time and opportunity to teach his posterity for
several generations the tradition respecting God,
which he had received from a number of patri-
archs, who lived previous to the Flood, and thus
the said tradition became firmly fixed in the
minds of men.

Traces of that tradition, and of these patriarchs
connected with it, may be found in nearly all,
and so far as I know, in all the mythologies of
the world, as well in ancient as in modern times;

* Those desiring a more minute account of these points are re-
terred to the Doc. and Cov., II Lecture on Faith.

FAITH. TRADITION. 109

as well in the mythology of the civilized Greeks
and Romans, as in that of India, China, Egypt,
and that of the American Indians. The tradition
has evidently been corrupted, added to and
twisted into fantastic shapes by the idle fancies
of corrupt minds, but despite all the changes
made in it, traces of this tradition are discover-
able in the mythology of all lands.

I believe, too, with Crabb, "That the fictions
of mythology were not invented [always] in
ignorance of divine truth, but with a willful inten-
tion to pervert it; not made only by men of
profligate lives and daring impiety, who preferred
darkness to light, because their deeds were evil,
but by men of refinement and cultivation, from
the opposition of science, falsely so-called; not
made, as some are pleased to think, b.y priests
only, for interested purposes, but by poets and
philosophers among the laity, who, careless of
truth or falsehood, were pleased with nothing
but their own corrupt imaginations and vain
conceits. "*

Thus the tradition of the patriarchs was, in
time, degraded, by some branches of their poster-
ity, to mythology — a muddy, troubled pool,
which, like a mirror shattered into a thousand
fragments, reflects while it distorts into fantastic
shapes the objects on its banks. Still, under all
the rubbish of human invention may be found

Crabb's Mythology of all Nation?, pp. 174-5.

110 THE GOSPEL.

the leading idea — God's existence, and that fact
alone, however mis-shapen it may be, proves
how firmly fixed in the human mind is the tradi-
tion of the fathers; while the universality of that
tradition goes very far towards proving its truth.

When once the idea of the existence of a God
is suggested to the mind of man by the testimony
of the fathers, and represented as he is by that
tradition, as the Creator of the heavens and the
earth, and also as the great governing power
throughout the universe, — very much is discovered
in the marvelous works of nature to strengthen
and confirm, almost to a certainty, the truth of
that tradition.

Man is conscious of his own existence, and that
existence is a stupendous miracle of itself; he is
conscious, too, of other facts. He looks out into
space in the stillness of night, and sees the deep
vault of heaven inlaid with planetary systems,
all moving in exact order and harmony, in such
regularity that he cannot doubt that intelligence
brought them into being, and now sustains and
directs the forces that preserve them. Thus the
heavens declare the existence of God as well as
his glory. This thought is in harmony with the
tradition of his fathers, and he recognizes the
identity between the intelligence that he knows
must control the universe, and the God of which
his fathers testify.

Nor is this all: but in the mysterious changes
which take place on our own planet, in the gentle

FAITH. TRADITION. Ill

Spring, luxuriant Summer, fruitful Autumn and
blighting Winter, with its storms and frosts — the
''mysterious round" which brings us our seed
time and harvest, and clothes the earth with
vegetation and flowers, perpetuating that wonder-
ful power we call life, the strangest fact in all
the works of nature — in these mighty changes,
so essential and beneficent, man recognizes the
wisdom and power of God of whom his fathers
bear record.

As the heavens declare his existence and glory,
so, likewise, do these changes and a thousand
other things, connected with our earth, until lost
in wonder and admiration, one exclaims with
Paul, "The invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and godhead."* Or else - he calls
to mind another scripture, still more sublime —
"The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun
giveth his light by day, and the stars also giveth
their light, as they roll upon their wings in their
glory, in the midst of the power of God. * * *
Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man
who hath seen any or the least of these, hath
seen God moving in his majesty and power, "f

"But wandering oft, with brute unconscious gaze,
Man marks not Thee; marks not the mighty hand,
That, ever busy, wheels the silent spheres!"

* Rom. i: 20. f Doc. and Cov. Sec. 88 : 45-47.

112 THE GOSPEL.

This much we may say, in conclusion, the
tradition of the fathers, confirmed by the power
of God as manifested in the works of nature,
lays a broad foundation for an intelligent belief
in God's existence.

CHAPTER XIV.

FAITH. REVELATION.

fHE evidence of tradition, confirmed by the
works of nature, created the assurance or
faith in the minds of men that God existed; and
that faith led them to the performance of works
of righteousness that they might win his appro-
bation; for doubtless, side by side with the tradi-
tion of his existence, came also the idea that he
loved righteousness and truth, and those who
wrought them. In other words, it is but reason-
able to suppose that Adam brought from the
period of his life on the other side of the Fall,
some recollection of God's character and attri-
butes, as well as of his being: And so well
pleased was the Lord with the faith and works
of some of these men, that he revealed himself
to them, made them acquainted with his laws,
purposes and designs, and conferred upon them
authority to act in his name, as his messengers
to the children of men who had not sufficient
faith to seek for and enter into his presence.

FAITH. REVELATION. 113

Such men have lived in various ages of the
world, and have ever been (or would have been,
had the people only received them) a blessing
unto their generation.

Such a character was Enoch, whom we are told
walked with God,*and received a revelation from
the Lord in which was made known to him
events to take place even down to the glorious
coming of the Son of God to execute judgment
on the wicked. f

Noah also, the tenth from Adam, received a
revelation from God, and was made a messenger
to the people of his generation, but they refused
to receive his testimony, and perished in their
sins.

After Noah comes Abraham. He received
special revelations from God, being visited by
him in the plains of Mamre as the patriarch
dwelt in a tent. It was at that time he received
the promise of a son, and was told of the inten-
tion of the Lord to destroy the wicked cities of
the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah; whereupon
Abraham pleaded for the righteous that might
be in the cities. J The Lord also gave him
other revelations concerning the organization of
the heavens and the laws by which they are

* Gen. v : 24.

f Jude, 14, 15. For a more detailed account of the revelations of
God to Enoch, and the mighty work which that patriarch did, the
reader is referred to the Pearl of Great Price, pp. 18 to 29 inclusive.

J Gen. xviii.

114 THE GOSPEL.

governed; the order which was followed in the
creation of this earth, and some things pertain-
ing to the redemption of man.*

The Lord also appeared unto Jacob in dreams
and visions, and sent angels unto him, and to
his son Joseph also, but we pass by these and
come to the prophet Moses.

The first revelation the Lord gave to Moses,
that we have any account of, was at the burning
bush, in Mount Horeb. There the Lord said
to him: "I am the God of thy father, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was
afraid to look upon God. "t Then and there the
Lord commissioned him to go and deliver Israel,
in the performance of which labor he received
many manifestations that God was with him.

In ExodusJ we have an account of God's
glorious descent upon Sinai in the presence of all
Israel, and the revelations that he gave to them
by his own voice: "And God spake all these
words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which
have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other
Gods before me. "§ Then follow nine other
commandments: "And all the people saw the
thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise
of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: And

« Pearl of Great Price— Book of Abraham, pp. 33-47. f Exodus
iii: 6. J Exodus xix, xx. g Exodus xx : 1-3.

FAITH. REVELATION. 115

when the people saw it, they removed and stood
afar off. And they said unto Moses, speak thou
with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak
with us lest we die. * * * And the Lord
said unto Moses, thus thou shalt say unto the
children of Israel, ye have seen that I have
talked with you from heaven."*

Subsequently to this there was another grand
revelation which the Lord gave to a number of
the leading Elders of Israel. Moses thus records
it: "Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab,
and Abihu, and seventy of the Elders of Israel:
and they saw the God of Israel: and there was
under his feet as it were a paved work of a
sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven
in its clearness, and upon the nobles of the
children of Israel, he laid not his hand: also
they saw God, and did eat and drink, "f

Moses after this left the other Elders and went
into the mount, where he received the law of the
Lord written by the hand of God on tables of
stone, and also was instructed how to build a
tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. Indeed,
throughout the lifetime of Moses the manifesta-
tions of God's power, and the revelations of his
existence were frequent, and came in so direct a
manner that there is left no room for doubt; for
the Lord knew Moses face to face, so also knew
Moses the Lord, and left his testimony on record.

* Exodus xx : 18, 19-22. tExodus xxiv :

116 THE GOSPEL.

Time would fail me to tell of the revelations
which God gave of himself to Joshua, and the
judges whom he raised up to rule in Israel; to
Samuel, and Daivd and Solomon, and the
prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and
the rest. I pass by all these and come to the
dispensation opened by the preaching of John
the Baptist.

The first direct revelation of God's existence
after the opening of that dispensation was at the
baptism of Jesus, the Son of God. Matthew's
testimony respecting this revelation is as follows:
"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens
were opened unto him, and he [John]* saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and light-
ing upon Him; and lo, a voice from heaven, say-
ing, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased, "f With this also agrees the testimony
of both Mark and John.

*I supposed that John the Baptist was the only one who was a
witness of the Holy Ghost resting upon Jesus in the form of a dove.
In all the accounts ^iveii of this event, except by Luke, the pro-
noun "he" referring to John, as in Matthew, is used. While in
Luke it is not said that anyone else saw it, but the fact is merely
stated that " the Holy Ghost descended in bodily shape like a <!<>ve
and rested upon him." John's own testimony is as follows:
And John bore record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not:
but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me,
upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on
him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." (John
i: 32,33.) tMatt-»i: 16,17.

FAITH. REVELATION. 117

Then next in order, that is the next direct reve-
lation, is on the occasion of the transfiguration
of Christ on the Mount, thus related by Matthew:
"After six days he taketh Peter, James and John,
his brother, and bringeth them up unto the high
mountain apart, and was transfigured before
them: And his face did shine as the sun, and his
raiment was white as the light. And behold
there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talk-
ing with him. Then answered Peter, and said
unto Jesus, it is good for us to be here, if thou
wilt, let us build three tabernacles; one for thee,
one for Moses and one for Elias. While he yet
spake a bright cloud overshadowed them: and
behold a voice out of the cloud, which said: This
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased;
hear ye him."* This same circumstance is also
related by Mark and Luke.

The New Testament is replete with testimonies
of the existence of God, both direct and indirect,
but I shall here notice but one more; it will be
found recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. f It
is given at the martyrdom of Stephen. The
Jews were so stung by Stephen's reproofs for their
hardness of heart, that they rushed upon him,
"But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked
steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of
God, and said, Behold I see the heavens opened,

Matt, xvii : 1-5. f Chapter vii.

118 THE GOSPEL.

and the Son of Man standing on the right hand
of God. "

As before stated, the testimonies in the New
Testament to the existence of God and his Son
Jesus Christ are numerous. Indeed, I may say
it is the one grand truth which the writers in
that volume of revelation testify to; and around
this primary fact, and dependent upon it for their
existence and importance, are arranged all the
other facts pertaining to man's redemption and
future existence.

But I wish to turn from the witnesses in the
Jewish scriptures to others; for, numerous as
those witnesses for God and Christ are among
the Jews, they are not the only ones.

In the Book of Mormon is an abridgment of
the record of Ether, called the Book of Ether.
It gives a brief account of a colony which the
Lord led from the tower of Babel, where he
confounded the language of the people, to the
Western hemisphere. The prophet who, under
God's direction, led this people in their journey,
was the brother of one Jared. At the command
of God he had built eight barges or vessels in
which his company was to cross the mighty
deep; and the brother of Jared prayed to the
Lord that he would provide a means whereby
they might have light in the barges, and lie
presented to the Lord sixteen small stones and
asked that he would touch them with his finger
and make them luminous, that they might give

FAITH. REVELATION. 119

them light. And as the Lord, in answer to the
earnest prayer of his servant stretched forth his
hand to touch the stones, the brother of Jared
saw the finger of the Lord, and he was struck
with fear. Yet receiving encouragement from
God, he asked the Lord to show himself to him,
a petition which the Lord, in consequence of the
great faith of the man, granted him, and testified
to the redemption that he was yet to work out
for the salvation of man. The testimony of the
brother of Jared was placed upon record and was
abridged by Moroni, and now comes to us in the
sacred pages of the Book of Mormon* as a wit-
ness for God.

In the account given in the Book of Mormon
of that colony which was led from Jerusalem,
about six hundred B. C., by Lehi; and in the
history of the nations that grew out of that
colony, and flourished on the Western hemis-
phere, are many testimonies as to the existence
of God; too many, in fact, to be enumerated
here. All I can say is, that their prophets were
visited by angels from heaven, and they were
instructed by dreams and visions, in which were
shown to them, in remarkable plainness, the
coming and mission of Messiah; the object to
be attained by, and the power of the Gospel of
Christ. In all these things they were taught by
the inspiration of heaven, accompanied by

#See Book of Ether in Book of Mormon, ch. iii.

120 THE GOSPEL.

wonderful demonstrations of the presence and
power of the Lord.

Then, in III Nephi, in the Book of Mormon,
is an account of two visits of the risen Redeemer
to the Nephites (descendants of the aforemen-
tioned Lehi), and of his labors among that
people. Here, as in Jerusalem, Jesus announced
himself as the Son of God, and bore testimony
to the existence of his Father. The multitude,
to whom he first revealed himself, had the satis-
faction of beholding the wounds in his hands and
in his feet and in his side; and this, that they
might know in very deed, that he was the one
who had been slain in Jerusalem by the Jews, for
the sins of the world — that he was the one of
whom their prophets from the beginning had
testified.

In the Book of Mormon, then, as in the Bible,
is found a volume of testimony of God's existence;
indeed, I may say the accumulated testimony of
all the prophets of the Western hemisphere.

I now turn to the testimony of the prophet of
our own day.

Joseph Smith, in giving an account of how he
came to seek the Lord, informs us that he read
that passage in James which says: "If any of
you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth
to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it
shall be given him."* In obedience to that

* James i : 5.

FAITH. — REVELATION. 121

injunction, he retired to the woods to call upon
the Lord, to learn from him which of all the
religious sects he should join, for their division
and contentions had perplexed his mind. For
what occurred on that occasion I quote his own
words:

"After I had retired to the place where I had
previously designed to go, having looked around
me and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and
began to offer up the desires of my heart to God.
I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was
seized upon by some power which entirely over-
came me, and had such astonishing influence over
me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak.
Thick darkness gathered round me, and it seemed
to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden
destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call
upon God to deliver me out of the power of this
enemy, which had seized upon me, and at the
very moment when I was ready to sink into
despair and abandon myself to destruction, not
to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some
actual being from the unseen world, who had
such a marvelous power as I had never before
felt in any being — just at this moment of great
alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my
head, above the brightness of the sun, which
descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no
sooner appeared than I found myself delivered
from the enemy which held me bound. When
the light rested upon me, I saw two personages,

122 THE GOSPEL.

whose brightness and glory defy all description,
standing above me in the air. One of them
spake unto me, calling me by my name and said
(pointing to the other), this is my beloved son, hear
him. "*

Such is the testimony that Joseph Smith bears
to the existence of God and his Son Jesus Christ;
but there are other testimonies to follow.

In a revelation called "A Vision, "f is found
the testimony of both Joseph Smith and Sidney
Rigdon, from which I make the following
extract:

"We, Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon,
being in the Spirit on the sixteenth of February
in the year of the Lord 1832, by the power of the
Spirit our eyes were opened and our understand-
ings were enlightened, so as to see and understand
the things of God — even those things which were
from the beginning before the world was, which
were ordained of the Father, through his Only
Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the
Father, even from the beginning, of whom we
bear record, and the record which we bear is the
fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the
Son, whom we saw, and with whom we conversed
in the heavenly vision. * * And while

we meditated upon these things, the Lord
touched the eyes of our understandings and they
were opened, and the glory of God shone round

* Pearl of Great Price, pp. 87, 88. f Doc. and Cov., sec. Ixxvi.

FAITH. — REVELATION. 123

about; and we beheld the glory of the Son, on
the right hand of the Father, and received of his
fullness; and saw the holy angels, and they who
are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God
and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever.
And now, after the many testimonies which have
been given of him, this is the testimony last of
all which we give of him, that he lives; for we
saw him, even on the right hand of God, and we
heard the voice bearing record that he is the
Only Begotten of the Father — that by him and
through him, and of him the worlds are and were
created, and the inhabitants thereof begotten
sons and daughters unto God."

Surely their testimony lacks nothing to be
desired either as to directness or plainness.

In the Kirtland Temple, on the third of April,
1836, another revelation of the existence of the
Son of God was given, and another witness was
added to the list of those who in this dispensa-
tion have beheld the Lord — this was Oliver
Cowdery. I quote the following from the reve-
lation:

"The vail was taken from our [the prophet
Joseph's and Oliver's] minds and the eyes of our
understanding were opened. We saw the Lord
standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit,
before us, and under his feet was a paved work
of pure gold, in color like amber. His eyes
were as a flame of fire, the hair of his head was
white like the pure snow, his countenance shone

124 THE GOSPEL.

above the brightness of the sun, and his voice
was as the sound of the rushing of great waters,
even the voice of Jehovah, saying — I am the first
and the last, I am he who liveth, I am he who
was slain, I am your advocate with the Father.
Behold, your sins are forgiven you, you are clean
before me, therefore lift up your heads and
rejoice; let the hearts of your brethren rejoice,
and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who
have, with their might, built this house* to my
name, for behold I have accepted this house, and
my name shall be here, and I will manifest my-
self to my people in mercy in this house, "f

Such, in brief, are some of the direct testi-
monies we have from the Jewish and Nephite
scriptures, and from the writings of inspired men
in our own day concerning the existence of God
and his Son Jesus Christ. And surely if human
testimony can establish anything — any matter of
fact, then the fact of God's existence is so
established. The testimony comes from such a
variety of sources, is delivered in so many
different ages, from the first to the present, yet
all blending so harmoniously, that it leaves
nothing to be desired in point of consistency or
harmony, quality or quantity.

Let me here observe, in concluding this
chapter, that God is no respecter of persons; but
they who will approach him in faith, as these

*The Kirtland Temple, f Doc. and Cov., sec. ex, 1-7.

FAITH. THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 125

characters did, whose testimonies we have been
examining, may have a knowledge of his existence
also. But — adapting to my purpose the language
of the Doctrine and Covenants* — after any
portion of the human family are made acquainted
— either through tradition, or the testimony of
those who have sought and found him — with the
important fact that there is a God who has
created and does uphold all things, the extent
of their personal knowledge respecting his
character and glory, will depend upon their
diligence and faithfulness in seeking after him;
until, like Enoch, the brother of Jared, Moses,
Joseph Smith, and Oliver Cowdery, they shall
obtain faith in God, and power to behold him
face to face.

CHAPTER XV.

FAITH. — THE CHARACTER OF GOD.

(efLTHOUGH belief in the fact that God exists
is of first importance, it is not all that is
necessary to an intelligent faith. It is the
primary element, perhaps, but there are others in
addition to that which are needful to a rational
exercise of faith — such an exercise of faith that
will lead to eternal salvation in God's Kingdom.
Something must be known of the character of

* Lecture II, on Faith, verse 55

126 THE GOSPEL.

God, of his attributes; for I hold this truth to
be self-evident, that without some knowledge of
God's character men cannot intelligently exercise
faith in him. Without that knowledge faith will
ever be imperfect, unsatisfactory, weak and
comparatively unfruitful. Hence, we next pro-
ceed to inquire into the character of Deity, as
he has revealed it to his children; and as we are
dependent upon revelation for the knowledge of
God's existence, so are we dependent upon
revelation for what knowledge we have of his
character.

But before I proceed immediately to inquire
into the character of the Deity, I think it necessary
to remark that men, who exercise faith in God,
must not only believe that he is, but recognize
him as the creative power by whom all things
are made and sustained; that they recognize him
as the Supreme Ruler of the universe. As I
understand it, that much is implied in the term
God. Indeed, unless God is regarded as the
supreme governing power, men could not center
their faith in him for life and salvation. For if
the idea existed that his power was not supreme,
absolute — fear would be engendered in the
hearts of men that there existed still other
powers who would overturn his purposes, and
prevent a fulfillment of his promises; and where
such fear exists there faith cannot be perfected.
There is abundant testimony in the scriptures,
however, which proves God to be the creator

FAITH. THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 127

and sustainer of all things that exist, and the
supreme power of the universe. In proof of this
I quote the following: "Before the mountains
were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed
the earth and the world, even from everlasting to
everlasting, thou art God."* "And thou, Lord,
in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth; and the heavens are the works of thy
hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest;
and they shall wax old as doth a garment; and
as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they
shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail, "f

The scriptures, however, are more specific than
this as to the works of creation in connection
with our earth and the heavens connected with
it. It is written: "God * * * hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds. "J

From this it appears that God through and by
Jesus Christ created the worlds, not only one
world, but doubtless many; and this agrees with
a number of other scriptures. The apostle John
says, in opening his Gospel — in plain allusion
to Christ: "All things were made by him; and
without him was not any thing made that was
made. In him was life; and the life was the
light of men."* Paul also says: "But to us

* Psalms xc : 2. f Heb. i : 10-12. J Heb. i : 1, 2. g John i : 3, 4.

128 THE GOSPEL.

there is but one God, the Father, of whom are
all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."*
"And hath translated us into the kingdom of his
dear Son, * * * who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature; for
by him were all things created, that are in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisi-
ble, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: All things were created
by him, and for him: And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. And he is the
head of the body, the church; who is the begin-
ning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all
things he might have the pre-eminence. For it
pleased the Father that in him should all fullness

dwell, "f

It was doubtless these considerations which led
President Young to say: "Christ is the author of
this earth, of men and women, of all the posterity
of Adam and Eve, and of every living creature
that lives upon the face of the earth, that flies
in the heavens, that swims in the waters, or
dwells in the field. Christ is the author of salva-
tion to all this creation, to all things pertaining
to this terrestrial globe we occupy. "J

Christ being, under the direction of the Father
the Creator and Redeemer of the earth, he and

*1. Cor. viii : 6. f Col. i: 13-19. J Journal of Discourses, Vol.
Ill, p. 80.

FAITH. THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 129

his Father have a proprietorship in this earth,
and by virtue of that are the Supreme Governing
Power in it. The Lord Jesus Christ, under
directions from his Father, created it; he then
redeemed it by his own suffering; he is now, and
has been from the beginning, watching over it;
and will yet sanctify it, and present it to the
Father a glorious, celestial sphere to be added to
the redeemed and glorified kingdoms ot God.
"Remember the former things of old," saith the
Lord through Isaiah, "for I am God and there is
none else; I am God and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying my counsel shall stand, and I will do all
my pleasure."*

From the scriptures, then, we get abundant
evidence that God is the creator of, and the
power that sustains the heavens and the earth,
and the Supreme Ruler of them; so that no fear
need exist in the mind of any who put their
trust in God, that other powers will or can
thwart his purposes, for having all power in
heaven and in earth, he is able to fulfill his
promises.

I now come to the character of the Deity, as
we have it revealed to us in the scriptures. The
references I make are brief, though sufficient, I
hope, for my purpose. I assure my readers,

* Isaiah xlvi, 8-10.

130 THE GOSPEL.

however, that they may be indefinitely extended,
as the scriptures are replete with such passages.

Moses says: "And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God,
merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abun-
dant in goodness and truth."* "The Lord
executeth righteousness and judgment for all that
are oppressed. He made known his ways unto
Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The
Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and
plenteous in mercy. But the mercy of the Lord
is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that
fear him, and his righteousness unto children's
children; to such as keep his covenants and to
those that remember his commandments to do
them."t

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning."! "For I am the Lord, I
change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed. "§ "For God doth not walk in crooked
paths, neither does he turn to the right hand
nor to the left, or vary from that which he has
said, therefore his paths are straight, and his
course is one eternal round. "|| "Listen to the
voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end, whose

* Exodus xxxiv : 6. f Psalms ciii : 6, 7, 8, 17, 18. J James i : 17.
§ Mai. iii : 6. || Doc. and Cov., sec, iii : 2.

FAITH. THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 131

course is one eternal round, the same today as
yesterday and forever."*

"God is not a man that he should lie, neither
the son of man that he should repent, "f "Into
thy hand I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed
me, O Lord God of Truth. "J "He is the rock,
his work is perfect; for all his ways are judg-
ment; a God of truth and without iniquity, just
and right is he. "§

Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter
of persons, but in every nation he that feareth
God and worketh righteousness is accepted with
him. "||

"He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for
God is love: * * * and he that dwelleth in
love dwelleth in God, and God in him. "^f "For
God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him
should not perish but have everlasting life."**

I can think of no greater evidence of God's
love than that exhibited in the act of permitting
his Son, Jesus Christ, to come, to the earth and
suffer as he did for the sins of the world, that
they might not suffer if they would but conform
to his laws and thus accept the terms of salva-
tion. It would seem, too, that the same attribute
of love exists in the breast of the Son, for the
sacrifice he made for the redemption of the

*Doc. and Cov., sec. xxxv : 1. f Numbers xxiii : 19 J Psalms
xxxi : 5. g Deut. xxxii ; 4. |] Acts x : 34, 35. f I. John iv: 8-16.
**John iii : 16.

132 THE GOSPEL.

world was a voluntary act. He was not compelled
to make the atonement, but of his own free will
he volunteered to become our ransom.*

He himself testified: "Therefore doth my
Father love me, because I lay down my life, that
I might take it again. No man taketh it from
me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my
Father."!

Thus, the atonement of Jesus, for the children
of men, was a voluntary act; and his death and
suffering for the world, was the strongest expres-
sion of his love it is possible to conceive —
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends."

From the foregoing testimonies we learn the
following things respecting the character of God.

"First, that he is merciful and gracious, slow
to anger, abundant in goodness, and that he was
so from everlasting, and will be so to everlasting.

"Secondly, that he changes not, neither is
there variableness with him; but that he is the
same from everlasting to everlasting, being the
same yesterday, today, and forever, and that his
course is one eternal round, without variation.

"Thirdly, that he is a God of truth and cannot
lie.

"Fourthly, that he is no respecter of persons,

* Pearl of Great Price, p. 41. t John x : 17, 18.

FAITH. THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 133

but in every nation he who fears God and works
righteousness is accepted of him.

"Fifthly, that he is love."*

I conclude this chapter with the remarks made
upon these attributes of Deity, to be found in
one of the lectures on faith in the Doctrine and
Covenants:

"An acquaintance with these attributes in the
divine character, is essentially necessary, in order
that the faith of any rational being can center
in him for life and salvation. For unless he was
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long suffer-
ing and full of goodness, such is the weakness of
human nature, and so great the frailties and
imperfections of men, that unless they believed
that these excellencies existed in the divine
character, the faith necessary to salvation could
not exist; for doubt would take the place of faith,
and those who know their weakness and liability
to sin, would be in constant doubt of salvation,
if it were not for the idea which they have of the
excellency of the character of God, that he is
slow to anger and long suffering, and of a forgiv-
ing disposition, and does forgive iniquity, trans-
gression and sin. An idea of these facts does
away doubt, and makes faith exceedingly strong.

"But it is equally as necessary that men should
have the idea that he is a God who changes not,

* I quote the above paragraphs from the III. Lecture on Faith,
Doc. and Cov.

134 THE GOSPEL.

in order to have faith in him, as it is to have
the idea that he is gracious and long suffering;
for without the idea of unchangeableness in the
character of the Deity, doubt would take the
place of faith. But with the idea that he changes
not, faith lays hold upon the excellencies in his
character with unshaken confidence, believing
he is the same yesterday, today and forever, and
that his course is one eternal round.

"And again, the idea that he is a God of truth
and cannot lie, is equally as necessary to the
exercise of faith in him as the idea of his
unchangeableness. For without the idea that he
was a God of truth and could not lie, the con-
fidence necessary to be placed in his word, in
order to the exercise of faith in him could not
exist. But having the idea that he is not man,
that he cannot lie, it gives power to the minds
of men to exercise faith in him.

"But it is also necessary that men should have
an idea that he is no respecter of persons, for
with the idea of all the other excellencies in his
character, and this one wanting, men could not
exercise faith in him; because if he were a
respecter of persons, they could not tell what
their privileges were, nor how far they were
authorized to exercise faith in him, or whether they
were authorized to do it at all, but all must be con-
fusion; but no sooner are the minds of men made
acquainted with the truth on this point, that he
is no respecter of persons, than they see that they

FAITH. COURSE OF LIFE. 135

have authority by faith to lay hold on eternal
life, the richest boon of heaven, because God is
no respecter of persons, and that every man in
every nation has an equal privilege.

"And lastly, but not less important to the
exercise of faith in God, is the idea that he is
love; for with all the other excellencies in his
character, without this one to influence them,
they could not have such powerful dominion over
the minds of men; but when the idea is planted
in the mind that he is love, who cannot see the
just ground that men of every nation, kindred,
and tongue, have to exercise faith in God so as
to obtain eternal life!

"From the above description of the character
of the Deity, w.hich is given him in the revela-
tions to men, there is a sure foundation for the
exercise of faith in him among every people,
nation, and kindred, from age to age, and from
generation to generation."*

CHAPTER XVI.

FAITH. COURSE OF LIFE.

X HAVE now considered two elements which enter
T into the principle of faith, and which are
essential to its existence; viz., a belief in the
being of God; and, secondly, the nature of his

* Poc and Cov,, Lectures on Faith, No. Ill,

136 THE GOSPEL.

character. There is still one more thing that
must be considered, one more element that must
enter into this principle of faith, before it can
become a living, active power in the life of man
— and that is, herein the worth of faith exists.
I may say of faith as Guizot does of science,
that it may be a beautiful thing of itself, but it
becomes a thousand times grander and more
beautiful when it becomes a power ;when it becomes
the parent of virtue. Indeed if it does not
become a power in the life of man, an incentive
to noble deeds, it is a dead faith, and is as the
body without the spirit, or as salt without its
savor — it is good for nothing.

The third element which is essential to faith as
a power in the life of man, centers in and
depends upon man rather than God. A belief in
the fact that God exists, with a correct idea of
his character is sufficient for man to exercise
faith in him, but man must know something
about himself also; that is, he must know that
the course of life he is pursuing is in accordance
with the will of heaven — is approved of God,
before faith can become perfect, or have any
marked influence with the heavens. This truth
is self-evident. For what confidence can one
have that his petition will be heard and answered
by the Lord, if all the time he is conscious that
he habitually, perhaps wantonly, violates the law
of God — if he blasphemes the name of Deity, or
speaks lightly, and may be slightingly, of sacred

FAITH. COURSE OF LIFE. 137

things, or walks contrary to the expressed will of
the Lord in the matter of truthfulness, sobriety,
chastity, honesty and brotherly kindness? What
confidence, I ask, can such a person have that
his petitions will be sufficiently respected either
to be heard or granted? The understanding
answers, none. It stands to reason that such
persons must repent, and that earnestly, with real
intent, with a fixed determination to respect God
and his laws, before they can hope for the powers
of heaven to be influenced by them. It is the
prayer of the righteous man that availeth much.

On the other hand, if one walk in all honesty
of heart before God; if to the best of his ability
and knowledge, making due allowance for human
frailty — and I do not under-estimate its influence
in hindering that perfect walk with God, that is
desirable — he keeps the laws of his God, sacrific-
ing his good name among men, if need be, or
leaving father or mother, houses or lands, wives
and children, counting all things but dross, when
compared with the excellence of the knowledge
of God — being faithful through good and through
evil report — resulting, as it must do, in a con-
sciousness of the approval of heaven — how strong
will his confidence become in the presence of the
Lord, and what blessings can the heavens with-
hold from him?

It was this consciousness of having walked truly
before his God, which, when the word of the

138 THE GOSPEL.

Lord came to him, that he should surely die,
enabled king Hezekiah to turn to the Lord, in
confidence, and say: "Remember, now, O Lord,
I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in
truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done
good in thy sight."* And before Isaiah had left
the house of the king, the word of the Lord came
again to him, bidding him to return to the king
with the glad message that his prayer had been
heard, and fifteen years had been added to his
life.

It was this consciousness, coupled with a
belief in God's existence and a knowledge of his
character, that enabled the ancient saints to
endure their sore afflictions, taking joyfully the
spoiling of their goods. By combining these
elements of faith they produced a power by which
they "subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge
of the sword, out of weakness were made strong,
waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
of the aliens. Women received their dead raised
to life again: and others were, tortured, not
accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a
better resurrection: and others had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds
and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the

Isaiah xxxviii,

FAITH. — COURSE OF LIFE. 139

sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented.
Of whom the world was not worthy, they wan-
dered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens
and caves of the earth."*

Such is Paul's testimony respecting the faith
and the power thereof among the saints on the
Eastern hemisphere; and if we turn to the sacred
pages of the Book of Mormon, a like record of
sacrifice and heroism could be drawn up to the
credit of the saints living on the Western hemis-
phere.

And so also with the Saints in this present
dispensation. It was through faith that the
Prophet Joseph Smith had the heavens opened
to him and received a glorious vision of God the
Father and his Son Jesus Christ; it was through
faith that he received the gold plates on which
were engraven the history and scriptures of the
Nephites, and translated them into the English
language; it was by the power of faith that he
organized the church and the quorums of the
priesthood. It was by the power of faith, too,
that the Saints endured the persecutions heaped
upon them in Missouri, the land of Zion, taking
joyfully the spoiling of their goods, being
whipped, imprisoned and murdered. It was by
faith they gathered at Nauvoo and converted its

*Heb. xi: 33-38.

140 THE GOSPEL.

swamps into a beautiful city, its wilderness into
fruitful fields and erected the beautiful temple in
the days of their poverty. By faith they
restrained their anger when their prophet and
patriarch were murdered while under the plighted
faith of the State of Illinois, and committed no
depredations on the ungodly within their power
in retaliation for the cowardly assassination of
their leaders.

By faith they followed the prophet Brigham
into the desert, going a thousand miles beyond
the borders of civilization among savage Indian
tribes, their only hope of protection being in the
God of Israel. By faith they subdued the sterile
soil and made it yield them the bounties of life,
and filled the once barren wastes of the Rocky
Mountain valleys with towns and villages; farms,
gardens, orchards and happy homes for an extent
of more than five hundred miles; and by faith
they have calmly endured fines, confiscations,
exile and imprisonment — persecution under the
forms of law — at the hands of the United States
government, rather than be untrue to their God.

Such experiences as these I have referred to in
the history of the Saints, both of ancient and
modern times, demonstrates to the heavens the
strength or quality of faith possessed by the
Saints, and also exhibits faith as a principle of
power, for such it is; who can doubt it when we
are told that through faith the worlds were framed

FAITH. COURSE OF LIFE. 141

by the Word of God;* and through faith the
saints in all ages of the world have been able to
perform the works already set down to their
credit.

Another result flows from these experiences —
these sufferings, trials and sacrifices of the saints.
They bring to the faithful who endure them the
assurance — nay, the knowledge of their acceptance
with God. This knowledge occupies an important
place in religion, for it is through that knowledge
and through that alone, that men will be able to
endure the trials that ever have and ever will,
in a state of probation, beset the pathway of
candidates for the celestial kingdom of God.
"Such was and ever will be the situation of the
saints of God, that unless they have an actual
knowledge that the course they are pursuing is
according to the will of God, they will grow
weary in their minds, and faint; for such has
been, and always will be the opposition in the
hearts of unbelievers and those that know not
God, against the pure and unadulterated religion
of heaven (the only thing which insures eternal
life), that they will persecute to the uttermost all
that worship God according to his revelations,
receive the truth in the love of it, and submit
themselves to be guided and directed by his will;
and drive them to such extremities, that nothing
short of an actual knowledge of their being the

*Heb xi: 3.

142 THE GOSPEL.

favorites of heaven, and of their having embraced
that order of things which God has established
for the redemption of man, will enable them to
exercise that confidence in him, necessary for
them to overcome the world, and obtain that
crown of glory which is laid up for them that
fear God." *******

"For unless a person does know that he is
walking according to the will of God, it would
be offering an insult to the dignity of the Creator,
were he to say, that he would be a partaker of
his glory when he should be done with the things
of this life. But when he has this knowledge,
and most assuredly knows that he is doing the
will of God, his confidence can be equally strong
that he will be a partaker of the glory of God."

"Let us here observe, that a religion that does
not require the sacrifice of all things, never has
power sufficient to produce the faith necessary
unto life and salvation; for, from the first exist-
ence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoy-
ment of life and salvation never could be obtained
without the sacrifice of all earthly things. It was
through this sacrifice, and this only, that God
has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life;
and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of
all earthly things, that men do actually know that
they are doing the things that are well pleasing
in the sight of God. When a man has offered in
sacrifice all that he has for the truth's sake, not
even withholding his life, and believing before

FAITH. COURSE OF LIFE. 143

God that he has been called to make this sacrifice
because he seeks to do his will, he does know,
most assuredly, that God does and will accept
his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not,
nor will not, seek his face in vain. Under these
circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith
necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life. "

"It is in vain for persons to fancy to themselves
that they are heirs with those, or can be heirs
with them, who have offered their all in sacrifice,
and by this means obtained faith in God and
favor with him, so as to obtain eternal life, unless
they, in like manner, offer unto him the same
sacrifice, and through that offering, obtain the
knowledge that they are accepted of him.
* * * From the days of righteous Abel to the
present time, the knowledge that men have that
they are accepted in the sight of God, is obtained
by offering sacrifice. And in the last days, before
the Lord comes, he is to gather together his
saints who have made a covenant with him, by
sacrifice: 'Our God shall come, and shall not
keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and
it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
He shall call to the heavens from above, and to
the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather
my saints together unto me; those that have
made a covenant with me by sacrifice.'"*

"Those, then, who make the sacrifice, will have

* Psalms i ; 3-5.

144 THE GOSPEL.

the testimony that their course is pleasing in the
sight of God; and those who have this testimony
will have faith to lay hold on eternal life, and
will be enabled, through faith, to endure unto the
end, and receive the crown that is laid up for
them that love the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ. But those who do not make the sacrifice
cannot enjoy this faith, because men are de-
pendent upon this sacrifice in order to obtain this
faith; therefore they cannot lay hold upon eternal
life, because the revelations of God do not
guarantee unto them the authority so to do, and
without this guarantee faith could not exist."

"All the saints of whom we have any account,
in all the revelations of God which are extant,
obtained the knowledge which they had of their
acceptance in his sight through the sacrifice
which they offered unto him; and through the
knowledge thus obtained their faith became
sufficiently strong to lay hold upon the promise
of eternal life, and to endure as seeing him who
is invisible; and were enabled, through faith, to
combat the powers of darkness, contend against
the wiles of the adversary, overcome the world,
and obtain the end of their faith, even the salva-
tion of their souls. "^

This, then, is my exposition of the grand
principle of faith: It is an assurance of the mind
of the existence or reality of things not seen, or

*Doc. and Cov., Lecture on Faith, No. VI

FAITH. COURSE OF LIFE. 145

that have not been demonstrated to any other of
the senses. It takes root in evidence, more or
less convincing to the understanding; and the
strength of the faith depends largely upon the
quality and quantity of the evidence. The more
unquestionable, the more overwhelming the evi-
dence, the more strong and immovable will be
the faith.

As a principle of religion, faith centers in God,
and bids man hope for salvation and eternal life.
I have endeavored to show in the foregoing pages
that in order that faith may be intelligently
exercised in God, it is essential that there should
be a belief in his existence, and correct ideas as
to his character. I trust that the evidences
pointed out as to the fact that he exists have been
sufficient to produce that, belief; and that the
testimonies adduced have been of a character to
fix in the mind of the reader a just estimate of
his character. If that has been accomplished,
then I feel assured that a faith has been estab-
lished in the mind that will lead to repentance, to
an effort to yield obedience to the laws of heaven.
That effort persevered in will, in time, bring the
consciousness that the course of life being pur-
sued is in accordance with the will of heaven,
and by a union of these three elements, that is,
a belief in the existence of God, a correct con-
ception of his character, and a knowledge that the
course of life pursued is approved of him — will
render faith perfect, will constitute it a principle

146 THE GOSPEL.

of power, the incentive to all action — as really it
is, whether in temporal or spiritual things — lead-
ing from one degree of knowledge or excellence
to another, from righteousness to righteousness,
until the heavens will be opened to them and
they will hold communion with the Church of the
First Born, with Jesus Christ, and with God the
Father, and thus will they make their calling
and election sure — through faith ripening into
knowledge.

CHAPTER XVII.

REPENTANCE.

AN saying that the first result of belief in God,
y and in the revelations which he has given is
repentance, I shall raise no controversy, for it is
a truth generally accepted; indeed it follows faith
in logical sequence. No sooner does conviction
of God's existence, and of the truth of the reve-
lations which he has given of himself, and of his
laws, dawn upon the mind, than man becomes
conscious of his being a violator of the holy and
just laws of heaven. In the days of his unbelief
and spiritual darkness he sinned recklessly and
wantonly, without regard to God and often in
defiance of him; but when belief takes hold of
the mind, and when mere belief begins to ripen
into intelligent faith through becoming acquainted
with the character of the Deity — when it be-

REPENTANCE. 147

comes clear to the understanding that he is the
creative and sustaining power of all things;
when it is understood that from him man derives
his existence and that in him he lives, and
moves and has his being; and when it is
further known that his laws are beneficent and
good, shaped for the purpose of ennobling
man and exalting him; when some revelation of
the great love of God and his Son Jesus Christ
rushes in upon the mind like a flood of heaventy
light into darkness — how the haughty, rebellious
spirit is humbled, the heart softened, and the
whole demeanor changed! With what contrition
does the man, truly convinced of all these things
we have enumerated respecting the Deity, seek
the throne of grace and cry aloud: "O God'
Have mercy upon me a sinner!" For almost at
the same moment that faith took hold of him, he
began to understand how great his sins were
before God. And that realization grows upon
him as conviction, becomes more certain, until
the spirit is bowed down with sorrow because of
his many violations of the laws of righteousness.
Nor do these remarks apply only to those who
have been enormously wicked. Take those of a
naturally good disposition, and who have followed
the light of reason, and even they, in taking a
retrospective view of their lives, will find that
they have fallen far short of coming up to what
they conceived to be their duty. Even the light
they possessed — I mean aside from the revela-

148 THE GOSPEL.

tions of God — revealed to them a higher moral
excellence than they have attained. They have
not done as well as they could have done. This
fact is evident — one of which all may give wit-
ness. This being true, that is, man seeing that
he has come short of doing his whole duty
according to his natural conceptions of what that
duty is, how much more distant from the goal of
desired excellence will he esteem himself when
the light of revelation breaks in upon his life,
bringing into bolder relief his mistakes, and
revealing to him a purer moral and spiritual life
than it was possible for his mind, unaided by
revelation, to conceive? I venture the assertion
that even the best men — by that I mean those
who have best conformed their lives to the rules
of conduct dictated by reason— will be ready to
say with the apostle, 'All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God."

Hence they, as well as those guilty of more
flagrant sins, will, as faith takes possession of
their minds, be brought to repentance through its
influence, and be led to seek forgiveness of their
sins, and reconciliation with God.

That repentance is the first result growing out
of faith in God and the Gospel, is abundantly
proven from the scriptures. The multitude that
assembled on the day of Pentecost, and listened
to the remarks of the apostles, and even heard
them speak in tongues, by the power of the Holy
Ghost, were ready to scoff at those things, and

REPENTANCE. 149

even went so far as to say that these men were
drunken with new wine; but when Peter arose
and reasoned with them from the scriptures,
proving from the law and the prophets that Jesus,
whom the Jews had slain, was both Lord and
Christ, his words and testimony were accom-
panied by so much of the power of God, that
conviction took hold of the people, and, as with
one voice, they cried, "Men and brethren, what
shall we do?" In this instance, then, the first
fruits of that faith which had been created in the
minds of this people, was a desire to know what
they were to do; and the first words that the
inspired apostle said in reply were, "Repent,
every one of you."*

Paul, of Tarsus, afterwards the great apostle
to the Gentiles, at first persecuted the disciples
of Jesus, casting both men and women into
prison for what he considered their blasphemous
faith. And when Stephen was martyred, Paul
stood by and held the clothes of those who did
the ghastly, cruel deed. He appears to have
been proud of and zealous in the prosecution of
this work of opposition; but when the Lord
appeared to him on the way to Damascus, and
announced himself as Jesus whom he persecuted,
the ambitious, arrogant Paul was immediately
humbled to the dust, and in tremulous accents
he inquired, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me

* Acts li.

150 THE GOSPEL.

to do?"* How deep the sorrow, how sincere the
repentance was which began in the very moment
of his learning the fact that Jesus was the Lord,
is witnessed by his life of zealous labors and his
suffering in the interest of the kingdom of
Messiah.

The Book of Mormon also furnishes a number
of examples of like character. When a church
was established among the Nephites, in the reign
of good King Mosiah, about 100 B. C. , the work
of God was bitterly opposed, derided and perse-
cuted by the sons of King Mosiah, and especially
by Alma, one of the sons of the first Alma, and a
man of great influence and consummate eloquence.
Paul-like, these men went about doing all the
mischief to the people of God within their power;
but at last an angel of the Lord appeared to
them, to bring them to a knowledge of the truth,
and this occurred in answer to the fervent prayers
of their parents. The glory of God shone about
the angel, and his voice shook the earth. Alma
was smitten dumb for a season, and had to be
carried to the presence of his father; and when
his speech returned to him, the eloquent scoffer
of a few days before, was as humble as a child,
and as penitent and submissive as it is possible
for man to be. He repented of all his former
sins, and throughout the remainder of his event-

Acts ix.

REPENTANCE. 151

ful life, was a zealous missionary and a faithful
witness for God.*

Similar in point, too, is the case of Zeezrom,
the lawyer, who withstood, for a time, the teach-
ings of Alma and Amulek, but was brought to
faith and repentance through the manifestation
of the power of God.f Enough, however, has
been said in relation to a fact that in the very
nature of things is largely self-evident; and
surely after the illustration it has received, will
not now be questioned; that is, that repentance is
the first result growing out of faith in God and
in revelation; and therefore it is the subject that,
according to the natural order of things, must
now receive our attention.

CHAPTER XVIII.

REPENTANCE.

foMETHING of the importance of the subject
of repentance, as connected with the Gospel,
may be learned from the stress laid upon it by
those who have been sent of God to instruct the
people in the ways of life. The burden of John
the Baptist's teaching was, "Repent ye, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand."J Jesus also told
the people of Jerusalem, that except they

* The history of this case is in the Book of Mosiah, Book of
Mormon, ch. xxvii. f See Book of Alma, xi-xvi. J Matt, iii : 2.

152 THE GOSPEL.

repented, they should perish.* When upon the
Western hemisphere, among the Nephites, he
also taught repentance as one of the conditions
of salvation, saying to them, "Whosoever will
hearken to my words, and repenteth and is
baptized, the same shall be saved, "f And of
course it follows that those who repented not,
and were not baptized, could not be saved.

When the apostles, that were chosen in Judea,
began the execution of the commission given
them, viz., to go and teach all nations, the very
first thing they required the people who received
their words to do was that the should repent. J
Paul bears witness, that though in the days of
ignorance God winked at sins, when the Gospel
was declared unto the people, he commanded men
everywhere to repent. And in this last dispensa-
tion, the Lord inspired his servant Joseph Smith
to say, "We know that all men must repent, and
believe on the name of Jesus Christ, * * *
or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God. "§

From these scriptures it is evident that repent-
ance is one of the conditions of salvation, and,
indeed, reason, no less forcibly than revelation,
would teach us that it is one of the conditions on
which salvation is predicated. It must forever
precede a forgiveness of sins. He who is
impenitent is in no condition to receive a for-

* Luke xiii : 1-5. t HI. Nephi xxiii : 5. + Luke xiii: 1-5. \ Doc.
and Cov., sec. xx : 29.

REPENTANCE.

153

giveness of sins; he does not desire it; he would
not receive it; he refuses to surrender, and how-
ever much men and angels may deplore his state
of mind, one cannot conceive how God would
forgive anyone in open rebellion to him and his
laws, and who persists in that rebellion. Not
until the spirit is humbled, not until the heart
throbs with genuine sorrow for repeated viola-
tion of God's holy laws, not until the citadel of
sin is surrendered, can man hope for forgiveness,
or expect salvation.

But what is repentance? I shall venture as a
definition this, Repentance is a deep and heartfelt
sorrow for sin, producing a reformation of life.
That is the significance of the word to my mind
as associated with the Gospel; and I think such
a definition arises from the spirit, and, I may
say, the letter of the scriptures.

"Repent, and turn yourselves from your trans-
gressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Cast away from you all your transgressions,
whereby you have transgressed; and make you a
new heart and a new spirit, for why will ye die,
O house of Israel?"*

Such was the word of the Lord to Israel
through the prophet Ezekiel. I call the attention
of the reader to the fact, that the idea of turning
away from transgressions, and making a new heart
and a new spirit, or in other word, a reformation

*Ezek. xviii : 30, 31.

154 THE GOSPEL.

of life, is associated with the commandment to
repent, and forms part of it.

Paul wrote an epistle to the Corinthian saints,
reproving them for their sins, and his sharp
reproofs filled them with sorrow. In a subse-
quent epistle to the same people, and alluding to
the effect of his former epistle, he said: "Though
I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent.
* * * I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry,
but that you sorrowed unto repentance; for ye
were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye
might receive damage by us in nothing. For
godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation
not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the
world worketh death."*

From this passage it appears that Paul recog-
nized two kinds of sorrow, or repentance, one of
which has need to be repented of, because
unfruitful of reformation, and therefore not
profitable in the way of salvation — the sorrow of
the world which worketh death. On the other
hand is godly sorrow, or repentance which bring-
eth salvation, known to both men and angels,
aye, and likewise to God, by the fruit it bears —
good works — forsaking evil, producing a reforma-
tion of life. It leads one who stole to steal no
more; one in the habit of getting drunk, to get
drunk no more; one who blasphemed the name of
God to do so no more; and so on as to all things

II. Cor. vii : 8-10.

REPENTANCE. 155

in which man violates the sacred principles of
righteousness. It is written in James: "Submit
yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil
and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God
and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your
hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye
double minded. Be afflicted and mourn, and
weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning,
and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves
in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you
up."*

Because of the stress here laid upon the neces-
sity of humility, and the people being com-
manded to mourn and weep, to let their laughter
be turned to mourning, and their joy to heavi-
ness, some religious teachers (like the Pharisees
and scribes of old who tithed mint and anise and
cummin, but omitted the weightier matters of the
law, judgment, mercy and faith) give so much
attention to weeping, mourning and crying aloud,
in order to appear to be afflicted, that they have
overlooked the weightier matters — cleansing their
hands, purifying their hearts, resisting the devil
and drawing nigh unto God. These ought they
to do, and not leave the other — the weeping and
mourning, inasmuch as it arises from a deep and
heartfelt conviction of sinfulness — undone.

But at present there is too much ot what Paul
would call "worldly sorrow" mixed up with the

* James iv: 7-10.

156 THE GOSPEL.

idea of repentance. Too much mourning over sin,
yet running jnto temptation; an excess of lamen-
tation and not enough of turning away from evil;
in a word, the sorrow of the world, which
worketh death, is too prevalent. How weary
must be the old, old story to God and angels,
as well as to men — "we have done those things
we ought not to have done, and have left undone
those things we ought to have done!"

Then again, the sorrow of the world, the
sorrow which worketh death, is too generally
accepted for genuine repentance; the latter may
be known and distinguished from the former by
its being accompanied by a reformation of life,
a turning away from that which is evil — the kind
of repentance required in the Gospel, the only
kind that will be accepted of God, or that savors
of salvation. God, whom we esteem as a being
in whom all the fullness of perfection dwells,
must ever be more pleased with the substance of
worship, or religion, or repentance than with the
forms pertaining to it, and this is abundantly
proven by instances recorded in holy writ.

In the days of Israel's captivity in Babylon,
certain messengers from those who were captive,
Sherezer and Regem-melech and their men, went
up to Jerusalem to inquire of the prophets and
priests of the Lord if Israel while in captivity
should keep the fast of the fifth month, and
weep, separating themselves as they had hitherto
done. In answer to these inquiries the word of

REPENTANCE. 157

the Lord came through the prophet Zechariah,
and he asks: "When ye fasted and mourned in
the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy
years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to m'e?
And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink,
did not ye eat for yourselves and drink for your-
selves? Should ye not hear the words which the
Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when
Jerusalem was inhabited and in -prosperity, and
the cities thereof round about her, when men
inhabited the south and the plain?"

He reminds them that through the former
prophets he had commanded Israel to execute
true judgment, to show mercy and compassion
every man to his brother; to oppress not the
widow and the fatherless, the stranger nor the
poor; to let none imagine evil in his heart
against his brother. But these things they
neglected to do, and the Lord permitted their
enemies to scatter them among strange nations.

As a final answer to those messengers, how-
ever, the Lord said: "These are the things which
ye shall do: speak ye every man the truth to his
neighbor, execute the judgment of truth and
peace in your gates: and let none of you imagine
evil in your heart against his neighbor: and love
no false oath: for all these are things which I
hate, saith the Lord." And then the Lord, on
condition of their doing this, promised them that
"The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of
the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast

158 THE GOSPEL.

of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy
and gladness and cheerful feasts; therefore love
the truth and peace."*

Surety, after the spirit of this circumstance is
carefully considered, it will be admitted that I
am right in my statement, that God is more
pleased with the substance of repentance, than
with the weeping and mourning attendant upon
it; more satisfied with the reformation of the
sinner, than with his affliction.

Then, how reasonable and righteous is this law
of repentance! When one guilty of violating
the laws of heaven desires forgiveness, the very
least thing that can be expected of him is that he
will refrain from doing again those things which
constituted his offense, and form an honest
resolution to refrain from evil.

Moreover, repentance is chiefly beneficial to the
person who practices it. The commandment
from God to repent — always given in connection
with the declaration of the Gospel — is really
nothing more than an invitation to do one's self
a kindness. It can only be an abomination to
fools to depart from evil. It is written, also,
that "Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin
is a reproach to any people, "f And as it is
with a nation, so it is with individuals.

Again, the voice of inspiration says: "As
righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth

* Zech., chapters vii and viii. f Proverbs of Solomon.

REPENTANCE. — HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION. 159

evil, pursueth it to his own death. " To repent,
then, means to turn aside from the path which
leads to death, and choose that which leads to life
—to life eternal. And while the angels in
heaven may rejoice over one who turns from the
error of his way; yet, the chief good arising from
the reformation of the sinner, is reaped by
himself.

Since God, then, in this matter of repentance
seeks only the good of those of whom the require-
ment is made, "Let the wicked forsake his
wicked way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts; and let him turn unto the Lord, and
he will have mercy upon him; and to our God
for he will abundantly pardon."*

CHAPTER XIX.

REPENTANCE. - HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION.

illustration of the truth of the
(£) statement made by Isaiah, with which our
last chapter closed, and which in effect says that
the Lord will have mercy on the penitent sinner
and abundantly pardon him — would be easy,
whether in the experience of individuals or of
peoples and nations.

When Cain was crest-fallen because the offer-
ings of his more righteous brother were accepted,

* Isaiah IV: 7.

160 THE GOSPEL.

while his own half-hearted and begrudgingly-
tendered offerings were rejected, the Lord said
to him, "Cain, why art thou wroth? and why is
thy countenance fallen.'' If thou doest well, shalt
thou not be accepted?"* So it would seem that
the Lord was just as ready to receive Cain as he
was Abel, if the former would only repent.

In my first chapter on repentance (chapter
xvii), I referred to the case of Paul's conversion,
and I only name it again in order to call the
reader's attention to the readiness with which
the Lord forgave him fully, and made him an
honored servant in his church on his turning
away from his sins. In the same chapter refer-
ence is also made to the case of Zeezrom, the
lawyer, to Alma, the son of the first Alma, and
to the sons of Mosiah his companions, all of
whom, like Paul, were among the chief of sinners,
because they persecuted the Church of God; but
on their sincere repentance, as in Paul's case,
the Lord freely and abundantly pardoned them.
Among the remarkable characters of old, per-
haps none are more interesting than the person
known in the Book of Ether as the brother of
Jared.f He is the prophet whom God chose to
lead away a colony from the great tower, built
shortly after the flood, to the choice land of
America. After this colony had been led from
the tower into the wilderness, they pitched their

* Gen. iv: 6, 7. f See Book of Mormon.

REPENTANCE. — HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION. 161

tents in a land they called Moriancumer, by the
sea-side; and here they dwelt for four years.

During this season of rest and peace they for-
got their God, and neglected to call upon him.
It seems, too, that the brother of Jared was guilty
of this thing, as well as his brethren. At last
the Lord appeared to the brother of Jared in a
cloud, and reproved him for his neglect, and for
the space of about three hours he chastened him
for his sins. "And the brother of Jared repented
of the evil which he had done, and did call upon
the name of the Lord for his brethren who were
with him. And the Lord said unto him, I forgive
thee and thy brethren of their sins; but thou shalt
not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my
spirit will not always strive with man; wherefore,
if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe, ye shall
be cut off from the presence of the Lord."* Note
how readily the Lord forgave as soon as the
transgressors repented!

Time would fail me to tell of Laman and
Lemuel, the elder brothers of Nephi, who so fre-
quently were in rebellion against God, and their
younger brother, whom the Lord had chosen to
be a leader and a prophet unto them. How
often they assaulted his person, bound him with
cords, scorned his teachings, rejected his warn-
ings and trampled the message of God under
their feet! Yet as often as they repented both

* Book of Ether, in Book of Mormon, ch. ii.

162 THE GOSPEL.

Nephi and the Lord forgave them, and that
freely.

The experience of these persons, and that of
many others related in holy writ, is surely suffi-
cient to prove the willingness of God to forgive.
Yet, take one more evidence of it, not from per-
sonal experience, however, but from the spirit of
the teachings of the Son of God. On a certain
occasion the apostle Peter came to Jesus and
said: "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
against me, and I forgive him; till seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until
seven times: but until seventy times seven. '*

Since the Lord requires so much mercy, such a
generous spirit of forgiveness in his children,
may it not be reasonably concluded — inasmuch
as every noble quality that man possesses, is, in
Deity, enlarged and perfected — that God is
infinitely more forgiving than he has commanded
his children to be? Such a conclusion, it seems
to me, is but reasonable; and, indeed, it is need-
ful that such an idea respecting the character of
God, should exist in the minds of men; for, as I
have remarked elsewhere, such is the weakness of
man, and the frequency of his transgressions of
God's law, that unless he knows that the Lord is
merciful, slow to anger, long-suffering, and
always ready to forgive, he would become dis-
heartened; gloomy despair would drive hope

•Matt, xviii: 21, 22.

REPENTANCE. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION. 163

from the soul; and, hope once destroyed, leaves
man a prey to all the fiends of hell. He will
then give a loose rein to every passion, and under
the whip and spur of his desperation, ride reck-
lessly to certain and everlasting destruction. He
would have no good, he would know no evil.
Lucifer-like, he would exclaim:

* * * « Whither shall I fly ?

Which way I fly is hell — myself am hell !

And in the lowest deep, a lower deep

Still, opening wider, threatens to devour me I"

But man is rescued from this gloomy prospect
by the assurance of God's longsuffering and will-
ingness to forgive; by knowing that while man
may drive compassion from his heart, God never
will. Yet stay! there is something more.
Because of the loving kindness of our Father in
heaven, as abundantly manifested in his willing-
ness to pardon our transgressions, let us not lay
the flattering unction to our souls that we can go
on sinning, carelessly and recklessly, without
making any effort to resist evil, relying, nay,
rather, presuming upon the kindness of God to
forgive. Such a course would be doing despite
to the grace of God; it would be an unmitigated
insult to the Most High; a most presumptuous
sin, deserving the severest condemnation.

The Lord is faithful to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from our transgressions,* but it is

* I. John i : 9.

164 THE GOSPEL.

on condition of our repentance, that we confess
our sins, and make a manly, determined effort to
forsake them. Therefore, while the tender
mercies of our God, and his readiness to forgive
should encourage men "to pray and not faint,"
and by that means seek forgiveness of sins, they
should also remember that it is decreed that the
Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with
man,* and that there are some sins that may not
be forgiven either in this life, or in that which is
to come.f

CHAPTER XX.

REPENTANCE. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION.

IF we turn to the history of peoples and nations
y in order to learn the lessons which their
experiences teach, we shall find that the hand-
dealings of God with them as collected bodies, as
well as the experiences of individuals, demon-
strate the same great facts of God's long-suffering
and abundant mercy, and of his willingness to
pardon on the first manifestation of sincere
repentance.

It was not until the antediluvians had become
thoroughly corrupt, not until every imagination of
the thoughts of their hearts was evil continually, |

*Gen. vi : 3. f Matt, xii : 31, 32. J Gen. vi.

REPENTANCE. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION. 165

and they rejected the teachings of Noah, and
were beyond the hope of reformation, that the
Lord sent the flood upon them and cut them off
that they might not perpetuate in their posterity
their corruption.

Next in chronological order to the antediluvians
•stands the people of Jared; and from the brief
history we have of them in the Book of Mormon,
consisting of an abridgement of the twenty-four
plates of the prophet Ether, we learn that they
were frequently in rebellion against God, and
continually straying from his precepts and ordi-
nances. Yet as often as they repented he for-
gave them; and not only that, but supplemented
that forgiveness by such periods of prosperity,
that one would think that even if they knew no
more than the dumb ass that merely knows his
master's crib, they must have been aware that it
was to their present as well as to their eternal
interests to live in obedience to the will of
heaven. Yet sin, individual and national, was
added to sin, transgressions followed close upon
the heels of each other, and secret combinations
were formed for robbery and to obtain political
power, spreading rapine, murder and terror
throughout the land, and menacing always the
security of the political fabric.

In the midst of all this the Lord labored
patiently for their reformation, sending his
servants, the prophets, to them, to teach them
the way of life and encourage them to observe

166 THE GOSPEL.

the statutes and judgments of the Lord. When
persuasion failed, then warning was given of
calamities and judgments, followed by the
chastening hand of God; but all to no purpose;
reform they would not. They killed the prophets,
and persecuted those who attempted to follow
their counsels until they filled up the cup of their
iniquity, and the Spirit of the Lord entirely
withdrew from them, and then began that series
of wars in the sixth century B. C, which finally
ended in the extermination of the entire people.*
The history of ancient Israel, as recorded in
the Bible, is very similar to this. The Lord took
them from the bondage of Egypt, to sanctify
them a people unto himself. He gave them
Moses and Aaron and other wise, faithful men to
be their teachers, and led them from the dominion
of Egypt towards a choice land, their journey
being attended by such displays of God's glory
and power as are seldom witnessed by the inhabi-
tants of the earth. The Gospel of the Son of
God was first presented to them, but when they
would not abide its requirements, the law of
Moses, a less excellent law, was given to be their
school-master to bring them to Christ, f And
when they complained against the free constitu-
tion that had been given them, and would no
longer sustain the judges whom the Lord raised
up to be their leaders, he gave them a kingdom

* See the Book of Ether, Book of Mormon, for their history.
iii; Heb. iv.

REPENTANCE. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION. 167

according to their desires,* but warned them of
the bondage to which it was liable to lead.

The consequences of obedience to the laws
which the Lord gave them through Moses, even
before the death of that great leader, were
plainly set before them; and surely the advan-
tages that are there set forth, leave nothing to be
desired, no matter how ambitious of place,
power, honor, wealth, glory and dominion a
nation might be. And, on the other hand, in
case of their forsaking their God and his laws,
the judgments, calamities, distress, wars, famines,
pestilences, dishonor and destruction that follow,
as a consequence of their apostasy from God, are
drawn with such vividness, even down to the
minutest detail, that had these things been
written after they came to pass — after the threat-
ened judgments were visited upon Israel, and
especially upon Judah — in a word, if they had
been written as history instead of prophecy —
they could scarcely be more circumstantial than
the prophetic words of Moses, f

But notwithstanding all these promises of favor
and blessing on the one hand, and the forewarn-
ings of calamity on the other, Israel rebelled
against God, wholly rejected him, and trampled
upon his counsels: The generous instructions
of the teachers whom the Lord raised up to
instruct them in the things of righteousness and

* J. Sam. viii. f See Deuteronomy xxviij.

168 THE GOSPEL.

true government, were unheeded. They killed
the force and spirit of the law of Moses by their
vain traditions. The warnings of the prophets
were unheeded, and the prophets themselves
were stoned and murdered. The earnest appeals
of Lehi, the sharp reproofs of Ezekiel, the
prophetic pleadings of Jeremiah as well- as the
poetic fire and more splendid prophecies of
Isaiah could do no more than to bring them to
a partial repentance.

These means of correction failing, there was
occasional chastisement administered in wars,
partial famines and seasons of captivity, to
remind them that justice was not dead, though at
times it appeared to sleep, and as a foretaste of
the terrible wrath which would overtake them if
they persisted in their rebellion and wickedness.
But all this was of no avail. Neither the instruc-
tions of wise teachers, nor reproofs of special
messengers from God were sufficient to bring
them to repentance: Neither moving eloquence,
nor prophetic warnings, nor inspired portrayals
of certain calamities could soften their obdurate
hearts. Even chastisement failed to produce any
permanent reformation.

Finally, the Son of God came among them;
but him they rejected, accused and condemned
of blasphemy, before their senate, and sentenced
him who did no sin to death; led him before
Pontius Pilate, the Roman judge, and, under
the pressure of popular clamor, compelled that

REPENTANCE. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION. 169

functionary of the Roman government, against
the sense of his better judgment, to sign the
warrant for his death; and then, amid the cry
of "Let his blood be upon us and our children,"
led him away to his crucifixion.

The climax of their apostasy and rebellion had
now been reached. Nothing more to their
damnation could they add. They had sowed the
wind, they must now reap the whirlwind. So
they have. The full fury of outraged justice and
righteousness broke upon them with a force that
was irresistible. The Romans under Titus
besieged their city, Jerusalem, and successfully
cut off all supplies of food or assistance from
the surrounding country. To the horrors of war
waged by the Romans was added that of civil
conflict within the walls of the city, more fruitful
in calamity and cruelty than the actual conflict
with the Roman soldiery. As if of distress there
was not already enough, famine preyed upon
them, and a million people perished from linger-
ing starvation. If men were brutal, women
became fiendish, and fed upon the flesh of their
own offspring.*

* An incident of this kind is thus related by Josephus : " There
was a certain woman who dwelt beyond Jordan ; her name was
Mary, her father was Eleazar, of the village of Bethezob, which
signifies the house of Hyssop. She was eminent for her family and
her wealth, and had fled away to Jerusalem with the rest of the
multitude, and was with them besieged therein at this time. The
7

170 THE GOSPEL.

other effects of this woman, had been already seized upon, such, I
mean, as she had orought with her out of Persia, and removed to
the city. What she had treasured up besides, as also what food she
contrived to save, had also been carried off by the rapacious guards,
who came every day, running into her house for that purpose. This
put the poor woman into a very great pas.-ion, and, by the frequent
reproaches and imprecations, she cast at these rapacious villains, she
had provoked them to anger against her ; but none of them — either
out of the indignation she bad raised against herself, or out of con-
sideration for her case — would take away her life : and, if she found
any food, she perceived her labors were for others, and not for her-
self, and it was now become impossible for her anyway, to find any
more food, while the famine pierced through her very bowels and
marrow, when also her passions were fired to a degree beyond the
famine itself; nor did she consult with anything, but with her
passions and the necessity she was in. She then attempted a most
unnatural thing — and snatching up her son, who was a child,
sucking at her breast, she said, ' 0, thou miserable infant! for whom
shall I preserve thee in this war, this famine, and this sedition? As
to the war with the Romans, if they preserve our lives, we must be
slaves. This famine also will destroy us even before that slavery
comes upon us. Yet are these seditious roguee more terrible than
the other. Come on ; be thou my food, and be thou a fury to these
seditious varlets, and a by-word to the world, which is all that is
now wanting to complete the calamities of the Jews.' As soon as
she had said this, she slew her son, and then roasted him, and ate
the one-half of him, and kept the other half by her, concealed.
Upon this the seditious came in, presently j and, smelling the horrid
scent of this food, they threatened her, that they would cut her
throat immediately if she did not show them what food she had
gotten ready. She replied that she had ' saved a very fine portion
for them;' and, wiihal, uncovered what was left of her son. Here-
upon they were seized with a horror and amazement of mind, and
stood astonished at the sight, when she said to them : ' Come eat of this
food for I have eaten of it myself. Do not you pretend to be either
more tender than a woman, or more compassionate than a mother ;
but if you be so scrupulous and do abominate this my sacrifice, as I
have eaten the one half, let the rest be preserved for me also.'
After which those men went out trembling, being never so much

REPENTANCE. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION. 171

At last the Romans forced an entrance into the
city, and they with sword and flame were per-
mitted to complete the ruin so well nigh accom-
plished by the Jews themselves. The beautiful
temple was thrown down so that not one stone
was left upon another which had not been thrown
down. This was done by the Roman soldiery in
their mad search for gold. Jerusalem was laid
waste and desolate. Hundreds of thousands of
her people were put to death, and the remainder
of them taken into captivity, or driven into exile.

From that time until now, for more than
eighteen centuries, they have remained a broken,
scattered people; despised, hated, distrusted,
unfriended, oppressed; a hiss and a by-word in
every land where they have sought a home.
They have learned by a sad experience that it is
a terrible thing to reject the tender mercies of
God, and fall under his displeasure.

Turning again to the Western hemisphere, we

affrighted at anything as they had been at this, and with some
difficulty they left the rest of that meat to the mother. Upon
which the whole city was full of this horrid action immediately ;
and while everybody laid this miserable case before their own eyes,
they trembled, as if this unheard of action had been done by them-
selves. So, that those that were thus distressed by the famine, were
very desirous to die ; and those who were already dead were
esteemed happy, because they had not lived long enough, either to
hear or to see such miseries." (Wars of the Jews; Josephus, Book
VI: chapter iii.)

I advise my readers to compare this incident and other calamities
—described by Josephus in these " Wars of the Jews"— with the
prophecies which foretold these evils, found in Deuteronomy, xxviii.

172 THE GOSPEL.

have the experience of Israel in the East dupli-
cated in that of the Nephites and Lamanites;
the same lesson is taught by their experience,
viz., that it is a fearful thing to rebel against
God, and reject and fight against his truth. The
half-naked American savage, with the desolation
that surround him in a splendid land (I mean at
the time it was discovered by the Europeans)
and filled as it is with the ruins that testify to
the grandeur of his departed glory, is a warning
of deep significance to the nations now in the
zenith of their power, not to follow in his foot-
steps and reject the counsels of God against
themselves.

What shall I say of the cities of Tyre and
Sidon, of Nineveh with her hundred gates; of
Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of
the Chaldees excellence," with her mighty walls,
her strong gates and towers, her palatial resi-
dences, her magnificent temples, her hanging
gardens, the wonder and admiration of all who
beheld them! Where are all these? Crumbled
into shapeless heaps of ruins that are scarcely
sufficient to show where they once stood — noth-
ing left of them but their names. Where,
too, are the grand empires of Assyria and Baby-
lon, of Egypt and Persia, of Macedonia and
Greece? and, lastly, where is Rome, the most
stupendous political fabric yet constructed by the
wit of man — where are all these? Where is their
strength, their glory, their .pride — nay, I ask

REPENTANCE. HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATION. 178

more, where are the principles that formed the
basis of their constitutions, the ideas by which
they were governed — principles which they
expected would forever perpetuate their institu-
tions— where are all these things, as well as the
empires themselves? Like the gorgeous temples,
and cloud-capped towers of the cities we have
named, they have dissolved into thin air, like the
baseless fabric of an empty vision. Look at
your maps of today, and you shall find no line or
trace of them, not even of the boundaries which
once marked the extent of their dominion. All
is lost except their names and their history. As
in the sight of God the mountains are as unsta-
ble and transient as the clouds, so nations rise
and pass away. But seek out the causes of their
dissolution, look well into it, and you will find
that these nations no less than the children of
Israel, both Jews and Nephites, were guilty of
violating righteous principles, as they understood
them, of refusing to repent, and of rejecting the
counsels of God, and fighting against his truth.
They were guilty of oppression, pride, licentious-
ness; they tyrannized over the meek and lowly;
they wrung from the hands of the poor the wealth
their labor created, that they might consume it
upon their lusts. These abominations were the
causes of their overthrow, and as one reviews the
rise and fall of great kingdoms, republics, and
splendid empires, he concludes that Byron might
well say —

174 THE GOSPEL.

There is the moral of all human tales;

"Pis but the same rehearsal of the past ;
First freedom, and then glory — when that fails,

Wealth, vice, corruption — barbarism at last : •
And history with all her volumes vast

Hath buttone page !

What lessons are here spread out for the read-
ing of the nations today! True, they might be
offended if one should tell them that there was
danger threatening them for their wickedness, for
they esteem themselves righteous; so did the
people of the ancient cities and kingdoms I have
named. It might be held treasonable, to say
that the present governments, which encumber
the earth, will pass away like the others have —
like the chaff of the summer's threshing floor — for
they think they have laid the foundation of their
respective political fabrics on so sure a basis,
that they will be perpetuated forever. So thought
the Babylonians, the Greeks, and especially the
Romans;, but they have passed away, and have
left nothing behind them, but their names and
the lessons which their follies and crimes teach.

But I fear you have forgotten in this long
digression the subject in hand — repentance. Of
the things I would have you remember, this is
the sum: True repentance is sincere sorrow for
sin, accompanied by a firm resolution to forsake
that which is evil. The legitimate fruits of such
sorrow — repentance, is a reformation of life.
And if, peradventure, through weakness of human

BAPTISM. 175

nature one should fall into transgression, even
after setting his heart to work righteousness, let
him not be discouraged, but repeat his repent-
ance, and I believe the experiences I have
pointed out in these pages, both individual and
national, demonstrate that God is good, and
"goodness still delighteth to forgive." He is
merciful and willing to pardon abundantly those
who are sorry for their offenses, and will make a
manly effort to reform. But on the other hand,
those who mock him, and presumptuously sin,
thinking to impose upon his long-suffering, have
need to fear, both persons and nations, for all
history teaches that it is a fearful thing to fall
under the displeasure of the Most High.

CHAPTER XXI.

BAPTISM.

i 4 ^XCEPT a man be born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God."* Such was the
statement of Jesus to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and
a ruler of the Jews, who came to Jesus by night
to be taught of him. The statement of the Son
of God created no little astonishment in the mind
of Nicodemus, and he inquired if a man could be
born again when he was old; could he enter a
second time into his mother's womb and be

*John iii: 3.

176 THE GOSPEL.

born. Jesus then gave an answer which was
explanatory of his first statement: "Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit he can-
not enter into the kingdom of God."*

There can be no question about being "born of
water, " here alluded to, having reference to water
baptism administered to those who accept the
Gospel, and which, as administered for the first
three centuries of the Christian era, represented,
most completely, a birth. The candidate for
baptism being led down into the water, had his
whole person immersed in it, then he was
brought forth from that element, and gasped
again the breath of life. In order that the
resemblance of a birth in this may be clearly
seen, I would remind my readers that the infant,
previous to its birth, and while in its mother's
womb, lives in the element of water, and is
nourished by the generous tide of life which
courses through her veins and visits her heart.
At birth, that life which was connected with the
mother is severed, the offspring comes forth from
the womb, from the element of water, and
breathes the air, which then becomes essential to
its existence — it is born into this world. The
likeness, in a general way, between this natural
birth and Christian baptism, as described above,
is sufficiently obvious. In both instances the
persons are brought from one element into

* John iii : 5.

BAPTISM. 177

another, from the water in which they existed
into the atmosphere.

Many and various have been the views held
respecting this ordinance, as to its necessity, its
object, to whom it should be administered, and
the manner in which it should be performed.
Differences of opinion on this subject have led
to schisms in the Christian world, and new sects
have been formed, and that because of peculiar
views held in respect to baptism. But with those
who are willing to take as authority absolute,
the teachings of revelation as contained in the
Bible, and more especially the revelations of the
Lord in these days, there need be no confusion
in relation to any of these questions that have
perplexed men in regard to this ordinance.

The necessity of water baptism may be main-
tained upon the broad grounds that it is a com-
mandment from God; for, as I have already
shown in preceding chapters, the conditions of
man's salvation may be summed up, in general
terms, thus — the implicit and complete obedience
to the commandments of God; and, as it can be
proven that baptism is a general commandment
to all who would be saved, therefore it follows
that baptism must be one of the things necessary
to salvation.

That baptism is a general commandment all
may learn who will take the trouble to make
inquiry in respect to it. John the Baptist
informs us that God sent him to baptize with

178 THE GOSPEL.

water and to testify of him who was to come
after him, and who was to baptize with the Holy
Ghost;* and those who refused to hearken to his
teachings and to be baptized of him "rejected
the counsels of God against themselves, "f

Jesus, himself, also, had those baptized who
accepted his teachings; and, indeed, soon after
he began his public ministry, it was commonly
reported that he made and baptized more dis-
ciples than John, | and when he gave his last
great commission to his apostles, just on the eve
of his departure from them, he said:

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, bap-
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have com-
manded you. "§

When the apostles began the execution of this
commission, which was during the first pentecost
after it was given them, Peter commanded those
who had been converted through his teachings,
to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of their sins, and then he promised
them the Holy Ghost. || Thus we see there can
be no question as to baptism being a general
commandment, and one of the conditions of
man's salvation, and that being true, how can
that condition be neglected and still the blessing
of salvation obtained?

* John i: 33. f Luke vii : 30- J John iv: 1,2. §Matt. xxviii :
19, 20. || Acts ii : 37, 38.

BAPTISM. 179

I may say further, by way of argument on the
necessity of baptism, that one may reasonably
conclude that the Lord does not deal with non-
essentials, or require that which is not necessary
of his children; therefore from the fact that God
has commanded men to be born again, as well of
water as of the Spirit; in other words, to be
baptized of both water and the Spirit, it may be
taken for granted that this baptism is essential
to salvation. To question it being necessary, to
say nothing of thrusting it aside as non-essential,
is to sit in judgment upon the wisdom of God,
who has ordained it as a means of salvation to
man.

Is it necessary to be born naturally in order to
obtain life? All will answer: "Yes, we know of
no other way, no other means by which life is
obtained." So likewise is it necessary that men
should be born into the heavenly kingdom, as
well of water as of the Spirit, in order to attain
unto spiritual life in the kingdom of God; and
without being born of the water and of the Spirit,
Jesus himself declares that the kingdom of God
cannot be seen, it cannot be entered into — *
therefore baptism must be necessary to an
entrance into the kingdom of God; and as there
is, and can be, no salvation outside of that king-
dom, baptism must be necessary to salvation.
Not that there is saving virtue in the water itself,

* John iii : 3, 5.

180 THE GOSPEL.

but the ordinance derives its virtue from the
fact of its being appointed by the Lord as a
means of grace to man.

Again, I would ask, is a forgiveness of sins
necessary to salvation? I think there can be but
one answer to that question, and that in the
affirmative. Now, we are informed by both
Mark and Luke that John the Baptist "Did
baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism
of repentance for the remission of sins;" and
Peter commanded the multitude on Pentecost to
"repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins;"* hence it
appears that baptism is the means appointed
through which forgiveness of sins is obtained,
and since it is evident that men cannot be saved
in their sins, and remission of sins comes
through baptism, therefore baptism is necessary
to salvation.

The necessity of baptism is further demon-
strated in the experience of Paul and the devout
Gentile, Cornelius, as related in the Acts of the
Apostles. It will be remembered that Paul, at
first, was a great persecutor of the saints, and
that, while on the way to Damascus for the
purpose of persecuting them, the Lord Jesus
appeared unto him, in a pillar of light, above
the brightness of the sun, and demanded of

•Actsii: 38.

BAPTISM. 181

Paul, "why persecutest thou me?" To which
the trembling Paul said, "who art thou, Lord?"

"I am Jesus whom thou persecutest," was the
reply. " Lord," said Paul, "what will thou
have me to do?" "And the Lord said unto him,
arise and go into the city, and it shall be told
thee what thou must do. "

Then the Lord sent an angel to his servant,
Ananias, living in Damascus, and directed him
to go to Paul; and when Ananias came into the
presence of Paul, after announcing to him that
the Lord had chosen him for a witness for him-
self, he said: "And now, why tarriest thou? arise
and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling
on the name of the Lord."*

Thus Paul learned what the Lord would have
him to do; and is it not a fair inference that it is
necessary for all sinners to do likewise, viz., to
be baptized, and wash away their sins?

Cornelius, the devout Gentile to whom we have
alluded, was a man who prayed much, gave alms
to the poor, and indeed was especially loved of
the Lord. An angel was at last sent to him, to
assure him that his alms and his prayers had
come up in remembrance before the Lord, and
this messenger also told him to send men to
Joppa where he would find one Peter, "And he
shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do,nf or,

* Acts ix. ch.; also the xxii. and xxvi. chapters same book,
f; Acts x : 6.

182 THE GOSPEL.

as Peter afterwards expressed it, in relating the
circumstance to his fellow apostles — "send men
to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname
is Peter; who shall tell thee words, whereby thou
and all thy house shall be saved."*

After Peter went into the house of this devout
Gentile and heard of the mercies of God to him,
he preached Christ unto him and his household,
and as he spake of Jesus and the plan of salva-
tion wrought out for mankind by him, the Holy
Ghost was poured out upon them as a witness to
Peter that the Gospel was for the Gentiles as well
as for the Jews. Then, turning to those that
were with him, Peter said: "Can any man for-
bid water, that these should not be baptized,
which have received the Holy Ghost as well as
we? And he commanded them to be baptized in
the name of the Lord, "f

Notwithstanding the general righteousness of
Cornelius, and his acceptance with God, it
became necessary that he should be instructed in
the Gospel, and taught words whereby he and his
house should be saved; and, in connection with
other things that they were taught as necessary
for their salvation, was baptism.

Paul, in writing to the Corinthian saints, uses
this expression, which to the world sounds
strange and incomprehensible: "Else what shall

»Acts xi : 13, 14. fActs x : 47,

BAPTISM. 183

they do which are baptized for the dead, if the
dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized
for the dead?"* And if baptism, as some main-
tain, is not essential to salvation, I would ask,
why then was it considered necessary, by the
primitive Christians, that there should be such a
thing as baptism for the dead?f Is it not con-
clusive, that if it was necessary for some one to
be baptized for the dead who had not had the
privilege of attending to that ordinance for them-
selves, that baptism is essential to salvation?

But now to come to the most positive of all
passages in the New Testament upon this sub-
ject: Jesus when he commissioned his apostles
used this language: "Go ye into all the world,
and preach the Gospel to every creature. He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not" [and consequently
fails to repent, be baptized or perform any other
act of obedience] "shall be damned. "J Here
the matter is before us in the most unequivocal
terms; those who believe and are baptized have
the sure promise of God that they shall be saved;
while those who believe not, and therefore are
not baptized, are threatened with condemnation.

I have thus far, confined my illustrations and
arguments — upon the necessity of baptism — to

* I Cor. xv: 29.

f The subject of salvation for the dead is treated at length in a
subsequent chapter, hence I enter into no explanation her*.
J Mark xvi : 15, 16.

184 THE GOSPEL.

the Jewish scriptures. I have done so, because
the young Elders, into whose hands this work
will fall, will doubtless be called upon to teach
this principle, and support it in the main, upon
the authority of what is written in the Bible.
But if we turn to the Nephite scriptures, the
Book of Mormon, we shall find it sustains the
same views in respect to the necessity of bap-
tism, as the Jewish scriptures.

The Lord revealed to the first Nephi, in a
vision, very much of the life and labors of the
Son of God, although the said Nephi flourished
in the fifth century B. C. Among other things,
it was revealed to him, that the Son of God
would be baptized in water by a prophet who
should be raised up for that purpose. Subse-
quently, when Nephi desired to impress his
brethren with the importance and necessity of
baptism, he said:

"I would that ye should remember that I have
spoken unto you concerning that prophet which
the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize
the Son of God, which should take away the sins
of the world. And now, if the Lamb of God, he
being holy, should have need to be baptized by
water, to fulfill all righteousness, O then, how
much more need have we, being unholy, to be
baptized, yea even by water. And now I would
ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the
Lamb of God did fulfill all righteousness in being
baptized by water? Know ye not that he was

BAPTISM. 185

holy. But notwithstanding he being holy, he
showeth unto the children of men, that according
to the flesh, he humbleth himself before the
Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he
would be obedient unto him in keeping his
commandments. * * * And again, it showeth
unto the children of men the straightness of the
path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which
they should enter, he having set the example
before them. And he said unto the children of
men, Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved
brethren, can we follow Jesus, save we be willing
to keep the commandments of the Father? And
the Father said, Repent ye, repent ye, and be
baptized in the name of my beloved Son. And
also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying,
He that is baptized in my name, to him will the
Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me;
wherefore follow me, and do the things ye have
seen me do. "*

The first Alma's teachings are in accord with
this: "And now I, Alma, do command you in
the language of him who hath commanded me,
that ye observe to do the words which I have
spoken unto you. I speak by way of command-
ment unto you who belong to the church; and to
those who do not belong to the church, I speak
by way of invitation, saying, Come and be

* Book of Mormon, II. Nephi, xxxi.

186 THE GOSPEL.

baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be
made partakers of the fruit of the tree of life."*

The plain and fair inference from this last
clause is, that those who refused to be baptized,
would not have right to the tree of life.

Further on in his book, he says: "And not
many days hence, the Son of God shall come in
his glory; * * * And behold he cometh to
redeem those who will be baptized unto repent-
ance through faith on his name, "f

Here, again, the fair inference is, that those
who would reject baptism, could not be redeemed;
hence the necessity of baptism.

Turning to the revelations which the Lord has
given in this dispensation, in which he commis-
sioned men to preach the Gospel, he said: "Go
ye into all the world, preach the Gospel to every
creature, acting in the authority which I have
given you, baptizing in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and he
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,
and he that believeth not shall be damned. "J
J" Still more emphatic, perhaps, because it
leaves nothing to implication, is the passage
which reads (and this, too, is in connection
with sending out men to preach the Gospel):
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be

*Almaix: 26, 27. fAlma v: 61,62. J Doc. 'and Cov., sec.
Ixviii: 8-10.

OBJECT OF BAPTISM. 187

saved, and he that believeth not, and is not bap-
tized, shall be damned. '*

Thus in the present dispensation, as well as
in the former ones, committed to the Jews and

Nephites, the necessity of baptism is beyond all
question.

I

CHAPTER XXII.

OBJECT OF BAPTISM.

N speaking of the necessity of baptism I inci~
dentally referred to the object of the ordinance
also; which the reader will doubtless remember, is
for the remission of sins. Such was the object
for which John the Baptist administered baptism.
Mark says: "John did baptize in the wilderness,
and preach the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins. "t Luke also says: "And he
[John] came into all the country about Jordan,
preaching the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins. "J

Here it may be a proper time to call attention
to the fact that many seek to make nice distinc-
tions between the baptism of John and what
they call Christian baptism; that is, baptism in
the name of Jesus after the death and resurrec-
tion of Messiah, by which members were admitted
into the Kingdom of Christ. The controversy on

* Doc. and Cov., sec. cxii : 29. f Mark i : 4. { Luke iii : 3.

188 THE GOSPEL.

this subject became particularly sharp in the
sixteenth century. Zwingle and Calvin, on the
one hand, maintained that the two baptisms
were identical, and for the same purpose, only
that John baptized in the name of the future
Messiah, while the apostles baptized in the
name of the Messiah already come; on the other
hand, Luther, Melancthon and the Catholics
maintained there was an essential difference.
The latter adopted the views of Tertullian, who
lived about the close of the second century and
the beginning of the third. To the baptism of
John, Tertullian ascribed the negative character
of repentance, and to Christian baptism the
positive impartation of a new life. This distinc-
tion, it is maintained, arises from the words of
John himself; viz., "I indeed baptize you with
water unto repentance; but he that cometh after
me is mightier than I, * * * he shall baptize
you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."* But this
reason for any such distinction as that sought to
be made is worthless when it is remembered that
while Jesus did baptize with the Holy Ghost, and
commissioned others to do so, still that baptism
of the Spirit did not supplant water baptism for
the remission of sins. It was simply an addi-
tional principle and ordinance to the doctrines
taught by John; and Jesus continued to authorize
water baptism before his crucifixion,* and com-

* Matt, iii : 11 ; see also Luke iii : 16, and John i : 25.

OBJECT OF BAPTISM. 189

missioned his apostles to continue it after he
departed from them.* The New Testament is
replete with instances of water baptism standing
in connection with though, as a rule, preceding
the baptism of, the Holy Spirit, f Whereas, to
make the words of John quoted a valid reason
for supposing a difference between the baptism
of John and water baptism after Jesus was resur-
rected, it would be necessary to prove that the
baptism of the Spirit took the place of water
baptism as administered by John, which is con-
trary to the facts in the case, as already noted.

The ordinance of baptism, associated with the
proclamation of the Gospel, in any age of the
world, is always the same, whether taught by
Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the
Jaredite or Nephite prophets on the Western
hemisphere, or by John the Baptist among the
Jews. It was administered in the same manner,
with the same object in view, and with the same
powers and graces attending it before the cruci-
fixion of Messiah as after that event. Only those
who administered it before Jesus came in the
flesh, performed the ordinance in the name of a
future Messiah, while those who have officiated
since the death of Jesus, have done so in the

* John iii : 22, and iv : 1-3. f Matt, xxviii : 19, and Mark xvi:
15,16.

190 THE GOSPEL.

name of the Messiah already come; and that is a
difference of little moment.*

One thing which has contributed largely
towards creating the impression that a difference
existed between the baptism of John and Chris-
tian baptism, is the account given in Acts of
Paul's finding a number of disciples — twelve in
all — at Ephesus, of whom he asked if they had
received the Holy Ghost since they believed; to
which they replied, they had not so much as
heard of the Holy Ghost. "And he said unto
them, unto what then, were ye baptized? And
they said, unto John's baptism. Then said Paul,
John verily baptized with the baptism of repent-
ance, saying unto the people, that they should
believe on him who should come after him, that
is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them,
the Holy Ghost came on them: and they spake
with tongues and prophesied, "f The fact of
Paul rebaptizing those people, who, according
to their statement, had been baptized "unto

* These views are capable of the strongest proofs from the writ-
ings of Moses as revealed to Joseph Smith and now contained in
the Pearl of Great Price ; from the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and
Covenants and also from the Bible. But the reader will find a sub-
sequent chapter on " The History of the Gospel " in which the
subject is treated at some length, and to that chapter the reader is
here referred if he now wishes to push further his investigation.

fActsxix: 1-6.

OBJECT OF BAPTISM. 191

John's baptism," does not necessarily argue a
difference between baptism as administered by
John and Christian baptism. The circumstance
of this rebaptism may be reasonably attributed
to other causes.

The preaching of John was always accompanied
with a reference to one who should follow after
him, mightier than he was, whose shoe latchet
he esteemed himself unworthy to unloose: and
his baptism was always attended by the declara-
tion: "I, indeed, baptize with water unto repent-
ance, but he that cometh after me is mightier
than I; * * * he shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost." So the apostle Paul, when he
found these disciples, who claimed to have been
baptized unto John's baptism, and yet had not so
much as heard of the Holy Ghost, he might well
have his suspicions as to the validity of their
baptism, and suspect that some person, but
partially acquainted with the doctrine of John,
and, without authority, had taken it upon him-
self to baptize these parties. Upon these sus-
picions, and in order, doubtless, to put the
validity of their baptism beyond all question, he
re-baptized them with water, and then followed
the baptism of the Spirit. This, to my mind, is
the most reasonable conclusion to come to
respecting this circumstance.

But now to return to the subject of this chap-
ter— the object of baptism:

We have already seen in the first paragraph of

192 THE GOSPEL.

this chapter, that John taught that baptism was
for the remission of sins. If we turn to the
teachings of the apostles, we shall find that they
also taught that baptism was for that purpose.
In 'that memorable discourse which Peter
preached at the commencement of the labor of
the apostles, after the departure of the Master,
when the people, convinced by the power of God
which rested upon the apostles, that they were
commissioned of God with a message to the
world, cried out as with one voice — "Men and
brethren, what shall we do?" — he replied:
"Repent every one of you, and be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of
sins."* Surely nothing in the way of simplicity,
plainness or positiveness is left to be desired
here. He who runs may read, and the wayfaring
man though a fool, need not be in doubt in
respect to the object of this ordinance.

Other passages in the New Testament, how-
ever, are in harmony with this. When Ananias,
in obedience to the commandment from the Lord,
went to the afflicted and humbled Paul to tell
him what he ought to do, he commanded him to
arise and be baptized, and wash away his sins.f

Again it is said: "Know ye not that so many
of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death? Therefore, we are
buried with him by baptism into death: that

* Acts ii : 38. f^cts xxii : 16.

OBJECT OF BAPTISM. 193

like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life * * * knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin."* In this passage also,
as well as in those previously considered, stands
the grand truth that, connected with baptism is
the crucifixion of the old man of sm, the des-
truction of "the body of sin;" and that as Christ
arose from the grave by the power of the Father,
so those who in baptism have been buried with
Christ should also rise from the watery grave to
a newness of life. What, I ask, does all this mean,
if it does not mean that through baptism it is
ordained that men receive a remission of sins,
and are made new men in Christ Jesus?

If we turn from the scriptures to the traditions
of the early Christians, we shall find that their
understanding of the subject is in harmony with
the observations and deductions in the foregoing.

Justin Martyr, who wrote about the middle of
the second century, in describing the customs
observed in receiving new members into the
Christian societies, says: "Those who believe and
are persuaded that the things we teach and
inculcate are true, and who profess ability thus
to live, are directed to pray with fasting, and to
ask of God the forgiveness of their former sins.

* Romans vi : 3-6.

194 THE GOSPEL.

* * * Then we conduct them to a place where
there is water; and they are regenerated
[baptized] in the manner in which we have been
regenerated [baptized] ; for they receive a wash-
ing with water in the name of the Father of all.

* * * This washing is likewise called illumi-
nation; because the minds of those who have
learned these things are enlightened." He then
describes the manner in which the sacrament of
the Lord's supper was administered; and thus
concludes: "And this food is called by us the
Eucharist, which it is unlawful for any one to
partake of, unless he believes the things taught
by us to be true, and has been washed [baptized]
with the washing for the remission of sins in
regeneration, and lives according to what Christ
has taught."*

Of baptism in the third century Dr. Mosheim
says: "Baptism was publicly administered twice
a year, to such candidates as had gone through a
long preparation and trial; and none were present
as spectators but such as had been themselves
baptized. The effect of baptism was supposed
to be the remission of sins."^

In Maclaine's translation of Dr. Mosheim's
Church History is a passage from Letter Seventy-
third, of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, in which

* Second Apology of Justin Martyr. Quoted in Murdock's Mos-
heim, 3d ed., vol. I., p. 137 — note,
f Murdock's Mosheim, vol. I (3d edition), p. 189.

OBJECT OF BAPTISM. 195

that writer says (he wrote in the third century):
"It is manifest where and by whom the remission
of sin conferred in baptism is administered: They
who are presented to the rulers of the church
obtain by our prayers and imposition of hands,
the Holy Ghost."

The following quotation will show what
importance is attached to baptism, as to its
necessity and object, by the Roman Catholic
Church: "Baptism is a sacrament absolutely
necessary for all, without which no one can enter
into the kingdom of God, for Jesus Christ has
said, 'Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man
be born again of water and of the Holy Ghost,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'
Hence it was not enough for Saul of Tarsus,
converted on the road to Damascus,* to believe;
nor for the Chamberlain of Queen Candace, met
on the road by Philip, the Deacon;^ they had to
be baptized in order to obtain remission of their
sins, and thus be in the way of salvation;
therefore in the Nicene Creed we say: "I.
acknowledge one baptism for the remission of
sins. "J

The Book of Mormon, which we have found
so explicit in its treatment of other doctrines, is
none the less so in respect to the one now under
discussion — the object of baptism. In the

*Actsix:18. f Acts viii : 38. $ Catholic Belief (Bruno pp. 56,
57.)

196 THE GOSPEL.

teachings of Alma we have the following: "Now,
I say unto you, that ye must repent, and be born
again; for the Spirit saith, if ye are not born
again, ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven;
therefore, come and be baptized unto repentance,
that ye may be washed from your sins."*

It is written of the third Nephi, that just
about the time of Messiah's birth, "he went
among the people, and also many others, baptiz-
ing unto repentance, in the which there were a
great remission of sins, "f

This work he continued for more than thirty
years after the sign in the heavens of the birth
of Messiah had been given. Mormon says of
Nephi, that in the thirty and third year after
the birth of the Messiah, "he preached unto them
repentance, and remission of sins. Now I would
have you to remember, also," says Mormon,
"that there were none brought unto repentance,
who were not baptized with water; therefore
there were ordained of Nephi, men unto this
ministry, that all such as should come unto them,
should be baptized with water, and this as a
witness and testimony before God, and unto the
people, that they had repented and received a
remission of their sins. "J

Lastly, in closing up his abridgment of the
writings of the third Nephi, Mormon says:
"Hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the

* Alma vii : 14. f III. Nephi, i : 23. + III. Nephi, vii : 23-25.

OBJECT OF BAPTISM. 197

living God: * * * Turn, all ye Gentiles,
from your wicked ways, and repent of your evil
doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of
your whoredoms, and of your secret abomina-
tions, and your idolatries, and of your murders,
and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and
your strifes, and from all your wickedness and
abominations, and come unto me, and be
baptized in my name, that ye may receive a
remission of your sins, and be filled with the
Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my
people who are of the house of Israel."*

Turning now to the revelations which the Lord
has given on this subject, in the dispensation
of the Gospel committed to men in our day, we
find the Lord saying to Martin Harris: "And of
tenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare
repentance and faith on the Savior, and the
remission of sins by baptism and by fire, yea,
even the Holy Ghost, "f

In a revelation to W. W. Phelps we hear the
Lord saying: "And thou shalt be ordained by
the hand of my servant Joseph Smith, jun., to be
an Elder unto this Church, to preach repentance
and remission of sins by way of baptism in the
name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living
God."!

The Lord, subsequently, gave the following as

* III. Nephi, xxx. f Doc. and Cov., sec. xix: 31. J Doc. and
Cov , see. Iv : 21 .

198 THE GOSPEL.

a standing law unto the inhabitants of Zion and
her organized stakes: "Their children shall be
baptized for the remission of their sins, when
eight years old, and receive the laying on of
hands."*

Clearly, the object of baptism is the remission
of sins.

In a revelation given to the Church in Septem-
ber, 1832, in which a number of Elders are
directed to go out into the world and preach the
Gospel, it is written: "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, they who believe not on your words, and
are not baptized in water in my name, for the
remission of their sins that they may receive
the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and shall not
come into my Father's kingdom, "f

The teachings of Joseph Smith on this subject
may be learned from this one homely but expres-
sive sentence: "You might as well baptize a bag
of sand as a man, if not done in view of the
remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost."

Here, as far as this branch of the subject is
concerned, I pause; and surely I may hope that
the treatise on the object of baptism has been
sufficiently exhaustive, both as considered in the
Jewish scriptures and as understood by the early
Christians, as well as in the Book of Mormon
and the revelations of the Lord in this dispen-

* Doc. and Cov. sec. Ixviii : 26, 27. | Doc. an(l Cov., sec. Ixxxiv :

74.

THE SUBJECTS FOR BAPTISM. 199

sation. From all these sources of information,
we learn that baptism is an ordinance through
which it is ordained that man shall receive a
remission of sins.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE SUBJECTS FOR BAPTISM.

TgvAVING shown from all worthy sources of
(^ information that baptism is for the remis-
sion of sins, and that necessarily repentance and
faith precede it, and, moreover, are pre-requisites
thereto; it follows as a logical sequence of these
facts, that baptism can only be properly adminis-
tered to those capable of exercising faith in God,
and repentance of sin. Therefore the baptism of
infants, or of children of such tender years that
they are unable to comply with these conditions
—is not in accordance with the. requirements of
the Gospel, and is solemn mockery before God.
The consideration of just two facts, it seems
to me, is sufficient to destroy the doctrine of
infant baptism; first, the fact that baptism is for
the remission of sins; and, second, that infants
are incapable of committing sin, cannot repent,
and therefore have nothing to be baptized for.

To avoid the irresistible force and right con-
clusion of this logic, however, those who stand
for infant baptism tell us that the baptism of
the infant is not for the remission of any actual

200 THE GOSPEL.

sins committed by the child, but for original sin.
The Roman Catholics teach: "In baptism all
infants, without any disposition on their part
being required, are cleansed from the stain of
original sin, taken into God's favor, made mem-
bers of Christ's mystical Body, and heirs of the
kingdom of heaven. They are thus regenerated,
that is, in our Savior's own words, 'born again of
water and the Holy Ghost.' As they have con-
tracted the stain of original sin without their
knowledge and personal co-operation, so they are
freed from sin without their knowledge; and the
disposition necessary for grown up persons is
not required of them; for infants are incapable of
any reasoning act."*

But this position does not help the matter any.
The fact remains, that whatever "stain" "origi-
nal sin" fixes upon the individual, it is done
without the exercise of his agency; and, as said
above, "without -his knowledge." Then how, I
ask, can he be held responsible for it, or any
requirement, in justice, be made of him to
remove the "stain" when it was fixed upon him
without the exercise of his will, "without his
knowledge," and was a thing which he was
powerless to prevent? The system of theology
which teaches that God would condemn the child
that failed to receive baptism, because of this
"stain" fixed upon him by "original sin" — is not

Catholic Belief [Bruno] p. 58.

THE SUBJECTS FOR BAPTISM. 201

only unreasonable, it is damnable. It represents
God as a cruel monster, and drives both justice
and mercy from the economy of heaven.

It is true that from the fathers the children
may inherit concupiscence; by that I mean a
blind inclination to do evil, in one or more
directions. Certain passions or mischievous
appetites tending to sinfulness is not unfre-
quently stamped upon the offspring by the
parents, or, as figuratively- expressed by one of
old, the parents eat sour grapes, and the chil-
dren's teeth are set on edge.* But the children
are not responsible for that; and, as the Catholic
church teaches this blind, involuntary inclination
to evil of our lower nature, is not of itself sinful
unless it be consented to by the human will, or
rendered strong by bad and not retracted habit, f
It is not until the will assents to that which
knowledge and experience tell the individual is
sinful, that responsibility begins to attach to him.
When knowledge instructs the understanding as
to that which is good and that which is evil, and
the will becomes conscious of its power to
assent to the evil or withhold its approval, then
the individual becomes accountable before God,
and may reasonably be expected to be held
answerable for his acts. But it is a noted prin-
ciple, both in moral philosophy and theology,
"that there is no sin where there is no will;"

Jeremiah xxxi : 29. f Catholic Belief (Bruno), ch. iii.
8

202 THE GOSPEL.

and I would add, there can be no will where
there is no knowledge.

I know of no sect or party, however, or indivi-
dual even, who maintains that infants should
be baptized for this concupiscence. Indeed it is
most apparent that baptism does not affect this
natural tendency to evil, since it is as marked
in children who have been baptized in their
infancy as those who have not. As before stated,
in substance, the admission that baptism is for
the remission of sin is fatal to the doctrine of
infant baptism, as they are incapable of actual
sin; and, "original sin" and concupiscence
being fastened upon them without their knowl-
edge, and by circumstances they were powerless
to prevent, they cannot be held accountable for
them, and should not be required to be baptized
for them.

So far I have confined my remarks to that
class of people believing in infant baptism who
maintain also that baptism is for the remission
of sins. There are others, however, who do not
so regard baptism; but who look upon it merely
as an ordinance by which entrance is gained unto
the spiritual kingdom of Christ. But this posi-
tion does not help out the doctrine of infant
baptism. It is only by actual sin, by willful
violations of God's holy laws that men become
aliens and foreigners to the kingdom of God,*

*Col. i: 21,22.

THE SUBJECTS FOR BAPTISM. 203

and, as infants and children not yet arrived at
the years of accountability are incapable of such
violations of law, they are not aliens to the king-
dom of Christ; they are natural heirs to it, and,
in the days of their innocence, form part of it,
for Jesus himself said: "Surfer little children to
come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of
heaven." Therefore, being already in the king-
dom of Christ, and forming part of it, they have
no need of being initiated into it by baptism or
any other ceremony; it is only those who have
made themselves foreigners and aliens through
transgression of the laws of God that have need
to repent of their sins, through baptism obtain a
remission of them, and thus be brought back to
the state of children, without sin, and into the
kingdom of Christ.

There is nothing in the scriptures which
authorizes the doctrine of infant baptism. It is
an invention by man, pure and simple.

It is true that Jesus said, when some of his
disciples reproved the people for bringing their
children to the Master to be blessed, "Surfer
little children, and forbid them not to come unto
me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."*
But he did not baptize them. He only laid his
hands on them, and blessed them. There is
nothing in the passage which warrants the

*Matt. xix: 14.

204 THE GOSPEL.

assumption that he commanded them to come
unto him by baptism.

Indeed, I believe it is generally conceded that
the doctrine of infant baptism was not introduced
in the first century at all. The first notice we
have of its existence is by Tertullian, appearing
against it as a zealous opponent, in the latter
years of the second century, "A proof," says Dr.
Neander, "that it was not then usually con-
sidered as an apostolic ordinance; for, in that
case, he would hardly have ventured to speak
so strongly against it."*

"As faith and baptism are constantly so closely
connected together in the New Testament, an
opinion was likely to arise that where there could
be no faith there could also be no baptism. It
is certain that Christ did not ordain infant
baptism. * * * We cannot prove that the
apostles ordained infant baptism; from those
places where the baptism of a whole family is
mentionedf we can draw no such conclusion,
because the inquiry is still to be made whether
there were any childen in those families of such
an age that they were not capable of any intelli-
gent reception of Christianity. J

The strongest contradiction to this erroneous
doctrine, however, comes from the Book of
Mormon. It appears that there arose some dis-

* Church History (Neander), Vol. I, p. 362. fActs xvi : 33; I.
Cor. i : 16. J Church History (Neander), Vol. I, p. 360.

THE SUBJECTS FOR BAPTISM. 205

putations among the Nephites about this
matter, and Mormon inquired of the Lord in
respect to it, and sent the answer he received,
through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, to
his son Moroni, and with it I shall close my
remarks on this subject:

"Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer,
your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into
the world not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance; the whole need no physician, but
they that are sick; wherefore little children are
whole, for they are not capable of committing
sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from
them in me, that it hath no power over them;
and the law of circumcision is done away in me.

"And after this manner did the Holy Ghost
manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore
my beloved son, I know that it is solemn
mockery before God, that ye should baptize little
children.

"Behold I say unto you, that this thing shall
ye teach, repentance and baptism unto those who
are accountable and capable of committing sin;
yea, teach parents that they must repent and be
baptized, and humble themselves as their little
children; and they shall all be saved with their
little children.

"And their little children need no repentance,
neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto
repentance to the fulfilling the commandments
unto the remission of sins.

206 THE GOSPEL.

"But little children are alive in Christ, even
from the foundation of the world; if not so, God
is a partial God, and also a changeable God,
and a respecter of persons; for how many little
children have died without baptism?

"Wherefore, if little children could not be
saved without baptism, these must have gone to
an endless hell.

"Behold I say unto you, that he that sup-
poseth that little children need baptism, is in
the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds of
iniquity; for he hath neither faith, hope, nor
charity; wherefore, should he be cut off while
in the thought, he must go down to hell.

"For awful is the wickedness to suppose that
God saveth one child because of baptism, and
the other must perish because he hath no
baptism. *******

"Little children cannot repent; wherefore it is
awful wickedness to deny the pure mercies of
God unto them, for they are all alive in him
because of his mercy.

"And he that saith, that little children need
baptism, denieth the mercies of Christ, and
setteth at nought the atonement of him and the
power of his redemption.

"Wo unto such, for they are in danger of
death, hell, and an endless torment. I speak it
boldly, God hath commanded me. Listen unto
them and give heed, or they stand against you
at the judgment seat of Christ.

THE MODE OF BAPTISM. 207

"For behold that all little children are alive
in Christ, and also all they that are without the
law. For the power of redemption cometh on
all they that have no law; wherefore, he that is
not condemned, or he that is under no condem-
nation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism
availeth nothing.

"But it is mockery before God, denying the
mercies of Christ, and the power of his Holy
Spirit, and putting trust in dead works.

"Behold, my son, this thing ought not to be;
for repentance is unto them that are under con-
demnation and under the curse of a broken
law. "*

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE MODE OF BAPTISM.

fHERE still remains to be discussed, in con-
nection with baptism, one thing more — the
manner of administering it.

In relation to this matter there is much divi-
sion among professed believers of the Bible.
One class maintaining that the immersion of the
whole body in water is the only manner in which
baptism can be administered; that immersion,
in fact, and immersion only, is baptism.
Others, however, while they admit that immersion

* Moroni, ch. viii.

208 THE GOSPEL.

is baptism, claim that it may be performed in
some other manner, by sprinkling or pouring
water on the candidates for the ordinance.

Both parties appeal to the original Greek from
which baptism and the verb baptize is derived,
one insisting that it means immersion, and to
immerse only; while the others insist that in
some connections the words in the original may
mean sprinkling or pouring as well as immersion
and to immerse. And as the commandment
given to the apostles to baptize all nations* is
given without any reference to the manner in
which the ordinance is to be administered, they
maintain it is immaterial whether it is done by
immersion or by sprinkling or pouring.

It cannot be denied that an array of respect-
able testimony may be drawn up in favor of both
theories; but when the meaning of the terms are
interpreted in the light of the practice of the
early Christians, those who received the doctrine
of baptism from the apostles and other servants
of Christ — nay, if interpreted by the manner in
which these very apostles administered the
ordinance — it is evident that immersion alone
is the proper method for baptizing for the
remission of sins, and initiation into the Church
of Christ, whatever other signification may be
attached to the words in other connections; for
nothing is more evident than that immersion is

* Matt, xxviii, 19.

THE MODE OF BAPTISM. 209

the manner in which baptism was administered
by them.

Of John the Baptist it is written: "And there
went out unto him all the land of Judea, and
they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him
in the River Jordan-"* and to this agrees also
the testimony of Matthew, f

Again it is said of him that he baptized "in
^Enon near Salim, because there was much water
there. J And it is said that "Jesus, when he
was baptized went up straightway out of the
water ;"§ from which it is evident that he had
been down in the water. From these circum-
stances, that is, from his baptizing in Jordan,
and near Salim "where there was much water,"
and from Jesus going up out of the water
after his baptism, there can be no question but
John baptized by immersion; and there is noth-
ing to lead us to suppose that he baptized in
any other manner.

Take an account of a baptism which took
place after the crucifixion of Messiah, and we
shall find the same method of administering the
ordinance observed. I allude to the baptism of
the chamberlain of Queen Candace, by Philip.
This person was met by Philip in the highway,
and being invited to ride in the chamberlain's
carriage he taught him the Gospel. On belief

* Mark i : 4. f Matt, iii : 5, 6. J John iii, 23. I Matt, iii : 16 ;
Maik i : 10.

210 THE GOSPEL.

taking hold of the chamberlain, as they came to
certain water, he inquired of Philip what hin-
dered him from being baptized. To which Philip
answered: "If thou believest with all thine heart
thou mayest. And he answered and said: I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still:
and they went down both into the water, both
Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And
when they were come up out of the water, the
Spirit caught away Philip that the eunuch saw
him no more."*

There can be no two opinions as to the manner
in which the eunuch was baptized — it was by
immersion. It would seem, too, that had Philip
been aware of any other method, that is, had he
understood that sprinkling or pouring would
answer the purpose, he never would have put
himself and the chamberlain to the inconvenience
of going down into the water. It is a fair
inference, under all the circumstances, that Philip
knew of no other method of baptism than by a
burial in the water.

We have already referred to baptism being
spoken of as being "born of water, "f and to
those paragraphs I call the attention of my
readers again. It will be seen that immersion
best carries out that idea; indeed, it is only by
immersion and being brought forth out of the

* Acts viii : 36-39. f Chapter xxi.

THE MODE OF BAPTISM. 211

water, in which a person is brought from one
element (water) into another (air), that a birth is
represented. Sprinkling or pouring does not
represent a birth.

In writing to the saints of Rome, Paul says:
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were bap-
tized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his
death? Therefore we are buried with him by
baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death, we shall be also in the
likeness of his resurrection."*

In writing to the saints of Colosse, the same
apostle reminds them that they had been "buried
with him [Christ] in baptism, wherein also ye
are risen with him through the faith of the
operation of God who hath raised him from the
dead."-f

In these passages the terms "buried" and
"planted" are in plain allusion to the manner in
which the saints had received the ordinance of
baptism, which could not have been by sprinkling
or pouring, as there is no burial or planting in
the likeness of Christ's death, or being raised in
likeness of his resurrection in that; but in
immersion there is, and hence we conclude from
all these circumstances that baptism among the

Rom. vi : 3-5. f Col. ii : 12.

212 THE GOSPEL.

saints of God in those days was by immersion,
and by immersion alone.

Turning to other sources than the scriptures
for information, we shall find that the statement
that immersion alone was practiced by the early
Christians, say for at least nearly three centuries,
is sustained by the most respectable testimony.

Speaking of baptism in the first century, Dr.
Mosheim says: "In this century, baptism was
administered in convenient places, without the
public assemblies; and by immersing the candi-
dates wholly in water."*

Of the second century, the same learned author
says: "Twice a year, namely, at Easter and
Whitsuntide, * * * baptism was admini-
stered by the bishop, or by the presbyters acting
by his command and authority. The candidates
for it were immersed wholly in water, with invo-
cation of the sacred Trinity, according to the
Savior's precept, "f

Indeed, the first deviation from baptizing by
immersion, occurs in a case recorded by
Eusebius, as happening in the third century.
He alludes to it in these detracting terms: "He
[Novatian] * * • * fell into a grievous dis-
temper, and it being supposed that he would die
immediately, he received baptism (being sprinkled
with water), on the bed where he lay, (if that

*Mosheim's Church History (Murdock), third edition, Vol. I,
page 87. | Ibid, p. 137.

THE MODE OF BAPTISM. 213

can be termed baptism): Neither when he had
escaped that sickness, did he afterwards receive
the other things which the canon of the church
enjoineth should be received."*

Even down to the close of the thirteenth cen-
tury baptism by immersion was the rule and
sprinkling and pouring the exception.

Notwithstanding all these arguments, which are
in their character so conclusive, many worthy
people there are whom they fail to convince.
What does this fact argue? That those who fail
to understand that baptism must be by immer-
sion are woefully ignorant, or their understanding
willfully perverse? No; I would suggest that to
them the evidence is simply insufficient and
unauthoritative, and that the fact of it being so
argues that there is need of some further instruc-
tion from the Lord on the subject than is con-
tained in the Bible; that there is need of further
revelation from God to settle the question.

In ushering in the Gospel in this dispensation
the instruction so much needed was given in
April, 1830, and is as follows: "The person who
is called of God, and has authority from Jesus
Christ to baptize, shall go down into the water
with the person who has presented him or herself
for baptism, 'and shall say, calling him or her by
name — Having been commissioned of Jesus
Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father,

* Eusebius Eccl. Hist. b. vi, ch. 43.

214 THE GOSPEL.

and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Then shall he immerse him or her in the water,
and come forth again out of the water."*

The Book of Mormon is equally plain on this
point. When Jesus gave authority to his servants
among the Nephites to baptize, he said to them:
"Verily I say unto you, that whosoever repenteth
of his sins through your words, and desireth to
be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye
baptize them: behold, ye shall go down and
stand in the water, and in my name shall ye
baptize them. And now behold, these are the
words which ye shall say, calling them by name,
saying, Having authority given me of Jesus
Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
And then shall ye immerse them in the water
and come forth again out of the water. And
after this manner shall ye baptize in my name, "f

There can be no question as to how baptism
should be administered after such instruction as
this; while the very pressing need of such a
revelation to the Christian world is a great evi-
dence in support of its divine inspiration.

* Poc. and Cov., sec. xx : 73, 74 | m- Nephi xi : 23-27.

THE HOLY GHOST. 215

CHAPTER XXV.

THE HOLY GHOST.

who said a man must be born again — born
of water, said also that he must be born of
the spirit;* and it is to that birth, or baptism of
the Spirit that we now direct the attention of the
reader.

John the Baptist made reference to this matter
when he was preaching repentance and baptism
throughout Judea. He told the people that he
truly baptized with water, but one should come
after him, mightier than he was, who would
baptize them with the Holy Ghost, f Afterwards
he bore record that Jesus of Nazareth was he of
whom he spake. "I saw," said he, "the Spirit
descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him [Jesus]. And I knew him not; but he
that sent me to baptize with water, the same
said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the
Spirit descending and remaining on him, the
same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
And I saw and bear record that this is the Son
of God."t

Jesus frequently alluded to this baptism of the
Holy Ghost and the powers that a possession

* John iii : 6. f Mark, i : 7, 8. J John i : 32-34, in connection
with verse 29-31.

216 THE GOSPEL.

thereof would impart to those who received it;
and, finally, after his death and resurrection, and
just previous to his departure from among his
disciples in Judea, he said to them: "Wait for
the promise of the Father, which ye

have heard of me. For John truly baptized with
water but ye shall be . baptized with the Holy
Ghost not many days hence."* The reference to
the promise made through John the Baptist is
obvious; and the disciples who had anxiously
looked for its accomplishment, were now informed
that its fulfillment was not many days hence.

The promise was fulfilled, for in about seven
daysf after the Messiah's ascension, on the day
of Pentecost, the disciples being assembled with
one accord, in one place, "Suddenly there came
a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where they were
sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of
them. And they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as
the spirit gave them utterance. "J

*Actsl: 4, 5.

t Pentecost came fifty days after the Passover, on which day the
Lord Jesus was crucified. Allowing that he laid three days in the
tomb, and was with his disciples forty days after his resurrection
(Acts i : 3), forty-three days of the fifty between Passover and
Pentecost was accounted for, leaving but seven between his
ascension and the day of Pentecost, when the promise of the baptism
of the Spirit was fulfilled.

JActs ii: 2-4.

THE HOLY GHOST. , 217

Thus was the promise made by John and
repeated by Messiah fulfilled.

I have been particular to call attention to this
promise, and its fulfillment, because a similar
promise is made to all men of all nations, and
in all generations wherever and whenever the
Gospel is proclaimed. The promise I allude to
was made on this very same day of Pentecost, on
which the promise of John and Messiah was ful-
filled.

Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
so abundantly given to himself and companions
on that day, preached a discourse which con-
vinced thousands that Jesus was both Lord and
Christ, the Savior of the world; and in answer-
ing the question of the multitude as to what they
should do, after telling them to repent, and to be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of their sins, he added: "And ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost: for the
promise is unto you, and to your children, and
to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord
our God shall call."*

I call attention to the universality of this
promise. It was made to those who were list-
ening to the apostles, but not to them alone, it
extended to their children, to them also that
were afar off — to those who were a hundred years
off, or five hundred, or five or ten thousand

* Acts ii : 38.

218 THE GOSPEL.

years off; the promise was to them; and as if
this was not sufficiently universal, the apostle
adds, "even to as many as the Lord our God
shall call" — call, to what? to as many, of course,
as are called to yield obedience to the Gospel —
to all such the promise extends.

As the promise made by John was repeated
and emphasized by the Savior, so, likewise, has
this general promise made by the apostle Peter
been repeated and emphasized by the Lord, in
restoring the Gospel to the earth in this dispen-
sation in which we live. To the first Elders of
the Church in our day, he said: "As I said unto
mine aposjles, even so I say unto you, for ye are
mine apostles * * * Therefore * * * I
say unto you again, that every soul who
believeth on your words, and is baptized by
water for the remission of sins, shall receive the
Holy Ghost."* So, to those who have faith in
the revelations which the Lord has given through
the Prophet Joseph Smith, the promise of the
Holy Ghost is repeated, and assurance is made
doubly sure.

The necessity of this baptism of the Holy
Ghost is made apparent, first, by the plain
declaration of the Savior himself, wherein he
says, except a man is born of the Spirit as well
as of the water, he cannot enter into the king-
dom of heaven ;f and of course outside of the

*Doc. and Cov., §ec. Ixxxiv: 63, 64. f John iii : 5.

THE HOLY GHOST. 219

kingdom of heaven there can be no salvation,
nor perfect happiness; second, its necessity
appears from the very nature of things.

Through water baptism is obtained a remission
of past sins; but even after the sins of the past
are forgiven, the one so pardoned will doubtless
feel the force of sinful habits bearing heavily upon
him. He who has been guilty of habitual un-
truthfulness, will at times find himself inclined,
perhaps, to yield to that habit. He who has
stolen may be sorely tempted, when opportunity
airses, to steal again. While he who has indulged
in licentious practices may again find himself
disposed to give way to the seductive influence
of the siren. So with drunkenness, malice, envy,
covetousness, hatred, anger, and, in short, all
the evil dispositions that flesh is heir to.

There is an absolute necessity for some addi-
tional sanctifying grace that will strengthen poor
human nature, not only to enable it to resist
temptation, but also to root out from the heart
concupiscence — the blind tendency or inclination
to evil. The heart must be purified, every pas-
sion, every propensity made submissive to the
will, and the will of man brought into subjection
to the will of God.

Man's natural powers are unequal to this task;
so, I believe, all will testify who have made the
experiment. Mankind stand in some need of a
strength superior to any they possess of them-
selves, to accomplish this work of rendering

220 THE GOSPEL.

pure our fallen nature. Such strength, such
power, such a sanctifying grace is conferred on
man in being born of the Spirit — in receiving
the Holy Ghost. Such, in the main, is its office,
its work.

I do not draw such a conclusion directly from
any one passage of scripture, but from the whole
tenor of the teachings of the servants of God,
in both ancient and modern times.

We shall see, presently, that it is this spirit
which reproves the world of sin, of righteousness
and judgment, that it guides into all truth, takes
of the things of the Father and reveals them unto
the children of men and testifies that Jesus is
the Christ These things increase knowledge
and faith; and as the foundations of knowledge
and faith are broadened and deepened so are
the powers to work righteousness increased.

We shall see also that the fruits of this spirit
are goodness, righteousness, truth, love, joy,
peace and gentleness, and as these things are
increased in the soul, viciousness and impurity
are rooted out, until the whole man is changed
and in very deed becomes a new creature in
Christ Jesus — is numbered among the pure in
heart, and blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see and dwell with God,

THE HOLY GHOST. WHO MAY RECEIVE IT. 221

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE HOLY GHOST. WHO MAY RECEIVE IT.

fHE reader has observed, perchance, that John
the Baptist was sent to preach repentance
and baptism^ before the coming of him who was
to baptize with the Holy Ghost. We may also
have observed in the teachings of Peter on the
day of Pentecost, after his arguments and the
power of the Spirit by which he spake had
aroused belief in the minds of the people, that
he required them to repent and to be baptized
for the remission of their sins before he gave
them the promise of the Holy Ghost.

If we turn to the account given in the Acts of
the Apostles of the conversion of the people of
Samaria, we shall find the same order observed.
Philip went down to that city, taught them the
word, which they believed, they 'repented of
their sins, and were baptized; then Peter and
John came and conferred upon them the Holy
Ghost.*

Then, again, when Paul found a number of
men in Ephesus, who claimed to have been
baptized unto John's baptism, yet had not so
much as heard of the Holy Ghost, Paul was

* Acts viii.

222 THE GOSPEL.

careful to rebaptize them — since there seemed to
be some doubt as to the validity of their first
baptism — before he conferred upon them the
Holy Ghost*

It appears from these circumstances that faith,
repentance, and baptism, precede the reception
or baptism of the Holy Ghost, and are, in fact,
prerequisites to a reception of it. This order,
in respect to these principles and ordinances, is
further sustained by other passages of scripture.

Just previous to his crucifixion, Jesus said to
the apostles: "I will pray to the Father, and he
shall give unto you another Comforter, that he
may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of
truth, whom the world cannot receive because it
seeth him not, neither knoweth him."f It is
evident from this that the world cannot receive
the Holy Ghost. And now, who are the world?
I answer, those who have not yet put on Christ;
or, in other words, those who have not yet
entered into the kingdom of God, through faith
in God and Christ, repentance and baptism.
They are the world; and, according to the word
of the Master, they cannot receive the Holy
Ghost.

Again: When Peter and other apostles were
brought before the senate of the Jews, accused
with intent to bring the blood of Messiah upon
them, Peter answered: "The God of our fathers

*Acte xix. f John xiv : 16, 17.

THE HOLY GHOST. WHO MAY RECEIVE IT. 223

raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a
tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand
to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repent-
ance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we
are his witnesses of these things; and so is also
the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that
obey htm."* Not, mark you, to them who have
not obeyed him. This is in harmony with the
statement that the world cannot receive the Holy
Ghost, and also with the other cases we cited
where the order in presenting the Gospel to the
people was faith in God and Christ, repentance,
baptism for the remission of sins, and then the
reception of the Holy Ghost.

There is an exception, however, to this rule in
the New Testament: the case of Cornelius the
devout gentile ;| and for this exception there was
a special reason. It seems that the apostles
applied the narrow and contracted views of the
Jews to the Gospel. They thought it was to be
confined to the house of Israel — to those of the

* Acts v : 24-32.

f Some also note the case of Paul as an exception to the rule, but
I think this an error It is true Ananias, on entering the house
where Paul was, put his hands on him and said : " The Lord, even
Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath
sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled
with the Holy Ghost. And immediately," the historian tells us>
" there fell from his eyes as it had been scales ; and he received
sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized." (Acts ix : 17,18.)
But in all this I see nothing to warrant the assumption that he
received the Holy Ghost prior to his baptism.

224 THE GOSPEL.

circumcision. They appeared slow to understand
that in Jesus Christ all the nations and peoples of
the earth were to be blessed, the gentiles as well
as the Jews. Consequently, when the time had
come to send the Gospel to the gentiles, the
Lord opened the way by sending an angel to
Cornelius to tell him that his prayers and alms
had come up for a memorial before the Lord,
and to direct him to send men to Joppa for
Peter, who would tell him what he ought to do.*
He at once obeyed the heavenly injunction.

Meantime the Lord prepared Peter to go to the
gentiles. In vision he beheld a great net lowered
down from heaven, filled with all manner of
beasts, and a voice cried unto him, "Rise, Peter,
kill and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I
have never eaten anything that is common or
unclean." "What God hath cleansed, that call
not thou common," said the voice, f This was
done thrice, and before he had wholly concluded
what the vision could mean, the messengers from
Cornelius were at the gate, — and the Spirit told
him to go with them, for the Lord had sent
them.

That Peter understood the import of this vision

to be that the Gospel was for all mankind, for all

races and nations, is evident from the fact that

rrwhen on the following day he went with the

^messengers to the house of Cornelius, he said

* * Acts x: 1-8. fActsx:9-17.

THE HOLY GHOST. WHO MAY RECEIVE IT. 225

to him: "Ye know how that it is an unlawful
thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company,
or come unto one of another nation; but God
hath showed me that I should not call any man
common or unclean. Therefore come I unto
you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent
for."*

Cornelius related to him his vision and
expressed himself as ready to receive the com-
mandments of God. Then Peter preached to him
Christ and him crucified and that whosoever
believed on him should have remission of sins.
And "while Peter yet spake these words, the
Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word.
And they of the circumcision which believed
were astonished, as many as came with Peter,
because that on the gentiles also was poured out
the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them
speak with tongues and magnify God. Then
answered Peter, can any man forbid water, that
these should not be baptized which have received
the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he com-
manded them to be baptized, in the name of the
Lord,"f

Afterwards, when they of the circumcision
complained of Peter going to them who were
uncircumcised, he related the whole matter to
them, and testified that as he began to speak to
Cornelius and his kindred, "the Holy Ghost fell

* Acts x : 28. f Acts x : 44-48.

226 THE GOSPEL.

upon them, as on us at the beginning. * * *
Forasmuch, then, as God gave them the like gift
as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could withstand
God."* When they heard this they held their
peace, and the saying went abroad that God had
also to the gentiles granted repentance unto life.

The object for deviating from the order in
which the principles and ordinances of the Gos-
pel follow each other is obvious — it was that the
Jews might have a witness from God that the
Gospel was for the gentiles as well as for their
own nation. But according to the scriptures,
and, I may say, according to the nature and
relationship of these several principles and ordi-
nances of the Gospel to each other, the reception
of the Holy Ghost comes after repentance and
baptism.

In writing to the Corinthian saints who had
received the Holy Ghost, Paul says: "What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of fhe
Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of

God?"t

And again: "Know ye not that ye are the tem-
ple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you? If any man defile the temple of God,
him will God destroy."!

From these passages this much is learned: that
the man who receives the Holy Ghost becomes a

* Acts xi : 15-17. f I. Cor. v : 19. J I. Cor. iii : 16, 17.

THE HOLY GHOST. HOW IMPARTED. 227

temple thereof, even the temple of God; and
since it is decreed that if a man defiles the tem-
ple of God him will God destroy, it may be
reasonably inferred that the Holy Ghost dwells
not in unholy temples; hence, through faith in
God, sincere repentance of all sins, and baptism
for the remission of them, man cleanses his
temple, his body, that it may be a fit dwelling
place for the Holy Ghost.

Thus faith, repentance, water baptism, and
then the baptism of the Spirit is the order in
which these principles stand, both according to
the teachings of the scriptures, and the nature
of the things themselves: the one leading up
logically to the other, which follows in beautiful
and harmonious sequence.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE HOLY GHOST. HOW IMPARTED.

fHE manner in which the saints under the
teachings of the apostles received the bap-
tism of the Holy Ghost was through the laying
on of hands. In proof of this I call attention
once more to the labors of Philip in the city of
Samaria.

It is already known how he taught them the
Gospel, how they believed it and were baptized;
then we are informed that "when the apostles
which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had

228 THE GOSPEL.

received the word of God, they sent unto them
Peter and John: who, when they were come
down, prayed for them, that they might receive
the Holy Ghost (for as yet he was fallen upon
none of them: only they were baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their
hands on them, and they received the Holy
Ghost"*

Previous to the labors of Philip among the
Samaritans, one Simon Magus, a magician, had
given it out that he himself was some great one,
and his influence among the people was consider-
able. But he, too, became converted to the
teachings of Philip, and was astonished at the
power which attended his administrations,* for
the sick were healed, the lame were cured, and
unclean spirits cast out of those who were pos-
sessed of them. Afterwards when the apostles
John and Peter came and conferred the Holy
Ghost upon those whom Philip had baptized,
Simon was present: "And when Simon saw that
through laying on of the apostles' hands the
Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
saying, Give me also this power, that on whom-
soever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy
Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money
perish with thee, because thou hast thought that
the gift of God may be purchased with money, "f

Paul, it will be remembered, found a number

* Acts viii: 14-17. f Acts viii : 18-20.

THE HOLY GHOST. HOW IMPARTED. 229

of men at Ephesus who claimed to have been
baptized unto John's baptism, but when Paul
questioned them as to the Holy Ghost, they had
not heard even that there was such a spirit. So
doubting the validity of their baptism, he rebap-
tized them; after which, "when Paul had laid
his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon
them; and they spake with tongues and prophe-
sied."*

The same apostle, also, in writing to Timothy,
exhorts him to "stir up the gift of God which
was in him, and which he had received by the
putting on of his [Paul's] hands, f alluding, no
doubt, to the time that Paul bestowed the Holy
Ghost upon him by the laying on of hands.

That this practice of laying on hands for the
bestowal or baptism of the Holy Ghost continued
in the primitive Christian Church for a long
period — at least for three centuries — is evident
from the following testimony:

Of the rites and ceremonies of the third cen-
tury Mosheim says: "The effect of baptism was
supposed to be the remission of sins: And it was
believed that the bishop, by the imposition of
hands and by prayer conferred those gifts of the
Holy Spirit which were necessary for living a
holy life."J

In a note on the foregoing question, Murdock,

* Acts xix : 1-6. f II. Tim. j : 6. J Mosheim's Church History
(Murdock), Vol. I, p. 189.

230 THE GOSPEL.

the most accurate translator of Dr. Mosheim's
great work on church history, says: "This may
be placed beyond all controversy by many pas-
sages from the fathers of this century. And as
it will conduce much to an understanding of the
theology of the ancients, which differed in many
respects from ours, I will adduce a single passage
from Cyprian. It is in his Epistle, No. 73, p.
131: 'It is manifest where and by whom the
remission of sin conferred in baptism is adminis-
tered. They who are presented to the rulers of
the church, obtain by our prayers and imposition
of hands the Holy Ghost.'"*

In another passage Cyprian writes: "Our
practice is, that those who have been baptized
into the Church should be presented, that by
prayer and imposition of hands they may receive
the Holy Ghost." While Augustine, in the
fourth century, says: "We still do what the
apostles did when they laid their hands on the
Samaritans and called down the Holy Ghost
upon them, ""f

In subsequent centuries, however, this part of
the Gospel was lost, or neglected by some of the

* Mosheim's Church Hist., Vol. I, p. 189.

f Laying on hands was employed in the Church for other pur-
poses than imparting the Holy Ghost. It was the manner of ad-
ministering to the sick (Mark xvi : 18 ; Acts xxviii, 8); and also of
confeiring authority or priesthood on men (see Acts vi : 5, 6; viii :
17 ; xiii : 3); but as we here are only dealing with the ordinance as
it relates to a means of imparting the Holy Ghost, I do not stop to
discuss the other purposes for which it was employed.

THE HOLY GHOST. — HOW IMPARTED. 231

sects of Christendom, and when announced
among them today, it is not unfrequently regarded
as a new doctrine.* Yet it is not. We have
seen that it was a doctrine practiced by the
apostles and their immediate successors. Indeed
it is named directly as one of the principles of
the doctrine of Christ by Paul. The following is
the passage: "Therefore not leaving the princi-
ples of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto
perfection; not laying again the foundation of
repentance from dead works, and of faith toward
God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on
of hands and of resurrection of the dead, and of
eternal judgment, "f And here it may be well

* It is a mistake to suppose all Christendom have neglected the
practice of this ordinance. The Catholics teach that "Confirmation
[by the laying on of hands] is a sacrament instituted by our Lord,
by which the faithful, who have already been made children of God
by baptism, receive the Holy Ghost by prayer, unction (or anoint-
ing with holy oil called cArism),and the laying on of the hands of a
bishop, the successor of the apostles. It is thus that they are en-
riched with gifts, graces and virtues, especially with the virtue of
fortitude, and made perfect Christians and valiant soldiers of Jesus
Christ to stand through life the whole warfare of the world, the
flesh and the devil The first recorded instance of confirmation
being administered to the faithful is in the eighth chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles, where St. Peter and St John confirmed the
Samaritans who had been already baptized by St. Philip. ' They
prayed for them that they might receive ihe Holy Ghost. * * *
Then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy
Ghost" (Catholic Belief, Bruno pp. 97, 98). Tue Church of Eng-
land, a"d of course the Episcopal churches in the colonies and the
United States teach practically the same.

f Heb. vi : 1, 2.

232 THE GOSPEL.

to call attention to the fact, that it is written
that "Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God."* And
since the religious world has very generally lost
sight of this important doctrine of the laying on
of hands for imparting the Holy Ghost, it is
one evidence, among many others, that they have
not God; for the absence of this part of the
Gospel proves that they have not continued in
the doctrine of Christ.

In restoring the Gospel to the earth in the
present dispensation, it seems, from the fre-
quency with which it is mentioned, that particu-
lar prominence is given to this doctrine and
ordinance through which the Holy Ghost is
imparted. Out of the many passages in the
Doctrine and Covenants relating to the subject
I select the following:

In April, 1830, the same month and year in
which the Church of Christ in this dispensation
was organized, the Lord in explaining the office
and calling of an apostle, said: "An apostle is
an elder, and it is his calling to baptize; * * *
and to confirm those who are baptized into the
Church, by the laying on of hands for the bap-
tism of fire^ and the Holy Ghost, according to the
scriptures, "f

In a revelation to James Covill given in
January, 1831, calling him to obedience to the

* II. John: 9. f Doc- and Cov-» sec- xx : 38> 41-

THE HOLY GHOST. — MOW IMPARTED. 233

Gospel and appointing him to be his servant,
even a minister for Christ, the Lord said: "And
this is my Gospel: repentance and baptism by
water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and
the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which
showeth all things, and teacheth the peaceable
things of the Kingdom." After calling him to
be his servant the Lord said: "And again it
shall come to pass, that on as many as ye shall
baptize with water, ye shall lay your hands,
and they shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost."*

Then in a revelation given to Sidney Rigdon,
Parley P. Pratt and Lemon Copley, through
Joseph the Prophet, on the occasion of these
men being sent with the Gospel to the Shakers,
the Lord said: "Go among this people and say
unto them, like unto mine apostle of old, whose
name was Peter; believe on the name of the
Lord Jesus. * * * Repent and be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ, according to the
holy commandment, for the remission of sins;
and whoso doeth this shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of the hands
of the Elders of this Church, "f

As this last is a general law, I do not consider
it necessary to cite further passages, though the
revelations of the Lord contained in the Doctrine

* Doc. and Cov., sec. xxxix ; 6, 23 f Ibid., sec. xlix : 11 14.

234 Tl\E GOSPEL.

and Covenants are replete with them. Sufficient
has been said to show that the doctrine has been
made prominent in this dispensation.

To my mind this ordinance is the most philo-
sophical of any in the Gospel. On one occasion
as Jesus passed through a throng of people, a
woman who had been troubled with an issue of
blood for twelve years, and had spent all her
living upon physicians, but received no benefit
from them, came up behind him, saying in her
heart, if I can but touch the hem of his garment
I shall be healed. And it was so, even accord-
ing to her faith; for pressing through the crowd
she laid hold of his garment and was immediately
made whole. "And Jesus said, who touched
me?" When all denied, Peter and they that
were with him said, "Master, the multitude
throng thee, and press thee, and sayest thou who
touched me? And Jesus said, somebody hath
touched me; for I perceive that virtue is gone
out of me."*

Now, what had happened. And why the
expression — "Somebody hath touched me; for I
perceive that virtue is gone out of me." My
answer would be that the person of Jesus, aye,
and also the very garments he wore, were so
charged with that divine influence, known to us
as the Holy Spirit, that when the woman with
the issue of blood touched his garments, so much

* Luke viii : 43, 46.

THE HOLY GHOST. HOW IMPARTED. 235

of that Spirit left him to heal her that it was
perceptible to him, and he exclaimed, "Virtue
is gone out of me!"

So, when a servant of God, filled with that
Spirit, and with authority to act in the name of
Jesus Christ, lays his hands upon one who has
prepared himself for the reception of the Holy
Ghost, through faith, repentance, and baptism,
a portion of that Holy Spirit passes from the
one who administers, to him upon whom he lays
his hands and he is baptized with it. These are
the laws by which it is received and conveyed;
these are the conditions that must exist, in order
that men may obtain this holiest of all influences,
and its full and free enjoyment. And its trans-
mission from one person to another by an observ-
ance of the ordinances and principles of
righteousness we have now considered, is as
natural and philosophical in the spiritual things
of the universe, as it is for electricity or steam
to perform the wonders which these forces are
now made to enact in the commercial and
mechanical worlds; and which they will not
perform, unless the conditions by which their
power is made available, are complied with.

I cannot do better in concluding this chapter
than to quote a paragraph or two from the works
of Apostle Parley P. Pratt:

"To impart a portion of the Holy Spirit by the
touch, or by the laying on of hands; or to
impart a portion of the element of life, from one

236 THE GOSPEL.

animal body to another, by an authorized agent
who acts in the name of God, and who is filled
therewith, is as much in accordance with the
laws of nature as for water to seek its own level;
air its equilibrium; or heat and electricity their
own mediums of conveyance.

"This law of spiritual fluid, its communicative
properties, and the channel by which it is
imparted from one person to another, bear some
resemblance or analogy to the laws and opera-
tions of electricity. Like electricity, it is
imparted by the contact of two bodies, through
the channel of the nerves.

"But the two fluids differ widely. The one
is a property nearly allied to the grosser elements
of matter; not extensively endowed with the
attributes of intelligence, wisdom, affection or
moral discrimination. It can therefore be
imparted from one animal body to another, irre-
spective of the intellectual or moral qualities of
the subject or recipient. The other is a sub-
stance endowed with the attributes of intelli-
gence, affection, moral discrimination, love,
charity and benevolence pure as the emotions
which swell the bosom, thrill the nerves, or
vibrate the pulse of the Father of all.

"An agent filled with this heavenly fluid cannot
impart of the same to another, unless that other
is justified, washed, cleansed from all his impuri-
ties of heart, affections, habits or practices by
the blood of atonement, which is generally

THE HOLY GHOST. HOW IMPARTED. 237

applied in connection with the baptism of
remission.

"A man who continues in his sins, and who
has no living faith in the Son of God, cannot
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through the
ministration of any agent, however holy he may
be. The impure spirit of such a one will repulse
the pure element, upon the natural laws of
sympathetic affinity, or of attraction and repul-
sion. "*

In other words, the Spirit of God will not
dwell in unholy temples, hence repentance and
baptism for the remission of sins go before the
baptism of the Spirit that men may be cleansed
of their sins, justified before God, and their
bodies by these means made fit dwelling-places
for the Holy Ghost — the living temples of God.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE HOLY GHOST. — CHARACTER AND SOURCE.

the naturalist find out and comprehend
the secret of the endless variety of life in
the vegetable and animal kingdoms? Can the
chemist find out the essences of substances, or
make himself master of the secrets of great
nature's laboratory where those wonderful com-
binations are wrought which produce the sub-

Key to Theology, pp. 96, 97, 98.

238 THE GOSPEL.

stances that constitute the material universe?
Can the physician or surgeon with scalpel and
microscope "trace to its source the lightning of
the soul" — trace out the secret springs of life
and intelligence in the human organism? Can
the astronomer, even with his mightiest tele-
scope, penetrate to the outside curtains of space
where worlds and planetary systems do not exist
— can he circumscribe the creations of God,
within the scope of his vision or knowledge?

To all these questions a negative answer
must be given; when man has done his best,
when his whole life has been spent in seeking
knowledge and finding out wisdom, even then
the facts which he has mastered, compared with
those beyond the power of his intellect to com-
prehend, are insignificant; and the fields of
knowledge which he has explored, compared
with those wherein man has never yet set his
foot, are as the few grains of sand compared to
the untold millions of such grains that form old
ocean's beach.

The great Sir Isaac Newton at the close of his
life — a life devoted to the search for knowledge
in which pursuit he had been more than ordi-
narily successful, and most men thought he had
accomplished something of which he could
boast — said in accents most humble, "I have
been like a child playing upon the beach; I
have succeeded in finding a few pretty shells,

HOLY GHOST. CHARACTER AND SOURCE. 239

and picking up a few pretty pebbles, but the
great ocean lies before me unexplored. "

Questions and considerations like these, are
calculated to reveal the fact that man, with all
his boasted intelligence, is, after all, in this
sphere of existence, "cribbed, cabined and con-
fined" to limits extremely narrow, so far as his
ability to comprehend facts is concerned.

The naturalist will answer "No," to the question
I have set down to him. He will tell us that he
can classify the various forms of animal and
vegetable life, basing his classification upon
certain similarities of structure or habits; but
when it comes to accounting for the great variety
and forms of life in animated nature; or to tell-
ing why it is that one seed produces the mighty,
sturdy oak, and another the supple willow; or
why each species of animals produces its kind
—he cannot inform you. His most careful inves-
tigations and patient watching have failed to rob
nature of these secrets.

The chemist of a century ago, who thought he
had reduced compound substances to their
primary elements, and had discovered all the
primary elements of substances; could he live
today, he would see his "elements" separated
and reduced, and a multitude of other elements
unknown to him, brought within the compass of
chemical science; and yet the existence of the
universe itself, remaining as great a mystery as
ever. Indeed, the wonder grows rather than

240 THE GOSPEL.

diminishes with each succeeding discovery; for
these things increase the mystery by revealing
the complexity and delicate combinations of
substances as they exist in their varied forms.

To the physician, the surgeon, the scientist,
the mystery of life remains as much an unsolved
problem as it ever did. It is true they claim
to have traced it down to its beginning; they
say it originates in a substance known to them
as protoplasm; that a single cell of this wonder-
ful substance has the peculiar power of produc-
ing another cell, and this one still another.
This multiplication of protoplasmic cells continu-
ing until it develops in the varied processes of
nature into the great variety of animal organisms
known to us. Yet after all his work, the scientist,
at last, with nervous hand and throbbing brow
reaches a point beoynd which he cannot go, and
the single cell of protoplasm, with the peculiar
power to multiply itself, is as great a mystery as
man with his complex organism of bones and
nerves and muscles.

To the question I have put to the astronomer,
he would doubtless answer, with some impatience,
that his best instruments but revealed to him the
nearest outposts of the stellar worlds; and that
beyond these few street lamps within his vision,
with whose positions he has become acquainted
and marked down on his chart, are numberless
planetary sysems out of the reach of his insru-
ments, but whose existence is revealed by masses

HOLY GHOST. — CHARACTER AND SOURCE. 241

of light through which he cannot penetrate.
His science is unsatisfied, the little he has
learned but reveals to him the vastness and
extent of those fields of knowledge beyond his
power to enter, much less to reap.

If in relation to these grosser materials or
objects, and their relationship to each other,
man's knowledge is so limited, and his powers
of comprehension so restricted, the reader will
not be astonished when I tell him there is very
much that is beyond our power to understand in
relation to that most subtle, powerful, sensitive
and intelligent of all influences, known to us as
the Holy Ghost.

What little may be learned of this great
spiritual force in the universe, is to be found in
the revelations of God, from which we are given
to understand that this Holy Spirit which exists
throughout the universe and is the medium by
which it is governed, emanates from God.

Just previous to his crucifixion, Jesus said to
his disciples: "But when the Comforter [which is
the Holy Ghost — see John xiv, 26], is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the
Father he will testify of me."*

And this agrees with what the Lord has
revealed in this dispensation, in respect to this
Spirit. To a number of Elders who had assem-

'John xv : 26.

242 THE GOSPEL.

bled together, to learn the will of the Lord
concerning them — after telling them that he was
well pleased with them, and that their names
were written .in the book of the names of the
sanctified — he said: "Wherefore, I now send
upon you another Comforter, even upon you, my
friends, that it may abide in your hearts, even
the Holy Spirit of promise; which other Comfor-
ter is the same I promised unto my disciples, as
is recorded in the testimony of John.* This
Comforter is the promise which I give unto you
of eternal life; even the glory of the celestial
kingdom: which glory is that of the church of
the first-born; even of God, the holiest of all,
through Jesus Christ, his Son: he that ascended
up on high, as also he descended below all
things, in that he comprehended all things, that
he might be in all and through all things [that
is, by the power of his Spirit] the light of truth;
which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ
[or Holy Spirit]. As also he is [that is, by this
Spirit — the Holy Ghost], in the sun, and the
light of the sun, and the power thereof by
which it was made. As also he is in the moon,
and is the light of the moon, and the power there-
of, by which it was made. As also the light of the
stars, and the power thereof by which they were
made. And the earth also, and the power
thereof; even the earth upon which you stand.

*John xiv.

HOLY GHOST. CHARACTER AND SOURCE. 243

And the light which now shineth, which giveth
you light, is through him who enlighteneth your
eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth
your understandings; which light proceedeth forth
from the presence of God to fill the immensity of
space, the light which is in all things; which
giveth life to all things: which is the law by
which all things are governed; even the power
of God, who sitteth upon his throne, who is in
the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all
things. "*

The line in italics represents this "light"
which quickened the understanding of the Elders
to whom the revelation was addressed, as pro-
ceeding from the presence of God, and this is
wherein the testimony of this revelation agrees
with that of John. Both testify that this Spirit
emanates from God, and that this "light" which
"proceedeth forth from the presence of God to
fill the immensity of space, which giveth life
to all things, which is the law by which all things
are governed," is identical with that Spirit of
which Jesus was speaking, the Holy Ghost, can-
not be doubted. Hence, from this revelation we
learn not only the source of the Holy Ghost, but
that it permeates the universe, and is the power
by which the creations of God were brought
into existence, by which they subsist, and by

* Doc. and Cov., sec. Ixxxviii : 1-13.

244 THE GOSPEL.

which they are directed in their respective
spheres in such harmony and splendor.

To these ideas respecting the Holy Ghost
agree several other authoritative passages. The
Prophet Joseph Smith taught that the Holy
Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, "but
is a personage of Spirit;" and then adds: "Were
it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in
us."*

Again it is written: "The elements are the
tabernacle of God, yea man is the tabernacle of
God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is
defiled, God shall destroy that temple, "f This
cannot allude to God the Father or to God the
Son, because each has a tabernacle of flesh and
bones, as tangible as man's ;| but it alludes to
God the Holy Ghost, whose tabernacle is in the
elements of the universe, giving life and light
and intelligence to all things, and is the grand
medium of communication between God the
Father and his Son Jesus Christ and their vast
creations.

So much as to the source and nature of the
Holy Ghost; now let us turn our attention to
what it does for those who possess it, what gifts
and graces it bestows and develops in them.

* Doc. and Cov., sec. cxxx.

•f Doc. and Cov., sec. xciii; also I. Cor. iii : 16, 17 ; I. Cor., vi : 19.

J The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's;
the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and
bones, but is a personage of Spirit. (Doc. and Cov., sec. cxxx : 22;
see also Lectures on Faith, v : 2, 3.)

THE HOLY GHOST. ITS POWER. 245

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE HOLY GHOST. ITS POWER.

{®TS the time drew near for Jesus to make his
^^^ great sacrifice, and then depart from the
immediate presence of his disciples, he mani-
fested a great desire to comfort them in prospect
of this separation, and this he did by promis-
ing to send to them from the Father the Holy
Ghost, that he might abide with them for ever;*
and in explaining to them the powers of this
Spirit, he said: "But the Comforter, which is
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you. "

In continuation of his remarks on this subject,
he told them he had many things to say unto
them, but they could not bear them at that time.
"Howbeit, " said he, "when he, the Spirit of
Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
for he shall not speak of himself: but whatsoever
he shall hear that shall he speak: and he will
show you things to come. He shall glorify me:
for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it
unto you. All things that the Father hath are

*Johnxiv: 16,26.

246 THE GOSPEL.

mine: Therefore, said I, that he shall take of
mine, and shall show it unto you."*

From these passages four important things are
learned respecting the powers of the Holy Ghost:

I. That he will teach all things; and, what is
equivalent, "guide into all truth."

II. He will bring all things to remembrance,
that is, whatsoever things have been stored in
the mind.

III. He will show things to come.

IV. He will take of the things of God and
reveal them unto men.

Of the excellence and importance of these
several powers it is scarcely needful to speak,
since their excellence is evident, upon the mere
enumeration of them, yet one cannot refrain from
looking at them more in detail. How excellent
a thing it is to have a teacher competent to
teach all things, and guide into all truth' In
view of the fact that the saints possessed the
Holy Ghost, and that the Holy Ghost has these
powers, one can understand the reasonableness
of John's remarks to the saints, in which he
says: "But ye have an unction from the Holy
One, and ye know all things. * * * The
anointing which ye have received of him abideth
in you, and ye need not that any man teach you:
but as the same anointing teacheth you of all

»Johnxvi: 13 15.

THE HOLY' GHOST. — ITS POWER. 247

things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as
it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."*

Moreover, to that extent that a man is guided
into all truth, he is preserved from all error.
There is no danger of his being deceived, or led
astray by every wind of doctrine, or the cunning
craftiness of false teachers, so long as he is in
possession of that Spirit which guides into all
truth. So taught Isaiah, who, in speaking of the
time when the house of Israel should possess
this Spirit, says: "And though the Lord give
you the bread of adversity, and the water of
affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed
into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see
thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word
behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye
in it, when ye turn to the right hand and when
ye turn to the left, "f

As to the second power enumerated, viz. : the
power to bring all things to the recollection, I
maintain that it would be impossible for man to
live the law of the gospel without some such
grace being conferred upon him by the Lord.
The law of the gospel requires men not only to
do good to those who do good to them, but to
do good to those who despitefully use them; not
only to lend to those who lend to them, but to
lend to those of whom they can hope to receive
nothing in return; to revile not those who may

*I. Johuii: 20,27. f Isaiah xxx : 20,21.

248 THE GOSPEL.

revile them — in a word, the law of the gospel is
summed up in this: "Be ye not overcome of evil;
but overcome evil with good."*

However fine this may be in theory, or how-
ever beautiful it may look on paper, to carry it
practically into the affairs of life is difficult.

When reviled it seems but natural to answer
railing with railing, blows with blows, and for
injury inflicted, return as much in kind as is
within one's power to inflict. And unless in
possession of this grace bestowed by the Holy
Ghost, viz., having brought to one's recollection
the things of Christ's gospel, being reminded in
the very moment of temptation of these laws —
when smarting under a sense of injustice, or
suffering under wrongs heaped upon one — it
would be difficult if not impossible to live up to
these heavenly precepts. But by having the
Holy Spirit as one's prompter in the moments of
temptation, and by cultivating the Christian
virtue of patience, this law of the gospel, so
contrary to the natural disposition, may be com-
plied with, and the follower of Christ, like his
Master, may be able to say for those who inflict
injury upon him, "Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do."

Thirdly, "He will show you things to come."
In other words, the Holy Ghost is the spirit of
prophecy, for by it the future has been unfolded

* Romans xii : 21. See also Matt, v, vi.

THE HOLY GHOST. ITS POWER. 249

to the minds of the prophets: and ] by it the
scriptures were given. In proof of this I quote
the apostle Peter: "The prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man: but holy men of
God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost,"* and that which they spake was written
and became scripture.

When an angel visited John on Patmos and
that apostle fell at his feet to worship him, the
angel said: "See thou do it not: I am thy fellow
servant, and of thy brethren that have the testi-
mony of Jesus" [which is the Holy Ghost] :
"worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is
the Spirit of prophecy. "|

These facts will exhibit the inconsistency,
nay, I may say, the absolutely erroneous position
of those who insist that while the Holy Ghost
has continued with men, prophecy and revelation
have ceased.

The very fact, as stated in the fourth item
taken from these passages under consideration,
viz., that the Holy Ghost will take of the things
of the Lord and show them unto men, also
proves that this Spirit is one of revelation, and
is in harmony with the scripture — "The Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of
God. What man knoweth the things of man,
but the spirit of a man which is in him? Even

*II. Peter i : 21. f Eev. xix : 10.

250 THE GOSPEL.

so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God."*

In addition to these powers there is still
another, and it is an important one. The Holy
Ghost is a witness for God and Christ: "When
the Comforter is come," are the words of the
Son of God, "whom I will send unto you from
the Father, * * * he will testify of me. "|
The testimony of Paul is still more emphatic
than this: "No man speaking by the Spirit of
God calleth Jesus accursed; and no man can say
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. "J

I have shown in my remarks on the Holy
Ghost being "the Spirit of prophecy," that that
Spirit and this without which no man can say
that Jesus is the Lord — "the testimony of Jesus"
— are identical. Several other powers belonging
to this Spirit are also enumerated by Paul. He
gives us to understand that "There are diversities
of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are
differences of administration, but the same Lord.
* * * But the manifestation of the Spirit is
given to every man to profit withal. For to one
is given by the Spirit, the word of wisdom, to
another the word of knowledge by the same
Spirit: to another faith b}T the same Spirit; to
another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit:
To another the working of miracles; to another
prophecy; to another discerning of spirits, to

*I. Cor. ii : 11. 12. f John xv : 26. {I Cor. xii : 3.

THE HOLY GHOST. ITS POWER. 251

another divers kinds of tongues; to another
interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh
that one and the self same Spirit dividing to each
one severally as he will."*

In addition to this splendid array of powers
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, we are told that its
fruit "is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentle-
ness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temper-
ance.'^ Indeed we may say, in the language of
Apostle Parley P. Pratt, the Holy Spirit adapts
itself to all the organs and attributes of man.
"It quickens all the intellectual faculties,
increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the
natural passions and affections; and adapts them
by the gift of wisdom to their lawful use. It
inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all
the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred
feelings and affections of our nature. It inspires
virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness
and charity. It develops beauty of person, form
and feature. It tends to health, vigor, animation
and social feeling. It develops and invigorates
all the faculties of the physical and intellectual
man. It strengthens, invigorates and gives tone
to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow
to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes,
music to the ears, and life to the whole being. "J

Such is the Holy Ghost and its sanctifying
influence — such is the Spirit given to those who

* I. Cor. xii ; 4-22. | Gal. vi : 22, 23. {Key to Theology, p. 102.

252 THE GOSPEL.

accept the gospel, who believe in God and Jesus
Christ, who repent of their sins and are baptized
for the remission of them — then follows the bap-
tism of the Spirit, in other words, the reception
of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of
hands. Then is developed one or more of its
spiritual gifts, and its general purifying in-
fluences; enlarging the understanding, ennobling
every thought, making pure the heart; in short,
it draws man into a nearer relationship with his
God, and begins that spiritual education so
necessary to prepare him for the glorious
presence of his Creator — his Father.

CHAPTER XXX.

AUTHORITY.

I HAVE now considered, at some length, the
y doctrines and ordinances which constitute
the First Principles of the Gospel of Christ.
In connection with these principles, however,
there is another matter which must claim the
reader's attention; viz.: the important fact that
the gospel must be preached and its ordinances
administered by those having authority from
God; or the administrations will have no bind-
ing force in heaven or on earth, in time or in
eternity.

We are informed in the scriptures that the
Lord wrought special miracles by the hands of

AUTHORITY. 253

Paul, whom he had called to be his servant. The
sick were healed, aud evil spirits were cast out
of those who were possessed. "Then certain of
the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them
to call over them which had evil spirits, the
name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you,
by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were
seven sons, of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of
the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit
answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I
know, but who are ye? And the man in whom
the evil spirit was, leaped on them, and over-
came them, and prevailed against them, so that
they fled out of that house, naked and wounded."*
These men presumptuously took it upon them-
selves to act as those who had authority, and the
result was that not even the devils would respect
their administrations, much less the Lord.

There is a principle of great moment associated
with this incident. The question is, if these
men, when acting without authority from God
could not drive out an evil spirit, would their
administration be of force, or have any virtue in
it, had they administered in some other ordi-
nance of the Gospel, say baptism for the remis-
sion of sins, or laying on hands for imparting the
Holy Ghost? Manifestly it would not. And
hence we rightly come to the conclusion, so well
expressed in one of our articles of faith, that "A

•Actsxix: 13-16.

254 THE GOSPEL.

man must be called of God, by prophecy and by
the laying en of hands, by those who are in
authority to preach the gospel and administer
in the ordinances thereof."

Such a conclusion as this could reasonably be
drawn also from the words of Paul in Hebrews
where he says: "Every high priest taken from
among men is ordained for men in things per-
taining to God, that he may offer both gifts and
sacrifices for sins: * * * And no man taketh
this honor unto himself, but he that is called of
God as was Aaron."* The manner in which
Aaron was called to the priest's office is recorded
in the writings of Moses as follows: "Take thou
unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with
him from among the children of Israel, that he
may minister unto me in the priest's office, even
Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar,
Aaron's sons, "f

It may be objected that this was the law relat-
ing to the calling of high priests alone, but if
high priests are to be called in this manner, is it
not reasonable to conclude that all who adminis-
ter in "things pertaining to God" must be called
in the same way — that is, of God? So far as
the scriptures are concerned, and on subjects of
this character their authority is conclusive,
wherever we have an account of men administer-
ing in the things pertaining to God, and their

* Heb v. 1, 5. | Ex. xxviii, 1.

AUTHORITY. 255

administrations are accepted of him, they have
either been called direct!}" by revelation from
him, or through inspiration in those who already
had authority from God to act in his name; and
to be called by a legitimate, divinely established
authority is to be called of God.

On the other hand, whenever men have taken
it upon themselves to act in the name of God, so
far as any such instance is recorded, it has been
followed by some manifestation of displeasure
from him.

As an example of this statement, I call atten-
tion to the case of Uzza. The Lord appointed
Aaron and his sons to take special charge of the
ark of the covenant and all the holy things
belonging to it. When it became necessary for
the camp to move, after all things had been
arranged by Aaron and his sons, then the sons
of Kohash were to come to bear it; "but," said
the Lord, "they shall not touch any holy thing
lest they die."* Some generations after this,
King David undertook to move the ark from
Baalah, — called also Kirjathjearim, where it had
remained many years. Uzza. and Ahio drove the
cart on which the ark and its furniture were
placed, and when the company engaged in this
pious work reached Chidon, Uzza put forth his
hand to steady the ark, for the oxen stumbled,
but in doing so he broke the law which had been

*Num. iv: 15.

256 THE GOSPEL.

given to Israel* — he acted without authority "And
the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza,
and he smote him because he put his hand to
the ark; and there he died before God. ""f

Take still another case, that of Uzziah. He
was one of the kings of Israel; and for a long
time he prospered exceedingly because of his
righteousness. His enemies were smitten before
him, and wisdom was given him to fortify Jeru-
salem as it never had been fortified before. But
in the midst of his glory and the pride of his
heart, he undertook to minister in the temple of
God in the priest's office; and appeared before
the altar to burn incense. " And Azariah the
priest went in after him, and with him four score
priests of the Lord, that were Valiant men: And
they withstood Uzziah the king and said unto
him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to
burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests,
the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn
incense: Go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast
trespassed; neither shall it be to thine honor
from the Lord God. Then Uzziah was wroth,
and had a censer in his hand to burn incense:
and while he was wroth with the priests, the
leprosy even rose in his forehead before the
priests in the house of the Lord, from beside
the incense altar. And Azariah, the chief priest,
and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold,

* Num. iv : 15. f I. Chron. xiii : 10.

AUTHORITY. 257

he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust
him out from thence; yea himself hasted also to
go out, because the Lord had smitten him. And
Uzziah, the king, was a leper unto the day of
his death, and dwelt in a several house, being
a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the
Lord."*

Swift punishment followed upon the presump-
tuous attempt of this king to exercise the
authority of God without having had it conferred
upon him: and we have already seen that in
New Testament times the Lord would not have
respect for the administration of those who spoke
in his name without authority, no matter how
nearly they conformed to the forms of the cere-
mony; there was no force in it, and the devil
could and did prevail against him.

We have the testimony of Jesus respecting the
authority which he had conferred upon his
apostles; said he, "Ye have not chosen me, but
I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye
should go and bring forth fruit, "f

When seven men were chosen to look atter the
poor and minister to them, they set them before
the apostles who, when they had prayed, laid
their hands on them and ordained them to their
calling.];

So in the case of Paul. It was not enough that
he saw and spoke with the Messiah, not enough

* * II. Chron. xxvi. f J°hn xv : 16- t Acts vi : i"6-

258 THE GOSPEL.

to have Ananias come and baptize him, and
receive the Holy Ghost; for afterwards, when
the Lord would have him engage in the work of
preaching the gospel and administer in the ordi-
nances thereof, the Holy Ghost said unto certain
prophets at Antioch, "Separate me Barnabas
and Saul for the work whereunto I have called
them. And when they had fasted and prayed,
and laid their hands on them, they sent them
away."*

Furthermore, as Paul went about confirming
the souls of the saints, he ordained elders in
every church, f He did not suffer men to take
the authority on themselves to minister in the
things of God; but warned the saints against such
characters. Having assembled the elders of the
church of Ephesus, he said to them: "Take
heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over
which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers,
to feed the flock of God. * * * For I know
this that after my departing, shall grievous
wolves enter in, not sparing the flock. And of
your own selves, shall men arise, speaking per-
verse things, to draw away disciples after them."!

This same thing pressed itself upon his mind
when he wrote his Epistle to Timothy; for we
find him exhorting that worthy man to "Preach
the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering,

•Acts xiii : 1-3. | Acts, xiv: 2, 3. + Acts xx : 28, 29.

AUTHORITY. 259

and doctrine, for the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine; but after their
own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears; and they shall turn away
their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
unto fables."*

To this also agrees the testimony of Peter.
After speaking of the prophets that were in
ancient Israel, he says: "But there were false
prophets also among the people [then addressing
the saints of his own day], even as there shall
be false teachers among you, who privily shall
bring in damnable heresies, even denying the
Lord that bought them, and shall bring upon
themselves swift destruction. And many shall
follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom
the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. "f

That is just what happened. False teachers
arose, damnable heresies crept into the churches,
the Gospel was corrupted, and a few generations
after the gospel was introduced by the personal
ministry of John the Baptist and the Messiah
himself, the authority of God was taken from
among men.

Hence, when a knowledge of the Gospel was
restored to the earth in this last dispensation, it
became necessary to restore also the authority to
teach it, and administer its ordinances. For this
purpose John the Baptist, laboring under the

* II. Tim . iv : 2-4. | IJ Peter ii : 1, 2.

260 THE GOSPEL.

direction of Peter, James and John, was sent to
restore sufficient authority to administer the out-
ward ordinances, to teach faith and repentance,
and baptize for the remission of sins.*

Subsequently Peter, James and John were sent
of the Lordf some time in the early summer of
1829, and ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery to the holy Melchisedek Priesthood — in
fact, they were ordained apostles. JAnd as the
"Melchisedek priesthood holds the right of
presidency, and has power and authority over all
the offices in the church in all ages of the world
to administer in spiritual things"§ — these men,
Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, had authority
to administer in all the ordinances of salvation,
and to organize the Church of Christ; which,
under the direction of the Lord, they did. And
thus, not only has the Gospel been restored to
the earth in this last dispensation, but the
authority to administer in all its ordinances, and
to build up the Church of Christ and the King-
dom of God on earth has been brought from
heaven and bestowed upon men.

* Doc. and Cov. sec. xiii. f Doc. and Cov. sec xxvii : 12.
J Doc. and Cov. sec. xx : 2, 3. $ Doc. and Cov. sec. cvii:

LAWS OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT. 261

CHAPTER XXXI.

LAWS OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT.

F a man accepts the principles and obeys the
ordinances I have now treated upon, and I
hope with sufficient clearness, and they are
administered by men having authority from God
to act in his name, then he is born again, born
of the water and of the Spirit — born into the
kingdom of God, and hence is a child of God, a
citizen of his kingdom.

And since by submitting to these ordinances a
man is born into the kingdom, I would remind
the reader that his position in that kingdom is
closely analogous to the child just born naturally
into this world. It possesses all the faculties,
all the organs, all the limbs of a man, but they
are in embryo, undeveloped. The new born
infant has eyes, but it will be some time before
it will be able to distinguish objects, or recog-
nize even the kind face of its mother. It has
ears, but it cannot distinguish sounds; a tongue
but it cannot speak; limbs but it cannot stand
or walk or run; nor has it control of the muscles
of the hands or arms — it will have to wait for
growth and strength before these organs of sense
and motion are developed.

Its first attempts at the use of any of these

262 THE GOSPEL.

organs will necessarily be imperfect as to the
results. The tongue will speak the first words
but brokenly; the first step will be uneven and
staggering; the movements of the hands will be
erratic and awkward. But by persistent effort
the tongue that could only pronounce words
brokenly, becomes, at last, eloquent, and crowds
listen spellbound by the charm of its music. The
uneven, staggering step is changed finally for
the elastic step and noble carriage of graceful
manhood. The hands so awkward become by
practice the hands of the skilled artisan, com-
petent to execute whatever his mind may conceive.
So it is with those just born in the church of
Christ. They, at their birth, are not fully
developed men and women in the things of God.
It is expected that they will have to "grow in
grace and in the knowledge of God." Peter
exhorted the saints of his day to give all dili-
gence, and add to their faith virtue; "and to
virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance;
and to temperance patience; and to patience
godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness;
and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these
things be in you and abound," said he, "they
make you that ye shall neither be barren nor un-
fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ."* Such instructions are applicable to the
Saints of this or any other dispensation.

* II Peter i : 5 8.

LAWS OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT. 263

The new born saints will find themselves in a
new atmosphere, senitive to new forces operating
upon them, new powers developing within them:
and as the young child staggers in its first
attempts to walk, and has many a fall before it
will obtain complete control over its muscles — so
the new born member of Christ's church will
make many mistakes and perhaps blunders in
the days of his infancy.

For this reason, that the child of the kingdom
might not grow weary in his efforts at moral and
spiritual development, the Lord has revealed his
long-suffering and merciful kindness to those who
strive to keep his commandments. And such
is the weakness of mankind and their frequent
violations of the laws of God that had they not
the repeated assurances in the revelations
respecting God's character that he is slow to
anger, abundant in mercy and long-suffering, the
heart of man would grow faint, and his effort at
spiritual development would be palsied. But
with these facts firmly impressed on their minds
men struggle on — they pra)' and faint not*.

If there is one struggle more than another in
which the race is not to the swift nor the battle
to the strong, but to those who endure to the
end, it is in this struggle for eternal life. "He
that shall endure to the end the same shall be
saved," were the words of Jesus, and I know of

* Luke xviii : 1.

264 THE GOSPEL.

no other condition of salvation contemplated
in the Gospel of Christ, than this. "Be thou
faithful unto death," wrote John to the saints
at Smyrna, "and I will give thee a crown of
life."* "Blessed are they who do his commandment,
that they may have right to the tree of life;"f
and with such passages the scriptures are
replete.

There is no one great thing that man can do
and then do no more and obtain salvation.
After entering into the kingdom of God, in the
manner already pointed out in these pages, it
is by learning "precept upon precept; line upon
line; here a little and there a little," that salva-
tion will be made secure. It is by resisting a
temptation today, overcoming a weakness to-
morrow, forsaking evil associations the next day,
and thus day by day, month after month, year
after year, pruning, restraining and weeding out
that which is evil in the disposition, that the
character is purged of its imperfections.

Nor is it enough that one gets rid of evil.
He must do good. He must surround himself
with circumstances congenial to the sensitive
nature of the Holy Ghost, that it may not be
offended, and withdraw itself from him; for if
it does so, amen to his spiritual or moral
development. He must cultivate noble senti-
ments by performing noble deeds — not great

*Rev. ii : 10. fRev. ii : 14.

HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL. 265

ones, necessarily, for opportunity to perform
what the world esteem great things, comes but
seldom to men in the ordinary walks of life;
but noble deeds may be done every day; and
every such deed performed with an eye single
to the glory of God, draws one that much
nearer into harmony with the Deity. And "if
you wish to go where God is," said the Prophet
Joseph, "you must be like God, or possess the
principles which God possesses, for if we are not
drawing towards God in principle, we are going
from him and drawing towards the devil. " *

Thus by eschewing the evil inclinations of the
disposition on the one hand, and cultivating
noble sentiments on the other, a character may
be formed that shall be godlike in its attributes
and consequently its possessor will be fitted to
dwell with God, and if so prepared, there is no
question but his calling and election are sure.

CHAPTER XXXII.

HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL.

THINK it proper in this chapter to give a
brief history of the gospel — for this reason:
There is a very general idea existing in the
Christian world that nothing was known of the

*Hist. of Joseph Smith, Apr. 10, 1842.

266 THE GOSPEL.

gospel of Christ — its principles and ordinances,
until the personal ministry of the Messiah began;
whereas the truth is, the plan of redemption, the
gospel, was understood in the eternal heavens
before the foundations of the earth were laid;
and was revealed to the first patriarchs of the
race, and extensively preached many centuries
before the coming of Messiah in the flesh.

In proof of the statement that the plan of
redemption was understood before even the
creation of the earth, I quote the words of the
Lord to Abraham: "Now the Lord had shown
unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were
organized before the world was; and among all
these there were many of the noble and great
ones; and God saw these souls that they were
good, and he stood in the midst of them; and
he said, These I will make my rulers; for he
stood among those that were spirits, and he saw
they were good. * * * And there stood one
among them like unto God, and he said unto
those that were with him, We will go down, for
there is space there, and we will take of these
materials, and we will make an earth whereon
these may dwell; and we will prove them here-
with, to see if they will do all things whatsoever
the Lord their God shall command them; and
they who keep their first estate, shall be added
upon; and they who keep not their first estate,
shall not have glory in the same kingdom with
those who keep their first estate; and they who

HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL. 267

keep their second estate, shall have glory added
upon their heads for ever and ever."

"And the Lord said, who shall I send? And
one answered like unto the Son of Man, Here
am I, send me. And another answered and said,
Here am I, send me. And the Lord said, I will
send the first. And the second was angry, and
kept not his first estate, and, at that day, many
followed after him. And then the Lord said,
Let us go down: and they went down at the
beginning, and they organized and formed (that
is the Gods), the heavens and the earth."*

This is a brief account of the controversy there
was in heaven, in respect to the plan that should
be adopted for the salvation of man, when in his
second estate.

In the writings of Moses, as revealed to Joseph
Smith, the matter is made still more clear.
There we have an account of Satan appearing
before Moses, and of his seeking to induce that
faithful man to worship him instead of God; but
Moses rebuked him in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and afterwards the Lord appeared unto
him and said: "Satan, whom thou hast com-
manded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is
the same which was from the beginning, and he
came before me, saying, Behold I, send me, I
will be thy Son, and I will redeem all mankind,
that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will

Pearl of Great Price, p. 41.

268 THE GOSPEL.

do it; wherefore, give me thine honor. But,
behold, my beloved Son, which was my beloved
and chosen from the beginning, said unto me,
Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine
forever. Wherefore, because Satan rebelled
against me [his plans being rejected, as we have
already seen], and sought to destroy the agency
of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him,
and also that I should give unto him mine own
power, by the power of mine Only Begotten, I
caused that he should be cast down, and he
became Satan "*

From this we learn the cause of Lucifer's
rejection and rebellion— his plan for man's
redemption was of such a character that it would
have destroyed the agency of man, and robbed
God of his honor; and because that plan was
rejected, he rebelled against God and was cast
out of heaven. This was before the creation of
the earth, and this controversy about which the
rebellion took place was in relation to the plan
of salvation — the gospel.

These things were revealed to the Prophet
Joseph, and they throw a perfect flood of light
upon the scriptures which refer to Christ as the
"Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, "f
From that expression we see that Jesus was
chosen to make the atonement from the founda-
tion of the world, and that the gospel was under-

* Pearl of Great Price, p. 9. f Rev. xiii : 8.

HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL. 269

stood from the beginning. The Prophet Joseph
Smith said that "at the first organization in
heaven we were all present, and saw the Savior
chosen and appointed and the plan of salvation
made, and we sanctioned it."

Coming to the time when the gospel was intro-
duced among men on this earth, we find it began
by a commandment to Adam to worship the
Lord his God, and to offer the firstlings of his
flock for an offering unto the Lord. Many days
after this commandment had been given, an angel
of the Lord visited Adam and asked him why he
offered up sacrifices. To which Adam replied:
"I know not, save the Lord commanded me."
"And the angel spake, saying: This thing is a
similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten
of the Father. * * * Wherefore, thou shalt
do all that thou doest in the name of the Son,
and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the
name of the Son forevermore. And in that day
the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth
record of the Father and the Son, saying, I am
the Only Begotten of the Father from the begin-
ning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast
fallen thou mayest be redeemed; and all man-
kind, even as many as will."*

Enoch, several centuries after this, in describ-
ing these events that occurred in the early
experience of Adam, said: "He [the Lord] called

* Pearl of Great Price, p. 12.

270 THE GOSPEL.

upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying,
I am God: I made the world, and men before
they were in the flesh. * * * If thou wilt
turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and
believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and
be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine
Only Begotten Son, * * * which is Jesus
Christ, the only name which shall be given
under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto
the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost." * * * And it came to
pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam,
our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and
he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord,
and was carried down into the water, and was
laid under the water, and was brought forth out
of the water. And thus he was baptized; and
the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus
he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened
in the inner man. And he heard a voice out of
heaven, saying, Thou art baptized with fire, and
with the Jioly Ghost. This is the record of the
Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever;
and thou art after the order of him who was
without the beginning of days or end of years,
from all eternit)', to all eternity. Behold, thou
art one in me, a Son of God; and thus may all
become my sons."*

The reader will here observe that the same

* Pearl of Great Price, p. 17.

HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL. 271

principles and ordinances were taught to Adam,
as the means of salvation, as have been set forth
in these pages as the First Principles of the
Gospel of Christ. They continued on through
the generations of the patriarchs to the days of
Noah; and from Noah through the fathers to
Abraham, and from Abraham to Moses. At
least in one of the revelations of the Lord con-
tained in the Doctrine and Covenants, we have
the continuance of the Melchisedek Priesthood
traced out through the line of the fathers from
Moses to Abraham, from Abraham to Noah, and
from Noah to Adam,* and I see not how this
priesthood can exist among men and not the
gospel: for that is what this priesthood is for —
to administer in the ordinances of the gospel, and
it is obtained through obedience to the gospel.

That the gospel was taught to Abraham and to
ancient Israel is also evident from the Jewish
scriptures. Paul, in writing to the saints in
Galatia explained to them that, "The scriptures,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be
blessed, "f From this then it is clear that the
Gospel was taught to Abraham.

The question, however, may arise, what gospel
was it? Was it the same gospel which we have
seen was taught to Adam; the same that was

* Doc. and Cov. sec. Ixxxiv. f Gal. iii : 8.

272 THE GOSPEL.

taught by the Messiah and his apostles? To
which I reply there is but one gospel. There
never was but one plan ordained by which man-
kind are to be saved; and that is denominated
in the scriptures "The everlasting gospel," to
express its sameness in all generations. Such as
it was formed in the grand council of heaven,
such it has remained in all ages, and in all
dispensations. It is sealed by the precious
blood of the Son of God, and like the great Law-
giver whose mind conceived it, whose wisdom
brought it into existence, it changes not, neither
is there a shadow of variableness in it.

So thoroughly imbued with this idea was the
apostle Paul that he said — in writing his epistle
to the Galatians: "Though we or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than
that which we have preached unto you, let him
be accursed. As we said before, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto
you than that ye have received, let him be
accursed."* The "gospel" preached to Abraham,
was the gospel of the Son of God; there is no
other.

But I have also stated that the gospel was
taught to ancient Israel in the days of Moses;
and in proof of this I offer the following:

In the third chapter of Hebrews, Paul alludes
to the transgression of ancient Israel, especially

* Gal. i : 8, 9.

HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL. 273

to those who, by reason of their sins, were de-
stroyed in the wilderness. Then, in opening the
fourth chapter, he says: "Let us therefore fear,
lest a promise being left us, of entering into his
rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
For unto us [the people of his day] was the
gospel preached, as well as unto them [meaning
ancient Israel] ; but the word preached did not
profit them [ancient Israel], not being mixed
with faith in them that heard it."*

Paul makes a further allusion to the gospel
being with the children of Israel, in the days of
Moses. Writing to the Corinthians he said:
"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should
be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under
the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and
were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and
in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual
meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink;
for they drank of that spiritual Rock that fol-
lowed them: and that Rock was Christ. "f

But now to return to the epistle to the
Galatians, in which we learned the gospel was
taught to Abraham. After making that state-
ment, Paul asks the question: "Wherefore then
serveth the law?" That is, if the gospel was
preached to Abraham, how came the law of
Moses into existence, why was it given to ancient
Israel and binding on them? To which the

*Heb. iv : 1, 2. fl.Cor. x : 1-4.

274 THE GOSPEL.

apostle replies: "It was added because of trans-
gression, till the seed should come to whom the
promise was made. * * * Wherefore the law
was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,
that we might be justified by faith."*

The matter is still more plainly set forth in
the Doctrine and Covenants. In speaking of
the priesthood and the ordinances belonging
thereto — through which ordinances "the power
of godliness is manifest; and without the ordi-
ances thereof, and the authority of the priest-
hood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto
men in the flesh; for without this" — that is
without the priesthood and its ordinances — "no
man can see the face of God even the Father and
live, "t The Lord says: "Now this Moses
plainly taught to the children of Israel in the
wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his
people that they might behold the face of God:
but they hardened their hearts, and could not
endure his presence, therefore the Lord in his
wrath (for his anger was kindled against them)
swore that they should not enter into his rest
while in the wilderness, which rest is the fullness
of his glory. Therefore he took Moses out of
their midst, and the holy priesthood also; and
the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood
holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and
the preparatory gospel; which gospel is the

Gal. iii : 19, 24. f Doc. and Cov., sec. Ixxxiv : 21, 22.

HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL. 275

gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the
remission of sins, and the law of carnal com-
mandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused
to continue with the house of Aaron among the
children of Israel until John."*

The above is confirmed by the Jewish scrip-
tures also; for it is written in the concluding
chapter of Deuteronomy — "There arose not
a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom
the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and
the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in
the land of Egypt, "f

Of the things we have spoken respecting the
gospel being presented to Israel, this is the sum:
The Lord gave them the gospel, but because
they would not observe its sacred requirements,
he took it, that is in its fullness, from among
them, and also the higher or Melchisedek Priest-
hood; but left them the lesser or Aaronic
Priesthood, and to the part of the gospel which
remained, viz., repentance and baptism for the
remission of sins, was added the law of carnal
commandments, which was to educate them for
the fullness of the gospel when Messiah should
come with it. At the appointed time Messiah
came and taught the gospel of the kingdom; and
though the Jews as a nation rejected him, and
their sanhedrim sentenced him to death, yet a
few received his teachings, and among them the

* Doc. and Cov., sec. Ixxxiv : 19, 27. | Deut. xxxiv : 10-12.

276 THE GOSPEL.

Lord Jesus organized His church, established his
-priesthood and gave to his servants a command-
ment to go and teach all nations.

They were faithful in discharging their com-
mission, and many received their testimony and
obeyed the gospel. Satan, however, working in
the hearts of the disobedient, stirred them up to
anger against the saints of God, and they were
persecuted, imprisoned, and slain. All the
apostles, save John, sealed their testimony with
their blood, and thousands of their followers
were put to death. Edicts the most cruel and
heartless were formulated against them by the
Roman emperors, and executed with relentless
vindictiveness, until the saints of God were well
nigh destroyed.*

Meantime heresies crept into the churches;
false teachers arose teaching perverse doctrines
to draw away disciples after them; the Gospel
was perverted, the laws thereof were trans-
gressed, the ordinances were changed, the
covenant was broken, until scarcely a vestige of
the gospel as delivered to men by the Son of
God and his authorized servants remained.

After the sword, the prison, the rack, and the
flame in the hands of a powerful, pagan govern-
ment, together with apostate influences and false
teachers had done what they could to break down
or corrupt the church of Christ, then another

* See Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, part II., " The apostasy.

HISTORY OF THE GOSPEL. 277

evil, more dangerous than all that had gone
before was brought to bear upon it. A Roman
Emperor, Constantine, was converted to the
"Christian religion" — yet by that time, 313 A. D.,
no more like the religion of Christ than dim,
misty twilight is like the glorious light of the
noon-day sun. He soon loaded the bishops with
new honors, dignities and powers. The churches
were made wealthy, and luxurious living suc-
ceeded the simplicity in the manner of life
characteristic of earlier times among the followers
of Christ. This luxury, ever more dangerous
than storms or quicksands, poverty or chains,
proved more disastrous to the church, more
fruitful in its corruptions of the Gospel than the
storms of persecution which had beaten upon it
from its inception.

Through these combined evils that I have very
briefly enumerated, the gospel was corrupted, the
authority of God, the priesthood, was taken from
among men; and then followed long ages of
spiritual darkness and wickedness. At last,
however, the time came to usher in the dispen-
sation of the fullness of times, in which all things
in Christ, both things which are in heaven and
things which are in earth, are to be gathered in
one, and the work of the Father pertaining to
the salvation of this creation, the earth, and
those who inhabit it, is to be consummated.

To open up this work a prophet was raised up
in the person of Joseph Smith, and to him the

278 THE GOSPEL.

Lord revealed his purposes; telling him also that
the creeds of men were an abomination in his
sight; that men were drawing near to him with
their lips but their hearts were far from him;
that they taught for doctrine the commandments
of men, having a form of godliness but denying
the power thereof.*

After this the angel Moroni was sent to reveal
the Book of Mormon; and as it contained an
account of the gospel as it was taught to the
ancient Nephites on the western hemisphere by
the Messiah, and the prophets and apostles
authorized to teach in his name; and as this
record had been preserved for generations from
the hands of wicked men, and has never been
corrupted, it contains the fullness of the gospel
in its plainness.

While this Nephite record was in course of
translation the Lord sent John the Baptist, as
already stated in the chapter on authority, to
restore the Aaron ic Priesthood; afterwards Peter,
James and John came and restored the Melchi-
sedek Priesthood, and by the authority which
these priesthoods conferred upon him, and under
the direction of the Almighty, the Prophet
Joseph Smith organized the church, and ordained
men and sent them out to preach the gospel in
all the world, as a witness that the end was near.

* Pearl of Great Price, p 57.

SALVATION FOR THE DEAD. 279

For more than fifty years has this proclamation
been sounded among the nations, and thousands
have been gathered to the place appointed for
the saints to assemble and prepare for the
glorious coming of the Messiah. The work has
met storms of opposition from the press, pulpit
and Congress. Ridicule and the violence of
mobs have assailed it; drivings, confiscations of
property, imprisonment, and banishment have
at various times conspired to dishearten those
who have accepted it. But in spite of pulpit,
press and Congress; in spite of ridicule, the
violence of mobs, unjust imprisonment, schemes
of confiscation and drivings, the church of Christ
moves steadily on to the fulfillment of its high
destiny, and the gospel is being preached in all
the world.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

SALVATION FOR THE DEAD. •

fHE reader will have observed, doubtless,
that according to the history of the gospel,
as given in the last chapter, there have been
long periods of time when it has not been upon
the earth.

One of these periods was from the time that
Moses and the Holy Priesthood, together with

280 THE GOSPEL.

the fullness of the gospel, were taken from among
the children of Israel, until the restoration of
the gospel in the days of Messiah's ministry in
the flesh. Another such period was from the
time the gospel was corrupted, in the first two
or three centuries of the Christian era, and its
restoration in the present dispensation, through
the Prophet Joseph Smith.

What became of those who lived in those long
periods of time — those untold millions, who
never so much as heard the gospel? — I might
push the inquiry still further, by calling attention
to the fact that even when the gospel has been
upon the earth, there are countless millions who
lived and died without having an opportunity of
obeying it. What is their fate?

In order that the force of these remarks may
appear more clearly, I will refer to the present
state of the religious world, that is, to the
strength of the respective religions, as represented
by numbers:

According to the latest and best information
on the subject, there are throughout the world:
Roman Catholics 206,588,206

Protestants 89,825,348

Greek and Russian Churches 75,691,382

Oriental Churches - 6,770,000

Making the total of all Christians 378,874,936
The other religions stand as follows:

SALVATION FOR THE DEAD. 281

Brahminical Hindoos 120,000,000
Followers of Buddha, Shinto and

Confucius 482,600,000

Mohammedans 169,054,789

Jews 7,612,784

Parsees (fire worshipers in Persia) 1,000,000

Pagans, not otherwise enumerated 227,000,000

Making a total of 1,007,267,573*

From this showing it is seen that only a little
more than one-third of the world's population
are even professing Christians; the other two-
thirds know nothing of Christ or of salvation
through his Gospel. No one, however, will con-
tend that all professing Christianity will be
entitled to salvation, for the very good reason that
they do not adopt its precepts in the practices
of their lives; so that the one-third that are
enumerated as Christians would be reduced to
much less than that fraction of the world's popu-
lation if this consideration is taken into account.

Even if you grant that the gospel of Christ has
been upon the earth for the past eighteen cen-
turies, as the Christian world claim, here is a
serious question confronting them, viz. : What is
to be the fate of this greater part of the children
of God who have never heard of Christ, and
know nothing of the Christian religion?

* These statements are taken from a recent work published by
Gay Bros. & Co., New York, entitled, " What the World Believes ,>

282 THE GOSPEL.

This is a question which confronted those who
declared that the gospel and authority to adminis-
ter in its ordinances had not been upon the earth
for a number of centuries. It is a question which
confronts them today; but it also may be asked
of Christians generally, for even if you allow
that they and their fathers before them have had
and still have the gospel, here is the great
majority of the human race — the children of God
— who have not had it in the past generations,
and do not have it even now. What becomes of
the neglected ones?

To this question the Saints used to reply, in
one of their hymns —

. " God is just is all we say,
Seek no crop where 'twas not planted,
Nor the day where reigns the night ;
Now the sunshine bright is beaming.
Let all creatures see aright."

Since those days, however, further light has
been revealed from heaven, which gives enlarged
views in respect to the plan of human redemp-
tion, and brings out in strong relief the justice
and mercy of God; enlarges the hope, and dis-
pels the gloom of wretchedness that man-made
systems of th'eology have cast over religion.

The principle which has performed all this,
a principle which is permeating all religious
thought and shattering to their foundations the
old schools of theology, was first revealed by
the prophet Elijah, in the Kirtland Temple, in
1836.

SALVATION FOR THE DEAD. 283

It is written in Malachi: "Behold I will send
you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he
shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. "*

This prophecy, for so long before the people
in the Jewish scriptures, yet no one knowing
the meaning thereof, was fulfilled by the afore-
said coming of Elijah to the Kirtland Temple,
on the 3rd of April, 1836.

This appearance of Elijah is described as
follows — by the way, however, his appearance
was preceded by a vision of the Lord Jesus,
then of Moses, then of Elias, who committed
the keys of the dispensation of the gospel of
Abraham — "After this vision had closed," says
the prophet, "another great and glorious vision
burst upon us, for Elijah the prophet, who was
taken to heaven without tasting death, stood
before us and said, Behold, the time has fully
come, which was spoken of by the mouth of
Malachi, testifying that he (Elijah) should be
sent before the great and dreadful day of the

* Mai. iv : 5, 6. The manner in which Moroni quoted this scrip-
ture to the prophet Joseph Smith was, " Behold I will reveal unto
you the priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the
coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he shall
plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers,
and the hearts of the children shall turn to the fathers. If it were
not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at Sis coming.
(Pearl of Great Price.)

284 THE GOSPEL.

Lord come, to turn the hearts of the fathers to
the children, and the children to the fathers,
lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse.
Therefore the keys of this dispensation are com-
mitted into your hands, and by this ye may know
that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is
near, even at the door."*

The key of knowledge this prophet revealed
was in relation to salvation for the dead; the
means by which the principles and ordinances
of salvation could be applied to those who had
lived in those periods of time when the gospel
was not upon the earth; and also to those who
had lived when the gospel was on the earth, but
who had not the privilege of hearing it; aye,
and even to those who had heard and rejected
it; though the spirits of this last class of persons
must go to the prison house where they will be
required to pay the utmost farthing for their
wickedness in rejecting the mercies of God; and
will, through their disobedience, have shut them-
selves out from the heights of glory and exaltation
they might have attained unto had they but
accepted the truth in the love of it, and walked
in harmony with its teachings.

This key of knowledge, I say, gives enlarged
views of the mercies of God, and reveals the fact
that every man, both in time and eternity, will
always have the privilege of doing right, and

* Doc. and Cov. sec. ex,

SALVATION FOR THE DEAD. 285

reaping the reward of his righteousness. It
brought to light the grand truth that this earth
was not the only place where men could hear the
gospel and give assent to its doctrines. On the
contrary it gives us to understand that in the
spirit world the gospel is preached' to the
departed spirits of men, that is, to those who
have departed from this life and that there they
are instructed in the way of salvation.

These facts give life and meaning to the scrip-
ture which says: "Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit; by which also he
went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
which sometimes were disobedient, when the
long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah
while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that
is eight souls, were saved by water."*

In the chapter following the one I have quoted,
the apostle remarks: "For this cause was the
gospel preached also to them that are dead,
that they might be judged according to men in
the flesh, but live according to God in the
spirit, "f This last quotation proves as plainly
as plain statement of holy writ can prove any-
thing, that the gospel is preached also to the
dead, as well as to the living; and not only that,
but likewise assigns the reason why it is preached

* I. Peter iii : 18-20. | Verse 6.

286 THE GOSPEL.

to them, viz. : that those to whom it is thus
preached might live according to God in the
spirit — that is, live in harmony with the precepts
of the gospel taught to them, that they may be
judged as men will be who have the gospel
preached to them in the flesh.

The first passage quoted gives us to under-
stand that the spirit of Jesus went to those spirits
that were in prison — to those who had rejected
the gospel in the days of Noah, and who from
the time of the flood until Jesus visited them,
had been paying the penalty of their disobedience
in the prison-house prepared for such characters.

In the light of these facts several other scrip-
tures are made plain. We can understand now
more clearly the words of Jesus to his apostles,
when he said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming and now is, when the dead
shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they
that hear shall live."* And also the words of
Isaiah, when speaking of the mission of the Son
of God, wherein he tells us that not only is Jesus
to be a covenant unto the people, and a light
unto the gentiles, but he is also to bring out the
prisoners from the prison house. This is the
passage: "I the Lord have called thee in right-
eousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep
thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the gentiles; to open the blind

•John v: 25.

SALVATION FOR THE DEAD. 287

eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and them that sit in darkness, out of the prison
house.*

And, as it was with those who rejected the
gospel in the days of Noah, so will it be with
those who reject the gospel in the days of the
coming of the Son of Man. Such is the predic-
tion of the prophet Isaiah. After describing the
judgments that will attend the glorious coming
of the Son of God, and the punishment that shall
overtake the ungodly, he says: "And it shall
come to pass, in that day, that the Lord shall
punish the hosts of the high ones that are on
high, and the kings of the earth, upon the earth.
And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners
are in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison;
and after many days they shall be visited, ""f

But while the gospel is preached in the spirit
world, it appears from all that can be learned
upon the subject, that all the outward ordinances,
as baptisms, confirmations, ordinations, anoint-
ings, sealings, etc., etc., must be performed
vicariously here upon earth for those who accept
the gospel in the world of spirits. This is the
work that children may do for their progenitors,
and upon learning this, the hearts of the children
are turned to their fathers; and the fathers in
the spirit world, learning that they are dependent
upon the action of their posterity for the per-

* Isaiah xlii : 6, 7. | Isaiah xxiv : 21, 22.

288 THE GOSPEL.

formance of the ordinances of salvation, their
hearts are turned to the children; and thus the
work that was predicted should be performed by
Elijah — turning the hearts of the children to the
fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the
children, was accomplished in restoring the key
of knowledge respecting the salvation for the
dead.

This, however, is no new doctrine. We have
already seen that Peter understood that the
Messiah went and preached to the spirits who
had rejected the gospel in the days of Noah; and
also that the gospel was preached to the dead —
without confining it to those who lived in the
days of Noah or any other period.

Nor is this all, for Paul says to the saints at
Corinth: "Else what shall they do which are
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?
Why are they then baptized for the dead?"* And
why, I ask, does Paul make this very plain
allusion to baptism for the dead, if there is no
such ordinance connected with the gospel? No
other passage of scripture perplexes the theolo-
gians more than this one, and they have
exhausted their ingenuity in trying to explain
away the evident meaning of it, because it is
destructive of some of their horrible dogmas in
respect to the eternal damnation of those who

I. Cor. xv : 29.

SALVATION FOR THE DEAD. 289

do not have the good fortune to become acquainted
with the truth in this probation.

"From the wording of the sentence" — else what
shall they do which are baptized for the dead,
if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then
baptized for the dead? — "the most simple impres-
sion certainly is, that Paul speaks of a baptism .
which a living man receives in the place of a
dead one. This interpretation is particularly
adopted by those expounders with whom gram-
matical construction is of paramount importance,
and the first thing to be considered."* To this
rendering of the passage could be drawn up a
long list of respectable authorities, among them
Erasmus, Scaliger, Grotius, Calixtus, Meyer and
De Wette.

Epiphanius, a writer of the fourth century, in
speaking of the Marcionites, a sect of Christians
to whom he was opposed, says: "In this country
— I mean Asia — and even in Galatia, their school
flourished eminently; and a traditional fact con-
cerning them has reached us, that when any of
them had died without baptism, they used to
baptize others in their name, lest in the resurrec-
tion they should surfer punishment as unbap-
tized. "f This proves beyond controversy the fact
that vicarious baptism for the dead was practiced
among some sects of the early Christians.

Another fact proves it still more emphatically

* Biblical Literature (Kitto) Art. Baptism, f Heresies, xxiii : 7.

290 THE GOSPEL.

than this statement of Epiphanius. The Council
of Carthage, held A. D. 397, in its sixth canon,
forbids the administration of baptism and the
hol)r communion for the dead; and why would
this canon be formed against these practices if
they had no existence among the Christians of
those days?

We have now seen, not only that baptism for
the dead is a principle known to and doubtless
practiced by the Corinthian saints, in the days
of Paul — and evidently with his approval — and
by some of the Christian sects for two or three
centuries after his time; but we have also seen
that it was forbidden by the council of an
apostate church in the fourth century.

In the dispensation in which we now live,
however, the knowledge of the ordinance, with a
commandment to practice it, and with instruc-
tions necessary to its practice, has been restored;
and the erection of costly temples, in which this
and other ordinances for the dead may be
administered, testifies to the zeal with which the
Latter-day Saints enter into this work; and is a
living testimony to the world that there was
virtue in the mission of Elijah. He succeeded in
turning the hearts of the children to the fathers;
and we may reasonably conclude that the hearts
of the fathers have been turned to the children,
for they without us cannot be made perfect.

This doctrine of salvation for the dead strikes
a deadly blow to the horrible dogmas formulated

SALVATION FOR THE DEAD. 291

by uninspired men in the dark ages of apostasy,
in relation to the eternal punishment of those who
die unconverted and in an impenitent condition.
According to the aforesaid dogmas such persons
are damned to all eternity, without the least hope
for redemption; and ingenuity has exhausted
itself to present to the mind the duration of their
sufferings.

In, the month of March, 1830 — six years before
the coming of Elijah — the Lord explained,
through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the meaning
of the terms eternal punishment and endless
punishment, in regard to which men have gone
astray. In that explanation it is said: "Behold
the mystery of godliness, how great is it? For,
behold, I am Endless, and the punishment which
is given from my hand, is endless punishment,
for Endless is my name; wherefore

"Eternal punishment is God's punishment.

"Endless punishment is God's punishment."*

The punishment takes its name from him who
administers it; and, since God is Endless, the
punishment he inflicts is called endless or eternal.

And, indeed, the punishment exists eternally,
and stands ready to be applied to those who
violate the laws of righteousness. But because
the penalty stands ever ready to vindicate any
law which may be broken, it does not necessarily
follow that persons violating the law will for ever

* Doc. and Cov., sec. xix : 10-12.

292 THE GOSPEL.

have to endure punishment. Mercy, though not
allowed to rob justice, somewhere, and at some
time, will step forward and claim her own; per-
mitting the violator of law to endure punishment
no longer than is necessary to vindicate the law,
and satisfy the reasonable claims of justice.
Hence we may conclude, that while the actions
of men in this probation will greatly affect their
standing in the life that is to come, those actions
do not, in every case, fix the status of men for
eternity.

This doctrine of salvation for the dead not only
enlarges the hope of man, but it gives him nobler
conceptions of the character of the Deity, and
increases his admiration for him. In fact, to my
thinking, this doctrine strips the character of
God in the inhuman and vindictive cruelty
which men, in the past, have delighted to repre-
sent him as possessing; and gives new force,
and, perhaps, new meaning to the expression,
"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we
are of all men the most miserable."

It also vindicates the wisdom of Deity; for it
must be a very imperfect wisdom that would
construct a plan for the redemption of mankind
so imperfect in its operations, so limited in its
application as to miss the great majority of man-
kind, and leave them without redemption
throughout the countless ages of eternity. But
when one is given to understand, and surely such
an understanding is given one in the revelations

LAWS Of SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT. 293

of God to which the reader's attention has been
directed — when one learns that sometime in the
eternities, somewhere in the numberless creations
of God, the proclamation of the gospel will
overtake all the children of our Father, and they
have the privilege of accepting it, and will be
saved by it, and permitted to enjoy all the hap-
piness and glory their nature and degree of
development enables them to encompass — the
wisdom, mercy, justice and love of God all
stand out in bold relief; and man's heart is
warmed with increased admiration and devotion
to him: for it teaches him that he worships not
a tyrant who delights in the miseries and damna-
tion of his children, but one whose great pleasure
and design it is to bring to pass the eternal
happiness of man.

CONCLUSION.

task now draws to a close. I have com-
pleted the exposition of the First Princi
pies of the Gospel of Christ, contemplated in this
work. I have endeavored to explain what the
Gospel is — its two-fold powers of redeeming
mankind from the consequences of Adam's trans-
gression; and also from the consequences of their
own personal violations of the principles of
righteousness, on the condition of their repent-
ance and obedience.

The various principles and ordinances consti-

294 THE GOSPEL.

tuting the gospel have been analyzed and the
nature and object of each considered in detail,
and then in their relationship to each other — how
one principle or ordinance prepares the way and
leads up to another: and lastly, their application
to mankind, not only in this probation, but how
they follow them into the spirit world and
throughout the eternities, forever inviting him
to peace and eternal felicity.

In all this I see a most perfect system of moral
and spiritual philosophy — the perfection of
beauty and goodness — a harmonious blending of
justice and mercy, of truth and love. How far
these pages exhibit those powers and beauties
of the gospel, it will be for the reader to judge.
But in passing that judgment I ask him to
remember this:

Our whitest pearls we never find.

Our ripest fruit we never reach ;
The flowering moments of the mind,

Drop half their petals in our speech

And in this probation I do not believe it is
given to man to comprehend all the force, the
excellence, beauty and power of the gospel.
These things will be revealed in their fullness
only in eternity.

SUPPLEMENT.

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY.

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY.

WHAT IS MAN THAT THOU ART MINDFUL OF HIM?
AND THE SON OF MAN THAT THOU VISITEST HIM.*

I.

AN order to a clear understanding of man's
y redemption through the atonement of Jesus
Christ — the grand central truth of the gospel — it
is necessary to know something of the relation-
ship between God and man. The very fact that
such a sacrifice was made for his redemption —
being no less than the immolation of him, who
in heaven bore the second name — argues at once
some special relationship between man and Deity.
In view of the greatness and importance of that
sacrifice, we may well ask, with the Psalmist,
"What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
and the son of man that thou visitest him?"
These questions lead to the investigation of
man's origin; for upon his origin his relationship
to God depends.

A discussion of this subject must be very
imperfect, not to say partial, that does not give
some attention to the various theories — at least
to the most prominent ones — of man's origin.
It is scarcely necessary to say that theories on

* Psalms viii : 4.
11

298 THE GOSPEL.

the subject are quite numerous and widely
different; and that in each school of philosophers
are men eminent for their learning and intelli-
gence. All existing theories, however, may be
arranged under three headings: First, the mono-
genists, who hold that mankind have descended
from a single human pair, created by Deity; and
their descendants, modified by climatic influences,
food, habits of life and thought constitute the
various races of men — this is the theory of those
who accept the Bible as authority on the subject;
second, the polygenists, who insist not only on
one act of creation, but upon a number of inde-
pendent creations, "each giving birth to essential,
unchangeable peculiarities of a separate race, thus
constituting a diversity of species with primal
adaptation to their geographical distribution;"
third, the evolutionists, who believe all existing
species are but developments of pre-existing and
lower forms of life; which, in their turn, were
but developments of still lower forms, and so on
back, back until you reach the spontaneous
generation of the lowest types of vegetable and
animal life, "as the accumulation of mold upon
food, the swarming of maggots in meat, * * *
the generation of insect life in decaying vegetable
substances, the birth of one form arising out of
the decay of another; the slow and gradual
unfolding from a lower to a higher sphere, acting
through a long succession of ages, culminating in
the grandeur of intellectual manhood."

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 299

Of these theories the first and last only need
detain us; and since the theory of evolution is
the one more generally accepted by scientific
men, and is making rapid progress among the
masses, I think it proper to state the basis of
this theory more in detail.

The absurdities which theologians have associ-
ated with the first named hypothesis of the origin
of man and the universe is largely responsible for
the existence of the theory of evolution. Find-
ing so much that was contrary to well known
facts, not so much in the theory itself, as in the
explanations of it by its advocates, induced men
of intelligence to look for some other explanation
of the genesis of things.

It was doubtless observed that many remark-
able resemblances exist between man and the
inferior animals. In embryonic development,
in physical structure, in material composition
and the functions of organs, man and the
superior animals are strikingly alike. The skele-
ton of man when examined minutely and com-
pared with the skeletons of the higher order of
animals, seems only a modification of them, and
in some instances the modifications appear
extremely slight. This resemblance also exists
among the inferior animals, and it was this,
doubtless, which gave birth to the idea of a
common origin for all existing species.

Side by side with the above mentioned facts
are others that sustain, it is claimed, the idea

300 THE GOSPEL.

of common origin; and suggest an explanation
of how the varieties of animal and vegetable
forms were brought into existence. The great
law of nature is for like to beget like; the
tendency of offspring is always to reproduce the
parent forms, as every seed produces its kind;
that is the general law of nature, and to it a
special name is given — it is called atavism. But
notwithstanding this general law, there is a
modification of it, a tendency to variation, slight
in some cases and more marked in others. This
is a matter of common observation. The male
dees not follow the precise type of the male
parent, nor does the female always inherit the
precise characteristics of the mother. "There
are all sorts of intermixtures and intermediate
conditions between the two, where complexion,
or beauty, or fifty other different peculiarities
belonging to either side of the house, are repro-
duced in other members of the same family."
This kind of variation in cases where offspring
are produced by sexual propagation is attributed
to the fact that the thing propagated proceeds
from two organisms of different sexes and tem-
peraments. Breeders of our domestic animals
take advantage of this tendency to variation, to
produce such varieties as are most desirable;
and, indeed, for that matter, to obtain new-
varieties by crossing breeds. Sometimes this ten-
dency to variation acts in the most remarkable
and unaccountable manner, and because natural-

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 301

ists can assign no reason for it. they have called
it "spontaneous variation." That it may be
understood I quote instances of such variation
from Professor Huxley:

Reaumur, a famous French naturalist, in an
essay on variation, relates a remarkable case of
spontaneous variation which came under his
observation in the person of a Maltese, of the
name of Gratio Kelleia, who was born with six
fingers upon each hand, and the like number of
toes upon each of his feet. His parents, of
course, were ordinary five-fingered persons.
This was a case then of "spontaneous genera-
tion;" and subsequent circumstanes in connec-
tion with this case prove there is a tendency in
nature to perpetuate these variations. Gratio
Kelleia married, when he was twenty-two years
of age, an ordinary five-fingered lady. The
result of that marriage was four children. The
first, Salvator, had six fingers and six toes, like
the father; the second, George, had five fingers
and toes; but one of them was deformed, show-
ing a tendency to variation; the third, Andre,
had five fingers and five toes perfect; the fourth,
a girl, Marie, had five fingers and five toes, but
her thumbs were deformed, showing a tendency
towards the sixth. These children grew up and
when they came to adult years married, and of
course it happened that they all married five-,
fingered and five-toed persons. Now let us see
what happened. Salvator had four children,

302 THE GOSPEL.

they were two boys, a girl and another boy: the
first two boys and the girl were six-fingered and
six-toed, like their grandfather; the fourth child
had only five fingers and five toes. George had
four children. There were two girls with six fin-
gers and six toes; there was one girl with six
fingers and five toes on the right side, and five
fingers and five toes on the other; the fourth, a
boy, had five fingers and five toes. The third
son of Gratio Kelleia, Andre, it will be remem-
bered, was perfectly well formed, and he haH
many children whose hands and feet were
regularly developed. Marie, the last, whose
thumbs were deformed, married a man with five
fingers and toes: they had four children; the first
was born with six toes, but the other children
were normal.

In this case of Gratio Kelleia and his children
is seen the tendency to reproduce the parent
stock, and also to perpetuate the variation which
so unaccountably appeared. That tendency to
perpetuate the variation was very strong, even
though these persons with the six fingers and
toes, or who only inherited the deformity in part,
intermarried with persons ordinarily formed.
What would have been the result had the two
eldest boys of Salvator taken it into their heads
to marry their first cousins, the two first girls of
George? It will be remembered that these were
all of the abnormal type of their grandfather. Is
it not most likely that had these people married

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 303

and their descendants continued to intermarry
with each other, that a new variety of men hav-
ing six fingers and six toes would have been the
result? The second case I quote from Huxley
gives us every reason to believe that such would
have been the result:

In the year 1791 there was a farmer of the
name of Seth Wright, in Massachusetts, who
had a flock of sheep, consisting of a ram and
some twelve or fifteen ewes. Of the flock of
ewes, one at the breeding-time bore a lamb
which was singularly formed; it had a very long
body, very short legs, and those legs were bowed.
In the part of Massachusetts where Seth Wright
lived, the fields were separated by fences, and
his sheep, which were active and robust, would
roam abroad, and without much difficulty would
jump over the fences into other people's farms.
As a matter of course this gave rise to all sorts
of quarrels, bickerings and contention among
the farmers of the neighborhood; so it occurred
to Seth Wright, if he could obtain a breed of
sheep with bandy legs like the one which had so
strangely appeared in his flock, it would be to his
advantage, as they would not be able to jump
over the fences so readily. He acted upon that
idea. He killed his old ram, and as soon as the
young one arrived at maturity he bred exclusively
from him. The result was that all the offspring
were like the male parent or female parent, there
was no mixing in the offspring the peculiarities

304 THE GOSPEL.

of the parents, they were either pure "Ancons"
— the name given to the new variety — or pure,
ordinary sheep. In consequence of this the
farmer in a very few years was able to get a
considerable flock of this short-legged variety of
sheep and a large number of them were soon
scattered throughout Massachusetts. Here is the
case then where the tendency to perpetuate a
variation culminated in the production of a new
variety. And, indeed, this is what is perpetually
going on with our domesticated animals, — by
what we may call selective breeding; and it is
going on, it is claimed by evolutionists, in a
natural state, that is, where man's interference
does not effect it; in other words, variations are
perpetuated by means of what Mr. Darwin has
called "natural selection."

Suppose, for instance, that by one of those
unaccountable freaks of nature a "spontaneous
variation" is produced, as in the case of Seth
Wright's sheep; and further suppose that the
particular characteristic which distinguished it
from the parent stock was favorable to its per-
sistence, by that I mean that the particulars in
which it varies from the parent stock will enable
the animal, if it be a beast of prey, to secure its
food more surely either by an increase of fleetness
or stealth, by which it would the more surely run
down, or steal upon its victims, and in either
case be more sure of its food and hence more
secure of existence than the stock from which it

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 305

came; and if the means of subsistence for these
animals were limited, then the variety having the
peculiarity of fleetness or stealth would be pre-
served and perpetuate the peculiarities imparted
to it originally by "spontaneous variation," while
the original stock would perish. Thus, as evolu-
tionists would say, the fittest would survive in
this struggle for existence; and thus the original
variation would be preserved and perpetuated
and a new variety brought into existence as
effectually by this natural means of selection as.
if man had superintended it for his own benefit.
That individuals in organic forms increase in a
proportion greater than the provisional means of
support is a theory pretty well demonstrated;
there is, therefore, a constant struggle for exist-
ence in nature, in which the strongest, those
best fitted to live and improve their species,
prevail. Every variation, therefore, that is
favorable to races of plants or animals is seized
upon by this principle of natural selection and
preserved.

Another way of presrving variations is by what
our latter-day naturalists call "sexual selection."
"Throughout nature," say they, "the male is
the wooer; he it is who is armed for fight, and
provided with musical organs and ornamental
appendages, with which to charm the fair one.
The savage and the wild beast alike secure their
mate over the mangled form of a vanquished
rival. In this manner the more highly favored

306 THE GOSPEL.

of either sex are mated, and natural selections
made by which better ever producing better, the
species in its constant variation is constantly
improved. "

It is now time to pause and see what conclu-
sions these facts have led our scientist to draw.
I have called attention to the striking resemblance
between man and the superior animals; in the
development of the embryo, in the material of
which they are composed, and in the use of
organs they are alike; and especially very much
alike in physical structure, the skeleton of man
only slightly varying from that of the higher
order of animals; and that resemblance in some-
thing like gradation exists throughout the organic
world. Of course there are marked structural
variations even in closely allied species, and we
have seen that there is a tendency in species to
vary and also to preserve the variation; and where
the peculiarity of the variation is favorable to
the individual it is almost certain to be preserved
by the process of natural selection. New varie-
ties thus produced may be expected to produce
still other variations that will remove them fur-
ther than ever from the stock from which their
parents came, until the variation amounts to
what our naturalists denominate specific differ-
ence. By this process what we now call varieties
may eventually become species, as our species,
according to the evolutionists, were once nothing
more than varieties; and the groups which

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 307

naturalists classify as genera, families, order,
classes, etc., are but the remains of still older
species, which have continued their existence
side by side with the new species, which have
been produced from them by this process of
variation; and but for the fact that so many
intermediate species have become extinct, they
claim that the multifarious forms of organic life
could be traced, through all the minute varia-
tions that have occurred, back to a common
origin; even back to the mysterious substance in
which life seems to generate — protoplasm.

Such are the basic principles on which is
grounded the theory of evolution, as I understand
the subject from the works of its advocates,
though my effort to be brief may have rendered
my statement of those principles very imperfect.

One thing more should be stated in connection
with this theory, and that is that very long
periods of time are demanded for the slow work
of variation preserved by natural selection to
accomplish the wonders attributed to it. To
measure the time claimed by evolutionists by
the lapse of years is simply out of the question;
they ask for a long series of ages, each of which,
though doubtless unequal, consists of millions
of years. As the Rev. George B. Cheever
remarks: "The first postulate of this philosophy
is that of countless millions of years to work in,
with no Creator, and with no authority that can
bring it to book." To prove that such long

308 THE GOSPEL.

periods of time have elapsed, during which
organic forms have existed on the earth, the
evolutionist triumphantly points to the revela-
tions of geology, and there gives proof which
there is, perhaps, no denying, of the lapse of
time he pleads for; and also proof of organic
forms of life in those various ages, fossilized
remains of which are found in the strata of the
earth's crust.

If you say to the advocate of evolution that it
is incredible that variations preserved by natural
selection could result in the production of such
a wonderful organ as the eye; he replies "that if
numerous gradations from a simple and imperfect
eye to one complex and perfect can be shown to
exist, each grade being useful to its possessor,
as is certainly the case; if further, the eye varies
and the variations be inherited, as is likewise
certainly the case; and if such variations should
be useful to any animal under changing con-
ditions of life; then the difficulty of believing
that a perfect and complex eye could be formed
by natural selection, though insuperable by our
imagination, should not be considered as sub-
versive of the theory."31 But with this statement
and some further observations upon it, Mr.
Darwin himself seems not altogether satisfied
that he has removed the difficulty which he '
admits is enough to stagger anyone; "I have

* Origin of Species p. 143, (American Edition, 1883.)

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 309

felt the difficulty," he says, "far too keenly to
be surprised at others hesitating to extend the
principle of natural selection to so startling a
length."*

If you say that it is incredible that natural
selection can account for the production of such
a wonderful thing as the mind of man — his
"reasonable soul," the reply is that instinct
varies among the inferior animals no less than
physical structure, and though there may be no
perceivable proportion or gradation between
structural variation and variation of instinct;
still, if the fact is admitted that among animals
instinct varies, then it is easy to conceive that
some of those variations may be favorable, and
if favorable then natural selection would per-
petuate them and make them dominant. From
this basis they make another step the difference
between the mental faculties of man and animal
is immense, but the high culture which belongs to
man evolutionists maintain has been slowly devel-
oped, and the separation between the mental pow-
ers of lowest man and the highest ape is no
greater than that which exists betwe n the lowest
ape and some of the lower forms of life, say the
Zoophytes.

If you say that articulate language surely
marks a wide gulf between man and the lower
animals, the reply is that animals are not devoid

Ibid p. 146

310 rut LJOSPKL.

of expedients for expressing emotions, and from
those expedients may have beea evolved through
intermediate species, now extinct, articulate
language.

If you ask why, if species have descended
from other species by fine gradations, do we not
everywhere see innumerable transitional forms?
Why is not all nature in confusion, instead of
the species being, as we see them, well defined?
The answer is that the intermediate species have
become extinct, that we must look upon each
existing species as having descended from some
unknown forms; that natural selection acts slowly
by preserving profitable modifications. "Each new
form will tend in a full}' stocked country to take
the place of, and finally exterminate, its own
less-improved parent form, and other less favored
forms with which it comes in competition; thus
both parent and all transitional varieties will
generally have been exterminated by the very
process of the formation - and perfection of the
new."*

If you object further, and call attention to the
fact that in the great geological record, of which
evolutionists boast so niuch, that not even in
that can be found the intermediate transitional
forms that should, according to their theory, link
together by fine gradations the speciesf — this ob-

* Origin of species, p 134.

f Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated
organic chain ; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 311

jection, otherwise fatal to the theory of evolution,
is avoided rather than answered by putting forth
the claim that the geological record is very
imperfect, and comparatively only a few of its
pages have, as yet, been read by man.

After thus escaping from the difficulty of there
being no intermediate transitional forms between
the species, we come to other facts not less
important, and even, perhaps, more fatal to the
hypothesis of evolution — I refer to the phenomena
presented by "hybrids," and in order that I may
not be charged with over-estimating the value of
the objection founded on this class of pheno-
mena, I shall quote the words of Professor Hux-
ley, one of the chief apostles of evolution, and
give his estimate of the weight of the objections:

"There is a most singular circumstance," says
the professor, "in respect to natural species — at
least about some of them — and it would be
sufficient for the purposes of this argument, if it
were true of only one of them; but there is, in
fact, a great number of such cases — and that is,
that similar as they may appear to be to mere
races or breeds, they present a marked peculiarity
in the reproductive process. If you breed from
the male and female of the same race, you of
course have offspring of the like kind; and if
you make the offspring breed together, you

objection which can be urged against the theory [of evolution.]
The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of
the geological record. — Darwin, Origin of Species p. 205.

312 THE GOSPEL.

obtain the same result; and if you breed from
these again, you will still have the same kind of
offspring; there is no check. But if you take
members of two distinct species, however similar
they may be to each other, and make them breed
together, you will find a check, with some modi-
fications and exceptions — * * * if you cross
two such species with each other, then, —
although you may get offspring in the case of
the first cross, yet if you attempt to breed from
the products of that crossing, which are what
are called hybrids* — that is, if you couple a
male and a female hybrid — then the result is
that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred you
will get no offspring at all; there will be no
result whatsoever. * * * Thus you see that
there is a great difference between 'mongrels,'
which are crosses between distinct races [varie-
ties], and 'hybrids,' which are crosses between
distinct species. The mongrels are, so far as
we know, fertile with one another. But between
species, in many cases, you cannot succeed in
obtaining the first cross; at any rate it is quite
certain that the hybrids are often absolutely
infertile one with another. Here is a feature,
then, great or small as it may be, which distin-
guishes natural species of animals, "f

Now, by the side of these facts, the sterility

* The pro met of the horse and th> a>s — the mule — is an example,
t Huxley's Lectures, pp 106, 107.

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 313

of species and hybrids, let us place another;
that of the fertility of varieties. So long as you
breed together descendants from a common stock
they continue fruitful to each other, without any
check. Now, if naturalists cannot produce by
selective breeding varieties from a common
parentage that are infertile to each other, then
it is quite clear that species did not come from
varieties by the process of variation preserved
by natural selection, since here is a phenomenon
existing in connection with species which can-
not, to all appearances, be produced by breeding
together varieties. Mr. Huxley remarks on this,
that if it could be proven not only that this has
not been done, but that it cannot be done, then
Mr. Darwin's hypothesis would be utterly
shattered.* Well, up to the present it has not
been done, the gentleman last quoted admits the
fact; he asks, "what is really the state of the
case? It is simply that, so far as we have gone
yet with our breeding, we have not produced
from a common stock two breeds, which are not
more or less fertile with one another, "f

What do these facts prove, I mean the sterility
of species and hybrids on the one hand, and
the fertilities of varieties, descendants from a
common stock, on the other? Why that the
great law of nature is, as announced in holy writ
that every seed shall produce after its kind, and

* Huxley's Lectures, p. 141. f Lectures, p. 141.

314 THE GOSPEL.

every fish, fowl, creeping-thing, beast, and man
shall bring forth after his kind* — that is what it
proves. And though man may for a moment by
crossing species cause a slight deviation from
that great law, it can be but for an instant, the
monstrosity cannot be perpetuated, it dies out by
being made unfruitful.

How do these facts affect the theory of evolu-
tion? Let us remember upon what that theory
rests. It rests upon the principle that lower
forms producing favorable variations and these
being preserved by the process of natural selec-
tion amount finally to the production of distinct
species; but we have seen that varieties cannot
produce what may be called the great character-
istic of species — infertility to each other; then
also we have seen there is a check to variation
in the sterility of species and hybrids. Add
these facts to that other fact that neither in
living nature nor in the geological records can
be found the intermediate transitional forms
linking together by fine gradations the species,
and the theory of evolution lies stranded upon
the shore of idle speculation.

II.

THERE is one other objection to be urged
against the theory of evolution before leaving
it; it is contrary to the revelations of God. I

*Gen I: 11,12, 21,24, 25.

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 315

have not in mind, at present, the revelations
respecting the creation of the earth and of
vegetable and animal life; but rather the revela-
tions which speak of the Atonement of Jesus
Christ. According to the revelations of God
contained in the Bible, man was created just
and right — "sufficient to have stood, yet free to
fall. " He transgressed, in some way, the holy
commandment given him, and by that transgres-
sion became fallen man, subject to sin and death,
and entailed the same evils upon his posterity.
Both he and they were powerless to extricate
themselves from the consequences of that
violation of law; but a sacrifice was prepared, a
Redeemer was provided, both for Adam and all
his posterity. In the meridian of time that
Redeemer appeared in the person of Jesus of
Nazareth, who eventually was offered up a
sacrifice for sinful man — he suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us
to God.* That this was the mission of Jesus
Christ is evident from the whole tenor of the
scriptures. f But if the hypothesis of evolution
be true, if man is only a product evolved from
the lower forms of life, better still producing
better, until the highest type of intellectual
manhood crowns with glory this long continued
process — then it is evident that there has been

* I. Peter iii: 18.

f See the chapters in " The Gospel " on General Salvation, where
this idea is treated at some length.

316 THE GOSPEL.

no "fall," such as the revelations of God speak
of; and if there was no fall, there was no occasion
for a Redeemer to make atonement for man, in
order to reconcile him to God; then the mission
of Jesus Christ was a myth, the coinage of idle
brains, and Jesus himself was either mistaken,
or one of the many impostors that have arisen to
mock mankind with the hope of eternal life.

Such is the inevitable result of accepting the
philosophy of evolution, after which all the world
is now running — it is destructive of the grand
central truth of all revelation; as well ancient
as modern; as well the revelations given to
Moses and the prophets, as those given to the
apostles of the New Testament; as well those
given in Asia, as those given in America; for
the central truth of all revelation is the fall of
man, and the redemption through the atonement
of Jesus Christ. ^ All things else contained in
the revelations of God to man are subordinate
and dependent for their strength and force upon
this leading truth.

I am aware that there is a class of men who
profess to be "Christian evolutionists," and who
maintain that Christianity can be made to har-
monize with the philosophy of evolution. But
how are they made to harmonize? We are told
that Jesus is still a Redeemer, but in this sense
he gave out faultless moral precepts, and
practiced them in his life; and inasmuch as

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 317

people accept his doctrines and follow his
example they will be redeemed from evil. But
as to the fall of man and the atonement made for
him by the Son of God — both ideas are of
necessity rejected; which means, of course,
denying the great fundamental truths of revela-
tion; it is by destroying the basis on which the
Christian religion rests, that the two theories
are harmonized — if such a process can be called
harmonization. It is on the same principle that
the lion and the lamb harmonize, or lie down
together — the lion eats the lamb.

It was stated in the first part of this writing
that the follies of those who profess a belief in
the theory of creation as revealed in the Bible,
were largely responsible for the existence of the
theory of evolution; that their exegesis of the
revelations on the subject were so manifestly
absurd, and contradicted so many well known
and indisputable facts, that scientific men sought
for other explanations of the origin of things. The
theologians in the apostate churches of Christen-
dom have maintained that God created the.
heavens and the earth — the universe — out of
nothing, in six days. A statement than which it
is impossible to conceive one more absurd, or
one which contradicts more completely every fact
demonstrated by the experience of man. Every
sense, every possible conception of the mind
bears witness that from nothing, nothing comes.
The idea of creating the universe out of nothing,

318 THE GOSPEL.

however, is rapidly passing away from the minds
of the present generation; and it is conceded
by many theologians that ther is no warrant for
such a doctrine in the scriptures; but that it
became generally accepted through a misconcep-
tion of the meaning of the word create. "The
meaning of this word," says Rev. Baden Powell,
of Oxford University, "has been commonly
associated with the idea of 'making out of
nothing.' But when we come to inquire more
precisely into the subject, we can of course
satisfy ourselves as to the meaning only from an
examination of the original phrase." The learned
professor then proceeds to say that three distinct
Hebrew verbs are in different places employed
with reference to the same divine act, and may
be translated respectively, "create," "make," "form
or fashion." "Now," continues the professor,
"though each of these has its shade of distinc-
tion, yet the best critics understand them as so
nearly synonymous that, at least in regard to
the idea of making out of nothing, little or no
foundation for that doctrine can be obtained
from the first of these words. " And, of course
if no foundation for the doctrine can be ob-
tained from the first of these words — viz., the
verb translated create-, then the chances are
still less for there being any foundation for the
doctrine in the verb translated, "made,"
"formed" or "fashioned."
This is in harmony, too, with the teachings

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 319

of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He says "You
ask the learned doctors why they say the world
was made out of nothing; and they will answer,
'Don't the Bible say he created the world? and
they infer, from the word create that it must have
been made out of nothing. Now the word create
came from the word baurau, which does not mean
to create out of nothing; it means to organize,
the same as man would organize materials and
build a ship. Hence we infer that God had
materials to organize the world out of chaos —
chaotic matter, which is element, and in which
dwells all the glory. Element had an existence
from the time he [God] had."*

Professor Baden Powell further says, "The idea
of 'creation' as meaning absolutely 'making out
of nothing,' or calling into existence that which
did not exist before, in the strictest sense of the
term, is not a doctrine of scripture; but it has
been held by many on the grounds of natural
theology, as enhancing the ideas we form of the
divine power, and more especially since the
contrary must imply the belief in the eternity
and self existence of matter, ""f Theologians
have held, generally, that to admit the doctrine
of the eternity and self existence of matter
detracted from the perfection of Deity, though
how that can appear is difficult to comprehend.

'Journal of Discourses. Vol. vi : p. 6.

f Kitto's Biblical Literature, Art. Creation.

320 THE GOSPEL.

Not only have so-called theologians been com-
pelled to renounce the unphilosophical idea that
the universe was created out of nothing; but
they also have to admit that there are indisput-
able evidences of the earth having a greater
antiquity than their interpretations of the word
of God allow. That is, the earth itself bears in
its own bosom the evidence that it is more than
six thousand years old. And though it may turn
out, on further investigation, that some of the
claims of geology are extremely absurd; owing
to the fact, perhaps, that the founders of that
science have not considered sufficiently the effect
of conditions not now existing and forces not
now in operation, but which doubtless existed
and operated in the earlier ages of our earth's
existence — yet when extremely liberal allowances
for all these things are made, the indisputable
evidence adduced from the science of geology is
sufficient to establish the statement that the
earth is more than six thousand years old; and
it might be added also that from the same, source
it is evident that the earth was not created or
organized from pre-existing element in six days
of twenty-four hours duration.

These facts which geology unquestionably
demonstrates have thrown sectarian theologians
into dismay. The dogmas concerning the
creation formulated with so much pomp and
circumstance by the apostate churches of Chris-
tendom, respectable only for their antiquity, are

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 321

going to pieces before the facts discovered by
geologists and churchmen, or theologians, call
them which you will, are filled with alarm lest
all confidence be lost in revelation; and many of
them are making frantic efforts to harmonize the
facts of revelation with the facts of science.
Unfortunately, however, some of these proceed
on lines which result the same as the efforts of
some to harmonize the theory of evolution with
the gospel — as the latter efforts end in the
destruction of the gospel, so the former end in
denying the inspiration of scripture, in relegat-
ing it to the realms of poetry, which means
kicking it contemptuously out of the domains of
fact, of history. "We affirm," say they, "that
it cannot be history — it may be poetry."*

There is nothing in the Bible, however, which
drives believers in revelation to those straights-
straights in which they throw overboard, practi-
cally, the word of God; discard it,- or, in other
words, degrade it to the level of romance — mak-
ing it nothing better than the idle coinage of the
half frenzied brains of day-dreamers. If the
dogmas of apostate Christendom respecting the
creation were given over as a romance instead of
the revelations of God, and those revelations

*Kitto's Biblical Literature, Vol. I., p. 486. Such also were the
views of the late Henry Ward Beecher, and in fact all of his school,
which I am sorry to say is rapidly increasing in numbers, both in
the United States and England. For the continental countries I
cannot speak.

322 THE GOSPEL.

were re-examined, and especially if re-examined
under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, it
would then be found that there is nothing
in the scriptures requiring the believer in
revelation to accept the idea of recent or in-
stantaneous creation of the earth. There is no
more warrant in the Bible for the doctrine that
the earth was begun and completed — created—
about six thousand years ago, and that instantly,
at the word of God, than there is that it was
made out of nothing. On the other hand there
is very much to lead one to believe the contrary.
Six thousand years ago our earth reached that
degree of perfection that it was fitted for the
abode of man; and it is interesting to note, in
this connection, that geologists have found no
evidence of the existence of man on the earth
only in the strata of the earth's crust belonging
to the latest geological periods, and most prob-
ably only in those made within the period of his-
tory. But while the Bible may teach that it was
only about six thousand years since man was
placed upon the earth, how long the period of
formation lasted previous to that time, how long
it required to prepare this planet with all its
wealth of fruits and vegetables and animal life,
for the abode of man, is not known. "It is
called in the scriptures," says Apostle Orson
Pratt,

"Six days; but we do not know the meaning
of the scriptural term 'day.' It evidently does

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 323

not mean such days as we are now acquainted
with — days governed by the rotation of the earth
on its axis, and by the shining of the great
central luminary of our solar system. A day of
twenty-four hours is not the kind of day referred
to in the scriptural account of the creation; the
word 'day' in the scriptures seems often to refer
to some indefinite period of time. The Lord,
in speaking to Adam in the garden says, 'In
the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die;' yet he did not die within twenty-four hours
after he had eaten the forbidden fruit; but he
lived to be almost a thousand years old, from
which we learn that the word 'day' in this
paragraph, had no reference to days of the same
duration as ours. Again it is written, in the
second chapter of Genesis, 'In the day that he
created the heavens and the earth;'* not six
days, but 'in the day' that he did it, incorpora-
ting all the six days into one, and calling that
period 'the day' that he created the heavens and
the earth. f"

As a further evidence that "day" as used in
connection with the acts of creation does not
mean a period of duration of twenty-four hours,
it may be mentioned that it was not until the
period called the fourth day that the sun reflected
his light upon our earth and ruled the day; and
divided the light from the darkness, giving
us the day and night regulated by the rotation of

* These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when
they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth
and the heavens. Genesis ii : 4.

f Journal of Discourses, Vol. xiv : p. 234-5.

324 THE GOSPEL.

the earth upon its axis; so that the preceding
three days were not of twenty- four hours dura-
tion, but certainly referred to some other division
of time, which was also, doubtless, employed
throughout in speaking of these acts of creation.*
Moreover, it is said in this first chapter of
Genesis,

"In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth.

"And the earth was without form and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep, "f

How long it remained in that condition before

* Respecting this creation of the sun as referred to in the above,
Apostle Orson Pratt has made some remarks at once ingenious and
instructive, he says :

" What I understand by the formation [creation] of these celestial
luminaries, is that He [God] then caused them to shed forth their
light [that is upon the earth.] I cannot suppose that it would take
the Lord six days to form such a little speck of a world as ours, and
then for Him on the fourth to form a globe fourteen hundred thou-
sand times larger than the earth. This does not look consistent to
me. If it took six days to form a small world like ours, we might
certainly suppose that it would require more than one day to form
the sun, which contains a quantity of matter sufficient to make
some three hundred and fifty four thousand worlds like this, and
whose actual size or magnitude is fourteen thousand times larger
than our globe ; consequently I understand by the formation of the
sun and moon and stars, and setting them in the firmament of the
heavens, that He merely suffered their light to shine on the fourth
day, to regulate the ( venings and mornings, that were produced
prior to that time, probably by some other cause. The Lord wanted
by these luminaries to divide the day from the night, and he set
them for times and seasons in the firmament of the heavens."
Journal of Discourses, Vol. xvi : pp. 316-7.

f Genesis i : 1,2.

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 325

the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters, or the six great periods of creation
began, it would be impossible to say, since we
have no data in revelation to go upon; but the
duration was doubtless sufficient to allow all the
myriads of years claimed by geologists as neces-
sary for the formation of our planet. Then how
long those periods of time were which are called
"days" in the Bilbe, is uncertain; but enough is
known to justify us in the belief that they were
great periods of time, in which the successive
acts of creation occurred. In which continents
were up-raised, and mountains were heaved up
by volcanic eruption, exposed to warmth and
light and covered with vegetation, and animal
life, and then worn away by the combined action
of the atmosphere and rains, much of their mat-
ter being carried back to old ocean's bed, and
settling there as sediment, forming new strata of
rocks, occasionally imbedding vegetables and
animals which became fossilized; and these
strata, being afterwards thrown up from the
bottom of the ocean are exposed to view, and
from what he there finds, the geologist conjec-
tures at the condition of the earth and forms his
judgment as to what animals and vegetation
were then upon it — there was time for all this,
let it be performed ever so slowly.

While the Bible account of the creation gives
sufficient margin to allow all the time claimed
by the geologists for that work, let their claims

326 THE GOSPEL.

be ever so extravagant, still let geologists have
some modesty about them and admit — as perforce
they must — that they do not know that the same
conditions existed, or the same forces operated
in those long ages of the past that now exist and
operate. Hence it is not unlikely that changes
resulting in the advancement of the earth's
formation, and in its preparation for the abode
of man were much more rapid then than now.
This is not begging the question, there is no
need of that; but it is mentioned in passing, as
pointing to a condition of things not unlikely to
have existed.

III.

WHAT is most perplexing about the Bible nar-
rative of this work of creation is that two
accounts are given of it; and apparently there is
an irreconcilable difference between them. In
the first chapter of Genesis is a statement of the
creation in respect to this earth and the heavens
connected with it, from the time it was without
form and void until it was a fit dwelling place for
man: or, to put it in other words, the account
seems to reach from highly attenuated nebulae to
the solid earth clothed with its wealth of veget-
able and animal life, with man placed upon it as
the crowning excellence of the Creator's work.
But after this elaborate account of the creation
contained in the first chapter of Genesis, we are
startled to read in the second chapter —

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 327

"These are the generations of the heavens and
of the earth when they were created, in the day
that the Lord God made the earth and the
heavens, and every plant of the field before it
was in the earth, and every herb of the field
before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused
it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man
to till the ground. "

One naturally pauses here to ask, what had
become of the grasses, herbs, and trees spoken
of in the first chapter of Genesis? what of the
fishes of the sea, the fowls of the air, the beasts
of the field? what of man, male and female, of
whose creation we have just read? and of the
commandment to multiply and replenish the
earth? Is it not strange that after reading of
the creation of man in the first chapter that we
should be told in the second that there was not
a man to till the ground? Proceeding with this
second account of creation the Bible says:

"But there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the ground. And
the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living soul. And the
Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden;
and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And out of the ground made the Lord to grow
every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good
for food. * * * And out of the ground the
Lord God formed every beast of the field, and
every fowl of the air; and brought them unto
Adam to see what he would call them: and what-

328 THE GOSPI.I .

soever Adam called every living thing that was
the name thereof."

What is especially difficult in this second
account of creation is that it reverses the order
of that work as given in the first. The first
account commences with the formation of the
earth from chaotic matter and then records the
various steps of progress in succinct and natural
order — the same order, too, that science insists
upon — up to perfection: the second begins with
an account of the creation of man, the planting
of a garden as the beginning of vegetable
existence, and then the creation of the fowls of
the air and the beasts of the fields.

The writings of Moses as revealed to Joseph
Smith, in December, 1830, and now contained
in the Pearl of Great Price, make this matter of
the creation of man still more emphatic by
saying:

"And I, the Lord God, formed man from the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul,
the first flesli upon the earth, the first man also."

But if these writings of Moses make emphatic
the apparent contradiction in these two accounts
of creation, they also furnish the key by which
the whole matter may be understood, and, as I
think, explained. After giving an account of
the creation, much as it is contained in the first
chapter of Genesis, it is then stated —

"And behold I say unto you, these are the

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 329

generations of the heaven and of the earth, when
they were created, in the day that I, the Lord
God, made the heaven and the earth, and every
plant of the field before it was in the earth, and
every herb of the field before it grew. For I,
the Lord God, created all things, of which I have
spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally
upon the face of the earth. For I, the Lord
God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of
the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all
the children of men; and not yet a man to till
the ground; for in heaven created I them; and
there was not yet flesh upon the earth; neither
in the water, neither in the air; but I, the Lord
God, spake, and there went up a mist from the
earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul,
the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also;
nevertheless, all things were before created, but
spiritually, were they created and made accord-
ing to my word."*

As to the character of this spiritual creation
nothing is known; nothing, so far as I know,
has been revealed in relation to it. Here let
me say, by way of caution, that those who accept
the revelations of God as truth need not be
alarmed or worried if they meet with things in
the sacred writings that they cannot explain or
understand, as in the case of this spiritual crea-
tion of the heavens and the earth which preceded
the natural, or what we regard as the actual

* Pearl of (ireat Price, p. 6.
12

330 THE GOSPEL.

creation of the earth. In this and in all cases of
like character we claim for those who accept the
revelations of holy writ as facts, what Professor
Huxley claims for those who build up theories
on their conception of facts in nature, viz —
"There is a wide difference between the thing
you cannot explain and the thing which upsets
your theory altogether. " This idea is a pendulum
which should swing just as high for the believer
in revelation as for the scientist. Not that there
is anything wrong with revelation, the difficulty
arises from our inability to comprehend it; but
when increased intelligence shall give us enlarged
views and keener powers of penetration, we shall
then find that the revelations of God are in strict
accord with the facts in the case, and perfectly
simple however incomprehensible they may have
seemed to us in the day when we saw as through
a glass darkly. But this is a digression.

Though we cannot understand the nature of
this spiritual creation, yet to learn that the first
account of the .creation in the Bible is of a
spiritual creation and the second of an actual or
natural one, gives some comfort, from the fact
that it does away with all charges of inconsist-
ency or contradiction between the two accounts.
For since they are descriptions of two different
things instead of one thing, there is nothing in
the law of consistency requiring the accounts] of
different events to be alike.

In these articles, however, what turns out to

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 331

be an account of the spiritual creation of the
earth has been spoken of and treated as the
natural or actual creation.* It has been treated
so purposely, because I believe the natural in
the order of its creation and development cor-
responds with the creation and development of the
spiritual. Furthermore, I believe the account in
the first chapter of Genesis could be safely
accepted as the announcement of the general
plan of creation, not only of our planet but of all
worlds; and in it will be found ample scope for
the belief that the earth came into existence by
the accretion of nubulous matter; that it took
thousands of years, yea, millions, perhaps, for
the condensation and solidification of that
matter; granting as long periods as geologists
may demand for the formation of the earth's
curst; that then followed the changes which
were wrought during the six great periods named
in Genesis; beginning with the production of
light, and ending with placing man upon the com-
pleted planet as its lord and sovereign under God.
The careful reader of this paper will say, how-
ever, that the statements in the last paragraph
permit all the old difficulties to surge back upon

* I do not wish in making this distinction between the spiritual
and natural creation, and in using the word "actual" to be under-
stood as implying that the spiritual creation was not an actual crea-
tion. It may have been just as tangible and actual as the creation
on which we walk. I only use the expression to make a distinction
between the natural and spiritual crea ions.

332 THE GOSPEL.

us; all the old apparent inconsistencies between
the first and second accounts of creation in
Genesis remain unreconciled. For if the natural
creation of our planet corresponded to the spiri-
tual creation of it, the spiritual standing in the
same relationship to the natural as the well
devised plan of the architect does to the actual
erection of a building — then the account given
of the spiritual creation of our earth may as well
be regarded as the account of the actual
creation of it also. But this leaves all the diffi-
culties between the two accounts of creation in the
Bible untouched, and we must look to other facts
than those )'et considered if we would see them
removed.

The Prophet Joseph Smith is credited with
having said that our planet was made up of the
fragments of a planet which previously existed;
some mighty convulsions disrupted that creation
and made it desolate. Both its animal and
vegetable life forms were destroyed. And when
those convulsions ceased, and the rent earth was
again consolidated, and it became desirable to
replenish it, the work was begun by making a
mist to rise that it might descend in gentle rain
upon the barren earth, that it might again be
fruitful. Then came one of the sons of God* to

* Lest any one should doubt that Adam was one of the sons of
God, I call attention to the verse of Luke, iii chapter, where in
tracing the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam, and coming toCainan
it goes on to say that "he (Cainan) was the son of Enos.which was the
son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God."

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 333

the earth — Adam. A garden was planted in Eden
and the man placed in it, and there the Lord
brought to him every beast of the field and every
fowl of the air, and Adam gave names to them
all. Afterwards was brought to Adam his wife,
whom, since she was derived from man, he named
wo-man; and she became his help-mate, his com-
panion and the mother of his children. In this
nothing is hinted at about man being made from
the dust, and woman manufactured from a rib, a
story which has been a cause of much perplexity
to religious people, and a source of much impious
merriment to reckless unbelievers. We are
informed that the Lord God made every plant of
the field before it was in the earth, and every
herb before it grew* on our planet. As vegeta-
tion was created or made to grow upon some
older earth, and the seeds thereof or the plants
themselves were brought to our earth and made
to grow, so likewise man and his help-meet were
brought from some other world to our own, to
people it with their children. And though it is
said that the "Lord God formed man of the dust
of the ground" — it by no means follows that he
was "formed" as one might form a brick, or from
the dust of this earth. We are all "formed" of
the dust of the ground, though instead of being
moulded as a brick we are brought forth by the
natural laws of procreation; so also was Adam

* Genesis ii: 4, 5.

334 THE GOSPEL.

and his wife in some older world. And as for
the story of the rib, under it I believe the
mystery of procreation is hidden.

Of the things I have spoken, this is the sum:
There was a planet created on the plan of the
spiritual creation described in the first chapter of
Genesis; beginning with the condensation of
nubulous matter to a "fire ball," then the cool-
ing of the surface and thickening of the earth's
crust, and the envelopment of it in water; then
came light, and by internal eruptions portions of
land were thrown above the surface of the water

-"the dry land appeared;" then came the
simpler forms of vegetation; then the sunlight
visited the earth, and doubtless higher forms of
vegetation, fruit-trees and flowers and grains
were brought forth; then came the creatures that
abound in the ocean, that fly in the air, and the
beasts of the earth. Not by the process of evolu-
tion, but by the various species suitable to the
condition of the earth's development being
brought from some other and older sphere, with
power to propagate their kind, until the changed
conditions of the earth became unfavorable to
them, when they became extinct and were
replaced by other species of a higher type.
Then came the mighty convulsions which, for
some cause or other, and doubtless for some
wise purpose, disrupted that planet; and when
from its fragments a new world — our present
planet — was brought into existence, it was made

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 335

the abode of man, as described in the second
account of the creation in Genesis, which begins
by placing man upon the earth, and then the
inferior animals.

Accepting this statement of Joseph Smith
relative to our planet in its present state being
created or formed from the fragments of a planet
which previously existed, one may readily under-
stand how the supposed differences between
scientists and believers in revelation have arisen.
Scientists have been talking of the earth's strata
that were formed in a previously existing planet;
they have considered the fossilized flora and
fauna imbedded in those strata, and have specu
lated as to the probable lapse of time since
those animal and vegetable forms of life existed;
and have generally concluded that the age is so
far remote that there is no possible chance of
harmonizing it with the account of the creation
as given in the Bible. Believers in the Bible,
on the other hand, have generally taken it for
granted that the account of the creation in the
sacred record, would give to the earth no greater
antiquity than six thousand years; and have held
that within that period the universe was created
out of nothing by the volition of Deity — an idea
so palpably absurd that intelligence, despite all
church authority to the contrary, everywhere
rejects it.

The theory set forth in this writing that before
Adam was paced upon this earth to people it

336 THE GOSPEL.

with his offspring, the matter of which it is com-
posed existed in another panet, which by some
mighty convulsions was broken up, and from its
ruins was formed our present earth, at once
affords a means of harmonizing those facts
established by the researches of men and the facts
of revelation. If scientists shall claim that myriads
of years or of centuries must have been necessary
to form the earth's crust, it may be allowed by the
believers in revelation, for there is nothing that
would contradict that idea in the revelations of
God on the subject. If scientists shall claim
that the fossilized remains in the different strata
of the earth's crust reveal the fact that in the
earlier periods of the earth's existence only the
simpler forms of vegetation and animal life are
to be found, both forms of life becoming more
complex and of higher type as the earth becomes
older, until it is crowned with the presence of
man — all that may be allowed. But that this
gradation of animal and vegetable life owes its
existence to the processs of evolution is denied.
As before explained, the claims of evolution
are contrary to all experience so far as man's
knowledge extends. The great law of nature is
that every plant, herb, fish, fowl, beast and man
produces his kind; and though there may be
slight variations from that law, those varia-
tions soon run out either by reverting to the
original stock, or else by becoming incapable of
producing offspring, and thus become extinct.*

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 337

Furthermore, since we have learned that God
made "every plant of the field before it was in
the earth, and every herb before it grew" (/. e. in
our earth), the gradation of life forms which the
naturalists discover in the various^ strata of the
earth's crust may reasonably be accounted for

* Since beginning this writing I have found some remarks on the
subject of evolution by the late President John Taylor, which can-
not fail to be of interest to the student of the subject : " The Animal
and vegetable creations are governed by certain laws, and are com-
posed ol certain elements peculiar to themselves. This applies to
man, to beasts, fowls, fish and creeping things, to the insects and
to all animated nature ; each one possessing its own distinctive
features ; each requiring a specific sustenance, each having an
organism and faculties governed by prescribed laws to perpetuate,
its own kind. * * * These principles do not change,

as represented by evolutionists of the Darwinian school, but the
primitive organisms of all living beings exist in the same form as
when they first received their impress from their Maker. There
are, indeed, some very slight exceptions, for instance, the ass may
mix with the mare and produce the mule; but there it ends; the
violation of the laws of procreation receives a check, and its oper-
ations can go no further. Similar compounds may possibly be made
by experimentalists in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, but
the original elements remain the same. Yet this is not the normal
but an abnoimal condition with them, as with animals, birds, etc.,
and if we take man he is said to have been made in the image of
God, for the simple reason that he is the son of God ; and being His
son, he is, of course, his off-spring, an emanation from God, in whose
likeness we are told he is made. He did not originate from a
chaotic mass of matter, moving or inert, but came forth possessing,
in an embryotic state, all the faculties and powers of a God. And
when he shall be perfected, and have progressed to maturity he
will be like his father — a God, being indeed his offspring. As the
horse, the ox, the sheep and every living creature, including man,
propagates its own species and perpetuates its own kind, so does
God perpetuate His. — Mediation and Atonement, pp. 164, 165.

338 THE GOSl'KI..

aside from the theory of evolution — viz., by the
animal and vegetable life forms of some older
earth being brought to our own; different species
being transplanted as changed conditions in the
soil and atmosphere and temperature of our earth
rendered it favorable to their production, the
older species becoming extinct as the changed con-
ditions of the earth became unfavorable to them.
Then too, the theory advanced in this writing
gives ample room for the reconciliation of
another serious difficulty between the scientist
and the believer in revelation. To the latter
Adam is the first man; the former maintains that
there are evidences which prove the earth to have
been inhabited before Adam's time. Whether or
not the planet which existed previous to our own,
and out of the ruins of which our own was
organized was inhabited by man as well as by
vegetation and animals, I cannot say; all
remarks on this subject would be conjecture
merely. But if the researches of scientists prove
beyond all question that there were pre-Adamic
races, then doubtless they were inhabitants of
that world which was destroyed, but the evidence
of their existence as well as the evidence of the
existence of animals and vegetation was preserved
in the re-creation of that planet to form this
earth. Though, in this connection, I must say
that so far as I have examined the works of
those who treat on the subject of pre-historic
man, or pre-Adamic races, they have hung the

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 339

heaviest weights on the slenderest of threads; and
I am inclined to the opinion that Adam was the
progenitor of all races of men whose remain have
yet been found.

So much then for the different theories as to
the origin of things pertaining to our earth; as
to the beginning of the universe, that is beyond
the scope of this inquiry, and may be dismissed
by saying that it had no beginning. We con-
clude this part by quoting one of our hymns:*

If you could hie to Kolob,|

In the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward,

With the same speed to fly,

D'ye think that you could ever,

Through all eternity,
Find out the generation

Where Gods began to be?

Or see the grand beginning,

Where space did not extend ?
Or view the last creation,

Where Gods and matter end?

Methinks the Spirit whispers —
No man has found "pure space,"

Nor seen the outside curtains
Where nothing has a place.

The works of God continue,

And worlds and lives abound ;
Improvement and progression

Have one eternal round.

*L D. S. Hymn Book, 252, 17 ed.

f A planet near the residence of God.— Book of Abraham, Pearl
of Great Price, p. 30.

340 THE GOSPEL.

IV.

I think it must be evident to all who have
looked upon the dead, that man is a dual being.
Who that has stood by the bier of a friend,
a parent, child or wife, and looked upon the life-
less form stretched upon it, but has felt that the
being he loved has departed, that he is looking
upon the casket merely that contained the jewel
— the spirit. This truth forced upon man's
consciousness in the presence of the dead is also
sustained by the word of God, in which it is said
—speaking of that mysterious change to which
all flesh is subject, and which man calls death—
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it
was; and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.*

It is my purpose to show in this writing, that
this spirit of man existed before it was united
with the body, that it is an emanation from
Deity, and hence the relationship of Fatherhood
on the part of God, and sonship on the part of
man. It is written by the Apostle Paul that,
"God who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in times past unto the fathers, by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us
by His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds.^ The
palpable meaning of this passage is that God
employed the spirit of Jesus Christ in creating
worlds — not one world only, but doubtless many.

* Ecclesiastes xii : 7 f Hebrews i : 1,2.

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 341

And if it was the spirit of Jesus which acted as
God's agent in the creation of the worlds, there
can be no doubt as to the spirit of Jesus having
an existence before it was tabernacled in the
body born of the virgin Mary.

Nor is the above passage of scripture the only
one which sustains the fact of the existence of
the spirit of Jesus Christ previous to its union
with the body. There are many expressions
which fell from the lips of our Lord himself that
prove the fact. When some of his disciples
murmured at certain doctrines he had been teach-
ing them, he exclaims — "Doth this offend you?
what and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend
up where he was before?"* — doubtless referring
to the place he occupied in the mansions of his
Father before the creation of the earth.

Again, just previous to his betrayal, in his
prayer in Gethsemane, he said to his Father, "I
have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own
self, even with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was."^ No more direct allusion
to his pre-existence could be given than this;
and from it we learn that such existence extended
back to a period previous to the creation of the
earth we inhabit.

To~all appearances Jesus was as other men in

*.Johu vi : 61, 62. f John, xvii.

342 THE GOSPEL.

his physical organism. He was born of woman;
nourished in the same manner and with the same
food; subject to heat and cold, hunger and thirst
and weariness. He was pre-eminently the man
of sorrows, and more than other men subject to
pain. In short he possessed all the organs,
dimensions, passions and attributes of man; but
in him the passions were refined and so nicely
checked and balanced, and the attributes so
developed and made subject to the will divine
that he was a perfect man — a God! So nearly
did he resemble other men that his countrymen,
and especially his neighbors, failed to recognize
God in him. And when he began his mission
among them they said: "Whence hath this man
this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not
this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called
Mary? and his brethren, James and Joses, and
Simon, and Judas? And his sisters are they not
all with us? Whence then hath this man all
these things? And he did not many mighty
works there because of their unbelief."*

We may now turn our attention to the more
immediate object of this writing — the relationship
between man and Deity.

An important inference may be reasonably
based upon this similarity between the Son of
God and other men, viz: that if the spirit which
inhabited the body of Jesus had an existence

*Matt. xiii, 64-58.

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 343

before it dwelt in the flesh, is it not possible,
and, rather is it not probable, that the spirits of
other men, or of all men, also existed before
they were born into the world? Since Jesus was
so much like his brethren in the many respects
noted, it requires no great effort to believe that
they resemble him in this particular matter of
the pre-existence of their spirits.

The question, however, rests upon stronger
grounds than mere inference. The Lord said to
Job:

"Where wast thou when I laid the foundation
of the earth? declare if thou hast understanding.
* * * Who laid the cornerstone thereof, when
the morning stars sang together and all the Sons
of God shouted for joy?"*

From this scripture one thing is certainly evi-
dent, viz: that before the creation of this earth —
before the foundation was laid or the measuring
line stretched upon it, there were "Sons of God"
in existence; and they shouted for joy; perhaps
it was at the prospect of the creation of the
earth we inhabit that they shouted. And since
it was the spirit of Jesus Christ under the direc-
tion of God the Father which created the worlds,
it is but reasonable to suppose that he was
present on that occasion, and may not they have
been where the spirit of Job was also?

This doctrine of the pre-existence of spirits

* Job xxxviii, 2-7.

344 THE GOSPEL.

makes another scripture clear: "Before I formed
thee in the belly I knew thee," said the Lord to
Jeremiah; "and before thou earnest forth out of
the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee
to be a prophet unto the nations."* It was the
spirit of Jeremiah which the Lord knew; which,
in common with the spirit of Jesus, of Job, of
Adam, and, in short, of all men,| dwelt in the
presence of God; and as the spirit of Jeremiah
possessed those peculiar characteristics which
are favorable to the exercise of prophetic powers,
the Lord foreordained him to be a prophet unto
the nations.

In the revelations which the Lord gave to
Abraham it is said:

"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham,
the intelligences that were organized before the
world was; and among these were many of the
noble and great ones; and God saw that these
were good; and he said, these I will make my
rulers; for he stood among those that were
spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he
said unto me, Abraham, thou art one of them,
thou wast chosen before thou wast born. "J

This scripture not only proves the pre-existence
of the spirits of men, but gives us to understand
that some were more highly developed than

* Jeremiah i, 5.

f At the first organization in heaven we were all present, and
saw the Savior chosen and appointed and the plan of salvation
made, and we sanctioned it. — Joseph Smith.

% Pearl of Great Price, p. 32.

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 345

others, were more noble, and hence set apart for
special labors, some to be rulers; others, as in
the case of Jeremiah, to be prophets, each one
in the mighty multitude being assigned to the
particular sphere, and given to the particular
privileges that his state of development and
degree of faithfulness entitled him to receive.

From the scriptures we learn that at one time
there was war in heaven:

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and

his angels fought, and the dragon fought and

his angels. * * * And the great dragon was

cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and

Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was

cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him. "*

To this also agrees the testimony of Jude:

"And the angels who kept not their first estate
but left their own habitation, he hath reserved
in everlasting chains under darkness unto the
judgment of the great day. "f

I have called attention to those passages to
prove that there were some spirits who dwelt
with God, so wicked and rebellious, that the)'
had to be cast out of heaven, and became the
devil and his angels; as well as some who had
developed such nobility of character, that God
had set them apart or ordained them to be his
rulers. Between these two extremes of good and
bad, obedient and rebellious were, I doubt not,

*Rev. xii. f Jude fi.
18

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LIRRARY

.'>4(J THE GOSPEL.

all degrees of faithfulness and nobility of con-
duct; and I hazard the opinion that the amount
and kind of development in that pre-existent
state influences the character in this life, and
brings within reach privileges and blessings
commensurate with their faithfulness in the
spirit world. Yet, I would not be understood as
holding the opinion that those born to wealth
and ease, whose lives appear to be an unbroken
round of pleasure and happiness, must therefore
have been spirits in their first estate that were
very highly developed in refinement, and very
valiant for God and his Christ. Regarding this
present state of existence, where as a sphere man
is sent to obtain an experience and further
develop the intelligence within him, and obtain
a knowledge of good and evil, from seeing them
in contrast and contact with each other — I hold
that that condition in life which is calculated to
give the widest experience to man, is the one
most to be desired, and he who obtains it is the
most favored of God.

One step more in this digression in order that
I may state further that I believe it consistent
with right reason to say that some of the lowliest
walks in life, the paths which lead into] the
deepest valleys of sorrow and up the most rugged
steeps of adversity, are the ones which, if a man
travel in, will best accomplish the object of his
existence in this world. The stream that leaps
over cliffs of rocks, thence goes tumbling down

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 347

through some canyon's rugged defile, then
divides into babbling brooks, now coquetting
with the sunbeams or dancing in the sheen of
the moon, then stealing into the shade as it
meanders through the meadows, and then
quickening its speed makes a final rush down a
rocky declivity into the ocean — keeps its waters
pure; while the stagnant pool is overgrown with
sedges; is a place for toads to knot and gender
in; breeds miasmata and infests the air with
disease germs; its water is impure and it is alto-
gether unlovely and undesirable. So it is with
the life of man. The conditions which place
men where they may always walk on the
unbroken plain of prosperity and seek for noth-
ing but their own pleasure, are not the best
within the gift of God. For in such circum-
stances men soon drop into a position analogous
to the stagnant pool; while those who have to
contend with difficulties, brave dangers, endure
disappointments, struggle with sorrows, eat the
bread of adversity and drink the water of afflic-
tion, develop a moral and spiritual strength,
together with a purity of life and character,
unknown to the heirs of ease, and wealth, and
pleasure. With the English bard, therefore, I
believe

Sweet are the uses of adversity !

And with the Scotch poet I would say that those
events, usually regarded as misfortunes,

348 THE GOSPEL.

Give the wit of age to youth:

They let us ken oursel':
They make us see the naked truth,

The real guid and ill.

Thou losses and crosses

Be lessons right severe,
There's wit there, ye'll get there,

Ye'll find nae other where.

What the mountain gorge, the beatling crags,
and steep declivities are to the stream — enabling
it to dash on in its course and by its very motion
purify itself — so are what we usually denominate
adverse circumstances to the life of man — they are
the means of development and of purification only
—the pathway of fiery trials is the one ordained of
God for his favored sons.

In proof of this I direct you to the lives of the
saints and the prophets; but above all to the life
of the Son of God himself! The life of the
Prophet Joseph Smith is an illustration second
only to that of Messiah. He was wont to say:

"I have waded in tribulation lip-deep; but
every wave of adversity which has struck me,
has only wafted me that much nearer to Deity. "

"Envy and the wrath of man have been my
common lot all the days of my life; and for what
cause it seems mysterious, unless I was ordained
from before the foundation of the world for some
good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it.
* * It all has become as second nature to
me, and I feel like Paul, to glory in tribulation,
for to this day has the God of my fathers
delivered me out of them all."

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 349

The Lord, while the prophet was a prisoner in
Liberty Jail, said to him:

"If thou art called to pass through tribulation;
if thou art in perils among false brethren; if
thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in
perils by land or by sea; if thou art accused
with all manner of false accusations; if thine
enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from
the society of thy father and thy mother, and
brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword
thine eneimes tear thee from the bosom of thy
wife and of thine offspring * * * And if
thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the
hands of murderers, and sentence of death be
passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep;
if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if
fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens
gather blackness, and all the elements combine
to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very
jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after
thee, know thou, my son, that all these things
shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy
good. The Son of Man hath descended below
them all; art thou greater than he? Therefore
hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain
with thee, for their [the wicked] bounds are set,
they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy
years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear
not what man can do, for God shall be with you
for ever and ever."*

If all this affliction was for the "good" of one
of the most favored of God's sons, is it not a

Doc. and Cov.. Sec cxxii.

350 THE GOSPE'L.

fair conclusion that the trials and adversities of
the other sons of God are for their "good?"

Let us now consider the relationship existing
between the spirits of men and God. Zechariah
speaks of God as not only laying the foundation
of the earth, but also as forming the spirit of
man within him,* while the writer of the book
of Hebrews alludes to Jesus as the first begottenf
of God. The same writer also saith:

"We have had fathers of our flesh which cor-
rected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we
not much rather be in subjection to the Father
of spirits and live?"!

We now begin to see why Jesus taught his
disciples to pray, "Our Father which art in
heaven." The words "Our Father" are not
meaningless, but express the relationship between
God and man. And not in any mystical way
either, but in reality, the relationship being as
much a fact as that existing between any
father and son on earth.

This relationship accounts for the interest of
God in man; it explains why he is "mindful of
him;" why all created things are made but for his
use, to supply his necessities, to furnish him
with comforts, or afford him the means of exper-
ience and education. It makes us understand
why such a gulf exists between man and the rest
of the animal creation — man is the offspring of

*Zech. xii : 1. fHeb. i : 6 j Heb. xii

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY. 351

Deity and inherits his Father's attributes. It is
true those attributes are undeveloped; and often
distorted even from that degree of perfection it is
possible for them to arrive at in this state of
existence; but that they exist in man is beyond
all question.

The relationship between God and man also
enables us to understand how it is that God
permitted such an atonement as the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ to be made for his redemption.
Among men may be seen how strong are the
paternal feelings; but how much stronger and
perfect they are in God than in man is manifest
in this, that "God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have
everlasting life. "*

Following as a consequence of the fatherhood
of God is the brotherhood of man. And since
Jesus Christ is the first begotten in the spirit
world (and the "only begotten" of the Father in
the flesh) it follows that he is our elder brother;
a relationship which accounts for his willingness
to make the great atonement which brings life
and immortality within the reach of his brethren.

God and Christ, then, are by no means beings
afar off that man may not know. Nor does God
look upon mankind as worms or worthless
things. On the contrary they are his offspring.

* John iii : 16.

.'>.)- THE GOSPEL.

He regards them with all the affection of a loving

father-
He sees their hopes he knows their ft-ar.
And looks and loves his image there!

He delights not in their destruction, but would
have all men to be saved; and for that purpose
has established the gospel.

I point out this noble relationship of man to
Deity, not to flatter the former, but because I
believe it to be a fact. It is a theme I love to
contemplate, not because it debases Deity, but
because it elevates man, and must inspire him
with noble aspirations, and to the performance
of virtuous deeds. If but once understood and
realized by mankind, I believe the conception
would be a strong incentive to the reformation
of the world; as it at once explains many things
which have been regarded as mysterious, and
explodes many of the absurdities which have
crept into the men-invented systems of theology.
Furthermore it brings man so near to Deity "that
like their Elder Brother — being in the form of
God — being the children of God — they may think
as Christ did, that it is no robbery to be equal
with God,* and may labor with worthy ambition
to that end. Heirs of God they are, even joint
heirs with Jesus Christ, if they obey the gospel
of the Son of God; and they have the assurance
of holy writ that when he shall appear the}' shall
be like him.f

*Phil. ii : 1-8. f I. John iii: 2