In this attempt to treat the philosophy of "Mormonism" it is
assumed that no discussion of Christianity in general nor of the
philosophy of Christianity is required. The "Mormon" creed, so
far as there is a creed professed by the Latter-day Saints, is
pre-eminently Christian in theory, precept, and practise. In
what respect, then, may be properly asked, does "Mormonism"
differ from the faith and practise of other professedly Christian
systems--in short, what is "Mormonism?"
First, let it be remembered that the term "Mormon," with its
derivatives, is not the official designation of the Church with
which it is usually associated. The name was originally applied
in a spirit of derision, as a nick-name in fact, by the opponents
of the Church; and was doubtless suggested by the title of a
prominent publication given to the world through Joseph Smith in
an early period of the Church's history. This, of course, is the
Book of Mormon. Nevertheless, the people have accepted the name
thus thrust upon them, and answer readily to its call. The
proper title of the organization is "The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints." The philosophy of "Mormonism" is declared
in the name. The people claim this name as having been bestowed
by revelation and therefore that, like other names given of God
as attested by scriptural instances, it is at once name and title
combined.
The Church declines to sail under any flag of man-made design; it
repudiates the name of mortals as a part of its title, and thus
differs from Lutherans and Wesleyans, Calvinists, Mennonites, and
many others, all of whom, worthy though their organizations may
be, elevating as may be their precepts, good as may be their
practises, declare themselves the followers of men. This is not
the church of Moses nor the prophets, of Paul nor of Cephas, of
Apollos nor of John; neither of Joseph Smith nor of Brigham
Young. It asserts its proud claim as the Church of Jesus Christ.
It refuses to wear a name indicative of distinctive or peculiar
doctrines; and in this particular, it differs from churches
Catholic and Protestant, Presbyterian, Congregationalist,
Unitarian, Methodist and Baptist; its sole distinguishing
features are those of the Church of Christ.
In an effort to present in concise form the cardinal doctrines of
this organization, I cannot do better than quote the so-called
_Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints_, which have been in published form before the world for
over half a century.[4]
[Footnote 4: For extended treatment of "Mormon" doctrine see "The
Articles of Faith: a Series of Lectures on the Principal
Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," by
James E. Talmage. Published by the Church: Salt Lake City, Utah;
485 pp.]
1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son,
Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own
sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
3. We believe that, through the atonement of Christ, all
mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and
ordinances of the gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances
of the gospel are: First, Faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion
for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands
for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by
prophecy, and by the laying on of hands, by those who
are in authority, to preach the gospel and administer in
the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in
the primitive church, namely, apostles, prophets,
pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy,
revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues,
etc.
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as
it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of
Mormon to be the word of God.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that he
does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal
many great and important things pertaining to the
Kingdom of God.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in
the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be
built upon this [the American] continent; that Christ
will reign personally upon the earth, and that the earth
will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God
according to the dictates of our own conscience, and
allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how,
where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents,
rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and
sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste,
benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men;
indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul,
We believe all things, we hope all things, we have
endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all
things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of
good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these
things.--JOSEPH SMITH.
This brief summary of "Mormon" doctrine appears over the
signature of Joseph Smith--the man whom the Latter-day Saints
accept as the instrument in divine hands of re-establishing the
Church of Christ on earth, in this the Dispensation of the
Fulness of Times. Let it not be supposed, however, that these
Articles of Faith are, or profess to be, a complete code of the
doctrines of the Church, for, as declared in one of the
"Articles," belief in continuous revelation from Heaven is a
characteristic feature of "Mormonism." Yet it is to be noted
that no doctrine has been promulgated, which by even strained
interpretation could be construed as antagonistic to this early
declaration of faith. Nor has any revelation to the Church yet
appeared in opposition to earlier revelation of this or of
by-gone dispensations.
To most of the declarations in the Articles of Faith, many sects
professing Christianity could confidently pledge allegiance; to
many of them, all Christian organizations could and professedly
do subscribe. Belief in the existence and powers of the Supreme
Trinity; in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of mankind;
in man's individual accountability for his doings; in the
acceptance of sacred writ as the Word of God; in the rights of
Worship according to the dictates of conscience; in all the moral
virtues;--these professions and beliefs are as a common creed in
the realm of Christendom. There is no peculiarly "Mormon"
interpretation, in the light of which these principles of faith
and practise are viewed by the Latter-day Saints, except in a
certain simplicity and literalness of acceptance--gross
literalness, unrefined materialism, it has been called by some
critical opponents.
The gospel plan as accepted and taught by the Latter-day Saints
is strikingly simple; disappointing in its simplicity, indeed, to
the mind that can find satisfaction in mysteries alone, and to
him whose love for metaphor, symbolism, and imagery are stronger
than his devotion to truth itself, which may or may not be thus
embellished. The Church asserts that the wisdom of human
learning, while ranking among the choicest of earthly
possessions, is not essential to an understanding of the gospel;
and that the preacher of the Word must be otherwise endowed than
by the learning of the schoolmen. "Mormonism" is for the
wayfaring man, not less than for the scholar, and it possesses a
simplicity adapting it to the one as to the other. A few of the
characteristically "Mormon" tenets may perhaps be profitably
considered.
"Mormonism" affirms its unqualified belief in the Godhead as the
Holy Trinity, comprising Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; each of the
three a separate and individual personage; the Father and the Son
each a personage of spirit and of immortalized body; the Holy
Ghost a personage of spirit.
The unity of the Godhead is accepted in the literal fulness of
scriptural declaration--that the three are one in purpose, plan
and method, alike in all their Godly attributes; one in their
divine omniscience and omnipotence; yet as separate and distinct
in their personality as are any three inhabitants of earth.
"Mormonism" claims that scriptures declaring the oneness of the
Trinity admit of this interpretation; that such indeed is the
natural interpretation; and that the conception is in accord with
reason.
We hold that mankind are literally the spiritual children of God;
that even as the Christ had an existence with the Father before
coming to earth to take upon himself a tabernacle of flesh, to
live and to die as a man in accordance with the fore-ordained
plan of redemption, so, too, every child of earth had an
existence in the spirit-state before entering upon this mortal
probation. We hold the doctrine to be reasonable, scriptural and
true, that mortal birth is no more the beginning of the soul's
existence than is death its end.
The time-span of mortal life is but one stage in the soul's
career, separating the eternity that has preceded from the
eternity that is to follow. And this mortal existence is one of
the Father's great gifts to his spiritual children, affording
them the opportunity of an untrammeled exercise of their free
agency, the privilege of meeting temptation and of resisting it
if they will, the chance to win exaltation and eternal life.
We claim that all men are equal as to earthly rights and human
privileges; but that each has individual capacity and
capabilities; that in the primeval world there were spirits noble
and great, as there were others of lesser power and inferior
purpose. There is no chance in the number or nature of spirits
that are born to earth; all who are entitled to the privileges of
mortality and have been assigned to this sphere shall come at the
time appointed, and shall return to inherit each the glory or the
degradation to which he has shown himself adapted. The gospel as
understood by the Latter-day Saints affirms the unconditional
free-agency of man--his right to accept good or evil, to choose
the means of eternal progression or the opposite, to worship as
he elects, or to refuse to worship at all--and then to take the
consequences of his choice.
"Mormonism" rejects what it regards as a heresy, the false
doctrine of pre-destination as an absolute compulsion or even as
an irresistible tendency forced upon the individual toward right
or wrong--as a pre-appointment to eventual exaltation or
condemnation; yet it affirms that the infinite wisdom and
fore-knowledge of God makes plain to him the end from the
beginning; and that he can read in the natures and dispositions
of his children, their destiny.
"Mormonism" claims an actual and literal relationship of parent
and child between the Creator and man--not in the figurative
sense in which the engine may be called the child of its builder;
not the relationship of a thing mechanically made to the maker
thereof; but the kinship of father and offspring. In short it is
bold enough to declare that man's spirit being the offspring of
Deity, and man's body though of earthy components yet being in
the very image and likeness of God, man even in his present
degraded--aye, fallen condition--still possesses, if only in a
latent state, inherited traits, tendencies and powers that tell
of his more than royal descent; and that these may be developed
so as to make him, even while mortal, in a measure Godlike.
But "Mormonism" is bolder yet. It asserts that in accordance
with the inviolable law of organic nature--that like shall beget
like, and that multiplication of numbers and perpetuation of
species shall be in compliance with the condition "each after his
kind," the child may achieve the former status of the parent, and
that in his mortal condition man is a God in embryo. However far
in the future it may be, what ages may elapse, what eternities
may pass before any individual now a mortal being may attain the
rank and sanctity of godship, man nevertheless carries in his
soul the possibilities of such achievement; even as the crawling
caterpillar or the corpse-like chrysalis holds the latent
possibility, nay, barring destruction, the certainty indeed, of
the winged imago in all the glory of maturity.
"Mormonism" claims that all nature, both on earth and in heaven,
operates on a plan of advancement; that the very Eternal Father
is a progressive Being; that his perfection, while so complete as
to be incomprehensible by man, possesses this essential quality
of true perfection--the capacity of eternal increase. That
therefore, in the far future, beyond the horizon of eternities
perchance, man may attain the status of a God. Yet this does not
mean that he shall be then the equal of the Deity he now worships
nor that he shall ever overtake those intelligences that are
already beyond him in advancement; for to assert such would be to
argue that there is no progression beyond a certain stage of
attainment, and that advancement is a characteristic of low
organization and inferior purpose alone. We believe that there
was more than the sounding of brass or the tinkling of wordy
cymbals in the fervent admonition of the Christ to his
followers--"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is
in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48.)
But it is beyond dispute that in his present state, man is far
from the condition of even a relatively perfect being. He is
born heir to the weaknesses as well as to the excellencies of
generations of ancestors; he inherits potent tendencies for both
good and evil; and verily, it seems that in the flesh he has to
suffer for the sins of his progenitors. But divine blessings are
not to be reckoned in terms of earthly possessions or bodily
excellencies alone; the child born under conditions of adversity
may after all be richly endowed with opportunity, opportunity
which, perhaps, had been less of service amid the surroundings of
luxury. We hold that the Father has an individual interest in
his children; and that surely in the rendering of divine
judgment, the conditions under which each soul has lived in
mortality shall be considered.
"Mormonism" accepts the doctrine of the Fall, and the account of
the transgression in Eden, as set forth in Genesis; but it
affirms that none but Adam is or shall be answerable for Adam's
disobedience; that mankind in general are absolutely absolved
from responsibility for that "original sin," and that each shall
account for his own transgressions alone; that the Fall was
foreknown of God--that it was turned to good effect by which the
necessary condition of mortality should be inaugurated; and that
a Redeemer was provided, before the world was; that general
salvation, in the sense of redemption from the effects of the
Fall, comes to all without their seeking it; but that individual
salvation or rescue from the effects of personal sins is to be
acquired by each for himself by faith and good works through the
redemption wrought by Jesus Christ. The Church holds that
children are born to earth in a sinless state, that they need no
individual redemption; that should they die before reaching years
of accountability, they return without taint of earthly sin; but
as they attain youth or maturity in the flesh, their
responsibility increases with their development.
According to the teachings of "Mormonism," Christ's instructions
to the people to pray "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven" was not a petition for the impossible,
but a fore-shadowing of what shall eventually be. We believe
that the day shall yet come when the Kingdom of God on earth
shall be one with the Kingdom in heaven; and one King shall rule
in both. The Church is regarded as the beginning of this Kingdom
on earth; though until the coming of the King, there is no
authority in the Church exercising or claiming temporal rule or
dominion among the governments of earth. Yet the Church is none
the less the beginning of the Kingdom, the germ from which the
Kingdom shall develop.
And the Church must be in direct communication with the heavenly
Kingdom of which the earthly Kingdom when established shall be a
part. Of such a nature was the Church in so far as it existed
before the time of Christ's earthly ministry; for the biblical
record is replete with instances of direct communication between
the prophets and their God. The scriptures are silent as to a
single dispensation in which the spiritual leaders of the people
depended upon the records of earlier times and by-gone ages for
their guidance; but on the contrary, the evidence is complete
that in every stage of the Church's history the God of heaven
communicated his mind and will unto his earthly representatives.
Israel of old were led and governed in all matters spiritual and
to a great extent in their temporal affairs by the direct word of
revelation. Noah did not depend upon the record of God's
dealings with Adam or Enoch, but was directed by the very word
and voice of the God whom he represented. Moses was no mere
theologian trained for his authority or acts on what God had said
to Abraham, to Isaac, or to Jacob; he acted in accordance with
instructions given unto him from time to time, as the
circumstances of his ministry required. And so on through all
the line of prophets, major and minor, down to the priest of the
course of Abia unto whom the angel announced the birth of John
who was to be the direct fore-runner of the Messiah.
When the Christ came in the flesh he declared that he acted not
of himself but according to instructions given him of the Father.
Thus the Messiah was a revelator, receiving while in the flesh
communication direct and frequent from the heavens. By such
revelation he was guided in his earthly ministry; by such he
instructed his disciples; unto such he taught his apostles to
look for safe guidance when he would have left them.
During his earthly ministry Christ called and ordained men to
offices in the Church. We have a record of apostles
particularly, numbering twelve, and beside these, seventy others
who were commissioned to preach, teach, baptize and perform other
ordinances of the Church. After our Lord's departure, we read of
the apostles continuing their labors in the light of continued
revelation. By this sure guide they selected and set apart those
who were to officiate in the Church. By revelation, Peter was
directed to carry the gospel to the Gentiles; which expansion of
the work was inaugurated by the conversion of the devout
Cornelius and his household. By revelation, Saul of Tarsus
became Paul the Apostle, a valiant defender of the faith. Holy
men of old spake and wrote as they were moved upon by the Holy
Ghost and depended not upon the precedents of ancient history nor
entirely upon the law then already written. They operated under
the conviction that the living Church must be in communication
with its living Head; and that the work of God, while it was to
be wrought out through the instrumentality of man, was to be
directed by him whose work it was, and is.
"Mormonism" claims the same necessity to exist today. It holds
that it is no more nearly possible now than it was in the days of
the ancient prophets or in the apostolic age for the Church of
Christ to exist without direct and continuous revelation from
God. This necessitates the existence and authorized
ministrations of prophets, apostles, high priests, seventies,
elders, bishops, priests, teachers and deacons, now as
anciently--not men selected by men without authority, clothed by
human ceremonial alone, nor men with the empty names of office,
but men who bear the title because they possess the authority,
having been called of God.
Is it unreasonable, is it unphilosophical, thus to look for
additional light and knowledge? Shall religion be the one
department of human thought and effort in which progression is
impossible? What would we say of the chemist, the astronomer,
the physicist, or the geologist, who would proclaim that no
further discovery or revelation of scientific truth is possible,
or who would declare that the only occupation open to students of
science is to con the books of by-gone times and to apply the
principles long ago made known, since none others shall ever be
discovered?
The chief motive impelling to research and investigation is the
conviction that to knowledge and wisdom there is no end.
"Mormonism" affirms that all wisdom is of God, that the halo of
his glory is intelligence, and that man has not yet learned all
there is to learn of him and his ways. We hold that the doctrine
of continuous revelation from God is not less philosophical and
scientific than scriptural.
CHAPTER II
The Latter-day Saints affirm that the authority to act in the
name of God--the Holy Priesthood--has been restored to earth in
this dispensation and age, in accordance with the inspired
predictions of earlier times. But, it may be asked, what
necessity was there for a restoration if the Priesthood had been
once established upon earth? None indeed, had it never been
taken away. A general apostasy from the primitive Church is
conceded in effect by some authorities in ecclesiastical history;
though few admit the entire discontinuance of priestly power, or
the full suspension of authority to operate in the ordinances of
the Church. This great apostasy was foretold. Paul warned the
Saints of Thessalonica against those who claimed that the second
coming of Christ was then near at hand: "For," said he, "that day
shall not come except there come a falling away first." (II
Thess. 2:3.) "Mormonism" contends that there has been a general
falling away from the Church of Christ, dating from the time
immediately following the apostolic period. We believe that the
proper interpretation of history will confirm this view; and,
moreover, that the inspired scriptures foretold just such a
condition.[5]
[Footnote 5: See "The Great Apostasy: Considered in the Light of
Scriptural and Secular History," by James E. Talmage. Published
by the _Deseret News_, Salt Lake City, Utah; 176 pp.]
If the Priesthood had been once taken from the earth no human
power could re-establish it; the restoration of this authority
from heaven would be necessary. The Church claims that in the
present age this restoration has been effected by the personal
ministrations of those who exercised the authority in earlier
dispensations. Thus, in 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery
received the Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood under the hands of John
the Baptist, who visited them as a resurrected being--the same
Baptist who by special and divine commission held the authority
of that Priesthood in the dispensation of the "Meridian of Time."
Later, the Higher or Melchizedek Priesthood was conferred upon
them through the personal ministrations of Peter, James, and
John--the same three who constituted the presidency of the
apostolic body in the primitive Church, after the departure of
the Lord Jesus Christ by whom it was founded.
That the claim is a bold one is conceded without argument. The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints professes to have the
Priesthood of old restored in its fulness; and, moreover, while
acknowledging the right of every individual as of every sect or
other organization of individuals to believe and practise
according to choice in matters religious, it affirms that it is
the only Church on the face of the earth possessing this
authority and Priesthood; and that therefore it is _The Church_
and the only Church of Christ upon the earth today. It holds as
absolutely indispensable to proper Church organization, the
presence of the living oracles of God who shall be directed from
the heavens in their earthly ministry; and these, "Mormonism"
asserts, are to be found with the Church of Jesus Christ.
"Mormonism" emphasizes the doctrine that that which is Caesar's
be given unto Caesar, while that which is God's be rendered unto
him. Therefore, it teaches that all things pertaining unto
earth, and unto man's earthly affairs, may with propriety be
regulated by earthly authority, but that in the performance of
any ordinance, rite, or ceremony, claimed to be of effect beyond,
the grave, a power greater than that of man is requisite or the
performance is void. Therefore, membership in the Church, which,
if of any value and significance at all, is of more than temporal
meaning, must be governed by laws which are prescribed by the
powers of heaven. "Mormonism" recognizes Jesus Christ as the
head of the Church, as the literal Savior and Redeemer of
mankind, as the King of kings and Lord of lords, as the One whose
right it is to reign on earth, who shall yet subdue all worldly
kingdoms under his feet, who shall present the earth in its final
state of redemption to the Father. It is his right to prescribe
the conditions under which mankind may be made partakers of his
bounty and of the privileges of the victory won by him over death
and the grave.
The Church claims that faith in God is essential to intelligent
service of him; and that faith, trust, confidence in God as the
Father of mankind, as the Supreme Being to whom all shall render
account of their deeds and misdeeds, must lead to a desire to
serve him and thus produce repentance. Faith in God and genuine
repentance of sin, of necessity, therefore constitute the
fundamental principles of the gospel. It is reasonable to expect
that after man has developed faith in God, and has repented of
his sins, he will be eager to find a means of demonstrating his
sincerity; and this means is found in the requirement concerning
baptism as essential to entrance into the Church, and as a means
whereby remission of sins may be obtained. As to the mode of
baptism, the Church affirms that immersion alone is the one
method sanctioned by scripture, and that this mode has been
expressly prescribed by revelation in the present dispensation.
Water baptism, then, becomes a basic principle and the first
essential ordinance of the gospel. It is to be administered by
one having authority; and that authority rests in the Priesthood
given of God. Following baptism by water, comes the ordinance of
the bestowal of the Holy Ghost by the authorized imposition of
hands, which constitutes the true baptism of the Spirit. These
requirements, designated specifically the "first principles and
ordinances of the gospel," "Mormonism" claims to be absolutely
essential to membership in the Church of Christ, and this without
modification or qualification as to the time at which the
individual lived in mortality.
Then with propriety it may be asked:--What shall become of those
who lived and died while the Priesthood was not operative upon
the earth?--those who have worked out their mortal probation
during the ages of the great apostasy? Furthermore, what shall
be the destiny of those who, though living in a time of spiritual
light, perhaps had not the opportunity of learning and obeying
the gospel requirements? Here again the inherent justice of
"Mormon" philosophy shows itself in the doctrine of salvation for
the dead. No distinction is made between the living and the dead
in the solemn declaration of the Savior to Nicodemus, which
appears to have been given the widest possible application,--that
except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter
into the Kingdom of God. (John 3:1-5.)
"Mormonism" proclaims something more than a heaven and a hell, to
one or the other of which all spirits of men shall be assigned,
perhaps on the basis of a very narrow margin of merit or demerit.
As it affirms the existence of an infinite range of graded
intelligences, so it claims the widest and fullest gradation of
conditions of future existence. It holds that the honest,
though, perchance, mistaken soul who lived or tried to live
according to the light he had received, shall be counted among
the honorable of the earth, and shall find opportunity, if not
here then in the hereafter, for compliance with the requirements
essential for salvation. It teaches that repentance with all its
attendant blessings shall be possible beyond the grave; but that
inasmuch as the change we call death does not transform the
character of the soul, repentance there will be difficult for him
who has ruthlessly and willfully rejected the manifold
opportunities afforded him for repentance here. It asserts that
even the heathen devotee who may have bowed down to stocks and
stones, if in so doing he was obeying the highest law of worship
which to his benighted soul had come, shall have part in the
first resurrection, and shall be afforded the opportunity, which
on earth he had not found, of doing that which is required of
God's children for salvation. And for all the dead who have been
without the privileges, perhaps indeed without the knowledge, of
compliance with Christ's law, there shall be given opportunity in
the hereafter.
Nevertheless, this life of ours is no trifle, no insignificant
incident in the soul's eternal course, having but small and
temporal importance, the omissions of which can be rectified with
ease by the individual beyond the veil. If compliance with the
divine law as exemplified by the requirements of faith,
repentance, baptism, and the bestowal of the right to the
ministrations of the Holy Ghost, are essential to the salvation
of those few who just now are counted among the living, such is
not less necessary for those who once were living but now are
dead. Who are the living of today but those who shortly shall be
added to the uncounted dead? Who are the dead but those who at
some time have lived in mortality?
Christ has been ordained to be judge of both quick and dead; he
is Lord of living and dead as man uses these terms, for all live
unto him. How then shall the dead receive the blessings and
ordinances denied to them or by them neglected while in the
flesh? "Mormonism" answers: By the vicarious work of the living
in their behalf! It was this great and privileged labor to which
the prophet Malachi referred in his solemn declaration, that
before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, Elijah should be
sent with the commission to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. Elijah's
visitation to earth has been realized. On the 3rd of April, in
the year 1836, there appeared unto Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery, in the temple erected by the. Latter-day Saints at
Kirtland, Ohio, Elijah the prophet, who announced that the time
spoken of by Malachi had fully come; then and there he bestowed
the authority, for this dispensation, to inaugurate and carry on
this labor in behalf of the departed.
As to the fidelity with which the Latter-day Saints have sought
to discharge the duties thus divinely required at their hands,
let the temples erected in poverty as in relative prosperity--by
the blood and tears of the people--testify. Two of these great
edifices were constructed by the Latter-day Saints in the days of
their tribulation, in times of their direst persecution,--one at
Kirtland, Ohio, the other at Nauvoo, Illinois. The first is
still standing, though no longer possessed by the people who
built it; and no longer employed for the furtherance of the
purposes of its erection; the second fell a prey to flames
enkindled by mobocratic hate. Four others have been constructed
in the vales of Utah, and are today in service, dedicated to the
blessing of the living, and particularly to the vicarious labor
of the living in behalf of the dead. In them the ordinances of
baptism, and the laying on of hands for the bestowal of the Holy
Ghost, are performed upon the living representatives of the
dead.[6]
[Footnote 6: For a detailed treatment of Temples and Temple labor
among the Latter-day Saints, including a study of the doctrine of
vicarious labor for the dead, see "The House of the Lord, a Study
of Holy Sanctuaries Ancient and Modern," including forty-six
plates illustrative of modern Temples; by James E. Talmage.
Published by the Church: Salt Lake City, Utah; 336 pp.]
But this labor for the dead is two-fold; it comprises the proper
performance of the required ordinances on earth, and the
preaching of the gospel to the departed. Shall we suppose that
all of God's good gifts to his children are restricted to the
narrow limits of mortal existence? We are told of the
inauguration of this great missionary labor in the spirit world,
as effected by the Christ himself. After his resurrection, and
immediately following the period during which his body had lain
in the tomb guarded by the soldiery, he declared to the sorrowing
Magdalene that he had not at that time ascended to his Father;
and, in the light of his dying promise to the penitent malefactor
who suffered on a cross by his side, we learn that he had been in
paradise. Peter also tells us of his labors--that he was
preaching to the spirits in prison, to those who had been
disobedient in the days of Noah when the long-suffering of God
waited while the ark was preparing. If it was deemed necessary
or just that the gospel be carried to spirits that were
disobedient or neglectful in the days of Noah, are we justified
in concluding that others who have rejected or neglected the word
of God shall be left in a state of perpetual condemnation?
"Mormonism" claims that not only shall the gospel be carried to
the living, and be preached to every creature, but that the great
missionary labor, the burden of which has been placed on the
Church, must of necessity be extended to the realm of the dead.
It declares unequivocally that without compliance with the
requirements established by Jesus Christ, no soul can be saved
from the fate of the condemned; but that opportunity shall be
given to every one in the season of his fitness to receive it, be
he heathen or civilized, living or dead.
The whole duty of man is to live and work according to the
highest laws of right made known to him, to walk according to the
best light that has been shed about his path; and while Justice
shall deny to every soul that has not rendered obedience to the
law, entrance into the kingdom of the blessed, Mercy shall claim
opportunity for all who, have shown themselves willing to receive
the truth and obey its behests.
It will be seen, then, that "Mormonism" offers no modified or
conditional claims as to the necessity of compliance with the
laws and ordinances of the gospel by every responsible inhabitant
of earth unto whom salvation shall come. It distinguishes not
between enlightened and heathen nations, nor between men of high
and low intelligence; nor even between the living and the dead.
No human being who has attained years of accountability in the
flesh, may hope for salvation in the kingdom of God until he has
rendered obedience to the requirements of Christ, the Redeemer of
the world.
But while thus decisive, "Mormonism" is not exclusive. It does
not claim that all who have failed to accept and obey the gospel
of eternal life shall be eternally and forever damned. While
boldly asserting that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints is the sole repository of the Holy Priesthood as now
restored to earth, it teaches and demands the fullest toleration
for all individuals, and organizations of individuals, professing
righteousness; and holds that each shall be rewarded for the
measure of good he has wrought, to be adjudged in accordance with
the spiritual knowledge he has gained. For such high claims
combined with such professions of tolerance, the Church has been
accused of inconsistency. Let it not be forgotten, however, that
toleration is not acceptance. I may believe with the utmost
fulness of my soul's powers that I am right and my neighbor is
wrong concerning any proposition or principle; but such
conviction gives me no semblance of right for interfering with
his exercise of freedom. The only bounds to the liberty of an
individual are such as mark the liberty of another, or the rights
of the community. God himself treats as sacred, and therefore as
inviolable, the freedom of the human soul.
"Know this, that every soul is free
To choose his life and what he'll be;
For this eternal truth is given,
That God will force no man to heaven.
"He'll call, persuade, direct aright,
Bless him with wisdom, love, and light;
In nameless ways be good and kind,
But never force the human mind."
"Mormonism" contends that no man or nation possesses the right to
forcibly deprive even the heathen of his right to worship his
deity. Though idolatry has been marked from the earliest ages
with the seal of divine disfavor, it may represent in the
unenlightened soul the sincerest reverence of which the person is
capable. He should be taught better, but not compelled to render
worship which to him is false because in violation of his
conscience.
In further defense of the Latter-day Saints against the charge of
inconsistency for this their tolerance toward others whom they
verily believe to be wrong, let me again urge the cardinal
principle that every man is accountable for his acts, and shall
be judged in the light of the law as made known to him.
There is no claim of universal forgiveness; no unwarranted
glorification of Mercy to the degrading or neglect of Justice; no
thought that a single sin of omission or of commission shall fail
to leave its wound or scar. In the great future there shall be
found a place for every soul, whatever his grade of spiritual
intelligence may be. "In my Father's house are many mansions,"
(John 14:2), declared the Savior to his apostles; and Paul adds,
"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the
glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial
is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of
the moon and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth
from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the
dead," (I Cor. 15:40-42). The Latter-day Saints claim a
revelation of the present dispensation as supplementing the
scripture just quoted. From this later scripture (see D&C, Sec.
76), we learn that there are three well-defined degrees in the
future state, with numerous, perhaps numberless, gradations.
There is the _celestial state_ provided for those who have lived
the whole law, who have accepted the testimony of the Christ, who
have complied with the required ordinances of the gospel, who
have been valiant in the cause of virtue and truth. Then there
is the _terrestrial state_, comparable to the first as is the
moon to the sun. This shall be given to the less valiant, to
many who are nevertheless among the worthy men of the earth, but
who perchance have been deceived as to the gospel and its
requirements. The _telestial state_ is for those who have failed
to live according to the light given them; those who have had to
suffer the results of their sins; those who have been of Moses,
of Paul, of Apollos, and of any one of a multitude of others, but
not of the Christ.
We hold that there is a wide difference between salvation and
exaltation; that there are infinite gradations beyond the grave
as there are here, and as there were in the state preceding this.
"Mormonism" is frequently spoken of as a new religion, and the
Church as a new church, a mere addition of one to the many sects
that have so long striven for recognition and ascendency among
men. It is new only as the springtime following the darkness and
the cold of the year's night is new. The Church is a new one
only as the ripening fruit is a new development in the course of
the tree's growth. In a general and true sense, "Mormonism" is
not new to the world. It is founded on the gospel of Christ
which antedates this earth. The establishment of the Church in
the present age was but a restoration. True, the Church is
progressive as it ever has been; it is therefore productive of
more and greater things as the years link themselves into the
centuries; but the living seed contains within its husk all the
possibilities of the mature plant.
This so-called new, modern gospel is in fact the old one, the
first one, come again. It demands the organization and the
authority characteristic of the Church in former days, when there
was a Church of God upon the earth; it expects no more
consideration, and scarcely hopes for greater popularity, than
were accorded the primitive Church. Opposition, persecution, and
martyrdom have been its portion, but these tribulations it
accepts, knowing well that to bear such has been the lot of the
true Church in every age.
"Mormonism" is more than a code of morals; it claims a higher
rank than that of an organization of men planned and instituted
by the wisdom and philosophy of men, however worthy. It draws a
distinction between morality and religion; and affirms that human
duty is not comprised in a mere avoidance of sin. It regards the
strictest morality as an indispensable feature of every religious
system claiming in any degree divine recognition; and yet it
looks upon morality as but the alphabet from which the words and
sentences of a truly religious life may be framed. However
euphonious the words, however eloquent the periods, to make the
writing of highest worth there must be present the divine
thought; and this, man of himself cannot conceive.
It affirms that there was a yesterday as there is a today, and
shall be a tomorrow, in the dealings of God with men; that
Through the ages one increasing purpose runs;
and that purpose,--the working out of a divine plan, the ultimate
object of which is the salvation and exaltation of the human
family.
The central feature of that plan was the earthly ministry and
redeeming sacrifice of the Christ in the meridian of time; the
consummation shall be ushered in by the return of that same
Christ to earth as the Rewarder of righteousness, the Avenger of
iniquity, and as the world's Judge.
The Church holds that in the light of revelation, ancient and
modern, and by a fair interpretation of the signs of the times,
the second coming of the Redeemer is near at hand. The present
is the final dispensation of the earth in its present state;
these are the last days of which the prophets in all ages have
sung.
But of what use are theories and philosophies of religion without
practical application? Of what avail is belief as a mere mental
assent or denial? Let it develop into virile faith; vitalize it;
animate it; then it becomes a moving power. The Latter-day
Saints point with some confidence to what they have attempted and
begun, and to the little they have already done in the line of
their convictions, as proof of their sincerity.
For the second coming of the Redeemer, preparation is demanded of
men; and today, instead of the single priest crying in the
wilderness of Judaea, there are thousands going forth among the
nations with a message as definite and as important as that of
the Baptist; and their proclamation is a reiteration of the voice
in the desert--"Repent Repent! for the Kingdom of Heaven is at
hand."
The philosophy of "Mormonism" rests on the literal acceptance of
a living, personal God, and on the unreserved compliance with his
law as from time to time revealed.
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