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,
One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church

PREPARED BY APPOINTMENT, AND PUBLISHED BY THE CHURCH

Eleventh Edition in English
INCLUDING THE FIFTY-SECOND THOUSAND

The Deseret News,
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.
1919

Entered According to Act of Congress
In the year 1890,
By James E. Talmage,
In the Office of the Librarian of
Congress, at Washington.

Copyright 1913
By Joseph F. Smith
Trustee-in-Trust for the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.

The lectures herewith presented have been prepared in
accordance with the request and appointment of the First
Presidency of the Church. The greater number of the
addresses were delivered before the Theology Class of the
Church University; and, after the close of the class sessions,
the lectures were continued before other Church organizations
engaged in the study of theology. To meet the desire
expressed by the Church authorities,—that the lectures
be published for use in the various educational institutions
of the Church,—the matter has been revised, and is now
presented in this form.

In anticipation of probable question or criticism regarding
the disparity of length of the several lectures, it may
be stated that each of the addresses occupied two or more
class sessions, and that the present arrangement of the
matter in separate lectures is rather one of compilation
than of original presentation.

The author’s thanks are due and are heartily rendered to
the members of the committee appointed by the First
Presidency, whose painstaking and efficient examination of
the manuscript prior to the delivery of the lectures, has
inspired some approach to confidence in the prospective
value of the book among members of the Church. The
committee here referred to consisted of Elders Francis M.
Lyman, Abraham H. Cannon, and Anthon H. Lund, of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elder George Reynolds,[iv]
one of the Presidents of the Presiding Quorum of
Seventy; Elder John Nicholson, and Dr. Karl G. Maeser.

The lectures are now published by the Church, and with
them goes the hope of the author that they may prove of
some service to the many students of the scriptures among
our people, and to other earnest inquirers into the doctrines
and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.

James E. Talmage.

Salt Lake City, Utah, April 3, 1899.

Preface to the Tenth Edition.

This issue of “The Articles of Faith” presents some departures
from the earlier imprints in wording, in the substitution
of several rewritten paragraphs, and in the introduction
of numerous additions to the notes and references.
This entire edition is printed on India paper. Since the
issuance of the last preceding edition, translations of the
work have been published in Dutch and Japanese.

James E. Talmage.

Salt Lake City, Utah, February, 1917.

Publishers’ Note to Eleventh Edition

This edition of Dr. James E. Talmage’s valuable work
“The Articles of Faith” is printed from the electrotype
plates used for the last preceding edition, which was the
first India paper issue.

Salt Lake City Utah, October, 1919.

CONTENTS.

THE ARTICLES OF FAITH

OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY
SAINTS.

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the
Holy Ghost.

2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s
transgression.

3. We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by
obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are:—(1) Faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Repentance; (3) Baptism by immersion for the remission of
sins; (4) Laying on of Hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying
on of hands, by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the
ordinances thereof.

6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, viz.:
apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.

7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation
of tongues, etc.

8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; We
also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe
that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of
God.

10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten
Tribes; that Zion will be built upon this [the American] continent; That Christ will
reign personally upon the earth; and, That the earth will be renewed and receive its
paradisiacal glory.

11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of
our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where
or what they may.

12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying,
honoring, and sustaining the law.

13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good
to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul. We believe all
things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure
all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we
seek after these things.—Joseph Smith.

LECTURES

ON

THE ARTICLES OF FAITH
OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

LECTURE I.

INTRODUCTORY.

1. Importance of Theological Study.—In the short period
of time that measures the span of mortal existence, it is
not possible for man to explore any considerable portion of
the vast realm of knowledge; it becomes, therefore, the part
of wisdom to select for study the branches that promise to
prove of the greatest worth. All truth is of value—above
price indeed in its place; yet with respect to their possible
application, some truths are of incomparably greater worth
than are others. A knowledge of the principles of trade is
essential to the success of the merchant; an acquaintance
with the laws of navigation is demanded of the mariner;
familiarity with the relation of soil and crops is indispensable
to the farmer; an understanding of the profound principles
of mathematics is necessary to the engineer and the
astronomer; so too is a practical knowledge of God essential
to the salvation of every human soul that has attained to
powers of judgment and discretion. The value of theological
knowledge, therefore, ought not to be under-rated; it[2]
is doubtful if its importance can in any way be over-estimated.

2. What is Theology?—The word “theology” is of Greek
origin; it comes to us from Theos, meaning God, and logos—a
treatise, or discourse, signifying by derivation, therefore,
collated knowledge of Divinity, or the science that
teaches us of God, implying also the relation existing between
the Supreme Being and His creatures. The term is
of very ancient usage, and may be traced to pagan sources.
Plato and Aristotle speak of theology as the doctrine of
Deity and divine things. Concisely defined, theology “is
that revealed science which treats of the being and attributes
of God, His relations to us, the dispensations of His
providence, His will with respect to our actions, and His
purposes with respect to our end.”[1]

3. It has been held by some as a truth, that theological
knowledge is not properly a subject for analytical and
otherwise scientific treatment on the part of man; that inasmuch
as a true conception of Deity, with which theology has
primarily to deal, must necessarily be based upon revelation
from the source divine, we can but receive such knowledge as
it is graciously given; and that to attempt critical investigation
thereof by the fallible powers of human judgment would be
to apply as a measure of the doings of God the utterly inadequate
wisdom of man. Many truths are beyond the
scope of unaided human reason, and theological facts have
been declared to be above reason; this is true so far as the
same remark might be applied to any other kind of truth;
for all truth, being eternal, is superior to reason in the
sense of being manifest to reason, but not a creation of
reason; nevertheless truths are to be estimated and compared
by the exercise of reason.

[3]

4. The Extent of Theology.—Who can survey the boundaries
of this science? It deals with Deity—the fountain of
knowledge, the source of wisdom; with the proofs of the existence
of a Supreme Being, and of other supernatural personalities;
with the conditions under which, and the means
by which, divine revelation is imparted; with the eternal
principles governing the creation of worlds; with the laws of
nature in all their varied manifestations. Primarily, theology
is the science of God and religion; it seeks to present
“the systematic exhibition of revealed truth, the science of
Christian faith and life.” But in a more general sense, theology
has to do with other truths than those which are specifically
called spiritual; its domain is co-extensive with
that of truth.

5. The industrial pursuits that benefit mankind, the arts
that please and refine, the sciences that enlarge and exalt
the mind, are but fragments of the great though yet uncompleted
volume of truth that has come to earth from a source
of eternal and infinite supply. The comprehensive study
of theology, therefore, would embrace all known truths.
God has constituted Himself as the great teacher;[2] by personal
manifestations or through the ministrations of His
appointed servants, He instructs His mortal children. To
Adam He introduced the art of agriculture,[3] and even
taught by example that of tailoring;[4] to Noah and Nephi
He gave instructions in ship building;[5] Lehi and Nephi
were taught of Him in the arts of navigation;[6] and for their
guidance on the water, as in their journeyings on land, He
prepared for them the Liahona.[7] a compass operated by a[4]
force more effective than that of terrestrial magnetism;
furthermore, Moses received divine instructions in architecture.[8]

6. Theology and Religion, though closely related, are
by no means identical. A person may be deeply versed in
theological lore, and yet be lacking in religious, and even in
moral traits. Theology may be compared to theory, while
religion represents practice; if theology be precept, then religion
is example. Each should be the complement of the
other; theological knowledge should strengthen religious faith
and practice. As accepted by the Latter-day Saints, theology
comprehends the whole plan of the gospel. “Theology
is ordered knowledge, representing in the region of the
intellect what religion represents in the heart and life of
man.”[9] Knowledge may have to do with the intellect only,
and however sublime its import, it may fail to affect the
hardened heart.

7. The “Articles of Faith.”—The beliefs and prescribed
practices of most religious sects are usually set forth in formal
creeds. The Latter-day Saints announce no creed as a
complete code of their faith; for while they hold that the
precepts of eternal life are unchangeable, they accept the
principle of continuous revelation as a characteristic feature
of their belief. However, when asked for a concise presentation
of the principal religious views of his people, Joseph
Smith, the first prophet of the Church in the present dispensation,
announced as a declaration of belief the “Articles
of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
These include the more essential and characteristic features
of the gospel as accepted by this Church; but they are not
complete as an exposition of our belief, for by one of the
Articles it is declared, “We believe all that God has revealed,[5]
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.” From the time of their first promulgation,
the Articles of Faith have been accepted by the
people,[10] and on October 6, 1890, the Latter-day Saints, in general
conference assembled, re-adopted the Articles as part of
their guide in faith and conduct. As these Articles of
Faith present the leading tenets of the Church in systematic
order, they suggest themselves as a convenient outline for
our plan of study.

8. The Standard Works of the Church form our written
authority in doctrine; but they are by no means our only
sources of information and instruction on the theology of
the Church. We believe that God is as willing to-day as He
ever has been to reveal His mind and will to man, and that
He does so through chosen and appointed channels. We
rely therefore on the teachings of the living oracles of God
as of equal validity with the doctrines of the written word,
the men in chief authority being acknowledged and accepted
by the Church as prophets and revelators, and as being in
possession of the power of the holy Priesthood. The written
works adopted by the vote of the Church as authoritative
guides in faith and doctrine are four,—the Bible, the Book
of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of
Great Price. Other works have been and are being issued
by officers and members of the Church, and many such
books are unreservedly sanctioned by the people and their
ecclesiastical authorities; but the four publications named
are the only regularly constituted standard works of the
Church. Of the doctrine treated in the authorized standards,
the Articles of Faith may be regarded as a fair,
though necessarily but an incomplete epitome.

[6]

JOSEPH SMITH, THE PROPHET.

9. Joseph Smith, whose name is appended to the Articles
of Faith, was the prophet through whom the Lord restored
to earth in these the last days the Gospel, and this in accordance
with predictions made in previous dispensations.
The question of the divine authenticity of this man’s mission
is an all-important one to earnest investigators of
Latter-day Saint doctrines. If his claims to a God-given
appointment be false, forming, as they do, the foundation
of the Church in the last dispensation, the superstructure
cannot be stable; if, however, his purported ordination under
the hands of heavenly personages be a fact, one need
search no further for the cause of the phenomenal strength
and growing power of the restored Church. The circumstances
of the divine dealings with Joseph Smith, the marvelous
development of the work instituted by this modern
prophet, the fulfilment through his instrumentality of
many of the grandest predictions of old, and his own prophetic
utterances with their literal realizations, will yet be
widely acknowledged as proof conclusive of the validity of
his ministry.[11] The exalted claims maintained for him and
his life’s work, the fame that has made his name known for
good or evil among most of the civilized nations of the
earth, the vitality and growing strength of the religious
and social systems which owe their origin as nineteenth-century
establishments to the ministrations of this man,
give to him an individual importance warranting at least a
passing consideration.

10. His Parentage and Youth.—Joseph Smith, the third
son and fourth child in a family of ten, was born December
23d, 1805, at Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont. He was
the son of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith—a worthy couple,[7]
who though in poverty lived happily amid their home scenes
of industry and frugality. When the boy, Joseph, was ten
years old, the family left Vermont and settled in the State
of New York, first at Palmyra, and later at Manchester,
Ontario County. At the place last named, the future prophet
spent most of his boyhood days. In common with his
brothers and sisters, he had but little schooling; and for
the simple rudiments of an education, which by earnest application
he was able to gain, he was mostly indebted to his
parents, who followed the rule of devoting a portion of their
limited leisure to the teaching of the younger members of
the household.

11. In their religious inclinations, the family favored the
Presbyterian church, the mother and three or four of the
children having united themselves with that sect; but
Joseph, while at one time favorably impressed by the Methodist
creed, kept himself free from all sectarian membership,
being greatly perplexed over the strife and dissensions manifesting
themselves among the churches of the time. He
had a right to expect that in the Church of Christ there
would be unity and harmony; yet in place of such he saw
among the wrangling sects only confusion. When Joseph
was in his fifteenth year, the region of his home was visited
by a storm of fierce religious excitement, which, beginning
with the Methodists, soon became general among all the
sects; there were revivals and protracted meetings, and the
manifestations of sectarian rivalry were many and varied.
These conditions added much to the distress of the young
searcher after truth.

12. His Search for Truth and the Result.—Here is Joseph’s
own account of his course of action:—

“In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions,
I often said to myself, what is to be done? who of all
these parties are right? or, are they all wrong together? If[8]
any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know
it?

“While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties
caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was
one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth
verse, which reads, ‘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.‘[12] Never did any passage of
scripture come with more power to the heart of man than
did this at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great
force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again
and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from
God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I
could get more wisdom than I then had, would never know,
for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood
the same passage so differently as to destroy all confidence
in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At
length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain
in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs,
that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination
to ask of God, concluding that if He gave wisdom
to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally and
not upbraid, I might venture. So, in accordance with this
my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods
to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful
clear day, early in the spring of 1820. It was the first time
in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all
my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray
vocally.

“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 overcame
me, and had such astonishing influence over me as to
bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness
gathered around 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[9]
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 above 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, whose brightness and glory
defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of
them spake unto me calling me by name, and said (pointing
to the other), ‘This is my beloved Son, hear Him.‘”[13]

13. In answer to his prayer for guidance as to which of the
sects was right, he was told to join none of them, for all
were wrong, with their creeds which are an abomination in
the sight of God, and their professors who are corrupt, in
that they draw near with their lips while their hearts are far
from the Lord, teaching for doctrine the commandments of
men, having a form of godliness while denying the power
thereof.

14. Such knowledge as has been communicated in this
unprecedented revelation was not to be held secret within
the heart of the youth. He hesitated not to impart the
glorious truths, first to the members of his family, who received
his testimony with reverence, and then to the sectarian
ministers, who had labored so diligently to convert
him to their several creeds. To his surprise, these
professed teachers of Christ treated his statements with
the utmost contempt, declaring that the day of revelation
from God had long since passed away; and that the
manifestation, if indeed he had received any such at all, was
surely from Satan. Nevertheless, the ministers exerted themselves,[10]
with a unity of purpose strangely at variance with
their former hostility toward one another, to ridicule the
young man, and to denounce his testimony. The neighborhood
was aroused; persecution, bitter and vindictive, was
waged against him and his family; he was actually fired
upon by a would-be assassin: yet through it all he was preserved
from bodily injury; and in spite of increasing opposition
he remained faithfully steadfast to his testimony
of the heavenly visitation.[14] In this condition of trial, he
continued without further manifestation for three years,
constantly expecting, but never receiving the additional
light and added instructions for which he yearned. He was
keenly sensitive of his own frailty and conscious of human
weaknesses. He pleaded before the Lord, acknowledging
his errors and craving help.

15. Angelic Visitations.—On the night of September
21st, 1823, while praying for forgiveness of sins and for
guidance as to his future course, he was blessed with
another heavenly manifestation. There appeared in his
room a brilliant light, in the midst of which stood a personage
clothed in white, and with a countenance of radiant
purity and loveliness. The celestial visitor announced himself
as Moroni, a messenger sent from the presence of God;
and then he proceeded to instruct the youth as to some of the
Divine purposes in which Joseph was to take a most important
part. The angel said that through Joseph as the
earthly instrument the true Church would be again established
upon the earth; that his name would be known
among all nations and tongues, honored by the good, reviled
by the wicked; that a record, engraven on plates of gold,
giving a history of the nations that had formerly lived upon
the western continent and an account of the Savior’s ministrations
among the people on this land, was hidden in a[11]
hill near by; that with the plates were two sacred stones,
known as Urim and Thummim, by the use of which, men in
olden times had become seers, and that through those instruments
God would enable Joseph to translate the record
engraved on the plates.

16. The angelic messenger then repeated several prophecies
which are recorded in the ancient scriptures; some of
the quotations were given with variations from our Bible
readings. Of the words of Malachi the following were
quoted: “For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as
an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall burn as stubble, for they that come shall burn them,
saith the Lord of Hosts, and it shall leave them neither
root nor branch.”[15] And further:—”Behold, I will reveal
unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet,
before the coming of the great and dreadful 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 their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth
would be utterly wasted at his coming.”[16] Among other
scriptures, Moroni cited the prophecies of Isaiah relating
to the restoration of scattered Israel, and the promised reign
of righteousness on earth,[17] saying that the predictions were
about to be fulfilled; also the words of Peter to the Jews,
concerning the prophet who Moses said would be raised up,
explaining that the prophet referred to was Christ, and that
the day was near at hand when all who rejected the words
of the Savior would be cut off from among the people.[18]

17. Having delivered his message, the angel departed,
the light in the room seeming to condense about his person,
and disappearing with him. But the heavenly visitant returned[12]
a second and a third time during the night, each
time repeating the instructions, with additional admonitions
as to the requirements, and warnings regarding temptations
that would assail the youthful seer. On the following day,
Moroni appeared to Joseph again, reciting anew the instructions
and cautions of the preceding night, and telling him to
acquaint his father with all he had heard and seen. This
the boy did, and the father promptly testified that the communications
were from God.

18. Joseph soon repaired to the hill described to him in
the vision. He recognized the spot indicated by the angel,
and with some labor laid bare a stone box containing the
plates and other things spoken of by Moroni. The heavenly
messenger again stood beside him, and forbade the removal
of the contents at that time, saying that four years were to
elapse before the plates would be committed to his care, and
that it would be his duty to visit the spot at yearly intervals.
On the occasion of each of these visits the angel instructed
the young man more fully regarding the great work awaiting
him.

19. It is not the purpose of the present lecture to review
in detail the life and ministry of Joseph Smith;[19] so much
attention has been given to the opening scenes of his
divinely-appointed mission, in view of the unusual importance
associated with the ushering in of the modern or new
dispensation of God’s providence. The bringing forth of
the plates from their resting-place of centuries, their translation
by divine power, and the publication of the record as
the Book of Mormon, shall receive attention on a later occasion;
for the present it is sufficient to say that the ancient
record has been translated; that the Book of Mormon has
been given to the world; and that the volume is accepted as
scripture by the Latter-day Saints.

[13]

20. Later Developments: the Martyrdom.—In due time,
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized,
the Priesthood having been restored through the
ordination of Joseph Smith by those who had held the keys
of that authority in former dispensations. From an initial
membership of but six persons, the Church grew to include
thousands during the life-time of the Prophet Joseph; and
the growth has continued with phenomenal rapidity and
stability until the present time. One by one the powers
and authorities possessed by the Church of old were restored
through the man who was chosen and ordained to be
the first elder of the latter-day dispensation. With the
spread of the Church, persecution increased, and the effect
of evil opposition reached a climax in the cruel martyrdom
of the prophet, and his brother Hyrum, then patriarch of
the Church, June 27, 1844. The incidents leading up to
and culminating in the foul murder of these men at
Carthage, Illinois, are matters of common history. Suffice
it to say that prophet and patriarch gave the sacred seal
of their life’s blood to the testimony of the truth, which
they had valiantly maintained in the face of intolerant
persecution for nearly a quarter of a century.[20]

21. Authenticity of Joseph Smith’s Mission.—The evidence
of divine authority in the work established by Joseph Smith,
and of the justification of the claims made by and for the
man, may be summarized as follows:

I. Ancient prophecy has been fulfilled in the restoration
of the gospel and the re-establishment of the Church upon
the earth through his instrumentality.

II. He received by direct ordination and appointment, at
the hands of those who held the power in former dispensations,
the authority to minister in the various ordinances of
the gospel.

[14]

III. His possession of the power of true prophecy, and of
other spiritual gifts, is shown by the results of his ministry.

IV. His doctrines are both true and scriptural.

Each of these classes of evidence will receive attention and
find ample demonstration in the course of our study of the
Articles of Faith; and a detailed consideration will not be
attempted at this stage of our investigation; a few illustrations,
briefly stated, however, may not be out of place.

22. I. The Fulfilment of Prophecy, wrought through the
life work of Joseph Smith, is abundantly shown. John the
Revelator, from his prophetic vision of the latter-day dispensation,
understood and predicted that the gospel would
be again sent from the heavens, and be restored to the earth
through the direct ministration of an angel:—”And I saw
another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”[21]
A partial fulfilment of this prediction is claimed in the
manifestation of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith, as
already described, whereby the restoration of the gospel was
announced, and the speedy realization of other ancient prophecies
was promised; and a record, described in part as
containing “the fulness of the everlasting gospel,” was committed
to his care for translation and publication among all
nations, kindred, and tongues. The remainder of John’s fateful
utterance, regarding the authorized call for repentance
and the execution of God’s judgment preparatory to the awful
scenes of the last days, is now in process of rapid and literal
fulfilment.

23. Malachi predicted the coming of Elijah specially
commissioned with power to inaugurate the work of co-operation
between the fathers and the children, and announced
this mission as a necessary preliminary to the advent of “the[15]
great and dreadful day of the Lord.”[22] The angel Moroni
confirmed the truth and significance of this prediction in an
emphatic reiteration.[23] Joseph Smith and his associate in
the ministry, Oliver Cowdery, solemnly testify that they
were visited by Elijah the prophet, in the temple at Kirtland,
Ohio, on the third day of April, 1836; on which
occasion the heavenly messenger declared that the day
spoken of by Malachi had fully come; “Therefore,” continued
he, “the keys of this dispensation are committed into your
hands, and by this ye may know that the great and
dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.”[24] The
particular nature of the union of the fathers and the children,
upon which both Malachi and Moroni laid great stress,
has been explained as consisting in the work of vicarious
ordinances, including baptism for the dead who have passed
from earth without a knowledge of the gospel. In teaching
this doctrine, and in complying with its behests, the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands to-day
alone amongst all the sects professing Christianity.

24. The ancient scriptures are teeming with prophecies
concerning the restoration of Israel in the last days, and
the gathering of the chosen people from among the nations
and from the lands into which they have been led or driven
as a penalty for their waywardness and sin.[25] Such prominence
and importance are attached to this work of gathering,
in the predictions of olden times, that from the days of
Israel’s exodus, the last days have been characterized in
sacred writ as a gathering dispensation. The return of the
tribes after their long and wide dispersion is made a preliminary
work to the establishment of the predicted reign[16]
of righteousness with Christ on the throne of the world;
and its accomplishment is given as a sure precursor of the
millennium. Jerusalem is to be re-established as the City of
the Great King on the eastern Hemisphere; and Zion, or the
New Jerusalem, is to be built on the western continent; the
Ten Tribes are to be brought back from their hiding place
in the north; and the curse is to be removed from Israel.[26]
From the early days of Joseph Smith’s ministry, he taught
the doctrine of the gathering as imposing a present duty
upon the Church; and this phase of the Latter-day Saint
labor is one of its most characteristic features. Joseph
Smith and Oliver Cowdery declare that the authority for
prosecuting this work was committed to the Church through
them by Moses, who held the keys of authority as Israel’s
leader in former times. Their testimony is thus stated, in
the description given of manifestations in the Kirtland
Temple, April 3, 1836:—”Moses appeared before us, and
committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from
the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes
from the land of the north.”[27] As to the earnestness with
which this labor has been begun, and the fair progress already
made therein, consider the hundreds of thousands belonging
to the families of Israel already gathered in the valleys
of the Rocky Mountains, about the house of the Lord, now
established; and hear the hymn of the chosen seed among
the nations, chanted to the accompaniment of effective deeds,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and
to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of
His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for the law shall go
forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”[28]

25. The bringing forth of the Book of Mormon is held[17]
by the Latter-day Saints to be a direct fulfilment of prophecy.[29]
In predicting the humiliation of Israel, to whom
had been committed the power of the priesthood in early
days, Isaiah gave voice to the word of the Lord in this
wise:—”And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak
out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the
dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar
spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out
of the dust.”[30] The Book of Mormon is verily the voice of
a people brought low, speaking from the dust, for from the
dust the book was literally taken. The volume professes
to be the history of but a small division of the house of
Israel,—a part of the family of Joseph indeed, who were
led by a miraculous power to the western continent six
centuries prior to the Christian era. Of the record of
Joseph, and its coming forth as a parallel testimony to that
of Judah, or the Bible in part, the Lord thus spake through
the prophet Ezekiel:—”Moreover, thou son of man, take
thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the
children of Israel his companions: then take another stick,
and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and
for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them
one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in
thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall
speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou
meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the
hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and
will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and
make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.”[31]
The succeeding verses declare that the gathering and restoration[18]
of Israel would immediately follow the united
testimony of the records of Judah and Joseph. The two
records are before the world, a unit in their testimony of
the everlasting Gospel; and the work of gathering is in
effective progress.

26. It is further evident from the scriptures, that the
dispensation of the Gospel in the latter days is to be one of
restoration and restitution, a “dispensation of the fulness
of times” in very truth. Paul declares it to be the good
pleasure of the Lord, “That in the dispensation of the fulness
of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth;
even in him.”[32] This prediction finds a parallel in an utterance
of the prophet Nephi:—”Wherefore all things which
have been revealed unto the children of men, shall at that
day be revealed.”[33] And in accord with this is the teaching
of Peter: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing
shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall
send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution
of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began.”[34] Now comes Joseph
Smith with the declaration that unto him has been given
the authority to open up this, the dispensation of fulness,
restitution, and restoration; and that through him the
Church has been endowed with all the keys and powers of
the priesthood, held and exercised in earlier periods: Unto
the Church “is the power of this priesthood given, for the
last days, and for the last time, in the which is the dispensation
of the fulness of times, which power you hold in[19]
connection with all those who have received a dispensation
at any time from the beginning of creation.”[35] The actual
possession of these combined and unified powers is sufficiently
proved by the comprehensive work of the Church in
its present scope of operation.

27. II. Joseph Smith’s Authority was conferred upon
him by direct ministrations of heavenly beings, each of whom
had once exercised the same power upon the earth. We
have already seen how the angel Moroni, formerly a mortal
prophet among the Nephites, transmitted to Joseph the appointment
to bring forth the record which he, Moroni, had
buried in the earth over fourteen hundred years before. We
learn further, that on the 15th of May, 1829, the lesser or
Aaronic Priesthood was conferred upon Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery by the hand of John the Baptist,[36] who came
in his immortalized state with that particular order of priesthood
which comprises the keys of the ministrations of angels,
the doctrine of repentance and of baptism for the remission
of sins. This was the same John who, with the voice of one
crying in the wilderness, had preached the self-same doctrine,
and had administered the same ordinance in Judea as the
immediate forerunner of the Messiah. In delivering his
message, John the Baptist stated that he was acting under
the direction of Peter, James, and John, apostles of the Lord,
in whose hands reposed the keys of the higher or Melchizedek
Priesthood, which in time would also be given. This
promise was fulfilled a month or so later, when the apostles
named manifested themselves to Joseph and Oliver, ordaining
them to the apostleship,[37] which comprises all the offices
of the higher order of priesthood, and which carries authority
to minister in all the established ordinances of the Gospel.

[20]

28. Then, some time after the Church had been duly
organized, authority for certain special functions was given,
the appointing messenger being in each case the one whose
right it was so to officiate by virtue of the commission which
he had held in the days of his mortality. Thus, as has been
seen, Moses conferred the authority to prosecute the work
of gathering; and Elijah, who, not having tasted death, held
a peculiar relation to both the living and the dead, delivered
the authority of vicarious ministry for the departed. To
these appointments by heavenly authority should be added
that given by Elias, who appeared to Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery, and “committed the dispensation of the
gospel of Abraham,” saying as was said of the Father of the
Faithful and his descendants in olden times, that in them
and in their seed should all succeeding generations be blessed.[38]

29. It is evident, then, that the claims made by the
Church with respect to its authority are complete and consistent
as to the source of the powers professed, and the channels
through which such have been delivered again to earth.
Scripture and revelation, both ancient and modern, support
as an unalterable law the principle that no one can delegate
to another an authority which the giver does not possess.

30. III. Joseph Smith was himself a true Prophet.—This
statement, if fully substantiated, would be of itself sufficient
proof of the validity of the claims of this modern prophet,
and the test is not difficult of application. In the days of
ancient Israel, an effective method of trying the claims of a
professed prophet was prescribed:—”When a prophet speaketh
in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor
come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not
spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously;
thou shalt not be afraid of him.”[39] Conversely, if the words[21]
of the prophet are made good by fulfilment, there is at least
proof presumptive of his genuineness. Of the many predictions
uttered by Joseph Smith and already fulfilled or
awaiting the set time of their realization, a few citations
will suffice for our present purpose.

31. One of the earliest prophecies declared by him, which,
while not his independent utterance but that of the angel
Moroni, was nevertheless given to the world by Joseph Smith,
had special reference to the Book of Mormon, of which the
angel said: “The knowledge that this record contains will go
to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, under
the whole heaven.”[40] This declaration was made four years
before the work of translation was begun, and fourteen years
before the elders of the Church began their missionary labor
in foreign lands. Since that time the Book of Mormon has
been translated into seventeen foreign languages, and is published
in fifteen tongues; and the work is still in progress.

32. In August, 1842, while the Church was suffering
persecution in Illinois, and when the western part of the
continent was but little known and only as the territory of
an alien nation, Joseph Smith prophesied “that the Saints
would continue to suffer much affliction, and would be
driven to the Rocky Mountains,” and that while many then
professing allegiance to the Church would apostatize, and
others, faithful to their testimony, would meet the martyr’s
fate, some would live to “assist in making settlements and
build cities and see the Saints become a mighty people in
the midst of the Rocky Mountains.”[41] The literal fulfilment
of this prediction, uttered in 1842, and it may be added,
foreshadowed by an earlier prophecy in 1831,[42] the one five,
the other sixteen years before the migration of the Church[22]
to the West, is attested by the common history of the settlement
and development of this once inhospitable region. Even
the skeptic and the pronounced opponents of the Church
admit the miracle of the establishment of a mighty commonwealth
in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains.

33. A most remarkable prediction regarding national
affairs was uttered by Joseph Smith, December 25th, 1832;
it was soon thereafter promulgated among the members of
the Church, and was preached by the elders, but did not
appear in print until 1851.[43] The revelation reads in part as
follows:—”Verily thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars
that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of
South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death
and misery of many souls. The days will come that war
will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at that place;
For, behold, the Southern States shall be divided against
the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on
other nations, even the nation of Great Britain; …
And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise
up against their masters, who shall be marshalled and disciplined
for war.” Every student of United States history
is acquainted with the facts establishing a complete fulfilment,
even to the minutest detail, of this astounding prophecy.
In 1861, more than twenty-eight years after the foregoing
prediction was recorded, and ten years after its publication
in England, the Civil War broke out, beginning in
South Carolina. The ghastly records of that fratricidal
strife sadly support the prediction concerning “the death
and misery of many souls.” It is well known that slaves
deserted the South and were marshalled in the armies of the
North, and that the Confederate States solicited aid of Great[23]
Britain. While no open alliance between the Southern States
and England was effected, the British government gave indirect
assistance and substantial encouragement to the South,
and this in such a way as to produce serious international
complications. Vessels were built and equipped at British
ports in the interests of the Confederacy; and the results of
this violation of the laws of neutrality cost Great Britain the
sum of fifteen and a half millions of dollars, which sum was
awarded the United States at the Geneva arbitration in settlement
of the “Alabama claims.” The Confederacy appointed
commissioners to Great Britain and France; these
appointees were forcibly taken by United States officers from
the British steamer on which they had embarked. This act,
which the United States government had to admit as overt,
threatened for a time to precipitate a war between this nation
and Great Britain.

34. The revelation cited, as given through Joseph Smith,
contained other predictions, some of which are yet awaiting
fulfilment.[44] The evidence presented is sufficient to prove
that Joseph Smith is prominent among men by reason of his
instrumentality in fulfilling prophecies uttered by the Lord’s
representatives in former times, and that his own claim to
the rank of prophet is abundantly vindicated. But the
endowment of prophecy so richly bestowed upon this Elias
of the last days, and so freely yet unerringly exercised by
him, is but one of the many spiritual gifts by which he, in
common with a host of others who have received the priesthood
from him, was distinguished. The scriptures declare
that certain signs shall attend the Church of Christ, among
them the gifts of tongues, healing, immunity from threatening
death, and the power to control evil spirits.[45] The
exercise of these powers, resulting in what are ordinarily[24]
termed miracles, is by no means an infallible proof of divine
authority; for many true prophets have wrought no such
wonders, and men have been known to work miracles at the
instigation of evil spirits.[46] Nevertheless, the possession of
the power implied by the working of miracles is an essential
characteristic of the Church; and when such acts are
wrought in the accomplishment of holy purposes, they serve
as confirmatory evidence of divine authority. Therefore we
may expect to find, as find we do, in the ministry of Joseph
Smith and in that of the Church in general, the attested
record of miracles, comprising manifestations of all the
promised gifts of the Spirit. This subject will be further
considered on another occasion.[47]

35. IV. The Doctrines Taught by Joseph Smith and by the
Church to-day are true and scriptural. To sustain this
statement we must examine the principal teachings of the
Church in separate order. The Articles of Faith furnish us
a convenient summary of many of the doctrines pertaining
to the latter-day work; and these we will proceed to study
in the course of the lectures that are to follow.

NOTES.

1. The “Articles of Faith” date from March 1, 1841. They constitute a
portion of a letter from the Prophet Joseph Smith to a Mr. Wentworth, of Chicago.
The “Articles” were published in the History of Joseph Smith: (See Millennial Star,
vol. XIX, p. 120; also Times and Seasons, vol. III, p. 709.) As stated elsewhere, the
Articles have been formally adopted by the Church as an authorized summary of its
principal doctrines.

2. Joseph Smith’s Early Persecution.—The Prophet wrote as follows
concerning the persecution of his boyhood days, which dated from the time of
his first mention of his vision of the Father and the Son:—”It has often caused
me serious reflection, both then and since, how very strange it was that an obscure boy,
a little over fourteen years of age, and one too who was doomed to the necessity of
obtaining a scanty maintenance by his daily labor, should be thought a character of[25]
sufficient importance to attract the attention of the great ones of the most popular sects
of the day, so as to create in them a spirit of the hottest persecution and reviling. But
strange or not, so it was, and was often cause of great sorrow to myself. However, it was,
nevertheless, a fact that I had had a vision. I have thought since that I felt much like Paul
when he made his defense before King Agrippa, and related the account of the vision he
had when he saw a light and heard a voice, but still there were but a few who believed him;
some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad, and he was ridiculed and reviled;
but all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he
had, and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise; … So it
was with me; I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two personages,
and they did in reality speak unto me, or one of them did; and though I was
hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they
were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me, falsely,
for so saying, I was led to say in my heart, Why persecute for telling the truth? I had
actually seen a vision, and who am I that I can withstand God?” Pearl of Great Price:—Extracts
from the History of Joseph Smith: 23-25.

3. Tribute to Joseph Smith.—While few people outside the Church have had
much to say in commendation of this modern prophet, it is interesting to note that there
are some honorable exceptions to the rule. Josiah Quincy, a prominent American, made
the acquaintance of Joseph Smith a short time before the latter’s martyrdom; and after
the tragic event he wrote: “It is by no means improbable that some future text-book, for
the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this: What
historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence
upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it is by no means impossible that the answer
to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet. And the
reply, absurd as it doubtless seems to most men now, may be an obvious commonplace to
their descendants. History deals in surprises and paradoxes quite as startling as this.
The man who establishes a religion in this age of free debate, who was and is today
accepted by hundreds of thousands as a direct emissary from the Most High,—such a rare
human being is not to be disposed of by pelting his memory with unsavory epithets….
The most vital questions Americans are asking each other today have to do with this man
and what he has left us…. Burning questions they are, which must give a prominent
place in the history of the country to that sturdy self-asserter whom I visited at Nauvoo,
Joseph Smith, claiming to be an inspired teacher, faced adversity, such as few men have
been called to meet, enjoyed a brief season of prosperity, such as few men have ever
attained, and, finally, forty-three days after I saw him, went cheerfully to a martyr’s
death. When he surrendered his person to Governor Ford, in order to prevent the shedding
of blood, the Prophet had a presentiment of what was before him. ‘I am going like
a lamb to the slaughter,’ he is reported to have said, ‘but I am as calm as a summer’s
morning. I have a conscience void of offence, and shall die innocent.'” Figures of the
Past by Josiah Quincy, p. 376.

4. The Seal of Martyrdom.—”The highest evidence of sincerity that a man can
give his fellow-men,—the highest proof that he has spoken the truth in any given case—is
that he perseveres in it unto death, and seals his testimony with his blood…. So
important did such a testimony become in the estimation of Paul, that he said ‘Where a
testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is
of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.’
(Heb. ix, 16-17.) In the light of this principle, and when the importance of the great
testimony which he bore to the world is taken into account, it is not to be wondered at
that Joseph Smith was called upon to affix the broad seal of martyrdom to his life’s[26]
work. Something of incompleteness in his work would likely have been complained of
had this been lacking; but now, not so; his character of prophet was rounded out to complete
fulness by his falling a martyr under the murderous fire of a mob at Carthage in
the State of Illinois.”—Elder B. H. Roberts, in “A New Witness for God,” pp. 477-478.

5. Joseph Smith; Further References.—For biography, see “The Life of
Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” by Pres. George Q. Cannon. See also “Divine Authority,
or the question, Was Joseph Smith Sent of God?” a pamphlet by Apostle Orson Pratt;
“Joseph Smith’s Prophetic Calling;” Millennial Star, Vol. XLII, pp. 164, 187, 195, 227.
Letters, by Elder Orson Spencer to Rev. Wm. Crowell; No. 1; “A New Witness for God,”
by Elder B. H. Roberts.

6. Joseph Smith’s Descent.—”Joseph Smith was of humble birth. His parents
and their progenitors were toilers, but their characters were godly and their names unstained.
Near the middle of the seventeenth century Robert Smith, a sturdy yeoman of
England, emigrated to the New World, the land of promise. With his wife, Mary, he
settled in Essex, Massachusetts. The numerous descendants of these worthy people
intermarried with many of the staunchest and most industrious families of New England.
Samuel, the son of Robert and Mary, born January 26th, 1666, wedded Rebecca Curtis,
January 25th, 1707. Their son, the second Samuel, was born January 26th, 1714; he
married Priscilla Gould, and was the father of Asael, born March 1st, 1744. Asael Smith
took to wife Mary Duty, and their son Joseph was born July 12th, 1771. On the 24th of
January, 1796, Joseph married Lucy Mack at Tunbridge in the State of Vermont. She
was born July 8th, 1776, and was the daughter of Solomon and Lydia Mack, and was the
granddaughter of Ebenezer Mack.”—The Life of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, by George
Q. Cannon; Chapter I. Joseph the Prophet was the third son and fourth child of Joseph
and Lucy (Mack) Smith; he was born at Sharon, Vermont, December 23d, 1805.

7. The Standard Works of the Church.—The Bible and the Book of
Mormon—the first two of the standard works of the Church—are to receive attention in
later lectures (see pp. 240-307). The Doctrine and Covenants is a compilation of modern
revelations as given to the Church in the present dispensation. The Pearl of Great Price
comprises the visions and writings of Moses as revealed to Joseph Smith, the Book of
Abraham—a translation by Joseph Smith from certain ancient papyri—and some of the
writings of Joseph Smith.

8. History of the Restored Church.—Further information regarding
the life work of Joseph Smith, and the growth of the Church of Jesus Christ as
restored to earth through his instrumentality, may be found in the “History of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Salt Lake City, Utah. For a brief
synopsis of Church history see “The Story of Mormonism,” by James E. Talmage,
Liverpool, 1907; Salt Lake City, 1910.

9. Restoration of the Gospel.—Plainly the vision-prophecy of John (Rev.
xiv, 6, 7), relating to the restoration of the gospel to earth, could not refer to the
gospel record preserved in the Holy Bible, for that record has remained in the
possession of mankind. As stated in our text (page 14) a partial fulfilment is
found in the visitation of Moroni and the restoration of the Book of Mormon,
which is to us of modern times a new scripture, and one containing a fuller
record of “the everlasting gospel.” However, a record of the gospel is not the
gospel itself. Authority to administer in the saving ordinances of the gospel is
essential to the effective preaching and administration thereof; this was restored
through John the Baptist, who brought the Aaronic Priesthood, and through Peter,
James, and John who brought again to earth the Melchizedek Priesthood (see
pp. 193, 194 herein). For commentary on Rev. xiv, 6, 7, see “The Great
Apostasy,” p. 168.

[27]

LECTURE II.

GOD AND THE GODHEAD.

Article 1.—We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ,
and in the Holy Ghost.

1. The Existence of God.—Since faith in God constitutes
the foundation of religious belief and practice, and inasmuch
as a knowledge of the attributes and character of
Deity is essential to an intelligent exercise of faith in Him,
this subject claims first place in our study of the doctrines
of the Church.

2. The existence of God is scarcely a question of rational
dispute; nor does it call for proof by the feeble demonstrations
of man’s logic, for the fact is admitted by the human
family practically without question, and the consciousness
of subjection to a supreme power is an inborn
quality of mankind. The early scriptures are in no sense
devoted to a primary demonstration of God’s existence, nor
to attacks on the sophistries of atheism; and from this fact
we may infer that the errors of doubt developed in
some period later than the first. The universal assent
of mankind to the existence of God is at least a strongly
corroborative truth. There is a filial passion within
human nature which flames toward heaven. Every nation,
every tribe, every individual, yearns for some object of
reverence. It is natural for man to worship; his soul
is unsatisfied till it finds a deity. When men through
transgression first fell into darkness concerning the true
and living God, they established for themselves other deities;
and so arose the abominations of idolatry. And yet,[28]
terrible as these practices are, even the most revolting
idolatries testify to the existence of a God by declaring
man’s hereditary passion for worship. Plutarch has wisely
remarked of ancient conditions: “If you search the
world, you may find cities without walls, without letters,
without kings, without money; but no one ever saw a
city without a deity, without a temple, or without prayers.”
This general assent to a belief in the existence
of Deity is testimony of a high order; and in this connection
the words of Aristotle may be applied:—”What
seems true to some wise men is somewhat probable; what
seems true to most or all wise men is very probable; what
most men, both wise and unwise, assent to, still more
resembles truth; but what men generally consent in has the
highest probability, and approaches so near to demonstrated
truth, that it may pass for ridiculous arrogance and
self-conceitedness,
or for intolerable obstinacy and perverseness,
to decry it.”[48]

3. The multiplicity of evidence upon which mankind
rest their conviction regarding the existence of a Supreme
Being, may be classified, for convenience of consideration,
under the three following heads:

I. The evidence of history and tradition.

II. The evidence furnished by the exercise of human
reason.

III. The conclusive evidence of direct revelation from
God Himself.

4. I. History and Tradition.—History as written by man,
and tradition as transmitted from generation to generation
prior to the date of any written record now extant, give evidence
of the actuality of Deity, and of close and personal
dealings between God and man in the first epochs of human
existence. One of the most ancient records known, the Bible,[29]
names God as the Creator of all things,[49] and moreover,
declares that He revealed Himself to our first earthly
parents and to many other holy personages in the early
days of the world. Adam and Eve heard His voice[50] in the
Garden, and even after their transgression they continued
to call upon God and to sacrifice to Him. It is plain, therefore,
that they carried with them from the Garden a knowledge
of God. After their expulsion they heard “the voice
of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden,”
though they saw Him not; and He gave unto them commandments,
which they obeyed. Then came to Adam an
angelic messenger, and the Holy Ghost inspired the man
and bare record of the Father and the Son.[51]

5. Cain and Abel learned of God from the teachings of
their parents, as well as from personal ministrations. After
the acceptance of Abel’s offering, and the rejection of that
of Cain followed by Cain’s terrible crime of fratricide, the
Lord talked with Cain, and Cain answered the Lord.[52] Cain
must, therefore, have taken a personal knowledge of God
from Eden into the land where he went to dwell.[53] Adam
lived to be nine hundred and thirty years old and many
children were born unto him. Them he instructed in the
fear of God, and many of them received direct ministrations.
Of Adam’s descendants, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel,
Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech the father of
Noah, each representing a distinct generation, were all living
during Adam’s lifetime. Noah was born but a hundred and
twenty-six years after the time of Adam’s death, and moreover
lived nearly six hundred years with his father Lamech,
by whom he was doubtless instructed in the traditions concerning[30]
God’s personal manifestations, which Lamech had
learned from the lips of Adam. Through the medium of
Noah and his family, a knowledge of God by direct tradition
was carried beyond the flood; and Noah held direct
communication with God,[54] and lived to instruct ten generations
of his descendants. Then followed Abraham, who
also enjoyed direct communion with the Creator,[55] and
after him Isaac, and Jacob or Israel, among whose descendants
the Lord wrought such wonders through the instrumentality
of Moses. Thus, had there been no written
records, tradition would have preserved and transmitted a
knowledge of God.

6. But even if the accounts of the earliest of man’s
personal communion with God had become dimmed with
time, and therefore weakened in effect, they could but give
place to other traditions founded on later manifestations of
the Divine personality. Unto Moses the Lord made Himself
known, not alone from behind the curtain of fire and
the screen of clouds,[56] but by direct face to face communication,
whereby the chosen high-priest beheld even “the
similitude” of his God.[57] This account of direct communion
between Moses and God, in part of which the
people were permitted to share,[58] as far as their faith and
purity permitted, has been preserved by Israel through all
the generations of the past. And from Israel the traditions
of God’s existence have spread throughout the world; so
that we find traces of this ancient knowledge even in the
most fanciful and perverted mythologies of heathen nations.

7. II. Human Reason, operating upon observations of the[31]
things of nature, strongly declares the existence of God.
The mind, already imbued with the historical truths of the
Divine existence and its close relationship with man, will
find confirmatory evidence in nature on every side; and
even to him who rejects the testimony of the past, and
assumes to set up his own judgment as superior to the common
belief of ages, the multifarious evidences of design in
nature appeal. Every observer must be impressed by the
proofs of order and system among created things, and by
the absence of superfluities in nature. He notes the
regular succession of day and night providing alternate
periods of work and rest for man, animals, and vegetables;
the sequence of the seasons, each with its longer periods of
labor and recuperation, the mutual dependence of animals
and plants, the circulation of water from sea to cloud, from
cloud to earth again, sustaining the fertility of the soil.
As man proceeds to the closer examination of things, he
finds that by study and scientific investigation these proofs
are multiplied many fold. He may learn of the laws
by which earth and its associated worlds are governed
in their orbits; by which satellites are held subordinate to
planets, and planets to suns; he may behold the marvels of
vegetable and animal anatomy, and the surpassing mechanism
of his own body; and with such appeals to his reason
increasing at every step, his wonder as to who made all
this gives place to inexpressible admiration for the Creator
whose presence and power are thus so forcibly proclaimed;
and the observer becomes a worshiper.

8. Everywhere in nature is the evidence of cause and
effect; on every side is the demonstration of means adapted
to end. But such adaptations, says a thoughtful writer,
“indicate contrivance for a given purpose, and contrivance
is the evidence of intelligence, and intelligence is the attribute
of mind, and the intelligent mind that built the[32]
stupendous universe is God.”[59] To admit the existence of a
designer in the evidence of design, to say there must be a
contriver in a world of intelligent contrivance, to believe in
an adapter when man’s life is directly dependent upon the
most perfect adaptations conceivable, is but to accept self-evident
truths. These axioms of nature ought to require
no demonstration; the burden of proof as to the non-existence
of a God ought to be placed upon him who questions
the solemn truth. “Every house is builded by some man,
but he that built all things is God.” So spake the Apostle
of old,[60] and plain as is the truth expressed in these simple
words, there are among men a few who profess to doubt the
evidence of reason, and who deny the Author of their own
being. Strange, is it not, that here and there one, who finds
in the contrivance exhibited by the ant in building her
house, in the architecture of the honey-comb, and in the
myriad instances of orderly instinct among the least of living
things, a proof of intelligence from which man may
learn and be wise, will yet question the operation of intelligence
in the creation of worlds and in the constitution of the
universe?[61]

9. Man’s inborn consciousness tells him of his own
existence; his ordinary powers of observation prove the
existence of others of his kind, and of uncounted orders of
organized beings; from this he concludes that something
must have existed always, for had there been a time of no
existence, a period of nothingness, existence could never
have begun, for from nothing, nothing can be derived. The
eternal existence of something, then, is a fact beyond dispute;
and the question requiring answer is, what is that
eternal something—that existence which is without beginning[33]
and without end? The skeptic may answer, “Nature;
matter has always existed, and the universe is but a manifestation
of matter organized by forces operating upon it;
however, Nature is not God.” But matter is neither vital
nor active, nor is force intelligent; yet vitality and ceaseless
activity are characteristic of created things, and the effects of
intelligence are universally present. True, nature is not
God; and to mistake the one for the other is to call the edifice
the architect, the fabric the designer, the marble the sculptor,
and the thing the power that made it. The system of
nature is the manifestation of that order which argues a
directing intelligence; and that intelligence is of an eternal
character, coeval with existence itself. Nature herself is a
declaration of a superior Being, whose will and purpose
she portrays in all her varied aspects. Beyond and above
nature, stands nature’s God.

10. While existence is eternal, and therefore to being
there never was a beginning, never shall be an end, in
a relative sense each stage of organization must have had a
beginning, and to every phase of existence as manifested in
each of the countless orders and classes of created things,
there was a first, as there will be a last; though every ending
or consummation in nature is but the beginning of
another stage of advancement. Thus, man’s ingenuity has
invented theories to illustrate, if not to explain, a possible
sequence of events by which the earth has been brought
from a state of chaos to its present habitable condition; but
by those hypotheses, this globe was once a barren ball, on
which none of the innumerable forms of life that now
tenant it could have existed. The theorist therefore must
admit a beginning to earthly life, and such a beginning is
explicable only on the assumption of some creative act, or a
contribution from outside the earth. If he admit the introduction
of life upon the earth from some other and older[34]
sphere, he does but extend the limits of his inquiry as to
the beginning of vital existence; for to explain the origin
of a rose-bush in our own garden by saying that it was
transplanted as an offshoot from a rose-tree growing elsewhere,
is no answer to the question concerning the origin of
roses. Science of necessity assumes a beginning to vital
phenomena on this planet, and admits a finite duration of
the earth in its current course of progressive change; and
in this respect, the earth is a representative of the heavenly
bodies in general. The eternity of existence, then, is no
more positive as an indication of an eternal Ruler than is the
endless sequence of change, each stage of which has both
beginning and end. The origination of created things, the
beginning of an organized universe, is utterly inexplicable
on any assumption of spontaneous change in matter, or of
fortuitous and accidental operation of its properties.

11. Human reason, so liable to err in dealing with subjects
of lesser import even, may not of itself lead its possessor
to a full knowledge of God; yet its exercise will aid
him in his search, strengthening and confirming his inherited
instinct toward his Maker.[62] “The fool hath said in his
heart, There is no God.”[63] In the scriptures, the word fool[64] is
used to designate a wicked man, one who has forfeited his
wisdom by a long course of wrongdoing, bringing darkness
over his mind in place of light, and ignorance instead of
knowledge. By such a course, the mind becomes depraved
and incapable of appreciating the finer arguments in nature.
A wilful sinner grows deaf to the voice of reason in holy
things, and loses the privilege of communing with his Creator,
thus forfeiting the strongest means of attaining a
knowledge of God.

[35]

12. III. Revelation gives to man his fullest knowledge of
God. We are not left wholly to the exercise of fallible
reasoning powers, nor to the testimony of others for a
knowledge of the Divine Creator; we may know Him for
ourselves. Instances of God manifesting Himself to His
prophets in olden as in later times are so numerous as to
render impossible any detailed consideration here; moreover,
we will have opportunity of examining many examples
in connection with our study of the ninth of the Articles of
Faith; for the present, therefore, brief mention must suffice.
We have already noted, as the foundation of many traditions
relating to the existence and personality of God, His revelations
of Himself to Adam and other ante-diluvian patriarchs;
then to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses.
An example but briefly mentioned in the Jewish scriptures
is that of Enoch, the father of Methuselah; of him we read
that he walked with God.[65] From the “Writings of Moses”
we learn that the Lord manifested Himself with special favor
to this chosen seer,[66] revealing unto him the course of events
until the time of Christ’s appointed ministry in the flesh,
the plan of salvation through the sacrifice of the Only
Begotten, and the scenes that were to follow until the final
judgment.

13. Of Moses we read that he received a manifestation
from God, who spoke to him from the midst of the burning
bush in Mount Horeb, saying: “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.”[67]
Unto Moses and assembled Israel God appeared in a cloud,
with the terrifying accompaniment of thunders and lightnings,
on Sinai: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus shalt[36]
thou say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I
have talked with you from heaven.”[68] Of a later manifestation
we are told:—”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 his clearness.”[69]

14. On through the time of Joshua and the judges to
the kings and the prophets, the Lord declared His presence
and His power. Isaiah saw the Lord enthroned in the midst
of a glorious company, and cried out, “Woe is me, for I am
undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in
the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have
seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”[70]

15. At a subsequent period, when Christ emerged from
the waters of baptism, the voice of the Father was heard
declaring “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.”[71] And on the occasion of our Lord’s transfiguration,
the same voice repeated this solemn and glorious
acknowledgment.[72] While Stephen was suffering martyrdom
at the hands of his cruel and bigoted countrymen, the
heavens were opened, and he “saw the glory of God, and
Jesus standing on the right hand of God.”[73]

16. The Book of Mormon is replete with instances of
communication between God and His people, mostly through
vision and by the ministration of angels, but also through
direct manifestation of the Divine presence. Thus, we read
of a colony of people leaving the Tower of Babel and journeying
to the western hemisphere, under the leadership of[37]
one who is known in the record as the brother of Jared.
In preparing for the voyage across the great deep, the
leader prayed that the Lord would touch with His finger, and
thereby make luminous, certain stones, that the voyagers
might have light in the ships. In answer to this petition,
the Lord stretched forth His hand and touched the stones,
revealing His finger, which the man was surprised to see
resembled the finger of a human being. Then the Lord,
pleased with the man’s faith, made Himself visible to the
brother of Jared, and demonstrated to him that man was
formed literally after the image of the Creator.[74] To the
Nephites who inhabited the western continent, Christ
revealed Himself after His resurrection and ascension. To
these sheep of the western fold, He testified of His commission
received from the Father; showed the wounds in
His hands, feet, and side, and ministered unto the believing
multitudes in many ways.[75]

17. In the present dispensation, God has revealed, and
does still reveal himself to His people. We have seen how
by faith and sincerity of purpose Joseph Smith, while
yet a youth, won for himself a manifestation of God’s presence,
being privileged to behold both the Father and Christ
the Son.[76] His testimony of the existence of God is not dependent
upon tradition or studied deduction; he declares to
the world that both the Father and Christ the Son live, for
he has beheld their persons, and has heard their voices. In
addition to the manifestation cited, Joseph Smith and his
fellow servant, Sidney Rigdon, state that on the 16th of February,
1832, they saw the Son of God, and conversed with
Him in heavenly vision. In describing this manifestation
they say: “And while we meditated upon these things, the[38]
Lord touched the eyes of our understandings, and they were
opened, and the glory of the Lord shone round about; and
we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the
Father, and received of His fulness; 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.”[77]

18. Again, on the 3rd of April, 1836, in the temple at
Kirtland, Ohio, the Lord manifested Himself to Joseph
Smith and Oliver Cowdery, who say of the occasion:—”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 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.”[78]

19. These are a few of the testimonies establishing the
fact of direct revelation from God unto men in ancient and
modern times. The privilege of communing with our
Maker is restricted to none; true faith, sincerity of purpose,
and purity of soul will win, for every one who seeks the boon,
the blessing of God’s favor and the light of His presence.

20. The Godhead: The Trinity.—Three personages composing
the great presiding council of the universe have
revealed themselves to man: (1) God the Eternal Father;
(2) His Son, Jesus Christ; and (3) the Holy Ghost. That
these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from[39]
each other, is very plainly proved by the accepted records of
the divine dealings with man. On the occasion of the
Savior’s baptism before cited, John recognized the sign of
the Holy Ghost; he saw before him in a tabernacle of flesh
the Christ, upon whom he had performed the holy ordinance;
and he heard the voice of the Father.[79] The three
personages of the Godhead were present, manifesting themselves
each in a different way, and each distinct from the
others. The Savior promised His disciples that the Comforter,[80]
which is the Holy Ghost, should be sent unto them
by His Father; here again are the three members of the
Godhead distinctly referred to. Stephen, at the time of his
martyrdom, was blessed with the power of heavenly vision,
and he saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God.[81]
Joseph Smith, while calling upon the Lord in fervent prayer
for wisdom to guide him in his religious professions, saw
the Father and the Son, standing in the midst of light
which shamed the brightness of the sun; one of these declared
of the other, “This is my beloved Son, hear Him.”[82]
Each of the members of the Trinity is called God,[83] together
they constitute the Godhead.

21. Unity of the Godhead.[84]—The Godhead is a type of
unity in the attributes, powers, and purposes of its members.
Jesus, while on earth[85] and in manifesting Himself to His
Nephite servants,[86] has repeatedly testified of the unity existing
between Himself and the Father, and between them
both and the Holy Ghost. By some this has been construed[40]
to mean that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are
one in substance and in person, that the names in reality
represent the same individual under different aspects. A
single reference to prove the error of this view may
suffice:—Immediately
before His betrayal, Christ prayed for His disciples,
the Twelve, and other converts, that they should be
preserved in unity,[87] “that they all may be one” as the Father
and the Son are one. It is absurd to think that Christ
desired His followers to lose their individuality and become
one person, even if a change so directly opposed to the laws
of nature were possible. Christ desired that all should be
united in heart, and spirit, and purpose; for such is the
unity between His Father and Himself, and between themselves
and the Holy Ghost.

22. This unity is a type of completeness; the mind of
any one member of the Trinity is the mind of the others;
seeing as each of them does with the eye of purity and
perfection, they see and understand alike; under similar
conditions and circumstances each would act in the same
way, guided by the same principles of unerring justice and
equity. The one-ness of the Godhead, to which the scriptures
so abundantly testify, implies no mystical union of
substance, nor any unnatural and therefore impossible
blending of personality; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are
as distinct in their persons and individualities as are any
three personages in the flesh. Yet their unity of purpose and
operation is such as to make their edicts one, and their will
the will of God. To see one is to see all; therefore said
Christ when importuned by Philip to show them the Father:
“Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not
known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the
Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father[41]
in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of
myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the
works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father
in me.”[88]

23. Personality of Each Member of the Godhead.—From
the evidence already presented, it is clear that the Father is
a personal Being, possessing a definite form, with bodily
parts, and spiritual passions. Jesus Christ, who was with
the Father[89] in spirit before coming to dwell in the flesh,
and through whom the worlds were made,[90] lived among men
as a man, with all the physical characteristics of a human
being; after His resurrection He appeared in the same form;[91]
in that form He ascended into heaven;[92] and in that form
He has manifested Himself to the Nephites, and to modern
prophets. Now we are assured that Christ was in the express
image of His Father,[93] after which image man also has
been created.[94] Therefore we know that both the Father and
the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them
possesses a tangible body, infinitely pure and perfect, and attended
by transcendent glory, yet a body of flesh and bones.[95]

24. The Holy Ghost, called also Spirit, and Spirit of the
Lord,[96] Spirit of God,[97] Comforter,[98] and Spirit of Truth,[99] is
not tabernacled in a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage
of spirit;[100] yet we know that the Spirit has manifested[42]
Himself in the form of a man.[101] It is by the ministrations
of the Spirit that the Father and the Son operate in their
dealings with mankind;[102] through Him knowledge is communicated,[103]
and by Him the purposes of the Godhead are
achieved.[104] The Holy Ghost is the witness of the Father
and the Son,[105] declaring to man their attributes, bearing
record of the other personages of the Godhead.[106]

25. Some of the Divine Attributes.—God is Omnipresent:
There is no part of creation, however remote, into which He
cannot penetrate; through the medium of the Spirit the
Godhead is in direct communication with all things at all
times. It has been said, therefore, that God is everywhere
present at the same time; but it is unreasonable to suppose
that the actual person of any one member of the Godhead
can be in more than one place at one time. The senses of
God are of infinite power, His mind of unlimited capacity;
His eye can penetrate all space, His ear can comprehend every
sound; His powers of transferring Himself from place to
place are not limited; plainly, however, His person cannot
be in more than one place at any one time. Admitting the
personality of God, we are compelled to accept the fact of
His materiality; indeed, an “immaterial being,” under which
meaningless name some have sought to designate the condition
of God, cannot exist, for the very expression is a contradiction
in terms. If God possesses a form, that form is
of necessity of definite proportions and therefore of limited
extension in space. It is therefore impossible for Him to
occupy at one time more than one space of such limits; and[43]
it is not surprising therefore to learn from the scriptures
that He moves from place to place. Thus we read in connection
with the account of the Tower of Babel, “And the
Lord came down to see the city and the tower.”[107] Again,
God appeared to Abraham, and having declared Himself to
be “the Almighty God,” He talked with the patriarch, and
established a covenant with him; then we read “And He
left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.”[108]

26. God is Omniscient.—By Him matter has been organized
and energy directed. He is therefore the Creator of all
things that are created; and “Known unto God are all his
works from the beginning of the world.”[109] His power and
His wisdom are alike incomprehensible to man, for they are
infinite. Being Himself eternal and perfect, His knowledge
cannot be otherwise than infinite. To comprehend Himself,
an infinite Being, He must possess an infinite mind. Through
the agency of angels and ministering servants, He is in continuous
communication with all parts of creation, and may
personally visit as He may determine.

27. God is Omnipotent.—He is properly called the Almighty.
Man can discern proofs of the Divine omnipotence
on every side, in the forces that control the elements of
earth, and that guide the orbs of heaven in their prescribed
courses; all are working together for the common good.
There can be no limits to the powers of God; whatever His
wisdom indicates as fit to be done He can and will do. The
means through which He operates may not be of infinite
capacity in themselves; but they are directed by an infinite
power. A rational conception of His omnipotence is power
to do all that He may will to do.

28. God is kind, benevolent, and loving, tender, considerate,[44]
and long-suffering, bearing patiently with the frailties
of His wayward children. He is just, yet merciful in judgment,[110]
showing favor to all alike, and yet combining with
these gentler qualities a firmness, almost amounting to
fierceness, in avenging wrongs.[111] He is jealous[112] of His own
power and the reverence paid to Him by His children; that
is to say, He is zealous for the principles of truth and purity,
which are nowhere exemplified in a higher degree than in
His personal attributes. This Being is the Author of our
existence, Him we are permitted to approach as Father.
Our faith will increase in Him as we learn of Him.[113]

29. Idolatry and Atheism.—From the abundant evidence
of the existence of Deity, the idea of which is so generally
held by the human family, there would seem to be little ground
on which man could rationally assert and maintain a disbelief
in God; and in view of the many proofs of the benignant
nature of the Divine attributes and disposition, there
ought to be little tendency to turn aside after false and
unworthy objects of worship. Yet the history of the race
shows that theism, which is the doctrine of belief in and
acceptance of, God as the rightful Ruler, is opposed by
many varieties of atheism;[114] and that man is prone to belie
his boast as a creature of reason, and to render his worship
at idolatrous shrines. Atheism is probably a development of
later times, whilst idolatry asserted itself as one of the
early sins of the race. Even at the time of Israel’s exodus
from Egypt, God deemed it proper to command by statute,
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me;”[115] yet even
while He wrote those words on the stony tablets, His people[45]
were bowing before the golden calf which they had fashioned
after the pattern of the Egyptian idol.

30. It has been stated that man possesses an instinct for
worship, that he craves and will find some object of adoration.
When man fell into the darkness of continued transgression,
and forgot the Author of his being, and the God
of his fathers, he sought for other deities. Some among
men came to regard the sun as the type of the supreme, and
before that luminary they prostrated themselves in supplication.
Others selected for adoration earthly phenomena;
they marvelled over the mystery of fire, and, recognizing the
beneficent effects of that phenomenon, they worshiped the
flame. Some saw, or thought they saw, in water the emblem
of the pure and the good, and they rendered their devotions
by running streams. Others, awed into reverence by the
grandeur of towering mountains, repaired to these natural
temples, and worshiped the altar instead of Him in whose
honor and by whose power it had been raised. Another
class, more strongly imbued with a reverence for the emblematic,
sought to create for themselves artificial objects
of adoration. They made images and worshiped them; they
hewed uncouth figures from tree trunks, and chiseled
strange forms in stone, and to these they bowed.[116]

31. Idolatrous practices in some of their phases came to
be associated with rites of horrible cruelties, as in the custom
of sacrificing children to Moloch, and, among the Hindoos,
to the Ganges; as also in the wholesale slaughtering of
human beings, under Druidical tyranny. The gods that
human-kind have set up for themselves are heartless, pitiless,
cruel.[117]

[46]

32. Atheism, as before stated, is the denial of the existence
of God; in a milder form it may consist in the mere
ignoring of Deity. But the professed atheist, in common
with his believing fellow-mortals, is subject to man’s universal
passion for worship; though he refuse to acknowledge
the true and the living God, he consciously or unconsciously
deifies some law, some principle, some passion of the human
soul, or perchance some material creation; and to this he
turns, to seek, in contemplation of the unworthy object, a
semblance of the comfort which the believer finds in rich
abundance before the throne of his Father and God. I
doubt the existence of a thorough atheist,—one who with
the sincerity of a settled conviction denies in his heart the
existence of an intelligent Supreme Power. The idea of
God is an essential characteristic of the human soul. The
philosopher recognizes the necessity of such an element in
his theories of being. He may shrink from the open
acknowledgment of a personal Deity, yet he assumes the
existence of a “governing power,” of a “great unknown,”
of the “unknowable,” the “illimitable,” the “unconscious.”
Oh, man of learning though not of wisdom! why reject the
privileges extended to you by the omnipotent, omniscient
Being to whom you owe your life, yet whose name you will
not acknowledge? No mortal can approach Him while contemplating
His perfections and might with aught but awe
and speechless reverence; regarding Him only as Creator
and God, we are abashed in thought of Him; but He has
given us the right to approach Him as His children, to
call upon Him by the endearing name of Father! And
even the atheist feels, in the more solemn moments of his
life, a yearning of the soul toward a spiritual Parent, as
naturally as his human affections turn toward the father
who gave him mortal life. The atheism of to-day is but a
species of idolatry after all.

[47]

33. Sectarian View of the Godhead.—The consistent,
simple, and authentic doctrine respecting the character and
attributes of God, such as was taught by Christ and the
apostles, gave way as revelation ceased, and as the darkness
incident to the absence of authority fell upon the world,
after the apostles and their priesthood had been driven
from the earth; and in its place there appeared numerous
theories and dogmas of men, many of which are utterly
incomprehensible in their mysticism and inconsistency. In
the year 325 A.D., the Council of Nice was convened by
the emperor Constantine, who sought through this body to
secure a declaration of Christian belief which would be
received as authoritative, and be the means of arresting the
increasing dissension incident to the general disagreement
regarding the nature of the Godhead, and other theological
subjects. The Council condemned some of the theories
then current; among them that of Arius, which asserted a
separate individuality for each member of the Trinity; and
promulgated a new code of belief known as the Nicene
Creed. A statement of this doctrine, supposedly as announced
by Athanasius, is as follows:—”We worship one God in
trinity, and trinity in unity; neither confounding the persons,
nor dividing the substance. For there is one person
of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy
Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, is all one; the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy
Ghost. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy
Ghost uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son
incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.
The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost
eternal. And yet there are not three eternals, but one
eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles,
nor three uncreated; but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible.[48]
So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son
almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty, and yet there are
not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is
God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and yet
there are not three Gods, but one God.” It would be difficult
to conceive of a greater number of inconsistencies and
contradictions, expressed in words as few.

34. The Church of England teaches the present orthodox
view of God as follows:—”There is but one living and true
God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite
power, wisdom, and goodness.” The immateriality of God
as asserted in these declarations of sectarian faith is entirely
at variance with the scriptures, and absolutely contradicted
by the revelations of God’s person and attributes, as shown
by the citations already made.

35. We affirm that to deny the materiality of God’s person
is to deny God; for a thing without parts has no whole, and
an immaterial body cannot exist.[118] The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims against the incomprehensible
God, devoid of “body, parts, and passions,” as a
thing impossible of existence, and asserts its belief in and
allegiance to the true and living God of scripture and
revelation.

NOTES.

1. Natural to Believe in a God.—”The great and primary truth ‘that there is a
God’ has obtained among men almost universally and in all ages; so that the holy scriptures,
which speak of God in every page, and which advert to the sentiments of mankind
for the period of about four thousand years, always assume this truth as admitted. In the
early ages of the world, indeed, there is no positive evidence that speculative theism had
any advocates; and if, at a subsequent period, the ‘fool said in his heart, There is no
God,’ the sentiment appears more prominent in his affections than in his judgment; and,
withal, had so feeble an influence over the minds of men, that the sacred writers never
deemed it necessary to combat the error, either by formal arguments, or by an appeal to
miraculous operations. Polytheism, not atheism, was the prevailing sin; and therefore
the aim of inspired men was not so much to prove the existence of one God, as the non-existence[49]
of others,—to maintain His authority, to enforce His laws, to the exclusion of
all rival pretenders.”…

“So clear, full, and overpowering is the evidence of God’s existence, that it has commanded
general belief in all ages and countries,—the only exceptions being a few savage
tribes of a most degraded type, among whom the idea of God has faded and disappeared
with every vestige of civilization; and a few eccentric would-be philosophers who affect
to doubt everything which others believe, and question the truth of their own intuitions,
so that the general assent to the being of a God might be added as a testimony of no small
weight in this argument.”—Cassell’s Bible Dictionary; article “God.”

2. Importance of Belief in God.—”The existence of a Supreme Being is, without
doubt, the sublimest conception that can enter the human mind, and, even as a
scientific question, can have no equal, for it assumes to furnish the cause of causes, the
great ultimate fact in philosophy, the last and sublimest generalization of scientific
truth. Yet this is the lowest demand it presents for our study; for it lies at the very
foundation of morality, virtue, and religion; it supports the social fabric, and gives
cohesion to all its parts; it involves the momentous question of man’s immortality and
responsibility to supreme authority, and is inseparably connected with his brightest hopes
and highest enjoyments. It is, indeed, not only a fundamental truth, but the grand
central truth of all other truths. All other truths in science, ethics, and religion radiate
from this. It is the source from which they all flow, the center to which they all converge,
and the one sublime proposition to which they all bear witness. It has, therefore,
no parallel in its solemn grandeur and momentous issues.”—The same.

3. Belief in God, Natural and Necessary.—Dr. Joseph Le Conte, Professor
of Geology and Natural History in the University of California, and a scientist of world-wide
renown, has spoken as follows:—”Theism, or a belief in God or in gods, or in a
supernatural agency of some kind, controlling the phenomena around us, is the fundamental
basis and condition of all religion, and is therefore universal, necessary, and intuitive.
I will not, therefore, attempt to bring forward any proof of that which lies back of all
proof, and is already more certain than anything can be made by any process of reasoning.
The ground of this belief lies in the very nature of man; it is the very foundation
and groundwork of reason. It is this and this only which gives significance to Nature;
without it, neither religion nor science, nor indeed human life, would be possible. For,
observe what is the characteristic of man in his relation to external Nature. To the brute,
the phenomena of Nature are nothing but sensuous phenomena; but man, just in proportion
as he uses his human faculties, instinctively ascends from the phenomena to their
cause. This is inevitable by a law of our nature, but the process of ascent is different for
the cultured and uncultured races. The uncultured man, when a phenomenon occurs, the
cause of which is not immediately perceived, passes by one step from the sensuous
phenomenon to the first cause; while the cultured, and especially the scientific man,
passes from the sensuous phenomena through a chain of secondary causes to the first
cause. The region of second causes, and this only, is the domain of science. Science
may, in fact, be defined, as the study of the modes of operation of the first cause. It is
evident, therefore, that the recognition of second causes cannot preclude the idea of the
existence of God…. Thus, Theism is necessary, intuitive, and therefore universal.
We cannot get rid of it if we would. Push it out, as many do, at the front door, and it
comes in again, perhaps unrecognized, at the back door. Turn it out in its nobler forms
as revealed in Scripture, and it comes in again in its ignoble forms, it may be as magnetism,
electricity, or gravity, or some other supposed efficient agent controlling Nature.
In some form, noble or ignoble, it will become a guest in the human heart. I therefore
repeat, Theism neither requires nor admits of proof. But in these latter times, there is[50]
a strong tendency for Theism to take the form of Pantheism, and thereby religious belief
is robbed of all its power over the human heart. It becomes necessary, therefore, for me
to attempt to show, not the existence indeed, but the personality of Deity….
Among a certain class of cultivated minds, and especially among scientific men, there is
a growing sentiment, sometimes openly expressed, sometimes only vaguely felt, that
what we call God is only a universal, all-pervading principle animating Nature,—a
general principle of evolution—an unconscious, impersonal life-force under which the
whole cosmos slowly develops. Now, this form of Theism may possibly satisfy the
demands of a purely speculative philosophy, but cannot satisfy the cravings of the human
heart…. The argument for the personality of Deity is derived from the evidences
of intelligent contrivance and design in Nature, or in the adjustment of parts for a definite,
and an intelligent purpose. It is usually called ‘the argument from design.’ The force
of this argument is felt at once intuitively by all minds, and its effect is irresistible and
overwhelming to every plain, honest mind, unplagued by metaphysical subtleties.”—Prof.
Joseph Le Conte: in Religion and Science, pp. 12-14.

4. God in Nature.—Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most critical of scientific
workers, in writing to his friend Dr. Bentley in 1692, said in reference to the natural
universe: “To make such a system, with all its motions, required a Cause which understood
and compared together the quantities of matter in the several bodies of the sun
and planets, and the gravitating powers resulting from them, the several distances of
the primary planets from the sun, and of the secondary ones from Saturn, Jupiter, and
the earth; and the velocities with which these planets could revolve about those quantities
of matter in the central bodies; and to compare and adjust all these things together
in so great a variety of bodies argues the Cause to be not blind and fortuitous, but very
well skilled in mechanics and geometry.”

5. Natural Indications of God’s Existence.—”It may not be, it is not
likely, that God can be found with microscope and scalpel, with
test-tube or flask, with
goniometer or telescope; but with such tools, the student earnestly working, cannot fail
to recognize a power beyond his vision, yet a power of which the pulses and the motions
are unmistakable. The extent of our solar system once seemed to man more limited
than it does at present; and the discovery of the most distant of the planetary family
was due to a recognition of an attractive force inexplicable except on the supposition of
the existence of another planet. The astronomer, tracing known bodies along their
orbital paths, could feel the pull, could see the wire that drew them from a narrower
course; he saw not Neptune as he piled calculations sheet on sheet; but the existence of
that orb was clearly indicated, and by heeding such indications he sought for it, and it
was found. Theory alone could never have revealed it, though theory was incomplete,
unsatisfactory without it; but the practical search, instigated by theory, led to the great
demonstration. And what is all science but theory compared to the practical influence
of prayerful reliance on the assistance of an omnipotent, omniscient power? Disregard
not the indications of your science work,—the trembling of the needle that reveals the
magnetic influence; the instinct within that speaks of a life and a Life-Giver, far beyond
human power of explanation or comprehension. As you sit beneath the canopied vault,
pondering in the silence of night over the perturbations, the yearnings which the soul
cannot ignore, turn in the direction indicated by those impulses, and with the penetrating,
space-annihilating, time-annulling glass of prayer and faith, seek the source of that
pervading force.”—The Author in Baccalaureate Sermon, Utah University Quarterly,
Sept., 1895.

6. Theism; Atheism, etc.—According to current usage, Theism signifies a belief
in God,—the acceptance of one living and eternal Being who has revealed Himself to[51]
man. Deism implies a professed belief in God, but denies to Deity the power to reveal
Himself, and asserts a disbelief in Christianity; the term is used in different senses,
prominent among which are:—(1) belief in God as an intelligent and eternal Being, with
a denial of all providential care: (2) belief in God, with denial of a future state of the
soul: (3) as advocated by Kant, denial of a personal God, while asserting belief in an
infinite force, inseparably associated with matter, and operating as the first great cause.
Pantheism regards matter and mind as one, embracing everything finite and infinite, and
calls this universal existence God. In its philosophical aspect, pantheism “has three
generic forms with variations: (1) one-substance pantheism which ascribes to the universal
being the attributes of both mind and matter, thought and extension, as in
Spinoza’s system: (2) materialistic pantheism which ascribes to it only the attributes of
matter, as in the system of Strauss: (3) idealistic pantheism which ascribes to it only the
existence of mind as in Hegel’s system.” In its doctrinal aspect, pantheism comprises
“the worship of nature and humanity founded on the doctrine that the entire phenomenal
universe, including man and nature, is the ever-changing manifestation of God.”
Polytheism is the doctrine of a plurality of gods, who are usually regarded as personifications
of forces or phenomena of nature. Monotheism is the doctrine that there is but
one God. Atheism signifies disbelief in God, or the denial of God’s existence; dogmatic
atheism denies, while negative atheism ignores, the existence of a God. Infidelity is
sometimes used as synonymous with atheism, though specifically the term signifies a
milder form of unbelief, manifesting itself in scepticism on matters religious, a disbelief
in the religion of the Bible, and of course a rejection of the doctrines of Christianity.
Agnosticism holds that God is unknown and unknowable; that His existence can
neither be proved nor disproved; it neither affirms nor denies the existence of a personal
God; it is the doctrine of “We do not know.”—See Standard Dictionary.

7. Idolatrous Practices in General.—The soul of man, once abandoned to
depravity, is strongly prone to depart from God and his institutions. “Hence,” says
Burder, “have arisen the altars and demons of heathen antiquity, their extravagant
fictions, and abominable orgies. Hence we find among the Babylonians and Arabians,
the adoration of the heavenly bodies, the earliest forms of idolatry; among the Canaanites
and Syrians, the worship of Baal, Tammuz, Magog, and Astarte; among the
Phœnicians, the immolation of children to Moloch; among the Egyptians, divine honors
bestowed on animals, birds, insects, leeks, and onions; among the Persians, religious
reverence offered to fire; and among the polished Greeks, the recognition in their system
of faith of thirty thousand gods. Hence, moreover, we find at the present time, among
most Pagan tribes, the deadliest superstitions, the most cruel and bloody rites, and the
most shocking licentiousness and vice, practiced under the name of religion.”—History
of all Religions, p. 12.

8. Examples of Atrocious Idolatry.—The worship of Moloch is generally
cited as an example of the cruelest and most abhorrent idolatry known to man. Moloch,
called also Molech, Malcham, Milcom, Baal-melech, etc., was an Ammonite idol: it is
mentioned in scripture in connection with its cruel rites (Lev. xviii, 21; xx, 2-5; see also
I Kings xi, 5, 7, 33; II Kings xxiii, 10, 13; Amos v, 26; Zephaniah i, 5; Jeremiah
xxxii, 35). Keil and Delitzsch describe the idol as being “represented by a brazen statue
which was hollow, and capable of being heated, and formed with a bull’s head, and with
arms stretched out to receive the children to be sacrificed.” While the worship of this
idol did not invariably include human sacrifice, it is certain that such hideous rites were
characteristic of this abominable shrine. The authors last quoted say: “From the time
of Ahaz, children were slain at Jerusalem in the valley of
Ben-Hinnom, and then sacrificed
by being laid in the heated arms and burned.” (II Kings xxiii, 10; xvi, 3; xvii, 17;[52]
xxi, 6; Jer. xxxii, 35; Ezek. xvi, 20, 21; xx, 31; compare Psalms cvi, 37, 38.) Many
authorities state that the sacrifice of children to this hideous monster long ante-dated the
time of Ahaz. “The offering of living victims was probably the climax of enormity in
connection with this system, and it is said that Tophet, where it was to be witnessed,
was so named from the beating of drums to drown the shrieks and groans of those who
were burned to death. The same place was called the Valley of Hinnom, and the horrible
associations connected with it led to both Tophet and Gehenna (‘valley of Hinnom’)
being adopted as names and symbols of future torment.” For foregoing facts,
and others, see “The Pentateuch” by Keil and Delitzsch, and Cassell’s Bible Dictionary.

Scarcely less horrible were the practices of voluntary suicide under the car of the idol
Juggernaut, and the drowning of children in the sacred Ganges as found among the Hindoos.
According to Burder (“History of all Religions”), the ponderous and hideous
image Juggernaut, was, on festival days, usually placed on a movable tower resting on
wheels; and, thus mounted, was drawn through the streets by enthusiastic worshipers.
As the car moved along, some of the most zealous of the devotees threw themselves
under the wheels and were crushed to death; and such acts were “hailed with the acclamations
of the multitude as the most acceptable sacrifices.” The same author thus describes
the rite of child-sacrifice to the sacred river, as formerly practiced in India:—”People
in some parts of India, particularly the inhabitants of Orissa, and of the eastern
parts of Bengal, frequently offer their children to the goddess Gunga. The following
reason is assigned for this practice: When a woman has been long married, and has no
children, it is common for the man, or his wife, or both of them, to make a vow to the
goddess Gunga, that if she will bestow the blessing of children upon them, they will
devote the firstborn to her. If, after this vow, they have children, the eldest is nourished
till a proper age, which may be three, four, or more years, according to circumstances
when, on a particular day, appointed for bathing in any part of the river, they take the
child with them and offer it to the goddess: the child is encouraged to go farther and
farther into the water, till it is carried away by the stream, or is pushed off by its inhuman
parents.”—History of all Religions, pp. 745-746.

The practices of Druidism among the ancient Britons furnish another example of
degradation in religion through the absence of authoritative guidance and the light of
revelation. The Druids professed a veneration for the oak, and performed most of their
distinctive ceremonies in sacred groves. Human sacrifices were offered as a feature of
their system. Of their temples, some, e.g. Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, and
others in Kent, still remain. These circular enclosures, which were open to the sky,
were called doom-rings: near the center of each was an altar (dolmen) on which victims
were sacrificed. The horrible ceremonies included on special occasions the burning alive
of large numbers of human beings, enclosed in immense cages of
wicker-work.

9. Immaterialists are Atheists.—”There are two classes of atheists in the
world. One class denies the existence of God in the most positive language; the other
denies his existence in duration or space. One says ‘There is no God;’ the other says
‘God is not here or there, any more than he exists now and then.’ The infidel says ‘God
does not exist anywhere.’ The immaterialist says ‘He exists nowhere.’ The infidel
says ‘There is no such substance as God.’ The immaterialist says ‘There is such a
substance as God, but it is without parts.’ The atheist says ‘There is no such substance
as spirit.’ The immaterialist says ‘A spirit, though he lives and acts, occupies no room,
and fills no space in the same way and in the same manner as matter, not even so much
as does the minutest grain of sand.’ The atheist does not seek to hide his infidelity; but
the immaterialist, whose declared belief amounts to the same thing as the atheist’s,
endeavors to hide his infidelity under the shallow covering of a few words…. The[53]
immaterialist is a religious atheist; he only differs from the other class of atheists by
clothing an indivisible unextended nothing with the powers of a God. One class believes
in no God; the other believes that Nothing is god and worships it as such.”—Orson
Pratt, in pamphlet Absurdities of Immaterialism, p. 11.

10. Atheism, a Fatal Belief.—”During the Reign of Terror, the French were
declared by the National Assembly to be a nation of atheists; but a brief experience convinced
them that a nation of atheists could not long exist. Robespierre then ‘proclaimed
in the convention, that belief in the existence of God was necessary to those principles
of virtue and morality upon which the republic was founded; and on the 7th of
May, the national representatives, who had so lately prostrated themselves before the
Goddess of Reason, voted by acclamation that the French people acknowledged the existence
of the Supreme Being, and the immortality of the soul.'”—Students’ France, xxvii,
6; quoted by Rev. Charles E. Little, in Historical Lights, pp.
280-281.

11. The Trinity.—”‘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 scripture passages 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.”—The Philosophy of
“Mormonism,” by The Author: Improvement Era, vol. iv, p. 463.

12. The Father and the Son.—In the treatment of the “Personality of
Each Member of the Godhead” (p. 41) and “Divine Attributes” (p. 42) no
attempt has been made to segregate the references made to The Father and to The
Son. It is to be remembered that the Personage most generally designated in
the Old Testament as God or the LORD, is He who in the mortal state was
known as Jesus Christ, and in the antemortal state as Jehovah. See the author’s
work, “Jesus the Christ,” chap. iv. That Jesus Christ or Jehovah is designated
in certain scriptures as the Father in no wise justifies an assumption of
identity between Him and His Father, Elohim. This matter has been explained
in a publication dated June 30, 1916, entitled “The Father and The Son; a
Doctrinal Exposition by the First Presidency and the Twelve.” This appeared in
Improvement Era, August, 1916, and in a pamphlet of earlier issue. Excerpts therefrom
follow: “The term ‘Father’ as applied to Deity occurs in sacred writ
with plainly different meanings. Each of the four significations specified in the
following treatment should be carefully segregated.

“1. ‘Father’ as Literal Parent.… Jesus Christ is the Son of Elohim both
as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is literally the Father of
the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed
His mission in the flesh….

“2. ‘Father’ as Creator. A second scriptural meaning of ‘Father’ is that of
Creator, e.g. in passages referring to any one of the Godhead as ‘The Father of
the heavens and of the earth.’… With this meaning, as the context
shows in every case, Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ the Son of Elohim, is called
‘the Father.’…

“3. Jesus Christ the ‘Father’ of those who abide in His Gospel”. See Doc. and Cov.
xxxiv, 1-3; xxxv, 1, 2; xxxix, 1-4; Mosiah xv, 10-13.

“4. Jesus Christ the ‘Father’ by Divine Investiture of Authority”. See John x. 30;
xvii, 11, 22; compare xiv. 28; see further v, 43; x, 26; III Nephi xx, 35; xxviii,
10; and Doc. and Cov. 1, 43.

[54]

LECTURE III.

TRANSGRESSION AND THE FALL.

Article 2.—We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for
Adam’s transgression.

TRANSGRESSION AND ITS RESULTS.

1. Man’s Free Agency.—The Church holds and teaches
as a strictly scriptural doctrine, that man has inherited
among the inalienable rights conferred upon him by his
divine Father, absolute freedom to choose the good or the
evil in life as he may elect. This right cannot be guarded
with more jealous care than is bestowed upon it by God
Himself; for in all His dealings with man, He has left the
mortal creature free to choose and to act, with no semblance
of compulsion or restraint, beyond the influences of paternal
counsel and loving direction.[119] True, He has given commandments,
and has established statutes, with promises of blessings
for compliance and dire penalties for infraction; but
in the choice of these, God’s children are untrammeled. In
this respect, man is no less free than are the angels and the
Gods, except as he has fettered himself with the bonds of
sin, and forfeited his power of will and force of soul. The
individual has as full a measure of liberty to violate the
laws of health, the requirements of nature, and the commandments
of God in matters both temporal and spiritual,
as he has to obey all such; in the one case he brings upon
himself the sure penalties that belong to the broken law;
as in the other he inherits the specific blessings and the
added freedom that attend a law-abiding life. Obedience
to law is the habit of the free man; ’tis the transgressor[55]
who fears the law, for he brings upon himself deprivation
and restraint, not because of the law, which would have
protected him in his freedom, but because of his antagonism
to law.

2. The predominant attribute of justice, recognized as part
of the Divine nature, forbids the thought that man should
receive promises of reward for righteousness, and threats of
punishment for evil deeds, if he possessed no power of independent
action. It is no more a part of God’s plan to compel
men to work righteousness, than it is His purpose to
permit evil powers to force His children into sin. In the
days of Eden, the first man had placed before him commandment
and law,[120] with an explanation of the penalty which
would follow a violation of that law. No law could have
been given him in righteousness had he not been free to act
for himself. “Nevertheless thou mayest choose for thyself,
for it is given unto thee, but remember that I forbid it,”[121]
said the Lord God to Adam. Concerning His dealings with
the first patriarch of the race, God has declared in this day,
“Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto
himself.”[122]

3. When the brothers Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices
before the Lord, the elder one became angry because his
offering was rejected; then the Lord reasoned with Cain, and
endeavored to teach him that he must expect results of his
actions to follow in kind, good or evil, as he might elect:—”If
thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest
not well, sin lieth at the door.”[123]

4. A knowledge of good and evil is essential to the advancement
which God has made possible for His children to[56]
achieve; this knowledge can be best gained by actual experience,
with the contrasts of good and its opposite before the
eyes; therefore has man been placed upon the earth subject
to the influence of good and wicked powers, with a knowledge
of the conditions surrounding him, and the heaven-born
right to choose for himself. The words of the prophet, Lehi,
are particularly explicit: “Wherefore, the Lord God gave
unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man
could not act for himself, save it should be that he was enticed
by the one or the other…. Wherefore, men are free
according to the flesh; and all things are given them which
are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty
and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or
to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and
power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be
miserable like unto himself.”[124]

5. Alma, another Nephite prophet, in speaking of those
who had died, said they had gone “that they might reap their
rewards, according to their works, whether they were good or
whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal
misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey,
whether it be a good spirit or a bad one; For every man
receiveth wages of him whom he listeth to obey, and this
according to the words of the spirit of prophecy.”[125]

6. Samuel, the converted Lamanite, upon whom the spirit
of the prophets had fallen, admonished his wayward fellows
in this wise: “And now remember, remember my brethren,
that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever
doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye
are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold,
God hath given unto you a knowledge, and He hath made[57]
you free; He hath given unto you that ye might know good
from evil, and He hath given unto you that ye might choose
life or death.”[126]

7. When the plans for creating and peopling the earth
were under discussion in heaven, Satan sought to destroy
the free agency of man, by obtaining power to force the
human family to do his will, promising the Father that by
such means he would redeem all mankind, and that not one
of them should be lost.[127] This proposition was rejected, while
the original purpose of the Father,—to use persuasive influences
of wholesome precept and sacrificing example with the
inhabitants of the earth, then to leave them free to choose
for themselves, was agreed upon, and the Only Begotten Son
was chosen as the chief instrument in carrying that purpose
into effect.

8. Man’s Responsibility for his individual acts is as complete
as is his agency to elect for himself. The natural result
of good deeds is happiness; the consequence of evil is misery;
these follow in every man’s life by inviolable laws. There is
a plan of judgment[128] divinely fore-ordained, by which every
man will be called to answer for his deeds; and not for deeds
alone but for his words also, and even for the thoughts of his
heart. “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment.”[129] These are the words of the Savior Himself.
“And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his
neighbor, and love no false oath: for all these are things that
I hate, saith the Lord.”[130] John the Revelator was permitted
to learn in vision something of the scenes connected with the[58]
last judgment; he says: “And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up
the dead which were in them: and they were judged every
man according to their works.”[131]

9. The judgment of God is not always made to follow immediately
the acts of men; good deeds may not be at once
rewarded, evil is rarely peremptorily punished; and this is
according to Divine wisdom; were it appointed otherwise,
the test of individual nature, and the trial of human faith,
for which purposes this mortal probation was primarily ordained,
would be greatly lessened; for the certainty of immediate
pleasure or pain would almost universally determine
human acts to secure the one and to avoid the other. Judgment,
therefore, is postponed, that every one may fully prove
his nature, the good man increasing in righteousness, and the
evil doer possessing opportunity of repentance and reparation
before the great and terrible day. On rare occasions, speedy
judgment of a temporal nature has been executed, the physical
results of worldly blessing for good,[132] and calamity for evil
deeds[133a] following swiftly upon the acts. Whether such retribution
entirely satisfies the claims of justice, or a further
visitation of judgment is to take place beyond this world,
matters not. Such acts are exceptional in the Divine administration.

10. It is the prerogative of Jesus Christ[133b] to judge the[59]
children of men, and He will do it as His own purposes,
which are likewise the purposes of His Father, may be best
served. John records the words of Christ: “For the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto
the Son; that all men should honor the Son even as they
honor the Father.”[134] And Peter, while expounding the
gospel to the devout Gentile, Cornelius, declared concerning
Jesus Christ, that “it is He which was ordained of God to
be the Judge of quick and dead.”[135] Of the dread fate of
the wicked reserved for the judgment day, many prophets
have borne record[136] and the presiding Judge of that awful
tribunal has given in His own words descriptions[137] so vivid
and forceful, as to leave no shadow of doubt that every
living soul will be called to acknowledge the record, and to
accept the results of his acts. The Lord’s words and those
of His prophets are unequivocal, that He is no respecter
of persons,[138] and that any species of favor foreign to justice
is unknown to Him. This judgment none but the unrepentant
wicked need fear; to the righteous it is a time of
triumph.[139]

11. Sin.—What is the nature of sin? To this question
the Apostle John replies, “Sin is the transgression of the
law.”[140] In the original language of the Bible records, many
words occur for which our single term sin is used, all however
conveying the common idea of opposition to the Divine
will.[141] As God is the embodiment of purity and perfection,
such opposition is a rebellion against the principles of advancement,[60]
and an acceptance of the practices that lead to
degradation. Sin is any condition, whether consisting in
omission of things required, or in commission of acts forbidden,
which tends to prevent or hinder the development
of the human soul. As a righteous course leads to eternal
life, so sin tends toward the darkness of the second death.
Sin was introduced to the world by the arch-fiend Satan;[142]
yet it is by Divine permission that mankind is brought in
contact with sin, the contrast between evil and good thus
being learned.

12. According to the technical definition of sin, it consists
in the violation of law, and in this strict sense sin may
be committed inadvertently or in ignorance. It is plain,
however, from the scriptural doctrine of human responsibility,
and the unerring justice of God, that in his transgressions
as in his righteous deeds, man will be judged according
to his ability to comprehend law. To him who has
never been made acquainted with a higher law, the requirements
of that law do not apply in their fulness. For sins
committed without knowledge,—that is, for laws violated in
ignorance, a propitiation has been provided in the atonement
wrought through the sacrifice of the Savior; and sinners
of this class do not stand condemned.

13. Nephi, prophesying to the ancient inhabitants of the
western continent, taught them this doctrine:—”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; 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[61]
devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone which is endless
torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them
breath, which is the Holy One of Israel.”[143] And then, in
contrast with the lot of those who are thus pardonable, the
prophet adds:—”But wo unto him that has the law given;
yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us,
and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of
his probation, for awful is his state!”[144] This is in strict
agreement with the teachings of Paul to the Romans, “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.”[145] And the word of modern scripture is
to the same effect, for we are told through recent revelation
to the Church, that among those who are to receive the
blessings of redemption are “they who died without law.”[146]
These will include the heathen nations, whose redemption is
promised, with the added declaration that “they that knew
no law shall have part in the first resurrection.”[147]

14. Punishment for Sin.—As rewards for righteous deeds
are proportionate to deserving acts, so the punishment
prescribed for sin is made adequate to the offence.[148] Punishment
is inflicted upon the sinner, for disciplinary and
reformatory purposes, and in support of justice. There is
nothing of vindictiveness or of desire to cause suffering in
the Divine nature; on the contrary, our Father is cognizant
of every pang, and permits such to afflict for beneficent
purposes only. God’s mercy is declared in the retributive
pains which He allows, as in the blessings of peace which[62]
issue from His hand. It is scarcely profitable to speculate
as to the exact nature of the spiritual suffering imposed as
punishment for sin. Comparison with physical pain,[149] such
as the tortures of fire, in a sulphurous lake, serve to show
that the human mind is incapable of comprehending the
depth of these dread penalties. The sufferings entailed by
the awful fate of condemnation are more to be feared than
are any possible inflictions of purely physical torture; the
mind, the spirit, the whole soul is doomed to suffer, and
the extent of the torment no man knoweth.

15. Consider the word of the Lord regarding those
whose sin is the unpardonable one, whose transgression has
carried them beyond the present horizon of possible redemption;
those who have sunk so low in their wickedness
as to have lost the power and even the desire to attempt
reformation.[150] “Sons of Perdition” is the terrible designation
by which they are known. These are they who, having
learned the power of God, afterward renounce it; those who
sin wilfully, in the light of knowledge; those who open
their hearts to the Holy Spirit, and then put the Lord to a
mockery and a shame by denying Him; and those who
commit murder, wherein they shed innocent blood;[151] these
are they of whom the Savior has declared that it would be
better for them had they never been born.[152] These are to
share the punishment of the devil and his angels—punishment
so terrible that the knowledge is withheld from all
except those who are consigned to this dread doom, though
a momentary glance at the awful picture is permitted to
some.[153] These sinners are the only ones over whom the[63]
second death hath power, “Yea, verily, the only ones who
shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord.”[154]

16. The Duration of Punishment.—As to the duration of
such punishment, we may take assurance that it will be
graded according to the sin; and that the popular interpretation
of scriptural passages to the effect that every
sentence for misdeeds is interminable, is entirely false.[155]
Great as is the effect of this life upon the hereafter, and
terrible as is the responsibility of opportunities lost for
repentance, God holds the power to pardon beyond the
grave. And yet the scriptures speak of eternal and endless
punishment. Any punishment ordained of God is eternal,
for He is eternal.[156] His is a system of endless punishment,
for it will always exist as a place or condition prepared
for disobedient spirits; yet the infliction of the penalty
will have an end in every case of willing repentance and
attempted reparation. And repentance is not impossible
in the spirit world.[157] Yet, as seen, there are some sins so
terrible that their consequent punishments are not made
known to man;[158] these extreme penalties are reserved for
the “Sons of Perdition.”

17. The false doctrine that the punishment to be visited
upon the erring souls is endless, that every sentence for sin
is of interminable duration, must be regarded as one of the
most pernicious results of unenlightened sectarianism. It
is but a dogma of unauthorized and erring churches, at once
unscriptural, unreasonable, and revolting to one who loves
mercy and honors justice. True, the scriptures speak of
everlasting burnings, eternal damnation, and the vengeance[64]
of eternal fire,[159] as characteristics of the judgment provided
for the wicked; yet in no instance is there justification for
the inference that the individual sinner will have to suffer
the wrath of offended justice forever and ever. The punishment
in any case is sufficiently severe without the added
and supreme horror of unending continuation. Justice
must have her due; but when “the uttermost farthing” is
paid, the prison doors shall open and the captive be free.
But the prison remains, and the law prescribing punishment
for offences will not be repealed.

18. So general were the ill-effects of the commonly-accepted
doctrine, unscriptural and untrue though it was,
regarding the endless torment awaiting every sinner, that
even before the Church had been formally organized in the
present dispensation, God gave a revelation through the
Prophet Joseph Smith, touching this matter, in which we
read:—”And surely every man must repent or suffer; for I,
God, am endless: wherefore I revoke not the judgments
which I shall pass, but woes shall go forth, weeping, wailing
and gnashing of teeth, yea to those who are found on
my left hand; nevertheless it is not written that there shall
be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment.
Again it is written eternal damnation … 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.[160]“

19. Satan.—We have had occasion to refer frequently to
the author of evil among men. This is Satan,[161] the adversary
or opponent of the Lord, the chief of all evil spirits, called[65]
also the Devil,[162] Beelzebub,[163] or the Prince of Devils, Perdition,[164]
and Belial.[165] The figurative appellations Dragon and Serpent
are applied to Satan, when reference is made to his fall.[166]
We learn from the revealed word[167] that Satan was once an
angel of light; he was then known as Lucifer, a Son of the
Morning, but his uncontrolled ambition prompted him to
aspire to the glory and power of the Father, to secure which
he made the unjust proposition to redeem the human family
by compulsion; failing in this purpose, he headed an open
rebellion against the Father and the Son, drawing a third of
the hosts of heaven into his impious league.[168] These rebellious
spirits were expelled from heaven, and have since followed
the impulses of their wicked natures by seeking to lead
human souls to their own condition of darkness. They are
the Devil and his angels. The right of free agency, maintained
and vindicated by the fateful strife in heaven, prevents
the possibility of compulsion being employed in this fiendish
work of degradation; but the powers of these malignant
spirits to tempt and persuade are used to their utmost limits.
Satan tempted Eve to transgress the law of God;[169] it was he
who imparted the secret of murder to the fratricide, Cain.[170]

20. Satan exerts a mastery over the spirits that have
been corrupted by his practices; he is the foremost of the
angels who were thrust down, and the instigator of the ruin
of those who fall in this life; he seeks to molest and hinder
mankind in good efforts, by tempting to sin; it may be by[66]
imposing sickness,[171] or possibly death. Yet in all these
malignant doings, he can go no farther than the transgressions
of the victim may enable him, or the wisdom of God may
permit him to go, and he may at any time be checked by the
superior power. Indeed, even the operations of his utmost
malice may be turned to the accomplishment of Divine purposes.
The scriptures prove to us that the days of Satan’s
power are already numbered,[172] his doom has been pronounced,
and in the Lord’s own time he will be completely
overcome. He is to be bound during the millennial reign,[173]
and after that thousand years of blessed peace, he will be
loosed for a little season; then his defeat will be made complete,
and his power over the children of God will be
entirely destroyed.

THE FALL.

21. Our First Parents in Eden.[174]—The crowning scene of
the great drama of creation was the forming of man in the
image of his spiritual Father, God.[175] For the reception of
the first man, the Creator had specially prepared a choice
region of earth, and had embellished it with natural
beauties calculated to gladden the heart of its royal
possessor. “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in
Eden,[176] and there he put the man whom he had formed.”[177]
Soon after man’s advent upon the earth the Lord created
for him a companion or help-meet, declaring that it was
not good that man should be alone,[178] Thus, male and
female, Adam and his wife Eve, were placed in the Garden.[67]
They had been given dominion “over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth.”[179] With this great power were
associated certain special commands, the first of which in
point of importance was that they “be fruitful and
multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it;” then, that
they refrain from eating or even touching the fruit of a
certain tree, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil,
which grew in the midst of the Garden, though of all other
fruits they were permitted to freely partake. The words of
God concerning this command and its penalty are:—”And
I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying, of every
tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it;
nevertheless thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given
unto thee, but remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”[180]

22. The Temptation to disobey this command soon came.
Satan presented himself before Eve in the Garden, and,
speaking by the mouth of the serpent, questioned her about
the commands which God had given respecting the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve answered that they
were forbidden even to touch the fruit of that tree, under
penalty of death. Satan then sought to beguile the woman,
contradicting the Lord’s statement, and declaring that death
would not follow a violation of the Divine injunction; but
that, on the other hand, by doing that which the Lord had
forbidden, she and her husband would become like unto
the gods, knowing good and evil for themselves. The
woman was captivated by these representations; and, being
eager to possess the advantages pictured by Satan, she disobeyed
the command of the Lord, and partook of the fruit[68]
forbidden. She feared not evil, for she knew it not. Then,
telling Adam what she had done, she urged him to do likewise.

23. Adam found himself in a position that impelled
him to disobey one of the requirements of God. He and
his wife had been commanded to multiply and replenish the
earth. Adam was still immortal; Eve had come under the
penalty of mortality; and in such dissimilar conditions, the
two could not remain together, and therefore could not fulfill
the Divine requirement. On the other hand, Adam
would be disobeying another command by yielding to his
wife’s request. He deliberately and wisely decided to stand
by the first and greater commandment; and, therefore, with
a full comprehension of the nature of his act, he also partook
of the fruit that grew on the Tree of Knowledge. The
fact that Adam acted understandingly in this matter is
affirmed by the scriptures. Paul, in writing to Timothy,
explained that “Adam was not deceived; but the woman,
being deceived, was in the transgression.”[181] The prophet
Lehi, in expounding the scriptures to his sons, declared
“Adam fell that man might be, and men are that they
might have joy.”[182]

24. The Tree of Life.—There was another tree of special
virtues in Eden; its fruit insured life to all who ate of it.
While Adam and Eve lived in innocent immortality, this tree
had not been forbidden them; the celestial fruit indeed was
fitting food for their sinless state. Now that they had
transgressed, however, now that the Divine decree had
issued, fixing death as their lot, it was not proper that the
fruit of the Tree of Life should be longer within their reach.
They were, therefore, expelled from the Garden, and cherubim
with a flaming sword guarded the way, that man might not[69]
return in an unregenerate state. By the act of transgression,
our first parents acquired a knowledge, which in their
condition of pristine innocence they had not possessed,—the
experimental knowledge of good and evil. The result of
the Fall could have been of none but ill effect had the fallen
ones been immediately restored to a condition of immortality,
without repentance, without atonement. In the despair
that followed their realization of the great change that had
come upon them, and in the light of the knowledge gained
at such cost as to the virtues of the fruit that grew on the
Tree of Life, it would have been but natural for them to
seek the seeming advantages of an immediate escape, by partaking
of the celestial food. It was in mercy that they
were deprived of the means of so doing.

25. The words of the Creator are unmistakable as to the
necessity of banishing His first earthly children from Eden:—”And
the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as
one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth
his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and
live forever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from
the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was
taken. So he drove out the man: and he placed at the
east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword
which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of
life.”[183]

26. Alma, the Nephite prophet, comprehended the result
that would have followed had Adam and his wife eaten of
the Tree of Life; he thus explained the matter:—”Now we
see that the man had become as God, knowing good and
evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also
of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord God
placed Cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not
partake of the fruit; And thus we see, that there was a[70]
time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time,
a time to repent and serve God. For behold, if Adam had
put forth his hand immediately, and partook of the tree of
life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of
God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the
word of God would have been void, and the great plan of
salvation would have been frustrated.”[184]

27. The Immediate Result of the Fall was the substitution
of mortality, with all its attendant frailties, for the
vigor of the primeval deathless state. Adam felt directly
the effects of transgression, in finding a barren and dreary
earth, with a sterile soil, instead of the beauty and fruitfulness
of Eden. In place of pleasing and useful plants,
thorns and thistles sprang up; and he had to labor arduously
under the conditions of physical fatigue and suffering, to
cultivate the soil that he might obtain necessary food.
Upon Eve fell the penalty of bodily infirmity; the pains and
sorrows, which since have been regarded as the natural lot of
womankind, came upon her, and she was made subject to
her husband. Having now lost their sense of former innocence,
they became ashamed of their nakedness, and the
Lord made for them garments of skins. And upon both the
man and the woman was visited the penalty of spiritual
death; for in that very day they were banished from Eden,
and cast out from the presence of the Lord. The serpent,
having served the purposes of Satan, was made a subject of
Divine displeasure, being doomed to crawl forever in the
dust, and to suffer from the enmity which it was decreed
should be placed in the hearts of Eve’s children.[185]

28. Atonement was Provided for.—God left not His now
mortal children without hope. He gave other commandments
to Adam, requiring him to offer sacrifices in the name[71]
of the Only Begotten Son, and promising redemption unto
him and all his descendants who would comply with the conditions
prescribed. The opportunity of winning the victor’s
reward by overcoming evil was explained to our parents, and
they rejoiced. Adam said, “Blessed be the name of God, for
because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this
life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.”
Eve was glad and declared, “Were it not for our transgression
we never should have had seed, and never should
have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption,
and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.”[186]

29. The Fall came not by Chance.—It would be unreasonable
to suppose that the transgression of Eve and Adam
came as a surprise to the Creator. By His infinite fore-knowledge,
God knew what would be the result of Satan’s
temptation to Eve, and what Adam would do under the
conditions. And further, it is evident that the Fall was foreseen,
to be a means whereby man could be brought face to
face with both good and evil; that of his own agency he
might elect the one or the other, and thus be prepared by
the experiences of a mortal probation for the exaltation provided
in the glorious plan of his creation:—”For behold,
this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality
and eternal life of man;”[187] thus spake the Lord unto
Moses. It was the purpose of God to place within the reach
of the spirits begotten by Him in the heavens the means
of individual effort, and the opportunity of winning, not
merely redemption from death but also salvation and even
exaltation, with the powers of eternal progression and increase.
Hence, it was necessary that the spiritual offspring
of God should leave the mansions of their primeval childhood,
and enter the school of mortal experience, meeting,[72]
contending with, and overcoming evil, according to their
several degrees of faith and strength. Adam and Eve
could never have been the parents of a mortal posterity had
they not themselves become mortal; mortality, as before
stated, was an essential element in the Divine plan respecting
the earth and its appointed inhabitants; and as a means
of introducing mortality the Lord placed before the progenitors
of the race a law, knowing full well that transgression
would follow.

30. Eve was fulfilling the foreseen purposes of God
by the part she took in the great drama of the Fall; yet
she did not partake of the forbidden fruit with that object
in view, but with the intent to violate the Divine command,
being deceived by the sophistries of the serpent-fiend.
Satan also, for that matter, furthered the purposes of the
Creator, in tempting Eve; yet his design was to thwart the
Lord’s plan. We are definitely told that “he knew not the
mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world.”[188]
Yet, his diabolical effort, far from being the initiatory step
toward destruction, contributed to the plan of man’s eternal
exaltation. Adam’s part in the great event was essentially
different from that of his wife; he was not deceived; on the
contrary he deliberately decided to do as Eve desired, that
he might carry out the purposes of his Maker with respect
to the race of men, whose first patriarch he was ordained
to be.

31. Even the transgressions of man may be turned to
the accomplishment of high purposes. As will be shown,
the sacrifice of Christ was ordained from before the foundation
of the world,[189] yet Judas who betrayed, and the blood-thirsty
Jews who brought about the crucifixion of the Son
of God, are none the less guilty of the awful crime.

[73]

32. It has become a common practice with mankind to
heap reproaches upon the progenitors of the family, and to
picture the supposedly blessed state in which we would be
living but for the Fall; whereas our first parents are entitled
to our deepest gratitude for their legacy to posterity,—the
means of winning glory, exaltation, and eternal lives, on
the battlefield of mortality. But for the opportunity thus
given, the spirits of God’s offspring would have remained
forever in a state of innocent childhood; sinless through no
effort of their own; negatively saved, not from sin, but from
the opportunity of meeting sin; incapable of winning the
honors of victory because prevented from taking part in the
battle. As it is, they are heirs to the birthright of Adam’s
descendants,—mortality, with its immeasurable possibilities
and its God-given freedom of action. From Father
Adam we have inherited all the ills to which flesh is heir;
but such are necessarily incident to the knowledge of good
and evil, by the proper use of which knowledge man may
become even as the Gods.[190]

NOTES.

1. Man’s Agency is God-given.—The following is an extract from a discourse
delivered by President Brigham Young, July 5, 1855. (See Journal of Discourses
of that date, and Millennial Star, vol. xx, p. 43.) “What is the foundation of the rights
of man? The Lord Almighty has organized man for the express purpose of becoming
an independent being like unto Himself, and has given him his individual agency. Man
is made in the likeness of his Creator, the great archetype of the human species, who
bestowed upon him the principles of eternity, planting immortality within him, and
leaving him at liberty to act in the way that seemeth good unto him;—to choose or refuse
for himself, to be a Latter-day Saint or a Wesleyan Methodist, to belong to the
Church of England, the oldest daughter of the Mother Church, to the old Mother herself,
to her sister the Greek Church, or to be an infidel and belong to no church. When
the kingdom of God is fully set up and established on the face of the earth, and takes
the pre-eminence over all other nations and kingdoms, it will protect the people in the
enjoyment of all their rights, no matter what they believe, what they profess, or what
they worship.”

[74]

2. The Nature of Sin.—The English word “sin” represents a very great
variety of terms occurring in the original languages, the literal translation of which bear
to one another a very great similarity. Thus, in the Old Testament, the following terms
among others occur:—setim (referred to in Psalms ci, 3), signifying “to deviate from the
way;” shegagah (Lev. iv, 2; Num. xv, 27), “to err in the way;” avon, “the crooked,
or perverted;” avel, “to turn aside.” In the New Testament we find, hemartia, “the
missing of a mark;” parabasis, “the transgressing of a line;” parakoe, “disobedience
to a voice;” paraptoma, “falling from uprightness;” agnœma, “unjustifiable ignorance;”
hettema, “giving only partial measure;” anomia, “non-observance of law;”
plemmeleia, “a discord.” The above illustrations are taken mainly from Müller and
French. In all these expressions, the predominant idea is that of departure from the way
of God, of separation from His companionship by opposition to the Divine requirements.
Sin was introduced into the world from without; it was not a natural product of earth.
The seed of disobedience was planted in the mind of Eve by the
arch-fiend: that seed
took root; and much fruit, of the nature that we, with unguarded words, call calamity,
is the result. From these thorns and thistles of mortality, a Savior has been prepared
to deliver us.

3. Eden.—In the Hebrew tongue, from which our word “Eden” is taken, this
term signifies something particularly delightful,—a place of pleasantness; the place is
also called “the garden of the Lord.” One particular spot in the land of Eden was prepared
by the Lord as a garden; this was situated eastward in Eden. From the garden,
the parents of the race were expelled after the Fall, though it is reasonable to suppose
that they still dwelt in the land or region of Eden. We read that at a later date, Cain,
the first murderer, “went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of
Nod, on the east of Eden” (Gen. iv, 16). Though there is no uniform belief among
Christian scholars as to the geographical location of Eden, the majority claim that it was
in Persia; however, the most radical among the advocates of this view fail to prove any
marked resemblance between the region at present and the place described in the Bible.
The Latter-day Saints have more exact knowledge on the matter, a revelation having
been given through Joseph Smith, at Spring Hill, Mo., May 19, 1838, in which that place
is named by the Lord “Adam-ondi-Ahman, because, said he, it is the place where Adam
shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel
the prophet” (Doc. and Cov. cxvi). From another revelation we learn (Doc. and Cov.
cvii, 52-53) that three years before his death, Adam called together in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman
those of his sons who had been made High Priests, together with the rest of
his righteous posterity, and there bestowed upon them his patriarchal blessings, the
event being marked by special manifestations from the Lord (see also Doc. and Cov.
cxvii, 8). The Lord has pointed out in this day the exact location of the altar upon
which Adam offered sacrifices after his expulsion from the Garden (see Contributor,
Vol. vii, page 314). There is no authentic record of the human race having inhabited the
Eastern Hemisphere until after the flood. The Western Continent, called now the New
World, comprises indeed the oldest inhabited regions of earth. The west, not the east,
is the “cradle of nations.”

4. The Serpent, as stated, having aided the purposes of Satan, received from the
Lord a special curse (see Genesis iii, 13, 15, and the Pearl of Great Price, p. 16). The
creature was doomed to a life of degradation. Even from the standpoint of anatomy,
the serpent is a degraded type. Though a vertebrate,—a member of the highest sub-kingdom
of animals, it is devoid even of external limbs, and its means of locomotion are
of no higher order than are those of the worm and the caterpillar. In the scriptures, the
serpent is made the symbol of craft, subtlety, cunning, and danger.

[75]

5. Mortality Essential.—President John Taylor, after discussing the succession
of events leading up to the Fall, says—”Thus it would appear that if
any of the links of this great chain had been broken, it would have interfered
with the comprehensive plan of the Almighty pertaining to the salvation and
eternal exaltation of those spirits who were His sons, and for whom principally the
world was made: that they, through submission to the requirements of the eternal
principle and law governing those matters, might possess bodies, and those bodies
united with the spirits might become living souls, and being the sons of God, and
made in the image of God, they through the atonement might be exalted, by obedience
to the law of the Gospel, to the Godhead.”—Mediation and Atonement, p. 135.

6. Beneficent Results of the Fall.—”‘Honor thy father and thy mother.’
This was one of the ten special commandments given to Israel, during a grand display of
God’s power and glory on Mount Sinai. In the past centuries of darkness it appears to
have lost its significance with the Christian world. They do not appear to realize that
honor is due to the first parents of the human race. They have been long taught that
Adam and Eve were great transgressors, and have mourned over the fact that they partook
of the forbidden fruit and brought death into the world. There is no possibility
that the fall of man was an accident or chance, any more than was his creation. If an
accident, then why was Christ prepared from before the foundation of the world as a
propitiation for sin, and to open up the way for man to immortality? Christ’s mediation
was a sequence of the fall” (see Acts v, 31). “Without the fall there would have
been no broken law, and therefore nothing to repent of; and there could be no forgiveness
of sin without the atonement of Christ. The Book of Mormon makes this subject
very plain: ‘And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he would not have fallen;
but he would have remained in the Garden of Eden. And all things which were created,
must have remained in the same state which they were after they were created; and
they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children;
wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for
they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin’ (II Nephi ii, 22-23)….
We, the children of Adam, have no right to bring accusations against the Patriarch of
the race. But rather, we should rejoice with them, that through their fall and the atonement
of Jesus Christ, the way of eternal life has been opened up to us.”—A Compendium
of the Doctrines of the Gospel: F. D. Richards and J. A. Little, pp. 3-4.

7. The Fall Fore-known.—”‘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 save Adam shall ever have to account for Adam’s disobedience; that mankind
in general are absolutely absolved from the responsibility for that ‘original sin,’ and
that each shall answer for his own transgressions alone. That the Fall was foreknown
of God,—that it was the accepted means 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
Philosophy of Mormonism: The Author; Improvement Era, Vol. IV, pp. 465-466.

8. The Fall a Process of Physical Degeneracy.—For a concise treatment
of this topic see “Jesus the Christ,” pp. 19 and 29.

[76]

LECTURE IV.

THE ATONEMENT, AND SALVATION.

Article 3.—We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be
saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

THE ATONEMENT.

1. The Atonement of Christ is taught as a leading doctrine
by all sects professing Christianity. The expression
is so common a one, and the essential point of its signification
is so generally admitted, that definitions may appear to be
superfluous; nevertheless, there is a peculiar importance attached
to the use of the word atonement, in a theological
sense. The doctrine of the atonement comprises proof of
the divinity of Christ’s earthly ministry; and the vicarious
nature of His death, as a fore-ordained and voluntary sacrifice,
intended for and efficacious as a propitiation for the
sins of mankind, thus becoming the means whereby salvation
may be obtained.

2. The New Testament, which is properly regarded as
the scripture of Christ’s mission among men, is imbued
throughout with the doctrine of salvation through the work
of atonement wrought by the Savior; and yet the word
atonement, occurs but once in the whole record; and in that
single instance, according to the opinion of most biblical
authorities, it is confessedly misused. The instance referred
to is found in the words of Paul addressed to the saints at
Rome:—”But we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”[191]
The marginal rendering gives, instead of atonement, reconciliation,
and of this word a related form is used in the[77]
preceding verse. A consistent translation, giving a full
agreement between the English and the Greek, would make
the verse quoted, and that immediately preceding it, read
in this way:—”For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled
to God by the death of his Son; much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so,
but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom we have now received the reconciliation.”[192] The term
atonement occurs repeatedly in the Old Testament, and
with marked frequency in three of the books of the Pentateuch,
viz.: Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers; and the sense
in which it is employed is invariably that of a sacrifice of
propitiation, usually associated with the death of an acceptable
victim, whereby reconciliation was to be effected between
God and His creatures.

3. The structure of the word in its present form is suggestive
of this, the true meaning; it is literally at-one-ment,
“denoting reconciliation, or the bringing into agreement of
those who have been estranged.”[193] And such is the significance
of the saving sacrifice of the Redeemer, whereby He
expiated the transgression of the Fall, through which came
death into the world, and provided ready and efficient means
for man’s attainment of immortality through reconciliation
with God.

4. Nature of the Atonement.—The atonement wrought
by Jesus Christ is a necessary sequence of the transgression
of Adam; and, as the infinite foreknowledge of God made
clear to Him the one even before Adam was placed on earth,
so the Father’s boundless mercy prepared a Savior for mankind
before the world was framed. Through the Fall,
Adam and Eve have entailed the conditions of mortality
upon their descendants; therefore all beings born of earthly[78]
parents are subject to bodily death. The sentence of banishment
from the presence of God was in the nature of a
spiritual death; and that penalty, which was visited upon
our first parents in the day of their transgression, has likewise
followed as the common heritage of humanity. As
this penalty came into the world through an individual act,
it would be manifestly unjust to cause all to eternally suffer
therefrom, without a chance of deliverance. Therefore was
the promised sacrifice of Jesus Christ ordained as a propitiation
for broken law, whereby Justice could be fully satisfied,
and Mercy be left free to exercise her beneficent influence
over the souls of mankind.[194] All the details of the glorious
plan, by which the salvation of the human family is assured,
may not lie within the understanding of man; but surely
man has learned, from his futile attempts to fathom the
primary cause of the phenomena of nature, that his powers
of comprehension are limited; and he will admit, that to
deny an effect because of his inability to elucidate its
cause, would be to forfeit his claims as an observing and
reasoning being.

5. Simple as is the plan of redemption in its general features,
it is confessedly a mystery to the finite mind in detail.
President John Taylor has written in this wise:—”In some
mysterious, incomprehensible way, Jesus assumed the responsibility
which naturally would have devolved upon
Adam; but which could only be accomplished through the
mediation of Himself; and by taking upon Himself their
sorrows, assuming their responsibilities, and bearing their
transgressions or sins. In a manner to us incomprehensible
and inexplicable, He bore the weight of the sins of the
whole world, not only of Adam, but of his posterity; and
in doing that, opened the kingdom of heaven, not only to all
believers and all who obeyed the law of God, but to more[79]
than one half of the human family who die before they
come to years of maturity, as well as to the heathen, who,
having died without law, will through His mediation be resurrected
without law, and be judged without law, and thus
participate, according to their capacity, works, and worth,
in the blessings of His atonement.”[195]

6. But, however incomplete may be our comprehension of
the scheme of redemption through Christ’s vicarious sacrifice
in all its parts, we cannot reject it without becoming
infidel; for it stands as the fundamental doctrine of all
scripture, the very essence of the spirit of prophecy and
revelation, the most prominent of all the declarations of God
unto man.

7. The Atonement a Vicarious Sacrifice.—It is to many a
matter of surpassing wonder that the voluntary sacrifice of
a single being could be made to operate as a means of
ransom for the rest of mankind. In this, as in other things,
the scriptures are explicable only by the spirit of scriptural
interpretation. The sacred writings of ancient times, the
words of modern prophets, the traditions of mankind, the
rites of sacrifice, and even the sacrileges of heathen idolatries,
involve the idea of vicarious atonement. God has
never refused to accept an offering made by one who is
authorized on behalf of those who are in any way incapable
of doing the required service themselves. The
scape-goat,[196] and the altar victim[197] of ancient Israel, if
offered with repentance and contrition, were accepted by the
Lord in mitigation of the sins of the people. It is interesting
to note, that while the ceremonies of sacrifice formed so
large and so essential a part of the Mosaic requirements,
these rites long ante-dated the establishment of Israel as a[80]
distinct people; for, as already shown, altar sacrifice was
rendered by Adam.[198] The symbolism of the sacrificing of
animals as a prototype of the great sacrifice to follow on
Calvary was thus instituted with the beginning of human
history.

8. The many kinds of sacrifice prescribed by the Mosaic
law are clearly classified under the headings bloody and
bloodless. Offerings of the first order only, involving the
infliction of death, were acceptable in propitiation or atonement
for sin, and the victim had to be clean, healthy, and
without spot or blemish. And so for the great sacrifice, the
effects of which were to be infinite, only an innocent subject
could be accepted. It was Christ’s right, as the only
sinless Being on earth, and as the Only Begotten of the
Father, and above all as the One ordained to this mission in
the heavens, to be the Redeemer of mankind; and though
the exercise of this right involved a sacrifice, the extent of
which man cannot comprehend, yet Christ made that
sacrifice willingly and voluntarily. To the last He had the
means of terminating the tortures of His persecutors, by a
simple exercise of His powers as one of the Godhead.[199] In
some way, though that way may be inexplicable to us,
Christ took upon Himself the sins of mankind. The means
may be to our finite minds a mystery, yet the results are our
salvation.

9. Something of the Savior’s agony as He groaned under
this load of guilt, which to Him, as a type of purity, must
have been in itself repulsive, He has told us through the
prophet’s words in this day: “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,[81]
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,
and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children
of men.”[200] Further instances of the validity of vicarious
service are found in the ordinances of baptism for the dead[201]
as taught in apostolic and modern times, and in the institution
of other temple ceremonies[202] in the present dispensation.

10. Christ’s Sacrifice was Voluntary and Love-inspired.—We
have noted in passing that Christ gave His life willingly
and voluntarily for the redemption of mankind. He offered
Himself, in the great Council of the Gods, as the subject of
the atoning sacrifice made necessary by the fore-seen transgression
of the first man; and the free agency shown and
exercised in this, the early stage of His saving mission, was
retained to the very last of the agonizing fulfillment of the
accepted plan. Though He lived on earth a man in every
particular that concerns us in our regard for Him as an example
of Godliness in humanity, yet it is to be remembered
that, though born of a mortal mother, he was begotten by
an immortal Sire; and so had combined within His being the
capacity to die, and the power to set death at defiance. He
gave His life; it was not taken from Him. Note the significance
of His own declaration:—”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.”[203] On another occasion Jesus testified of
Himself in this way:—”For as the Father hath life in himself,[82]
so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and
hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because
he is the Son of man.”[204] And then amid the tragic scenes
of the betrayal, when one who had been a professed follower
and friend gave Him with a traitorous kiss to His persecutors,
when Peter, with a rashness prompted by righteous
zeal, drew and used the sword in His defence, the Master
said:—”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?”[205] And on to the bitter end,
marked by the expiring though triumphant cry “It is finished,”
the incarnated God held in subjection within Himself
the power to thwart His murderers, had He so willed.

11. The motive inspiring and sustaining Him through
all the scenes of His mission, from the time of His primeval
ordination to the moment of victorious consummation on
the cross, was two-fold; first, the desire to do His Father’s
will, in accomplishing the salvation of man; second, His
love for humanity, of whose welfare and destiny He had
assumed charge. Far from cherishing the least feeling of
vindictiveness against those, who, in defiance of the laws of
God and man, put Him to ignominious death, He entertained
for them compassion to the last. Hear Him in the
hour of supreme agony, praying aloud, “Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do.”[206] Not less is the
Father’s love, as shown by His accepting the Son’s offer,
and permitting Him whom He delighted to call His Beloved,
to suffer as only a God could suffer:—”For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting[83]
life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through him might be
saved.”[207] And further, we hear the teaching of the apostle,
whom the Savior loved so well, “In this was manifested the
love of God toward us, because that God sent his only
begotten Son into the world that we might live through
him.”[208]

12. The Atonement Fore-ordained and Fore-told.—As already
shown, the plan of the Father to open a way for the redemption
of mankind, then to leave all men free to exercise
their own agency, was adopted by the Council in heaven to the
rejection of Lucifer’s plan of compulsion. Even at that
remote period, Christ was thus ordained as a Mediator for
all mankind; in fact, “a covenant was entered into between
Him and His Father, in which He agreed to atone for the
sins of the world, and He thus, as stated, became a ‘Lamb
slain from before the foundation of the world.'”[209] The
prophets of old, many of whom lived centuries before the
time of Christ’s coming in the flesh, testified of Him and
of the great work He had been ordained to perform. These
men of God had been permitted to behold in prophetic
visions many of the scenes incident to the Savior’s earthly
mission; and they solemnly bore record of the manifestations.
Indeed, the testimony of Christ is the spirit of
prophecy, and without it no person can rightly claim the
distinction of being a prophet of God. Adam’s despair, on
being driven from Eden, was changed to joy when, through
revelation, he learned of the plan of redemption to be
wrought by the Son of God in the flesh.[210] Righteous Enoch
taught the same truths, which had been declared to him[84]
from the heavens.[211] This testimony was borne by Moses,[212]
Job,[213] David,[214] Zechariah,[215] Isaiah,[216] and Micah.[217] The same
declaration was made by John the Baptist,[218] the prophet of
the Highest, designated by the Savior as more than a
prophet; he it was who baptized the Christ, and who witnessed
the Father’s words associated with the visible sign of
the Holy Ghost, concerning the mission of the Son.

13. Should there be any doubt as to the application of such
prophecies, we have the conclusive testimony of Christ that
they refer to Himself. On that memorable day, immediately
following His resurrection, while walking incognito
with two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus, He taught
them the scriptures that had been written concerning the
Son of God; “Beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he
expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself.”[219] A few hours after this event, the Lord
appeared to the Eleven at Jerusalem. He operated upon
their minds “that they might understand the scriptures; and
said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved
Christ to suffer,”[220] in this way testifying that He was fulfilling
a previously ordained plan. Peter, one of the Savior’s
most intimate earthly associates, refers to Him as “a Lamb
without blemish and without spot, who verily was fore-ordained
before the foundation of the world.”[221] In his epistle
to the Romans, Paul characterizes Christ as the one “Whom[85]
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past.”[222] These are but a few of the biblical evidences
of Christ’s appointment and fore-ordination; both Old and
New Testament[223] writings abound in proofs of the Messiah’s
great work.

14. Book of Mormon prophets are characterized by their
full testimonies concerning the Messiah. Because of his
purity of faith, the brother of Jared was permitted to behold
the Savior of mankind, twenty-two centuries prior to
the meridian of time, and to be shown that man was created
after the image of the Lord, at the same time being taught
of the Father’s purpose that the Son take upon Himself
flesh and dwell on earth.[224] Note the personal declaration of
the fore-ordained Redeemer to this prophet:—”Behold, I am
he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to
redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the
Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have light,
and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name;
and they shall become my sons and my daughters.”[225]

15. Nephi records the prophecy of his father Lehi concerning
the future appearing of the Son in the flesh, His baptism,
death, and resurrection; this prophetic utterance specifies the
exact date of the Savior’s birth, viz., six hundred years after
the time of Lehi’s exodus from Jerusalem. The mission of
John the Baptist is described, and even the place of baptism
is designated.[226] Shortly after the time of Lehi’s vision,
Nephi was shown by the Spirit the same things, as also many
others, some of which he has written, but the greater part[86]
of which he was forbidden to write, as another, the Apostle
John, had been ordained to set them forth in a book which
should form part of the Bible. But, from his partial account
of his vision, we learn that he saw in Nazareth, Mary the
Virgin, first alone, and shortly afterward with a child in her
arms; the demonstrator of the vision informed him that the
infant was the Lamb of God, the Son of the Eternal Father.
Then Nephi beheld the Son ministering among the children
of men, proclaiming the word, healing the sick, and working
many other wondrous miracles; he saw John, the
prophet of the wilderness, going before Him; he beheld the
Savior baptized of John, and the Holy Ghost descending
upon Him with the visible sign of the dove. Then he saw
and prophesied that twelve chosen apostles would follow the
Savior in His ministry; that the Son would be taken and
judged of men, and finally be slain. Piercing the future,
even beyond the time of the crucifixion, Nephi beheld the
strife of the world against the apostles of the Lamb, and
the final triumph of God’s cause.[227]

16. Jacob, the brother of Nephi, prophesied to his brethren
that Christ would appear in the flesh among the Jews, and
that He would be scourged and crucified of them.[228] King
Benjamin lifted his voice in support of the same testimony,
and preached unto his people the righteous condescension of
God.[229] So also declared Abinadi,[230] Alma,[231] Amulek,[232] and
Samuel the Lamanite prophet.[233] The literal fulfillment of
these prophecies furnishes unquestionable proof of their
truth. The wondrous signs indicative of Christ’s birth[234] and[87]
death were all realized,[235] and after His death and ascension
the Savior manifested Himself among the Nephites, as the
Father announced Him to the multitude.[236]

17. The ancient scriptures, then, are plain in declaring
that Christ came upon the earth to do a work previously
allotted. He lived, suffered and died, in accordance with a
plan which was framed in righteousness for the redemption
of the children of Adam, even before the world was. Equally
important and explicit is the word of modern revelation
through which the Son has declared Himself as Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end, man’s Advocate with
the Father, the universal Redeemer.[237] Let us consider a
single citation from the many revelations concerning Christ
given in the present dispensation:—”Listen to the voice of
the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same
today as yesterday and forever. I am Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as
many as will believe on my name, that they may become the
sons of God, even one in me as I am in the Father, as the
Father is one in me, that we may be one.”[238]

18. The Extent of the Atonement is infinite, applying
alike to all descendants of Adam. Even the unbeliever,
and the heathen, and the child who dies before reaching the
years of discretion, are redeemed by the Savior’s self-sacrifice
from all the consequences of the Fall.[239] It is
conclusively proved by the scripture that the resurrection
of the body is one of the victories achieved by Christ[88]
through His atoning sacrifice. He Himself proclaimed the
eternal truth, “I am the resurrection and the life;”[240] and
He among men came first forth from the grave,—”the first
fruits of them that slept.”[241] Now, the scriptures leave no
room for doubt concerning the fact that the resurrection
will be universal. The Savior announced to his apostles
the beginning of this work of deliverance from the tomb;
hear His words, “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming,
in 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 done evil unto the
resurrection of damnation;”[242] or, as the latter part of the
declaration has been rendered through inspiration in the
present day, “They who have done good, in the resurrection
of the just: and they who have done evil in the resurrection
of the unjust.”[243]

19. Paul refers to the doctrine of a universal resurrection
as being so well proved that even his accusers had to admit
the truth, “that there shall be a resurrection of the dead,
both of the just and unjust.”[244] On another occasion he said
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive.”[245] Furthermore, John the Revelator testifies of his
vision concerning futurity, “And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God…. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the
dead which were in them.”[246] Thus it is plain that the effect
of the atonement, as far as it applies to the victory over
temporal or bodily death, involves the entire race. It is[89]
equally clear that the release from Adam’s legacy of spiritual
death, or banishment from the presence of God, will be
similarly universal; so that if any man lose salvation, such
loss will be due to himself, and in no way be dependent upon
the Fall. The doctrine that the gift of redemption through
Christ is free to all men, was specifically taught by the
apostles of old. Thus Paul says:—”Therefore, as by the
offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon
all men to the justification of life.”[247] And further:—there is
“one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
who gave himself a ransom for all.”[248] John spoke of the
Redeemer’s sacrifice, saying:—”And he is the propitiation
for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of
the whole world.”[249]

20. The same great truths were taught among the
Nephites. Benjamin, the righteous king, preached of
“the atonement which was prepared from the foundation
of the world for all mankind, which ever were ever since the
fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto
the end of the world.”[250] In revelation of the present day we
read of Christ’s having come into the world, to suffer and
to die, “That through him all might be saved whom the
Father had put into his power and made by him.”[251]

21. But besides this universal application of the atonement,
whereby all men are redeemed from the effects of
Adam’s transgression, both with respect to the death of the
body and the taint of inherited sin, there is a special
application of the same great sacrifice, as a means of
propitiation for individual sins, through the faith and good[90]
works of the sinner. This two-fold effect of the atonement
is implied in the article of our faith now under consideration.
The first effect is to secure to all mankind alike,
exemption from the otherwise terrible effects of the Fall,
thus providing a plan of General Salvation. The second
effect is to open a way for Individual Salvation whereby mankind
may secure forgiveness of personal sins. As these sins
are the result of individual acts, it is just that forgiveness
for them should be conditioned on individual compliance
with prescribed requirements,—”obedience to the laws and
ordinances of the gospel.”

22. The General Effect of the Atonement, so far as it applies
to all who have arrived at years of accountability and
judgment, has been made sufficiently clear perhaps from
the scriptures already quoted. Its application to children
may properly receive our further attention. The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches as a doctrine
founded on reason, justice, and scripture, that all children
are innocent in the sight of God, and that, until they reach
an age of personal responsibility, baptism is not requisite or
proper in their behalf; that, in short, they are saved through
the atonement of Christ. To a degree, children are born
heirs to the good or evil natures of their parents; the effects
of heredity in determining character are readily recognized.
Good and evil tendencies, blessings and curses, are transmitted
from generation to generation. Through this
divinely appointed order, the justice of which is plain in
the revealed light of knowledge concerning the pre-existent
state of the spirits of mankind, the children of Adam are
natural heirs to the calamities of mortality; but through
Christ’s atonement they are all redeemed from the curses of
this fallen state; the debt, which comes to them as a legacy,
is paid for them, and thus are they left free. Children who
die free of sin are entirely innocent in the eyes of God, even[91]
though they be the offspring of transgressors. We read in
the Book of Mormon:—”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…. 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 that have no
law.”[252]

23. The prophet Mormon writing to his son Moroni
expressed in the following manner his conviction of children’s
innocence:—”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…. 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.
But little children are alive in Christ even from the foundation
of the world.”[253]

24. And in a revelation through the prophet Joseph
Smith in this dispensation, the Lord has said:—”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[92]
Satan to tempt little children until they begin to become
accountable before me.”[254] President John Taylor, after
citing instances of Christ’s affection for little children, and
proofs of the innocent condition in which they are regarded
in heaven, says:—”Without Adam’s transgression, those
children could not have existed; through the atonement
they are placed in a state of salvation without any act of
their own. These would embrace, according to the opinion
of statisticians, more than one half of the human family,
who can attribute their salvation only to the mediation and
atonement of the Savior.”[255]

25. The Special or Individual Effect of the Atonement
makes it possible for any and every soul to obtain absolution
from the dread effect of personal sins, through the
mediation of Christ; but such saving intercession is to be
invoked by individual effort as manifested through faith,
repentance, and continued works of righteousness. The
laws under which individual salvation is obtainable have
been prescribed by Christ, whose right it is to say how the
blessings of His own sacrifice shall be administered. All
men are in need of the Savior’s mediation, for all are transgressors.
So taught the apostles of old:—”For all have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”[256] And again:—”If
we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us.”[257] Now, that the blessing of redemption
from individual sins, while free for all to attain, is
nevertheless conditioned on individual effort, is as plainly declared
as is the truth of unconditional redemption from
the effects of the Fall. There is a judgment ordained for
all, and all will be judged “according to their works.” The
free agency of man enables him to choose or reject, to follow[93]
the path of life, or the road that leads to destruction;
it is but just that he be held to answer for the exercise of
his freedom, and that he meet the results of his acts.

26. Hence the justice of the scriptural doctrine that
salvation comes to the individual only through obedience.
“He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
that obey him”[258] said Paul of the Christ. And further:—God
“will render to every man according to his deeds: To
them who, by patient continuance in well doing, seek for
glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: But unto
them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but
obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation
and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the
Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honor, and
peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first,
and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons
with God.”[259] To these may be added the words of the risen
Lord, “He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved;
and he that believeth not, shall be damned.”[260]

27. Consider further the prophecy of King Benjamin
proclaimed to the Nephite multitude:—Christ’s blood
“atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression
of Adam, who have died, not knowing the will of
God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. But
wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against
God; for salvation cometh to none such, except it be through
repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.”[261] But why
multiply scriptural citations when the whole tenor of sacred
writ supports the doctrine? Without Christ no man can be
saved, and the salvation provided at the cost of Christ’s
sufferings and bodily death is offered upon certain clearly[94]
defined conditions only; and these are summarized under
“obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.”

28. Salvation and Exaltation.—Some degree of salvation
will come to all who have not forfeited their right to it; exaltation
is given to those only who by active labors have won a
claim to God’s merciful liberality by which it is bestowed.
Of the saved, not all will be exalted to the higher glories;
rewards will not be bestowed in violation of justice; punishments
will not be meted out to the ignoring of mercy’s
claims. No one can be admitted to any order of glory, in
short, no soul can be saved until justice has been satisfied
for violated law. Our belief in the universal application of
the atonement implies no supposition that all mankind will
be saved with like endowments of glory and power. In the
kingdom of God there are numerous degrees or gradations
provided for those who are worthy of them; in the house of
our Father there are many mansions, into which only
those who are prepared are admitted. The old sectarian
idea, that in the hereafter there will be but two places for
the souls of mankind,—heaven and hell, with the same glory
in all parts of the one, and the same terrors throughout the
other,—is wholly untenable in the light of divine revelation.
Through the direct word of the Lord we learn of varied
degrees of glory.

29. Degrees of Glory.—The revelations of God have
defined the following principal kingdoms or degrees of
glory, as prepared through Christ for the children of men:

I. The Celestial Glory.[262]—There are some who have striven
to obey all the Divine commandments, who have accepted the
testimony of Christ, and received the Holy Spirit; these
are they who have overcome evil by godly works, and who
are therefore entitled to the highest glory; these belong to
the Church of the First Born, unto whom the Father has[95]
given all things; they are made Kings and Priests of the
Most High, after the order of Melchisedek; they possess
celestial bodies, “whose glory is that of the sun, even the
glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the
firmament is written of as being typical;” they indeed are
admitted to the celestial company, being crowned with the
celestial glory, which makes them Gods.

II. The Terrestrial Glory.[263]—We read of those who receive
glory of a secondary order, differing from the highest as “the
moon differs from the sun in the firmament;” these are they
who, though honorable, were still in darkness, blinded by the
craftiness of men, and unable to receive and obey the higher
laws of God, they proved “not valiant in the testimony of
Jesus,” and therefore are not entitled to the fulness of glory.

III. The Telestial Glory.—We learn of a still lower kind of
glory, differing from the higher orders as the stars differ
from the brighter orbs of the firmament; this is given to
those who received not the testimony of Christ, but who
still did not deny the Holy Spirit; who have led lives exempting
them from the heaviest punishment, yet whose
redemption will be delayed till the last resurrection. In the
telestial world there are innumerable degrees of glory,
comparable to the varying lustre of the stars.[264] Yet all who
receive of any one of these orders of glory are at last saved,
and upon them Satan will finally have no claim. Even the
telestial glory, as we are told by those who have been
permitted to gaze upon it, “surpasses all understanding;
and no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed
it.”[265] Then there are those who have lost all claim upon
the immediate mercy of God; whose deeds have numbered
them with Perdition and his angels.[266]

[96]

NOTES.

1. The Atonement Proved by Evidence.—”It is often asked: ‘How is it
that through the sacrifice of one who is innocent salvation may be purchased for those
under the dominion of death?’ We observe in passing that what should most concern
man is not so much how it is that such is the case, but is it a fact?… To
that question the blood sprinkled upon a thousand Jewish altars, and the smoke that
darkened the heavens for ages from burnt offerings, answer yes…. Even the
mythology of heathen nations retains the idea of an atonement that either has been, or is
to be made for mankind. Fantastic, distorted, 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 endeavored to prove that the
gospel plan of redemption was derived from heathen mythology. Whereas the fact is
that the gospel was understood and extensively preached in the earliest ages; men retained
in their tradition a knowledge of those principles or parts of them, and however
much they 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 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 revelations of God as given through
the Prophet Joseph Smith are replete with passages confirming this doctrine.”—Roberts’
Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, Section viii, 6.

2. Redemption from the Fall Universal and Unconditional.—”We
believe that through the sufferings, death, and atonement of Jesus Christ all mankind,
without one exception, are to be completely and fully redeemed, both body and spirit,
from the endless banishment and curse to which they were consigned by Adam’s transgression;
and that this universal salvation and redemption of the whole human family
from the endless penalty of the original sin, is effected without any conditions whatever
on their part; that is, they are not required to believe or repent, or be baptized, or
do anything else, in order to be redeemed from that penalty; for whether they believe
or disbelieve; whether they repent or remain impenitent, whether they are baptized or
unbaptized, whether they keep the commandments or break them, whether they are
righteous or unrighteous, it will make no difference in relation to their redemption, both
soul and body, from the penalty of Adam’s transgression. The most righteous man that
ever lived on the earth, and the most wicked wretch of the whole human family, were
both placed under the same curse without any transgression or agency of their own, and
they both alike will be redeemed from that curse, without any agency or conditions on
their part.”—Apostle Orson Pratt in Remarkable Visions.

3. Christ the Author of our Salvation.—President John Taylor speaks of
the death of Christ as an expiatory sacrifice, and adds:—”The Savior thus becomes
master of the situation,—the debt is paid, the redemption made, the covenant fulfilled,
justice satisfied, the will of God done, and all power is now given into the hands of the
Son of God,—the power of the resurrection, the power of the redemption, the power of
salvation, the power to enact laws for the carrying out and accomplishment of this
design…. The plan, the arrangement, the agreement, the covenant was made,
entered into and accepted, before the foundation of the world; it was prefigured by
sacrifices, and was carried out and consummated on the Cross. Hence, being the Mediator[97]
between God and man, He becomes by right the Dictator and Director on earth and in
heaven for the living and for the dead, for the past, the present, and the future, pertaining
to man as associated with this earth or the heavens, in time or eternity, the Captain
of our salvation, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, the Lord and Giver of
life.”—Mediation and Atonement, Pres. John Taylor, p. 171.

4. The Atonement Inaugurated by Christ.—”The Apostle Paul quite
comprehensively sums up the results of Christ’s death and resurrection: ‘But now is
Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For 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’ (I Cor. xv, 21-22). That is, death having
come on all men through the disobedience of Adam, so must all be raised to immortality
and eternal life through the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul also asserted that
‘the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death’ (verse 26). John the Revelator declares
that he saw death and hell cast into the lake of fire (Rev. xx, 14). The atonement, as
wrought out by Jesus Christ, further signifies that He has opened up the way for man’s
redemption from his own sins, through faith in Christ’s sufferings, death, and resurrection.
The Apostle Paul well expresses this: ‘For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of
God’ (Romans iii, 23-26). These passages evidence that redemption from death, through
the sufferings of Christ, is for all men, both the righteous and the wicked; for this
earth, and for all things created upon it. The whole tenor of the scriptures assures us
that, while they may be sure of resurrection from death, regardless of their personal acts,
yet they will be rewarded for their works, whether they be good or evil, and that redemption
from personal sins can only be obtained through obedience to the requirements
of the Gospel, and a life of good works. The transgression of Adam being infinite in its
consequences, those consequences cannot be averted, except through an infinite atonement.”—Compendium,
F. D. Richards & J. A. Little, pp. 8-9.

5. The Atonement Necessary.—”In the economy of God and the plan proposed
by the Almighty, it was provided that man was to be placed under a law apparently
simple in itself, yet the test of that law was fraught with the gravest consequences. The
observance of that law would secure eternal life, and the penalty for the violation of that
law was death…. If the law had not been broken, man would have lived;
but would man thus living have been capable of perpetuating his species, and of thus
fulfilling the designs of God in preparing tabernacles for the spirits which had been
created in the spirit world? And further, could they have had the need of a mediator,
who was to act as a propitiation for the violation of this law, which it would appear
from the circumstances was destined to be broken; or could the eternal increase and
perpetuity of man have been continued, and his high exaltation to the Godhead
been accomplished, without the propitiatory atonement and sacrifice of the Son of
God?”—Mediation and Atonement, Pres. John Taylor, pp. 128-129.

6. The Need of a Redeemer.—For special treatment of this topic see
“Jesus the Christ,” pp. 17-31.

[98]

LECTURE V.

FAITH AND REPENTANCE.

Article 4.—We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are
(1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Repentance; …

FAITH.

1. Nature of Faith.—The predominating sense in which
the term faith is used throughout the scriptures is that of
full confidence and trust in the being, purposes, and words
of God. Such trust, if it be implicit, will remove all doubt
concerning things accomplished or promised of God, even
though such things be not apparent to or explicable by the
ordinary senses of mortality; hence arises the definition of
faith given by Paul: “Now faith is the substance [i.e.
confidence, or assurance] of things hoped for, the evidence
[i.e. the demonstration or proof] of things not seen.”[267] It
is plain that such a feeling of trust may exist in different
persons in varying degrees; indeed, faith may manifest
itself from the incipient feeble state which is little more
than mere belief, scarcely free from hesitation and fear, to
the strength of abiding confidence that sets doubt and
sophistry at defiance.

2. Belief, Faith, and Knowledge, while intimately related
and ofttimes regarded as one, are in reality not identical.
The terms faith and belief are sometimes used as synonyms,
nevertheless each of them has a specific and definite meaning
in our language, although in early English there was virtually
no distinction between them, and therefore the words
are used interchangeably in the ancient scriptures. Belief
may consist in a merely intellectual assent, whilst faith implies[99]
such confidence and conviction as will impel to action.
Dictionary authority justifies us in drawing a distinction
between the two, according to present usage in English;
and this authority defines belief as a simple assent to the
truth or actuality of anything, excluding however the moral
element of responsibility through such assent, which is embraced
by faith. Belief is in a sense passive,—a mental
agreement or acceptance only; faith is active and positive,—such
a reliance and confidence as will lead to works. Faith
in Christ comprises belief in Him, combined with trust in
Him. One cannot have faith without belief; yet he may
believe and still lack faith. Faith is vivified, vitalized, living
belief.

3. Certainly there is a great difference in degree, even if
no essential distinction in kind be admitted between the
two. As shall be presently demonstrated, faith in the Godhead
is requisite to salvation; it is indeed a saving power,
leading its possessor in the paths of godliness; surely a mere
belief in the existence and attributes of Deity is no such
power. Mark the words of the Apostle James.[268] In his
general epistle to the Saints, he chided his brethren for
certain empty professions. Said he in effect:—You take
pride and satisfaction in declaring your belief in God; you
boast of being distinguished from the idolaters and the
heathen because you accept one God; you do well to so profess,
and so believe; but, remember, others do likewise;
even the devils believe; and so firmly that they tremble at
thought of the fate which that belief makes plain to them.—What,
do devils believe in Christ? Aye, their belief amounts
to certain knowledge, as to who He is, and as to what constitutes
His part, past, present, and to come, in the Divine
plan of human existence and salvation. Call to mind the
case of the man possessed by evil spirits, in the land of the[100]
Gadarenes; a man so grievously tormented as to be a terror
to all who came near him; he could be neither tamed nor
bound; people were afraid to approach him; yet when he
saw Christ, he ran to Him and worshiped, and the wicked
spirit within him begged for mercy at the hands of that
Righteous One, calling Him “Jesus, Son of the Most High
God.”[269] Again, an unclean spirit in the synagogue at Jerusalem
implored Christ not to use His power, crying in fear
and agony, “I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One of
God.”[270] And then, we are told that Christ was once followed
by a multitude made up of people from Idumæa and Jerusalem,
from Tyre and Sidon; among them were many who were
possessed of evil spirits, and these, when they saw Him, fell
down in the attitude of worship, exclaiming: “Thou art
the Son of God.”[271] Was there ever mortal believer who
confessed more unreservedly a knowledge of God and His
Son Jesus Christ than did these same followers of Satan?
The evil one knows God and Christ; remembers, perchance,
somewhat concerning the position which he once occupied
as a Son of the Morning[272]; yet with all such knowledge he is
Satan still. Neither belief nor its superior,—actual knowledge,—is
efficient to save; for neither of these is faith.
Belief may be a product of the mind, faith is of the heart;
belief is founded on reason; faith largely on intuition.

4. We frequently hear it said that faith is imperfect
knowledge; that the first disappears as the second takes its
place; that now we walk by faith but some day we will walk
by the sure light of knowledge. In a sense this is true;
yet it must be remembered that knowledge may be as dead
and unproductive in good works as is faithless belief. Those
confessions of the devils, that Christ was the Son of God,[101]
were founded on knowledge; yet the great truth which they
knew did not change their evil natures. How different was
their acknowledgment of the Savior from that of Peter,
who, to the Master’s question “Whom say ye that I am?”
replied in practically the words used by the unclean spirits
before cited, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God.”[273] Peter’s faith had already shown its vital power; it
had caused him to forsake much that had been dear, to
follow his Lord through persecution and suffering, and to
put away worldliness with all its fascinations, for the sacrificing
godliness which his faith made so desirable. His
knowledge of God as the Father, and of the Son as the
Redeemer, was perhaps no greater than that of the unclean
spirits; but while to them that knowledge was but an added
cause of condemnation, to him it was a means of salvation.

5. The mere possession of knowledge gives no assurance
of benefit therefrom. An illustration may perhaps be here
allowed. During an epidemic of cholera in a large city, a
scientific man proved to his own satisfaction, by chemical
and microscopical tests, that the water supply was infected,
and that through it contagion was being spread. He proclaimed
the great truth throughout the city, and warned all
against the use of unboiled water. Many of the people,
although incapable of comprehending his methods of investigation,
far less of repeating such for themselves, had faith
in his warning words, followed his instructions, and escaped
the death to which their careless and unbelieving fellows
succumbed. Their faith was a saving one. To the man
himself, the truth by which so many lives had been spared
was a matter of knowledge. He had actually seen, under
the microscope, the death-dealing germs in the water; he
had tested their virulence; he knew of what he spoke.
Nevertheless, in a moment of forgetfulness he drank of the[102]
unpurified water, and soon thereafter died a victim to the
plague. His knowledge did not save him, complete though
it was; yet others, whose reliance was only that of faith in
the truth which he declared, escaped the threatening destruction.
Truly he had knowledge; but, was he wise?
Knowledge is to wisdom what belief is to faith; one an
abstract principle, the other a living application. Not possession
merely, but the proper use of knowledge constitutes
wisdom. Of belief compared with faith it may be said, as
it has been taught of knowledge and wisdom:—

6. The Foundation of Faith.—In a theological sense, we
understand by faith as already outlined, a living, inspiring
confidence in God, and an acceptance of His will as our
law, and of His words as our guide, in life. Faith in God
is possible only as we come to know, or at least to believe,
that He exists, and moreover, that He is a Being of worthy
character and attributes. The grounds upon which man
founds his belief or knowledge respecting the existence of
God, have been examined in a previous lecture;[274] some of
the Divine attributes, as made known through God’s dealings
with mankind, have been likewise specified. A restatement
of the principal facts relating to the character of
the Supreme Being may be in place here, inasmuch as some
knowledge concerning the attributes of Deity is essential to
the exercise of faith in Him. Let us adopt the summary of
facts as set forth by the prophet, Joseph Smith; he
presents, on the testimony of scripture, the following statements
respecting the character of God.

[103]

“(1.) That He was God before the world was created,
and the same God that He was after it was created.

“(2.) That He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger,
abundant in goodness, and that He was so from everlasting,
and will be to everlasting.

“(3.) That He changes not, neither is there variableness
with Him; but that He is the same from everlasting to
everlasting, being the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever;
and that His course is one eternal round, without variation.

“(4.) That He is a God of truth and cannot lie.

“(5.) That He is no respecter of persons; but in every
nation he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted
of Him.

“(6.) That He is love.”[275]

7. A knowledge of these comprehensive features of the
Divine nature will enable one to exercise rational and intelligent
faith in God. And upon such knowledge of God’s
existence, the worthiness of His character, and the perfection
of His attributes, is man’s faith in Him established.
Faith then cannot be exercised in the absence of all
knowledge; yet even the benighted heathen show some of the
fruits of faith; but they have at least the conviction that
arises from man’s natural intuition regarding a supreme
power, which has been described as a common heritage of
humanity. In every human soul, even in that of the
savage, there is some basis for faith, however limited and
imperfect the darkness of heredity or of wilful sin may have
made it. Every child of God is born with the capacity for
faith inherent within his own nature; and all yearn in some
degree for the strength and aid which only faith can give.
We shall yet learn:—

[104]

The heathen’s faith may be imperfect and weak, for his
ability to recognize the evidence upon which belief in God
depends may be small. While the first promptings of faith
toward God may be the result of natural intuition,—a faint
echo of the songs of praise which were so common during
the state of primeval childhood,—the later development will
be largely the result of unprejudiced and prayerful investigation
and search for truth.

8. From trustworthy evidence, rightly interpreted, true
faith will spring; from false evidence, only distorted and
misplaced faith can arise.[277] Our conclusions concerning any
question under test will be governed largely by the number
and credibility of the witnesses, if it so be that we cannot
investigate the alleged facts for ourselves; and in either
case, by the amount and quality of the evidence obtainable.
Now, however improbable a declaration may appear to us, if
the truth of it be affirmed by witnesses in whom we have
confidence, we are led to admit the statement, at least provisionally,
as true. If many credible witnesses testify, and
moreover, if collateral evidence suggest itself through facts
in our possession, we may consider the statement as proved;
although we would be unable to affirm the truth of it on
the strength of our personal knowledge, until we had seen
and heard for ourselves, until in fact each of us had become
a competent witness through personal observation. To[105]
illustrate: of the citizens of this country but a comparative
few perhaps have visited the seat of government; the masses
know nothing by actual observation of the Capitol, the
executive mansion, and other buildings of national interest
and importance; very few have personally met the President
who resides there. How does any one of the multitudes
who have not seen for themselves, know of the city of Washington,
of the Capitol, and of the President? Solely through
the testimony of others. He may have among his acquaintances
one or many who have been in the capital of our
country and whose statements he accepts as true; assuredly
he has heard or read of those who do know for themselves.
Then he hears of laws being framed there, and of
edicts issuing from the nation’s headquarters; his studies
in school, his use of maps and books, and many other incidents
add to the evidence which soon becomes decisive.
His inferences multiply, and develop into a positive conviction.
He acquires a faith in the existence of a center of
national government, and a regard for the laws which
emanate therefrom.

9. Let us take another illustration: Astronomers tell us
that the earth is of a kind with certain of the stars; that it
is one of a family of planets which revolve about the sun in
concentric orbits; and that some of those planets are many
times the size of our globe. We may not be skilled in
astronomers’ methods of observation and calculation, and
may therefore be unable to test the truth of these statements
for ourselves; but we find such a mass of evidence resulting
from the united testimony of those in whose skill as scientific
workers we have confidence, that the conclusions are
accepted by us as fully proved.

10. So too concerning the existence, authority, and attributes
of God, the testimonies of many holy men in ancient
and modern times,—prophets whose credibility is established[106]
by the fulfillment of their predictions,—have come to us in
united declaration of the solemn truths, and nature furnishes
corroborative testimony on every side. To reject without
disproving such evidence is to ignore the most approved
methods of investigation and research known to man. The
development of faith from evidence is illustrated in the
scenes of a certain memorable Pentecost celebration, on
which occasion thousands of Jews, imbued with a preconceived
prejudice that Jesus was an impostor, heard the
apostles’ testimonies, and witnessed the attendant signs:
three thousand of them were convinced of the truth and
became followers of the Son of God, their prejudice giving
place to belief, and their belief developing into faith with
its accompanying works.[278] The foundation of faith in God
then is a sincere belief in or knowledge of Him, as sustained
by evidence and testimony, tested and proved by
earnest, prayerful search.

11. Faith a Principle of Power.—In its widest sense,
faith,—the assurance of things for which we hope, and the
evidence of things not discernible through our senses,—is the
motive principle that impels men to resolve and to act.
Without its exercise, we would make no exertion the results
of which are future: without faith that he may gather in
the autumn, man would not plant in the spring; neither
would he essay to build, did he not have confidence that he
would finish the structure and enjoy its use; had the student
no faith in the possibility of successfully following his
studies, he would not enter upon his courses. Faith thus
becomes to us the foundation of hope, from which spring
all our aspirations, ambitions, and confidences for the future.
Remove man’s faith in the possibility of any desired success,
and you rob him of the incentive to strive. He would not
stretch forth his hand to seize did he not believe in the possibility[107]
of securing that for which he reaches. This principle
becomes therefore the impelling force by which men struggle
for excellence, oftentimes enduring vicissitudes and suffering
that they may achieve their purposes. Faith is the secret of
ambition, the soul of heroism, the motive power of all effort.

12. The exercise of faith is pleasing unto God, and
thereby His interposition may be secured. It was through
faith that the Israelites in their exodus from Egypt followed
their dauntless leader into the bed of the sea; and through
the protecting agencies of God, which that faith drew forth,
they were saved, while the Egyptians met destruction in
attempting to follow.[279] With full confidence in the instructions
and promises of God, Joshua and his intrepid
followers laid siege to Jericho; and the walls of that city of
sin fell before the faith of the besiegers without the use of
battering rams, or other engines of war.[280] By the same
power Joshua gained the assistance of the luminaries of
heaven, in his work of victory over the Amorites.[281] Paul
cites[282] us also to the instances of Gideon,[283] Barak,[284] Samson,[285]
Jephthah,[286] David,[287] Samuel,[288] and the prophets, “who,
through faith, 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.” It was by faith that Alma
and Amulek were delivered from captivity, while the prison
walls which had previously held them were rent and demolished.[108][289]
By faith, Nephi and Lehi[290] the sons of Helaman were
protected from their Lamanite foes, even by fire, though they
were not burned; and a still greater work was wrought in
the hearts of their persecutors, for they became enlightened,
and accepted the testimony of truth. Through the operation
of faith even the waves of the sea may be subdued,[291]
trees are subject to the voice of Him who commands by
faith;[292] mountains may be removed for the accomplishment
of righteous purposes,[293] the sick may be healed,[294] evil spirits
may be cast out,[295] and the dead may be raised to life.[296] All
things are wrought through faith.[297]

13. But, it may be argued that faith of itself is not a
source of power; that its effect is due to an external interposition
of Divine aid, which faith merely secured; and the
skeptic may add that an omniscient God, if truly loving and
kind, would act independently and give without waiting to
be invoked through faith or prayer. A sufficient answer is
found in the abundant proof furnished by the scriptures,
that the Almighty operates in accordance with law; and that
arbitrary and capricious action is foreign to His nature.
However the laws of heaven may have been formulated, the
application of their beneficent provisions to humanity is
dependent on the faith and obedience of the mortal subjects.
Consider the defeat of Israel by the men of Ai; a law of
righteousness had been violated, and things that were
accursed had been introduced into the camp of God’s people[109]
this transgression stopped the current of Divine help, and
until the people had sanctified themselves, the power was
not renewed unto them.[298] Christ was influenced, and to some
extent controlled in His miracles among men by the faith
or lack of faith of the people. The common benediction,
“Thy faith hath made thee whole,” with which He announced
the healing interposition, is evidence of the fact.
Then we learn that in His own country He could do no
mighty work, being restrained by the unbelief of the people.[299]

14. A Condition of Living Faith.—A condition essential
to the exercise of a living, growing, sustaining faith in
Deity, is the consciousness on man’s part that he is at least
endeavoring to live in accordance with the laws of God as he
has learned them. A knowledge that he is wilfully and
wantonly sinning against the truth will deprive him of sincerity
in prayer and faith, and will surely estrange him from
his Father. He must feel that the trend of his life’s course is
acceptable to God, that with due allowance for mortal weakness
and human frailty he is in some measure approved of
the Lord, or he can never approach the throne of grace with
confidence. The consciousness of earnest effort toward
godly walk and conduct is a power of itself, strengthening
its possessor in sacrifice and under persecution, and sustaining
him in all good works. It was this knowledge of assured
communion with God that enabled the saints of olden time
to endure as they did, though their sufferings were appalling.
Of them we read that some “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 sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins;[110]
being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the
world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”[300] As in
former days so in the present, the saints have been sustained
through all their sufferings by the sure knowledge of Divine
approval; and the faith of righteous men has ever grown
through a consciousness of their good endeavors.

15. Faith Essential to Salvation.—Inasmuch as salvation
is attainable only through the mediation and atonement
of Christ, and since this is made applicable to individual
sin only in the cases of those who obey the laws of
righteousness, faith in Jesus Christ is indispensable to salvation.
But no one can believe in Jesus Christ, and at the
same time doubt the existence and authority of either the
Father or the Holy Ghost; therefore faith in the entire
Godhead is essential to salvation. Paul declares that without
faith it is impossible to please God, “for he that cometh
to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him.”[301] The scriptures abound
in assurances of salvation to those who exercise faith in God,
and obey the requirements which that faith makes plain.
Christ’s words on the matter are conclusive, “He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned;”[302] and again, “He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”[303]
And similar doctrines did His apostles teach after His death
all the days of their ministry.[304] A natural result of implicit[111]
faith in the Godhead will be a growing confidence in the
scriptures as containing the word of God, and in the words
and works of His authorized servants, who speak as the
living oracles of heaven.

16. Faith a Gift of God.—Though within the reach of
all who diligently strive to gain it, faith is nevertheless a
Divine gift, and can be obtained only from God.[305] As is
fitting for so priceless a pearl, it is given to those only who
show by their sincerity that they are worthy of it, and who
give promise of abiding by its dictates. Although faith is
called the first principle of the gospel of Christ, though it
be in fact the foundation of all religion, yet even faith is
preceded by sincerity of disposition and humility of soul,
whereby the word of God may make an impression upon the
heart.[306] No compulsion is used in bringing men to a knowledge
of God; yet, as fast as we open our hearts to the influences
of righteousness, the faith that leads to life eternal
will be given us of our Father.

17. Faith and Works.—Faith in a passive sense, that is,
as mere belief, is inefficient as a means of salvation. This
truth was clearly set forth both by Christ and the apostles,
and the vigor with which it was declared may be an indication
of the early development of a most pernicious doctrine,—that
of justification by belief alone. The Savior
taught that works were essential to the validity of profession
and the efficacy of faith. Mark his words:—”Not every one
that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.”[307] “He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that
loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and[112]
will manifest myself to him.”[308] The instructions of the Apostle
James are particularly explicit:—”What doth it profit, my
brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?
can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute
of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in
peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give
them not those things which are needful to the body; what
doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead,
being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I
have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I
will shew thee my faith by my works.”[309] And to this may
be added the words of John:—”And hereby we do know that
we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that
saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is
a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his
word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby
know we that we are in him.”[310]

18. To these teachings may be added many inspired utterances
from Nephite scriptures[311] and from modern revelation,[312]
all affirming the necessity of works, and denying the
saving efficacy of mere belief. Yet in spite of the plain
word of God, sectarian dogmas have been promulgated to the
effect that by faith alone man may achieve salvation, and
that a mere profession of belief shall open the doors of
heaven to the sinner.[313] The scriptures cited and man’s
inherent sense of justice furnish a sufficient refutation of
these false teachings.

[113]

REPENTANCE.

19. Nature of Repentance.—The term repentance is used
in the scriptures with several different meanings, but, as
representing the duty required of all who would obtain forgiveness
for transgression, it indicates a godly sorrow for sin,
producing a reformation of life, and embodies (1) a conviction
of guilt; (2) a desire to escape the hurtful effects of
sin; and (3) an earnest determination to forsake sin and to
accomplish good. Repentance is a result of contrition of
soul, which springs from a deep sense of humility, and this
in turn is dependent upon the exercise of an abiding faith
in God. Repentance therefore properly ranks as the second
principle of the gospel, closely associated with and immediately
following faith. As soon as one has come to recognize
the existence and authority of God, he feels a respect for
Divine laws, and a conviction of his own unworthiness. His
wish to please the Father, whom he has so long neglected,
will impel him to forsake sin; and this impulse will acquire
added strength from the sinner’s natural and commendable
desire to escape, if possible, the dire results of his own waywardness.
With the zeal inspired by fresh conviction, he
will crave an opportunity of showing by good works the sincerity
of his newly developed faith; and he will regard the
remission of his sins as the most desirable of blessings.
Then he will learn that this gift of mercy is granted on certain
specific conditions only.[314] The first step toward the
blessed state of forgiveness consists in the sinner confessing
his sins; the second, in his forgiving others who have sinned
against him; and the third in his showing his acceptance of
Christ’s atoning sacrifice by obeying the Divine requirements.

20. (1.) Confession of Sins is essential, for without it repentance[114]
is incomplete. The Apostle John tells us, “If we
say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”[315]
We read also, “He that covereth his sins shall not
prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall
have mercy.”[316] And unto the Saints in this dispensation the
Lord has said, “Verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, forgive
sins unto those who confess their sins before me and ask
forgiveness, who have not sinned unto death.”[317] And that
this act of confession is included in repentance is shown by
the Lord’s words: “By this ye may know if a man repenteth
of his sins: Behold he will confess them and forsake
them.”[318]

21. (2.) The Sinner Must be Willing to Forgive Others, if
he hopes to obtain forgiveness. Surely his repentance is but
superficial if his heart be not softened to the degree of
tolerance for the weaknesses of his fellows. In teaching
His hearers how to pray, the Savior instructed them to
supplicate the Father: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors.”[319] He led them not to hope for forgiveness
if in their hearts they forgave not one another:
“For,” said He, “if ye forgive men their trespasses, your
Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses.”[320] And forgiveness between man and man,
to be acceptable before the Lord, must be unbounded. In
answering Peter’s question, “Lord, how oft shall my brother
sin against me, and I forgive him—till seven times?” the[115]
Master said, “I say not unto thee, until seven times; but
until seventy times seven;” clearly intending to teach that
man must ever be ready to forgive. On another occasion
He taught the disciples, saying, “If thy brother trespass
against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him.
And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and
seven times in a day turn again to thee saying, I repent,
thou shalt forgive him.”[321]

22. Illustrating further the Divine purpose to mete unto
men the measure they mete unto their fellows,[322] the Savior
put forth to His disciples a parable of a king, to whom one
of his subjects owed an enormous sum of money, ten thousand
talents; but when the debtor humbled himself and
pleaded for mercy, the compassionate heart of the king was
moved and he forgave his servant the debt. But the same
servant, going out from the presence of the king, met a fellow-servant
who was indebted to him in a paltry sum; forgetting
the mercy so recently shown unto himself, he seized his
fellow-servant and cast him into prison till he would pay the
debt. Then the king, hearing of this, sent for the wicked
servant, and, denouncing him for his lack of gratitude and
consideration, handed him over to the tormentors.[323] The
Lord will not listen to petitions nor accept an offering from
one who has bitterness in his heart toward others; “First
be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy
gift.”[324] In His revealed word to the Saints in this day, the
Lord has placed particular stress upon this necessary condition:
“Wherefore I say unto you that ye ought to forgive
one another, for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses,
standeth condemned before the Lord, for there remaineth[116]
in him the greater sin;”[325] and to remove all doubt
as to the proper subjects for human forgiveness, it is added:—”I,
the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you
it is required to forgive all men.”

23. (3.) Confidence in Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice constitutes
the third essential condition in obtaining remission of
sins. The name of Christ is the only name under heaven
whereby men may be saved;[326] and we are taught to offer our
petitions to the Father in the name of His Son. Adam
received this instruction from the mouth of an angel,[327] and
the Savior personally instructed the Nephites to the same
effect.[328] But no person can truthfully profess faith in
Christ, and refuse to obey His commandments; therefore
obedience is essential to remission of sin; and the repentant
sinner will eagerly seek to learn what is further required of
him.

24. Repentance, to be worthy of its name, must comprise
something more than a mere self-acknowledgment of error;
it does not consist in lamentations and wordy confessions,
but in the heart-felt recognition of guilt, which carries with
it a horror for sin, and a resolute determination to make
amends for the past and to do better in the future. If such
a conviction be genuine, it is marked by that godly sorrow
which, as Paul has said, “worketh repentance to salvation,
not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh
death.”[329] Apostle Orson Pratt has wisely said:—”It would
be of no use for a sinner to confess his sins to God, unless
he were determined to forsake them; it would be of no
benefit to him to feel sorry that he had done wrong, unless
he intended to do wrong no more; it would be folly for him[117]
to confess before God that he had injured his fellow-man,
unless he were determined to do all in his power to make restitution.
Repentance, then, is not only a confession of sins,
with a sorrowful, contrite heart, but a fixed, settled purpose
to refrain from every evil way.”

25. Repentance Essential to Salvation.—This evidence of
sincerity, this beginning of a better life, is required of
every candidate for salvation. In the obtaining of Divine
mercy, repentance is as indispensable as faith, it must be as
extensive as sin. Where can we find an absolutely sinless
mortal? Sagely did the Preacher of old declare “There is
not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth
not.”[330] Who, therefore, has no need of forgiveness? who is
exempt from the requirements of repentance? God has
promised forgiveness unto those who truly repent before
Him, it is unto such that the advantages of individual
salvation, through the atonement of Christ, are extended.
Isaiah thus admonishes to repentance, with assuring promises
of forgiveness: “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,
call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let
him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon
him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”[331]

26. The burden of inspired teachers in every age has
been the call to repentance. To this effect was heard the
voice of John crying in the wilderness, “Repent ye, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.”[332] And the Savior followed
with “Repent ye and believe the gospel,”[333] for “Except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”[334] So too proclaimed the[118]
apostles of old, that God “commandeth all men everywhere
to repent.”[335] And in the present dispensation has come the
word, “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.”[336]

27. Repentance, a Gift from God.—Repentance is a means
of pardon, and is therefore one of God’s great gifts to man.
It is not to be had for the careless asking; it may not be
found upon the highway, it is not of earth, but a treasure
of heaven, and is given with care, yet with boundless liberality
unto those who have brought forth works that warrant
its bestowal.[337] That is to say, all who prepare themselves
for repentance will, by the humbling and softening influence
of the Holy Spirit, be led to the actual possession of
this great gift. When Peter was charged by his fellow-worshipers
with a breach of law in that he had associated
with Gentiles, he told his hearers of the Divine manifestations
he had so recently received; they believed and declared
“Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance
unto life.”[338] Paul also, in writing to the Romans,
teaches that repentance comes through the goodness of
God.[339]

28. Repentance not always Possible.—The gift of repentance
is extended to men as they humble themselves
before the Lord, it is the testimony of the Spirit in their
hearts; if they hearken not unto the monitor it will again
leave them, for the Spirit of God strives not ever with man.[340]
Repentance becomes more difficult as the sin is more wilful;
it is by humility and contrition of the heart that sinners[119]
may increase their faith in God, and so obtain from Him
the priceless gift of repentance. As the time of repentance
is procrastinated, the ability to repent grows weaker;
neglect of opportunity in holy things brings a forfeit of the
chance. In giving commandment to Joseph Smith, in the
early days of the present Church, the Lord said, “For I
the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of
allowance; nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments
of the Lord shall be forgiven, and he that
repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which
he has received, for my Spirit shall not always strive with
man saith the Lord of Hosts.”[341]

29. Repentance Here and Hereafter.—The Nephite
prophet, Alma, described the period of earthly existence as
a probationary state, granted unto man for repentance;[342] yet
we learn from the scriptures that repentance may be
obtained, under certain conditions, beyond the vail of
mortality. Between the times of His death and resurrection,
Christ “preached unto the spirits in prison, which
sometime were disobedient when once the long suffering of
God waited in the days of Noah;”[343] these the Son visited,
and unto them He preached the Gospel, “that they might
be judged according to men in the flesh, who received not
the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received
it.”[344]

30. Yet no soul is justified in postponing his efforts to
repent because of this assurance of God’s long-suffering and
mercy. We know not on what terms repentance will be
obtainable in the hereafter, but it is unreasonable to suppose
that the soul who has wilfully rejected the opportunity
of repentance in this life will find it easy to repent there.[120]
To procrastinate[345] the day of repentance is to deliberately
place ourselves in the power of the adversary. As Amulek
taught and admonished the multitude of old: “For behold
this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God, …
therefore I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the
day of your repentance unto the end…. Ye cannot
say when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will
repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say
this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at
the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will
have power to possess your body in that eternal world. For
behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance,
even until death, behold ye have become subjected to the
spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his.”[346]

NOTES.

1. Example of False Faith.—”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 questions 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 statement,
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.”—Orson Pratt.

2. The Sectarian Dogma of Justification by Faith alone has exercised
an influence for evil since the early days of Christianity. The idea upon which this pernicious
doctrine was founded was at first associated with that of an absolute predestination,
by which man was fore-doomed to destruction, or to an utterly undeserved salvation.
Thus, Luther taught as follows:—”The excellent, infallible, and sole preparation for
grace is the eternal election and predestination of God.” “Since the fall of man, free-will
is but an idle word.” “A man who imagines to arrive at grace by doing all that[121]
he is able to do, adds sin to sin, and is doubly guilty.” “That man is not justified who
performs many works; but he who without works has much faith in Christ.” (For these
and other doctrines of the so-called “Reformation,” see D’Aubigné’s History of the
Reformation, vol. i, pp. 82, 83, 119, 122.) In Miller’s Church History (vol. iv, p. 514) we
read: “The point which the reformer [Luther] had most at heart in all his labors,
contests, and dangers, was the justification by faith alone.” Melanchthon voices
the doctrine of Luther in these words: “Man’s justification before God proceeds
from faith alone. This faith enters man’s heart by the grace of God alone;” and
further, “As all things which happen, happen necessarily according to the divine
predestination, there is no such thing as liberty in our wills” (D’Aubigné, vol.
iii, p. 340). It is true that Luther strongly denounced, and vehemently disclaimed
responsibility for, the excesses to which this teaching gave rise, yet he was not less
vigorous in proclaiming the doctrine. Note his words:—”I, Doctor Martin Luther,
unworthy herald of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, confess this article, that faith
alone without works justifies before God; and I declare that it shall stand and remain
forever in despite of the emperor of the Romans, the emperor of the Turks, the emperor
of the Persians,—in spite of the pope and all the cardinals, with the bishops, priests,
monks, and nuns,—in spite of kings, princes, and nobles, and in spite of all the world
and of the devils themselves; and that if they endeavor to fight against this truth they
will draw the fires of hell upon their heads. This is the true and holy gospel, and the
declaration of me, Doctor Luther, according to the teachings of the Holy Ghost”
(D’Aubigné, vol. i, p. 70).

Fletcher (End of Religious Controversy, p. 90) illustrates the vicious extreme to which
this evil doctrine led, by accusing one of its adherents with having said, “Even
adultery and murder do not hurt the pleasant children, but rather work for their good.
God sees no sin in believers, whatever sin they may commit…. It is a most
pernicious error of the schoolmen to distinguish sins according to the fact, and not
according to the person. Though I blame those who say, let us sin that grace may
abound, yet adultery, incest, and murder, shall upon the whole, make me holier on earth,
and merrier in heaven.”

A summary of the mediæval controversy regarding the means of grace, including the
doctrines of Luther and others, is presented in Roberts’ Outlines of Ecclesiastical History,
part iii, section ii, to which the student is referred. The quotations given above are
incorporated therein.

3. Forgiveness not always Immediate.—”On account of the magnitude of
sins committed, repentance is not always followed by forgiveness and restoration. For
instance, when Peter was preaching to the Jews, who had slain Jesus and taken His
blood on themselves and their children, he did not say, repent and be baptized for the
remission of sins; but, ‘Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and
[when] He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the
heaven must receive until the times of the restitution of all things’ (Acts iii, 19-21).
That is, repent now, and believe in Jesus Christ, that you may be forgiven when He
whom you have slain shall come again in the days of the restitution of all things; and
prescribe to you the terms on which you may be saved.”—Compendium, p. 28.

[122]

LECTURE VI.

BAPTISM.

Article 4.—We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel
are:—… (3) Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; …

1. Nature of Baptism.—Among the Latter-day Saints,
water baptism ranks as the third principle, and the first
essential ordinance, of the gospel. Baptism is the gateway
leading into the fold of Christ, the portal to the Church,
the established rite of naturalization in the kingdom of
God. The candidate for admission into the Church and
kingdom, having obtained and professed faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and having sincerely repented of his sins, is
properly required to give evidence of this spiritual sanctification
by some outward ordinance, prescribed by authority as
the sign or symbol of the new profession. The initiatory
ordinance is baptism by water, to be followed by the higher
baptism of the Holy Spirit; and, as a result of this act of
obedience, remission of sins is granted.

2. How simple are the means thus ordained for admission
into the fold; they are within the reach of the poorest and
weakest, as also of the rich and powerful! What symbol
more expressive of a cleansing from sin could be given, than
that of baptism in water? Baptism is made a sign of the
covenant entered into between the repentant sinner and his
Maker, that thereafter he will seek to observe the Divine
commands. Concerning this fact, the Prophet Alma thus
admonished and instructed the people of Gideon:—”Yea, I
say unto you, come and fear not, and lay aside every sin,
which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to
destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your[123]
God that ye are willing to repent of your sins, and enter
into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and
witness it unto him this day, by going into the waters of
baptism.”[347]

3. The humbled sinner, convicted of his transgression,
through the bestowal of God’s good gifts of faith and
repentance, will hail most joyfully any means of cleansing
himself from pollution, now so repulsive in his eyes; all
such will cry out as did the stricken Jewish multitude at
Pentecost, “What shall we do?” Unto such comes the
answering voice of the Spirit, through the medium of
scripture, or by the mouths of the Lord’s appointed servants,
“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.”[348] Springing
forth as a result of contrition of soul, baptism has been very
appropriately called the first fruits of repentance.[349]

4. The Establishment of Baptism dates from the time of
the earliest history of the race. When the Lord manifested
Himself to Adam after the expulsion from the Garden of
Eden, He promised the patriarch of the race, “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, who is full
of grace and truth, 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, asking all things in His name, and whatsoever
ye shall ask, it shall be given you…. 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[124]
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.”[350] Enoch
preached the doctrine of repentance and baptism, and did
baptize the people, and as many as accepted these teachings
and submitted to the requirements of the gospel, became
sanctified and holy in the sight of God.

5. The Special Purpose of Baptism is to afford admission
to the Church of Christ with remission of sins. What need
of more words to prove the worth of this divinely appointed
ordinance? What gift could be offered the human
race greater than a ready means of obtaining forgiveness for
transgression? Justice forbids the granting of universal
and unconditional pardon for sins committed, except through
obedience to ordained law; but means simple and effective
are provided, whereby the penitent sinner may enter into a
covenant with God, sealing that covenant with the sign that
commands recognition in heaven, that he will submit himself
to the laws of God; thus he places himself within the
reach of Mercy, under whose protecting influence he may
win eternal life.

6. Biblical Proofs, that baptism is designed as a means
of securing to man a remission of his sins, are abundant.
John the Baptist was the special preacher of this doctrine
in the days immediately preceding the Savior’s ministry in
the flesh; and the voice of this priest of the desert stirred
Jerusalem and reverberated through all Judæa, proclaiming
remission of sins as the fruits of acceptable baptism.[351]

7. Saul of Tarsus, a zealous persecutor of the followers
of Christ, while journeying to Damascus, intent on a further
exercise of his ill-directed zeal, received a special manifestation[125]
of the power of God, and was converted with signs and
wonders. He heard and answered the voice of Christ, and
thus became a special witness of his Lord. Yet even this
unusual demonstration of Divine favor was insufficient.
Blinded through the glory that had been manifested unto
him, humbled and earnest, awakening to the terrible fact
that he had been persecuting his Redeemer, he exclaimed in
anguish of soul, “What shall I do, Lord?” He was directed
to go to Damascus, there to learn more of God’s will concerning
him. Gladly did he receive the Lord’s messenger,
devout Ananias, who ministered unto him so that he regained
his sight, and then taught him baptism as a means
of obtaining forgiveness.[352]

8. And Saul, known now as Paul, thereafter a preacher
of righteousness, and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ,
taught to others the same great saving principle, that by
baptism in water comes regeneration from sin.[353] In forceful
language, and attended with special evidences of Divine
power, Peter declared the same doctrine to the penitent
multitude. Overcome with grief at the recital of what
they had done to the Son of God, they cried out “Men and
brethren, what shall we do?” Promptly came the answer,
with apostolic authority, “Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins.”[354]

9. Book of Mormon prophets gave the same testimony to
the western fold of Christ. To this effect were the words
of Nephi, the son of Lehi, addressed to his brethren:—”For
the gate by which ye should enter, is repentance, and
baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your
sins by fire, and by the Holy Ghost.”[355] So did Alma teach[126]
the people of Gideon, as already quoted.[356] Nephi, the
grandson of Helaman, immediately preceding Christ’s
advent upon earth, went forth amongst his people, baptizing
unto repentance, from which followed “a great remission
of sins.”[357] Nephi ordained assistants in the ministry,
“that all such as should come unto them, should be
baptized with water, and this as a witness and a testimony
before God, and unto the people, that they had repented
and received a remission of their sins.”[358] Mormon adds his
own testimony, as commissioned of Christ, exhorting the
people to forsake their sins and be baptized for remission
thereof.[359]

10. Modern Revelation, concerning baptism and its object,
shows that the same importance is ascribed by the Lord to
the ordinance today as in earlier times. That there may
be no question as to the application of this doctrine to the
Church in the present dispensation, the principle has been
re-stated, the law has been re-enacted for our guidance.
The elders of the Church are commissioned to preach the
remission of sins as obtainable through the means of authorized
baptism.[360]

11. Fit Candidates for Baptism.—The prime object of
baptism being admission to the Church, with remission of
sins, and this coming only through the exercise of faith in
God and true repentance before Him, it naturally follows
that baptism can in justice be required of those only who are
capable of exercising faith and of working repentance.[361] In
a revelation on Church government given through Joseph the
Prophet, April, 1830, the Lord specifically states the conditions[127]
under which persons may be received into the Church
through baptism: these are His words:—”All those who
humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized,
and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and
witness before the Church that they have truly repented of
all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of
Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end,
and truly manifest by their works that they have received of
the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be
received by baptism into his Church.”[362]

12. Such conditions exclude all who have not arrived at
the age of discretion and responsibility; and by special commandment
the Lord has forbidden the Church to receive any
who have not attained to such age.[363] By revelation, the
Lord has designated eight years as the age at which children
may be properly baptized into the Church, and parents are
required to prepare their children for the ordinances of the
Church, by teaching them the doctrines of faith, repentance,
baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Failure in this
requirement is accounted by the Lord as a sin resting upon
the heads of the parents.[364]

13. Infant Baptism.—The Latter-day Saints are opposed
to the practice of infant baptism, which indeed they believe
to be sacrilege in the eyes of God. No one having faith in
the word of God can look upon the child as impure; such an
innocent being needs no initiation into the fold, for it has
never strayed therefrom; it needs no remission of sins, for it
is sinless; and should it die before it has become contaminated
by the sins of earth, it will be received again, without
baptism, into the presence of its God. Yet there are many
professedly Christian teachers who declare that as all children[128]
are born into a wicked world, they are themselves wicked,
and must be cleansed in the waters of baptism to be made
acceptable to God. How heinous is such a doctrine!—the
child to whom the Savior pointed as an example of emulation
of those even who had received the holy apostleship,[365] the
Lord’s selected type of the kingdom of heaven, the favored
spirits whose angels stand forever in the presence of the
Father, faithfully reporting all that may be done unto
their sacred charges[366]—such souls are to be rejected and cast
into torment because their earthly guardians failed to have
them baptized! To teach such a doctrine is sin.

14. The History of Infant Baptism is instructive, as throwing
light upon the origin of this erratic practice. It is
certain that the baptism of infants, or pedobaptism (Greek
paidos, child, and baptismos, baptism) as it is styled in
theological lore, was not taught by the Savior, nor by His
apostles. Some point to the incident of Christ blessing
little children, and rebuking those who would forbid the
little ones coming unto Him,[367] as an evidence in favor of
infant baptism; but, as has been wisely and tersely remarked:—”From
the action of Christ’s blessing infants, to
infer they are to be baptized, proves nothing so much as
that there is a want of better argument; for the conclusion
would with more probability be derived thus: Christ blessed
infants, and so dismissed them, but baptized them not;
therefore infants are not to be baptized.”

15. There is no authentic record of infant baptism having
been practiced during the first two centuries after
Christ, and the custom probably did not become general till
the fifth century; from the last-named time until the
Reformation, however, it was accepted by the dominant[129]
church organization. But even during that dark age,
many theological disputants raised their voices against this
unholy rite.[368] In the early part of the sixteenth century, a
sect rose into prominence in Germany, under the name of
Anabaptists (Greek ana, again, and baptizo, baptize), distinguished
for its opposition to the practice of infant baptism,
and deriving its name from the requirement made of
all its members who had been baptized in infancy that they
be baptized again. This denomination, commonly called the
Baptists, has become greatly divided by internal disputes;
but in general, the Baptists have maintained a unity of
belief in opposing the baptism of irresponsible children.

16. Some pedobaptists have attempted to prove an
analogy between baptism and circumcision; but for such
position there is no scriptural warrant. Circumcision was
made the mark of a covenant between God and His chosen
servant Abraham,[369] a symbol regarded by the posterity of
Abraham as indicative of their freedom from the idolatry
of the times, and of God’s acceptance of them; and nowhere
is circumcision made a means for remission of sins. That
rite was applicable to males only; baptism is administered
to both sexes. Circumcision was to be performed on the
eighth day after birth, even though such should fall on the
Sabbath.[370] In the third century a council of bishops was
held under the presidency of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage,
at which it was gravely determined, that to postpone
baptism until the eighth day after birth was dangerous,
and consequently not to be allowed.

17. Infant Baptism is Forbidden in the Book of Mormon,
from which fact we know that disputation upon this subject
must have arisen among the Nephites. Mormon, having[130]
received special revelation from the Lord concerning the
matter, wrote an epistle thereon to his son Moroni, in which
he denounces the practice of infant baptism, and declares
that any one who supposeth that little children need baptism
is in the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity,
denying the mercies of Christ, and setting at naught His
atonement and the power of His redemption.[371]

18. Baptism Essential to Salvation.—Most of the proofs
concerning the object of baptism apply with equal force
to the proposition that baptism is necessary for salvation;
for, inasmuch as remission of sins constitutes a special purpose
of baptism, and as no soul can be saved in the kingdom
of God with unforgiven sins, it is plain that baptism
is essential to salvation. Salvation is promised to man on
condition of his obedience to the commands of God; and,
as the scriptures conclusively prove, baptism is one of the
most important of such requirements. Baptism, being commanded
of God, must be essential to the purpose for which
it is instituted, for our Father deals not with unnecessary
forms. Baptism is required of all who have attained to
years of accountability; none are exempt.

19. Even Christ, standing as a man without sin in the
midst of a sinful world, was baptized, “to fulfill all righteousness,”[372]
such being the purpose, as declared by the
Savior Himself to the hesitating priest, who, zealous as he
was for his great mission, yet demurred when asked to baptize
One whom he considered sinless. Centuries before the
great event, Nephi, prophesying among the people in the
western world, fore-told the baptism of the Savior, and beautifully
explained how righteousness would be thereby fulfilled:[373]—”And
now if the Lamb of God, he being holy,[131]
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?”

20. The words of the Savior, spoken while He ministered
in the flesh, declare baptism to be essential to salvation.
One of the rulers of the Jews, Nicodemus, came to Christ by
night and made a profession of confidence in the instructions
of the Savior, whom he designated as “a teacher come
from God.” Seeing his faith, Jesus taught unto him one of
the chief laws of heaven, saying: “Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” A question by
Nicodemus called forth from the Savior the additional declaration,
“Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God.”[374] It is practically indisputable, that the watery
birth here referred to as essential to entrance into the kingdom
is baptism. We learn further, concerning Christ’s
attitude toward baptism, that He required the ordinance of
those who professed to become His disciples.[375] When appearing
to the Eleven in His resurrected state, giving them His
farewell blessing and final commission, He commanded them:
“Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost;”[376] and, concerning the results of baptism, He taught
them, that “He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.”[377]

21. Plain as seems the spirit of these instructions and
promises, there are nevertheless many who, while professing
to teach the doctrine of the Redeemer, evade the meaning
of His precepts, and declare that because He said “he that[132]
believeth not shall be damned,” instead of “he that is not
baptized shall be damned,” baptism is after all not an essential,
but a mere convenience or simple propriety, in the plan
of salvation. It is a mockery of faith to profess belief in
Christ while refusing to abide by His commandments. To
believe the word of God and do it not, is to increase our
culpability; such a course but adds hypocrisy to other sin.
Surely the full penalty provided for wilful unbelief will
fall to the lot of the professed believer who refuses to yield
obedience to the very principles in which he boasts of
having faith. And what can be said of the sincerity of
one who refuses to obey the Divine commands except there
be specific penalties provided for disobedience? Can such
a one’s repentance be sincere, when he now is submissive
only through fear of punishment? However, in stating
this principle for the government of the Saints in the present
dispensation, the Lord’s words are more particular and
specific, “And he that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved, and he that believeth not, and is not baptized, shall
be damned.”[378]

22. The same doctrine concerning the necessity of baptism
was preached by the disciples of Christ, particularly
those who were immediately associated with Him in the ministry.
John the Baptist testifies that he had been appointed
to baptize with water,[379] and, concerning those who accepted
John’s teachings, the Savior declared that they, even though
they were publicans, justified God, while the Pharisees and
lawyers who refused to be baptized, “rejected the counsels
of God against themselves,”[380] thereby, most assuredly forfeiting
their claim to salvation. As already pointed out, Peter,
the chief of the apostles, had but one answer to give to the[133]
eager multitude seeking to know the essentials of salvation,
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you.”[381]

23. Christ’s humble compliance with the will of His
Father, by submitting to baptism even though He stood
sinless, surely declares to the world in language more forceful
than words that none are exempt from this condition,
that baptism indeed is a requisite for salvation. So, no evidence
of Divine favor, no bestowal of heavenly gifts, excuses
man from obedience to this and other requirements of the
gospel. Some illustrations of this fact have been given in
connection with the purpose of baptism. Saul of Tarsus,
though permitted to hear the voice of His Redeemer, could
only enter the Church of Christ through the portals of baptism
by water and by the Holy Ghost.[382] Afterward he
preached baptism, declaring that by that ordinance may “we
put on Christ,” becoming the children of God. Cornelius,
the centurion, was acknowledged of God through prayers and
alms, and an angel came to him, and instructed him to send
for Peter, who would tell him what to do. The apostle, having
been specially prepared by the Lord for this mission, entered
the house of the penitent Gentile, though to do such,
was to violate the customs of the Jews; and taught him and
his family of Christ Jesus. Even while Peter was speaking,
the Holy Ghost fell upon his hearers, so that they testified
by the gift of tongues, and greatly glorified God.[383] Yet
the bestowal of such great gifts in no degree exempted
them from compliance with the law of baptism; and
Peter commanded them to be baptized in the name of the
Lord.

24. Christ’s ministers on the western continent were not
less energetic in promulgating the doctrine of baptism.[134]
Lehi[384] and his son Nephi,[385] each testified of the baptism of
the Savior, and of the absolute necessity of baptism by water
and by the Holy Ghost on the part of all seekers after salvation.
Nephi beautifully compares repentance and baptism
by water and the Spirit to the gate leading into the fold of
Christ.[386] Alma the first preached baptism as indispensable
to salvation, calling upon the people to witness unto the
Lord by their observance of this principle, that they covenanted
to keep His commandments. The second Alma, son
of the former, proclaimed baptism as a means of salvation,
and consecrated ministers to baptize.[387]

25. During the last century preceding the birth of
Christ, the work of God among the Lamanites was begun,
by the preaching of faith, repentance, and baptism; Ammon
declared this doctrine to King Lamoni and his people.[388]
Helaman preached baptism;[389] and in the time of his ministry,
less than half a century before Christ’s advent on earth, we
read that tens of thousands united themselves with the
Church, by baptism. So also preached Helaman’s sons,[390] and
his grandson Nephi.[391] These baptisms were performed in
the name of the Messiah who was to come; but when He
came to His western flock, He directed that they should be
baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost; and bestowed upon twelve chosen servants
the authority to officiate in the ordinance,[392] promising
the riches of Heaven unto all who would comply with His
law, and unto such only.

[135]

26. Evidence is abundant that the Savior regarded the
baptized state as an essential condition of membership in
His Church; thus, when instituting the sacrament among
the Nephites, He instructed His disciples to administer it
unto those only who had been properly baptized.[393] Further,
we are informed that those who were baptized as Jesus had
directed, were called the Church of Christ.[394] True to the
Savior’s promise, the Holy Ghost came to those who were
baptized by His ordained authority, thus adding to water-baptism
the higher baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost;[395] and
many of them received wonderful manifestations of the
Divine approval, seeing and hearing unspeakable things,
not lawful to be written. The faith of the people showed
itself in good works,[396] in prayers and fasting,[397] in acknowledgment
of which Christ reappeared, this time manifesting
Himself to the Disciples whom He had called to the ministry;
and unto them he reiterated the former promises regarding
all who were baptized of Him; and to this He added, that,
provided they endured to the end, they should be held
guiltless in the day of judgment.[398] On that occasion, He
repeated the commandment through obedience to which
salvation is promised:—”Repent all ye ends of the earth,
and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye
may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that
ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.”[399]

27. Nearly four centuries later, we hear the same proclamation
from the lips of Mormon.[400] And Moroni, his son,
the solitary representative of a once mighty people, while[136]
mourning the destruction of his kindred, leaves what at the
time he supposed would be his farewell testimony to the
truth of this doctrine;[401] then being spared contrary to his
expectations, he reverts again to the sacred theme, realizing
the incalculable worth of the doctrine unto any and all who
would read his pages; and in what might be regarded as his
last words, he testifies to baptism by water and the Spirit as
the means of salvation.[402]

28. And this great principle, proclaimed of old, remains
unaltered today; it is truth and changes not. The elders
of the Church today have been commissioned in almost the
same words as were used in authorizing the apostles of old:—”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.”[403] And
again, hear the word of the Lord through Joseph the
Prophet unto the elders of the Church:—”Therefore, as I
said unto mine apostles 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.” But,
“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 where my Father and I am.”[404] In obedience to
these commands, the elders of this Church have continued
to proclaim the gospel among the nations, preaching faith,
repentance, and baptism by water and the Holy Ghost, as
essential to salvation.

[137]

29. We have examined the doctrines concerning baptism
current among the Jews, the Nephites, and the Church of
Jesus Christ in this age, and have found the principles
taught to be ever the same. Indeed, we have gone farther
back, even to the earliest history of the human race, and
have learned that baptism was announced as a saving principle
by which Adam was promised forgiveness and salvation.
No one has reason to hope for salvation except by complying
with the law of God, of which baptism is an essential
part.

NOTES.

1. Preparation for Baptism.—The doctrine that baptism, to be acceptable,
must be preceded by efficient preparation, was generally taught and understood in the
days of Christ, as also in the so-called apostolic period, and the time immediately following.
But this belief gradually fell away, and baptism came to be regarded as an
outward form, the application of which depended little, if at all, on the candidates’ appreciation,
or conception of its purpose; and, as stated in the test, the Lord deemed it
wise to re-announce the doctrine in the present dispensation. Concerning the former
belief a few evidences are here given:

“In the first ages of Christianity, men and women were baptized on a profession of
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”—Canon Farrar.

“But as Christ enjoins them (Mark, xvi, 15-16) to teach before baptizing, and desires
that none but believers shall be admitted to baptism, it would appear that baptism is not
properly administered unless when it is preceded by faith.”… In the apostolic
age “no one is found to have been admitted to baptism without a previous profession of
faith and repentance.”—Calvin.

“You are not first baptized, and then begin to receive the faith, and have a desire;
but when you are to be baptized, you make known your will to the Teacher, and make a
full confession of your faith with your own mouth.”—Arnobius—a rhetorician who wrote
in the latter half of the third century.

“In the primitive church, instruction preceded baptism, agreeable to the order of
Jesus Christ—’Go, teach all nations, baptizing them,’ etc.”—Saurin (a French protestant;
1677-1730.)

“In the first two centuries, no one was baptized, except, being instructed in the faith
and acquainted with the doctrine of Christ, he was able to profess himself a believer;
because of those words, ‘He that believeth and is baptized.'”—Salmasius (a French
author; 1588-1653).

2. Historical Notes on Infant Baptism.—”The baptism of infants, in the
first two centuries after Christ, was altogether unknown…. The custom of baptizing
infants did not begin before the third age after Christ was born. In the former
ages no trace of it appears; and it was introduced without the command of Christ.”—Curcellaeus.

[138]

“It is certain that Christ did not ordain infant baptism…. We cannot prove
that the apostles ordained infant baptism. From those places where baptism of a whole
family is mentioned (as in Acts xvi, 33; I Cor. i, 16) we can draw no such conclusion,
because the inquiry is still to be made, whether there were any children in the families of
such an age that they were not capable of any intelligent reception of Christianity; for
this is the only point on which the case turns…. As baptism was closely united
with a conscious entrance on Christian communion, faith and baptism were always connected
with one another; and thus it is in the highest degree probable that baptism was
performed only in instances where both could meet together, and that the practice of
infant baptism was unknown at this (the apostolic) period…. That not till so
late a period as (at least certainly not earlier than) Irenæus, a trace of infant baptism appears;
and that it first became recognized as an apostolic tradition in the course of the
third century, is evidence rather against than for the admission of its apostolic origin.”—Johann
Neander (a German theologian who flourished in the first half of the present
century).

“Let them therefore come when they are grown up—when they can understand—when
they are taught whither they are to come. Let them become Christians when they can
know Christ.”—Tertullian (one of the Latin “Christian Fathers”; he lived from 150 to
220 A. D.) Tertullian’s almost violent opposition to the practice of pedobaptism is cited
by Neander as “a proof that it was then not usually considered an apostolic ordinance;
for in that case he would hardly have ventured to speak so strongly against it.”

Martin Luther, writing in the early part of the sixteenth century, declared: “It cannot
be proven by the sacred scriptures that infant baptism was instituted by Christ, or
begun by the first Christians after the apostles.”

“By tekna the Apostle understands, not infants, but posterity; in which signification
the word occurs in many places of the New Testament (see among others John viii, 39);
whence it appears that the argument which is very commonly taken from this passage
for the baptism of infants, is of no force, and good for nothing.”—Limborch (a native of
Holland, and a theologian of repute; he lived 1633-1712).

3. Baptism Necessary.—”That Gospel baptism is necessary to salvation, is
abundantly evidenced in the sacred writings. Christ, the highest authority known to
man, asserted this most emphatically when He said to Nicodemus: ‘Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God’ (John iii, 5). So important did the Savior consider baptism, that
when He went to John to be baptized, and John forbade Him, He replied to him:
‘Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness’ (Matt. iii,
13-15). In this he taught John the doctrine that a fulness of righteousness, or salvation,
could not be received without it. The prophet Nephi, who lived nearly six hundred
years before the birth of our Savior, clearly understood the necessity of baptism. Said
he: ‘And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by
water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy,
to be baptized, yea, even by water?’ (II Nephi xxxi, 5). The prophet Mormon, who
lived nearly one thousand years after Nephi, also taught the necessity of following the
example of our Savior in being baptized, first by water (Mormon vii, 10).”—Compendium,
p. 32. See also: Doc. and Cov. v, 16; lxviii, 8; lxxvi, 51; cxii, 29; cxxviii, 12;
Book of Mormon: II Nephi xxxi, 11, 17; Alma v, 62; ix, 27; III Nephi xviii, 5;
xxviii, 18; Mormon ix, 29; Moroni vi, 1-4; viii, 4-22.

[139]

LECTURE VII.

BAPTISM.—Continued.

Article 4.—We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel
are:—… (3) Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; …

MODE OF BAPTISM.

1. Method of Administering Baptism Important.—In considering
the object and the necessity of baptism, much has
been said and inferred concerning the importance which the
Lord attaches to this initiatory rite; it is natural that the
mode of administering the ordinance should also be specifically
prescribed. Many Christian sects have some established
rite of initiation, in which water figures as a necessary
element; though with some the ceremony consists in nothing
more than the placing of the priest’s moistened finger on
the forehead of the candidate; or in the pouring or sprinkling
of water on the face; while others consider immersion
of the whole body as requisite. The Latter-day Saints hold
that the scriptures are devoid of ambiguity regarding the
acceptable mode of baptism; and they boldly declare their
belief that bodily immersion by a duly authorized servant or
representative of the Savior is the only true form. Their
reasons for this belief may be summed up as follows:
(1) The derivation and former usage of the word baptism,
and its cognates, betoken immersion. (2) The symbolism of
the rite is preserved in no other form. (3) Scriptural authority,
the revealed word of God through the mouths of
ancient and modern prophets, prescribes immersion as the
true form of baptism.

2. (1.) The Word “Baptism,” as is generally admitted by[140]
philologists, is derived from the Greek bapto, baptizo, meaning
literally to dip, or to immerse. As is true in the case
of every living language, words may undergo great changes
of meaning; and some writers declare that the term in
question may be as applicable to pouring or sprinkling
with water as to actual immersion. It becomes interesting,
therefore, to inquire as to the current meaning of the
term at or near the time of Christ; for, as the Savior
evidently deemed it unnecessary, in the course of His instructions
concerning baptism, to modify or in any way to
enlarge upon the meaning of the term, the word “baptize”
evidently conveyed a very definite meaning to those who
received His teachings. From the use made of the original
term by the Latin and Greek authors,[405] it is plain that they
understood an actual immersion in water as the only true
signification. The modern Greeks understand baptism to
mean a burial in water, and therefore, as they adopt the
profession of Christianity, they practice immersion as the
only proper form in baptism.[406] Concerning this kind of
argument, it should be remembered that philological evidence
is not of the most decisive order. Let us pass then to
the consideration of other and stronger reasons.

3. (2.) The Symbolism of the Baptismal Rite is preserved
in no form other than immersion. The Savior compared
baptism to a birth, and declared such to be essential to the
life that leads to the kingdom of God.[407] Surely none can
say that a birth is represented by a simple sprinkling of
water on the face or head. Not the least of the distinctions
which have contributed to Christ’s pre-eminence as a
teacher of teachers, consists in His precise and forceful use
of language; His comparisons are always strong, His metaphors[141]
ever expressive, His parables convincing; and so inappropriate
a comparison as is implied in such a false representation
of birth, would be entirely foreign to the Great
Teacher’s methods.

4. Baptism has also been very impressively compared to
a burial, followed by a resurrection; and in this symbol of
the bodily death and resurrection of His Son has God
promised to grant remission of sins. In writing to the
Romans, Paul says:—”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 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.”[408] And again, the same apostle writes:
“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen
with him through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead.”[409] Among all the varied
forms of baptism practiced by man, immersion alone typifies
a birth, marking the beginning of a new career; or the sleep
of the grave, with subsequent victory over death.

5. (3.) Scriptural Authority warrants none other form
than immersion. Christ Himself was baptized by immersion.
We read that after the ceremony, He “went up straightway
out of the water.”[410] That the baptism of the Savior was
acceptable before His Father is abundantly proved by the
manifestations immediately following the ordinance—in the
descent of the Holy Ghost, and the declaration, “This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” John, surnamed,
because of his Divine commission, the Baptist, baptized[142]
in the river Jordan;[411] and shortly afterward we hear of
him baptizing in Ænon, near to Salim, “because there was
much water there;”[412] yet had he been baptizing by sprinkling,
a small quantity of water would have sufficed for a
multitude.

6. We read of baptism following the somewhat speedy
conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, treasurer to the queen,
Candace. To him Philip preached the doctrine of Christ,
as they rode together in the Ethiopian’s chariot; the eunuch,
believing the words of his inspired instructor, desired baptism,
and Philip consenting, “he commanded the chariot
to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both
Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when
they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord
caught away Philip that the eunuch saw him no more; and
he went on his way rejoicing.”[413] Surely the record in this
case is explicit, that immersion was the mode practiced by
Philip.

7. History, other than Scriptural, proves that for more than
two centuries after Christ, immersion was the only mode of
baptism generally practiced by professed Christians; and
not indeed till near the close of the thirteenth century did
other forms become general.[414] Distortions of ordinances
instituted by authority may be expected, if the outward form
of such ordinances be attempted after the authority to
minister in them has been taken away; yet such distortions
are of gradual growth; deformities resulting from constitutional
ailments do not develop in a day; we may with reason,
therefore, look for the closest imitation of the true form of
baptism, as indeed of any other ordinance instituted by
Christ, in the period immediately following His personal[143]
ministry, and that of His apostles. Then, as the darkness
of unbelief deepened, the authority given of Christ having
been taken from the earth with His martyred servants, many
innovations appeared, dignitaries of the various churches
becoming a law unto themselves and to their adherents.
Early in the third century, the Bishop of Carthage decided
that persons of weak health might be acceptably baptized
by sprinkling; and with the license thus given, the true
form of baptism gradually fell into disfavor, and unauthorized
practices devised by man took its place.

8. Baptism among the Nephites was performed by immersion
only. The wide extent to which baptism was preached
and practiced among the people from Lehi to Moroni has
been already shown. When the Savior appeared to His
people on this hemisphere, He gave them very explicit instructions
as to the method of procedure in administering the
ordinance. These are his words:—”Verily I say unto you,
that whoso 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.”[415]

9. Modern Baptism, as prescribed by revelation, is after
the same pattern. The first baptisms in the present dispensation
were those of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery,
who baptized each other according to the directions of the
heavenly messenger from whom they had received authority
to administer in this holy ordinance, and who was none
other than John the Baptist of a former dispensation, the[144]
forerunner of the Messiah. Joseph Smith thus describes the
event:—”Accordingly we went and were baptized; I baptized
him [Oliver Cowdery] first, and afterwards he baptized
me…. Immediately on our coming up out of the
water after we had been baptized, we experienced great and
glorious blessings.”

10. In a revelation concerning Church government,
dated April, 1830, the Lord prescribed the exact mode of
baptism as He desires the ordinance administered in the
present dispensation. He said: “Baptism is to be administered
in the following manner unto all those who repent:—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, 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.”[416]

11. The Lord would not have prescribed the words of
this ceremony did He not desire them used, and therefore
elders and priests of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints have no personal authority to change the form
given of God, by additions, omissions, or alterations of any
kind.

BAPTISM AND “RE-BAPTISM.”

12. A Repetition of the Baptismal Ordinance on the same
individual is allowable under certain specific conditions.
Thus, if one, having entered the Church by baptism, withdraws
from it, or is excommunicated therefrom, and afterwards
repents and desires to regain his standing in the
Church, he can do so only through baptism. However,[145]
such is a repetition of the initiatory ordinance as previously
administered. There is no ordinance of “re-baptism” in
the Church distinct in nature, form, or purpose, from other
baptism; and, therefore, in administering baptism to a subject
who has been formerly baptized, the form of the ceremony
is exactly the same as in first baptisms. The expression,
“I re-baptize you,” in place of “I baptize you,” and
the additions “for the renewal of your covenants,” or “for
the remission of your sins,” though such have been used by
officiating elders and priests of the Church, are not authorized.
The dictates of reason unite with the voice of the
presiding authorities of the Church in discountenancing
any erratic departures from the course prescribed by the
Lord; changes in ceremonies given by authority can be
effected only by authority, and we must look for direction
in these matters to those who hold the keys of power in the
Church.

13. A “re-baptism,” that is, a repetition of the simple
ordinance as at first performed, may be allowed under particular
circumstances, which seemingly warrant this extraordinary
step. Thus, in the early days of the Church in
Utah, its members having come hither through much tribulation,
long and toilsome journeyings, accompanied in many
instances by prolonged suspension of Church gatherings and
other formal religious observances, it was wisely suggested
by President Young that the members of the Church renew
the witness of their allegiance to the cause of God, by each
one seeking baptism. Then, as other companies of immigrants
continued to arrive, the same conditions of long
travel and rough experience applying in their cases, and
further, as many of them hailed from foreign branches of
the Church, still incompletely organized, through which
circumstances the actual standing of the members could not
be readily proved, the same rite of a second baptism was[146]
allowed to them. However, it was never intended that
such a practice should become general; far less that it
should be established as a permanent rule of action in the
Church. The Latter-day Saints do not profess to be Anabaptists.

14. “Re-baptisms” Recorded in Scripture are very few; and
in every instance, the existence of special circumstances
justifying the action are readily seen. Thus, we read of
Paul baptizing certain professed disciples at Ephesus though
they had already been baptized after the manner of John’s
baptism.[417] But in this case, the apostle was evidently, and
with good reason, suspicious that the baptism of which
these spoke had been performed by unauthorized hands, or
at least without the proper preliminary education of the
candidates; for when he tested the efficacy of their baptism
by asking “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”
they answered him, “We have not so much as
heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.” Then asked he
in surprise, “Unto what then were ye baptized?” and they
replied, “Unto John’s baptism.” But Paul knew, as we
know, that John preached the baptism of repentance by
water, but always declared that such was but a preliminary
to the greater baptism by fire, which Christ should bring.
Therefore, in view of such unsatisfactory evidence concerning
the validity of their baptism, Paul had baptism in the
name of the Lord Jesus administered unto these twelve
devout Ephesians, after which he laid his hands upon them,
and they received the Holy Ghost.

15. The baptism instituted by Christ among the
Nephites,[418] was very largely a “re-baptism;” for as we have
already seen, the doctrine of baptism had been taught and
practiced among the people from the time of Lehi; and[147]
surely, Nephi, the first to whom the Savior gave authority
to baptize after His departure, had been previously baptized,
for he and his co-laborers in the ministry had been
most zealous in declaring the necessity of baptism.[419] Yet
in this case also, there had probably arisen much impropriety
in the manner, and perhaps in the spirit, of administering
the ordinance; for the Savior in giving minute directions
concerning the form of baptism, reproved them for
the spirit of contention and disputation that had previously
existed among them regarding the ordinance.[420] Therefore,
the baptism of these people was made valid by an authoritative
administration after the manner prescribed of
God.

16. Incidentally, our attention is arrested by the fact
that in these cases of re-baptism among the Nephites, the
same ritual was used as in first baptism, and this by explicit
instructions of the Lord, coupled with an impressive warning
against disputation. Why should the priests in this day
seek to alter the form to suit the case of a candidate who
has formerly been baptized?

17. Repeated Baptisms of the Same Person are not sanctioned
in the Church. It is easy to fall into the error of
believing that baptism offers a ready means of gaining forgiveness
of sins however oft repeated. Such a belief tends
rather to excuse than to prevent sin, inasmuch as the hurtful
effects seem to be so easily averted. Neither the written law
of God, nor the instructions of His living Priesthood, designate
baptism as a means of securing forgiveness by those
who are already within the fold of Christ. Unto such, forgiveness
of all sin, if not unto death, has been promised on
confession, and repentance with full purpose of heart; of
them a repetition of the baptismal rite has not been required[148]
and, were subjects of this class repeatedly baptized,
unto them remission of sins would in no wise come,
except they repent most sincerely. The frailties of mortality
and our proneness to sin lead us continually into error;
but if we covenant with the Lord at the waters of baptism,
and thereafter seek to observe His law, He is merciful to
pardon our little transgressions, through repentance sincere
and true; and without such repentance, baptism, however oft
repeated, would avail us nothing.

BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD.

18. Baptism Required of All.—The universal applicability
of the law of baptism has been already dwelt upon. Compliance
with the ordinance has been shown to be essential
to salvation, and this condition applies to all mankind.
Nowhere in scripture is a distinction made in this regard
between the living and the dead. The dead are those who
have lived in mortality upon earth; the living are mortals
who yet shall pass through the ordained change which we
call death. All are children of the same Father, all to be
judged and rewarded or punished by the same unerring
justice, with the same interpositions of benignant mercy.
Christ’s atoning sacrifice was offered, not alone for the few
who lived upon the earth while He was in the flesh, nor for
those who were to be born in mortality after His death, but
for all inhabitants of earth then past, present, and future.
He was ordained of the Father to be a judge of both quick
and dead;[421] He is Lord alike of living and dead,[422] as men
speak of dead and living, though all are to be placed in the
same position before Him; there will be but a single class,
for all live unto Him.[423]

[149]

19. The Gospel yet Unknown to Many.—Of the multitudes
of human beings who have existed on the earth, but
few have heard and fewer have obeyed, the law of the gospel.
In the course of the world’s history there have been
long periods of spiritual darkness, when the gospel was not
preached upon the earth; when there was no authorized representative
of the Lord officiating in the saving ordinances
of the kingdom. Such a condition has never existed except
as the result of the unbelief and waywardness of
the people. When mankind have persistently trodden
the pearls of truth into the mire, and have sought to slay
and rend the bearers of the jewels, in justice not more than
in mercy these treasures of heaven have been taken and
withheld until a more appreciative posterity could be raised
up. It may very properly be asked, What provisions are
made in the economy of God for the eventual salvation of
those who have thus neglected the requirements of the Word,
and for those who have never heard the gospel tidings?

20. According to certain dogmas that have prevailed
among many so-called Christian sects during the obscurity
of the spiritual night, and which are yet zealously promulgated,
never-ending punishment or interminable bliss, unchanging
in kind or degree, shall be the lot of every soul;
the award being made according to the condition of the
spirit at the time of bodily death; a life of sin being thus
entirely nullified by a death-bed repentance; and an honorable
career, if unmarked by ceremonies of the established
sects, being followed by the tortures of hell without the hope
of relief. Such a belief must rank with the dread heresy
which proclaims the condemnation of innocent babes who
have not been sprinkled by man’s assumed authority.

21. It is blasphemous to thus attribute caprice and vindictiveness
to the Divine nature. In the justice of God, no
soul shall be condemned under any law which has not been[150]
made known unto him. It is true, eternal punishment has
been decreed as the lot of the wicked; but the true meaning
of this terrible expression has been given by the Lord Himself:[424]
eternal punishment is God’s punishment; endless punishment
is God’s punishment, for “Endless” and “Eternal”
are among His names, and the words are descriptive of
His attributes. No soul will be kept in prison or continued
in torment beyond the time requisite to work the needed
reformation and to vindicate justice, for which ends alone
punishment is imposed. And no one will be permitted to
enter any kingdom of glory to which he is not entitled
through obedience to law.

22. The Gospel to be Preached to the Dead.—It is plain,
then, that the gospel must be proclaimed in the spirit
world; and that such work is provided for, the scriptures
abundantly prove. Peter, describing the mission of his
Redeemer, thus declares this truth:—”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.”[425] The inauguration of this
work among the dead was effected by Christ in the interval
between His death and resurrection. While His body lay
in the tomb, His spirit ministered to the spirits of the
departed:—”By which also he went and preached unto
the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient
when once 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.”[426]

23. Other scriptures sustain the position, that while in a
disembodied state, Christ went elsewhere than to the place
usually termed heaven,—the abode of His Father; and that[151]
He labored among the dead, who greatly needed His ministry.
One of the malefactors who suffered crucifixion by
His side, through humility won from the dying Savior the
promise, “To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.”[427]
And three days afterward, the Lord, then a resurrected
Being, declared to the sorrowing Magdalene, “I have not yet
ascended to my Father.”[428]

24. If it was deemed proper and just that the gospel be
carried to the spirits who were disobedient in the days of
Noah, is it not reasonable to conclude that like opportunities
shall be placed within the reach of others who have rejected
the word at different times? For the same spirit of neglect
and disobedience that characterized the time of Noah has
ever existed.[429] And further, if, in the plan of God, provisions
be made for the redemption of the wilfully disobedient,
of those who actually spurn the truth, can we believe that
the still greater multitudes of spirits who have never heard
the Gospel are to be left in punishment eternally? No; God
has decreed that even the heathen nations, and those that
knew no law, shall be redeemed.[430] The good gifts of the
Father are not confined to this sphere of action, but will be
distributed in justice throughout eternity. Upon all who
reject the word of God in this life shall fall the penalties
provided for such act; but after the debt has been paid, the
prison doors shall be opened, and the spirits once confined in
suffering, now chastened and clean, shall come forth to partake
of the glory provided for their class.

25. Christ’s Work among the Dead was Foretold.—Centuries
before Christ came in the flesh, the prophets rejoiced
in the knowledge that through Him would salvation be carried
to the dead as well as to the living. Speaking of the[152]
punishment to be brought upon the proud and haughty of
the earth, Isaiah declares: “And they shall be gathered
together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be
shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be
visited.”[431] The same great prophet thus testifies concerning
the work of the coming Redeemer; He is “to open the blind
eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them
that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”[432] And David,
singing to the music of inspiration concerning the redemption
from the grave, exclaims: “Therefore my heart is glad,
and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou
suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew
me the path of life; in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy
right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”[433]

26. Work of the Living for the Dead.—The redemption
of the dead will be effected in strict accordance with the
law of God, which is written in justice and framed in mercy.
It is alike impossible for any spirit, in the flesh or disembodied,
to obtain even the promise of eternal glory, except
on condition of obedience to the laws and ordinances of the
gospel. And, as baptism is essential to the salvation of the
living, it is likewise indispensable to the salvation of the
dead. This was known by the Saints of old, and hence the
doctrine of baptism for the dead was taught among them.
In an epistle addressed to the Saints at Corinth, Paul expounded
the principles of the resurrection, whereby the
bodies of the dead are to be brought forth from the graves.
“Christ the first fruits, and afterward they that are
Christ’s,” and as proof that this doctrine of the resurrection
was included in the gospel as they had received and professed[153]
it, the apostle asks: “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?”[434] These words are
unambiguous, and the fact that they are presented without
explanation or comment argues that the principle of baptism
for the dead was understood among the people to whom the
letter was addressed.

27. The necessity of vicarious work is here shown,—the
living laboring in behalf of the dead; the children doing
for their progenitors what is beyond the power of the latter
to do for themselves. Many and various are the interpretations
rendered by erring human wisdom on this plain statement
of Paul’s; yet the simple and earnest seeker after
truth finds little difficulty in comprehending the meaning.
In words which form the closing sentences of the Old Testament,
the prophet Malachi predicted the great work to be
carried on in behalf of the dead during the latter days:
“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.”[435] It is a current belief among
many Bible students, that this prophecy had reference to
the birth and ministry of John the Baptist,[436] upon whom
indeed rested and remained the spirit and power of Elias,
as the angel had foretold;[437] but we have no record of Elijah
ministering unto John; and moreover the results of the
latter’s ministry warrant no conclusion that in him did the
prophecy find its full realization.

28. We must therefore look to a later date in the world’s
history for a fulfillment of Malachi’s prediction. On the[154]
21st of September, 1823, Joseph Smith[438] received a visitation
of a heavenly being who announced himself as Moroni, sent
from the presence of God. In the course of his instructions
to the chosen youth, this heavenly personage quoted the
prophecy of Malachi, already referred to, but in language
slightly different from, and certainly more expressive than,
that appearing in the ordinary translation of the scriptures;
the angel’s version is as follows: “For behold the day
cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea
and all that do wickedly, shall burn as stubble, for they
that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it
shall leave them neither root nor branch. Behold I will
reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the
prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful 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 their fathers; if it were not so the
whole earth would be utterly wasted at His coming.”[439]

29. In a glorious manifestation to Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery, given in the Kirtland Temple, April 3,
1836, there appeared unto them Elijah the prophet, who
was taken to heaven without tasting death; he declared
unto them: “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 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 committed into your hands, and by this
ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord
is near, even at the doors.”[440]

[155]

30. The Fathers and the Children Mutually Dependent.—One
of the great principles underlying the doctrine of salvation
for the dead is that of the mutual dependence of the
fathers and the children. As the Prophet Joseph taught the
Saints,[441] but for the establishment of a connecting link between
the departed fathers and the living children, the earth
would be smitten with a curse. The plan of God provides
that neither the children nor the fathers can alone be made
perfect; and the necessary union is effected through baptism
and associated ordinances for the dead. The manner
in which the hearts of the children and those of the
fathers are turned toward one another is made plain
through these scriptures. As the children learn that without
the aid of their progenitors they cannot attain perfection,
assuredly will their hearts be opened, their faith will
be kindled, and good works will be attempted, for the redemption
of their dead; and the departed, learning from
the ministers of the gospel laboring among them, that they
must depend upon their children as vicarious saviors, will
seek to sustain their still mortal representatives with faith
and prayer for the perfecting of those labors of love.

31. And love, which is a power in itself, is thus intensified.
Aside from the emotions which are stirred within the
soul by the presence of the Divine, there are few feelings
stronger and purer than the love for kindred. Heaven
would not be all we wish were family love unknown there.[442]
Affection there will differ from its earthly type, in being
deeper, stronger, purer. And thus in the mercy of God,
His erring, mortal children, who have taken upon themselves
the name of Christ on earth, may become, in a limited
sphere, each a savior in the house of his fathers, and that
too by vicarious labor and sacrifice, rendered in humility,[156]
and, as represented in the baptismal ordinance, typical of
the death, burial, and resurrection of the Redeemer.

32. The Labor for the Dead is Two-fold.—That performed
on earth would be incomplete but for its supplement and
counterpart beyond the vail. Missionary labor is in progress
there, whereby the tidings of the gospel are carried to
the departed spirits, who thus learn of the work done in
their behalf on earth. What glorious possibilities concerning
the purposes of God are thus presented to our view!
How the mercy of God is magnified by these evidences of
His love! How often do we behold friends and loved ones,
whom we count among earth’s fairest and best, stricken
down by the shafts of death, seemingly in spite of the power
of faith and the ministrations of the Priesthood of God! Yet
who of us can tell but that these may be permitted to minister
in the labor of redemption beyond, preaching perhaps
the gospel to the spirits of their forefathers, while others of
the same family are officiating in a similar behalf on earth?

33. As far as the Divine will has been revealed, it requires
that the outward ordinances, such as baptism in
water, the laying on of hands for the bestowal of the Holy
Ghost, and the higher endowments that follow, be attended
to on earth, a proper representative in the flesh acting as
proxy for the dead. The results of such labors are to be
left with God. It is not to be supposed that by these ordinances
the departed are in any way compelled to accept the
obligation, nor that they are in the least hindered in the
exercise of their free agency. They will accept or reject,
according to their condition of humility or hostility in respect
to things divine; but the work so done for them on
earth will be of avail when wholesome argument and reason
have shown them their true position.

[157]

TEMPLES.

34. Temples or Other Sacred Places are required for the
performance of these holy ordinances. Whenever an organization
of the priesthood has existed on earth, the Lord has
required the preparation of places suited to His use, where
the rites of His Church could be performed. It is but
proper that such a structure should be the result of the
people’s best efforts, inasmuch as it is made by them an
offering unto the Lord. In every age of the world, the
chosen people have been a temple-building people. Shortly
after Israel’s deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, the
Lord called upon the people to construct a sanctuary to His
name, the plan of which He minutely specified. Though
this was but a tent, it was elaborately furnished and appointed,
the choicest possessions of the people being used in
its construction.[443] And the Lord accepted this offering of
His wandering people, by manifesting His glory therein, and
there revealing Himself.[444] When the people had settled in
the promised land, the Tabernacle of the congregation was
given a more permanent resting place;[445] yet it still was honored
for its sacred purpose, until superseded by the Temple
of Solomon as the sanctuary of the Lord.

35. This temple, one of the most gorgeous structures
ever erected by man for sacred service, was dedicated with
imposing ceremonies; but its splendor was of short duration;
for, within less than forty years from the time of its completion,
its glory declined, and finally it fell a prey to the flames.
A partial restoration of the temple was made after the Jews
returned from their captivity; and through the friendly
influence of Cyrus and Darius, the temple of Zerubbabel[158]
was dedicated.[446] That the Lord accepted this effort of His
people to maintain a sanctuary to His name, is fully shown
by the spirit that actuated its officers, among whom were
Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi. This temple remained
standing for nearly five centuries; and, but a few years
before the birth of the Savior, the reconstruction of the
edifice was begun by wicked Herod the Great, and the term
“Temple of Herod” passed into history.[447] The veil of this
temple was rent at the time of the crucifixion,[448] and in the
year 70 A. D. the destruction of the building was accomplished
by Titus.

36. Modern Temples.—From that time until the present
dispensation, no other temples have been reared on the
eastern continent. It is true, imposing edifices have been
erected for the purposes of worship; but a colossal structure
does not necessarily constitute a temple. A temple is more
than a church-building, a meeting-house, a tabernacle, or a
synagogue; it is a place specially prepared by dedication
unto the Lord, and marked by His acceptance, for the performing
of the ordinances pertaining to the Holy Priesthood.
The Latter-day Saints, true to the characteristics of
the chosen of God,[449] have been from the first a temple-building
people. Only a few months after the organization of
the Church in the present dispensation, the Lord made reference
to a temple which was to be built.[450] In July, 1831,
the Lord designated a spot in Independence, Mo., as the
site of a future temple;[451] but the work of construction
thereon has not yet been consummated, as is likewise the
case with the temple site at Far West, on which the[159]
corner-stones were laid July 4, 1838, and relaid April 26,
1839.

37. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
has constructed temples, each an imposing and costly
structure, at Kirtland, Ohio; Nauvoo, Illinois; St. George,
Logan, Manti, and Salt Lake City, Utah; Cardston,
Canada; and Laie, Hawaiian Islands. The temples at Kirtland
and Nauvoo were abandoned as the members of the
Church who had built them through sacrifice yet untold
were driven westward by the force of persecution. The
building at Kirtland is now used as an ordinary meeting-house
by a small sect that is but little known and that
evinces no activity in the sacred labors for which temples
are built. The temple at Nauvoo was destroyed through
malicious incendiarism. The magnitude and grandeur of
the sacred labors accomplished in the temples of the present
dispensation, for the salvation of both the living and the
dead, give assurance of the Lord’s gracious acceptance.[452]

NOTES.

1. Usage of the Term “Baptize” in Ancient Times.—The following
instances show the ordinary meaning attached to the Greek term from which our word
“baptize” is derived. In all, the idea of immersion is plainly intended.—(For these and
other examples, see Millennial Star, Vol. XXI, pp. 687-688.)

Polybius, a writer of history, who flourished during the second century before Christ,
uses the following expressions: In describing a naval conflict between the Carthaginian
and Roman fleets off the shores of Sicily he says, “If any were hard pressed by the
enemy they withdrew safely back, on account of their fast sailing into the open sea: and
then turning round and falling on those of their pursuers who were in advance, they gave
them frequent blows and ‘baptized’ many of their vessels.”—Book I, ch. 51.

The same writer thus refers to the passage of the Roman soldiers through the river
Trebia: “When the passage of the river Trebia came on, which had risen above its usual
current, on account of the rain which had fallen, the infantry with difficulty crossed over,
being ‘baptized’ up to the chest.”—Book III, ch. 72.

Describing a catastrophe which befell the Roman ships at Syracuse, Polybius states:
“Some were upset, but the greater number, their prow being thrown down from a height,
were ‘baptized’ and became full of sea.”

Strabo, who lived during the time of Christ, used the term “baptized” in the same
sense. He thus describes an instrument used in fishing: “And if it fall into the sea it[160]
is not lost: for it is compacted of oak and pine wood: so that even if the oak is ‘baptized’
by its weight, the remaining part floats and is easily recovered.”

Strabo refers to the buoyancy of certain saline waters thus: “These have the taste of
salt water, but a different nature, for even persons who cannot swim are not liable to be
‘baptized’ in them, but float like logs on the surface.”

Referring to a salt spring in Tatta, the same writer says: “So easily does the water
form a crust round everything ‘baptized’ into it that if persons let down a circlet of
rushes they will draw up wreaths of salt.”

Speaking of a species of pitch from the lake Sirbonis, Strabo says: “It will float on
the surface owing to the nature of the water, which, as we said, is such as to render
swimming unnecessary, and such that one who walks upon it is not ‘baptized.'”

Dio Cassius, speaking of the effects of a severe storm near Rome says: “The vessels
which were in the Tiber, which were lying at anchor near the city, and to the river’s
mouth, were ‘baptized.'”

The same author thus alludes to the fate of some of Curio’s soldiers while fleeing
before the forces of Juba: “Not a few of these fugitives perished, some being knocked
down in their attempts to get on board the vessels, and others, even when in the boats,
being ‘baptized’ through their weight.”

Alluding to the fate of the Byzantians who endeavored to escape the siege by taking
to the sea, he says: “Some of those, from the extreme violence of the wind, were
‘baptized.'”

2. Baptism among the Greeks.—”The native Greeks must understand their
own language better than foreigners, and they have always understood the word baptism
to signify dipping; and therefore from their first embracing of Christianity to this day
they have always baptized, and do yet baptize, by immersion.”—Robinson.

3. Early Form of Christian Baptism.—History furnishes ample proof that
in the first century after the death of Christ, baptism was administered solely by immersion.
Tertullian thus refers to the immersion ceremony common in his day: “There
is no difference whether one is washed in a sea or in a pool, in a river or in a fountain,
in a lake or in a channel: nor is there any difference between those whom John dipped
in Jordan, and those whom Peter dipped in the Tiber…. We are immersed in
the water.”

The following are but a few of the instances on record (see Millennial Star, Vol.
XXI, pp. 769-770):

Justin Martyr describes the ceremony as practiced by himself. First describing the
preparatory examination of the candidate, he proceeds: “After that they are led by us to
where there is water, and are born again in that kind of new birth by which we ourselves
were born again. For upon the name God, the Father and Lord of all, and of Jesus
Christ, our Savior, and of the Holy Spirit, the immersion in water is performed, because
the Christ hath also said, ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of heaven.'”

Bishop Bennet says concerning the practices of the early Christians: “They led them
into the water and laid them down in the water as a man is laid in a grave; and then
they said those words, ‘I baptize (or wash) thee in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost’; then they raised them up again, and clean garments were put on them; from
whence came the phrases of being baptized into Christ’s death, of being buried with Him
by baptism into death, of our being risen with Christ, and of our putting on the Lord
Jesus Christ, of putting off the old man, and putting on the new.”

“That the apostles immersed whom they baptized there is no doubt…. And[161]
that the ancient church followed their example is very clearly evinced by innumerable
testimonies of the fathers.”—Vossius.

“Burying as it were the person baptized in the water, and raising him out again, without
question was anciently the more usual method.”—Archbishop Secker.

“‘Immersion’ was the usual method in which baptism was administered in the early
Church…. Immersion was undoubtedly a common mode of administering baptism,
and was not discontinued when infant baptism prevailed…. Sprinkling
gradually took the place of immersion without any formal renunciation of the latter.”—Canon
Farrar.

4. The Fathers and the Children.—”The revelation in our day of the doctrine
of baptism for the dead may be said to have constituted a new epoch in the history
of our race. At the time the Prophet Joseph received that revelation, the belief was
general in Christendom that at death the destiny of the soul was fixed irrevocably and
for all eternity. If not rewarded with endless happiness, then endless torment was its
doom, beyond all possibility of redemption or change. The horrible and monstrous
doctrine, so much at variance with every element of Divine justice, was generally believed,
that the heathen nations who had died without a knowledge of the true God, and the
redemption wrought out by His Son Jesus Christ, would all be eternally consigned to
hell. The belief upon this point is illustrated by the reply of a certain Bishop to the
inquiry of the king of the Franks, when the king was about to submit to baptism at the
hands of the bishop. The king was a heathen, but had concluded to accept the form of
religion then called Christianity. The thought occurred to him that if baptism were
necessary for his salvation, what had become of his dear ancestors who had died
heathens? This thought framed itself into an inquiry which he addressed to the bishop.
The prelate, less politic than many of his sect, bluntly told him they had gone to hell.
‘Then, by Thor, I will go there with them,’ said the king, and thereupon refused to
accept baptism or become a Christian.”—Geo. Q. Cannon’s Life of Joseph Smith, p. 510.

5. Temples and Sacred Places.—”When the Lord brought Israel out of
Egypt, determined to make that people a nation to Himself, as soon as they had arrived
at a safe distance from surrounding peoples, He required them to build a Tabernacle,
which is sometimes called the Temple, wherein He could institute certain ordinances and
regulations for their guidance and worship. This, at the commencement of their pilgrimage
in the wilderness, was made portable, and of the costliest and best material
within their reach; and one of the tribes was set apart to have charge of it and its
appurtenances. Such has ever been the purpose of the Lord. This served them through
their journey and in the promised Canaan, until suitable wealth enabled Solomon to
erect a magnificent Temple on Mount Moriah, since called ‘The Hill of Zion,’ to which
all Israel came annually to worship or attend conference. The Lord has informed us
(Doc. and Cov. cxxiv, 39) that His people are always commanded to build Temples, or
holy houses, unto His holy name. This accounts for our reading in the Book of Mormon
of so many Temples having been erected on this continent. It also explains why the
Prophet Joseph so early taught the commencement of a Temple in every important location
of the Saints.”—Compendium, F. D. Richards and J. A. Little, pp. 301-302. Consult:
Exo. xxv-xxviii; I Kings vi-viii; Ezra vi; II Nephi v, 16; and compare Jacob i,
17; ii, 2-11; Mosiah i, 18; ii, 6-7; Alma xvi, 13; xxiii, 2; xxvi, 29; Helaman iii, 9; x,
8; Doc. and Cov. i, 7-9; lxxxiv, 3-5, 31; xcvii, 10; cxxiv, 29-51, 55. See also Temples,
J. M. Sjodahl, Salt Lake City, 1892. See “The House of the Lord, a Study of Holy
Sanctuaries, Ancient and Modern,” by James E. Talmage, Salt Lake City, 1912.

[162]

LECTURE VIII.

THE HOLY GHOST.

Article 4.—We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are:—… (4) Laying
on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

1. The Holy Ghost Promised.—John the Baptist, proclaiming
in the wilderness repentance and baptism by water,
foretold a second higher baptism, which he characterized as
being of fire and the Holy Ghost; this was to follow his
administration,[453] and was to be given by that Mightier One
whose shoes the Baptist considered himself unworthy to
bear. That the holder of this superior authority was none
other than the Christ is proved by John’s solemn record:—”Behold
the Lamb of God…. This is he of whom
I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before
me…. 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.”[454]

2. In declaring to Nicodemus[455] the necessity of baptism,
the Savior did not stop with a reference to the watery birth
alone, that being incomplete without the quickening influence
of the Spirit; born of water and of the Spirit is the
necessary condition of him who is to gain admittance to the
kingdom. Many of the scriptural passages quoted in proof
of the purpose and necessity of baptism, show baptism by
fire and the Holy Ghost to be closely associated with the
prescribed ordinance of immersion in water.

[163]

3. Christ’s instructions to His apostles comprise repeated
promises concerning the coming of the “Comforter,” and
the “Spirit of Truth,”[456] by which expressive terms the Holy
Ghost is designated. In His last interview with the apostles,
at the termination of which He ascended into heaven, the
Lord repeated these assurances of a spiritual baptism, which
was then soon to take place.[457] The fulfillment of this great
prediction was realized at the succeeding Pentecost, when
the apostles, having assembled together, were endowed with
mighty power from heaven,[458] being filled with the Holy
Ghost so that they spake in tongues other than their own as
the Spirit gave them utterance. Among other manifestations
of this heavenly gift, may be mentioned the appearance
of flames of fire like unto tongues, which rested upon each
of them. The promise so miraculously fulfilled upon themselves
was repeated by the apostles to those who sought
their instruction. Peter, addressing the Jews on that same
day, declared, on the condition of their acceptable repentance
and baptism, “Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost.”[459]

4. Book of Mormon evidence is not less conclusive regarding
the Holy Spirit’s visitation unto those who obey the
requirements of water baptism. Nephi, Lehi’s son, bore
solemn record of this truth,[460] as made known to him by the
voice of God. And the words of the resurrected Savior to
the Nephites come in plainness indisputable, and with
authority not to be questioned, proclaiming the baptism of
fire and the Holy Ghost unto all those who obey the preliminary
requirements.[461]

[164]

5. Unto the Saints in the dispensation of the fulness of
times, the same great promise has been made. “I say unto
you again,” spake the Lord in addressing certain elders of
the Church, “that every soul that believeth on your words,
and is baptized by water for the remission of sins shall receive
the Holy Ghost.”[462]

6. Personality and Powers of the Holy Ghost.—The Holy
Ghost is associated with the Father and the Son in the Godhead.
In the light of revelation, we are instructed as to the
distinct personality of the Holy Ghost. He is a Being endowed
with the attributes and powers of Deity, and not a
mere thing, force, or essence. The term Holy Ghost and
its common synonyms, Spirit of God,[463] Spirit of the Lord,
or simply, Spirit,[464] Comforter,[465] and Spirit of Truth,[466] occur
in the scriptures with plainly different meanings, referring
in some cases to the person of God, the Holy Ghost, and in
other instances to the power or authority of this great Being.
The context of such passages will show which of these
significations applies.

7. The Holy Ghost undoubtedly possesses personal
powers and affections; these attributes exist in Him in perfection.
Thus, He teaches and guides,[467] testifies of the
Father and the Son,[468] reproves for sin,[469] speaks, commands,
and commissions,[470] makes intercession for sinners,[471] is grieved,[165][472]
searches and investigates,[473] entices,[474] and knows all things.[475]
These are not mere figurative expressions, but plain statements
of the attributes and characteristics of this great Personage.
That the Holy Spirit is capable of manifesting
Himself in the true form and figure of God, after which
image man is shaped, is indicated by the wonderful interview
between the Spirit and Nephi, in which He revealed
Himself to the prophet, questioned him concerning his
desires and belief, instructed him in the things of God,
speaking face to face with the man. “I spake unto him,”
says Nephi, “as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in
the form of a man, yet nevertheless I knew that it was the
Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh
to another.”[476] However, the Holy Ghost does not possess
a tangible body of flesh and bones, as do both the Father
and the Son, but is a personage of spirit.[477]

8. Much of the confusion existing in our human conceptions
concerning the nature of the Holy Ghost arises
from the common failure to segregate our ideas of His person
and powers. Plainly, such expressions as being filled
with the Holy Ghost,[478] and the Spirit falling upon men, have
reference to the powers and influences which emanate from
God, and which are characteristic of Him; for the Holy
Ghost may in this way operate simultaneously upon many
persons, even though they be widely separated; whereas the
actual person of the Holy Ghost cannot be in more than one
place at a time. Yet we read that through the power of the
Spirit, the Father and the Son operate in their creative acts[166]
and in their general dealings with the human family.[479] The
Holy Ghost may be regarded as the minister of the Godhead,
carrying into effect the decisions of the Supreme
Council.

9. In the execution of these great purposes, the Holy
Ghost directs and controls the numerous forces of Nature,
of which indeed a few, and these perhaps of the minor order,
wonderful as even the least of them seems to man, have thus
far been made known to the human mind. Gravitation,
sound, heat, light, and the still more mysterious, seemingly
supernatural power of electricity, are but the common servants
of the Holy Spirit in His operations. No earnest
thinker, no sincere investigator supposes that he has yet
learned of all the forces existing in and operating upon matter;
indeed, the observed phenomena of nature, yet wholly
inexplicable to him, far outnumber those for which he has
devised even a partial explanation. There are powers and
forces at the command of God, compared with which, electricity,
the most occult of all the physical agencies controlled
in any degree by man, is as the pack-horse to the
locomotive, the foot messenger to the telegraph, the raft of
logs to the ocean steamer. Man has scarcely glanced at the
enginery of creation; and yet the few forces known to him
have brought about miracles and wonders, which but for
their actual realization would be beyond belief. These
mighty agencies, and the mightier ones still to man unknown,
and many, perhaps, to the present condition of the
human mind unknowable, do not constitute the Holy Ghost,
but the mere means ordained to serve Divine purposes.

10. Subtler, mightier, and more mysterious still than
any or all of the physical forces of nature, are the powers
that operate upon conscious organisms, the means by which[167]
the mind, the heart, the soul of man may be affected. In
our ignorance of the true nature of electric energy, we speak
of it as a fluid; and so by analogy the forces through which the
mind is governed have been called spiritual fluids. The
true nature of these higher powers is unknown to us, for
the conditions of comparison and analogy, so necessary to
our frail human reasoning, are wanting; still the effects are
experienced by all. As the conducting medium in an electric
current is capable of conveying but a limited current,
the maximum strength depending upon the resistance offered
by the conductor, and, as separate circuits of different degrees
of conductivity may carry currents of widely varying
intensity, so human souls are of varied capacity with respect
to the diviner powers. But as the medium is purified, as
the obstructions are removed, so the resistance to the energy
decreases, and the forces manifest themselves with greater
perfection. By analogous processes of purification, may
our spirits be made more susceptible to the power of life,
which is an emanation from the Spirit of God. Therefore
are we taught to pray by word and action for a constantly
increasing portion of the Spirit, that is, the power of the
Spirit, which is a measure of the favor of God unto us.

11. The Office of the Holy Ghost in His ministrations
among men is very fully described in scripture. He is a
Teacher sent from the Father;[480] and unto those who are entitled
to His tuition He will reveal all things necessary for
the soul’s advancement. Through the influences of the
Holy Spirit, the powers of the human mind may be quickened
and increased, so that things past may be brought to
remembrance. He will serve as a guide in things divine
unto all who will obey Him,[481] enlightening every man,[482] in[168]
proportion to his humility and obedience;[483] unfolding the
mysteries of God,[484] as the knowledge thus revealed may tend
to spiritual growth; conveying knowledge from God to
man;[485] sanctifying those who have been cleansed through
obedience to the requirements of the gospel;[486] manifesting
all things;[487] and bearing witness unto men concerning the
existence and infallibility of the Father and the Son.[488]

12. And not alone does the Holy Ghost bring to mind
the past, and explain the things of the present, but His
power is manifested likewise in prophecy concerning the
future;—”He shall show you things to come,” declared the
Savior to the Apostles in promising the advent of the Comforter.
Adam, the first prophet of earth, under the influence
of the Holy Ghost “predicted whatsoever should
befall his posterity unto the latest generation.”[489]

13. The power of the Holy Ghost then is the spirit of
prophecy and revelation; His office is that of enlightenment
of the mind, quickening of the intellect, and sanctification
of the soul.

14. To Whom is the Holy Ghost given? Not to all indiscriminately.
The Redeemer declared to the apostles of
old, “I will pray to the Father and he shall give 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.”[490] Clearly, then,
a certain condition of the candidate is requisite before the
Holy Ghost can be bestowed, that is to say, before the person
can receive a right to the company and ministrations of[169]
the Spirit. God grants the Holy Ghost unto the obedient;
and the bestowal of this gift follows faith, repentance, and
baptism by water.

15. The apostles of old promised the ministration of
the Holy Ghost unto those only who had received baptism
by water for the remission of sins;[491] John the Baptist gave
assurances of the visitation of the Holy Ghost to those only
who were baptized unto repentance.[492] The instance of Paul’s
rebaptizing the twelve disciples at Ephesus before he conferred
upon them the Holy Ghost, on account of a probable
lack of propriety or of authority in their first baptism,[493] has
already been dwelt upon. We read of a remarkable manifestation
of power among the people of Samaria,[494] to whom
Philip went and preached the Lord Jesus; the people with
one accord accepted his testimony and sought baptism.
Then came unto them Peter and John, through whose
ministrations the Holy Ghost came upon the new converts,
whereas upon none of them had the Spirit previously fallen,
though all had been baptized.

16. The Holy Ghost dwells not in tabernacles unfit and
unworthy. Paul makes the sublime declaration that the
body of man when filled with the power of the Holy Ghost
becomes a temple of this spirit; and the apostle specifies the
penalty prescribed for defiling a structure sanctified by so
holy a presence.[495] Faith in God leads to repentance of sin,
this is followed by baptism in water for the remission of
sins, and this in turn by the bestowal of the Holy Ghost,
through whose power come sanctification and the specific
gifts of God.

17. An Exception to the Prescribed Order is shown in the[170]
case of the devout Gentile, Cornelius, unto whom, together
with his family, came the Holy Ghost, with such power that
they spake with new tongues to the glorification of God,
and this before their baptism.[496] But sufficient reason for
this departure from the usual order is seen in the prejudice
that existed among the Jews toward other nations, which,
but for the Lord’s direct instructions to Peter, would have
hindered, if indeed it did not prevent, the apostle from ministering
unto the Gentiles; as it was, his act was loudly condemned
by his own people; but he answered their criticisms
with a recital of the lesson given him of God, and the undeniable
evidence of the Divine will as shown in the reception of
the Holy Ghost by Cornelius and his family before baptism.

18. And in another sense the Holy Ghost has frequently
operated for good through persons that are unbaptized;
indeed, some measure of this power is given to all mankind;
for, as seen already, the Holy Spirit is the power of intelligence,
of wise direction, of development, of life. Manifestation
of the power of God, as made plain through the
operations of the Spirit, are seen in the triumphs of ennobling
art, the discoveries of true science, and the events
of history; with all of which the carnal mind may believe
that God takes no direct concern. Not a truth has ever
been made the property of human kind except through the
power of that great Spirit who exists to do the bidding of the
Father and the Son. And yet the actual companionship of
the Holy Ghost, the divinely-bestowed right to His ministrations,
the sanctifying baptism with fire, are given as a permanent
possession only to the faithful, repentant, baptized
candidate for salvation; and with all such this gift shall
abide, unless it be forfeited through transgression.

19. The Bestowal of the Holy Ghost is effected through
the ordinance of an oral blessing, pronounced upon the[171]
candidate by the proper authority of the Priesthood, accompanied
by the imposition of hands by him or those officiating.
That this was the mode followed by the apostles of
old is evident from the Jewish scriptures; that it was
practiced by the early Christian Fathers is proved by history;
that it was the acknowledged method among the Nephites is
plainly shown by the Book of Mormon records; and for the
same practice in the present dispensation authority has come
direct from heaven.

20. Among the instances recorded in the New Testament,
we may mention the following: Peter and John conferred
the Holy Ghost upon Philip’s converts at Samaria, as
already noted, and the ordinance was performed by prayer
and the laying on of hands.[497] Paul operated in the same
manner on the Ephesians whom he had caused to be baptized;
and “when he had laid his hands upon them, the
Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues
and prophesied.”[498] Paul also refers to this ordinance in his
admonition to Timothy not to neglect the gift so bestowed.[499]
The same apostle, in enumerating the cardinal principles and
ordinances of the Church of Christ, includes the laying on
of hands as following baptism.[500]

21. Alma so invoked the power of the Holy Ghost in
behalf of his co-laborers:[501]—”He clapped his hands upon all
them who were with him. And behold, as he clapped his
hands upon them they were filled with the Holy Spirit.”
The Savior gave authority to the twelve chosen Nephites,[502]
by touching them one by one; they were thus commissioned
to bestow the Holy Ghost.

[172]

22. In this dispensation, it has been made a duty of the
Priesthood “to confirm those who are baptized into the
Church by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire
and the Holy Ghost.”[503] The Lord has promised that the
Holy Ghost shall follow these authoritative acts of His
servants.[504] The ceremony of laying on of hands for the
bestowal of the Holy Ghost is associated with that of confirmation
in the Church. The officiating elder acting in
the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ, says,
“Receive ye the Holy Ghost;” and “I confirm you a member
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Even
these words are not prescribed, but their meaning should be
expressed in the ceremony; and to such may be added other
words of blessing and invocation as the Spirit of the Lord
may dictate to the officiating elder. This act completes the
outward form of the baptism so indispensable to salvation—the
birth of water and of the Spirit.

23. The authority to so bestow the Holy Ghost belongs
to the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood,[505] whereas water-baptism
may be administered by a priest, officiating in the
ordinances of the lesser or Aaronic order of priesthood.[506]
This order of authority, as made known through revelation,
explains that while Philip had authority to administer the
ordinance of baptism to the converted Samaritans, others
who held the higher priesthood had to be sent to confer
upon them the Holy Ghost.[507]

24. Gifts of the Spirit.—As already pointed out, the
special office of the Holy Ghost is to enlighten and ennoble
the mind, to purify and sanctify the soul, to incite to good
works, and to reveal the things of God. But, beside these[173]
general blessings, there are certain specific endowments
promised in connection with the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Said the Savior, “These signs shall follow them that believe:
In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak
with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay
hands on the sick and they shall recover.”[508]

25. These gifts of the Spirit are distributed in the wisdom
of God for the exaltation of His children. Paul thus discourses
concerning them: “Now, concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren, I would not have you ignorant…. Now
there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit….
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 by the same Spirit; to another
the gift of healing by the same Spirit. To another the
working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning
of spirits; to another divers kind of tongues; to
another the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh
that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man
severally as he will.”[509] No man is without some gift from
the Spirit; one person may possess several.

NOTES.

1. Effect of the Holy Ghost on the Individual.—”An intelligent being,
in the image of God, possesses every organ, attribute, sense, sympathy, affection,
of will, wisdom, love, power and gift, which is possessed by God Himself. But
these are possessed by man in his rudimental state in a subordinate sense of the
word. Or, in other words, these attributes are in embryo, and are to be gradually
developed. They resemble a bud, a germ, which gradually develops into bloom,
and then, by progress, produces the mature fruit after its own kind. The gift of the
Holy Spirit adapts itself to all these organs or attributes. It quickens all the intellectual[174]
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 features. 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.”—Parley P. Pratt, Key to Theology, pp. 96-97
(4th ed.).

2. The Laying on of Hands.—From the scriptures cited, it is plain that
the usual ceremony of bestowing the gift of the Holy Ghost consisted in part in the
imposition of hands by those in authority (Acts viii, 17; ix, 17; xix, 2-6; Alma xxxi,
36; III Nephi xviii, 36-37; Doc. and Cov. xx, 41). The same outward sign has marked
other authoritative acts: for example, ordination to the priesthood; and administration
to the sick. It is probable that Paul had reference to Timothy’s ordination when he
exhorts him thus: “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by
prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery” (I Tim. iv, 14). And
again, “Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands” (II
Tim. i, 6). The first ordination to the priesthood in latter times was done by the imposition
of hands by John the Baptist (Doc. and Cov. xiii). That Christ in healing the sick
sometimes laid His hands upon the afflicted ones is certain (Mark vi, 5); and He left with
His apostles a promise that healing should follow the authoritative laying on of hands
(Mark xvi, 15, 18). The same promise has been repeated in this day (Doc. and Cov. xlii,
43-44). Yet, notwithstanding the importance given to this sign of authority, the laying
on of hands is but exceptional among the practices of the many sects professing Christianity
to-day.

3. Operation of the Holy Ghost.—The means through which the Holy Ghost
operates are no more truly the Holy Ghost in person than are the light and heat and
actinic energy of the sun, the sun itself. The influence, spirit, or power of the Holy
Ghost is that of enlightenment and progression, and this is given unto men in proportion
to their receptiveness and worthiness; but the right to the special ministrations of the
third member of the Godhead is obtainable only through compliance with the preliminary
requirements of the Gospel—faith, repentance, and baptism.

4. Mode of Conferring the Holy Ghost.—Questions have arisen as to the
ceremony of confirmation and the bestowal of the Holy Ghost, particularly as to the
propriety of saying: Receive ye the Holy Ghost; or Receive ye the Gift of the Holy Ghost..
Since the companionship of the Holy Ghost embraces all the spiritual graces and gift
in so far as such are deserved by and appropriate to the person, the Church teaches that
officiating Elders in confirming baptized candidates should use the form: Receive ye the
Holy Ghost.

In explaining the reception of the Holy Ghost by the apostles of old, the
First Presidency of the Church issued an instructive statement Feb. 5, 1916. See
Deseret News of that date, and Improvement Era, March, 1916; and for excerpt from
same see “Jesus the Christ” (third and later editions), p. 720.

[175]

LECTURE IX.

THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD’S SUPPER.

In connection with Article 4.

1. The Sacrament.—In the course of our study of the
principles and ordinances of the Gospel, as specified in the
fourth of the Articles of Faith, the subject of the sacrament
of the Lord’s Supper[510] very properly claims attention, the
observance of this ordinance being required of all who have
become members of the Church of Christ through compliance
with the requirements of faith, repentance, and
baptism by water and by the Holy Ghost.

2. Institution of the Sacrament among the Jews.—The
sacrament of the Lord’s Supper dates from the night of the
Passover feast[511] immediately preceding the crucifixion of
the Savior. On that solemn occasion, Christ and His apostles
were assembled in Jerusalem, keeping the feast in an upper
room, which had been made ready by His express command.[512]
As a Jew, Christ appears to have been ever loyal to
the established usages of His people; and it must have been
with most extraordinary feelings that He entered upon this
commemorative feast, the last of its kind bearing the significance
of the type of a future sacrifice, as well as a reminder
of God’s favor in the past. Knowing well the terrible experiences
immediately awaiting Him, He communed with the
Twelve at the paschal board in anguish of soul, prophesying
concerning His betrayal, which was soon to be accomplished
by the agency of one who there ate with Him. Then He[176]
took bread, and blessed it and gave it to His disciples, saying,
“Take, eat; this is my body;”[513] “this do in remembrance
of me.”[514] Afterward, taking the cup, He blessed its contents
and administered it to them with the words, “Drink
ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”[515] It is
interesting to note that the account of the sacrament and its
purport as given by Paul[516] resembles so closely as to be
almost identical with the descriptions recorded by the evangelists.
The designation of the Sacrament as the Lord’s
Supper is used by no biblical writer other than Paul.